One humble desire of any upcoming artist is to get a producer who will listen to him, work with him, and get his voice finally heard. Not just for the money but for the actualisation of his dream and the happiness he would be adding to this grieving world.
This might be too simple for an ordinary person (someone who is not a recording artiste), but by experience this is farfetched, especially for an upcoming artiste with a low budget. I recently asked about the cost of production from a music producer and received an overwhelming cost as a reply. This cost for a production is such that most upcoming artists cannot afford it.
This is not even actually the issue at hand, though part of it. When the upcoming artist finally gets a deal, maybe of low budget, getting his song to be produced to his desired quality or the way the song came to him is also almost impossible because the so-called professional producer would not listen to him but would forcefully give him what he (the producer) thinks is the best without getting the artist's point of view.
You can agree with me that composing and writing a song out of a prepared beat is quite easier than producing a beat for an already prepared, composed or written song. Producing a beat for an already composed song is easier if the artist is the producer or is working intimately with the producer. This cannot be easily achieved by an upcoming artiste because the producer is too proud to listen to the ‘amateur artiste’ and also due to the amount he brought to the table. In fact, if the upcoming artiste rebels against the producer to get what he wants, the producer will make it worse for him.
Making choices solely as a producer for an artiste can work for an artiste who already has fans because it does not matter much if the song is superb or not; his fans will like it anyway if it is just good. Also, such artists can blend easily with any beat or instrumentals.
Know the heart of your artiste: most music studio owners would book a session for you, and on that day you would meet the producer for the first time and explain the song in a few minutes, the beats produced, and the song voiced that same day. Now I imagine the amount of knowledge the producer will have about the song because the whole process is rushed.
A professional producer will take time different from the recording day to learn from the artiste about the song; even if it is the same day, much time should be taken to rehearse the song with the producer.
Take time to think about the song: contrary to jumping to conclusions based on your understanding of the song, a professional producer should take time and think about the song and carefully communicate his differences to the artist. At this point the producer should have the head knowledge of what the song is supposed to be in agreement with the artiste.
Use the necessary instruments: a particle song requires a particular set of instruments depending on the type of song. This should be carefully thought of by the producer and the artiste.
Try and get the best from your artist: time should not matter much in production because the best have to be met. Especially in voicing the song, try and get the best voice of the artiste, even if it will take you days of constant practice.
Motivate your artist: most upcoming artists do not know what production is all about and might be frustrated if it turns out to be something different. So motivating your artiste would go a long way in getting the best out of him.
Let your aim be at helping your artiste and not money: if when you helped him to succeed, he forgot you and did not appreciate it, keep doing it anyway because someday, somehow he will remember the help you offered him when no one was ready to listen to him. You are actually realising your dream if you are about growing helpless upcoming artists and helping them achieve their dreams because life is all about giving to your society even when there is nothing in return.
This article is not about the techniques involved in production but the hidden qualities that make one a ‘real’ professional producer other than his technical qualities.
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