How Long Does it Take to Become a Quality Producer?

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What up.

I'm often asked:
"How long did it take you to get good at Producing".

Here's my answer:

"My aim was never to be good at producing!
I've always understood that no matter what you do, there will be people on both sides... People who think that your music is good, and people who DO NOT.
So, for me, my focus has always been, and will always be, on creating and producing quality music...

'Good' is subjective.
What one may think is good, another may consider it to be whack, nahmean.
For instance, I like a variety of styles of music, from Roots Reggae to Country, to 1980s Ska.
And in studying these forms of music, I can immediately determine the level of quality, before I can get any sense of whether it's good or not.

Chasin' after good music can be a very misleading path.
There's always a risk that you can confuse your personal thoughts about what's good with what is currently popular.
In a situation like this, a producer (artist) almost always becomes a trend follower rather than a trend setter!

That bein' said, I don't think that there is any usual (typical) amount of time that it takes to develop a quality level of production.

Many producers (well-known and/or somewhat established) will often say that it takes years. But in my opinion, that's becuase in reality, it took them years.
However, I don't think that this is true for everyone.

Hip Hop-Rap has changed.
Production-based technology has changed.
Production forums have emerged.
New pathways and/or short cuts into the music business have been opened.
All of the aforementioned factors, and many more, make it possible for new producers to develop their production level much more faster than I (or the majority of producers who began producing over 7 years ago) did.

The biggest obstacle that I faced when I began producing was information!
Production gear & equipment was very intimidating to me as a new producer...
And the manuals that came with that gear & equipment might as well have been rocket science, word up.
There simply were not that many information outlets when I began producing.
You either had to know a producer, who really knew what they were doing, or you painstakingly stabbed through the manuals. That was it; no other alternatives!

Now, however, man listen...
There are weekly equipment tutorials at retail music stores.
There are a countless number of music production forums.
There are instructional videos.
There is just an overall wealth of knowledge to help aide new producers with their production development.

All of these things considered, I would say that a new producer, from scratch, could develop a quality production level in as little as three to six solid months of practice!
Of course, decrease or increase that time for producers who lack a good understanding of the history of Hip Hop-Rap Music, as well as the Blues, Jazz, and Soul!

I say this because through the years, my production level, and career for that matter, have changed (improved) due to specific points of information.
On the real, there are so many things that I know now that could have shaved YEARS off the time that it took me to develop my production level.

In hindsight, had I known (or even had the right access to figure it out) many of those things--when I first began producing--my production level would have developed much more rapidly.

For instance, I didn't really know how to filter bass lines when I began producing.
I knew what I wanted to do, I knew how I wanted my bass lines to sound, but I had to settle for what I thought was close.
I went on like this for 5 YEARS!
Then one night at my man's studio changed all of that.

We had began to lay down this new instrumental that I had produced...
I described to him how I wanted the bass part to sound.
(Actually, what I was describing was my imagination of two separate bass parts, but I didn't know how to translate that into a functioning technique).
He understood what I was saying and proceeded to explain to me that in order to do what I had described, I needed to first set up the parameters in my sampler in a particular way.
Before he even finished going to the Edit Program mode on my sampler, I knew what to do...
See, he pointed me in the right direction, and then gave me one of the keys that I needed to know.
From just that one key, I was able to open doors (both musically and technically) that had stood locked for 5 years...

5 YEARS reduced to 2 minutes!

Later that night, after the session, I went home and changed ALL of the default settings that I had created in my sampler; and I literally threw nearly every beat that I had made, up until that point, into the garbage!

The point is, I had always known what I wanted to do musically and sound-wise, but I didn't know how to translate this into my production.
If I had access to the right information when I first began producing, I most likely could have reached a quality level of production in a relatively short period of time.

If the emotion is their, once you get the functional know how, you're own your way."

The above exert was from the article, Achieving a Quality Production Level, written by Sa'id.
Originally published in the May 2004 issue of SUPERCHAMP Magazine.

one

Sa'id
(917) 270-2005
www.superchampnyc.com
 
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:victory:
That was very informative and I was impressed and I agree with you on studying the history of hi hop cause in order to set a trend you have to know where hip hop is going ahead of time.
I see that you really love music. Trust me I'm gonna buy that book now.
 
can someone explain to me how to filter basslines so i can skip that 5 years?

thanx.
 


Interesting read Sa'id!



I 've been producing for 5-6 years now and i had couple of "locked doors" myself.




 
Once again another Hi quality post.
Good points. The biggest problem I've had is acess to people/resources to help me achieve the effect I had in my head, so I can relate
 
impovize118 said:
:victory:
That was very informative and I was impressed and I agree with you on studying the history of hip hop cause in order to set a trend you have to know where hip hop is going ahead of time.
I see that you really love music. Trust me I'm gonna buy that book now.

impovize118, what up.

You are exactly right!
The best way to be ahead is to be informed.
I've seen a lot of producers develop rapidly over the last year.
And the number one reason was information.

Many people approach Hip Hop-Rap production with a strong desire and respect.
So, if you couple that with the right kinds information, you can achieve quality results much faster.

I had a session the other night and I was discussing with my mix engineer, Cus, how the accessibility of information has completely impacted professional music recording.
One thing that Cus and I both agree on is the fact that the accessibility of information, (information previously hidden so to speak), has completely leveled the playing field for new artists and producers.
In fact, I believe that given the right tools and information, and some solid practice time, many new producers can become trend setters!
 
Thanks for the great post Sa'id! I couldnt agree with you more. The more I read and studied what I was trying to do the better my music got. Knowledge is power!

-Drock-
 
erm... you still havent told us how to filter basslines... please someone?

safe.
 
I think the filtering of basslines, eqing, compression etc. are aspects of the engineering side of recording. Remember, you can mix the hell out of track and make it sound like it was made by Dr.Dre but in the end, nobody likes it because you produce crap. It's like with movies. "Waterworld" was well done in terms of visual effects etc. It had all the makings of a good movie but the end result(the production) was crap.

I think you can quickly develop the technical skills required to make your record sound good/professional, but it takes a while to learn how to produce and make music that is appealing to whoever your market is.
 
vexman[/i] [b]erm... you still havent told us how to filter basslines... please someone? [/b][/QUOTE] vexman said:
I think the filtering of basslines, eqing, compression etc. are aspects of the engineering side of recording...
I think you can quickly develop the technical skills required to make your record sound good/professional, but it takes a while to learn how to produce and make music that is appealing to whoever your market is.

Mr. Curlz, what up.

First.

The process of filtering bass is easily identified with production, and in some cases engineering. Here, I am referring to production.

Second.

Yo, I hear where you're coming from.
However, I disagree.
Every person is different; every producer is different.
Some people began producing after years of music study; some do not!
I would say that in a case where a new producer has a respectable or even advanced understanding of music and how markets work and develop, it wouldn't necessarily take them a while to learn how to produce and make music that's appealing.
There is no generic, mandatory time frame for anyone to learn how to make music that is appealing.
I maintain that it depends on the individual... it could take years; it could take months.
It varies with what each producer brings to the table, in support of and/or addition to whatever technical knowledge they have.

For example, what about an intern, who takes a job at a recording studio, cleaning rooms... then 3 months later, becomes a successful producer.
(This kind of thing happens regularly).
In fact, I put a producer on to some production work from a situation like this.

The guy just started as an assistant engineer where I record.
After a recent session, he asked me to check out his beats. I listened, they were quality, word up.
I let 'em know that one would be used, and he was real happy... told me had only been producing for less than 6 months!
Now, I never asked him how long he had been producing.
It doesn't matter to me, just like it doesn't matter to M.C.s, A&Rs, and other potential production clients...
Usually, potential clients DO NOT ask "How long have you been producing" before they check out a producer's music.
If they like it, they like it!
They are not going to like it any more or less just because you've been producing for a while.

one

Sa'id
(917) 270-2005
www.superchamponline.com
 
hey I liked waterworld also :mad:

It was not a bad movie!

Anyways great post I agree with a lot of what you said. I think FP has really helped me grow as a producer. I've learned a lot from all the great people at this site. Now I know quite a lot myself and I try to help people out whenever possible.

About filtering basslines:

Its really a matter of using a good eq. Say I take a bass preset that has a nice sub but its layered with an annoying saw sound that I dont like. What I'll do is use an equalizer (waves paragraphic EQ kicks ass) and cut the high/mid-hi range where the saw is at. What I have left is a clean sub sound that thumps.

Try it out.

Peace
 
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