Friday, January 12, 2018

Talking To Myself: Live In The Studio



There is a theory that says if you put 10,000 hours into something, you will master it. It's very much true when it comes to making songs.

When it comes to rap, your 100 songs are going to be about the struggle. Making a hit song the first time you go to the studio is almost unheard of. The times you have heard it, the song was a novelty hit and the artist is more than likely not still around.

Once you get past making songs about just your specific life, you will find yourself making songs that sound like "songs". What I mean is, by then you should know how you like to record, how you like your vocals mixed, what type of beats work BEST for you. Your vocabulary will expand, you will write songs faster, you will come up with original song ideas.  The faster you make songs, the less money you spend on studio time. Money that can be better spent on the promotion of the song you just made and plan to release.

Always ask for a radio edit. If you are your own engineer, always make a radio edit. Do it as soon as you are done with the original version before you forget. Also make a PERFORMANCE version. This version usually is just the beat, hook and adlibs. When you do decide to step out the studio to perform your song, a performance version is always better than just performing over the full song. It's better than just performing over the instrumental because the audience can't always hear you clearly and you always want the audience to hear the hook as clear as possible. It also gives you time to catch your breath on the hook

Artist are no longer stuck in the age of waiting for a label to sign them and release their music. With digital distribution easily available, artist now have the freedom to release music on the same platforms as the artist they look up to. Artist that are on a level they hope to attain. Everyone has a favorite app they use to listen to music. With a click of your computer mouse, you can be on all of them. You can put out a song every day if you wanted to. You can put out music until something resonates. Last song didn't pop? Put out another one. Granted, the BEST thing to do is roll out music with a marketing plan but you get my point.

The average music fan today has a very short attention span. They listen to a album when it drops, decide if it's a classic or not and then moves on to the next project. You have to be ready as a music maker to churn out high quality music as rapid pace until you "thing" resonates with the masses.