I apologize for not blogging the past 2 days. I've been having power issues plus my internet expired yesterday and I couldn't renew my subscription. But hey, your girl is back.
I've been listening and singing along to some songs to pass time. I'm a very big fan of Israel Houghton. I think he's an amazing musician and I like to think Bruno Mars is the secular version of Israel. Anyone who knows me knows I'm crazy about Israel Houghton.
There are several things I look out for when I listen to a song. I thought to share them with you hoping they might help someone enjoy and appreciate music better.
Like I've stated in earlier posts, I started my music career as a studio rat at Cobhams Asuquo Music Productions (CAMP) and was eventually elevated to the position of the Studio and Artistes' Coordinator of the label while unofficially serving as Cobhams' executive assistant. During my time there I made sure I learnt as much as I could from a genius like him. I studied his every move, I asked questions, I observed him to the core, I tried to understand the way he thinks and why he thinks the way he does. I'm not sure he knows I was studying this closely but he'll agree I asked a loooot of questions.
Working closely with Cobhams helped me appreciate music better. I started listening to music differently, so with no further ado let me share with you the key things you have to look out for when listening to a song. These are the elements that define a recording. If you must ever win a Grammy you must put them into consideration when producing your song.
THE LYRICS
When you listen to a song, start first by listening to the lyrics of the song. How well do the lines rhyme? What's the rhyming pattern and how consistent is it? How seamless are the lyrics, i.e if you were to read them out as opposed to singing them, would line 2 read like a continuation of line one and so on? would it make sense? Do the lyrics sound effortless? How creative are the lyrics? Do they successfully convey what the artiste is trying to express?
THE VOCALS
The vocals are also a very important part of a song. How does the voice sound? Is it well tuned? Personally, I don't like when there's too much auto-tune on a voice, it just overshadows the original quality of the voice. Does the singer emote well. Does the voice express what the lyrics convey? You also have to listen to the vocal arrangements for the background vocals and the adlibs. Do they blend together? Is the arrangement phenomenal? Does it send chills down your spine? Are your emotions triggered when you listen to the vocals?
THE INDIVIDUAL INSTRUMENTS
When listening to a song it's good to selectively pick out each instrument and listen to it. It's going to take time to master. It can be very difficult especially if the mix is poor but listening to each instrument will help you appreciate the effort put into making the song. This is also very important if you're trying to play the same song with your band. It helps guide you and as you continue to do this you begin to arrange your music better.
THE MIXING
Mixing is literally stirring the entire components of the song together and adding salt and pepper where necessary. Lol. I kid... But yeah, mixing marries all the different components together; the vocals, all the instruments and the effects. You can tell a song is mixed properly if you can hear every component of the song and still be carried on a journey by the entire sound together. If no component of the song sounds alone/apart but rather they all blend together perfectly without any extra noise, you have a clean mix. Honestly, I can't explain this in technical terms as I'm not an expert in sound engineering and its terminology but hey, I'm just someone who can tell a good mix from a bad mix.
THE MASTERING
Mastering is basically setting the volume levels of a song. A song that's not mastered may sound loud in the studio but sound very low in your car stereo and vice versa. It's as easy as that. Imagine you just finished listening to one song and then you play the next but you can barely hear the music even at its highest volume or the music is too loud even at its lowest volume. That's how you know a song is either poorly mastered or not mastered at all.
I think I'm going to get a professional sound engineer to write on this subject again sometime in the future. For now, make do with those little tips from me; That's what I learnt from the boss himself.
It is very essential every aspiring artiste learns how to listen to music. Putting the 5 elements above into consideration when listening to a song helps expand your capacity to pay attention to detail and subsequently influences your music. You'll just notice one day that your compositions have become very detailed. Not only is it going to affect your music, it's also going to earn you some respect in the industry. You're going to know exactly what you want in your music, which is going to make it difficult for you to lose your sound no matter the producer you work with. So, keep listening to the details in songs and remember to come thank me with a prophet offering when your music improves. (Just kidding... maybe not... lol...I am)
Photo credit: Google.com
Best wishes
Jesam.
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