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Originally Posted by Dave Muscato  What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a producer? |
Get a real job!
Seriously.....
Nowadays, anyone with an MPC2000 and/or looping software can call themselves a producer.
The notion of being a producer is pretty dynamic and changes from time to time. But one thing that is a constant is knowing the right people, and getting them to work together. Alot of the skills you listed are helpful for a producer to know, but not absolutely necessary. If a producer can get capable sound engineers, recording engineers, mastering engineers, musicians, arrangers, songwriters, DJs, etc., many of those functions are not necessary for the producer to do, and cursory knowledge of those functions may be all they need.
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- Learn how to play as many instruments as possible, especially piano, guitar, drums, and bass
- Learn how to read music for as many instruments as possible
- Learn how to arrange music, and vocal harmonies
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Although it is helpful, knowing how to play an instrument or reading music is not necessary to be a successful producer. There are successful HipHop and Techno producers out there who can't read music or play an instrument. The main thing they need to know is what sounds good and how to get that sound. Most producers tend to hire musicians who can get that sound, or they program it themselves. Many producers have a library of loops and samples they can use in lieu of a live musician.
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- Listen to as many different styles of music as you can find, and dissect them - transcribe parts, learn to play your favorite songs on guitar, bass, drums, etc, try to get inside the producers' heads
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Even though it's great to be versatile and well rounded for the sake of creativity and knowledge, specialization is important. Knowing how to do everything for all kinds of music is not possible. You need to know how to produce for a specific genre. For example, a producer for traditional BeBop probably wouldn't have much use for software such as Reason, while a HipHop producer will find it essential. You can't learn everything, so you need to focus on what you need to know.
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- Spend as much time in studios as you can, interning or even just observing
- Rearrange and re-record your favorite songs in a different genre, just to see what happens
- Learn how to use the various types of recording software
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These are very helpful for a producer. But a producer can always hire a recording engineer who they can trust as well to do these things. The knowledge of software and technology is very important nowadays. It's also important to keep up to date on these things. Know the limitations and strength of various software to make best use of it. Know what plug-ins and virtual instruments are available, and where to use them. Know what hardware solutions are out there, and make good use of them without breaking the bank.
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- Learn how to run sound by interning at clubs or churches
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I don't know of any producers that run live sound. That work is usually farmed out to a sound man. Although I'm sure there are producers out there that do side work running sound. Can't hurt.
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- Take an accounting course
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I would expand on this, to say a good general business course or a series of business courses such as marketing, management, etc. Accounting really only covers keeping books, taxes, balancing ledgers, depreciation, etc. The focus is too narrow, and those skills will rarely be of use for a producer, although the concepts will be very helpful.
I have had producer credit for some meager projects, and it did not require nearly the breadth of skill mentioned. I didn't play any instrument, didn't write any songs, didn't do the arrangement, and sometimes didn't do the final mixdown. What I did do was get peoples musical ideas into a tangible product whether it was as the recording engineer, sound consultant, graphic designer, technical consultant, or gopher. Even if I could have farmed that stuff out, I would have still been the producer for the mere fact that I got everyone together to make a product.
