Give me 20%... NOWWWWWW!!!!!!
This is a gmail conversation I had with a fellow producer a while ago. This is probably the craziest and most blatant industry rip off scheme I have heard of. The names & locations have been changed to protect the innocent (also with permission of the innocent). The conversation has also been left intact for narrative impact lol…
Track Anatomy takes a look inside the make up of classic tracks. Study the past and define the future.
Today we will take a quick look at the make up of the horn and string sections in The O’Jays classic & EPIC soul track “Ship Ahoy.” Here is a snippet…
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
“Ship Ahoy” Arranger, Bobby Martin…
“Some arrangements are more challenging than others, like ‘Ship Ahoy.’ My job was to get the music across to people, so I had to do something special with those strings and horns. Sometimes I’d use as many as 17 strings – one cello, four violas, 12 violins. For the horns I could use up to five saxophones – baritone, two tenors and two altos – and four trumpets and four trombones. It can be a very delicate, very precise and very beautiful process, especially when you get a gold record out of it!”
I reached out to Philly producer/songwriter/musician Bobby Eli, who chimed in on the EPICNESS of the record…
“For the mix on that particular song, both of Sigma’s studios had to be used because all of the sounds and effects,whips and chains,and various sounds of disparity took up more channels than the twenty four on the board in studio 1 so studio 2′s board had to be used in addition with tie lines between the two studios. That was certainly groundbreaking for 1973! …and the board in stdio 1 only had ONE efx send so they had to have very creative ways with which to maneuver those or any extra efx… The downstairs board was more “advanced”in the efx send dept. Man.the engineers were communicating by intercom and running up and down the steps between the two rooms. Classic stuff.”
Purchase the full 9 minute version of “Ship Ahoy” here for .99 (MP3, 256 kbps)
Don’t try to be cool with your shades. Be humble!There is a phenomenon in the world of music production that makes no sense and should be completely eradicated. For some reason, producers LOVE talking up their music. They will email an mp3 and say “Guaranteed club SMASH!” or “Hov needs to hear this ASAP!” In my short span as a beat picker, tracks that were introduced as such, have never even been keepers to me. I don’t know if this is because the music really wasn’t up to my standards or if my expectation were just so high, they were doomed to be passed on.
Even if you tell someone “this is the greatest beat you will ever hear in your entire life”, and IT IS… That still doesn’t help you at all. If anything, it is going to set someones expectations high and you are just setting everyone up for disappointment.
On the other hand, you’d be surprised how often industry people will still underestimate you. Even by the way you look. I still can’t believe people are bugging out because they don’t expect the tracks I make, coming from a white guy… but they do. So the lesson of the day is be humble and let the music speak for itself.
Hey you… with the fake ass sounding piano in your beats… yeah YOU! A lot of the time, I’ll hear tracks that seem to have really sub par piano sounds. Pretty much everyone who’s attention I have brought it to, really had no idea or consider it. Here is a quality Yamaha C7 piano that is compatible with most major sampler formats. Download this FREE (Legally) and enjoy… Nothing wrong with a free sound or 88!
For all my fellow Dynamic Producer members & people who are shopping tracks in general…
When I pick beats to submit I’m almost always basing the choice off the groove of the track. Whether it’s the groove of the melody, sample or drums. The groove is whats most important to me. If the groove isnt really there, it has to be some shit that hits so hard, motherfuckers from other rooms start walking by the office to see who’s in there.
And if you are gonna go the pop/r&b route, your mixes ABSOLUTELY MUST sound pro level. Without a pro mix, unless you have some melodies or a song that is CRAZY, the track is goanna get passed over. There is really no excuse to not have a pro mix on ANY type of tracks, but for the pop stuff, it is unforgivable.
A&R’s, Artists and other gatekeepers hear average (and below average) tracks ALL DAY. You have to have some music that is gonna cut through that and stand out above the rest… Unless you want to be the “guy with the wack beat on the album”… which we will delve into in a future post…
Have you ever wanted to know how to find people to send your music to on Twitter? Look …
Here is a nice fresh one for everybody… Juelz Santana put out another call for beats a couple …
Rick Ross put a call out for beats. So get your best maybach music together and send him …
It seems that the lovely Nicki Minaj is looking for beats. She has posted up on her twitter …
Diggy Simmons posted this email on his twitter a while back. Please no cursing in your beats… http://twitter.com/diggy_simmons/status/10924744274 …
As any other MC does, Styles P needs beats. He has posted this email numerous times, so I’m …
Dre McKenzie, head A&R over at G-Unit records, has put out an official open call to all producers, …
