Most of the time sentiments like these are thrown around in the studio to give validation to an individuals desire to change or not-change something.
The desires are completely relevant, the reasons (well, the ones that are usually verbalized) are not. The reasoning falls apart.
Own your desires. Your opinions are valuable in the studio, in and of themselves, because they are YOUR opinions, and you have the magic touch.
Trust your gut. State what you want. Communicate what you hear in your head.
Magic doesn’t need a reason.
Here are some all too common studio sentiments…
1. The kick drum (or insert any other instrument) needs to be turned up for radio.
If you’re in the studio talking about what will or will not work on radio, but you don’t have a radio team, who cares. If you do have a radio team and you ACTUALLY want their input on your track, I’m sure they’ll give it to you.
2. The vocal needs to sit on top for tv/film.
Most of the time the sync company will require an instrumental version of the song and then a separate stem of the vocal so the TV show can mix the vocals as loud or soft as they’d like.
3. We need to get to the chorus faster for the passers-by who happen to click this song.
This is a scary road to go down. Stop worrying about the people who might hear it and consider the people who WILL hear it.
4. We need to add mandolin and a cheap keyboard to attract some of the indie crowd.
Again, this is a scary road to go down. Stop worrying about the people who might hear it and consider the people who WILL hear it.
5. Let’s keep it under 3 minutes for a million reasons.
According to StatCrunch who did a study of the iTunes Top 100 Chart, the current average length of song is 3:43. The last time the average song was actually under three minutes was in the 1950’s and 60’s.
6. If it’s good enough for the Beatles it should be good enough for us.
For every example of something working, there’s an example of it not working. The feedback at the beginning of the Beatles “I Feel Fine” defines the track! But how many thousands and thousands of songs since then have started with feedback (because The Beatles did it!!!!!) and it’s just stupid.
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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com