Composing : Are We Listening.... or Just Hearing Production? by Jon Landers

As someone who is not creatively talented myself, I never think of things sonically...to me it's all about emotion and feeling of the lyrics.

Good point, Jon Landers ! Production can be cleaned up, that's technical... no emotion involved. And like Amanda Toney says, it really is the emotion that adds to the scene. But, and there's always a but, it is so easy for a producer to simply say 'next' in the first 3 seconds if there's anything less than perfection in the mix. Sad, but too true.

For Amanda:

Thanks Amanda. I think that’s actually how most listeners experience music — emotionally first. Sometimes we in the industry can get so focused on production details that we forget the human connection behind a song.

For Morgan:

Very true, Morgan. That balance between emotional impact and production quality is probably one of the biggest challenges artists face today. A great song can sometimes be overlooked quickly if the mix distracts from the experience — even when the emotion is there underneath it.

Morgan, I think you've hit on one of the biggest challenges facing independent artists today.

The emotional connection is what ultimately serves the scene and the story. A technically perfect track without emotion can still fall flat. At the same time, you're absolutely right that many decision-makers never get far enough to discover that emotion if the production quality creates an immediate distraction.

It's a bit of a balancing act. The mix and production need to be strong enough to clear the first hurdle, but once you're through that door, it's the emotion, authenticity, and ability to enhance the narrative that make a piece memorable.

As Amanda mentioned, emotion is what moves an audience. The production simply gives that emotion the opportunity to be heard.

Jon Landers - Yes, your point makes sense.

It's like stepping away from this one project I'm redoing. It's not the redo, specifically.

When I put the MIDI tracks into Logic Pro, I thought the EASTWEST sound Flute was really nice.

After dinner, I noticed it was not really the best sound for this genre. (Latin)

So, I used a different Library. The new sound really helped bring out the

vibe / emotion from the original Instrumental.

For this piece the Flute and TPT are the melodies throughout. They switch and have supporting parts ... mostly the flute has supporting parts when the TPT has the Melody.

Trying to stay on point with this post, I spent another hour doing the Mix and added the

Mastering ... adding the Pop Legacy in Logic Pro. It helped some.

I need to finish and add the drums and percussion, like the original.

It'll add the depth and the emotion / Latin feel this Instrumental needs.

(main reason I started over, is ... I cannot (for the life of me) find the orig. Logic Pro file !!

Seems the best ones are lost out there. Not this time !! Saving many places - LoL. (Smiles). )

All right composers out there , learn the lesson - SAVE ... AND SAVE MANY PLACES !!

USE SHORT DIRECTORY PATHS - EASILY TO REMEMBER - ON THE HD.

Esp. when working in MIDI Land ... those MIDI files are really small ... depending on the size of your work.

DAW / Logic files are not.

Kerry Kennard

www.kerrykennard.com

Kerry, that's a great example of exactly what I was referring to.

It's amazing how stepping away from a project for a few hours—or even a day—can completely change how we hear it when we come back. What sounded right initially may not be the best choice once our ears have had a chance to reset.

I also agree with your point about saving files in multiple places. Some of our most valuable creative work can disappear in an instant if we're not careful. Hopefully this version ends up even better than the original.

Looking forward to hearing the finished track once you've added the drums and percussion.

Thanks, Morgan.

I think you've captured the challenge perfectly. Emotion is what ultimately connects with an audience, but the production quality often determines whether the listener stays long enough to experience that emotion.

It's a balancing act. The mix and production need to be strong enough to clear that first hurdle, but once you're through the door, it's the authenticity, emotion, and ability to support the story that make a piece memorable.

The production gives the emotion an opportunity to be heard, but the emotion is what people remember.

Kerry, great point. I’ve found the same thing happens with music, videos, and even website design. Sometimes stepping away for a few hours—or even a day—lets you come back with fresh ears and fresh eyes. What seemed right in the moment suddenly reveals opportunities for improvement. And your lesson about saving multiple copies is one every creator learns sooner or later. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Interesting topic. I've noticed that sometimes records made on camera in a club sound much more interesting than studio ones. And I have figured that writing a composition, arranging it's like building a house, and mixing and so on it's like cleaning it after all of this work

Kerry, thanks for sharing more of your process. It’s interesting how something as simple as changing the flute library completely changed the emotional feel of the piece. Those little decisions often end up making the biggest difference.

I can definitely relate to the backup lesson too. Losing a project file is every creator’s nightmare. Hopefully this version ends up being even stronger than the original. I’d enjoy hearing it once you’ve finished the drums and percussion.

Jon Landers I do think we live in a world now where the sound has to be sonically perfect. Mostly because we have the technology to more easily now. This trend tends to be more forgiving though with smaller budget pieces, whether it be an album or a movie score. I just went the the Palm Springs Shortfest and not all the music was perfect. Some of the films were too loud at times, and sometimes the dialogue was a little too quiet although audible. It's understandable to have a film or a an album with a micro budget that's not perfect Sonically. But when you have the money to pay for an entire music department, it's not really acceptable to have noticeable flaws that distract from the film. The speaker technology in movie theaters these days pick up on every little thing, especially when it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop. I agree that the most important thing in a song is not the mix and mastering, it's the song itself, but a film composer's job is similar to an editor in the sense that he, she, or their work should be invisible and only serve to enhance a scene, unless we are talking about a musical.