Recently, people commented on a claim I made: that I produced the audio material for an album with a runtime of over 60 minutes in only around 30 minutes. Is that really possible, because that means the production time is less than the length of the tracks?
And I think it's an interesting music production topic to explore.
There is a thing I call "sonic boom production", and to me, it is one of the holy grails of the music producer profession, an outstanding achievement. At least if the result is meant to be somewhat audible and meaningful.
But first, we must cross and denounce two popular myths and assumptions.
The first:
Production length is related to the length of the track or the song. But it is not defined or limited by it.
Yes, most of the time, a longer track means "more work".
But if an artist does an album, and it has the tracks:
A 3 minutes
B 4 minutes
C 5 minutes
D 8 minutes
(and so on)
This does not mean the artist *really* spent double the time on the 8 minute track, compared to the 4 minute one
It could even be that the shortest track - A
3 minute - was the most work-intense one.
The second is that music production would be hard work, or takes time, or is complicated, etc.
Yes, it is, but it also is not.
It's like any other activity, being a chef, athlete, tightrope walker, writer, whatever. It might be impossible to some people. But for those for whom it comes natural, it comes natural. And if they're initiated and they're used to it, it's more a rather simplified task, like slicing bread or dicing onions.
Yeah I know, musicians like to wear the halo of being a hard-working martyr, but the truth is that a lot of the famous hit songs you hear on the radio or the tube were conceived, created and completed in bare minutes.
So, if you consider the above facts, it's indeed possible to beat up the clock, and outrun the speed of sound by producing a track in a shorter amount of time then it takes the listener to fully appreciate it from start to finish.
Sonic Boom!
And I think it's an interesting music production topic to explore.
There is a thing I call "sonic boom production", and to me, it is one of the holy grails of the music producer profession, an outstanding achievement. At least if the result is meant to be somewhat audible and meaningful.
But first, we must cross and denounce two popular myths and assumptions.
The first:
Production length is related to the length of the track or the song. But it is not defined or limited by it.
Yes, most of the time, a longer track means "more work".
But if an artist does an album, and it has the tracks:
A 3 minutes
B 4 minutes
C 5 minutes
D 8 minutes
(and so on)
This does not mean the artist *really* spent double the time on the 8 minute track, compared to the 4 minute one
It could even be that the shortest track - A
3 minute - was the most work-intense one.
The second is that music production would be hard work, or takes time, or is complicated, etc.
Yes, it is, but it also is not.
It's like any other activity, being a chef, athlete, tightrope walker, writer, whatever. It might be impossible to some people. But for those for whom it comes natural, it comes natural. And if they're initiated and they're used to it, it's more a rather simplified task, like slicing bread or dicing onions.
Yeah I know, musicians like to wear the halo of being a hard-working martyr, but the truth is that a lot of the famous hit songs you hear on the radio or the tube were conceived, created and completed in bare minutes.
So, if you consider the above facts, it's indeed possible to beat up the clock, and outrun the speed of sound by producing a track in a shorter amount of time then it takes the listener to fully appreciate it from start to finish.
Sonic Boom!
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