Teach 1 Tuesday

What Are You Really Listening For? A Producer's Guide to Intentional Sound Design

• Toni King • Season 1 • Episode 39

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Unlocking the secret ingredients of captivating music production starts with understanding what happens after you've recorded your song's basic elements. As we continue our exploration of music production techniques, this episode dives deep into the components that transform good songs into unforgettable ones.

At the heart of exceptional production lies the powerful yet often overlooked counter melody. Think of it as your song's secret weapon—a complementary musical line that creates interest without competing with your main vocal melody. We break down exactly when and how to implement these counter melodies, ensuring they enhance rather than overwhelm your track. Whether they appear when the main melody takes a breath or sit subtly in the background, these musical elements add the dimension that keeps listeners coming back for more.

Sound selection forms another cornerstone of effective production. We explore how genre-specific instrumentation shapes your sonic signature, whether you're crafting country ballads with acoustic warmth or building R&B grooves with electric pianos and signature bass lines. From percussion techniques that drive modern productions to selecting the right sound libraries without breaking the bank, we provide practical guidance for navigating the overwhelming world of available sounds. The episode features personal insights into production workflows—starting with drums, moving to keys and bass, then layering in melodic elements—while emphasizing that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to the creative process.

Don't miss our discussion on incorporating musical surprises—those attention-grabbing moments that maintain listener engagement throughout your track. We reference production masters like Timbaland and Missy Elliott, whose work exemplifies how strategic musical elements can transform good songs into hits. Ready to elevate your production skills? Listen now, complete the actionable homework assignments, and transform how you approach your next recording project!



The Toolkit for musicianship mastery: http://bit.ly/3k5v9Vi 


Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/@thetonikingexperience7645


Rare Keys Production- https://rarekeysproduction.com


Toni King link: http://www.linktr.ee/toni.king


The Sonic Kingship Art: https://www.rhuffmusic.com/post/it-s-a-big-music-industry-so-where-do-i-fit-in



The Toni King Experience

Speaker 1:

All right, welcome back everyone to another great episode of Teach One Tuesday podcast. Man, I'm excited to continue on our subject of music production, because it is such a huge subject and how you shape your music and your songs is very important. Before we get into that, y'all know what it is. Get into that theme music, family, all right. All right, welcome everyone. Welcome back. I am excited about this subject. I mean, I'm excited because it's creative. You know, it's really no wrong way to do this, and so I really want to dive into this, dive back into this, talking about music production and really giving you guys some great ideas and great, amazing ideas as to how you can flush out your music. So at this point, you've already flushed out your song, you have everything written out and hopefully, if you've listened to my previous episodes, you've recorded everything. You have your chorus, you have your verses, your hook, you have your bridges in place, you have your bridge in place. You've recorded everything. You have your chorus, you have your verses, your hook, you have your bridges in place, you have your bridge in place. You have everything in place. And so now we're talking about the production side and what I want to, what I want to lay out and I'll go further into to. You know about picking sounds and all that kind of stuff, but make sure, as you begin this process, you have your main melody, which is what the person is singing, or if it's an instrumental, whatever the main instrument is, um, the main melody in place.

Speaker 1:

Now, what I want you to also focus on is having some type of counter melody. It it creates um interest, um and uh. It just creates more excitement for your song. Um, interest, um and uh. It just creates more excitement for your song. Um. I think I'll. I don't have it now, but I can give you some examples Um, I can look and listen to some music and I'll give you some songs to listen to and I'll tell you exactly where it is where you can listen for these counter melodies. The counter melody is not the main melody, of course, but it adds flavor. So this is a very important part of your song. So you have your main melody, you have your counter melody and make sure that it doesn't happen. It doesn't interfere with the main melody, and usually it happens when the main melody is out the way, or you can do something as far as the mixing process is concerned to make sure that it's not as loud or it's pushed back in the mix but it's not interfering, uh, with the main melody.

Speaker 1:

So so you know, going further into this now make sure that you are I talked about last time making sure that your instruments are genre specific or if that's what you want to do. If now, if you're doing some type of fusion or something, then do what you want to do. But if, if you're doing some type of fusion or something, then do what you want to do. But if you are genre-specific, make sure your instrumentation makes sense for the genre. If you're doing country music, you know you're going acoustic. If you're going R&B, you're going to have electric pianos, you're going to have a lot of different sounds that pertains to that R&B music. If you're doing pop, there are things that pertain to that. So make sure that you know exactly what you want to do and pick sounds that will allow you to flush this, this song, out production wise, the way you hear it in your head. And it's a good idea to have some examples. Make sure you listen to your favorite artists and listen to their sounds.

Speaker 1:

As a matter of fact, I want to give you guys some homework and make sure that you are listening, because listening is never going to end. I don't want you to listen to copy completely. I want you to listen for inspiration, all right, so we're listening for it. I'm going to tell you what you're listening for. Some people talk about listening, but don't. Don't tell you what you're listening for. You are listening for, obviously. I just told you main melody, counter melodies. Now we're listening for instrumentation. We're listening for four keys. You know piano keys, electric keys, different sounds. We're listening for auxiliary. You know either pads. We're listening for lead sounds. We're listening for a guitar. You know certain type of bass sounds. We're listening for different things here and you know genre specific, if that's the route you're going. So make sure that you have that in place.

Speaker 1:

And of course, there is an abundance of sound libraries out there. I'm a person I go with complete, that's complete, with a K and um. I've been using their stuff for a while. I use, uh, stock sounds and logic, um. Those are just two examples, but there are sound libraries everywhere. So you were not short of sounds. All right, um, right, um, and. And so you have all kinds of stuff. So do some shopping out there, do some, uh, some research and discover who you want to go with, what sounds you want to use because that's important and get very creative with those sounds. All right, um, this entire process is a creative process. So, yes, you know it is creative and the way to do it is wide open, but at the same time, you want to make sure you're sticking with form. Stick with song form, but I'll go over that another time. So make sure that you have the sounds that you need for your song.

Speaker 1:

And the other thing I want to point out is percussion. That is going to be a very, very percussive uh, percussion heavy. Today. You know what I mean when you hear, you know R and B, you hear pop songs, depending on who's mixing it too. Um, you're going to have a very bottom heavy song, especially when it comes to rap. You're going to have very. I mean, you're going to have you know. So that's what you're going for. Pick sounds, appropriate sounds for that, but really that stuff is going to be flushed out with your engineer, all right, with your mixing mastering engineer, but really at that mixing level, that's where this stuff is really going to be flushed out, and and the polish is going to be put on and put on that song or songs in the mastering phase.

Speaker 1:

But I want to make sure that you're you're getting sounds that you need. Again, do some homework, check out, see what, see what sounds. I can do another episode on uh put music production. I can go through some sound libraries, um, you guys can reach out to me now through through buzzsprout, so please don't hesitate to to ask questions and and if it's something you want me to go over, please let me know. But do some homework on some sound libraries and pick what you need. And you don't need everything. I know that that people are very good at selling their libraries and all kinds of stuff, but you don't need everything. You just need a good sound library. Pick, pick your sounds. Or, if you're not, if you're not the one that's producing it, make sure you're there with your engineer, excuse me, with your um producer, making sure they're picking the sounds that makes sense for you, makes sense for your song or songs or for your project or for your full out for lift album. Make sure the sounds make sense and and and begin to to lay this stuff down.

Speaker 1:

I usually I'll just tell you my process. I do it different ways. Sometimes it depends on how it comes to me, but, but, but for the most part I laid down my drums and percussion first drums, and then I laid out some keys and then I go to base. That's just how I do it. You know, you don't have to, you don't have to do it the way I do, but that's how I do it, not every single time, but for the most part that's how I do it. And then I and then I start laying down kind of melodies, um, just interesting things that are that I want to happen and come up in the song and I and let me just take a minute to talk about that when it comes to creating hit songs, you want to happen and come up in the song, and let me just take a minute to talk about that.

Speaker 1:

When it comes to creating hit songs, you want to make sure that you have surprises in there, and I think I've touched on this probably in some other episodes in my podcast. But you want to have musical surprises in there, whether that's vocally, whether it's using a lead sound or percussion. You want to have something in there that keeps your listener engaged, keeps your audience engaged during the entire song, and the possibilities are endless as it pertains to this, this and so again, homework assignment number two go and listen to things that pop up in your favorite songs, um, that keep you uh interested, that keeps you there. And and just a great producer. You can look up his stuff on itunes, you can look up his stuff on title or whatever you're listening to, um, timberland, you can listen to his production, listen to his stuff, because he, his stuff is full of surprises and amazing ideas. I just love his stuff. So he's one guy, him, uh, missy elliott. I mean, there's a laundry list of people you can listen to, but those two, right off the bat, is what you know are two people you can listen to. That will allow you to get some great ideas.

Speaker 1:

All right, so I'm going to stop here because I I like to give you just a, just a chunk. All right, just a little bit, so you can go back and and and do that, do those homework assignments and really start diving in and uh learning some new things and listening to what's happening. And and your favorite artists, your favorite artists that you like, what's happening in their music and what you can apply to your music. Uh, and so do those two assignments. You know and and go and check out sound sound libraries, go and listen to um, try to point out, uh, counter melodies, which is not the main melody, all right, and um, pay attention to uh, your instrumentation for your, for your particular genre, that, unless you're doing some type of fusion idea and in that case you know, do what you want to do but I think these things will definitely get you off the ground and at a place where you're producing some great music.

Speaker 1:

All right. I want to thank you so much for checking this out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. If you're not having a wonderful day, you can change that by your mindset. You so much for checking this out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. If you're not having a wonderful day, you can change that by your mindset. Thanks so much, tony King out.