Beat Anatomy: Tony's Production Treasure Chest

Ever wondered what music the pros study for inspiration? In this illuminating episode, I pull back the curtain on my personal production playlist – a treasure trove of 127 songs I regularly analyze for orchestration, mixing, and mastering techniques.

From the warm analog sound of Silk Sonic's "Leave the Door Open" to the explosive choruses in Kane Brown's "Lose It," each recommendation comes with specific insights into what makes these productions special. I highlight Jason Joshua's engineering magic on Her's "Damage," breaking down how he achieves that remarkably big sound in the lower end despite the track's relatively simple arrangement. For country fans, Sam Hunt's "23" exemplifies stellar vocal production and arrangement choices worth studying.

What truly separates good production from great are those magical "surprises" – the unexpected elements that create moments of delight without overwhelming the composition. I explain how country producers often boost chorus volumes by 1dB and widen the stereo field to create dramatic contrast with verses. You'll discover gems across genres, from Robert Glasper's jazz-influenced R&B to Adam Levine's surprisingly masterful "Good Mood" from the Paw Patrol soundtrack (never sleep on movie songs!).

Whether you're a producer, engineer, or simply a music lover who appreciates sonic craftsmanship, these recommendations will transform how you listen to music. Study these tracks to uncover the subtle production choices that make them stand out – from panning decisions to arrangement techniques that build interest through each section. Your ears will thank you, and your productions will reach new heights. What production techniques have you noticed in your favorite songs?

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

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Music Orchestration
• 1:46 R&B Production Highlights
• 3:21 Country Music Arrangement Techniques
• 6:38 Jazz and Additional Genre Recommendations
• 9:32 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome back everyone. I'm excited to get into this new episode. I'm going to be revealing some great songs for you to check out as it pertains to music orchestration. Before we do that, let to get into this new episode here. Um, last time last episode, we were talking about music orchestration. I want to take some time to go over some stuff. Uh, go over some music.

Speaker 1: 0:50

Not, I'm not going to play it, but I'm going to give you a list of some great songs, uh, that you can go and check out, uh, and and and see what these producers are doing, where they are placing, uh, different instruments, different sounds. Of course, you're going to have your core, um, drums, bass, keys, um, and vocal and background vocal, but and I want you to check that out as well but I want you to go and listen to these songs and see what different types of surprises that are in these songs, and I'm going to be naming some of my favorites on this list that I have. This is my personal production list, right? So I listen to this list for production, of course, ideas, and I also listen for mixing and mastering ideas and things of that nature. So there's a lot here and I have I don't know how many songs I have on this list, but, oh, I have 127 songs on this list. It's about seven hours and 10 minutes and so, um, I'm not going to give you all 127 songs, of course, but I'm going to stop.

Speaker 1: 2:10

A start at the very top of this list, and it is a song called damage by her. And, um, goodness, I'm forgetting the engineer. Jason Joshua is the engineer, mixing engineer on this song. I don't know if he's a mastering engineer as well, but I know he mixed it and so, uh, it's one. It's one of those great songs. It's really simplistic. I mean, he, uh, jason joshua, gets a really big sound out of this, especially in the lower end, the lower mids, and especially with the bass drum and bass itself. But it is, you know, uh, for me it's really simple. It's not really. It has the surprises in there. Um, so go and check out that song. Uh, this song by uh heard, called damage. The very next one, I believe, was mixed by the same guy. Come through with chris brown, same artist, her, uh, go and check out, um, just those, uh, amazing ideas and little surprises in there. They have. Uh, this is along the r&b side of things. All right, this is r&b, um.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Next song I want to introduce is one of my favorites, actually, and it's a country song called 23. And the artist is Sam Hunt. My wife and I, we love this song and it is a country song, like I said. But still, go and listen for Arrangement, uh, even vocal arrangement, and and and for my engineers. Go and listen to, you know how they're placing this stuff and and you know what is where as far as panning, and how how much volume and what's happening during the different sections uh, intro verse, uh, pre-chorus. If there is one course, is there some type of instrumental break? Whatever's going on. Please go and check out 23 by Sam Hunt.

Speaker 1: 4:03

Now I I'm going to, I'm going to mention another one. It's from a movie. It's from the Paw Patrol movie. It is called Good Mood and this is Adam Levine and I really this. This is a really good one. I mean, all the others I've mentioned are good as well, but this is a really good one. Different surprises, different things going on. I love how it's mixed. It's very pleasing to the ear. I don't know why, but it's just very pleasing to listen to. So go check out Good Mood. Don't sleep on the movies. Man, don't sleep on those songs. Great songs from the movies. There's some great stuff, all right.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Next is I'm sure you have heard, I'm sure you have heard of. This song was very popular when it came out and it's still popular now. It is leave the door open by silk sonic, bruto mars and it's impact and silk sonic, and this is just, you know, amazing. What I do know is that they recorded everything on tape. So it's very, very um, it's very warm, it is just a, an incredible mix. It's very wide, um, and it is just, you know it's, it's simple, it's nothing crazy going on, but it's, but it's very simple. You know a great arrangement, and this is a very, a great example of how you can take something very simple but still make it interesting, right? So, yeah, please go and check out. Leave the Door Open by Silk Sonic. All right, let's move on here.

Speaker 1: 5:35

There are two songs I'm going to mention by an artist I don't want to jack her name up Maren Morris, I think that's how you pronounce her her, uh, first name. Uh, it is the feels and a song for everything. Back to the countryside, back to the countryside of things. Uh, I just love country, I just love the storytelling, uh, the singing, depending on who it is, and I love how they mix country. I know some things are very squished Sometimes. I think they maybe squish drums too much. I recently heard a country song where they really squished that snare. I mean it was there, it was present, but man, they would have squished that thing and so, you know, that's just a preference thing for me as an engineer, but nonetheless and that's not in these two songs I just mentioned, but it was just I forget what country song it was, but mary morris, uh, the feels and a song for everything. All right, um, I'm going to to. Let's see here.

Speaker 1: 6:36

Oh, I'll go ahead and mention another country song. Why I'm talking about country. Uh, you should know his name, if you know, if you love country or just good music, kane brown, uh, some, his favorite song of mine is lose it. Oh, it's such a huge, it's such a huge big sound. And there is a technique that they use for country music oh, no, excuse me for for, uh, mixing, and that's uh, I don't know if it happens during the mix, probably during the mastering phase, where during the chorus they'll increase the volume like one dB or something like that, just so it explodes. And what I learned is that they also widen things during the chorus to just give it a big sound. So the verse will be more stereo and I'm saying it's completely. Excuse me, it'll be more uh, uh, mono rather, and uh, I'm not saying it's completely mono, but it will be more mono than the chorus. And when the chorus comes in, it widens up and, like I said, it may uh, increase the db or 0.5, whatever it is, just to give it a big sound. And so that's one of my, one of my all-time favorites.

Speaker 1: 7:48

I'll mention a song going back to the r&b side. Lucky day, uh, roll some more is a great song. I have three here, I'll just tell you all three. By him, lucky day, uh, and, and this album is painted, if you want to check it out. But roll, roll some more. Late night and a little more uh time is some of my favorite songs from that record. And so, once again, uh, d-mal is the producer. I don't know who the, who, the, uh, I don't know who the engineer is, but it was very well done. Um arrangement, you know mix, everything. You know great surprises in there. Please go and check it out, man. It's fantastic.

Speaker 1: 8:27

I'll mention this next one. It's by this is on the jazz, jazz, r&b side. This is by Robert Glasper. Uh, no, uh, no one like you, I do not know who the engineer is. I know that Robert Glasper is one of the producers, obviously, and with some other cats, but this is a great arrangement and this is Alex Isley is the one that's singing on this, and so, yeah, go and check that out.

Speaker 1: 8:54

Some great musicianship that's going on on this. It is absolutely fantastical. All right, uh, I'll just mention a song. This is not really for production or for engineering, I just like the song sailing by christopher cross. Please don't sleep on that guy. It is amazing. I mean, I, you know, I'm absolutely crazy about that song. Actually, I did a? Um cover of this song on my channel on youtube, the tony king experience. If you want to go, first of all, go check out christopher cross sailing if you haven't heard it, but if you want to check out my version it's on my youtube channel, the tony king experience go check it out, um, okay, moving on, I'll just mention a few more. Uh, great, amazing artists.

Speaker 1: 9:39

Uh, kevin ross have you ever heard of him? The album is drive two and sweet release, it's, it's, it's. So I mean, I admire how bright it is. It's very musical. His producers I'm, I'm I'm gonna assume that he's one of the producers um, but very well done, production wise, mix wise. It's such a groove. You know me, it's, you know you definitely want to dance if you want to sing along, and and that's, you know really what we're going for. Um, when we are engineering these songs, we really want you to feel it all right.

Speaker 1: 10:13

And I'll say, last but not least, um, one of the songs I just like by sir uh, the album is chasing summer is the recipe. I just love this song and, um, it's simple once again, but it's just. The simplicity is is so you know, so tastefully done, you know I mean. So go check out the recipe. And there's so many more. Maybe I'll do another episode and I'll mention some more.

Speaker 1: 10:37

So, like I said, I have 127 songs on this playlist for my production needs and for ideas and for engineering, all right, so please do me a favor. I said I was going to hook you up and I was going to give you a list of songs to go listen to because I think it is important. So, uh, go and check out these songs. Check out the arrangement. Check out this, the surprises, the instrumentation for the engineers. Check out what's happening on the mix and the master um parts of it. Exciting, amazing stuff. All right, I want to thank you so much for checking us out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. If you're not having having a wonderful day, you can change that by your mindset. Thanks so much, tony King out.