When I initially decided to write this post it was fresh off of hearing Andy Mineo’s debut album.  The production on the album is really good but one can’t help to notice the extreme emphasis on 808s and synths.  In fact, if you listen to the Billboard Top 40, the hip-hop, rap, and pop songs will include a heavy emphasis on 808 and synths.  Some even moving in the EDM (electronic dance music) direction.  It does not take a long listen for one to realize the sound of popular music has changed and is lending itself to a broader audience.  With this in mind, a producer has a very difficult task on his hands: do I resist the temptation to change my sound to keep up with the changing sound of music or do I remain unique and true to myself and my sound?

I now believe the answer is both. It is possible to evolve as a producer while still keeping a piece of who you are in your music.  It starts with knowing exactly who you are as a producer.  I hear a lot of beats from producers and it’s evident that many of them have no idea who they are as a producer.  This is normal, but only for a time.  It usually takes a couple years for a producer to find out what makes him/her unique.  Most producers will start out mimicking other producers they idolize and soon they’ll start to put more of themselves into their beats.  I have this philosophy that you can tell a lot about a person by listening to their beats.  Quite simply, I am my music.  It embodies a plethora of influences all finding a way to come out through my music.

As I peep the landscape of music production, I feel the overall pressure for producers to change their sound to sell beats or to get placements with the Reach Rcds camp.  The problem with this is that by the time you master trying to sound like someone else the sound of music will have changed and you’ll be left behind.  However, being you will NEVER go out of style.  No one else can be you or make beats like the true you can.  Having said that, I do strongly believe in evolution.  As producers it is very easy to get comfortable once we find out who we are and get really good at being us.  We have certain kicks, snares, bass guitars, and instruments that we just know will make the beat sound good and give us our signature sound.  In fact, I used to be afraid that the artists that had grown fond of my sound would be disappointed if I wandered too far off the beaten path with which drums or samples I used.  I now believe this is bad.  Not sure if you know this but Timbaland can literally make a beat on ANYTHING.  He uses a variety of hardware & software.  I used to find this peculiar but I get it now.  This is how you stay fresh and challenge yourself as a producer.

A few months ago my wife said one of the worst things you can say to a producer.  She said: “baby, your music sounds dated”, ouch!!  Obviously, I was hurt, but I soon realized she was right.  I had found myself in the comfort of my own sound.  I like my kicks to sound a certain way, I have this set of synthesizers that make me feel good, and most importantly, I’m a sucker for a certain type of sample.  She continued: “you need to look for different sounding samples and you need to listen to some new music and get inspired”.  She was absolutely right.  I took it kind of hard but maturation hurts sometimes right?

After I got over myself I started finding ways to grow musically.  I opened my mind to various genres of music and began listening to pop music to see how their drums sounded compared to mine.  I also wanted to see how I could bring in new musical elements into my music while maintaining my identity.  I’m a sampler by heart, but if anyone is familiar with my music, you know that I don’t just sample a record and throw drums and bass on it and call it day.  I have grown to be able to take a sample and make it my own by adding my own instrumentation to it.  I wasn’t always able to do this but I’ve grown over the last eight years.  Why can’t I go through this growth spurt again?  The answer is that I can and am.

Naturally, I like really bass heavy kicks and authentic sounding bass guitars with authentic snares (I’m east coast born and bread).  However, I notice that pop music is a lot more exploratory in the types of kicks and snares/claps used.  So, I broke a cardinal rule and started including more of the higher frequencies in my kicks.  I’m also using a different set of kicks.  There are still no kicks out there that sound like the Neptune kicks.  By combining them with different kicks you can create some amazing, rare sounding kicks.  You’d be amazed at how different your tracks sound when you begin to see the kick as a musical instrument.  It really opened a whole now world for the rhythm of my tracks.  I’ve also begun using more experimental snares/claps.  I used to spend such a long time on my snares trying to get them to sound like someone was really striking a snare with drumsticks.  Now I’m beginning to use snares that I would’ve dismissed as ridiculous or too small in the past.

I’m also resisting the temptation to flip the same types of soulful samples I’m known for.  This has been very difficult.  I’m also stepping outside of my comfy zone by using different sounds and instruments.  This has breathed new life into my music, and wifey has approved!  Maybe we shouldn’t continue to resist the changing landscape in music.  Maybe we should just learn how to adapt while keeping a piece of who we are as we grow into great producers.  My homie Ruslan of TheBreax told me something a couple years ago that I’m beginning to understand.  While preparing to submit music to a Reach artist, he said: “Reach artists like to work with producers that can grow with them”.  At the time, I didn’t realize just how true that was, but if you listen to their music it never stays the same from album to album.  They are always on the forefront of music and that’s how they stay on top.

I could choose to honker down into my own little hideout and stay there for the remainder of my career but I’ll continue to work with the same artists who are just like me: Afraid or too stubborn to evolve and then get mad at the world because their fan base stagnates. I realize that if I want to work with greater, better-rounded artists then I have to be willing and capable of growth and evolution.  This attracts more artists and shows you take your craft seriously.  What would become of a computer programmer who only learned DOS back in the 80’s and never committed to learning more languages?  He’d be poor is what would be!

As I embark on this new journey in self and music exploration, I challenge you to do the same.  Don’t be afraid to evolve into the great producer you can be if you’re willing to challenge yourself.  I do believe in change while maintaining who you are as a person and a producer.  To do this, you must first know who you are, so explore the musical elements and techniques that you are drawn to and that work for you before you lookup and have no idea who you are as a producer.  Once you are comfortable in your skin set your mind to evolving into the best you that you can be.

Twitter: @thejimmynatural

website: www.jimmynatural.com

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