Producers dont get enough credit.

My family doesn't understand what i do and to be honest id say they are even ignorant about the whole thing. Today i went to one of my stepdads friends house and he happens to also be a producer, except i use my macbook pro and a mpk mini, im just starting to use an MPC2000xl but he uses a MPC Renaissance and an IMac and i was just playing around with his equipment and getting use to it but he expected me to make a beat right on the spot and in my head i was like wtf how do you expect me to learn how to use this machine in less than 2 hours and create something good plus his computer was really unorganized with all his samples but anyway i decided to tell my family about it and they got all up on my case saying ''well how come you couldnt make a beat? A real producer knows how to use aaaaalllll equipment, i bet Dr.Dre would be able to make a beat with that!" saying all that bullshit and I'm over here trying to explain to them that it isnt that easy.. they never listen though, anyway i just had to get that off my chest.

I had a play with a Tempest the other day which my friend owned. My family didn't understand also

love that picture, very true

The evidence of this is found all over youtube aswell:

"Jay-Z used this sample in one of this songs!" - no he didnt, his producers did.

I mainly listen to hip hop for the beats - if the beats arent good, im not listening.

Some machines are just hard as **** to figure out. I had a motif 6 and I had no idea how to use it and i've been doing this for almost 16 years. I feel you can give a good producer an sp-202 and they will make an ill beat on it. Some pieces of gear have functions that are advanced however, a wack producer can have all the tools available and still suck. Don't even worry about gear you don't know how to use. Everyone has their own style and preference. I don't use DAW controllers and all that. **** what people think as long as you bring heat. As for your parents, explain to them that every producer has their own technique. Just because someone plays guitar it doesnt mean they automatically know how to play piano. Every piece of gear is it's own instrument and it needs to be learned. Some are similar, some vary. One thing that always got me was sampling on keyboards. I can make a banger, but not like I can with pads. I have no explanation for it. My boy has an ASR 10 and its ill. However, I am way more fluent on the MPC. I copped a ren a few months back and it's as close to computers I'll go as far as beat making. I guess the gear you use has to flow with your creativity. If it doesn't, I guess it hinders.

the picture explains it pretty well haha, it´s true to some point..

marrelarre wrote:The evidence of this is found all over youtube aswell:

"Jay-Z used this sample in one of this songs!" - no he didnt, his producers did.

I mainly listen to hip hop for the beats - if the beats arent good, im not listening.

Like Madlib said, if the beats not slapping, the song isn't gonna work out

1thought1 wrote:My family doesn't understand what i do and to be honest id say they are even ignorant about the whole thing. Today i went to one of my stepdads friends house and he happens to also be a producer, except i use my macbook pro and a mpk mini, im just starting to use an MPC2000xl but he uses a MPC Renaissance and an IMac and i was just playing around with his equipment and getting use to it but he expected me to make a beat right on the spot and in my head i was like wtf how do you expect me to learn how to use this machine in less than 2 hours and create something good plus his computer was really unorganized with all his samples but anyway i decided to tell my family about it and they got all up on my case saying ''well how come you couldnt make a beat? A real producer knows how to use aaaaalllll equipment, i bet Dr.Dre would be able to make a beat with that!" saying all that **** and I'm over here trying to explain to them that it isnt that easy.. they never listen though, anyway i just had to get that off my chest.

Wow, i commend you for sharing that, not many people are honest like that and feel its ok to offload those types of situations..

Just with that alone, your going to be okay, so dont worry your family not knowing they are always going to be at the end of the spectrum, in terms of they are the listners of music, they dont care or know the type of work that goes into it, they just wanna pop the CD in the player and enjoy, (ipod depending on ages etc) anyway its about confidence more than anything and also perspective once you have that locked, you can f*ck with any piece of gear because essentially they are all the same damn thing IMHO!

So dont worry bredren, your gonna be fine!

I hate 1thought1's family. What a bunch of know-it-alls!

No offense.

I think the picture posted above is quite accurate...

I've recently discussed this with a friend actually. And in my opinion, the issue is that A LOT of people who practice "beat making" as a hobby, are calling it "producing music", and call themself a producer.

From a basic point of view, you are correct in this. You hit pads, they make "music", so this means you are actually the producer of that "music" in that moment. However! The same is true for a four year old kid playing around on a piano in the living room... the kid is producing "music" in that moment, but nobody would say the kid is a music producer... if you know what i'm trying to say...

So what defines if you fall into the category of a producer, or a hobby musician? I'm sure there's a million opinions about the right answer to that question.

I'll try to make a personal example that works for me:

When i was 16 years old, i did one semester of the swiss jazz school in lucerne. Prior to this i played guitar since i was 13 years old. It was a hobby, i took some lessions, nothing overly serious. Then in jazz school i had to practice 5-8 hours a day, play in an organised band, take music theory classes, etc. I love music, and i got a lot better, but i quit after one semester.

If i would have continued the jazz school (i love music, but not enough to be a professional musician), i would have spent roughly five years studying music, practicing every day for hours, etc. Once i would have succesfully done that, i would have been a certified professional musician, accepted to give music lessons at school for example, etc, blabla... you get the idea.

Now if you do the same with producing music, with "making beats", with whatever you wanna call it. It can be Karate or anything actually. But the key is time and practice (and that it is your ALL and EVERYTHING, who you ARE).... If you do what happens in jazz school, you spend years doing your thing EVERY DAY for HOURS. Then, and only then you become really good at it, and by good, i mean good enough to call yourself a professional, or in this case, a "producer".

Premo is a producer, Pete Rock is a producer, Lewis Parker is a producer, J Dilla, or the guy nobody knows who spent his time the same like those big names did. Every day, hour after hour, practicing their craft.

I make beats today like i played the guitar before i went to jazz school. I love it, but i don't do it for hours every day. I do it some days, some other days i might prefer to just play video games for hours, or i might enjoy a week of holidays and not see anything of my equipment, etc... In short, it's my HOBBY. I make beats, i'm not a beat maker. I produce music, but i'm definitely NOT a producer.

I think everybody can honestly answer this for themselves.

Besides that...

Ill-Green wrote:I hate 1thought1's family. What a bunch of know-it-alls!

No offense.

Word.

So to make this whole issue a little less complicated. You probably have making music as one of your favorite hobbies, and your family should just accept that and love you for who you are, even if they are ignorant to your favorite hobby.

Peace.

PS: This thread is almost a year old, good job...

jibber wrote:I think the picture posted above is quite accurate...

I've recently discussed this with a friend actually. And in my opinion, the issue is that A LOT of people who practice "beat making" as a hobby, are calling it "producing music", and call themself a producer.

From a basic point of view, you are correct in this. You hit pads, they make "music", so this means you are actually the producer of that "music" in that moment. However! The same is true for a four year old kid playing around on a piano in the living room... the kid is producing "music" in that moment, but nobody would say the kid is a music producer... if you know what i'm trying to say...

So what defines if you fall into the category of a producer, or a hobby musician? I'm sure there's a million opinions about the right answer to that question.

I'll try to make a personal example that works for me:

When i was 16 years old, i did one semester of the swiss jazz school in lucerne. Prior to this i played guitar since i was 13 years old. It was a hobby, i took some lessions, nothing overly serious. Then in jazz school i had to practice 5-8 hours a day, play in an organised band, take music theory classes, etc. I love music, and i got a lot better, but i quit after one semester.

If i would have continued the jazz school (i love music, but not enough to be a professional musician), i would have spent roughly five years studying music, practicing every day for hours, etc. Once i would have succesfully done that, i would have been a certified professional musician, accepted to give music lessons at school for example, etc, blabla... you get the idea.

Now if you do the same with producing music, with "making beats", with whatever you wanna call it. It can be Karate or anything actually. But the key is time and practice (and that it is your ALL and EVERYTHING, who you ARE).... If you do what happens in jazz school, you spend years doing your thing EVERY DAY for HOURS. Then, and only then you become really good at it, and by good, i mean good enough to call yourself a professional, or in this case, a "producer".

Premo is a producer, Pete Rock is a producer, Lewis Parker is a producer, J Dilla, or the guy nobody knows who spent his time the same like those big names did. Every day, hour after hour, practicing their craft.

I make beats today like i played the guitar before i went to jazz school. I love it, but i don't do it for hours every day. I do it some days, some other days i might prefer to just play video games for hours, or i might enjoy a week of holidays and not see anything of my equipment, etc... In short, it's my HOBBY. I make beats, i'm not a beat maker. I produce music, but i'm definitely NOT a producer.

I think everybody can honestly answer this for themselves.

Besides that...

Ill-Green wrote:I hate 1thought1's family. What a bunch of know-it-alls!

No offense.

Word.

So to make this whole issue a little less complicated. You probably have making music as one of your favorite hobbies, and your family should just accept that and love you for who you are, even if they are ignorant to your favorite hobby.

Peace.

PS: This thread is almost a year old, good job...

Co-sign to that, spot on what I view the producer label as - the people who produce someone elses music and has control over the creative idea in a way. Pete Rock produced records and even tho I make music everyday I still dont feel like I wanna call myself a producer because that makes me feel like I wanna put myself in the same category as Pete Rock, who I am nothing like, hes the shit and im not.
You have to "earn" it in a corny elitist way.