« Pro Tools Lite | Main | Upgrade to Pro 7? »
January 23, 2005
The consequences of letting non-professionals listen to your recordings
Surgeon-General's warning: Non-professionals, or at least those inexperienced in listening to unfinished productions, can cause damage to composers and producers' self-esteem.
Who are we talking about here? Well-meaning friends, relatives and everything in between. The more vocal ones will have an opinion on every sound you make, whether it was intended that way or not.
One problem I often encounter is that people tend to prefer songs played in a genre they listen to more (e.g. Jazz). They may not therefore appreciate the sounds of Heavy Metal, even if it happens to be the best of its kind. [For clarification, I write the former, not the latter!]
It can even get distracting when your listener has a strong preference for certain types of vocals or instruments, and suggests that your production is changed to fit in that style - even when the song was written with a totally different intention! Of course some suggestions make sense, while others don't. Most listeners are fairly mainstream and won't appreciate something out of the ordinary. (Imagine if I did a Bjork on them!)
What is fascinating is the fact that you can play ten different songs to various people, and get rather different reactions from them. You then realise that they tend to prefer songs in genres they usually listen to. Thus their views are highly subjective and may only be applied within their genres of familiarity.
Example 1. I played trance music (not my own) to a friend who usually listens to musicals and popular jazz. She asked me if my CD skipped.
Example 2. I played chillout/dance music to a friend. She commented that it looped too many times. I thought, hey! Michael Jackson's songs loop many more times than that!
Example 3. I played a hit by French electronica band 'Air' with an intro that looped. Musician friend who usually listens to Christian rock and more trashy stuff, listened to only the first half-minute and asked if all it did was repeat itself.
Also, most people will listen to your song only once. Thus their views only express their first impressions. After numerous experiences, I am sure if I played a chart hit which the listener doesn't know about, he may not necessarily appreciate its worth either. Some hits need to be played multiple times on the radio and TV to grow on people.
Thus the fact that some people leave the session humming a tune I just played to them, is already a sign of success. Now if that could only be multiplied to numerous recording industry execs and fans all over the world.
Don't get me wrong. Some end-listener critic friends may be your target audience (most of them should like your music, if you want to go into Pop or Rock). Their advice is useful. But take it with a fistful of salt.
Posted by vantan at January 23, 2005 10:26 PM
This entry was posted in the following categories: Songwriting & Production .
