Jack Dorsett Level 3 Music Diploma
Industry Role - Music Producer
What is a music producer?
A music producer is very much what it says it is - someone who produces music. Music producers create instrumental tracks for artists, movies, TV shows, games, or even just to release as a piece of music in itself. A long with potentially being involved in something previously listed, as a music producer, you are also able to become things such as; sound engineering, DJing, live engineer, sound designer and many others. Being a music producer is a very, very multifaceted position to be in - if you choose to; you can be versatile and produce many different genres of music, which gives you an advantage as you can work with many types of people and further your musical knowledge.
Health & safety concerns:
One very obvious health and safety concern is having liquid near equipment. While producing, you will be very close to electronic equipment - spilling a drink onto one of these electronics could result in being electrocuted, of course that is only if you touch it while it's wet. It is always advised that you keep liquids away from equipment, and if a liquid is close to equipment; it should not have any open holes for liquid to run through and should have a lid. As well as this, spilling a liquid on an electronic will probably result in broken equipment - which is obviously something that no one wants.
Another concern would be a loss of hearing, or tinnitus. Being in a room with music blaring out of the speakers, or through headphones, for a long time without taking a break is very dangerous. Doing this could result in losing your hearing or developing tinnitus, which is commonly described as either a ringing, clicking, hissing or buzzing sound in your ears. It is strongly advised that, if you're listening to music at a really loud volume, you should take a 10 minute break every hour - alternatively, you can follow the '90/20 rule', which is to take a 20 minute break after every 90 minutes (1 hour and a half).
What qualifications are needed to be a music producer?
This is arguably one of the best reasons to begin your journey in music production; you don't need any qualifications to be successful. However, success only comes easily in rare cases and most of the time you have to invest in a large amount of your time to learn about music production and to practise. It is different for different people though, and a lot of the time it's the people that you know, not what you know, that could give you opportunities in music production. For example; one person could spend 10 hours a day learning about music production and actually producing music, but not branching out and building a network of people within the music industry, and another person could spend 5 hours a day learning and producing and the other 5 hours building a network of artists, other producers, music journalists and basically any type of person to grow their brand - the second person is most likely the favourite to become successful in music.
Even though the second person is more likely to become successful, that doesn't mean you shouldn't work towards a qualification or learn about things within music production, or the music industry as a whole. While working towards a qualification in either school, college or university; you learn about many other things within music - this could push you to branch out and try to do other jobs in music, either or instead of music production. It is also convenient having knowledge in other musical areas because then you're furthering your abilities in multiple things which will probably come in handy in the future.
Why I want to pursue this career:
I started making music when I was 12 on a website a found while I was bored, finding something to do on my computer, called Soundation. Soundation is a free online DAW. I started getting to grips with making music on there and found I actually really enjoyed it. After a while of using this website; I felt the need to upgrade so I got FL Studio. FL Studio is, in my opinion, a very simple DAW - very easy to navigate around and very straight-forward in terms of actually producing music. Ever since then I haven't looked back. I still use FL Studio and , even though I've had my ups and downs, I love making music.
The reason I do music, I think, is because I've always wanted to do something that isn't considered a 'normal job' and I really enjoy it. I've never thought of myself as someone who would do a 'normal job'. Making music, whether that be producing, playing or writing, is one of the best things for me is that it allows me to express myself in a way that a not a lot of other things can, even the idea of making something is exciting me in this moment. I am fully aware of all the negatives that come with this ambition as well; I know things will go wrong and what I want to do requires a lot of hard work and dedication, I know that in the future, if I keep myself motivated and get through all the bad times, I won't regret anything, because I'm extremely confident in my abilities.
Another reason I make music is because I feel the need to leave a legacy and make sure people know and remember who I am. I see most things kind of as if they're a movie - in this one; I'm the main character and all the decisions I make and things that happen around me build up the movie, until of course it ends in a great way in hopefully many, many years to come. Of course, in movies people tend to want everything to work out, especially for the main character, and that's a bit how I see it; I'm making my own movie as I'm writing this, and I want people to learn and talk about my journey as if they've just left the cinema after watching their new favourite movie.
Obviously, another reason is the money. Don't get me wrong, I could not make a single penny from music my entire life but I still think I'd do it until the day I die, however I want to take full advantage of my potential, so one of my goals is to be able to buy whatever I want and not look at the price tag - I think that will make me a lot more comfortable in life.