In one form or another, I’ve been doing this RAP thing for 20 years, and even if you’ve only seen or heard bits and pieces of it, you know that the bedrock of everything I do is music. All five parts of our craft are extremely important. The writing is where the idea begins. Interpretation by the voice is where the emotion is amplified. Effects add emphasis and often a dose of reality. The final mix puts a fine, polished finish on the whole effort. But the music? The music is the ship that everything sails on across an ocean of noise. (Hmm…sounds cinematic.)
I talk about and demonstrate the mechanics of music most often because A…it is often the foundation of what we, as producers, create. And B…I’m a simple guy, and music is probably the easiest thing to teach. Being a boomer, I often take the path of least resistance.
This month, I continue with the 5-part series of videos dealing with the five elements of production:
1. Writing
2. Voiceover
3. Music
4. Effects
5. Final Mix
If you’ve been keeping score, we’re up to part three: Music, but instead of trying to teach you everything there is to know about music (likely an impossible task), I’m going to concentrate on one aspect that I happen to think is the most important aspect of music for the audio producer: Beat-Matching. Let’s not get confused, I am NOT talking about beat-mixing. Beat-mixing is when two songs run at the same time, something club deejays do all the time, blending two songs into something new. Beat-matching is the simplest, easiest way to give your production a sense of FLOW. When I critique people’s production, the flow is my top criterion. If the flow is working, the message has a chance of getting through. If it’s not…well, no soup for you.
So pop up a small batch of corn and pour yourself a tasty beverage. Here we go...
