Two Signatures

Lovelies,

Two things stand out to me about being a music producer.

First, producers must be artists. They must attune to songs and figure out what they need. They must audition parts in their minds then audition those same parts in their Protools sessions. They must follow their thoughts and emotions down the winding path of how they want the music to sound.

To pull this off they must be open. Their minds a cloudless sky of possibility. Their hands gripping a mile wide butterfly net to collect even the most wayward idea. Their lips poised to speak, "yes!"

And second, producers must be leaders. They must build cultures of safety and enthusiasm. They must craft then reinforce structures that allow everyone in the room to relax, to risk, to grow into themselves. They must direct every ounce of their energy to service.

To pull this off they must be strong. Knees unbuckled by the weight of so many hopes, needs, doubts. Radically boundaried. Encased in self-awareness. Never far from their sacred "no!"

I suppose my point is that these two roles have wildly different signatures. They are two different archetypes of person. How can one be both? Let alone on the same afternoon?

So much of my development as producer has been growing my artistry. Thrill of a lifetime! When I listen to music, I hear so much more than I did two years ago. When I arrange music, I am able to capture so many more ideas from the cloudless sky of my mind. More practically, I've committed myself to fluency with the 2023 technologies that allow me to execute my ideas as never before.

But it didn't take long for the truth to drop like bricks: Music producer is a leadership position too. And though I get away with it as an artist, in the hinterlands of leadership, my old modus operandi of ignoring myself and recovering later is unsustainable.

It's more complicated than the ARA 2 Melodyne integration!

All my love,

Rachel