I was listening tonight to a mentee’s song. They’re working on a new project, in which they’re singing. Kind of chant-sing-rapping, in that Gen Z blurring-the-lines way. The vocal is fairly repetitive, stemming I believe from their desire for this project to be about capturing little snapshot moments. I had this response, which went somewhere I didn’t expect, so I thought I’d share it:
This is great! My one thought is that it feels repetitive. I think there might be a balance to be found where it still feels like snapshots but also you're guiding the listener through a narrative journey. I don't want to find myself spacing out; I want to be gripped. Even if the thing I'm being gripped by is just a little captured vibe.
When you let the listener space out, you are ceding control of the experience to them instead of maintaining control of the journey yourself. That can be okay to do, depending on the genre and how much you want to be the one in charge of the journey. Personally, I like to be in tight control; in a sense, that's what I view production as being.
What does controlling the listener’s journey look like in your recording practice? Hit reply; I’d be curious to know whether you think about this and if so what your thoughts are.
Control / I’m here — jamie