Producer’s Course

We had enough musicians to split the students into four bands. We noticed that bands didn’t (formally) have a producer. I think there is room for a producer’s course. A producer’s course would look like an advanced musician’s course except that it would not be focused on any particular instrument. Rather, it would look at some of the instruments and be directed toward arranging those instruments into something that serves the song. These producers would then be assigned, one (or two) per band to help the bands deal with various issues, such as:

• Choosing a groove / keeping steady time
• Deciding when instruments come in / out
• Voicing the instruments to make space for each other and vocals
• Arranging vocals (melody first)
• Playing to musicians’ strengths
• Deciding on the intent of the song

Class would:

• Begin with discussions on favorite arrangements, detailing what is going on
• Move on to discussing how we would do things differently
• Discuss practically how to help produce our individual bands

I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback on this class!