Teach 412 Jamaican bands by Pete Bulanow
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!
