Advanced Audio Engineering
Course 12: Pre-Production: Song 2

In this course, you’ll get those creative juices flowing while prepping for the recording of your second song. You’ll dive into all the music lingo so that you and your producer/engineer are on the same page when it comes to terms. No matter if you’re collaborating with a band or functioning as a solo artist, understanding the language of music is key in order to create something everybody digs! Let’s get involved in some serious pre-production – this will be essential to lay down that one-of-a-kind sound.

In course 12, you will be covering some music theory and music fundamentals, discovering important concepts in rhythm such as time signatures, note values, and tempo, and you will be going over some very commonly used song structure styles that will help you understand how songs of different genres are put together.

You’ll also dive into song arrangement. The overall purpose of this section is to help you think more like a producer. Here you will be learning how to focus on particular elements of a song to help with a song’s overall feel and keep it interesting to a listener. Song arrangement is essential in creating a unique sound for an artist, group, or band. You will be overviewing the topics of melody, lyrics, instrumentation, and practice.

Working with an artist as a producer/engineer means more than just coming up with ideas and getting their music finished. It’s about fostering respect from the beginning of pre-production all the way to the finished product. As a producer, it’s your job to get in sync with the artist, brainstorming ways for them to communicate effectively with their audience through instrumentation, structure, lyrics, melody, and so on. Respect each other’s opinions, take all good ideas into account – even if they’re not yours – and you’ll be sure to create something awesome together.