Feedback

As a producer, receiving feedback about your music can be helpful, constructive and give you an idea of how people will react to your ideas. On the other hand, feedback from the wrong person can be simply confusing or discouraging.

Knowing whose feedback is valuable and how to interpret that information is a skill that will greatly improve your productions. The following post explores a few ways to get most of out the feedback you receive.

Why?

Producing music is a little bit like performing magic. To a magician, a trick is a series of moves which leads to a result. From the perspective of the audience however, it simply appears as magic. 

Similarly when you have created a piece of music, you know every sample and plugin that has been used to create it. This often leads to a track sounding like a collective of parts rather than as a whole. 

By receiving feedback, you can see the effect your music has on an audience who is simply experiencing the music. You might find out that a section is too long or a particular sound is irritating to the listener. On the other hand if your music is well received, it can provide confirmation that you are heading in the right direction. 

Who To Ask?

People who understand and enjoy the type of music you make will give you the best feedback as they know what is correct for the genre and will pick up on what is out of place.

Great feedback often comes from more experienced producers and engineers as they can shed light on technical and stylistic elements, drawing on a depth of knowledge.

However, It can also prove useful to listen to people with little to no audio production experience as they will react purely on how the music makes them feel. 

Sort It Out

It’s important to sort the useful opinion from the irrelevant. Although difficult, it’s also important not to put too much weight on any one response; positive, negative or indifferent.

As a rule of thumb, if you are confident with a decision you have made and someone disagrees with it, you should stay true to your decision. If the feedback brings your focus to an area or element that you previously overlooked or were never quite sure of, it’s a good indication that it needs work.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, music is about creativity and individuality. The combination of sounds you have chosen and the way they are represented are unique to you. If you have a vision, you should stay true to that.

Although feedback can be a great way to gauge how people will respond to your work, it can also put strong feelings of doubt in your mind when there shouldn’t be. Be wise about who you ask for advice and don’t be afraid of someone’s opinion if it goes against what you strongly believe. 

If you would like some feedback from our team, please feel free to get in touch here