“A record producer is an individual
working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage
the recording (i.e. “production”) of an artist’s music. A producer has
many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for
the project, selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching the artist and
musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions, and
supervising the entire process through mixing and mastering.. .. The
music producer’s job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music.” – Wikipedia
It was the wee hours of the morning, a time when no matter what coast you are on you must be a night owl or insomniac like me. I was watching the food channel when I noticed the led light on my phone had changed from green to red indicating I had a message. The little “U” in the upper right corner of the screen made me aware it was Twitter, and who would be @ing me but none other than Mr. SteffNasty himself. He was no longer Steff Nasty though, he was now Steff Reed. The thought of his name change intrigued me but I spoke nothing of it, he was saying he had a surprise for me. After months of waiting for the green light I was finally being invited to observe Steff in his natural habitat, a studio session.
The next afternoon I headed uptown on the train and walked a few blocks of his neighborhood before arriving at his building and being buzzed up. I could hear him and his guest having a conversation before I even cleared the last flight of stairs to the fourth floor, when talking about music Steff has a passion that is undeniable. I walked into a room with couches, a coffee table, a TV, mac, keyboards, the usual. What was the unusual was the art work on the walls ranging from eccentric paintings to tribal masks and statues. I couldn’t help but notice the book shelf along the left wall full of books about music, legends, and Harlem.
I took a seat on the couch with his guest Darien Dean and for a while I just listened to their casual conversation as I jotted down notes on the atmosphere. As is stated in the quote I noted from Wikipedia a producer is more than just someone who makes a beat, it is someone who sees the execution of a song the whole way through. So when I heard Steff given Darien advice on how to approach the people he brings into his circle to be part of the team he was not in artist mode, but in producer mode. Giving advice on how to get the best results and how to approach his artistry and the quality of work others he needs puts into it. I continued to observe my surroundings getting a grasp for the mood Steff preferred while creating awed by some of the paintings and intrigued by some of the books.
It was when he started to ask Darien what kind of song he wanted to make that the collaboration began and I prepared myself to soak all that was about to happen in. Coming to the conclusion they would just let the beat take them somewhere, Steff invited me to come sit next to him on the couch to watch the process up close. After loading Logic pro and starting a new session he pulled out a key board and turned the lights off and just started playing around on the keys, slipping into a zone. Abruptly he stops and starts going through files in logic finding sounds till he settles on one and start tapping out a few keys. His hands move so fast as he moves from one layer of sounds to the next, making four in total before he switches to a cello introducing a whole new vibe. Recording another layer with the piano and then doubling that level. Next came the bass guitar, an instrument I love so when he switched the bottom of the screen to a way where you could see the actual notes as he played on the piano I was smitten with this process I was watching.
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| Steff and I |
Going through the motions for a few more minutes Steff then stops the music and asks Darien what he has come up with on his end. Having thought on an idea from a few days ago he starts to sing a few lyrics he had recorded in a early morning moment a few days prior. In this moment they go from begging the structure of one song into another. Steff, breaking the keyboard back out begins a new tune as Darien gets the keys and punctuations together in his lyrics repeating them and adjusting as he goes. Next the mic is in front of Darien and he is recording his hook as a reference.
Here is where things get tricky, when making a song by yourself your opinion and input is the only one that matters at the time, but when collaborating things change. While trying to find a definite topic to write about taking both Darien and Steffs ideas Steff brings up a blank document and they both start throwing out keywords and he types them down. Darien running in a political direction and Steff in a more self-reformation approach is when the producer really comes out of Steff. In order to make a good collaboration both artists need to have a connection to what they are singing. Being that they both had a theology of “open your eyes” based on different situations and subjects Steff took it upon himself to blend the two concept together. Steff giving Darien the lead with his hook he had begun forming and adding in the lyrics he himself had chosen to give the two ideas a cohesive link.
Now sometimes a song does come together like magic all in one studio session but 9 times out of 10 a song was recorded and refined in several sessions before being completed.I was fortunate to see the beginning process of what it takes to make an R&B/Soul song. After they laid a few references and spoke a little more on what direction they wanted to take the song in it was time to part ways for the evening giving each of them some time to come up with a verse, deciding they would meet at a later date to complete the track.
Everything Steff did in that session was more than just an artist at work. It takes more than just a good voice to complete a song from the start to finish. To sit and make a beat, find a melody in it, and take that melody to wrap it around a concept or vision you see in your mind and verbally express it is amazing. To listen to someone sing and mumble a tune and find a certain stroke of notes on the keyboard to complement its melody takes a certain natural ear for music. Not everybody can do these things, and to not be recognized for that is absurd. What may take a team of 5 people I say done in one man.
Maybe not everyone is as interested in the talents behind the scene but I have an inquisitive nature that draws me to wanting to understand just how intensive the creative process of making an R&b song can be. If you really sit back and read all I wrote, and realize I was only speaking on the making of a section of a beat for a hook and some slight melodies and lyrics to help form where the song is going, you will understand that it takes someone with an amazing gift to bring these songs to you.
Be sure to check out Steff Reeds new
website and all his social networks as a little birdie told me he is
gearing up for some major things before this year is out. I may not of
noted all the accomplishments he already has but his Bio can get you hip to all that. Just KNOW this man is not someone new to the game.
Twitter: @WhoisSteffReed
Facebook: Who Is Steff Reed?
Youtube: WhoIsSteffReed
SoundCloud: Steff Reed
and WhoIsSteffReed on the Instagram!
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