Why Limitations Matter in Music Production
Limitations make you better ~~
I used to want to stockpile music production gear. I wanted everything - every microphone, compressor, preamp, instrument I could get my hands on. I’d sit down to work on a session and drift into the online marketplaces every time I hit a wall. ‘This sound isn’t working… what if I had xx instead? That’s the sound I need. How much is it to buy that right now? I need to buy this - then I can make this song.’
As a music producer it’s fun to look at the infinite number of shiny things that make up your favorite sounds. Music production gear is all about the possibilities of what you can make with it. If only I had a real autotune unit, I could finally sound just like Cher singing ‘do you believe in life after love’…
But lately I’ve shifted the opposite direction. Yes, it’s fun to have everything, but I’ve been fairly mobile for the past few months, and carrying an entire recording studio around with me would be a nightmare. I’ve made a lot of little decisions along the way, about what to keep with me, about what to leave behind. I’ve had a lot of fun working with the limitations I set for myself. I’ve just recorded an EP with nothing but a sampler, a synth, a Spanish guitar, and a crazy talented rock singer in Christopher Kenji.
One thing I’ve learned is that when you have less, you really have to learn how to use what’s on hand. Often, that means using things in ways that they’re not meant to be used. The Spanish guitar became a drum, a high hat, and pitched down it became a bass. The drum machine recorded distorted guitars and pitched them down for more bass sounds. Chris recorded the craziest slide guitar solo I’ve ever heard from a nylon string guitar.
What’s exciting about working with these limitations is you can make things that sound entirely unique. The sounds we were able to get on this EP are crazy to me. It doesn’t sound like anything else I have a reference for, and that’s part of the nature of collaboration in music, but it’s also part of working within your limitations, and figuring out how to push the limits to make things work.
For more on this idea, Nick Murphy (Chet Faker) has a great take on how helpful limitations can be in his recording process -
“The less options you have, you kind of just get on with the song and you work with what you’ve got”
I couldn’t agree more.