Protect and Defend
Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Kylee Swenson, Remix Editor
Making music takes so much out of you. There are the bad days in your rehearsal space when, for example, you do a little spring-cleaning, move the amps and monitors around, and suddenly the mix isn't right anymore. Or maybe you have an off day performance-wise — your hands go lame, your timing is off, and you flub all over the place. Or back in your recording studio, you might be trying to mold a song just the way you hear it in your head, but it won't come out right. It's the rough, defeated days — the ones where you want to flip out and quit — that will make you fiercely protective of your music. After all the pain and frustration, the last thing you want is for anyone to steal your hard work.
For this reason, I can understand why someone like Danger Mouse would want to keep his cards close to his vest. For a few months, I'd been coordinating a cover story with Gnarls Barkley. There were tons of e-mails and phone calls and back and forth. First, he didn't want to divulge a gear list, and he was wary about talking about his production process. Then a New York Times article surfaced with photos of Mr. Mouse's studio, and we were back to getting a gear list…but no recording process. On the day that the interviews were supposed to happen, Danger Mouse refused to talk about any gear or production. And apparently, the gear in the New York Times article was a joke. (Do the NYT editors know that?) Seeing as how Remix is not a cooking magazine, we couldn't change tack and talk about his favorite recipes, so I killed the story. Oh, the pain. Based on our poll at remixmag.com, you really wanted to hear from Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse, so I apologize that you won't be seeing Gnarls on the cover. But we do have some awesome interviews coming up. And the word is, Cee-Lo will be back with solo and Goodie Mob albums, so he'll most likely be talking to us later on.
Still, all this makes me wonder: Why are some producers so reluctant to talk shop? If we know what gear you use, does that mean we can take away your thunder? All you have to do is listen to Lil Jon and figure out how to emulate his signature synth melody, in about four seconds. But he's still making money. And what about the more complex recordings, like those from Gnarls Barkley? If we knew how Danger Mouse recorded his ideas and had an idea of what gear he used, could we become Danger Mouse clones?
The way I look at it, reading about how Gnarls Barkley records and writes music can only inspire and teach us. We could try to copy the crap out of Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse, but we're never going to be them. There are too many factors involved in making a great Gnarls album — amazing songwriting, Cee-Lo's gritty but soulful voice, Danger Mouse's technical ability and creative studio experimentation, talented musicians, gear — for us to follow their recipe exactly and take what's theirs. And no matter how much you try to steal someone's ideas, music either connects with people or it doesn't. Remix can relay advice on how to improve as a producer and songwriter. But the rest is up to you. So to all you producers out there, please don't be afraid to teach people what you know. It can only make for better music for the rest of us.
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