Music Production Mentoring

Covered top-down vs. bottom-up mixing philosophy and how to find the workflow that fits your process. Walked through a full vocal chain demonstration — EQ, stacked compression, de-essing, saturation, vocal doubling, ping-pong delay, and reverb bussing — with live examples on a vocal-and-guitar arrangement. Discussed automation as the final step that separates a functional mix from a finished one, along with mic selection, plosive control, and the value of low-stakes practice projects.

We worked on extracting chord progressions from electronic tracks purely by ear — no instruments allowed during the listening phase. The exercise focused on using the voice as an analytical tool: singing bass notes, tracing scale direction, identifying the tonic, and then doing a final instrument check to confirm. We worked through three tracks, identified their key centers and progressions, and connected the process to harmonic series concepts to explain why certain note relationships are so easy to hear.

Covered the limitations of traditional music theory when applied to contemporary rock and songwriting, using chord quality recognition and ear training as a practical entry point. Discussed how borrowing chords outside a key's diatonic set is common and useful, and why chasing what sounds good often matters more than fitting strict theoretical rules. Offered guidance on learning songs by ear, alternate guitar tunings, guitar setup and maintenance, and using a DAW to capture and develop ideas.

We explored secondary dominants using a real-world example: the chord progression from "Hush" by The Marias (A minor 9 – D7 – G major 7 – G7). The central question was how to identify and label non-diatonic dominant seventh chords in a progression whose key center is itself ambiguous. Discussion moved through multiple analytical lenses — five-of-five, five-of-four, modal interchange, and 2-5-1 in a relative major — without settling on a single definitive answer, which itself became part of the lesson.

Covered foundational house music production concepts including beat structure, syncopation, bass line writing, sidechain compression, and basic mixing/mastering in FL Studio. Worked through a live build of a simple house beat from percussion patterns through bass layering, chord movement, and final limiting. Also reviewed a student's Ableton project built from hardware effects and discussed next steps for arrangement and sound design.

Listened to 3 chord progressions blocked and arpeggiated. Students to identify which chords contained 7ths. Followed by aural breakdown of each chord—strategies for hearing 7ths in chords vertically AND horizontally through chord progressions. Interesting notes, triads and open 5ths sounds clearer than 7th chords which tend to add bits of heaviness. Explored different colors achieved through various voicings.