mukund shyam

I fancy myself to be somewhat of a musician.

I have been learning tabla for almost 9 years now, and I’ve been producing music for over a year now.

There are definite advantages to being clued in into how music is made, but it definitely doesn’t let me listen to music as music.

On a never-ending journey to become better at music, I always listen to music with the ear of a producer.

Whenever I listen to music, I always try to figure out how the producer created that sound, what plugins they used and how they mixed it.

I try to dig deep, learn about the vocal productions and the instruments and stuff only other musicians care about.

This definitely has advantages.

I end up learning a lot more about production techniques and things people use.

I hear a lot more of the ear candy the producer and composer put into the song, which 99% of people won’t listen to.

I end up appreciating the work more because I know how much work it takes.

But there are most definitely disadvantages.

If a mistake is made in the mix or the production, I can hear it right away and it’s super jarring, and even if the rest of the song is amazing, I won’t really be able to listen to it the same way again.

In reality shows, if pitch correction on vocals is too aggressive, its too jarring to listen to. Even if the rest of the song is awesome, I won’t be able to get past that.

Lastly, I just won’t be able to listen to music as music. I always end up digging too deep into it.

While there are definite advantages and disadvantages for being a musician listening to music, I maintain that I and all other musicians have a unique perspective on music and how its made; and I believe its a net gain. Also, if I don’t end up digging into the mix and the production and the lyrics, I know that the song is good; and I end up liking a bunch of really high level, amazing songs.

Thanks for reading.