The Art of Song Production A Guide for Listeners and Songwriters

A new entry by songwriter and educator Andy West dissects and evaluates the myriad techniques and lines of expression that song producers use to create multi-dimensional sonic artefacts of character and durability.

From the author of The Art of Songwriting (2016), this new volumes moves the focus from act to appreciation. The Art of Song Production is for songwriters and song listeners who would like to develop their critical listening skills. Practitioners will be able to acquire problem solving methods that will help them write and record better songs, and listeners will experience song recordings in new ways that help them to gain a more immersive understanding of the songs they love.
The book comprises analyses of a diverse set of song recordings - from Mark Ronson's production of 'Back to Black' by Amy Winehouse to Sylvia Robinson's production of 'Rapper's Delight' by The Sugarhill Gang - that build upon core compositional ideas to create myriad lines of expression that interact and combine to create an effective yet sometimes contradictory set of meanings. Inclusive and insightful, The Art of Song Production enables song listeners to join song creators in gaining access to the unique qualities, dimensions and techniques used in the making of some of the great song recordings of our time. The text draws upon extensive interviews with songwriters and producers and methods of analysis.