Behind the scenes with pop songwriters, beatmakers, etc.
August 27, 2014 2:57 PM   Subscribe

I am fascinated by the world of pop songwriting, and have read some articles about stars like Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Jeff Bhasker and anyone else in today's pop world... Now, where can I see video of them at work? Even if it's just a scene or two from a larger tv show or documentary.
posted by xo to Media & Arts (7 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
You might like the Re:Generation Music Project. I thought it was interesting and well done. Description from website:

FIVE DJs TURN THE TABLES ON THE HISTORY OF MUSIC

Follow DJ Premier, Mark Ronson, Skrillex, Pretty Lights and The Crystal Method as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music. From the classical perfection of the Berklee Symphony Orchestra to the bayou jams of New Orleans jazz, our five distinctive DJs collaborate with some of today's biggest musicians to discover how our musical past is influencing the future.
posted by doctord at 3:04 PM on August 27, 2014


Best answer: If you are not wedded to the video aspect then the Sodajerker podcast is probably the best thing you've never heard!
posted by merocet at 3:39 PM on August 27, 2014


Dr Luke at work. He's sitting behind a computer.

This New Yorker article about him is great.

Cyrus told me, “Contrary to what he thinks, Dr. Luke isn’t always right. I bet him that ‘Wrecking Ball’ would go to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it did. Now he has to buy me a ten-thousand-dollar toilet. I’ll be thinking of him every time I go.”
posted by roger ackroyd at 3:41 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: A few years back, BBC had a three-part series called Secrets of the Pop Song in which UK songwriter Guy Chambers tried to write the perfect pop song together with various people like Mark Ronson and Rufus Wainwright - and various forms of "pop". They discussed songs came together and showed various ways of crafting pop music. It was really interesting. You might, er, be able to find it somewhere?
posted by kariebookish at 4:04 PM on August 27, 2014


Steely Dan: The Making of Aja is pretty good. Maybe not your cup of tea, but a great pop record. Has interviews with not only Fagen & Becker, but also the session musicians that worked on it, including the great drummer Bernard Purdy.
posted by Bron at 5:32 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]


Deadmau5 streams from the studio regularly.

Here's an hour of him working on The Veldt.

It's basically the most boring thing in the world if you don't love listening to tiny variations on the same 30 seconds over and over again for an hour.
posted by empath at 7:00 AM on August 28, 2014


There are also like thousands of in studio tutorials from dance music producers on youtube.

For example Chris Lake

Future Music has many many more on their channel.
posted by empath at 7:04 AM on August 28, 2014


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