Blog #25: Where Does Songwriting End, and Production Begin?

Let’s start this blog post off with a couple of questions…

Does songwriting and production intersect??

I believe so, yes.?

OK… So then, where do they intersect?

The short answer? I don't know.

This is a topic that’s been on my mind for a long time. The role of producer is so broad and yet so full of nuance at the same time. It has evolved a lot over time as budgets, demands, and accessibility to making music have changed. And, even then, you have a huge range of different styles of producer… Think, Rick Rubin vs someone like Charlie Puth or Ryan Tedder.?

To put it simply, I truly believe it is a massive grey area. Songwriting and production are incredibly intertwined processes in music creation, so much so that it can be difficult to see where one ends and the other begins. Both play crucial roles in shaping the final outcome of a piece of music, and where they intersect significantly influences the character and impact of a song.

What Influences Our Writing?

Songwriting is a weird, wonderful, and often elusive thing to explain and quantify. When exploring songwriting, it's important to consider how different writing methods, mediums, instruments, and sounds influence the creative process. For example, writing a song with a guitar in your hands will give different results than composing in a DAW using loops or samples. Each way of writing brings its own set of tones and options, influencing the structure, melody, and overall feel of the song.

Defining What I Mean

When I use the term "production" or "producing," I automatically include all the steps of music production:

Pre-production: This involves looking at song format, structure, and refining it. Trimming the fat - as I like to call it.

Arrangement: Deciding how the song unfolds, what it might sound like, which instruments come in at what time, and how the parts are layered.

Music production: The overall process of bringing the song to life, including choosing the right sounds and effects.

Stylistic input: Deciding on the genre, mood, and vibe of the song.

Vocal writing edit: Seeing if any lyrics need to be changed, if verses need to be shortened, editing existing parts if they’re feeling laboured and lacking flow. Basically, refining and smoothing out the melody and lyrics.

Vocal arrangement: How the vocals are delivered, harmonised, and layered.

Recording and editing: Capturing the performances and making necessary tweaks.

Final mix: Balancing all the elements to create a polished, cohesive track.

All of these elements, I think, can be considered aspects of the songwriting process because they contribute to the refinement and realisation of the initial idea. And, a producer worth their weight should have good, and significant, input into all of the above. The process of developing and perfecting a song is just as important as the creation of the first draft.

Key Questions

The distinction between songwriting and production often comes down to a few key factors:

How: How are you using the tools, and in what way? Are you using them to create the first draft of a song idea, or are you developing it into a demo or more?

When: At what point is production introduced into the process? Is it from the very beginning, or does it come in after the song has been written?

Context: Sometimes, writing on a sole instrument can also be considered production. For example, if a song is written on an acoustic guitar and is intended to stay arranged that way with only voice and guitar, that is both a songwriting and production choice.

The Role of Producers

Good and great producers use their intuition and experience to elevate a song. Ideally, they should know how to do all of the things listed above; from pre-production all the way to, at least, a production mix (if they’re not doing the final mix).?

This means that production isn’t really about just production. It requires a deep understanding of, and experience in, songwriting. All of these tiny, but incredibly important creative decisions during the pre-production and production phases could be considered songwriting because they are integral to shaping the final product. This is where communication and managing expectations comes in.

Wrapping Up

When looking at big questions like this, I tend to revert back to my favourite answer for all things music and audio: It depends. The line between songwriting and production is blurry and subjective, which means that the answer is also. The tools and methods we use, when and how they’re used, and the context of the song all play roles in this complex question.

At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to communication. It could be; a matter of negotiating with an artist who already has a song idea, practical like equal splits from a writing session, or something discovered through the process of an artist working with the producer and realising that they’ve had a massive impact on the song outcome.

At the risk of sounding like a trope… Every song is different, so it will have different requirements. I’ve produced work that’s as stripped back as a bass, acoustic guitar, shaker, and single lead vocal. And, I’ve produced work which is balls-to-the-walls full production with a super dense mix. One cannot consider them the same thing.

What seems like a really simple question actually requires a multitude of nuanced answers. So, I hope that this helps.