Can Good Production Save Bad Music? - Fleshing Out the Framework Effect | MUSIC is not a GENRE - Season 4 Episode #25

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There’s a sort-of old saying: “You can’t put lipstick on a pig.” Meaning dressing something up doesn’t change its inherent nature. Let’s sort this out for real.

First, I’m betting you actually can put lipstick on a pig. It might take sedation or some form of restraint, but it can be done. Second, has anyone ever asked the pig if it even wants lipstick? I have a feeling it’s totally fine being what it is. Third and pretty crucial, does the lipstick’s ineffectiveness mean the pig itself is not worthy? Finally and most relevant to this podcast, is this even true? If you put enough “lipstick” in enough areas, can you change the impression the pig makes enough to render its inherent nature virtually irrelevant?

Okay and fifth, what does this have to do with music? When you listen to a song, all that really matters is how it makes you feel. Do you like it? Does it evoke the emotion you want it to? Will you want to listen to it again? When it comes to gut level reactions, all the steps the song went through to get to its finished state are immaterial. If you think a song is good, it’s good. If you don’t care for it, it’s not. This is why it’s not just hard but futile to try to judge the quality of any kind of art.

But we do. The curious – those of us who take music seriously – do. We’re not satisfied with first impressions. We know instinctively – and often from direct experience – that we’ll find as many people who agree as disagree with our opinion of a song. If consensus says a song is trash, there are likely millions of people who think it’s great. If the accepted wisdom is that a song is genius, there are millions of people who are indifferent to or flat out hate it.

This is what makes the process of creating music magical, even illusory. That general impression – trash or genius – is shaped by more factors than most of us are aware of. When we absorb a song, we tend to gravitate towards the big three: lyrics, music, performance. But it doesn’t stop there. There’s the arrangement & instrumentation (does it have guitar, drums, keys, backing vocals, etc.). The recording quality & aesthetic (lo-fi or hi-f, crisp or warm). The riffs & hooks (melodic lines or power chords or anything else not fundamental to the original written song). And the style itself (strictly one genre, a mix of sounds, consistent & comfortingly predictable, all over the place & excitingly experimental).

All of those are part of the music production process. I’ve stated often that if a song is good, then it can be played & recorded in just about any way and still be good. It’s why I like to do song covers that are different from the originals. But what if a song isn’t good? What if, when you get down to the basics of the song – music & lyrics – there’s not much there, or what is there is kinda not great? Can all that production work save that song? Can good production turn a clunky, threadbare, or otherwise poorly conceived song into a gem?

Yes. Yes it can. It has done so thousands of times. I don’t often point blank answer the questions I pose. Most of the time they’re red herrings put up as entrees into a wider discussion. And sure, that discussion is happening here too. But this time around I can say unequivocally that good production – innovative & intuitive use of all those elements above – can create the near universal impression that a bad song is a great song. It can even cause you to question what the nature of a well written song really is.

REC - "Love in Stockholm" (from Distance To Empty)

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