Just a theory, but think about it. Dr. Dre, Dr. Luke, David Guetta, Max Martin … all were DJs at some point in their career before becoming famous record producers.
I took piano lessons for 10 years. How much closer did this training bring me to writing Katy Perry’s next hit? I remember practicing the left hand, then the right hand, then sight reading - then more complicated phrases and gestures, so on and so on …
In contrast, what sort of training does a DJ undergo? By definition, a DJ has to listen and analyze music before combining it in interesting ways to create sounds that crowds go crazy over. And what’s moreso, he does this from the very beginning of his career! A DJ is always concerned about how something sounds and if it will move the crowd. A DJ is not intimidated by or concerned about how hard something is or was to play - that is what a sampler is for. I suggest that DJ training, while maybe more indirect, is much more related to music production than say, learning to play the piano. I’m not saying it replaces instrument training - it doesn’t - but I am saying it is much more relevant to record production. A DJ is paid to manipulate people with music. He needs no teacher - the lessons are inherent in the practice itself. How many times can you hear yourself telling the fledgling singer/songwriter “mmm, nice but that just isn’t interesting.” It takes a while to understand that … making hit records isn’t necessarily about how well you can play a complicated passage.
More often than not, a DJ learns to start with the end in mind. He’s intentionally slowing the crowd down or bringing them to their feet. He picks and mixes music that he knows will do the trick. He doesn’t have a job if his mixes aren’t exciting. Because a DJ mixes whole songs and because he obviously can’t play all those instruments, he is forced to hear things in his ‘minds’ ear; and if not, he is going to at least learn how to experiment … and experiment he will on a SONG level, not the guitar part level. How long does it take a fledgling singer/songwriter to think and write songs like that? A DJ immediately cares less about how an individual part sounds and more about how everything sounds together. Note that while Mozart may have been a genius - he wasn’t a virtuoso pianist or cellist. Watch the movie and you’ll see :) He hears finished pieces in his head and can’t write them down fast enough. Same goes for Beethoven. Vladimir Horowitz and Itzhak Perlman are great performers but Beethoven and Mozart were songwriters - the producers - of their day.
A DJ also gets constant feedback very early on in his career. He is in constant contact with people - he is always hearing what is good and bad and deals with constant requests for the same songs over and over again. He can’t help but be affected by that. Whether he likes the music or not is a different question - after years of this type of training, a good DJ should be able to pick hits before they ever hit the airwaves.
Obviously, it isn’t as simple as giving a DJ a studio and hoping for the best … Dr. Luke played guitar on SNL for 10 years before leaving to produce music full time; but you can imagine how potent the combination of a proficient guitarist/painist and DJ — and if they can sing too (Max Martin)? Its all over.
If you want to write and produce music and especially if you’ve had any type of classical instrument training - find some turntables and DJ in your spare time. At the very least, try your hand at making a few mix tapes. While it won’t replace your musical instrument talent, I can’t help but think it will improve your songwriting and production skills.
