Overthinking the production of your songs
September 29, 2026
There are 3 ingredients for a hit song. A lot of musicians overthink this.
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I believe you are absolutely correct, I’m working on an original putting it in Ableton with just an acoustic, Vocals and maybe drums. I absolutely believe the story I am telling even thou I made it up. people say come on you had to do that you didn’t just make it up?
👍
Good points well made as always, Chris. ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it…’ and all that.
Thank you.
Abi x
Good afternoon,
I love your analogy. I overthink my music, mixes and masters more than I should . Family and friends is always saying “your music is beautiful and we can feel the emotions in the lyrics and music.” What you said makes sense to me. I just need to put my creations out for the world to hear.
If your listeners are say that, then you have already won. Sometimes an over thought mix can kill that, but it sounds like you have the best of both worlds.
My grandfather would listen to Caruso and orchestras, etc on 78’s in his living room. I spent a lot of time with him listening. He had attended hundreds of various live performances but didn’t mind one whit hearing them on that old record player. The only time he might complain would be about a lousy singer or instrumentalist [usually a particular old blues singer or a piano out of tune].
The sound mattered less than the spirit, right?
Hey Chris.. you never have crazy ideas! They are creative options. How you describe song creation is spot on! A person could look great on paper before a job interview but how rhey represent themselves and communicate the positives that ate on their resume, is the most important part of a job interview! I certainly remember that, when I was working. Lol.
Glad we’re on the same page, Paul!
Interesting take on it Chris – I’m certainly guilty of over thinking it sometimes, usually trying to cram too many things in!! I rely on my producer to reign me in where needed!
Hang on to that producer. 🙂
A good song does not always need lyrics at all. There are in the world fine and beautiful instrumentals, f.ex Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy of Gold.
One of my absolute favorite tracks as well, Timo.
i didn’t know this song by the name, though i swear i’m a big fan of Morricone! i went to Youtube, and in the first second i was “oh, the credit card song” but of course it grows way beyond that humble beginning. Brilliant. glad you happened to mention it. cheers!
Hi Chris,
This is an invaluable look into the psychology of a song… I recently heard a discussion about song evaluations and it boiled down to the question: “How does it makes you feel?” If a song recording makes you feel good, you know you’re on the right track!
Thanks for your thoughts,
Alex
Thanks
Absolutely!
tx Chris
I have always thought that what people want from music is an emotion – it might be very serious gutpunch on heartbreak or loss, a philosophical insight into the human condition, a light or comic thing to lift your mood or even something to get you dancing. So I guess aim of the production is to enhance the song, to match the emotion, and to avoid confusing the listener by a mismatch. (Unless, of course, that is an artistic choice to create uncertainty or deliberately juxtapose contradictory elements – art always has a get out clause!).
That is a great outline to the approach, Chris.
As always, thank you for your insight. RpT
You got it, Richard.
Really strong content. I feel like every musician needs to hear this. I have been producing as well for a long time now for other bands, and I get into the weeds and small details of songs that no one is going to care about. It drives me nuts but pays some of the bills. I’ve been having this mindset here for awhile now, and focusing on the three points mentioned.
Thanks, Marshall. Sounds like you are on the right track.
LOVE this! Thanks!….Gina
Good to hear, Gina!
Points well taken Chris! As a musician first and relatively new to writing lyrics I tend to overthink the music. I’ll definitely make a point of taking a step back to think more holistically
Cheers!
Doug
Nice!
Somebody I knew, a fan of all types of music, always told me to sing like Frank Sinatra, “too much emotion” he’d say. “They all sound like that, you can be different, just sing it without emotion.” Your thoughts, Chris?
I think it really depends on the kind of music and the intent of your delivery, Alan. I can tell you there is not one rule that rules them all.
Awesome Chris,
I was looking for something to make my song stand out more or feel more emotional. So what I’ve decided to do for starters is just use the Drum kit, Rhythm Guitar, Main vocals. I need to find the Melody that fits the whole thing. Which means finding the Melody for All together but I hope something for the Chorus and Lead will show up. Hope it works. I’m just missing something.
That sounds perfect!
Hi Chris, thanks for your insights.
I’m a life long addict of words and music and refuse to go to rehab. Even though the construction and production of a song can be both frustrating and exhilarating, when it lands right it’s the best feeling in the world.
It if moves the groove in someone and shifts their inner space to a better place, that’s what it’s all about for me.
Thanks again for sharing some of your learning and experience – shine on.
A little off topic but maybe not . . . Sync typically bans songs created with AI but some songwriters have had great luck uploading their melodies and lyrics into platforms such as Suno. The melodies and lyrics are completely owned by the songwriter but the backing track is fully or partially AI generated. Allows songwriters to try multiple genres before releasing. It is easy to have an actual human sing their parts. Also, AI SOMETIMES produces better results than real (and often expensive) producers. Hope Sync will consider allowing some level of AI in the future (NOT AI Slop though).
Hi Chris,
I agree with you 100%. Less is more I have learn in writing a song. The 25 years or more . Example: Beginning withAn Acoustic guitar and vocals is a great start learning what is the message when singing the lyrics with emotion and build from there. The chorus is the most important part when building the emotion getting and feeling message that needs to be delivered with in the song. Once you have a foundation and master the emotion then you can start to build the production. But keep the emotion intact. To draw that in to your audience.
Hi Jay, I like your ideas.
made me think, as always. at first: so is it “wise” to write/produce a song before you have an idea for the melody & lyrics? i’ve done both over the years. Every once in a while a simple riff begats an undeniable melody and the words begin to flow. And of course sometimes the lyrics & melody just start happening in your brain without much in the way of the fundamental music. But then I made it to the real point for me: the fusion of lyric & melody but especially the performance – if it’s the product of craft more than a product of YOU – it will show. Human beings can sense that difference (thank goodness), so treat this art form, and yourself, and the audience with honesty and vulnerability and respect.
I like the way a song can build from let’s say something tiny like an embryo that grows step by step, spreading, getting bigger.
Sometimes a relationship with this ‘thing’ develops and you care for it, nurturing etc or sometimes the thing leads by its own uncanny momentum.
As always,Chris I like the way you throw such topics/phenomena open to allow all of us to share and compare notes.
The performance part of a strippd down “Contest Song” totally freaks me out. I do not play well, and no matter what you say Chris, a well performed and super vocal translates better than someone picking out chords, stumbling along on a guitar or piano… my forte, as far as the confidence bit – is lyrics and musical hooks. It’s the tying together of the different elements, the sections of a song that befuddle me… Anyway, I am going to give it a go, perhaps, not relying on my producer to play an accompaniment for me this go around… it will be embarrassing for me. but hopefully my playing will have improved a little bit. Whew.. glad I got that one out!!
Agreed. A great song can stand on its own.
Cheers,
Ellen