 Little consideration is given to developing the skill to zoom the view you're looking at in a song when analyzing music. What I mean by zooming is usually talked about in the classic, say, seeing the forest from the trees. In music, this commonly refers to listening to a single instrument instead of the whole song or vice versa. Learning to do this type of zooming is how you consider both the details of the song you're making, as well as the overall picture of the song. If you only focus on the larger forest picture, you'll miss crucial flaws and the opportunity to accumulate subtleties in your music will be missed. If you only focus on small tree details, you'll make decisions that may hinder the overall resonance of your song by looking too small and neglecting the bigger picture. Hi, I'm Jesse Cannon and this is Muse Formation. This problem is musically illustrated in the classic story of the mixer who spends eight hours ekewing a kick drum. Instead of listening to the interaction the kick drum is having with the song, they spend so long zoomed in on this small element that they fail to see obvious flaws and never get a proper perspective on what's ailing the song. This common beginner problem also plagues those well into their career, since they forget to change their perspective by zooming in and out regularly while evaluating their music. When I hear a new part of a song, I commonly give it two listens. One day analyze the performance considering a micro view of the pitch, timing, and inflection. And then again to consider the parts placed in the song overall and whether it's really helping the emotional resonance. Each of these listens requires a concentrated focus on their specific function. When evaluating a record as a producer, I make these evaluations in various zooms. The first being the long zoom. Does this fit with the sound of the record? Are there too many parts like this on a record? Is this adding diversity to the record or making it too diverse? Medium zoom. The medium zoom would be a little bit more considered by the song. Is this song too long? Does the chorus repeat enough? Is there enough tension built before the release of the song? Is the bridge the right bridge for this song in particular? The micro zoom is much more about the details of the song. Is the drum fill going into the chorus right? Is the vocal melody too cluttered? Are there too many different parts in the accompaniment section of the song? Does this part rush too much? There's more than just the zoom you do though. You could also obstruct your view to change the focus on what you're looking at. While there are micro and macro zooms unlike in photography, a blurred picture often shows us a valued perspective in music. When developing a song, you can be zoomed too hard or soft and get stuck in that zoom. When I have a song on playback while checking email or reading Twitter, I'll notice very obvious things because of my distraction that I was oblivious to in a focus state where I was zoomed in too far. This semi-distracted state isn't one to strive for continuously but it could be helpful to take us out of the zoom we're presently in when we're lost in those trees instead of seeing the forest. When I'm on a particularly involved mix that's been thoroughly labored over, I find it helpful to take a break but keep it playing while I sit in the other room doing email. The around the corner door trick is just that and it's a classic one. The flaws in the mix usually jump right out when you're not in front of the speakers and you can't hear subtle EQ balances or think about the stereo image. This technique is used by countless engineers making music in every genre. This is similar to why you'll see multiple speakers in a recording studio just like the ones at Bakami. The big monitors in the wall are there to give you a detailed and loud picture. The medium-sized ones on the console are there to give a medium view that's optimized for critical decisions in the studio. The small speakers give a less detailed more real-world vision of how a mix translates to the general public. Headphones give a hypercritical listen to tiny details that zooms in further than most speakers unless they're earbuds which are a broad general balance that many people use to see what the real world's gonna hear. Considering the different fields of vision for hearing your song is crucial to bring it to its full potential. Make sure you do your diligence and consider your songs from multiple views. That's it, am I missing anything? Is there any way you would have done this? I need to know your questions and what no one else is telling you since I wanna answer them so leave them in the comments. I hope you liked this video and if you did please like and subscribe and get notified for my future videos since I'm gonna be breaking down the concepts in this video along with tons of others on promoting your music and how to make music you're more happy with. As well, I have a Facebook group that's linked below that has only helpful information. No one tried to sell you anything, playlist or con artists, only helpful information for musicians looking to be better themselves. If you wanna learn more about me, make a record with me or check out any of my books, podcasts or anything else I do, head to jessecanon.com or at Jesse Cannon on any of the socials. Thanks for watching. One last thing, if you liked this video there's two playlists here with tons more videos that you'll probably enjoy. One's about how you promote your music and the other's about how you make songs you're happy with. Otherwise, you can hit the subscribe button here to see the rest of my videos. Thanks so much for watching.