Equivalent of VIC for pop music production or songwriting?
- Thread starter QuiteAlright
- Start date
I've come up empty on that search, too. I thought about adding a songwriting/production section here, since a number of us have more pop than orchestral backgrounds. I haven't done it, though, since there's such a high risk it could dilute the orchestral emphasis the forum currently has, which we definitely don't want to lose. Plus if the section got popular, we'd have to be careful to keep things from devolving into Garage Band tips or a pile of "Check out my SoundCloud songs!" spam. It would require a lot of monitoring.
Here's a thought, though - After the holidays, when things slow down, I could start a songwriting/ pop production section here. Just current members, though, who know the difference between a violin and a viola, so the sophistication level stays high.
Then, if/when we get to a point where the pop side starts to dilute the orchestral side, we spin off the pop side into a separate forum, which would have the advantage of a built-in group of engaged people. Engaged sophisticated people.
Hmmm, as I typed that out, I kinda like this idea, since I think there are a bunch of us who lean more songwriter than composer. I'm open to thoughts, though, since obviously we don't want to screw up what we already have. Or maybe there is already a community out there we don't know about.
Here's a thought, though - After the holidays, when things slow down, I could start a songwriting/ pop production section here. Just current members, though, who know the difference between a violin and a viola, so the sophistication level stays high.
Then, if/when we get to a point where the pop side starts to dilute the orchestral side, we spin off the pop side into a separate forum, which would have the advantage of a built-in group of engaged people. Engaged sophisticated people.
Hmmm, as I typed that out, I kinda like this idea, since I think there are a bunch of us who lean more songwriter than composer. I'm open to thoughts, though, since obviously we don't want to screw up what we already have. Or maybe there is already a community out there we don't know about.
Fox
Active Member
Cool idea; I like it too, and agree with your concern that it might dilute the orchestral side, so spinning it off (if needed) is a good way to handle that.
And yes, we only want sophisticated types around here! (Of course, I know we mean "sophisticated" in best of all possible ways! Ha!)
Michel Simons
Senior Member
You lost me at sophisticated.
But seriously, an interesting idea. I am not exactly a pop kinda guy, but definitely not an orchestral one. The fact that I am still around probably says a lot about the overall positive vibe of this forum.
Markrs
Complete Beginner
Sounds like a great idea Mike, I notice that plenty of members on here are more focused on pop genres that orchestral.
I think it will be interesting if it then ended up expanding into non-pop genres and needing other sub-forums. I wonder if a category of sub-forums could have their own What's new view?
I think it will be interesting if it then ended up expanding into non-pop genres and needing other sub-forums. I wonder if a category of sub-forums could have their own What's new view?
PaulBrimstone
Far, Far Away
Would it be called Pop-I Control?
If I was looking for something like that I would look for discord or reddit communities linked to youtubers that focus on that kind of music production. But I wouldn't expect the signal to noise ratio to be anywhere near as good as here. Unless maybe if it's behind a paywall, like a patreon membership. That seems to help with filtering out people who aren't serious or who just want to self-promote.
Pier
Senior Member
There's a Reddit for pop production but it only has about 2000 members and tbh I don't think there's a lot of quality content.
QuiteAlright
Gastronomer
Thanks for this suggestion. This is one of the places I found during my search, along with a similar part of Reddit called "WeAreTheMusicMakers", but as you said the quality of posts on those seem to be fairly low. There's still good stuff, but I think the signal to noise ratio is lower than I'd prefer.
SupremeFist
Senior Member
Gearspace can be good for pop/electronica production insights, eg there is a terrific long thread where a colleague of Serban Ghenea answers questions about his mixing approach.
kgdrum
“Making a mess & calling it Art is where it’s at!”
Like others have already mentioned there are probably more people here that are actually more pop/electronic oriented that use orchestral samples,synths ,strings etc……. to color all types of midi based music projects.
I love classical music but I also happen to love jazz,latin,reggae ,world music rock/pop,electronic,industrial, ambient etc…..
Many people here are probably more musically eclectic than narrowly focused on creating midi mockups of classical music and film scores.
The premise that the majority of people here are strictly focused on mockups of classical music and classic film scores is imo probably outdated and is not really accurate by a long shot.
I think this is a great idea!
I love classical music but I also happen to love jazz,latin,reggae ,world music rock/pop,electronic,industrial, ambient etc…..
Many people here are probably more musically eclectic than narrowly focused on creating midi mockups of classical music and film scores.
The premise that the majority of people here are strictly focused on mockups of classical music and classic film scores is imo probably outdated and is not really accurate by a long shot.
I think this is a great idea!
Last edited:
GregSilver
Active Member
Chiming in as an electronic music producer 
I have absolutely nothing to do with classical music, mockups or film music (or to put it in @Mike Greene 's words: I don't care at all whether it's a violin or viola :-P ). What I like most about VIC is the good manners and the incredible knowledge of the members. I met a lot of really great people here who helped me in my musical environment or who I was able to help a little with things that they normally wouldn't have thought of in their environment. And let's be honest, a forum like this is really unique.
Personally, I wouldn't see the whole thing too narrowly in terms of genre and would just ask your question about pop music or start a thread. Maybe an additional pop section will help if it gets "too much", but at the end of the day we are all musicians.
I have absolutely nothing to do with classical music, mockups or film music (or to put it in @Mike Greene 's words: I don't care at all whether it's a violin or viola :-P ). What I like most about VIC is the good manners and the incredible knowledge of the members. I met a lot of really great people here who helped me in my musical environment or who I was able to help a little with things that they normally wouldn't have thought of in their environment. And let's be honest, a forum like this is really unique.
Personally, I wouldn't see the whole thing too narrowly in terms of genre and would just ask your question about pop music or start a thread. Maybe an additional pop section will help if it gets "too much", but at the end of the day we are all musicians.
Vik
Vi-k
I spent almost a decade of time over at Gearspace before I found VIC a decade ago. But AFAIK neither Gearspace or VIC have any policy about musical styles. Historically, pop (etc) producers rely more on synthetic sounds than those who mainly work with virtual instruments; but probably focus more on synthesizers (soft- or hardware based) than on samples of such instruments – or at least did?
I don't see why VI-C couldn't also become a great place for those who mainly produce pop, electronica, hiphop, rock, techno, dubsteb, metal, rap, EDM, house etc. But since those manly* interested in virtual orchestral instruments probably represent circa 1 (?) percent of the total market – and for other reasons – a properly working 'ignore subforum' function that removes all posts in sub-forums one isn't interested from the What's New and Latest Posts would be necessary.
(Not that I distrust the XenForo forum software – it's probably the best forum software out there – but it has it's shortcomings. For instance, when I use the Latest Posts function on my iPhone and click on Next, I almost always get the first page one more time.)
* Virtual (and real) orchestral sounds are used a lot in almost all musical styles, but isn't always (or even often) the main focus.)
Jeremy Gillam
Senior Member
I produce pop and country in addition to the orchestral styles more commonly discussed in these parts, and agree it would be fun to have a place for the knowledgeable people here to discuss song production. But I can see how it could be a challenge for the moderators, given how those kind of discussions tend to be less than amazing on other boards.
To the OP — definitely do check out the threads with John Hanes on Gearspace (mentioned previously). Ian Kirkpatrick's streams on YouTube are also a great resource. He's an incredible soundsmith. There's another good one from Cirkut, breaking down a song by the Weeknd.
To the OP — definitely do check out the threads with John Hanes on Gearspace (mentioned previously). Ian Kirkpatrick's streams on YouTube are also a great resource. He's an incredible soundsmith. There's another good one from Cirkut, breaking down a song by the Weeknd.
AceAudioHQ
Senior Member
I've been trying to find a pop music/media composer forum also but I don't think it exists, bar a few tiny forums where someone writes a new message every 3 months. I'm in some specific genre producers groups on facebook but I'd like one that is a bit broader. Also on a few stock music discord servers. KVR Audio is more about electronic music, and I do sometimes go there, but the crowd seems a bit more on the amateurish side. I've tried to use gearspace but it's just not for me, neither is reddit, so I'd definitely visit VI-Poptrol.
fakemaxwell
Senior Member
I'm all for it. "We have to be careful to keep it to a high level of discussion" is a little snobby imo. Half the posts in this forum are real basic and it's fine. Not everything has to be a college course in pitch class sets!
Dewdman42
Senior Member
I would love to see this, this forum definitely has some of the most sophisticated commercial music producers in the world, at least the ones that are actively participating in any kind of online forum. Pop Music and songwriting are part of that world and I'd love to see it, but that being said,.....there are many thousands of unsophisticated song writers out there and wanna be's who might come here and just flood the place with inferior content..that is true. Not to say that everyone here is a completely sophisticated orchestrator either..but the mere fact someone is trying to get into advanced orchestral sample libraries and orchestration for any reason, already makes them vastly more sophisticated then hordes of so called "songwriters" out there. There is a place for song writing in the context of film scoring and commercial music...and might be cool to have a dedicated forum at a more sophisticated level as it pertains perhaps to film, musical theater, etc..perhaps even pop music..but as soon as you open the door to pop/rock wannabe's....the BS will come rolling in....IMHO
I'm not sure how you seperate "sophisticated" from the rest...
I'm not sure how you seperate "sophisticated" from the rest...
As a guy with orchestral music/VI interests but with a focus on electronic/rock/pop music creation and production, I'd love to see VI-C deliberately embrace a wider musical audience while maintaining the general positive, helpful tone that already exists here. I can understand that some current members might not be interested in detailed discussions of pop songwriting or production techniques, and that's fine...I suspect there are several of us already who have no interest in yet another John Williams mockup. Yet my interest in the forum overall remains high.
JEPA
Senior Member
