[MUSIC] Lets talk about a tool that you can use it can be very helpful when you're trying to really ascertain the emotional impact of a piece of music. What I'm talking about is observing the kinesthetic responses in human beings. Now, kinesthetics is the study of movement of the human body. What are some kinesthetic responses to music? Well, if we think of the most obvious one, it would be dancing, right? If someone is dancing to music. You play some music, it causes them to dance. That's a kinesthetic response it's a really obvious thing. But then there's more subtle things that have to do still with groove, things like bobbing your head, tapping your foot, and if you can get people to do this consistently, especially involuntarily, that's a really, really good thing. Other things that have to do with the groove are obviously clapping, snapping your fingers, and all these really are part and parcel of whether or not that groove has a pocket. And when we talk about a pocket, that means that it has motion that causes emotion, that causes people to involuntarily move. I often tell my students that when they're working on the groove part of their record, whether they're in Ableton, or whether they're using live drums or other instruments. That if they are making it to where they play this recording for other people and they involuntarily start bobbing their head, start tapping their foot, that they're on to something, they're doing good. And if they don't have this involuntary response, they have work to do. But all this comes by observing other people when you're playing this music back. Now, there's other cues that we call kind of goldmine cues. These are things like getting chills. Goosebumps when you listen to a piece of music and if you can consistently make music that has people responding that way, you've probably got a career in front of you. Other responses are laughing and crying. Very obvious responses to music and again, if you can consistently make music that's so emotionally compelling that it makes tears to people's eyes, Or make some come out laughing, that's a very good thing. But then there's also more subtle cues that have to do with increase or decrease in breathing. Or increase and decrease in heart rate. If you ever listen to a piece of music and you've noticed that you haven't breathed in awhile, you haven't taken a breath That can be very powerful. Often when I have students try and record their kinesthetic responses, they might at first say, I didn't really have much of a response at all. But if you really look carefully and observe, sometimes these cues can be very, very subtle, like raising an eyebrow. Maybe cocking your head to one side, putting your hand on your face. So it's important to really get in and notice the more subtle cues when you're really trying to get in and ascertain the emotional impact. Now kinesthetic response, I gotta be honest with you, this is a secret weapon. If you can learn how to harness this and how to really get your own observation skills heightened, you can come so far, so quickly by playing your music for other people and noticing how they respond. When you play live Watch the audience. Are they involuntarily bobbing their head and tapping their foot? That's great. If not, you need to work on your groove. Are they engaged with what you're singing or what you're playing? If so, that's great. If they're not, you need to know that. So many people go up on stage and they close their eyes and they're closing off so much great information that they could be getting By watching their music land on the audience, and seeing how they respond. I also do this with clients. If I'm playing backup mix for an artist or producer, if I;m the mix engineer on this particular gig, I'll often watch the artist through the control room glass. I'll watch their reflection to see how they're responding, and often, I learn more From their kinesthetic responses then I do from what they tell me after I play the mix. And sometimes, I'll say, you know I noticed in the bridge, you kind of cocked your head to one side. You looked concerned. Was there something there? And they'll go back and they say, yeah yeah, the background vocal is popping out there for me. Can you tuck that in? And they may have forgotten to say that. So heightening your observation skills of kinesthetic responses can help you in many many different ways, as a performer, as a producer, as a composer, as an engineer. So I encourage you to really start developing these skills, both by using your own body as a barometer, and also by observing other people.
