60 songs a year music producer Arai Eleven has self-cultivation

Courtesy of respondents

Since winning the Golden Melody Award for Best Producer for the first time in 2015 for his album "Not Scattered, Not Seen" produced for Karen Mok, Arai Eleven has become increasingly busy, playing important roles in the behind-the-scenes lineup of many musicians such as Chen Grain, Su Yunying, A-Lin, Lin Youjia, Xu Jun, Chen Chusheng, Yi Yanqianxi, Cai Xukun, Ah Bang, Guo Yifan, Matzka Masca and many other musicians.

Looking back on 2019, Arai Eleven led his company Eleven Music to produce 4 albums such as Chen Chusheng's "Toward The Light", Guo Yifan's "Return to the Earth" and 44 singles by Mo Xizishi, Cai Xukun, Liu Yuning and others, and served as the music director of singers such as Karen Mok and Su Yunying. So, how did this young percussionist grow from an "external expert" of the National Symphony Orchestra of China to the hottest music producer in the Chinese music scene? Arai ELEVEN modestly attributes it to "luck". But after talking again with this "music maniac" who often ends his work in the morning, you will understand how "the self-cultivation of a music producer" should be defined.

Cultivation 1

Take care of every detail

Beijing News: In recent years, a large number of musical works have been produced, how do you allocate the focus of your work? What are the criteria for receiving projects?

Arai Eleven: It's true that I did a lot of work before, and now I will choose to make an album very carefully. I usually choose to start working together with a single, and if I can really find the concept of the album I want to do through those one or two songs, or if we have a good tacit understanding at the beginning of our communication, I will consider working together in the form of an album.

Beijing News: Is it difficult for producers to co-sing and singer-songwriters to cooperate purely?

Arai 11: Simply put, what a producer has to do is control every detail of an album or a single from start to finish, so it's relatively easier to work with a creator because you have your own ideas and it will help me better grasp the way you should be. Now what I'm more worried about is that I have no idea at all, and when I come here, I say "I hope to be able to help me make a textured album" and such a special virtual word, I have to start from scratch to understand his favorite music, his good style, and the content that needs to be communicated will be more. If the positioning of the artist is not so clear, it will be a serious problem.

Cultivation 2

Didn't like the perfect cut

Beijing News: Would you be a very harsh producer in the recording studio?

Arai ELEVEN: No. If the singer sang a certain sentence that I didn't think sounded good, I wouldn't tell him how to sing it, I would just tell him about the music and let him try a different way. Unless the singer is not a singer, I will not only help him in the arrangement, but also tell him where and how to breathe in order to finish recording that sentence. Because singing actually needs a coherent tone, if the tone is not in place, no matter how mechanical the editing in the later stage, I think it is not good. I don't really like perfect editing, all the tones are accurate, all the beats are right, all the expressions are flawless, that's not good.

Beijing News: What qualities do singers have that will make you appreciate them very much?

Arai ELEVEN: "Emoticons". For example, Bai Baihe or Yi Qianxi, they may not be as perfect as singers like A-Lin in singing, but their "expressions" are in place. Although you may need to take the time to grind with him, you need to remind him where you should use your breath to make him sing better, but the "expression" is more important than anything else.

Cultivation 3

Can only try to live up to anyone

Beijing News: In these years of production experience, is there a sentence that you will be "afraid" to hear?

Arai 11: When a lot of people come in, they say, "I want you to help me make a song, I'll have to do it next week," and it's impossible to do a good job. Maybe it's because of this that I'm bored that I need to start my own company and find my favorite musician to play with. Otherwise, it would be ridiculous to have to deal with these things all the time.

Beijing News: As a crucial producer, have you ever had an anxious career bottleneck period over the years?

Arai ELEVEN: Absolutely. For me, I want to make 60 songs a year, but for the owners of these 60 songs, they are all their own precious works, maybe an album for the 10th anniversary of their debut, or a new song that was released after 5 years. In 2018, I accumulated more pressure on myself, because I didn't want to live up to these people, but there was no good solution, so I could only not sleep, only try my best.

Cultivation 4

Newcomers need to identify

Beijing News: Are good music producers a scarce resource in the industry?

Arai Eleven: In this industry, there are many excellent musicians, and there are many people with excellent production capabilities, but the ability to control the overall situation is relatively scarce. For example, I think Mr. Zhang Yadong is a producer with a special idea in music, he may not be able to satisfy everyone, but his ability is so high that you don't need his appeasement, it is already very comfortable, which is also a way to establish. After I've received some [awards] recognition in the past two years, most of the people are already satisfied before they come to me, so I will be much more comfortable doing things. But if you are a more talented producer than me, and you make a very good song, but he has not received this recognition, it is very difficult to do.

Beijing News: The skewering link between Eason Chan and Sun Yanzi at the 2019 Golden Melody Awards was jointly participated by you, Guo Yifan and Gong Duojie. So will we focus on cultivating new production talents in the future?

Arai ELEVEN: Yes, I want them to be on more production lists and more people to really believe in them. So I want to invite famous artists, famous singers, and famous producers to cooperate so that people who are not known have more opportunities to be recognized.

Cultivation 5

There needs to be a balance between high-level songs and popular songs

Beijing News: Have you recently seen a singer or song that you particularly like?

Arai XI: Billie Eilish, I've been listening to it myself. I think she is very different, the concept and way of making music is very cool, it is a very typical way of playing music with a new generation of young people, she does not need any particularly powerful equipment, she herself may think of a point in the room, scrape out a sound, and use it in music.

Beijing News: So are there musicians or musical works in China that make you feel that the production level is very strong?

Arai 11: In fact, music productions like Zhang Yixing, Cai Xukun, and Li Yuchun are very powerful, and many of them have invited strong people from abroad to participate, but there is a problem that these will not be works that mainstream people like to listen to, which is another contradiction. It is also because Cai Xukun came over some time ago, and we discussed this topic together. For a singer, if you don't have a song for everyone to know, maybe you will always be unsuccessful. So how do you find a balance? We need to think of ways to do things together, to keep trying.

Written by/Beijing News reporter Yang Chang