The Whole Musician Workshop: Podcasts

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The concept of reverse engineering, while commonly used in fields as diverse as aeronautics, military science, business modeling, and software development, is seldom consciously applied to songwriting or music composition.

Reverse engineering is simply the process of taking something apart and then putting it back together in order to see how it is constructed. Thinking in these terms when listening to music can quickly deepen your understanding of songwriting and advance your craft.

Without being aware of it, you probably often reverse engineer already–every time you listen to a great song or recording with the focused intention of studying and learning from it.

Reverse engineering in music is the act of taking an existing song (or any other work of art, for that matter) and asking some basic questions like:

* “What do I hear?”
* “What’s going on behind what I hear?”
* “What is the method or thinking behind these details?”
* “How can I apply these methods or techniques to my own work?”

Given how many great songs and recordings already exist, reverse engineering can give you unlimited access to the brilliance and inspiration of the masters in your field and can prompt you to expand your own creative process. All you need is an open set of ears and an open and focused mind.

Listen to this SOS episode as JP explores reverse engineering as it applies to seven core parameters in songwriting: lyrics, melody, form, harmonic language, groove, point-of-view, and production quality.