I know three music producers very well. CrazedAfrykan, Shelton Garner and my brother. My brother used to solve math problems in his head in school and get points marked off for not showing his work. Shelton attended Brooklyn Tech as a teen, one of the best public high schools in New York, known for STEM education. CrazedAfrykan also attended Brooklyn Tech, and later went on to work in Finance for companies like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.
I’d be willing to bet Dr. Dre, Kanye West and J. Dilla were mathematicians too. Well why not? From what I can tell, looking at Pro Tools (from a distance), it’s all patterns, if:thens, and ratios.
Jamilah, Shelton’s wife and my best friend, once said:
“I think most musicians are mathematicians and most mathematicians – the really good ones – are extremely creative.”
I’d never thought of it that way.
Thankfully, Dre, Kanya and Dilla chose The Lab over the lab.
Leave it to Sir Ken Robinson to say it best:
As a proud former BTHS Engineer, I’m glad to see so many folks of BK -based scientific minds not limit their creative/business endeavors to growing diamonds at Los Alamos (though I’m sure that’s important, too).
Jared
World Eater Recordings, NYC
http://www.worldeaternyc.com