Meet Music Producer Tessa Ying
What makes an exceptional music producer? Well, as a listener, you definitely know one when you hear one.
A music producer can either make or break a song. They are responsible for the excellent sound quality that immerses you in the moment, as well as the finer details that capture and amplify the song’s emotional core.
An exceptional music producer combines technical expertise, creativity, and interpersonal skills to bring out the best in artists and create music that resonates with audiences.
Take Boston-based Singaporean solo-artist, music educator, producer, and engineer Tessa Ying for example. Her mastering is seamless and her technical skills are unparalleled. But more than that, she combines her extensive musical knowledge, training in a wide range of genres and styles, keen ear for nuance, and emotional intelligence to connect with musicians and audiences alike, weaving a story and crystallizing a moment for us all to share.
“Producing music provides a vast array of creative opportunities. As a producer, you are involved in every aspect of music making. You are the mastermind or ‘brain’ of a piece, so to speak,” explains Tessa. “Producing music allows you to experience the work, not just listen to it.”
Tessa is best known for her collaborations with notable artists such as singer-songwriters Elisabeth Waters and Angelique World, including producing Waters’ popular retro R&B tracks “Blue” and “Pet Names,” as well as World’s live shows “Unplugged,” “The Voice Within,” and “This is a Man’s World.”
Ying’s latest projects include “Hold,” which she co-produced with Grammy Award nominee Abhi Acharya, and was recently released to critical acclaim, as well as “Dreaming in Flight,” an experimental jazz/fusion/electronic tractrack that she produced and performed on with Hollywood flutist and composer Tomasso Annoni. She is looking forward to releasing more tracks with both artists in 2024.
“Tessa is a very talented producer, with a keen understanding of how different creative processes can lead to various outcomes, and is very good at both making musicians at ease and at communicating, which may seem like a non-musical skill but is essential, especially for producers,” explained Annoni. “
“Working with Tessa brought out extra depths to the music, from the pre-production and the recording stages, I had no idea of what she was going to get out of me,” he continued. “I think Tessa awakened my inner child with this track: which is something I deem invaluable. Her input in the editing phase, and therefore her creativity in the production, was incredible.”
The making of an exceptional producer
From a family of musicians, Tessa began playing the piano at four years old. By 14, she was playing at a college level, and she received diplomas from London College of Music and Trinity College London. She later attended the prestigious Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore for Music Performance (Piano) before receiving a dual degree in 2019 in Music Production & Engineering from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and was awarded the Music Production & Engineering Creativity Scholar Award.
It was at Lasalle that Tessa discovered her passion for producing music during an introductory course in composing commercial music. “The course was life-changing because I realized that to make music a viable career, I had to do more than just perform or play the piano,” she said. “I had to create a product to show for all that hard work, and I learned that this creation process is the heart of music production.”
“In music, artistic expression is in a sound recording,” she continued. “I was drawn by the use of technology and tools to record and create art. Just like painting on a canvas, a single musician could add multiple layers of sound onto a single melody to create the effect of an orchestra. The possibilities are endless.”
For Tessa, the possibilities truly are endless. As a solo-artist, her signature adventurous and curious spirit (captured in sound) combined with experimental beats resonate across genres and are infinitely sampleable. Her standout original releases have included tracks such as “Baby Bear’s Idea” and “Be on My Own.” As a producer and engineer, her collaborations with notable musicians and institutions have led to memorable melodies and soulful sessions that remain transfixed in the mind’s of listeners.
In 2018, she established her own production company Tessa Ying Music, specializing in pop, jazz and electronic music, as well as a YouTube channel with the same name. Her Youtube videos, which have garnered thousands of views, include original releases, performances, and piano playing tutorials (complete with accompanying level-specific sheet music she has composed and available). To date, she has released 40 music videos and had over 100,000 views.
Tessa Ying Music has consulted for companies such as KB Music, a saxophone instruction publisher which then ranked third in 2019 on SheetMusicPlus’s “Top Publishers for Digital Sheet Music Downloads.” They have also consulted with the prestigious Prelude Music Studio, where they worked directly with their award-winning principal Rosy Chua on the curriculum development and music production of “Kinder Notes.” “Kinder Notes” is a music education syllabus that has been implemented all across Singapore in nursery and kindergarten classrooms.
Part of what makes Tessa such an exceptional music producer is her extensive music and technical knowledge and skills. For example, in preparation for Angelique World’s live shows that she produced, Tessa was in charge of creating the arrangements for all of the instruments and vocalists involved on the tour. This included a 5-piece rhythm section, 3-horn section, background choir and lead singer. She reinvented and produced personalized arrangements of popular songs, which included cue lines and directions, as well as creating demos of the complex setlist to help prepare the musicians who would have minimal time for rehearsals. All of this was made even more impressive given the amount of customization needed with such a tight turn-around.
In addition to her extensive musical and technical knowledge, Tessa’s deep connections with each piece and its performers brings unexpected, but delightful, depths to her collaborations. Throughout her musical journey she has been an educator, as well as a musician. Having been teaching music for over 10 years, both in-person and more recently on her popular YouTube channel, she has learned to combine her expertise with empathy, effective communication, and adaptability to create a positive and enriching learning environment. She brings this dedication to nurturing talent into the studio.
“Tessa is incredibly competent, knowledgeable about anything from the technical side of audio to the creative side of music. She has a great amount of experience working with some of the best artists in the world and it shows in her work, and she is still humble, down to earth and open to feedback about any part of the music-making process,” said Abhi Acharya while discussing their collaboration on their newest release “Hold.” “It is this spirit of collaboration that makes her unique and such a joy to work with. She encourages you to do better and grow as musicians together.”
To Tessa Ying, what makes her an exceptional producer, or more accurately what she sees as her strong suits but the rest of the world sees as her exceptionalism, is her daring to create. “To me, what encapsulates my views on music is the idea of ‘daring to create.’ I always want to try something new, a different sound, a seemingly controversial idea. I dare to let my creativity run wild and experiment freely,” explained Tessa. “You’ll never know if an idea is good unless you are comfortable with the possibility of failure.”
Moving forward, Tessa hopes to inspire others to be brave in their creativity, and to not be afraid to try new things or to be different.
“Do what you enjoy and you will enjoy what you do,” she urged. “Be truly involved in the process, because what you get out of the experience is more valuable than the outcome.”
