The most ephemeral and intangible, yet most important, part of a producer's job is to make sure that when the last knob has been turned and the final mix burned, the song has that something special that makes people remember it. This is called “sonic impact.” It's that thing you can't quite put your finger on that makes some songs stand out. There are probably a few songs that you can remember hearing for the first time because they made a huge impact on your perception of music. They were different or better than anything else you were listening to at the time. These songs, for reasons that are difficult to pin down, stick in your head year after year. That's what sonic impact is.

There is no guaranteed way to achieve sonic impact, no magic formula that works every time. Skill, luck, intuition, and timing all play a part in a song's sonic impact. The important thing is to be aware as recording progresses, listen for elements that bring out the magic in a song, and capitalize on them when you find them.

Often, when a new production style accompanies the birth of a new style or genre, the first few years see a lot of songs with major sonic impact. Why? Partly because they are the first songs to ever sound that way. Hundreds of songs have a similar production, groove and performance style to Chuck Berry's “Johnny B. Goode,” but his song was among the first to explore that particular musical branch and thus garnered a permanent spot in the public music consciousness. Honing your production skills and keeping up on current production trends can give you a better chance of being in the first wave of a new trend.