LO3: Finishing Touches

I’ve added some atmospheric sounds at the beginning and end of Track 2 in an attempt to create some sort of sonic-imagery representing the nightlife of my hometown (it’s somewhat dark and scary). The atmosphere tracks seemed to shadow the first synth in the song and made it difficult to hear. To fix this, I used an EQ to turn down some of the mid-frequencies of the atmosphere tracks, making space for the synth to be heard within the mix. I also ended Track 3 with the sound of a car door slamming and an engine running – it seemed appropriate since the song lyrics are based around reckless driving.

I’ve also finally given my songs names.

Track 1 = I’d Rather Not Know

Track 2 = Overloaded

Track 3 = Crash

Track 4 = After Hours

I finished my mixes by making sure each song had similar levels of volume throughout the EP. I also ended each song at 0dB via volume automation on the master fader – I wouldn’t want to risk having any abrupt dynamic cuts between any of the songs.

Finally, I added metadata including artist information, album art and track names. The finished songs can be downloaded HERE.

LO3: Developing Track 3

Listen to the original demo HERE.
I planned to collaborate with two other people in Track 3: a vocalist and a guitarist. The track structure of the song is purely linear, moving on from one part to another with no part being the same as any other before it. This linear writing style is similar to the works of Makeup and Vanity Set and the structures of my other tracks. I wrote the vocals using an idea I’ve heard in Redbone’s ‘Come and Get Your Love‘. Similar to that song, I wanted to make use of the call and response technique, having the call and response parts played by different vocalists. James Jolly provided me with the call parts. I sung the backing responses. As preparation, I sent James the lyrics and some rough recordings of myself singing the song a week before the recording session so that he’d know what he was going to do once he was in the studio. I also made sure we prepared ourselves using some of the techniques I learned in Production Post 9 so that we’d give our best performances.

Like most power ballads, I wanted a guitar solo to take place within my song. And so, I got guitarist Joe Dickinson to help me out. I sat with him and together we wrote a few ideas for the solo part. I told him I wanted a build-up to the solo that was similar to that in Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain‘. The actual solo was written through improvisation, however, I told Joe that I wanted the playing style similar to that of Van Halen. As a result, we created an interesting section with a dive-bomb and a quick scale climb.

I mixed the guitar with Van Halen’s ‘Panama‘ and Chicago’s ‘Love Me Tomorrow‘ as references. I panned the guitar slightly to the left and added delay to add depth and utilize the stereo space. I also automated the delay so that it became more prominent at the end of the solo.

Listen to the latest version of Track 3 HERE.

To finish the track, I’m going to need to improve the ending. Perhaps a sound effect or a fading-out synth would be a good way to end the song.

References

‘Love Me Tomorrow‘ by Chicago

‘Panama‘ by Van Halen

‘The Chain‘ by Fleetwood Mac

LO3: Developing Track 4

I plan to make Track 4 an instrumental song. My main inspirations for this song include the works of Makeup and Vanity Set – mainly focussing on the song ‘Eidolon‘. I broke it down to see what elements I could use for my song.

Point 1 – It’s very progressive. Melodies loop throughout while other musical ideas/instruments are added or taken away.

Point 2 – Automation is also used to create a sense of progression throughout the song.

Point 3 – Drum selections are constantly changing. Throughout the song, cymbals and other percussive instruments are constantly being added, layered or taken away. I don’t think this was done for the purpose of mixing and level-balancing. Rather, it was more a musical/writing choice than a technical one.

My first demo for Track 4 (can be heard HERE) was just a simple loop and drum beat. Although I wanted to keep the melody, I realised that the drum beat would have to be completely rewritten if this song was to resemble anything by Makeup and Vanity Set.

I made a simple 1/4 drum pattern and looped the drums and melody a few times. I then started brainstorming ways I could make these loops progress into something. With point 3 in mind, I first began introducing cymbals to the drum loops. Next, I added some more synthesisers. One played chords in the background. The other added height, as researched in Production Post 7, by introducing a high-pitched volume-automated riff. It was an idea I picked up from Makeup and Vanity’s song ‘It’s Our Rules Now‘. It really contrasted with the other instruments in terms of frequency range. With the song reaching a musical peak, I decided it should switch to a minimalist section. I added a bridge that removed the high-pitched riff via a downwards automation in pitch, giving the impression that it was slowing down (like a vinyl record effect). Only the lead synth, drums and bass are present in this minimalist section However, I kept it interesting via changes in EQ automation on the bass line.

I ended the song by further progressing what had been developed in the peak of the introduction section; And so the chords and high pitched riff were all re-introduced. To progress the final section, I wrote a more complex bass line for the song to finish on.

I took another idea from ‘Eidolon‘ and made some final adjustments to the drums by subtlety layering cymbals above the kick drums. They can be heard whenever the background chords are playing. I also added some width, as researched in Production Post 2, by splitting the notes of the background chords into individual tracks and panning them to different speakers. One note was automated in pitch and pan to create a howl-like sound.

Listen to the development of Track 4 HERE.

References

‘Eidolon‘ and ‘It’s Our Rules Now‘ by Makeup and Vanity Set

LO3: Developing Track 2

The Demo for Track 2 only consisted of a short intro and chorus idea – I needed to create some ideas for verses. In the song ‘Fantasy’ by Mystery Skulls, the verses can be distinguished from the choruses as the higher frequencies are reduced on everything other than the vocals. I wanted to create a similar effect. However, I wanted to achieve this via a change in instrumentation rather than by lowering the higher frequencies with an EQ effect. As a result, I wrote some drum and bass parts.

With fewer instruments playing in the verse, the reverb on the drums was a lot more. It also prevented the parts from flowing into each other. I tried altering the ‘wet’ level, EQ and room size but the reverb effect just couldn’t stand out far enough without ruining the rest of the mix. To get around this, I decided to take some inspiration from the ‘Chariots of Fire‘ theme song and use a delay effect instead.

The intro in the demo needed improving as well. Although I want the song to begin with a sense of minimalism, the lone synth seemed too bland. As an improvement, I added a synth in the background. It was the same as the synth used in the chorus, however, its MIDI chords were shortened and the reverb was turn far up, resulting in a pad-like sound, adding harmony and atmosphere. Similar harmonies were also added to the verse section

The track so far can be heard HERE.

References

‘Chariots of Fire‘ theme song.

‘Fantasy‘ by Mystery Skulls.

LO3: Developing Track 1

Download and listen to the further developed version of Track 1 HERE.

To help further develop my Track 1 demo, I’ve been taking some elements of other music and applying them to my song. One inspiration behind Track 1 is the song ‘A Little While‘ (I’ll abbreviate as ALW) by Yellow Days. The bass in my song lacked much melody and was quite slow paced compared to that in ALW. And so, I decided to create a new melodic bass line to be used in choruses. The new line helps make my song seem more upbeat and adds a little bit of excitement.

ALW often breaks up the verses and choruses with moments of silence (and reverb). I needed something to break up my musical parts but, rather than silence, I decided to create bridges with a pitch-shifting synth and music box.

I decided I needed some sort of solo or improv section within my song – something similar to the last synth that plays the song out in ALW. I decided to put this section after the first chorus. As well as having a synth play a few melodic chords, I reintroduced a synth with a ‘wah-wah’ effect that I had used in a previous song of mine, ‘Get Low’. I thought reusing certain instruments could help develop my brand image. Makeup and Vanity Set have certain synth presets that they use throughout a number of songs (Compare ‘Black Sun on the Horizon‘ and ‘A Glowing Light, A promise‘ for example).

My song structure has been much developed when compared to the first demo (which can be heard HERE). The song structure now goes as follows: Intro – instrumental chorus – verse – bridge – chorus – melodic instrumental – bridge – chorus – developed chorus.

References

‘A Little While‘ by Yellow Days.

‘A Glowing Light, A Promise‘ and ‘Black Sun on the Horizon‘ by Makeup and Vanity Set.