An Introduction to Producing Music (Part 2)

Recording, Mixing and Producing

I first got into recording because I spent 2 hundred dollars at a recording studio and had nothing to show for it. One of the things that you learn when you begin recording is just how bad of a musician you are. When you start seeing your audio track on the screen and you see how terribly offbeat you are you wonder how anyone could've ever listened to you play. All of us think our playing is pretty solid until we're humbled by the studio experience. Just the same, singing in the studio was a pretty embarrassing experience as I'm in no way a good singer. After the first hour or so I began to realize that my finished product would consist of me strumming chords, a bass guitar, a drum beat and a pitiful vocal track. If you pay attention to the structure and components of music on the radio you will notice that you don't hear chords being strummed as often as you might think. What you hear are synthy riffs here and there and something ambient (usually strings or a synthesizer) filling in the high and low ends of the musical spectrum. At the end of my recording session I realized that I would get none of this without spending an absurd amount of money and even then I would receive a recording with someone else's riffs making it less and less my song. I paid the producer and told him I didn't even want a finished product. That was when I decided I wanted to build my own setup.

I built my own computer and got a watered down version of some recording/mixing software. A friend of mine gave me a cheap soundcard and another friend gave me a drum machine. Both of these were must have's. After getting through all the conflicts with my soundcard I was able to actually record. Since I'm not a drummer I decided I would try to "rip" drum beats from songs to figure out what was going on. I listened to the song "I'll be coming home next year" by the Foo Fighters over and over again so I could reproduce every single beat. Doing that helped me learn how drum beats are or at least should be created and got me comfortable creating my own. What I would do then is plug the drum machine into the computer and push record. This is key because you MUST have a constant in your recording and that constant should always be the drum/percussion track. From here I would move on to recording a guitar track with the drum beat as my metronome. Then I would record the lead and bass guitars followed by the vocals. Now this alone can give you a "band sound" but it is lightyears behind of the "produced/professional" sound. Again, MOST radio quality productions have much more than a 4 piece band but it is entirely possible to achieve a professional sound with a small setup.

Assuming you're at this point there are a few things you should know before you even consider stepping into the world of production and they all have to do with mixing. Something that you will learn early on (and you may already know this) is that instrument placement is key in having a decent sounding recording. If you listen to any quality recording you will notice different instruments coming out of different headphones. If you have 5.1 channel surround sound you can notice the placement even more. If all the sounds are coming from the same direction it is very hard to distinguish the different instruments. Most mixing programs allow you to decide how far to the right or the left you want the different instruments to sit in the recording. Producers refer to this as "panning". For starters, the vocal track is the most important part of the mix (it's the melody after all) and you almost always want to put it in the center. (Vocal harmony tracks can be slightly panned to either the left or the right) All other instruments should be placed in positions to compliment the lead vocals, not to crowd them out. As a general rule of thumb you are usually safe "panning" the rhythm guitar to the left and the lead guitar to the right or vice versa. The bass guitar goes right in the center or slightly off. You can get away with this because it's vibrating at such a lower frequency that it doesn't crowd out the vocals. The drums are a different story altogether. If you listen to your favorite rock band you'll usually notice that the bass, snare, high hat, toms etc are coming out of different speakers though they are usually closer to the center than the guitars. The good news is that if you're using a drum simulator chances are it's already been professionally panned. If you want to go the route of recording drums then expect to spend as much on microphones as you did on your drumset. The panning should be similar to where it would sit on a stage.

Something just as important as mixing but on the same topic of "crowding out the space" is the actual composition of the music you compose. I'm going to refer to this as complimentary composing. I was recording a friend one day who had written 3 guitar riffs to be played simultaneously. Writing for 3 guitars is perfectly fine. Where he screwed up was in the fact that they were all in the same musical range. Consequently, no amount of panning would allow the music to be "interpreted" or "deciphered" clearly. Make your lead guitar riffs either much higher or using a drastically different meter than that of the strumming guitar. Meter refers to the timing of the musical line. If you have 4 notes in your riff you can play them all as quarter notes (just count 1-4) or you can add half notes and eight notes to resonate for the split second in the music where the other instruments are silent and waiting for their next pulse. Orchestral composers have known this for hundreds of years which is why they regularly give drastically different metered parts to different instruments.

Just as important as panning and good complimentary composing is equalizing. On an electric guitar you have a tone knob and on your amp you will usually have treble, bass, and mid knobs. In the same way that having all the instruments in the center and writing music all in the same range and meter crowds out the space having the instruments equalized the same way can destroy a recording. If you're using virtual instruments then you're usually safe as they have already been professionally equalized but when recording you almost always have to equalize every instrument. A friend of mine once told me that it's always better to subtract sound than it is to boost. This is good advice because boosting adds something that wasn't there before introducing something foreign whereas subtracting only allows a better perspective of the natural. I usually find that since the rhythm guitar has such a full sound it is often necessary to slightly decrease the mids or the lows. Depending on how many notes you are playing at a time on the lead guitar you can usually get away with beefy pronounced lows. Every recording is different so equalizing is definitely something that you usually have to handle differently case by case.

In the area of effects you will usually find that less is more. When people are new to recording they will usually add all kinds of reverb to their instruments and vocals. (I know I sure did.) This is because adding reverb DOES make a lot of things sound better. The problem with adding reverb is that it takes away much of the natural tone and fills a lot of the space with the decay of the sound. If you're going to use reverb turn the decay down as far as possible. You'll notice most radio recordings have very little reverb. This is because there are better and more effective ways to increase the quality of the tracks. Creating a chorus effect can drastically thicken the sound of a guitar. You can do this a couple of ways. You clone the track and slightly drag the clone a few miliseconds before or after it's twin begins. You can re-record the part to have an even more dynamic clone. Lastly, you can simply add a chorus effect. (I prefer the first method.) When using a chorus effect you either want it obvious or not obvious at all and you definitely want to pan the cloned track to the other side.

Well there you have it. While cool effects and synthesizers can certainly add flavor to a production it is very possible to get producer level quality with just a 5 piece band. If all else fails and you still don't like the sound you're getting don't be so cocky that you rule out re-writing some of the music. There have been many times when I spent hours tweaking volume levels, effects, and equalization values yeilding no satisfaction only to find that simply re-writing a guitar part fixed the problem.

An Introduction to Producing Music (Part 1)

The Composition Process

A rather frustrating question I am regularly asked is "What program do you use to write music?" I usually respond to this question by saying "my head". There is no computer program that I know of that can "write" good music for you. There is no light that goes from red to green depending on whether or not I've written quality. The truth is my computer is simply a tool. And this is not the only misconception about music composition. Are you ready to have your beliefs challenged? Are you ready to call me a heretic? I don't believe in "talent". Right, I know, it's extreme and I'm nuts for saying something so ignorant. Let me tell you something though. One of the most annoying compliments I have ever received is, "Wow, you are so talented!" I usually receive this compliment after I've worked on a project for an absurd amount of hours depriving myself of sleep and a couple of meals here and there. Don't deprive someone of the glory of hard work by brushing it off as simply "talent". Reportedly it took Leonardo Da Vinci 10+ years to paint the Mona Lisa. It took Beethoven 20+ years to write his 9th symphony. There are few examples of overnight excellence in masterpieces such as these. I have found that a desire for excellence coupled with hard work is the commonality in all successful or "talented" artists.

I've often wandered how professors of music teach composition. I believe if I were in that position I would require all of my students to write an essay explaining why they liked their favorite composition. This would not be a graded assignment but I would expect extreme levels of detail. Telling me that "The melody is catchy" isn't enough. I would want to know why the student thinks it's catchy. It is impossible to write good music without knowing what makes music good. I can tell you from personal study the reason why I like the music of my favorite composer. To me it's as if in his music he always shows you a better path than what you expected. Many composers will take their melodies in turns you wouldn't expect but in his music you always acknowledge his "deviations" as the better way. Also, there is no measure of music that he treats lightly as he rarely reuses accompaniment lines. It's as if he cares for every measure too much to copy and paste piano riffs. There are no right answers as to what makes music "good" but there are more specific answers that deepen our understanding. Don't waste your time reading someone else's commentary on a symphony. Chances are you'll be "learning" from someone who has never written a quality composition. Write your own commentary or at least analyze it enough so that you could. The purpose of the analysis is to better understand what makes music good so that you can implement these principles. All good composers are students of good music. And let me just add that if you don't listen to good music you're wasting your time with the analysis.

A friend of mine once told me that you shouldn't force a song. I have to say that while I'm incline to disagree, his counsel doesn't go without merit. I think one of the biggest reasons people write "bad" music or music that is not enjoyable is due to the fact that in their haste to get their one prize riff or melody line heard they rush through the composition process and settle for mediocrity everywhere else in the piece. There are so many times while listening to a song I couldn't help but think, "If only he spent a few more days he could've come up with something better". I would suspect though that the reason the artist didn't spend a few more days is because he/she doubted that's all it would take. The truth is, there are ways to get the music flowing.

Now I'm going to go discuss a trick I've learned over the years to help extract music from the universe. Chances are you'll find this idea rudimentary. Just know that this is a trick that I've used to compose rock songs as well as symphonies. The most important thing you can do is to create an environment conducive to creativity. This has nothing to do with finding the right room in your house. This is about traveling to a specific musical habitat and retrieving a new specimen. For me it is very difficult to just imagine melodies. Though I have done this on several occasions more often than not the melodies have come to me while listening to a progression of chords or arpeggios. A good place to start is to take a simple 4 chord progression and strum or arpeggiate them. Turn on a tape recorder and record your simple pattern a few times. Now use your instrument to play different notes in the key. In a matter of minutes you will likely find something you can work with. The type of musical line you come up with will be directly related to the chords you are playing and the meter at which you are playing them. If it takes more than a few minutes, keep at it. Don't give up and don't depend on "talent" to save you. Allow the music to write itself. You will cherish your finished product infinitely more after you have slaved over it than you would if it came to you instantly. In the end you may even modify or discard the chord progression but keep the melody. This is similar to how in the story of stone soup the stone wasn't actually necessary for the soup. It was simply a tool to get it started. And be original. If you think you've heard it before then try to create something you haven't.

The most important part of any composition is the melody. Something that I find very discouraging is that the fact that more and more film scores are moving away from having a theme to a score full of embellishments and accompaniment lines. I once asked my step mother to listen to something that I had written only for her to reply "That's great but now try humming it". Her criticism was harsh but very much warranted. In a lot of modern pop we aren't even graced with a hummable melody until the chorus of the song. Now this is just a matter of preference but I think a good composition has both an enjoyable and a memorable melody throughout the entire piece. Compared to creating a catchy riff, creating a memorable melody is difficult. My definition of a riff is a short melody that doesn't usually last for more than a measure or two. The "true melody" is more of a theme that takes up several measures. It can be short or long, fast or slow, legato or stacatto but your main goals should be enjoyable and memorable. In my opinion, John Williams is a master of crafting memorable melodies. Listen to the theme of Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Superman, Jurassic Park or E.T. All of these are almost instantly memorable and enjoyable. This is the effect all composers should shoot for and this is EXACTLY why I suggest frequent in depth analysis of good music.

The master chorale conductor Robert Shaw is reported to have said that you never sing two notes in sequence the same. Eventually your melody will repeat but that doesn't mean it goes without variance. After you have a melody line try to envision where you want the music to build. No matter what, don't allow your arrangement to stay the same, not in notation or in dynamics. You can get away with this if you're strumming a guitar but even then variety is still the spice of life. If you want to intensify a melody you can create chords with the strings by putting the cellos and basses on the root of the chord, the violas on the root an octave up, the 2nd violins on the 3rd and the 1st violins on the fifth. Play these in stacatto on every beat for an easy build. For a dramatic finish you can put the violins above the staff repeatedly descending a 4 note chord in 16th notes. Use the brass to get the biggest sound possible at the most dramatic moment. If you want the music to calm down try a woodwind on the melody with only a harp or strings section accompanying. If you're writing pop/rock the same principles apply only you will likely use different instrumentation. Allow your music to evolve. Add lead riffs, add strings, add a synthesizer, add harmony, add more cymbals to the drums, change the melody or vary the meter of the strum. If you can't come up with a lead riff to accompany the vocals then try playing the vocal melody on the lead guitar in unison with the vocals. Whatever happens, DON'T FORCE THE LISTENER TO SIT THROUGH THE SAME MONOTONOUS CHORD PROGRESSION.

The last thing that I want to address is one of my biggest pet peeves in recording other musicians. I call it "Inspired by God" syndrome. So many people think that their music can never be changed. Don't fall into that category. Leonardo Da Vinci once said "Art is never finished, it is only abandoned". You're not perfect and neither is your music, ever. Occasionally I will record someone who is too terrified to change their music. Apparently they seem to think that it was inspired and to change it would be blasphemy. This so ridiculous it's not even funny. Love your art enough to cut it back if need be. Don't be afraid of options.

Over the years I've known several artists who were very mediocre and you know why? It's because they don't erase and start over enough. They settle for mediocre lines instead of drawing and erasing until they get it just right. Consequently, they develop a knack for mediocrity. At this rate they will never develop habits of good drawing. Don't expect to get through a good composition without an eraser. I said at the beginning that hard work and a desire for excellence are commonalities in all successful or "talented" artists. This is true in drawing, painting, sculpting, dancing, writing, acting, photography and cinematography. Then why not music?