SHR4C004M-003 Song Prod. & Write Up Template

Task 1: Three Minute Song Production (70%)

Task 2: 1000 Word Write-Up (30%)

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                The song I chose to produce for this assignment was one which I had written part of, but hadn’t yet finished. The challenge of using sampled instruments, which I’m not familiar with, led me to know what I wanted the song to sound like, so I was able to write and record it quite easily. I recorded the acoustic guitar with an AKG C451B, and edited it so it would sound like it was recorded on an older tape machine. This was partly inspired by bands such as Flaming Lips, and more specifically the song “Chewin’ the Apple of Yer Eye”, as when I thought about how I was going to sample the drums they were the first band I thought of, as well as just being an overall inspiration to me musically. The electric guitar and piano were both recorded using a JZ V67, with the electric guitar parts being split into a double tracked clean take on the choruses, another double tracked distorted take on the buildup at the end, and a lead distorted part playing at the same time as the clean parts. The piano only had two tracks, one which plays throughout and does quiet lead parts in the verses which I edited with a band pass at around 1kHz to give it a hauntingly vintage sound which fits the eerie feel of the song, and the other is a subtle, droning, high pitched part in the buildup which I edited using a rotary simulator and hard-panned to the left channel since the buildup at the end of the song is supposed to be a bit overwhelming for the listener. For the vocals, I used an AKG C414 and recorded the lead vocal which I edited with a more intense band pass at the same frequency as the piano, as well as adding some distortion and a compressor for a vintage radio type of sound. I also recorded another lead vocal which I panned to a the left with only an EQ to take out a lot of the low-end so it isn’t too distracting. There is also a backing harmony which starts in the first chorus, which is given a long reverb to make it a lot softer than the harsh lead vocal.

                For the sampled instruments, I manipulated sections of drums from two songs in the Logic Quick Sampler. For the verse drums, I used the drums from the intro to Hummer by Smashing Pumpkins, which I needed to use the Logic stem splitter to split it away from the guitar part. I kept the drum pattern simple in the verse since its mainly used as a way to structure the song. The entire song is supposed to feel like its droning on, hence the use of only two chords throughout, so these drums not changing all the way through the song gives it a very repetitive sound. I programmed a beat which plays the kick on the first, second, and fourth beats of the bar, and the snare on the third. Every fourth bar has the kick on the fourth beat taken out which, because of my decision to have each sampled drum play only for a short amount of time, leaves a small section of silence in the percussion, which adds to the uncanny feeling of the song since it leaves the listener on the edge until the percussion promptly kicks in again. When I had to pick which drums I would use from the many that I could sample from the segment of drums in the intro to Hummer, I picked the kick which had the most punch to it, but it was more difficult to pick which snare to choose. For the snare I found one which sounded like it had a phaser causing it to rise in pitch slightly, but there was also another snare which still had a small bit of the guitar that the stem splitter couldn’t get rid of, so I chose both and blended them into one snare sound. I decided to keep this drum pattern playing through the chorus at the same time as the different drums I programmed in the chorus since the snare being on the third was a constant in this song so it kept the repetitive nature of the song going. For the drums in the chorus, I sampled the drums from the intro to Supersonic by Oasis since I wanted drums with cymbals to build up the sound in the choruses to be a lot more intense. I slowed the drums down so they fit the tempo of the song, and then put them into the sampler so I could program them into a different pattern. The original song has a fairly similar pattern to what I wanted, which meant that I could pick two kicks which were played directly after each other which helped with making the drums sound more natural. I picked a snare which was a lot more quiet than the hi hat for the third beat, since I knew that I was going to be having the snare from the other sampled track as the snare in the choruses too.

                I don’t believe that this track would be very commercially successful since it isn’t very mainstream and is quite an alternative song. An article from SongStuff suggests that commerciality of music comes from a “blend of familiarity and originality” (Commerciality, Familiarity and Originality, 2025). They make the observation that to be commercially successful, a songwriter needs to find the right balance between being original and doing things musically which haven’t been done before so the listeners don’t feel like they’re listening to the same songs on repeat, and doing what is familiar since listeners already know what they like and are looking for it in songs they haven’t heard before. However, when I write and record music, commercial availability isn’t a focus for me. What matters in what I do is whether it sounds how I want it to, and I don’t want to compromise my musical vision for the benefit of the listener. On the other hand, it does matter to me whether my music sounds good to other people so others can enjoy it. This mix balances the two elements quite well because it is quite different than what you would hear in the mainstream, but I believe that hopefully it is still something that the average consumer could listen to and enjoy.

References

Commerciality, Familiarity and Originality. (2025, February 17). Retrieved from SongStuff: https://www.songstuff.com/songwriting/article/commerciality-familiarity-originality/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-3