Task 1: 3 Minute Production
Task 2: 1000 Word Write-Up (30%)
I decided to go for a desert rock approach with my song, taking inspiration from acts such as Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss. I completed this assignment on the software Ableton as It is the software I am most comfortable using and I have the appropriate plugins available.
I began the production by programming the drums, which was a long drawn out process, but also a process that I’ve come to enjoy over my time as a producer. After programming the drums, I sorted out the note velocities on the midi drums, as I believe this is the key to making artificial drums sounding more human. My main focus was on the hi hat and snare, making sure to alternate between a higher and lower velocity for any grooves heavily reliant on the hi hat and adding ghost notes wherever necessary on the snare then sorted out the note velocities on the midi drums, as I believe this is the key to making artificial drums sounding more human. My main focus was on the hi hat and snare, making sure to alternate between a higher and lower velocity for any grooves heavily reliant on the hi hat and adding ghost notes wherever necessary on the snare.
Naturally for me as a guitarist, the first instrument I tracked was guitar, followed by bass and finally, vocals.
Next I decided to work on the guitar tone, which involved me creating 3 different amps on guitar rig 7. For the guitar playing the lead lines I used a more harsh distortion to help the melodies really stand out, whereas for the two rhythm guitar tracks I used a more fuzzy tone to accomplish the wall of sound effect which is very common in the desert rock genre. All of the guitars had a similar eq, with a low cut at around 100 hz, a slight boost at around 600hz to give them some warmth and a high shelf slightly dipping the higher frequencies to remove some harshness.
I noticed the lead guitar lines in the chorus weren’t singing through as well as I wanted. To combat this I duplicated the track and cut out the little lead lines from the rhythm playing and placed them on a separate track. This left me with the lead sections on a different track with the same dynamic and effects processing so It sounded the same. I then sidechained the lead lines to a compressor on the rhythm guitar group to duck the volume of the guitars whenever the lead line played.
For the vocals in the verse I ran them through a telephone filter EQ and then an OTT compressor followed by a dark hall hybrid reverb with a 2.5s decay to put them into their own space. After this there is another compressor with a fast attack and then an EQ with a boost at 2k to bring out some harshness. Finally, I put a roar saturator to bring out some grit.
There are 3 vocal tracks playing in the chorus, one clean, one with slight grit, and one sung heavily but they all have very similar effects processing and dynamics processing. I first ran them through an autoshift with a smooth 50ms attack followed by an EQ with a low cut at 100hz and a slight boost at 500hz to bring out some warmth. I then put a dip in at 1Khz to cut some unwanted frequencies and a slight high shelf on the high frequencies. This then runs into a 4 : 1 compressor with a low threshold and then a hybrid reverb with a longer decay and 51ms predelay to make them sound a bit distant or echoey.
For the bass guitar I put an EQ with a low cut filter at around 100Hz and a slight boost at 1k. This then runs into a roar saturator with 8db of drive and an overdrive to beef it up a bit. The bass was run through a compressor pedal when recording so there was no need for further compression. There is another quieter bass tone that plays through the entire track that is running through a heavily fuzzed guitar amp.
I resampled the vocals in a very chaotic way to make it sound like lots of people talking or shouting. To do this, I resampled the verse vocals in a simpler, and then I added midi effects such as arpeggiators and a randomiser to enhance the chaotic feel. Hybrid reverb with 30. Ms predelay 100% wet on a preset called phone call to smoothen transients and create more of an ambient background noise. I then ran this through another Telephone EQ.
I believe this song is commercially viable as It has a very similar sound to popular desert rock bands such as Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss, who have proven this genre can have commercial success. It is also a very British song vocally, which has appeal as can be seen from the likes of Blur and Oasis. It also has a very catchy memorable chorus with the ‘Fire Exit’ Tagline. This genre is also trending on social media platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram, meaning it has appeal to younger age groups.
In conclusion this project allowed me to explore a range of production techniques, including vocal recording, guitar mixing and sampling. I was able to create a track that sounds familiar to other successful acts but also sounds fresh and new, giving it commercial validity. This assignment has helped me build on my previous knowledge and learn new things about music production.
