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Part I
Recording
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Chapter 1
Production
The Studio as an Instrument
The records of The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Trevor Horn, Nirvana and Max Martin not only contained seminal songs but sounded fantastic too. For us, listeners, the sound of these classics is inextricably linked to the music forever. Organizing sound waves can cause the experience of pop music to be total. The questions with music production are, How can a song be translated into a record? and How can the listenerās experience be enhanced with the help of technology? Producer Mark Ronson found the answer by adding a kick drum sample to Amy Winehouseās organic-sounding āRehab.ā Nirvana-producer Butch Vig doubled guitars and vocals on āSmells like Teen Spiritā without Kurt Cobain knowing. Producer Shawn Everett made Alabama Shakeās Britney Howard sing through obscure mics from Craigslistāwith a cloth in her mouth, in order to force an extreme performance. These examples effectively demonstrate that there are innumerable ways for production to get to a sound thatās specific.
āŗ Production Value
To gain insight into the production value of a given song, it can be useful to assign it one of four categories: documentation, coloration, organic/electronic or fully electronic (see Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1
From documentation to production: farther to the right, means more sound manipulation to take place.
First Category: Documentation
Production always starts with the recording of instruments. If the producer wants an instrument to sound as natural as possible, heāll choose the best-quality microphones and record to the best medium available. When mixing, the goal is to preserve a natural sound, as if the listener is part of the soundstage. Recordings in this category are classical, jazz, live recordings and many singer-songwritersā recordings. From a pop perspective, no production is involved.
Second Category: The Studio as an Instrument
Instead of the puristās approach, a producer might decide to record a beautiful acoustic guitar in the bathroom, by using a pawnshop mic. Doing so, the resulting coloration becomes an integral part of the music and evokes an emotion with the listener. The studio is not used for documentation only but, rather, as an instrument. Coloration can be achieved by using atypical microphones or acoustics, or with tape machines, equalizers, compressors, distortion units, guitar amplifiers and other sound manipulation tools.
Third Category: Computer
Third category productions typically mix acoustic and electronic ingredients. With the use of a computer, it is now possible to intervene musically. For example, cutting up musical phrases and reversing them, changing timing (such as quantizing drums) or correcting the pitch of the vocal for example. Actually, a fair share of modern pop music is in the third category, although it may appear as if it is from the second (or even first) category.
Organizing sound evokes emotion with the listener.
Fourth Category: All Electronic
Fourth category productions might not use any acoustic element at all. In case it does get used, the producer is free to manipulate it so much that little or nothing of the instrument can be recognized in the end product. The composition and its ingredients are initiated (or at least inspired) by technology. Conventional song structures may be abandoned. When assessing a song, itās impossible to rely on āold values,ā such as the quality of the composition or good musicianship.
āŗ Separation and Contrast
Separation of instruments is usually an important goal for production. Thatās because you want the listener to connect with every single instrument. Separation is best achieved in the recording stage, by choosing the right instrument, the best playing style and the musical notes that best support the song. These aspects are decisive for the general direction of the record. Only after all musical options have been explored, the studio and its technology come into play to build a good sound and to further improve separation and contrast. This involves finding the best mic and its position, using the best acoustics and, last but not least, making the best possible mix.
āŗ Double-Tracking
Double-tracking is an often-used studio technique in order to achieve a thicker and wider sound. Doubling happens when you record the same part on a new track, possibly with another instrument. It is commonly used on backing vocals, lead vocals and guitars. Phil Spector used to double-track every single instrument, including drums and bass. As this technique causes individual characteristics and differences to flatten, the resulting sound is somewhat ādepersonalizedā and less defined. That can be positive. Doubling reinforces a performance, makes it more abstract and increases the stereo width of a mix. These are important qualities in production. Doubling doesnāt add any new notes to the song; thatās why this technique perfectly fits the maxim of āless is more.ā Soundwise, however, doubling means āmore is more.ā
With double-tracking, the musical content of the song remains the same.
Examples of common doubles:
- A fuzz guitar on the left is doubled with a second fuzz guitar on the right
- An acoustic guitar on the left is doubled with a second acoustic guitar on the right
Figure 1.2
Crescente Studio, Tokyo, Japan, with a (rare) 72-channel Focusrite mixer.
- A string pad (chords) from one synthesizer is doubled with a sound from another synthesizer
- The lead (and/or) backing vocals are recorded multiple times on individual tracks
- An acoustic piano and an electric piano play the same part
All in all, production is about reinforcing the emotion thatās contained within the song. When the sound is āright,ā the listener can be affected emotionally. This book focuses on production in the second and third category, with the occasional trip to the left or the right.
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Chapter 2
In the Studio
Most of the great pop classics wouldnāt have been possible without the experience and talent of many skilled people working together in a large studio. What exactly are the roles of those people, and how did they get there? How have the big temples of sound been responsible for the sound of pop music? And what does modern-day recording look like?
The evolution of studios and technology has been of great influence on the sound of pop music. Since the 1950s, sound has changed roughly per decade.
Before the 1960s
Orchestral recordings were made in large rooms with one or more microphones. The natural reverb of the acoustic space was an important ingredient of the sound. After recording, the balance between the instruments could not be altered anymore.
The 1960s: Multitracking
By using a 4- to 8-track multitrack recorder, it became possible to record multiple microphones separately. This allowed balancing signals after recording, rerecording of individual instruments and changing the sound of an individual instrument. People discovered that manipulating instruments was more effective by separating them acoustically. To minimize crosstalk, acoustic screens (gobos) were positioned between instruments. Multitracking became the standard.
The 1970s: Isolation
Technology advanced quickly; multitrack recorders with 24 tracks became the norm. This allowed a separate recording of just about every single instrument. To minimize leakage between microphones, studios built iso-rooms (or booths; see Figure 2.2). In these acoustically damped spaces, musicians were physically separated, hearing the music through headphones, and maintained visual contact through windows. As the booths were acoustically almost dead, the instruments sounded dry. In case reverb was needed, plate reverbs or echo chambers were used (see Chapter 14, āEffects | Reverbā). If you listen to typical 1970sā bands like Thin Lizzy, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and Chic, the close and dry sound clearly illustrates the big influence of the studio and its technology on pop music.
Figure 2.1
Control room A at Sound Emporium Studios, Nashville, USA. The wooden frame on the back wall is a āQRD diffuser,ā which is used to scatter sound waves. Behind the walls are ābass trapsā: spaces that are partly filled with sound-ab...
