Two Tracks I Have Produced: Part 1 – “AME”

This is the first of two blogs that will look at two of my own compositions.

The song that I’ll be talking about here is called “AME” and it combines the genres of grunge, stoner rock and progressive metal. Mainly influenced by bands such as Silverchair and Mastodon, my overall aim production-wise for this track was to effectively blend the melodic and dynamic capabilities of keys with the rough, saturated sound of fuzz rock and heavy metal instrumentation.

Basically, I’ll be discussing production in two ways: firstly, there’s the technical side which is to do with the effects and edits one might make to enhance the sonic qualities of the instruments and sounds that have been recorded. Things like EQ, compression, reverb and all that cool stuff are covered here. I’ll also be thinking about the more structural and compositional part of production. This is essentially thinking about what can be done to enhance the underlying core and essence of a song itself before even getting to the technical stuff. The purpose of highlighting these two stages is so that when you get to the technical part, you’ve already got a compositionally strong piece to work with which I think maximises the potential for technical creativity.

I'll also include links in red text if you want to listen to the different parts that I'm talking about.

Reverb

The 1st thing I’d like to highlight for “AME” is how I duplicated the intro piano part and added reverb to said duplicate track with a long decay time of 10 seconds and set the reverb plugin’s output to 100% wet and 0% dry. This was designed to create a swirling atmospheric ambience in the background of the intro which I thought would nicely juxtapose the hard-hitting, full on fuzz rock arrangement of following section.

Piano Reverb

The Audiotent blog about the concept of freezing reverb tails was also very useful here and I used this idea to get an atmospheric, rich reverb drone effect on the duplicate piano part. I applied this during the 4-bar linking section between the ambient intro and the following heavier section and added a swell effect just before the latter kicked in by automating the volume as well as the high frequency gain settings on the reverb plugin. I was looking to create a sort of rise and bang effect and reinforce the sense of tension and release to set up the new, louder section here.

Reverb Freeze

verb plugin settings

Compression and EQ

One of the really cool things I was able to do was make use of some awesome outboard gear in the shape of a Warm Audio Compressor and an EL8-X Distressor, kindly provided by Edinburgh Napier University’s music department. I used this gear on both the drums and bass for “AME” and for the former I decided that I wanted to experiment with different levels of compression. First of all, I applied a subtle compression in order to add a little bit of edge and grit. I then took this new track and put it through the compressors again, this time pushing them much harder to get more distortion, ending up with an effect similar to that of a bit crusher

My idea was then to use a technique known as parallel compression to blend a combination of these compressed tracks back in with the original drum sound.

Compressed Drums Only

Drums Without Parallel Compression

Drums With Parallel Compression

For bass, the Behind the Speakers article on bass compression proved to be quite useful as it helped me decide on attack/release settings for the compressors. My original, uncompressed bass tone was already quite punchy so I decided to go with a fast attack on the compressors to bring out a slightly smoother tone. I also went with as fast a release time as the compressors would allow without distorting the signal too much, again, to achieve a denser sound.

For me, the EQ stage is mainly about finding a space for each instrument to sit within the mix and making sure that things complement instead of get in the way of each other. For example, I wanted to make sure that the snare and toms didn’t sound jumbled, as often I find that these parts of the kit can start to blend into one another and become a bit mashed together. Avoiding this was just a case of meticulously going through the appropriate EQ spectrums and boosting the snare in the frequencies where the toms were cut and vice versa, thus reinforcing the distinction between the two sounds.

Guitar Fuzz

I’ve more or less already covered how I achieved “AME”’s guitar fuzz tone in my first blog but I’ll include screenshots below to give you more of an idea of the settings I’ve used:

smooth tone EQ

snarly tone EQ

Smooth Tone

Snarly Tone

Compositional Production

Here, I’d just like to highlight simple changes in components such as the drum groove that I’ve incorporated to create flow and keep things interesting while the same riffs repeat. Refer to this snippet. I recommend listening to this snippet simultaneously with reading the following section.

· The 1st groove with open hi-hats is very busy, tense and adds density and fullness to the overall timbre.

· The 2nd groove moves to the ride cymbal which releases some of that tension and creates space in the mix which allows other instruments to step forward a bit.

· The re-introduction of the piano when the intro riff comes back provides an extra point of interest for the listener and gives clarity to the keys melody.

· The Guitar moving to an octave riff coincides with the drums moving on to a cymbal groove which opens out the feel of the track, creates unity and togetherness and provides a sense of direction and progression within in the song.

· Then the previous riff comes back but with a new, more energetic element in the crash cymbals. They create a sense of driving brutality in my opinion.

· Finally, the 4th drum groove moves back to the ride cymbal but this time it’s even more open and sparse which creates a feeling of finality as the track reaches the end of the current section. The 16th note ride pattern at the very end acts as a kind of final burst.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoyed listening to my music and reading my general ramblings about said music.

Peace.