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Issue 52 Singer-Songwriter Production Guide

An ideal course for songwriters and singers, a detailed introduction to music production and industry tips

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Mihai Dor
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292 views100 pages

Issue 52 Singer-Songwriter Production Guide

An ideal course for songwriters and singers, a detailed introduction to music production and industry tips

Uploaded by

Mihai Dor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
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ey COMPUTER = y, Ny fi Kl _ft PRODUCTION GUIDE How to write a hit and record like a pro! @) as Yh THE FORMULA CLASSIC PROCESSING songwriting masterclass for timeless vox b THE LATEST BEDROOM RECORDING =\\ stand-out vocal FX pro. sound froma budget setup } @roonrrack EZMIX2 MULTI EFFECT MIXING TOOL ross re Beer SHAPE CONIROEINFO Saas Prue TaN os liar NR RRC ry MASTER, with its more than 300 professionally designed audio processing settings, EZmix 2 is your one Reece acer ul eet tn cee tees sh eS hehe ae Ba he C disc >Your songwriter’s toolkit @@& Cm Sc We've teamed up with Loopmasters and Time+Space to bring you this inspiring collection of sample loops, hand-picked from some of their best current collections Featured collections TIME+SPACE > 27 jazz construction kit planos, guitars, hornsand ‘ramstrom BIC FISHEIGADHORNS ‘athe ws ta power of herd of runaway mustangs Sanaithe elegant fury ot ‘ten metal Big Boa Horns lemerges wit the getty and ‘oki sounds of modem legends Big Bad Horns wil erase your trace With cracking jazz. rock, ‘Bes sou Lath and funk kts al ready to give your tunes the tamed atRude that oni ve Rompers can oring, wtunky jazz Construction clarinets, ome and drums rom Infuse your racks with Shesweetongspcy ‘his scrumpuousbrass ‘ad, Dilan aza New Eydeco pack ts you have talwithamassive Calecton of hand-afte loops, featuring ve ‘ambourines, skanky aatars funky pisos. ry ‘organs. drums andmore {guitar constructions from "W'SOUL Memphis-thehome ot Fallisking ana where ‘Soulcomes ave, Ths Suthenteshanetmade 6 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL Memos sounds colton wie your tracks Instant authentic with vintage electric ang ‘courte guar scoustlc ugh andelectic Basses, smooth panos. buzing organs and super Souifldrums Ail these Ive fnstroments have Been recorded wi parting detalto gve you 6 19 vintage drums, ‘ultarsandrifstrom TAPES VOLT Triscomalation resonates withthe textural senestions ofthe {0sand70st0gWe your Included samples feature the struments and playing styles ofthe era, with ‘gesture of sul and sound ram te ghostsot ops past Lost Tapes Volt was ecordeain 3 tintgueenvronment, and the tracks were played ‘navi range o 6s instruments ram legendary manufacturers suchas Burrs, Baldwin ‘and Danelectro, into vintage Seimer ane Vox rmplitation So acousticdrumand By ercussiontoops rom FRESHTONE VINTAGE DRUMS. THE FILLS. Great ls are hard ond {and when you dofind tke Recordedins tue vintage analogue “cavitonment with drummers Emre Ramazanogha ‘and Wilam Bowerman thes loaps ae flo sou ‘nd represent an exemplary and defitve {olection at wilmeet al your expectations As \wellas conventional time signatures outa ‘ind some more unueual ones. ‘1Sindusral drums, basses and “atmospheres rom ‘ZERO-GGLENN MORRISON ‘Glen Merrsonisa male sng player inthe ‘loba dance muse scene, iting Number One on {the Bestport sales chart ang remixing the Pet Shop Boys. craig Armstrong and Bemarasurmner. Glenn hau designed Us ibrary for dance producers Onthedi chosen from the full versions of these packs youll find a selection of samples specasingin house, Progressive house techno, Emblent downtempo. tripnop and wae styles. Balancing ethereal tones with (grainy abstract melodes. ond A Blovoomtestivates with industiaype broken beat loops, brary avast, prove invatable Vi Y 13055, drumand heavy ‘ultricks trom ZeRo-G NU METAL Thishardockn collection fromZero.GaWves youaceess totheinner workings of ‘enuinemeta band with Eonstructionstsbasedon Fealsongsas wel as Dood curding vocals bone breaking drome, thumnaering bases ana ead ‘tar ick that are eave than plutonium. The awesome Weight and power of hs musi comes frm ts Stmezohere the oppressiveness of te prodtion and theintansa musical personalities wove, Feterencng bands such as Adora, Godsmack, Sevendust nd tone Sour ‘basses, atmospheres ZERO-G PERCEPTION CINEMASCAPES Perception Cinemascapes Isavvastcollectonot constuction ts bused as bullding locks {Dawe yourmusiea!, Eompentions anew ‘mension Created by one ofthe worlseading Soundtrack producers Using high dey source materials anda large soundstage production appreach these "unning samples wil belp you crete highly {harged emotional moodmaratves hat generate theectoracertantime anapiace Loop ‘ziacousticdrum loops trom IRFISTFULOF ' 3 DRUMMERS INDIE ROCK DROPS. ‘These drum samples havebeenspecaly Drumarops packs A Fst of Drummers Contalng cover of classic best ut between 1960 fan 978. ncluing rare groove unk vintage soul bombastic 7s rock and erty hp-hoa inde Rock Dropsisa colection of perfect captureaive ‘rumloops recordedon vintage geo using valve Imiesand ony tne very best rummers. The {ample of Boom selection, meanwile oers 2 Smorgasoordo! hpsnop drum vacks ranging rom Funk ane West Coast classics toheavyweght East Court best, astrings basses, ‘rams and keys fom STALANTACHILL Panstakngiy pleced together wth ive Instramenton se Imbuea wth some Deautiustings and big broken grooves, talanta Chins perfect. Smbientand downtempo ample collection for electroniemusieploners \worewide efortesiy Blend the pari wi the electron andthe ve wth the programmed. ‘This sample sacks a consummate eoiecion ot Suble ounged out decadence and could werk Welln gervesrangngtrom deep house and dub ‘rum'n bass andaubsten.aswallasbeing perfectly uted to more cinematic styles, Mguitartieks, basses fd drumstrom TONDONELEKTRICITY SDRUMEBASSVOLE Tony Colman. aa ¥ London Bek. cuts a formidable tigureinithe ‘worl of On Having been involved inthe cenesince the mid'90s, the co founder ot Hospital Records has been nstrumentalinthe ‘development the genres we know tod. Responsible fr some of Hostals biggest Teputation as both a producer and D, with no ess than fveartiet sume under his bee N4stap asses rom FUNKEASS" Loopmasters Funk ass Isnotjustancther franary bass ooo package insiea Ealecton ot Proessonaliy recorded, high quatty oops. featuring some ofthe ‘most freshang unite bass sounds avalable. Alloops were recorded Using our tring an five sting Overwater basces Gigh ©, Tepertormances feature both lap and linger style unk bas nspred by legendary players suchas lao Pastors taney Clarke Randy Jackson. Marcus Miler, Victor Wooten and Mare King, nits chords and ‘rumsirom MONOMADE PRESENTS BIG ROOM House musichas| Become both ner fecentyears-tsmace thetranston fromthe back omtothe bg oom and Big Room Progressive House rom Monemace represents tnt ourney With Inspiration coming rom producers suchas Kaskade, Hichoe! Woods Axwell ana Desamaus, {his pack scrammed ft Bursing with inspiring Grams, percussion basses synths chord stabs and ‘tects to give your Rouse racks hat igvoom progressive we ‘Serums, keys, chords and pads trom MY DIGITAL ENEMY PRESENTS HOUSE ‘ANTHEMS MyDiatalEnemys prosuctons sre highly oughtafter among te Dieite receving ‘aptrous aecaim from {hele of Pau! ‘Oakenfola. Roger Sanchez and Esc Mort, to ‘names ew Featuringbig drum loops. gltched ‘ecto percussion house arpeggios tech nlse ‘ates andsiaecnained fects ana more tusie3 action destined fr peaktime producers. encompassing sives rom electro totechand progressive tomainroomhouse 16arums, strings and "rom syne PHAELER AMBIENT Duaster Phaele'uniquescund has gamered suppor {rom the cubstep scenes Jeading artsts neuaing Shream Type, Scuba ana kryple Minds, a, ‘wells radio play on BBC Radio, 88¢ 6 Muse Kies ana XFM Fusing te dark and heavy sounds of dubstep ana aru ‘ass with the meloes and soundscapes of ‘lectronia, his cverse influences esutinan equally averse muses output ranging rom the ‘cphoric heights of Nordic Wectronca ond ‘nematic breakbeat othe deptvcharge Irnmediay of pure dubstep. Bp cial Phaeleh Puts 17 ub and reggae loops trom PRINCE FATTY - ‘CRUCIAL DUB Prince Fatty is champioainthe dub basslines funky horns, bubbles and enops are Sesignedto deve an Upbeat postiveana ‘organi cubexperience Mixed inan analogue Ram of vintage spring rovers tape echoes and stom high grade mixing consoles, Cruca DUD ‘wont dlsappant lovers of early 70s Jamaican ‘ocksteady dub androats reggae disc < ‘4percussion drum 52) and guitarloopstrom RASMUSFABER-LIVE HOUSE ELEMENTS. Unceniaby one of the most energetic and apinating entertainers r otthehouse mise a Scene.RasmusFaber a UME Setshimset apart trom hisindustry counterparts byineorporating not ust three CDisandan fever busy mixof key matehedracks But aso laws ve piano playing For Live House Elements Faber has workenard to create 2 Stunting Set of samples stable fr proaucers ‘working ialhouse genres, but which should aso ol beoveooked by those dabbing In techno, owetempoana hiphop. ‘Yorum, bass lead oopstrom: UrAN SAINTS ELECTRO HOUSES INDIE DANCE Utah Saints have been Ding since te 1990s andhave notched up Seven Top 40hits and records workide. Their Electro House InaieDance pack sa fresh Ssndorigina calecton ocaetly erates 24-bit sams which wll appeal foauge ‘arity of prosucers wordide, Wheto You make house, elect Ine, rock, ecronica, fdustep ot drum bass you petty much ‘uaranteedto find some nspation or your ext production here 29.trings, gultarsand stn sun rom rn Acousniesiurs 5 STRINGS VOLS & SOUNDOF MIRA Organic Loops take you backtonature witha "bine selection of mplteatonree Sounds rom these Sample pas. Acoust Blues Guitars fresh Colleton of gutta loops and samples or producers of mony styles Real Stings VOI Eontane potesionaly recorded stings fo those fof you woke to get more creative: an the Soundot Mb\ra samples werecarefuly recorded to apture teastintve tonal quals of the mba 3 thousond-year-oldnstrument that was used n ‘inlan ceremonies sccompaniedby singing, fanciog and storyteting. DRUGS ad Avot Tnesspace Tracspce hive gabe repute ere ominect msc stor terecrng ‘rete ongurter ruc eng Doan reeoengetier worn con ra esr teal eco crate mst sags in Srntrinatwnt Bigot ‘hetg thereof te ert eons protic atenginenrsFomoreunsth gabe Whe thereon tuetlshea he tana ‘ery ofharestectane i speacarthereae y COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 7 | love this thing, and it’s definitely found a home in my studio. eRe RTT cur) SO Rea oa SR Ne ene ets ee econ eee ets cr ae feels good for more serious playing or Cra ero ee de simple triggering of notes. Pee ee ura) Pen went aVvPUuLse ra WITH AUTOMAP 4: REVOLUTIONARY SOFTWARE THAT CONNECTS YOU TO YOUR DAW A Impulse comes with Automap 4 control software eee et ee ee eee ey clo) ont lod the touch ofthe ‘lear’ button, and see what is mapped ee ary ON Ce ERC) www.novationmusic.com/automap4 n ova LY on i songs and stories < For more than 50 years the singer-songwriter has loomed in the public consciousness, casting a.long shadow over popular culture in general and the music industry in particular. We investigate the enduring appeal of this genre and its maverick practitioners > onthe sparse,functional stage ofa small folk musi club, awiry, intense young man \splaying gultar with almost supernatural summon aspldery, hnypnotic arpegglo ase crouches over the mic ‘and murmurs words we can't quite make ov. ‘Theaudience are getingit though. With anod ofthe eadhare andaralsingo the eyebrow there, the egularstransmitamongst themselves an ment that something specials happening tonight. When the performance ends the applause s volchearted and the performer, Sean Taylor. is {uieky offered folow-up gat the venue As unters gather round tobuy ACD, chat about harmonicas or offer him drink we take the ‘opportunity tostep forward with a question How” weask, "would youdetinea singer songwriter?” ‘Sean Taylor aves this some consideration, Late nigt poetry. ne answers after a ‘moment's pause. smoky bare adds ‘Then. thinking Some more, Nesays"And The singer songwriter has been with us since the dawn of musical history Inpre-olonalAfica he was the greta wangering storyteller and ‘alr of news imbued with nearmystc powers. Inthe castles and vilages of medieval Europehe ‘waste mintel a foetlooee descendant ofthe Nordic bard, strumming his strings or the pleasure of monarchs and peasant alike, And in 4930s Ameriea he was the bluesman waling the music o New Orleans ane the Mississippi della ‘Sounds that would eventually conquer the wold “The postmodern version that we recognise today, however, was born Inthe 9605-aso the ‘rucal era when women began to assume equal duties in this sphere Fromthebedsis of Eas {Court the sun-drenched canyons of Calflora, this new generationof singer songwriters came ‘of ageat around the time of 1967s summer of Love, and gave rise toegion of supersarsin thetolowing decade. The orm seeredto die “Keyboards, samplers and the Loop Station have brought fresh new vistas to these artists’ songs” Imusic scene, butin fact twas merely laying ow, Changing shape ana getting reacy to stage massive-scale comeback-one that prelty much rnabody saw coming Today's singer songwriters have one foot inthe folksy Vaditions other distant forebears, but the other Issquarely planted inthe brave new world of YouTube, Twitter andrTunes. They may be Bob Dylan's children, but theyre the spawn of Steve Jobs oo. "The erm singersongwriter has comete mean something dor realy felam part ot” Says ary Epworth very much one of then breed. and amusican witha dente touch ofthe Visionary about her. t'seems tomean acoustic fuller oa ott people” A hippy with a guitar Marys ight obout that ded visto any pen mic right wil rove the pale compleoned, caste gutar-totng pp archetype save Sd wel Bu the more via reresertatve ofthe imeem incarnation are someunst ater They tlsng andstum but theyre aay tobe multnstrumentasts who canals tun thelr handiorapping or beatboxing Keyboard Samples and the Loop Staton nave ought tree vistas to these atts song that he cid guard cou never have preci COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 9 > songs and stories love machines” enthuses Suzy Condra, anoternew-schoo singer songwriter Recently ‘Crowned joint UK winner ofthe Boss Looping ‘Championship. Suzy s currently recorang her songs and stories Sean Taylor The traditionalist ‘cm: Does being asinger-songwriter fool moretike calling than 3 career? ‘S:Definitely scaling. write songs. Decauseitis something thatis with rieeverywherel go -inevery ‘moment, inevery relationship andin ‘every dream. ‘cm: Do you fee part ofa tradition? ST:thavealwaysteltartistically separate from specific genres or ‘movements. Each song chooses ts ‘owndlrection-that's why ve Worked acrossgenres. Theniew ‘bum has stuff influenced by blues, rock, folk, even country. Notto ‘mention other media- poetry and painting, in particular. ‘cm sitimportanttobe protic? STiltsnot about beng profi butit Isaboutworking-and hard. about torelease my fthalbum, and Tmeonstanty writing. Having an albumnto wrteandrecora every year, working tothatehyth, has eptme focused and driven. its truth that the more you do, the harder you work, the better you get. ‘om Tellusalitle bit about your about 15, and Ibegan gigging when | ‘was Piano came ater when was. ‘round2,andit’s something that has eally expanded my songwriting ‘and taken ttonew places. aso play harmonica, and ve ust got myself s0la-body bouzouk ‘emit forcedtochooeejustone Instrument, which would you lek? STiMy volee-soteould koop performing my songs. ‘cm:Do you performlivea great deal? 'ST:Veah, ve played over 800 gigsin thelastten years. oureaserious {troubadour playinglveis your dally breadand something whichis an Integral part of your artistic journey ‘em Singer songwriters often find Inspiration in other genresand art forms-world music terature, politics. this the case with you? ‘ST: Definitely. Reading the great poetry of Federico GarciaLorea, for ‘example, or going toanexhibition of ‘Mark Rothko thingslike these lluminate my artiste world. Silay, witnessing the worka ‘unravel within he ineanity and ‘Inequallt of capitalism gives me the fireand tury Ineedasa songwriter and pertormer. ‘Sean Taylor's new album Love Agalast Death ie released 26 March. www seantaylorsongs.com 12 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL Forty yearslater its tempting to view that ‘lamtastiemegastar du jour Lady Gaga as having ‘3simlarly singer songwriterly element encoded omevherein er musical DNA. Certainly, Gaga reeds litle prompting to plonk herself down at the plano and commence pouring aut her heart ‘and sou However as witnEton before ths arity or the starkly confessional moments Utimately negated by her aliconsuming drive to ‘entertain onan operat scale The song, not the singer Certany. etre snger-songwiter often has 8 ‘antego anda magnetic chara bit theres Ssosometning settetoeng abutter presence ae though they realy do want youto steno he song and not be astrocyte ‘xpos or thelr out Ast one example, Catorian ouadour James Tayo seems Imuch appari ov kn now tat et ol, Dali and cresay- peop st an tke nis Ime serous backin the eat 705 when Tisangele good ols and floppy ha tended o bec the work ‘Other ews gover our defn of singersongwter Most impotaiy weneedto Understand that nt alsinges who wile songs ‘ual = ot even Mortzsy deste being the King beds poetvocolsts Wesouls aso ‘otchoutorfkesinger songwriters often recor companlesvil promote teksts prety puppet asasingersongwrer node oes {hearst esging cred Acaselscan of the wring creat wi usualy eval tne uth, tre cansay forte recor. for example. tat Natateimoroga ch ot wits Yorn nthe Smiths 1985elngle Shatespeares “Ser Monsey ang."Tthought tat you had Snacousticgutar/Itmeant tna you were» Brotet singer: tsa ne tat inescapaby igs Sobbvlanto mind inthe 60s yan famously tated agaist being tagged protest singer but wth hisbattered 36 yearok Gibson Mek Lucas guitar and cumbersomeneckbrace harmonica that’s whathe was, at eastfor awhile. And Somewferealonghis endless and fiendishly twisted roadie alto became the sainted godfather ofa singer songwrters Dylan and the 60s Inthe19608 Dylan change the face of popular music atleast wiceandexerclsedan Lunpaaleia intuence over the culture at large Hert won notice withthe paitve folk protest song Blowin the Wind betore graduating to the more stent political he Times They are ‘AChangin’ Edgy electrification flowed with ‘Highway 61 Rested, before Dylan evolved st further into folkrock, Americana ad beyond Evenbefore the decade's endine was beng spoken of asoneof the key figures of the 20th Century, Hippes loved him and so did academic types. who wrote analytic tomes about his work Anthe process coining anew wore, Dylanolog). Even regular pop fansloved Dylan when his sonas were trasperted tthe Top 40 by soups like Peter, Paul and Mary with low the Win. the Byras with fr Tambourine Man Gater rerecordedin bizarre fashion by Star Trek actor Wiliam shatnen ana Manfed Mann with The Mighty Quinn. to name but tree. When Dylan went int set imposed exe after breaking his neckin a 1966 motoreyce accident {Gnother event which entered the mythology that ‘sled around hi, he remained asinfveral as ever. Hs unteleased songsleaked out tthe Imusic community tage. fueling acottage Industry of bootlegs ana birthing multitude of “Dylan changed the face of popular music at least twice and exercised an unparalleled influence” People have been taking about Dyan being a sgeniustorsolong thatthe phrase as become Almost meaningless. However, four defition of {enlusis someone whose work eaves the world 2 significant diferent place tohow they found it-then ylanisone o tiny umber ot ‘musicians wh qualfies Clinica psychologist Olver Jarmes certainly agrees InPisbook Afuenza re devotes passage to someremarkable 1960s footaneof 2 Young Dylan aking the mickey outof a curiously \worded pet shop sign. Dylan brilianty kept his balance on the tightrope o sanity thats walked winenever anatist speaks whatever comes nto hismina” James writes Certainy, DA Pnnebaker's 1965 documentary ont Look Back sees Dylan deivering a mastorlas inhow to bean enigma. Therm follows imandhisentourage ae tours England, disarming the pubic sparing withthe tess. mockinghis young rtish acolyte Donovan and doggedly refusing any pigeonhole people try toput him in Neary SO years after Dont Look Back, Dylan continues to tour relentlessly (beware Dylan ve canbe a very frustrating experience) while recording albums offantastically high qualty Hes relmented hime as radio D1 his daunting musical knowiedge matched by his wonderfully surest vit-and he even ecipsedal the brillant minds inv eve tied to pen his biography when his 2004 memoir Chronicles Volume One vas ‘unanimously aclaimed by eriesas hebest book ver written about Bob Dylan. Sisters are doing it Bob Dyionhas assumed immense stature over the decades but when heromanced singer songwriter oan Baez inthe ety 60s ane vas for mores thane nis mer Whe Bieyeses mate producer Joe Bova tet trrked ih Nick brake eats tothe cane Status Baez held among foiloving ear-60sUS Students Like Dylan, erst ours and records Dutunlke Dian she remains pata ats. Dini nc ty wise and humane Joan az 'spernaps musi greatest ler statesweman Baez se thesiandard anda corto female mulatto era orsurpssher Tn Pan Aly songwriter arcle King reverted herslfn the te 6s wth the muro teling Tapestry album whe the uneasy sented Jon heel became one-woman ‘ene incorporating seal elements om ok “Baez set the standard, and a cohort of female musicians set out to emulate or surpass her” pop jazz and avant-garde. 1970s procigy Kate Bush has probably influenced moretunesmiths than anyone except Dyan wile 90s str Tor! “Amos was the fst take influences from Bush ‘and Michel nd mould them into something tne More recently. acoustic ponster Kate Melua became Britain's top-seling female artis ofthe noughtes, while Pl Harvey crowned two decades ‘of uncompromising seltexpression with the tmostertically acclaimed aloumof 201, Let England Shake. “true musical maverick, Nina Simone, who edt te age of70 in 2003, would probably rank with the greatest o al singer-sonawrters, ‘except that she's primary regarded as an Interpreter of ther peoole's songs. il. ner influence on the enreas been enormous. New kids ‘There always been adark tipside tothe singer songuriter mage Mentaliiness Suostance abuse ana premature eath have {Gaimed many ofthe most significant talents From influential 30s bluesman Robert Jotnson (Grurdered) to ya'srival Pit Ochs uci ‘tom Nick Drake (overdose) and Tim Buckley (overdose) to Tim's son Jeff (crowning). thet ‘ong and sobering one. Today, however, the work ofa contemporary singersonguriterisjust aslikely to feature ina phone commercial asatafuneralJessie the biggest new Brtsh musle star ofthe past year: reportedly planning to record asinglewith Ea Sheeran, the baby faced D0y wonder supposealy ‘discovered by Holywood star Jamie Fox while ‘1aging In LA. Depending on ow youteel about these emerging young talents, developments ike this represent ether the end clizationas we know tora neat lustraton ofthe fact that SO ‘yearsafter Bob Dyan fst sang Blowin the Wind. te singer songwriter shereto stay and stronger than ever. songs and stories < Suzy Condrad The iconoclast ‘em-How dl youend up becoming a singer songwriter? Scrttwas case of putting onefoot blindly infront of the other and suddenly here lam. parading mysett bout with no fear. suppose that ‘cans fnally happy with how und. Butthen, much ofthatissince ‘ve distanced myself rom acoustic {olk-sodependingon the detirition, amtreally asinger songwriter? itmportantto be prolific? 'SC:Itend tohone songs for months: ‘aremore about qualty than ‘quantity. Quality intyriesis about having enough timetolet ideas crystallise. Musically, find trying new instruments keeps the Meas flowing. Looping hasmademe ruthless about dropping outa particular ideaifit tals and trying 2 completely afferent approach. Cem: Tellus abit about your musical background? SC:Apartiromatewreuctant keyboard and organlessons in my ‘teens, [basically taught myself by car. Mist picked up a guitar when | ‘was 1, thenbass at21 An acoustle ‘uitarisatantasti vehicle for solo Workbut you can'thelp sounding folky, which frustrated measit ‘waatrt what wanted Come Tellus abouthow youuse technology? | workwitha LoopStation and create song structureby dropping lve {oops inandout tocreatetracks {rom the bottom up. Prior to that was an acoustic troubadour ‘Using Pro Tools has completely transtormeaanddeepened my ‘experience of sound. always been {fascinated by the colour and feel certain favourite albums, andi's ‘been amazing to discover that this Subjective experience actually corresponds to thescienee of EQ, ‘compression and reverb, Wsashame singersongwriters areseenasLuddites. Who knows, ‘perhaps lyrically creative people are particularly prone to taking what the philosopher Robert Pirsig would call the romantic approach oie ‘experiencing things mn anaesthetic Senserather than wanting to grapple withthe physics of itll. that’s ‘realy trueit would be pity, because technology lustrequiresabitot cffort, and the rewards are huge. Certainly this singer-songwriter. ‘amindeed one- couldn't imagine lite without ‘suzy Conrad's current recording herdebut album, intpesuzyeondradcom COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 13 > songwriters Peter Hook Former member of not one but two legendary bands, Peter Hook spoke to em about songwriting, New Order and that most enduring Joy Division classic, the timeless Love Will Tear Us Apart ‘> Sm In Joy vision was there any set ‘method or routine that you went through when writing new songs? Pik Interestinaly enough allthe Joy Division stutt apart from think one song wes jammed. it ‘Sounds ridiculous now, but what we Used to do ‘was practise fortwo hours onaSunday and one Four on a Weanesday- the eason being that we coulantattord any more than that. Because we were just starting out and fullof enthusiasm, we Used to generally write about song per week When you ist start songwriting the songs ‘comereallyqulekly, but when you've writen 200 Yyoutend to stow down abit Everytime you write {nother one, the newt oneis harder Theres aso that struggeto keep them sounding different, and to kep them saistying, creative. “Mostly with Joy Dsion ft wasjams, and tan vwasalwaysthe spotter He asthe one who \wouldsay That sounds good or ‘Lets ty that bit ‘nth the bit fom that tune we were playing Before’ That was oneo the problems we faced when we got to New Order: me, Bemardand Stephen would play but thee was nobody to tll Lswhent sounded good. ttook usahellot Tongtimeto get used to that "Youalso have toremember thatthe technology atte tie was rubbish! I'sstrange fothink that tne only way we could realy hear the Joy Division songs we wrote before we got conto Factory was when the four of us payed thom together ‘em: Amazingto think of that nthese daysot Reason, Cubase and Logic. PH The good thing about technology isthat anybody can use it Luck for us tough 35. ‘musicians not many peopl are songwriters. ‘Thats the eal skit-itsnot operating the computer or putting the music onto that, shi of being abet write song. ‘em: What do you thinkitis about the way the ‘ld Joy Division songs were writen that stil ‘makes them sound sotresh? PPE With J Division, every person inthe band fuliledadiferentroleand you al brought something te te table So, youtthave a vocal ‘melody. guitar melody anda bass melody that \werealliferent and a drum ehythm that thanks tosteve innis younger days, was quite unique was aheady cocktal,aheady chemistry that ‘meshed perect. Groups are allabout chemistry. the way they write they way they play together and interact. Its an unconscious thing when great groups are paying together. 1 ‘think there was ony one Joy Divison song where 16 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL ‘anybody played the same thing as anybody else - ‘Love Wl Tear Us Apart, whereit was done to hammerhome the melody. ‘em. Which brings us neatly othe wondrous ‘Love Wil Tear Us Apart.Canyoutalkus ‘through ts evolution? Pret as easy -wehad the basi andthe ‘rus, ana lan sala he'd work on some vocals for those. When he came back afew days tater net ‘writen the yrs. So, the song Mealy came ‘bout within the space of one hour's rehearsal {hen another two-hour renearsal and twa done, ‘Tous twas ust another song io add tothe Ist - wedi expect t tobe the success that ts ‘ended upbeing. ‘You dont write many of them in your career. Joy Division were lucky 25 we Rad afew - Transmission Love Wil Tear Us Apart. Dig, Disorder and isolation were allqit unique. Joy Division werea fucking fantastic songwing ‘combination -tdoes make You wonder where wwe would ve gone had lanved ‘em So, Love Will Tear Us Apart dnt Immediately stand outto the band as abit? PHENo,itwaslust anather good track. twas itferenttothe others because was much more melodic and thada chorus. which oto the ‘oy Division stu drt nave. Most songwriters ‘ana te simon Cowels of this world wile you thats the kiss of death, but aot of groups have proved them wrong you don needa chorus in ‘every song, ‘Rs New Order evolved. as very much ofthe ‘pinion that every song di need a chorus, whereas Barney sisted that every song should have one. Somatimes forme the choruses run the songs but they seemed to make him happy. ‘That was one ofthe musical ferences we Mad = Its not persona ust people iferent tastes. ‘em. What consttutesa welhcrafted song? HE The most important thins fnshing lan Used to say that everytime you get ari or ‘something that sounds decent, you should _alwaystinshtbecause somebody willove it. ‘Thatwas oneof the reasons! wasingptedto co ‘Pictures in My Mind lan unreleased Joy Division track that Hook has recorded with hi band the ‘ight whea ound. ‘What a group needs most of alto succeed is uitimat sleet The interesting thing about hows lke The X Factor tthat they dom push Sseltbeit they wy and crust They try and say that peopieare only as good as theudges tel ‘them Tobea successfulsonguriteror group you havetouttery beleve that you arethe best thing Since ced bread an Cutis lan Brown or anyone we know and love went on X Factor, Simon Cowell would be teling them roto give Up thelr day jobs! sucking rileuous! ‘em There are few bass players withsuch an Instantly recognisable bass sound was that ‘consclous decision Inthe early days? Pio, teame about very organically What happened was that Bernard encouraged me to buya chorus padal to help ilk out asl eit play verylow. Rad a realy badass speaker so wine played iow which a been inspired todo bbybands ke the Sex Pistols and the lash, t sounded trite ~201 used olay high lan loved itso westuck with thesoun ‘em What are you writing atthe moment? PH tmsutering tromalile bit of download block atthe moment Yousspend days, weeks, ‘months puting your heart an sou ito music and then some fucker comes alongandjst Sownloadsitfor nothing! does make you ‘question why you bother, really Rob Gretton and Tony Wison always instilled nme tat the next song you write the most important, not any of thelast ones. Songwriters and musicians have started avina thelr songs away and not being paid dont understand! ‘cm When you mention those two great names, Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson, da they have any involvement in the Joy Division/New ‘Order songwriting process? PH Not realy Rob’ great phrase was Makeit {90 whooomp which hed scream white Standing on themixing desk! Basically Rob was huge fan rom the word go, and so was Tony. The {r0at thing about being on Factory was that Tony Girt wantto fluence you musica He beloved inhisartistsandthat they had something unique to say. and ne wast going to Getinthe way. That was very freeing attitude, it You ke, and very unusual. Wernever encountered an A&R man who tld tuswat to do until we got to London Records. You should neveristentoan A&R man they know what they want. but they never know now togt there or ow to gt you there think was Nl Young who sid "You should never make ‘music for you" audience: you should aways ‘make muslforyourselt” Peter Hook andthe ight wilde performing Jy Divers Closer and Unanown Peasires albums lhvoughout 202 wawpeterhookcouk songwriters < Cer tesa 2as down wi er] | can - | have a dictaphone} computer and notebooks} 1 i del Se asmall studio at home} where all my demos start’} ar songwriters < King Charles The first ever UK-based winner of the prestigious International Songwriting Competition Grand Prize holds court with em on his award-winning track, Love Lust, and his forthcoming album > 8m Youhave quiteaknack oran opening line-isthat fist yric something you focus ‘onwhen penning anew song? KG:Totten buldsongs around fis ine, butt oesnit avaysstay a thefistline -itcan ‘change te become thefocal point. usually try and havea sort of focus ine nthe song 50 the inal opening line sometimes ends up inthe chorus or sometimes atthe eainning The res fotten come ts for me, but they also sometimes {velop around some music asm working ‘em. Your song Love Lust catapulted you nto {te music industry spotlight in2010, when it ‘earned you the Grand Prize nthe International Songwriting Competition. Could Yyoutalkus through ts evolution? Ke:Love Lustsa very complicated song ~or at ‘any ate, twas. complicated journey fom lanereitstartedto where itisnowtwasbult frounda very basi piano froma diferent Song, ke oshiftrifsandlyres around oft the ‘areove, the rhythm othe thought of asona. Fecordeditat Townhouse Studios atthe beginning that was very rough version with pretty much everything done trough bullet Inc into Loge That was then taken Back to MT, tere we recorded the drums and added Some more bis and pleces. Finally wetookitto Los Angeles with Mattnew Wider and did some ‘more drums but eft the original vocals twas. amazing being in Capitol studies.S0 Love Lust fad an interesting evolution and its been {trough Logi, ProTools - everything, eat. ‘em: Do you generally write on piano? KE: Well Love Lust started on pana liove playing my mothers piano or having my guitars fround me when tm wring songs and tove having ts ofcrums around, Asmany drums as possible, infact ‘em: Are your songs nished once they'vebeen recorded, ordo they take on anew'lifewhen Yyouthen take them outlive? KC:They dort particularly take on anew fe. We stiplay theminthe way we alwayshve -the Same arrangements and instrumentation. Its always the ive version, but most tings ae petty ‘much thesame, ‘em: Itmust have been quite arush when Love {ust won that Grand Prize. cr Yean twas amazing ound out about it nen we were onthe road, actualy. spoke toa tector of the competition while wasin ‘Sheffield and! hadno idea wine wastalking to initia. took mea few minutes to get withthe program! itjust ft realy antastc ‘em Let's tak about your forthcoming album, ‘LoveBlood. re you one of those artists that nas vast quantities of songs writen to draw trom? How did you decide what would end up ‘onthe album? KC: We chose the songs forthe album tromalist that we ready had some recorded, some not ‘We knew what ones we then had fly record forthe aloum soit wasnt sort of picking ofthe highlights, asit were It was allaready there wating tobe put together 'staken me so long to get the fist aloum ou that im now ready for ‘thesecond and third and that's what | want odo straight away There willbe a certain amount of promotion and touring or LoveBlood, and very excited about doing that too. but cant walt {o start wring andrecercing again. ‘6m. Do young that gap between songsbeing ‘written and recorded and them actually being roleased quite frustrating? Kciitspar of te dea, butts frustrating too because wrote most ofthese songs five years ‘age, so the things Im taking about in hem are ‘what was inmy head back then Thats what peopeare going to detine meby uni the next ‘afbum comes out but define my songwriting by {hesongs that i writing andthe ideas that fm having now. So, foo ait frustrate by tat, butatthe same time ian say that happy stand by everything thal create. ‘em its shaping upto he quite ajourney for ‘you overthenext couple of years. KC: thope so, 351 hate being atest. so whatever have todo or wherever Fm aken slong asm ‘onthe move t's fine mot realy aware ofthe attention Fm geting other than reading reviews ‘and suche. mot quite sure what to expect. ‘em How do you decide whichsongsin ‘rogress make Itas far asthe studio and which ‘getlett behing? cits usta question of quality control realty ‘working out what's best or the album and what \want.Some songs tthe sprtotan album beter than others esti all about the album for me, 95 ‘you can put more time into enjoying anabumn {nd youcan get so mucn more rom anabumas allstener than youcan rom a single ‘em. What's your personal ingredients list for ‘what youconsideragood song? Cel think melody ithe glory ofthe whole thing, and everyihing else needs to support that. Melody has its ovm rythm, whieh then needs 3 beat to support The melody needs tobe Soried ane honouredas the expression ofthe idea, andas such tneedsto beas ransparentas possibleas an expression ofthe ies, ‘me Has your actual songwriting technique ‘changedin any way since back when you ‘wrote Love Lust? Cz never realy ry and write songs font havethe urge torte wort really write anything Songs allcomein diferent guises to, Sol don't realy have formuiauntliget tthe production stage. and then the process becomes Biitle more formulaicinow you haveto approach certain things. write ideas down Wherever can-Ihave aditaphone, computer nd notebooks anda smal studio at home where alimy demosstart, ‘em Do you ever get so attached tothe demo ‘otasong that yourtind ithardtoletit gointo being a full-blown production? KCs1do actualy. sometimes get so attached toa Song that everything tha follows thas tobe better otnerwbe Itdoesrt pas the test. ‘mel there music-making tool that you ‘couldetiive without? KE:1have 218508 Supro, which got rom Wurjo Guitars in Denmark tret in London fr about £300 tsa phenomenal pece of kt anditfolows ‘em Do you have any tps you'd care to share, ‘with budding songwriters? KCI suppose say to songwriters thatthe existence ofthe song precedes the essence of the song, but the essence ofthe song's your responsibility, so dont tr to hard to fui Let the work you do respond tothe essence that the song already has init original form. Does that make any sense? ‘em: And what ean we expect from King Charles after Lovediood? K¢The next album s going tobe murderous bangers going beabsolutely deadly! Lovelibod out n Mayon kad Recor. hntpfkingcharies music com COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 17 > songwriters &: Rx Pema songwriters < avid Gray Doyen of the impeccably crafted acoustic torch song, David Gray is widely regarded as one of the UK’s finest singer-songwriters. He took a break from writing tracks for his next album to chat toem > © Do you haveany tools younced around ‘you when you're writing songs? Ge lustagutaror piano generally write the "ythm and the chores ist then find the melody, then the lyric - I writin that order 90% ofthe ‘ume, The musics gneraly frst, then have to find te yes to. ‘em: Do you draftand redraft, or dothe songs come out fully formed? DG: Each song is diferent. The slewing is ‘usualy the exhaustive part fr me, Dutits not aways that way sometimes could bethe production sometimes the arrangement you ant quite get tight Some songs you go back toagainandagain- youknow tat theres something there. ASmy songwriting has Gevelopedihave sometimes writen around a sounder tings that have appened inthe studi, wnerea sound might be very integral tothe song, or thesong might be Born entirely oft ‘Some songs are witten easly Dut you never know when the spanner is going tofalintothe works Sometimes the spanner never arivs, but even some ofthe best, most successful songs ‘anhaveaaificut brn Fa say i's usually the Tyre writing that deed -itcan fee tke Being ‘venextrahomework! That's especially truett You realy wat to say something: Ite song Aandi doesrttholdthe meaning well enough for ‘me, it just alot my map andwilstop being Something ever play or sing Ive got numerous tracksike that scattered across various albums ~ Songs that for whatever reason didnt have ‘enough going or them So the ric hasto be ‘900d things that ar too rile or twee tend not toast ts worth the extra tfort i you havea tune that you tink adds upto something to try and get the best possible victot ‘em: Most people see yo singer songwriterrole: Work tomarrythelyries and musie? 1G: That's my default setting basicaly. the songwriting has to stand out. That's what think about musi production too thesonghasto Soundbig anjust the basic rythm instruments and the voice so you dont fe! you have to throw lots of crap atitto make tsound convincing. Hit Sounds big just wth the basics, everything ese you ada -the beat, the bassin, the piano, ‘atever- wil make sound huge. Thats all you need, When listen tothe erty Dylan records. Ine so euling and the deas and play of words areso interesting that tjust pulse in ikea magnet. doeset want for anything ‘em Having collaborated with people ike ‘Orbitalin the past sthatawrting avenue that Interests you, when anew elements addedto ‘your songwriting? Doritcanbe very interesting because unexpected things happen. Anything that breaks ‘themorotony o staring aa bank pleceof paper and at yousal anything that might make ‘Something happen that you wouldnt have predicted sat east tobe tied But of course, {hese experiments tendo work wth varying levels of succes. Paul Hartnol dia brtlant ob remixing Pease Forgive Methen when Isang onthe Ortal rack, thetrack wes already done and had sing over thetop ofit-twasrt ike could workany new eas nto the music. [haven't dane a great deal Cf caliaborating, but itean defintely yieldsome Interesting resuts, Now that fm staring at ‘making Toth studioatbum,maybe 've got more ‘of aneyefor something that migntchangetne forma andaliow something diferent to happen. ‘em. could you gives aninsightinto how your hit song Babylon was written? Daitstartedoft with the gular igure that you hear atthe beginning which was orginal more compiicated than wat youhear now. fa gota ‘certain distance witht think a writen the st line anda tof the chorus then put the song to ‘one side began to click when simplied the ‘chorus andit became what tsnou, withthe Ite bridge ust before the chorus an the actual “Let go your heart let go your head lyric. Asa result ofthat minor victory ofthe arrangement ‘thought that I might aswel try and write therest ofthe song ‘Thepoint where itreallyturnedinto ‘something was when the production Kicked in lestyn Poon, who worked onthe recor with me and Clune, had starteato work with vocoders and alferen weidite samples of tings. Straight away from the very fst sample we were playing along to, we had this weld cleky beat {hat lestyn ReCycled and titre ~along witha ‘vocaded pian sn the acoustie guitar, Immediately had this really strong deny hadnt really taken the song seriously uni then, and that's when we put the gutar pats down ‘ver the fairy bare backing rack and recorded ‘the vocals. As say Rach thought too much of Babylon upto that point - unk a song ke Pease Forve Me, which aves inabout an hour andwhere realised something important was heppening because coesrit happen ike that very often generaly write more verses than need 50 with Babylon Ieimmedit down and threw a Coupler the verses out Sometimes that process feels quite hard atthe ime you love a particular line or pase but works out afterwards, you setoverit pretty quickly ‘em Would you say that your writing methodology has changed much since you recorded White Ladder? DG: With the new stuf staringhardat the whole thingat the moment -maybe more than is heathy, because! feetike need to da something diterently to shake the whole thing up. dont know what thats et. though, andthe problems thatthe answer doesn't come to you while youre siting on your ase you've goto be actually doing itt you basically ustkep ‘ong’. small eas wllcome up that suggest nother way which you mighttry folowing. Tim ust wring a the moment, and ve gota huge ple of tings tat ve got to writ reso, ‘One thing ve been trying todothistime sto write aly fst and then ithe music around it, hich iste feling my way in rom the other side “justto see what happens, realy Iwehad some ‘0c rests witht, som persevere ‘em: Any other songwriting tips you can share? DG: Understatement Welive ina worot ludicrously high drama verning on nstela, There's so much overwriting over singing and over producing. Asis provedby Adele's success, Indesit have to be that way. Try and make the simplest elements as powerful as possible rather thanlooking ora gimmick Dor try and tx itin themix; wring wise just ry and getiteght without overwriting And keep ati the more \wrlina oud, the more good stut yout. ‘David Gey’ ongwrting talents can be sampied onhsrecant tum Founding avatatieon IisTPotyar Recor: wwwdavidgraycom COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 19 > songwriting Merz With his major label debut single, Many Weathers Apart, Merz (aka Conrad Lambert) established his reputation as a craftsman of exquisite songs. He took time out to talk to em about life and Logic ‘> SmCan youtalkus through the process Involved in writing Many Weathers Apart? {cst thinkitrealy all revved around one Instrument, which was alan Juno-s that had ‘back then in about 1996.1 siluse the Juno 6, and interestingly enough features quite heavily ‘onthe new album ve just finished. Rs one of {hose instruments tat everytime switch on, Ittends to createstul forme. Theinteraction between me and that Instrument has abways been arealy creatvething.vehad numerous keyboards and guitars since fist got te Juno, butitsstil quit hard beat. really So lust stated off witha bg. almost Gary [Numansesque synth if on the Juno ane the song Sowy came out of theif although tat actual "iff does exist on any ofthe recorded versions ofthe song I went tothe in-house stud at EM, ‘iy publisher. to deme the song up. fé become friends wit the engineer there, and he recorded twiththis massive syn it an me singing the vocal aver his wall of nose He sai, ‘Look weve {eta couple of hoursto spare cand a reri, (TI So sat there while he qulcky.manically and very disrespectful tore my track apart and ‘econstructe twitin about two hours! He got Fido the massive synth and added the bass hook “healso included another Juno-6 synth ne ‘which hadnt eally been using. and that became {he Sound of the track ‘em: iustrating that happy accidents are ‘worth exploring when songwriting? {CLI think possibly what made the song so cfectiveisthat my vocal was doneto that ‘completely iferent. noisier version of te rack When the engineer strippeditallback he made {the backing track ound more blssed-outbut kept my vocal souncing realy fulronand intense "tink that’ maybe what picked people's ears Uptothetrack- that strange contrast between the vocals and the backing track "think otf success rack are hanging by ‘atread, eat can belkea tower of coektal Sticks Ifyou pulljustone of them. the whole {hing can fal apart. ‘em: Are you quite precious about the initial versions ofsongs you write? {CL:On that occasion was good thing that ‘when the remixed version got ercuatee, Suddenly os of people were jumping excedy 20 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL ‘onthe rack alte tke witire.So, even though | ‘wasuncemfortable withthe remixed version. had to quickly concedetnatit must have something. ve leaned to love which guess ‘alsahas alot todowith the response ot ‘em Doesbeingasolo artist mean you ‘sometimes miss the feedback tonew ideas ‘that.say,belng ina band mightatford you? ‘CLeltini thats true actualy Ive nevereally been ina band ong term, andi guess that'show bands unetion Being sola can sometimes be hard know where to look or eally genuine {eeaback to something new you've written Patnersseem tobe the fst port of cll fr solo artists, which ist alwaysnecessarly good idea “especialy in amarriage! do tendo struggle finding the right people to pay my new tacks to, ‘em Do youhave a set modus operandl whenit ‘comes to writingnew songs? ‘CL: Well Ive made four proper albums now. ‘guess andonly one of them was writen predominantly in what people might consider 3 tractonal way. That was my lst album, Mo‘et ‘Mon Camion, wen was all wren on either a ‘guitar or 2 plano like an ok-ashioned songwriter “ina weird way that was Ike an experimen or ime, asridculousas that sounds. made that album by deliberately experimenting with amore ‘norma form of songwriting apart trom two ‘racks which! wrote with Pati Harti of Orbital ‘where he wrotethe backing tracks and created ‘25009 fom those Nowmbbackto writing my normal way. which Ista abnormal and has no real method Its basicaly ike somebody ina shed grabbing whatever hecan ay his hands ono create ‘somethingand not necessarily knowing what im ‘dna but buiing tis thing anyway tke the ‘ldavators speneing months bulinga plane in ‘shangar and then wheeling outto see whether itean actualy fy ornot- yeah that's my career ght there! ‘em. Do you enjoy the collaboration aspectoot ‘writing when you'vedone It? ‘CL: Yes 60 ike doing it ona purely social eve, teinterect with other creative people, but also becauseits interesting how your writing ‘changes when you work with someone.ese. Therearesomany routes music, and dole tosee what happens when work wth someone o's coming roma completely aiferent place ‘musically I's intiguing, and youre alvays ooking for that spark Every new person you workwith,youleave tat working relationship with more knowledge -youarn something for everyone you come n contact with ‘em Does the nature of yoursololive show play apartinthe way youwritenew songs? EEL That was one ofthe main intentions from the ‘very outset with tis new album to make a Fecord that could play ve. That quickly lapsed, though. a think that concepts much ease Imagine than to actually put into effect Once you Start wing eating arrangements and coming Up withiyres,theidea of playing ve just goes ‘uttne window - you getlost inthe word of trying to makethe track work, really Having said that, do enloy deconstructing the records and figuring outhow brave Im going tobe about sacrieing dterent parts and sounds tomake the track work ive, ‘em What do you actualy use to write onywith? CL:tvebeen using Logic for years. ve never bbeennterestedin changing, realy 26 It seems to Just keep getting better ana better: mon Version ‘nom, and tink tsa ely creative ool for songwriting andbelng able to getdeas down {ule Recantly ve aso been trying todo some waling without the computer and ve been Using a Roland SPO. The main reason for his Isthat when youre creating music electronically You spend so much of youre looking ata laptop screen you create musi ont then you (go homeand check emallsonit. dort want to bespenaing that muchot everyday staring at the samelaptop..i not right. ‘ome Any other tips or tricks you can share? CL:Idontthink people take Wricwriting as seriously asthey should Its often not considered asimportantasthemelody ora crord sequence, butIthinkte yes shouldbe the number one Ahiving factor ofthe song If you havea good phrase or magein theyre, the melody can follow trom that image. Writing good ics shouldbe more celebrated Merzsnew bum No Campass wi Fd Hore wil > songwriters Andy Barlow m shoots the breeze with one half of recently reconvened breakbeat supremos Lamb to find out their songwriting secrets and get the lowdown on how they wrote the spellbinding Gérecki > SM What arete essential songwriting ‘toolefor Lamb? {AB: Tithe technical one ofthe duo so! guess ith Lou tsust her voice and a guitar which are thetwo things she writes with Saying that, she always seems towitea ot beter when she's not ‘wing you see what mean—usualy wel put {rough mixof anideaoratrack onto her iPhone land shel go fora walk with neadphones on and that’s when she comes up with the rcs. “The only songwating rule werealy have In Lambisthatweinclude eachother eary on. \Vieve had experiences wnere we've both Mad eas and pursued them quite far on our own so {thatthe other cari get nt the process ts about trying to find where the musi is compared to vere thelyris are, realy. Onatechnicallevl Ableton Liveis by far the best oo! for songuriting because you can assign eysto diferent pars thesong For example, Canpressthe Qhey and keep cycling around the verseloop until then press the W key. which {akes ito the chorus/oidge, andthe E key. which then takes youto the chorus. When were actually wing stuf that lows the arrangement to be Completely fluid and fexble. Also, being able to ‘hhange the tempo onthe flyand stuf Ike tats ‘reat stil ue Pro Tools or mixing, recreing Strings and soon, but most ofthe wring and production goes onin Abeton these cys, ‘em: Tellus about how you came up with the ‘symphonic breakbeat wonder thats Géreci [ABs That was obviously way before Ableton was ‘around, back n1994 We started wring Grech! bout halfway through our fis album when Lou fad justneara Henryk Goreck's Symphony of Sorrowful Sangstor the fst time itsone of my favourite pieces of cassical music itswels from the rst 10 minutes of ust realy low double basses into 90piece orchestra witha 100-oice choi justamazing So, Louhad been inspred by Rand started to ‘ite somelyriesoverit She broughtin the ‘ough yries and te shape ofthe vocal and sid tomethat she eal wanted to dosomething that matched the mood and dynamic of Gérecks symphony, but ung technology ‘em The technology a that time was fatty primitive compared to now. [ABrIt was quite challenge we hae. ke. 2 “44rackreetto-eel with an Akal S950 sample, whl had 10 seconds of samp time. We ago Fada Roland W-30 with another 10 seconds of sampling time and oneeffectunt-trat'sal we Fad for writing We racked up twocalist called 22 | COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL the Chainsaw Sisters. and! started getting the ‘drums and the hythmsection together. Drigialyithad afferent chorus which really ‘ddr ike, but Lou loved Sa. we getinto a bit of ‘stalemate about the chorus, which thought \wassoppy, whileLou said she objected tothe ‘drums because she thought they were pedestrian Every ime we worked ont, we'd both Ay into our own stories so much so that it Iooked ike might split the band up! ‘em But you 'AB: We eft itfor about =x months unt we were ‘mixing the album at Rlége Farm Studios. Wet Pretty much dane the album and were aheadot ‘Schedule owe thought we'd aveanother look ‘at Géreck! Something had managed to cick with Us and!saidtoLou,lehangethe drums. you ‘change the chorus” Sou came up wth anew ‘chorus and thnk changed the drumsin one ‘overnight session The nest day was spent mixing. and on thefist playback ater that ‘evening, the record label were there andthey thoughtit was riant Theft thing Lou sid was, "Ihave pop fear -IthnkI'stoo commercial ‘Therestof the rstabum s cute breakbeaty ‘and ted, whereas Gorecki is. twasa couple ‘of weeksiatr before we could really hear it Dropery ane appreciate because ofthe whole ‘rama ot writing! ‘em Amazing to think that Goreck! might not ‘evenhave seenthe ight of day. [ABs Iknow. It wasnt ready unt was ready. Trying to force tto happen earyon dct work forus- wejusthad to wait unt theideas fort ‘ametous.Itsabiotaciche thats used by ‘creative people sometimes, but itcdfeel tle lke the song came thvough us-like we oly facitatedit ts probably the song that mest proud of wing, ‘When we were at Risge Farm. obviously they had a big Neve desk anda shitoad of outboard soif you were workingon something and then Dutitasde, twas a major hassle ~ you were pretty much looking the best par of aday to ‘doatullrecal of track Now Lams mostly ‘working nthe box, 50s realy easy to fit around between projects ‘em. was he song party born of the ‘restrictions youthad,gear-wise, atthe time? ‘AB. Thinking back to using 24-rack tape t ‘wasnt that tape Itself was better but more that the proces of having to commit ideas was better. Inableton Ike realy big, fet pluginstike ‘Omnisphere and the Spectrasonics stutl- nearly everything |e ints really CPULntensive Soin way fm doing similar thing with Live bounce Stuff down, though obviously ean gobackana lunbounceit think tshealthy in these daysof Infinite track counts stithave those kinds of Alscplines on yoursel Itcan be really beneiial tothesongtoo, ‘em: Bringing things uptodate with our new ‘allum has the way Youand Lou write songs ‘changed much? ABs In way, ow we write very sme -isjust that the tol areifrent. mgood enough on Ableton net to haveto think about tata, winereas baci the day Iwas ustlearning Cubase. Thtruleo invoving each ther early ‘onstil very much apples, and also well dong "tuff ys that we don really know tat well Neither Lounor Lar particulary adept musicians but weknow that. ay. fTmplaying in By thenitSabitchaf achordfor me. Because of, that would maybe reach fr chords. melodies or sequences that woulda’ necessarily do Iwas nA majr which know rally wel. ts almost lke challenging yourse odo things ferent tobring about diferent eault Thats wy we gotinto using diferent time sgnatures.as well- {everything sounds diferent when youre working In 718 than It does ina. That encourages yout think outside the box ait think you experiment with time signatures and tempos really early on thelps to fuel tne restof the writing process. ‘em Do you have any more songwritingadvice ‘thatyou'diketo share? [AB Try and do your initial wing wit as few Pleces of equipmentas possible Ifyou get loads Df difecent software straightaway and youenot that great techoicalyisjst going tobe more of hindrance than ahelp. really | occasionally teach music at universities andl awaystellmy students tty and iit the amountol pln that they use when songwrting, Obviously its bitaferent for mixing and production, but for the actual writing it's good stick to sounds that you krow.tbrries that you know. My biggest, rich t's taken me years to dscover mysel is otto overthink things - usually te rst ideas the best idea Gating a soundin your headand {eying to make that sound come Out of your speakerscan drive you mad! Lambisnew tum 5s avalale en Stata Muse ‘Andy Barons 00 prec. LOWE. ravealso reveleased ther debut bum, Leap and he Net il Apne Mp Mambofficia.com ngwriters < got into a bit of a stalema ort nite sme) © Turn your bedroom into the perf singer-song\ recording s with our fast gu to the U need and ho ge cee oraz ener a ete ey ere rem en oe mae arene eT Pie eee tra eee eee etc ene en) mein reiearetn terete tes Meret einen eee eee a eee teeta oreo eee second and step beyond the cosy luxury of your software phantom power. headphone feeds and Dis. pret tere a ee eee od perenne re rear tren et rene a ert ene Pierce sree nel cer Me eet rn eae eed en enc yor rere eo merece tet een ree ery this section wlbe guiding you through this process. pelea eee nanerene Nene eter Genoese at Peer Perea eran eau een reer Cea iets Peer eres eerie rm rt rT ier tere rey Pe a etre ere et eer oy en eee Ee Pereenre tenis ee et en Sc ie Peer ote Cer te tae ad Key kit Audio interface ‘Allcomputers include some form of onboar ‘Soundcard, and coupled with your DAW this may Deallyouneed olsen to your computer output Once youstart using amic: however, yout need ‘amicpreamp to amplify ts level, possibly ‘Phantom power (see below) and most ikely separate headphone and master outputs. The simplest way togetallthese elements sorted tobuy adedieated audio Interface. Ts typically ‘connects to your machine using USBor FireWire, ‘and once Installed, isinputs and outputs appear ‘within your DAW as physical connections. Microphones you're recording everything individually and in ‘mono, your best bet willbe alarge-capsule ‘ardlold condenser ml. You can se this or both ‘delicate and full-on vocals, on intricate sounds plano. Ifyou want torecordtwo things atthe ‘Same ime (guitar and voice say) or nstereo, You need two mics, and for best results these ‘should be ofthe sametype. Note that anon-valve Condenser mic will need phantom power. Accessories Stands ‘Analogue tape may beathing of tmay be stating the obvious, but the pas, butsticky tape certainly ‘your mic will needa decent stand, {sr With leads knocking arou preferably witha boom for easy and various things tokeepin. positioning. Large-capsule place, youl finda roll of gaffer ‘ondensermics canbe heavyand {ape helpful. andif you ‘decent stand not only protects need tolabel things, Your investment but helpsisolate ‘masking tape is easy to the mie rom ground rumble and remove afterwards shoulde’thaveany annoying ‘andean be written on ‘atting bits. Ofcourse it you Inpen. Obviously pens Using twomies together, youl ‘and paper willcometn ‘need two stand, Less critical hhandy for quicknotes, Dutalsouseful aremusie stands for propping up lyrics, chord charts ands0.0n. 26 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL Leads “ Connecting your gear up willrequireaselection of specific leads, Mics and preamps typically use XLR connectors, so youlneed afemale-to-male XLR leadfor each mie: Most headphones use standard ‘quartorinch jacks that rebalanced for stereo ‘operation, so this willbe mportantif you want to ‘extend your headphone feed. Bear in mind that Yyouialways need longer leads than you think, Particularly once you tuck them out of sight to ‘void tripping aver them, so overestimate the mic leadengths and ollup the excessif you haveto. Tuner ‘Some ofthe most annoying problems you can encounter when recording concern piteh- Obviously you'll ned all Instruments you use to bein tune as much as possible, and Intune with each other, and your best point of referencels tuner. Yul find that humigity and temperature can ‘cause tuning problems, solt'softenbest toretune every {ew minutes or even between takes. This willalso give You ‘enough consistency when compiling the best performance {rom diferent takes. Some DAWs include handy tuner lars, so checkin with yours before shelling out Monitoring Assuming you already have your DAW set up ‘with monitors, when tcomesto recording, the ‘emphasisshiftstoheadphones. Inan deal ‘world these should be the closed ack type as this prevents your cue headphone mixrom bleeding into your microphone. Theother ‘thing tobearin mindis thatif youre recording Inthe same room as your DAW, anyone else ‘you're working with wil need headphones too,so you canallisten ‘with the monitors cut If this isthe case, and you only have one headphone ‘output on your interface, consider getting aheadphone splitter box. Pop shields and wind shields : 'Miking things up close can cause various alr-related issues. The most ‘commons caused by the plosives in speech and singing, which cause a - low-frequency boom. This is particularly problematic with cardlold ‘condenser mics, hand-in-hand with that purchase should come a pop shield They'renot too expensive and can bebolted onto themlc Stand itelf- much easier than fda around with homemade elforts. |Imasimilar ven, you're recording anything else that creates strong alrmovement, you may find amoretypieal foam wind shieldhelpful COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 27 > recording setup Hardware ‘Thesimplest form of recording involves setting Lupa microphone, outing that signal toa ecorder and iting record, but ths allows you ‘pomeansof listening to how things sound before You actualy record them In contemporary Fecording we work onthe assumption that we Canllstento our microphones to seehow things ‘Sound and act trem according and that we ‘mlcontinuetoistento them during our recording process. ‘Whats more, wth mutiple tracks ana the option to overdub, we createaneedto hear ‘ats aleeady been recorded atthe same time or ‘syne with our new recording, These considerations ae what we cal our signal ow, and geting this concept clear helps considerably when yout trying toget each aspect ofthe rocessto work property. ’As Yul see rom the alagram below, our ‘microphones the starting point. witht signal passing through'amic preamp (ether external or Dultin tothe audio interface) andits analogue- ‘ordi converters andinto our DAW. At ths sage the DAWroutes te digital signatoan Audio track ready for recording to thehard drive [Athe same time our input signal, combined with any other tracks wehave paying, canbe routed ‘Back out of our DAV, viathe audio intetaceto ‘our monitors andour headphones. Even if you use amore compexinput setup wth multiple mics and separate preamps, the basic signaifiow 'Sroughly thesame, tuts simply made more complex by the numberof channels invoWved, Signal levels ‘Wit is concept understood, the next thing to onside sal levels Mictophones produce tow gna evelsthat neato be arta tos (Seflleveltoronsteranarecoring. Tis Gone by amie ream, which rst Slnal processinthe chan istorcaly te washandledonarecrding ceskat ao euded tages snagroup os. tttectively giving the procuce thse points t Signal flow Inthis simple arrangement were Sing a single preamp Ths could fevenbe bukinto the terface Wereatsousing tne intertaces headphone feed and eying on ‘he merace and te sofware to Provide foldback mix \ 28 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL ed TDACONVERTERS which to change levels Withan altin-one aude Interface things are much more straghtiorward 35 you only have one gain level cntroito deal wit, Evens, seting how much gain youneed theloudest signals dort overload te input ampli or input converters. ' good technique isto adust the gain dringa loue bite! the performance unt sist peaking ‘on your mic preamp or DAW meters, then back it ddowna litle If youre working alone this process may be trickier soleave more neadroom. Phantom power Tether thing youl ind on your intertace’s mle preamp isa phantom power switch. Check the Spec ol yourmie, but nonvalve condensers typically use phantom power. Turn your mic gain down to zero betore aessing the phantom power to aveidtoud cieks damaging Your manites. Teno ‘The inal job your haraware needs to carry out Isto rovidenot only a monitoring output but iso sheadphone cue Inasimple setup tess {wo tasks wit be deal with by asingle signa a= youl ust rebalance your DAW output so that you an bear what you need to hearin your headphones when recording This may seem straightforward, but uniess Youteableto operate your DAW witha very Simla burer size you willhear yoursalt witha small delay or latency and thiscan be particularly problematic. or even unworkable for ‘vocal ecording Many audio interfaces include hardware routing features for zeroiatency ‘monitoring. These canbe asbasie as simple balance control that blends between the DAW ‘utputand mic input, but f your recording goals are simple, they can save alt of haste when it ‘comes to recording Weil escussturther options Tater on inthis section Pins Pid GREAT SOUNDS. LOOPMASTERS PROGRESSIVE HOUSE STRUCTURES Producers looking to id producto! It's a deep and varied collection of fresh, exciting samples influenced by the Progressive and Mainroom sound of artists including Nicky Romero, ‘Axwell, Avici, Robbie Rivera and Michal Woods, Featuring Euphoric, chiled and Main Room (Chords, Punchy Beats, Tech Percussion, Side Chained Pads, Pianos, Arpeggios and Big FX this isa complete sound palette forthe modem dance musician, SUES _ SAMPLE BOUTIQUE > recording setup Using your space Recording ina single oom such s your bedroom orlounge brings various ssuesit you want to recordlots of people together, or very loud instruments suchas rums or electric {uttars. When recorng one thing atatime or on ‘your own, however the singleoom approach Fas aot going fori. notieast the fact tats chheapand convenient Evens, there arest Some tings to consider suchas layout, acoustics andisolation Acoustics Most bedrooms andlvingroomstendt be full Cf soft turishings, and for recording purposes {hiss good news, a these reduce unwanted echoes Even so,smallspaces cans sound boxy. andbare walls clings and windows can Contribute lowievel twang’ similar tothe more ‘marked effet you get ina bathroom. Forthe ‘most part this wont bea problem if you mic {things up reasonably closely, cover ay ofencing surfaces (cose the curtains, for example) and use ‘Theothe thing tobe aware ofisbass nodes caused by canceling ana summing ow ‘requencis. This willbe les of an issue when youTerecoraing anc more problem when ‘monitoring Toseef youhave any problems, steno some playback ftom diferent postions inthe ream and avoid monitoring from postions ‘where certain bass notes seem unusual loud or {Quiet Remember, the important thing isto be ‘uareot the problem and to understand that the louder youtisten back the more obvious itis. Isolation Related to acoustiesis the subject of isolation ‘Yur computer wil probably make some aise, and youl wantto avo your mic picking tis Up. ‘Typically twilbe thecooting fans tat anny, so stuffing the machine in an enclosed space wort helps theyiljust make mere ose Instead. 3 ‘ito sensibepostoning in anon tfiectve corner away from your mie shoul do the ik Bedroom studio This lagram shows2 fay standaca, ‘economia! bedroom Setup withthe me Feormand away rom spynakecrestng Te other malor isolation ssue concerns sounds coming in trom outside, such as road trate, aeroplanes, birasong and structural transmission sounds rom neighbours, suchas footsteps. Allbut the last one canbe reduced rally by keeping doors and windows shut ‘Gouble glazing obviously helps). This means Your space will heat up more uicky so opening ‘windows when youre nat recordings advisable Layout How youarrang your working spaceisottena malt of onvenience necessity o simpy personal preference yee working lon ts ‘tremely temptingtoset everything up cose togethers youcan est tart andstop recoding stu tacks nd acustevels uithmostDAWsofrng looping ato dopa ‘or eye recording modes nonever. insists of Shisue than you might BI ac you i nat Recording zone Duvetto prevent reflection 30 / COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL Mic Sry only gota better result sonically by setting upa Separate recording Zone, but You may aso fina that being away from the computer means you focus more.on the performance. Andi youdo ‘choose tocallaboratewithsomeane ese youl have your space ready made. ‘As fr aslayoutis concerned, oui need to consi athe ssues mentioned earlier Fegarding isolation and acoustics, andalso bear inmind that your cardi microphones ‘directional. Use histo you advantage by Pointing the back oft towards thethings you Sort want to eat taking advantage of ts poor ofan response. Also remember, however, that Feflectionscaneasly come into ts ront, so for a Controlled sound, put sot furnishings. duvets, turtainso sila behind you. These won affect tow frequencies but wll certain curahigher frequencies ane that pesky roomtwangtram colouring your ecorain, Get connected ‘armed with your recording ready audio Interface, the rst things to get that nstaled properly Many interfaces workstalght away Without the need tor speciicaudio drivers, and you can simaly hook up the USB or FireWire fabloand getstarted However. worth Instn thelatest manufacturers arvers (Usually dowosdable rom ther webslt) as these often include extra aplications with hardware menitering options or software control ‘over aspects ofthe interface With your interface Installed property, open up your DAW are check that youcan access ts inputs and outbuts ‘Next up connect your monitors to your Intertace, making sure they're turned of before you do so, Whether youre using sei powered {ctive monitors running standard passive ‘monitors vis an amie, the main stereo output Signal rom your aueo terace is what youre looking for. Some intetacesinciude separate ‘menitr level and output too, Inwhich ease use thal. Whenitcomes to connector types your Interface could use quater nch jacks, phonos or leven XLR connectors and you ind similar ‘rations onamps and monitors somake sure yourtave te right cables. Once youttehooked Up, power up your monitors ana ply back some audio rom your DAW. aking sure thal you Understand ow to route audio to your auclo Interface outputs Plugging up mics whether youre sing one mic and one st of headphones or muftpes of each, ts anaye food practice to get tiem connected up ae hoe Checked etre yous down oecord Til Save mein thelong un helping youto on out rnoying technical ches atte outset ‘omentioned above micopions use speci cables win XR connectors oneachend ‘hese cablesincude tee wirestolow traneminon of ashaedbaance signal but tromaproctca perspective rey nave tobe Connected ight way round. Tite because Connecting up Betore you can use vyourDAW torecore, IRetmportantto ‘orcuselements are Connected Heres Simple overview ofthe ‘main component, XLRconnectors come inmate and female types, ‘with standard mic able having one of ach, Te output connector on your misma (with three pins) so you connect the female plug on Your cable to that,and the male plug atthe oer ‘end to your mic preamp or interface micinput 's ever, when connecting up mics, keep your mic gain turned right down and double-check in ‘advance that your phantom power switche needed you can switch that backon after ‘connecting up ut before turning the gainup. Headphones Bear in mind wien plugging in headphones that ifyouneed longer lead, thastobbe a balanced ‘orstereo type. there aetwo af you working together and youre working inthe same space, {You ned two pairs of headphones. Only 31 ueloimerfaces include two headphone outputs, ‘soaheadphone sitter box can hel, but i "STEREO ACK TOIACR LEAD lO beeen Le 5 ¢ © CTT be recording setup < remember that tis wlllve you both the exact fame headphone mix. Te headphones willneed tobe roughly tne same Impedance to get the same volumeineach "There are various other options youcan pursue. and if your audio interface has morethan ne seta stereo outputs, one workarounds Send aseparate fed to aseparate headphone Amplifier or even asmall mixing desk. Dis Youmay alsowant to connect upaDl(ordiect Injection inpud box For acoustic guitars with pickups or for electric guitars and basses you Ean send te output drect to your aualo Interface. allowing you to processthe signal afterwards using guitar amp plugins, though {guitars requirea special highimpedance input ‘ain, someiintrfaces have these often ona combination micinput FX COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 31 > recording setup Miking up Microphones probably generate more column Inches than anyother practical aspect of| ‘recording, Topics Include mic posttoning ang ‘orientation mic types, brands and models and of course acllary gear suchas cassie mic preamps. Once you've considered those aspects you can mave onto the spect techniques of famous engineers, who youTTottentind apply Dlogaing about them. “This isallinteresting stu butts always worth keeping things in perspective Remember your (eal sto capture te vices and instruments You recording so that they soune the way you ‘rant themto. Much ofthe time the source sound set wi ave amuch bigger Impact on this than {your micr its poston so your starting point has tobe to get your instruments sounding the way you want, making sure theyarein tune. This Couldmean warming up thevoic propery, putting anew setostringson your guitar or new heads on your érums or paying the Instrument Inthe ight way forthe sound youre ater. Instrument sound source The nex stagelsto consider now your Instrument produces sound. Thismay seem ‘obvious agutars sound comes out ofthe ‘Soundhnole ight? Wal not entirely, Mest Instruments radiate sound na complex way and what you hea that overall sound interacting, ‘th the room, Se how do youcapture this wth one or two ‘mics? Alas, there's no single answer, but afew ‘Smplerulesof thumb wilstand you in goad Stead isl the closer you mic upan Instrument the ess youl be recorcing ts overall, sound and the more you be capturing|ust one {spect of its sound Secondly, your mepicks upa Combination a the instruments direct sound ane {heamblence from the room s0the further itis fromthe instrument, the more room sound you (get Final, directional miesare great for reventing sll and Wolating the instrument you Recording pianos Capturing the desired soundof a piano canbe {rick and you should be aware a the outset that youmay never getaresulf that sounds as, clinical asa good sampled piano or as ‘expansive asa grandina studio. Evens0, what Yyoucanachleve sa sound that's unique to {Your production, withthe warts'n’all benefits ‘faplayed instrument. Clven the piano'sphysicalsizeand layout, Yyourbestbetis stereo mikingfor either LUprightor grand piano. You canusea crossed pair of eardoids (witha 90-to135-dearee [angle between mics) or aspaced pai of ‘Omni-irectionals(GOemto SOembetween ‘lcs, although the stereo image willbe wider and ess mono-compatible withthe ater. In tlther case you have to decide how much ot the room you want to capture, andforaclose sound 20emto 30em fromthestrings ie ‘oodstart, 32 | COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL i. f wantto record but the compromises that thelr Frequency response is not lat particulary tothe siges. Make sure you point them carefully and keep checking that you havent accidentally ‘moved your instrument off x(a common problem that even pro engineers encounter Acoustic guitar Acoustic guitar ranks as one ofthe commonest instruments recorded, not least because tis harder than many instruments to reproduce ‘convincingly using samples. Therearea number ‘of approaches you can take. including stereo anc dual miking setups, but for astraightforward Solid sound, asinale cardio condenser mic Should do. Typically, aiming vyourmc closely atthe oundhole wll esultin a boomy.unpleasant sound, s it's bestto move away slighty, ether towards the back ofthe guitar for amore woody sound or nearer the point where the neck Joins the tody fora more balanced he sound. Using 8 ‘directional cardioid mic, you canalso anglethe mic towards the higher or lower stings to affect the sone balance. ‘As fa as stances concerned, strummed acoustic produces bigger levels than picked so ‘00d starting points about 30em to 40cm away. “As ever the room ambienceis too prominent. moveln sight Picked acoustic can produce surprisinaly low levels, and you may ind that realy close miking at 20em oro ls needed your acouste guitars contre stage mn your ‘options the td landimic downwards, Femove the ront panel (ehing the muse reaD and mle ‘either side of theplayer.or go round thebacktomcthe ‘soundboard. The frst option wil ‘lve youareasonablesoundbutcan bestightly honky, the second option willproduce abrightersound with plenty ofhammer attack, while the {third ption will produce amore difused, ‘darker sound, For grand plano (and ignoring {the dstantandamblent techniques used for ster miings ‘en test option ferrecrng sano, : ‘wheteraprihtorarand recording caseical usc), postion the mice Just behind the musiestand or ontheedge ‘ear the sound holes iting the right open ‘raven removing tif possible. production couble-rackng itcan help make it oundlarger tan ie However, you can also mic IRinsterea usingacrossedor spaced par of ‘is, The ater in particular allows you tomicthe body and neck reas inlicualy, ageing sone interest tothe track Finally be aware that when cose-miking an acoustic) eadioid mic any changesin ‘ular postion can ituencethe sound Considerably So when you take a break daring ‘ecording, be careful not to st sight diferenty ‘on your return, and try not orotate the guitar body away from your desired postion, Electric guitar The prolteration of guitar amp plugins and hardware suchas Line 6s Pod means recording Fav electric guitar is much ess of a recuirement thant used tobe, but youre attra souna that’s individual to your projectitcanbe quite reductive. Whats more, you use aD box you anspityour guitar signal so that youcan record {he direct (DN sound as wel allowing you the ful Nexiity of thse lovely lug ins Guitar amps tend to sound best at a certain volume andthis is usually reasonably oud, so ‘ont be atralé totum them up it younave the ‘option tostick the ampinachiferent room, the ‘Gelatin may help you to beter judge how it sounds wher miked up. ‘Next up get the sou you wanton theamp frstbetore attempting tomicit Listenup close Soundiscoming rom the ampitslf nd how ‘muchis being generated by oom ambience ‘youreusingacardoid condenser micand thas 23-1048 or -20dB level pad this coud wellbe the timetouseit Formic psttoning, estabish exacty where your speaker cones are andor a dry, direct Sound. postion your mie 20cm fram the cone. ‘Te rightest sound comes trom the mide of the cone. so soften best to amoftcente, Duo recording Recording instruments and vocals simultaneously s sometimes an option, but Yyouhaveto accept that with acoustic Instruments there wil alwaysbe bleed ‘between mics. This means that once you start ‘onthis path, you will have to complete things this way too, making itharder te replacejust ‘one aspect onits own. Of course, ifyourre ‘dealing witha good performer. the overall resultean be better and quicker -but youmay sil want to process the instrument and vocals separately afterwards, so achieving some feolation atilimportant. ‘With these points nmin themost reliable ‘option storecord using two separate microphones. The sill comes in positioning them, using thelr off-axis response to your bbenefit.So,t you're recording volceand acoustic gultar together, your best bet would Deto stick with your eardlold mle for the vocal, enced at ! towards the cone surround For alessdirect sound, nai you want some ofthe oom inthere too. youcan back he mic away upto ametre or 50. though this can often produce a sound thats ‘overly roomy, so beware Finals worth adding that dynamic imicrophones such asthe Shure MST ate ood for recording guitar amps. are reasonably cheap {and could be worth buying you plan torecard ‘amps regulary Vocals Miking vocals shouldbe reasonably straightforward and close mikng between 20cm ‘and 30cm with 3 cardio condenser can achieve Aanexcellent, intimate sound that’ perfect for processing afterwards Close miking does requle Spopshield however andalthough yout see ‘Yarous designer models, the most effective Duttry pointing itupwardsstightly and ‘getting in realy close on the mi (ate Inches), using apop shield. You should ind that you're able to reduce guitar sp reasonably wellin this way. For the gular a cardiold microphones again good bet, but try positioning tsightly ddilerenty, pointing towards the gular but {rom the bottom end (back from theplayer’s rightelbow). "You should, of course, do yourbest to reduce room ambienceusing furnishings, ‘duvets and so onto stop extrarefietions ‘making tback to either mie. One tinal option {stouse. pair of igure-8 mies-one for voice andone for gultar-using thelr off-axis ‘response to reject off axis sounds. Yurprortysbotabetoreduce led between es recording setup < suite argenoop type, with wo ayers of nylonmateria Poston tis equidistant ‘Close ming can also lea to enhanced stoiane this sa problem. ty rotating themicafew degrees off axis sothat the capsule sn acing straight atthe mouth Youmay also want to consider iting the mie downwards alte foramorechesty Sound or upnards fer amore nasal tone. Beyond this some mc modelscan suiteertain voices better than others, andatthough shad to judge tis Youtteonatight budget. or more Bgaressive performances, adyramic mic sueh asa Shure Beta $8 wil Sound much ess polteat source, Feducing the need tor more Processing ter COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL / 33 > recording setup Headphone cue Imorder to successuly recordand overdu to ‘the playback rom your DAW, youl needa cue feed or your headphones. You'd think this humble process would be pretty simple tose up, ‘utthere areanumber of potetil Murals to ‘overcome someof wich could require a Latency Theist thing to tackles latency. Te signa you route via Your DAW anback ot ogan wl encounter roundp processing delay. The tengtnof sl affected bythe AD and OA Converter the au bur size you DAW se toate audio eriver latency Most DANS allow Yutoreducethe utr consieraly to Chor {ren 32samplen buta these settings ony very ‘owertl eomputer ean ecorardlay back ‘ltpe racks without cleks and pops if youcan gt your system working tis Way vyoushouldbe abl to set up your headphone cue ‘thin your DAW ae record most nst-uments ower evens sight clay canbe unworkable Some DAWnardvare combinations som you to atuay route aust telnerace se $oiaing the ter delay. And as mentioned Somerntertaceshavesimpe headphone balance Controls that blend the DAW output wih he mle input Thetina option sto go oro proper mixing Cesk -s08 Hot Desk, blow, formace on that Balance So, what should you hearin the headphones? Fist up. youre recording to an existing backing tracker even starting from scratch arhythmic guide simportant, so set up asimplecickor rum track This wil keep youin time, making it ‘easier to overdu other instruments ter. If Youhave afl song structure worked out vy nat map ths out propery with filsand so (on, even subtle tempo changes fr dfrent ‘sectlons? Both wilhelp you tallor the playing to Hot desk your audio interface doesn'tincludea stable means to monitor withlow or zero latency and the softwarelatency is "unworkable, you might well want toinvestina ‘small mixing desk elther alongside a separate ‘mic preamp orjuston\ts own. This will provide you with ots of zer-latency analogue ‘outing flexiilityin the form of atleast one headphone feed, auxllary sends separate ‘monitoring level controls, and probably four ‘ormore micpreamps with channelinserts. [Atypical setup would be tofeed the master stereo output from your audio interface toa ‘couple of tine evel channels, keeping the mc Input channels free formies. You'd then use the desk auxiliaries for your headphone mix. ‘and the desk groupsor direct outputs to feed the audio interface inputs. you have access toahardware effects unit you could use this for headphone-only reverb (usetulfor 34 | COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL roan cg sections ofthe song. you ae overdubbingto an ‘existing track, again rhythmsimportant and Yyourayfnatat your working mx doesnt translate to ausable cue mbe Try turing upthe basic beats to hep you play intime Pitching i alsoimportat, and elements such as bass canbe hardto pitch to properly on headphones So, aside frm making sure Your Instruments intune, turn uppiteheaceurate ‘lementsin the mix and i those elements ret Dato the track consider adding in something with good pitch such asa guide pane. This wil Save you timein the long run, particularly you ‘2ddin further pitched sounds later that needto work with your live recordings. Overdubbing TTetna thing to consider with headphones is verdubbing The chances are that youll want to vocalists), andit you hadanexternal ‘coulduse thison ‘ninsert ‘alongsidethe ‘desk EQto process your mmicsignal prior torecording, ‘One further variation on {this setup, and one that offers an arguably cleaner signalto your DAW, sto tise separate mic preamp withits own AD ‘converter plumbed straight into your audio Interfaces dita input. You then simpy feed ‘the analogue output from your micpreinto ‘your desk using the desk solely asa ‘monitoring device. i's worth noting that although this setup is alltleover-engineered recorda numberof ferent takes. using the best bits to make up a compiled take or comp (Gee ‘ur section on comping further on inthe mag for ‘more detaeddlscussion). On tape, you may have previously achieved thisby eropping it on one rack, repating sections in realtime Unfortunately, DAWS vary intel ably todo this and ofcourse there’ stil thelssue ot latency With mutipe racks more easiyavalable ina DDAWenvronment the best bet soften to record numberof takes and then compilethe best pars that youve managed to get down. there Brestillsections that youneed, setup a separate trackto recora them to, Then if you leave gaps Your fist comp where you need to replace Bs, Youll beallset for yourheadphone cue feed, a5 the intial comp willbe therefor reference but not Inthe sections tat you need tof theiow taney ounces ving mina ask you're simply recording yourself witha single mc, once you start multiplying the ‘number of microphones or the number of people itmakes much more sense and can be Bloteasierto cope withinpractice hana complex DAW cue setup.

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