2 ways of using electronics in the production process.

Hello there,

I hope everybody is going through the holidays frenzy with ease. As for me, I’ll be staying in NYC. Usually I go to spend Christmas to Buenos Aires (yes, it’s summer there!) but not this year. Oh well. I’m planning to do quite a bit of traveling, 2010! You hear me?

As you may already know, today I’d like to offer you some more thoughts and dig a bit deeper on the use of digital technology in my composition/production process. I’m glad some of you liked my previous entry, and since then I’ve been pondering more about the matter.
As I’ve been doing a bit of Hard Drive Archeology, I thought it would be a good idea to compare early and final versions of a song to trace back the role, evolution and balance of the electronic and human-generated instruments throughout the production phase (how’s that for nerd phrase of the month??)

I think a word or two about my background can be significant and will provide some context, as the approach I have is strongly influenced by the way and moment I started to use technology applied to music. I’m sure the younger generations, who grew up with computers and internet and music software already widely available, will surely have a different type of experience and creative outlets and goals than those of us that surfed an earlier wave of the music technology.

I grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My first music attempts were during the mid-80’s, with the guitar. At some point I got a Tascam 4-track channel and started to dub my guitars and later I added a Boss Dr Rhythm drum machine, which in time I replaced by a Roland 808. I would record hours of loops and guitar solos. When making music, I enjoyed being self-sufficient and call all my shots. By the early 90’s I started using Cakewalk. Soundcards were truly poor back then (Soundblaster and such). The only way of getting decent sounds was to hook up via midi an external keyboard and sound module, which in time I did. Keyboards were harder to come by back in those days (and much more expensive) so I spent a couple of years writing music in Cakewalk by hand. I got quick and pretty good at it. At some point I also remember getting a “Pinnacle” soundcard that would allow me to sample 8 seconds!. It would take about a minute to load the sample into the RAM. Good thing I always kept playing guitar. Computers certainly didn’t give you the immediate satisfaction that they give us today. And yet we dare to complain “30 seconds to pitch-shift the vocals?!? I haven’t got all day!!”.

Later on, when I was living in Boston, Cakewalk started to record audio. I got to know Logic (version 4), Digital Performer and Pro Tools. Better, cheaper audio and midi cards started to appear (firewire!). And Virtual Instruments (VST). Then Reason came out. And soon it was possible to make a track with a full bank of sounds, instruments and samples residing in your computer. That actually blew my mind more than the fact that I could record audio into it. To have an orchestra, band or whatever combo you wanted, inside a box. Sure, it wasn’t like playing with real musicians. But the possibilities suddenly seemed endless. And they are.
For my Film Scoring thesis I used a score heavy in electronics. Back in that day at that school (Berklee College), you wouldn’t see many students doing that kind of thing since the Film-Scoring program stressed more tonal composition and standard instrumentation. I used the electronics because they would save me time, energy and streess of dealing with other musicians at final exam season. It worked great, as I also brought a few live musicians to the mix as well. That was my first “rounded off” piece with electronics and ever since I’ve loved the process of writing for electronics plus real instruments, and the way they sound.

I am going to offer you a “before and after” type of example. Actually, two of them. Two songs of my band, Puracane, from rough to finished.

The first one, “All over now” was spontaneously composed by all the four members while jamming in a rehearsal room. Just a descendent line-cliché I started to play with and everything followed along. It came by really quick, lyrics included (my singer, Ali Rogers, is genius). We were lucky to have a camera recording the audio hen that happened. You can listen to the earliest, really rough version of the song right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCicAbe4uvE

What you hear is Ali, bass, drums and guitar (moi). I really like the grittiness of it. We have from time to time those moments in the rehearsal room where a song comes out of the blue, like it was always there in the first place. Those are the best. I am grateful for those moments.

The final version that made it to our album can be heard here (courtesy of a fan that posted it) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG2l-LSvsJE

I intend to establish a comparative analysis of the song before and after the studio/arranging/mixing stages.
In the jam version, you have only live instruments (vocals, guitar, bass, drums) playing a song with a rock vibe. Rather than on musical changes such as tempo, form and lyrics; let’s take a look at the instrumentation: Which elements and changes made it to the final mix, and how I used software (In this case, Logic) to bring new layers to the song.

(Note: I will consider virtual instruments such as synthesizers or real-like sampled pianos to be “electronic instruments” as I intend to refer to all the sounds that are computer generated.)

So, after playing this song a number of times, we got into the studio and tracked it in Pro Tools. Then I imported it into Logic to add electronics and mix. Thanks to Logic, I was able to effortlessly add:

A Rhodes-like Piano
A Hammond-like Organ
Loop and overdub a guitar sample
A Percussive, pitched electronic sound (can be heard at 2’33’’)
Effects: Delays, Reverbs, EQ, Compression and some more esoteric ones.

The piano and organ were added to widen the sonic palette. When you have more sonic colors, you also have more possible combination between them. I really felt the track could use some sonic variation here and there. Also, I am a Rhodes piano freak, and use this sound one way or another in almost every track I work on. The organ was intended to keep the gritty vibe going with its vintage sound. A bright synth pad would have taken the song in a total different direction. It adss a nice boost during the guitar solo.

Using extremely simple editing techniques (chop/loop) I took a small phrase of the guitar solo in made it sound here and there, which added (I hope) an interesting detail and provided a sense of familiarity through repetition (I’ll blog one day about repetition, both bless and course of electronic musicians). It’s a very simple idea.

The “whacka-whacka” percussive sound that you hear at 2’33’’ is actually the drum track being processed through Ableton Live’s Resonator effect. This is probably the most “electronic” sound in the mix, as it doesn’t sound like a definite or real life instruments. It’s still pretty gritty I reckon and blends in nicely.

For guitar freaks like me, I recorded this song with a Fender Telecaster (Thanks Todd!), my beloved Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler Pedal, Ibanez Tube Screamer distortion, and a Fender Blues Jr. amp. I used some additional filtering, delay and effects in Logic as well.

As I said in my previous entry, I do tend to use the electronics to complement the human elements and this is a clear example of that. The song was conceived as a band song and was solid from the beginning, the electronics here are supporting that idea, adding color and depth but not changing the sound structurally. There are more that mere “icing on the cake”, since the whole mix is being made in a computer. But “the song remains the same”.

Since the possibilities are so vast, the process of blending real and electronic instruments is each time a different one. In my opinion, that’s very fortunate. Each track always represents at some or other degree, a challenge of its own. I do have tracks where the electronics have taken over and are influencing things such as form, style and aesthetics in a very dramatic way. I also have tracks that are almost entirely orchestrated with electronic sounds. It changes every time and that keeps things interesting.

For my second example, I’m going to present you with another Puracane song; “Destroy Me”.

I have uploaded two versions (demo and album) to my profile’s audio files, be sure to check them out there.

This song wasn’t made with the band at the rehearsal room. As some other tracks, this one was born of some idea I’ve been toying with and showed it to Ali to sing something over. This idea started with the synth sound you hear in the very beginning (Rob Papen’s Albino 3. Great instrument.). Then I added a quick drum loop to keep things moving, and a bass line to give it some “cushion” ☺ . And then the Rhodes piano (of course!). It’s just a preproduction mix, things are simple and extremely repetitive and the lack of dynamics is almost painful. I was happy to learn that Ali had no major problems with a couple of nerdy chord changes and an unexpected change of key. No doubt the gated synth sound I started fumbling with inspired me to play that descending progression and suggested a tempo and a vibe. So this time, a very modern sounding instrument has been actually the responsible for this song’s seminal idea. When I first came up with this idea ,I wasn’t even thinking of having a singer and took some non conventional decisions on its form and modulations that are not much in the style of a pop/rock song. I also used sampled strings from the Logic library and processed the voice with Expert Sleeper’s Meringue plugin, a little gizmo that plays some wild reversed delays. Other than Ali’s voice, everything you hear in the demo version is computer generated. The electronics were part of the inspiration and creation process.

What was the progress towards the album version then? . Well, the live instruments came in, taking all of the “stiffness” away. The recording you hear is essentially drums, bass, guitar (heavily processed at times) and vocals; plus the synth and string sounds. The processed vocals also made it to the final mix. But basically this turned out to be a very warm, band type of song. It is worth of mention that we were recorded and mixed by Angelo LaPiana, who was once my student at SAE NY. He did a terrific job and we even tracked to an old, banged up tape machine to add extra warmth. Bass player Drew Thurlow made a great contribution by alternating two lines instead of using always the descending one. In some parts he played what I had sequenced throughout: B, A, G. But in some of the verses he plays B, D, G which produced a noticeable change in the harmony and keeps ears fresh. Genius, Drew.

You may notice that the final version’s voice is drier and not as punchy as the demo one. We wanted to somehow convey a sense of fragility in Ali’s voice, I think it goes really well with the lyrics.

Guitar gear: Gibson SG, DL4 delay (aahhh reversed delays), Tube Screamer distortion, Digitech’s EX-7 Expression factory, Moog Murf pedal, Fender Blues Jr. The crazy noise that ensues by the end of the sound is my playing with all of these wonderful toys to produce textures and such.

The synth idea that started everything still opens the song and sounds considerably throughout it. However, it has become more of a supporting element. The band took over. Ali and I call this one our “Pink Floyd” song.

I often wonder what kind of musician would I be if all these technological possibilities weren’t around. Electronics can be peripheral or central to a track, and thus cover different functions. The musician get not only to perform them but, if desired, to program them, tweak them, select samples and midi functions that can make a regular virtual synth/sampler into a unique, unrepeatable instrument. How musical or good will it sound, that’s up to the composer/producer criteria and taste.

After a lengthy entry, I shall leave you ruminating my humble but detailed analysis. I have to run to the guitar shop to pick up my Fender Mustang which I took for a set-up. I’m looking forward to an indoors weekend, sheltered from the already brutal cold, playing my guitar and drinking tea. I might even turn my cell phone off!

Happy Holidays!

Juan.-