Reverse engineering pop productions

It's like another world, the professional productions out there.
There are any number of youtubes by renowned producers and mixdown pros,
yet none reveal anything where one can say - Ah. That's where I am going wrong.
 
My hero is Max Martin.

Yeah I was wondering how that CLA video series was...and I totally know what you mean about the quality of the raw tracks to start with.  Yet...I constantly hear about ITB mixes...watch similar YouTube videos and (like you) go...those don't sound at all like mine....

We all need goals and there is nothing wrong with working towards something as lofty as a million dollar pop record. That's what's always been the way I work. 
Bottom line is it's not so much how you do something, it's all about the talent of the performer and everyone involved.  
 
I can have 2 people come into my studio and say sing and play guitar to the same song. 
Performer # 1 is an old pro with talent up the wazoo. 
Performer #2 is an amateur with lets just say blossoming talent. 
I will say, use the exact same set up and technique. 
There will always be a world of difference between the 2 performances.
Performer # 1 will pull off a perfect song in 1 or 2 takes.
Performer #2 will take multiple takes, copy/ paste, melodyn etc and it will still not compare to performer #1's song.  
 
Mr Bieber would probably sound good if recorded to a Casstte four track with a SM 58. 
But ya, they are very good people working with him, top grade everything, they have the budget and a highly marketable act. 
But what you are trying to do is a very good way to get better at your craft... Please don't think it's a pre set on pro channel,,, that's all hogwash. Good sound starts at the source. 

John TI'm not sure which song you're talking about, but I was recently helping a singer I know with a cover of the JB song 'Company'. And to me, one of the immediately striking things is the clarity of the arrangement. It's not just that, of course. But it's also not just mixing skill. It's not like there was a mess for the mix engineer to fix.

Yes yes YES...I have been listening to that song a ton, and in fact, that was the one that prompted me to post in the first place.  But...do you hear how crystal clean, airy, bright, present and non-harsh that vocal is?  It's ridiculous

Also, I'm no particular fan of the Beibs himself, but he has always been a very good singer, and I'm sure he's had the very best tuition in mic technique since his career got off the ground.
 
I suppose what I'm batting it is that it's the entire chain that makes it sound like that. Song, singer, players, arrangement, gear, mix, master, etc, etc. There's no magic trick that makes a thing sound that way. It's more that every link in the chain is of a very high standard.
 

Room treatment, good monitoring and good hardware.  Sorry, JB isn't good no matter what anyone may say to me about it but that's jmho.  And I'm Canadian.  He doesn't sing particularly well (he's autotuned almost 100%), his guitar playing and key playing are "ok" at best.  He's certainly not the "prodigy" his manager would have you believe he is.  Sorry.  OP picked a bad example of perfection for me.  BUT, the example is perfect as to what Larry just alluded to and previous posts also.  Max Martin has "the formula" and resources to make anyone sound like that.  Modern production is crafted down to the cadence of the syllables with the beat.  There's no longer just one hook.  The intro has to have a hook, then one for the verse, then chorus, then outro.  Every section changes just a little bit to keep you interested.  There's a LOT of stuff going on to get that audio crack to addict you.  For me it makes it that much better when I actually hear a great singer and just a guitar that grabs me. But then that performer has probably also had the pro mixers/engineers and mastering guys with all the tricks to make it sound awesome too. :)  In any case I do agree, I've also watched the CLA vids.  Pensado's place on YouTube is actually pretty good.  He'll actually dive in and show the effects he's using and settings but as said, the tracks are already recorded so you don't get the recording magic...

Interesting discussion.
 
A friend of mine is really into girl bands & solo girl vocalists - stuff like All Saints, Sugababes, Kylie, Girls Aloud etc.
 
Not only are the songs arrangements nigh on perfect but the space, clarity & production is a REAL ear opener.

As for air, try either the Maag EQ (vst or hardware) and boost the 40khz.
If on a serious budget like me, you can use the Maag wannabe, Luftikus at http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=Luftikus&id=1500.
 
As for protecting the vox, The old tried and true says carve out the vocal frequencies from the back track. This is better served today with a multiband compressor or dynamic eq on the back track ducking the backtrack where the offending frequencies are.
 
May I suggest the MixbusTV series of videos, in particular, this one which addresses your vocal query.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey2v8ZEjjcY
 

bitman
As for air, try either the Maag EQ (vst or hardware) and boost the 40khz.
If on a serious budget like me, you can use the Maag wannabe, Luftikus at http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=Luftikus&id=1500.
 

Boost 40kHz? - I assume this is a typo and you meant either 4kHz or 10kHz?

I don't have any ultrasonic transducers in my gig bag...  Will an SM58 do?

Kamikaze

dwardzala

bitman
As for air, try either the Maag EQ (vst or hardware) and boost the 40khz.
If on a serious budget like me, you can use the Maag wannabe, Luftikus at http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=Luftikus&id=1500.
 

Boost 40kHz? - I assume this is a typo and you meant either 4kHz or 10kHz?

Bottom right hand corner.

Is that a joke?
 
Seriously, what exactly is that high boost doing, because if its altering the sound, its not just boosting 40kHz frequencies?

This will make you appreciate the hard work of Mr. Bieber's engineering team...
 

Charlie Sheen could likely sing better.

I hope the humor of his post and my reply didn't escape you...

samson7842
I'm a huge fan of Max Martin...

What I don't like is that all top pop songs sound pretty much the same, because they're all done by the same guy.  To my ears Taylor Swift stands above the rest, probably because she has a fair amount of input into the process.  It's just as artificial as the rest, and similar, but it's better.  I wonder where things can go from here.  Will it be possible to produce to a degree even more extreme than is now achieved ?