P.S. Add in Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Richard Marx, Michael Bolton for having some pretty huge pop mixes loaded with instruments and various orchestration. I forgot to add them in my post above. :)

-Danny

http://www.npr.org/blogs/...ost-to-make-a-hit-song

I gotta disagree with ya on Biebers music....I like it and think the kid has talent for what HE does. Most people hate my style because I have a very strong 80's vibe about me...I would hope they would look past that and at least think "yeah, for what you do...it's cool, it's just not my bag". :)  

The 80s was the best!   (From a guy with a definite 80s vibe as well.)

complex productions, is where having better gear really starts to show it's worth.

the higher quality the sound file, the easier to mix dense mixes.


i define complex as 'many tracks, wide ranging dynamic range, wide ranging eq ranges (on overall mix, not individual tracks), intense arrangements'

Danny Danzi


P.S. Add in Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Richard Marx, Michael Bolton for having some pretty huge pop mixes loaded with instruments and various orchestration. I forgot to add them in my post above. :)

-Danny

I saw a Shania concert a few years back, and yeah.. there were more musicians on her stage than there are cousins at a Hillbilly wedding.  Definitely a huge production. Live version matched the studio version pretty flawlessly. 

Guitarhacker

Danny Danzi


P.S. Add in Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Richard Marx, Michael Bolton for having some pretty huge pop mixes loaded with instruments and various orchestration. I forgot to add them in my post above. :)

-Danny

I saw a Shania concert a few years back, and yeah.. there were more musicians on her stage than there are cousins at a Hillbilly wedding.  Definitely a huge production. Live version matched the studio version pretty flawlessly. 

Yeah Herb...that's the type of production *I* consider "complex". The one's that are loaded with instruments over the songs/mixes that have the "less is more" principal. Again though, it all depends what Matt is going for. I'm sure he'll check in eventually and let us know. LOL! At any rate, no matter what the case, this is definitely a killer thread that I'm glad everyone took part in. :)
 
-Danny

But then again....in the case of Shania....... Mutt Lange was the man on the mixer......

Got me a few posts the reply to here, so will get to it later tonight, methinks! Some good stuff here.

To me, it does not pay to think too much. Just feel until in place!

Or another TP example, "Free Fallin'", when the full-spectrum chorus jumps in - just once - on the short phrase "Ventura Boulevard".

Weird choice of timing on that bit... Doesn't make sense, but adds interest! I have to say though, have not heard that song for many many years (keep in mind I'm only 25) but damn his singing is BAD... I know it was a huge song and all, but it's funny to see that the bad singing is not just around today, it's been happening all this time... Doesn't seem to stop anybody..




Drum size is a good bit to remember. Can't really get away with huge drums and a complex mix very easily. Fortunately I'm not looking for incredibly big drums so I should be able to get away with that one alright!




When I'm talking a big production, I don't necessarily mean the big stadium sound. Probably wouldn't suit my music. I just like lots of stuff happening. Some examples:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prhCWO_518
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMQLjzVGfw

This band (Foster the People) I think had a huge list of different producers working on different songs. Their album has variation. Not all songs have this much going on. And the songs have breaks. But there is just always something going on to add interest. It sounds great.

I think the sound I'm getting in my head is usually something synthetic. I've tried with guitars but it seems a bit too samey.

Another example would be Coldplay's newer stuff. Subtly lots going on. More subtle than Foster the People.


But anywho. I think it's starting to happen. It's just practise. I'm trying to take the following process:

 - Start with my basics, drums, guitars, vocals
 - Listen to each section
 - Does it feel right? Is something wrong?
 - Is that the sound of the instruments, or is something missing?
 - If it's missing, add that little interest till it works
 - Now when it builds to a prechorus or chorus, do I need to add something else? Or maybe change instrumentation

etc. You know, I'm describing typical song writing here... Haha. I'm just trying now to take the stance of "does it need something else do make it more exciting or not" rather than just adding for the sake of. That's a better summary.


The biggest problem I expect to have now is I'll come up with all these cool ideas on my first few songs, but then I don't want to just recycle those same sounds and techniques for the rest of the album. This is when it's going to get tricky... This is when it would help to have multiple producers on different songs!! But I'll get through it.. I'm in a good headspace with it at the moment. It's feeling 'right' with me so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing :)

Cheers