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Q&A Guide Three - The Music Directory
Q&A’s
Your queries and conundrums solved with the Music Directory’s Production Guru Ryan Nolan.
QUESTION:
My friends and I have just started a band and were wondering if there are any tips you could give us to help with writing our own music?
ANSWER:
When you first think about writing songs it always seems like a mystery; is there a hidden secret that you don’t know about? The short answer is ‘no there isn’t’. Anyone can write a song but it is your musical ability, lyrical ability and your understanding of melody and harmony that will make your song good or bad. Different artists approach song writing in different ways.
For example Elton John receives a lyric sheet from Bernie Taupin and spends 15 minutes trying to put a piano part to it. If he can’t find music that fits he throws a hissy fit and the lyrics go in the bin. If he does, we all wince in pain at yet another drab ballad whilst he adds more pennies to his rather large piggybank. In contrast the Red Hot Chili Peppers take a short riff written by either Flea or John Frusciante and jam it until it turns into a piece of music. Flea, Chad and John then record this and Anthony takes it away and tries to put lyrics and melody to it.
My personal approach is that I think about the content of a song I would like to create and then give it a working title to help inspire the lyrics and music. Following this I’ll dig through my record collection to identify songs that I like the style of to match the idea I had for the new song. I’ll then analyse these songs for structue (such as intro, verse, chorus, verse) and arrangement. In my opinion, keeping a loose structure and arrangement in mind when writing is a huge help for inspiring creativity. Others may say that they find this constrictive but I believe laying some boundaries will stop you from wandering in to the realms of experimental nonsense. The next step is to write your various parts; the verse, chorus, middle eight and so on.There is no harm in writing three different verse parts and five different chorus parts and then play them in different combinations to see which works best.
Remember that to write good music you need passion, enthusiasm and a dollop of patience. When I settle on a verse and chorus that work well together I’ll start singing melodies on top of the chords to try and get something like. When I have this I’ll use my loose structure from earlier and assemble the whole thing, recording it onto my phone, mp3 recorder or whatever is to hand.
It doesn’t matter about the quality at this stage so long as you can make out what you’re doing. I’ll then forget about it for a week. Listening to your recording with fresh ears is useful; if you still like it, it is worth pursuing, if not - start again. Now you can begin adjusting the structure to make it more individual. Change the arrangement and improve the dynamics to make it high impact and interesting to first time listeners. After this I’ll do a rough recording on my home computer before playing it to someone whose honesty I can trust. If they suggest changes or things that they don’t like about it I’ll take it away and work on it some more. When I am totally happy that the song is just the way I want it to be and have practised so much I can nail it in my sleep, I’ll save up some cash and go to a good quality recording studio and get it recorded properly.
Finally, however you go about writing your song – and really whatever you are comfortable with is the best way to do it - the important thing to do is compare it to other songs. Put it on your mp3 player on a playlist with your favourite tracks of the same genre. If you track sits nicely in this self made compilation you are on to a winner. If it doesn’t then don’t fret, just go back and try again - if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
QUESTION:
I have a home studio and record on to PC, I am struggling to get a good vocal sound. What can I do to improve it?
ANSWER:
In home studios where sound-proofing and room treatment for reverb control aren’t realistically possible, recording good vocals is often problematic. Here are a couple of suggestions to assist in improving your vocal takes.
• Invest in a decent microphone. Rode microphones are great value for money; buy a large diaphragm condenser mic like the NT2A. It’s very versatile, will capture the vocals superbly and can be used for many other applications.
• Deaden the recording space.
You could go all out and buy an Auralex free-standing recording booth, but hanging heavy curtains a few inches from all the walls in your recording space will help diffuse any reverb. It’ll also cost a lot less!
• Record at times when exterior noise is a minimum. Take a day off work. Make sure there are no road works scheduled that day, close all the windows and doors in your house and there should be only a tiny amount of exterior noise to contend with.
• Get the vocal signal as loud as possible. When setting up to record, run the vocals through slight compression to enhance the quietest bits and to catch the loud parts without distortion. Spend time getting the input signal as loud as possible. Experiment with the singer’s distance from the mic and tell them to keep their head as still as possible when singing.
When you get a recording completed, listen to it in isolation for distortion. If there is noticeable distortion bin it and start again, as it will really become apparent in the final mix.
QUESTION:
How can I make my guitar sound as big as my favourite rock band when
recording?
ANSWER:
The key to this is simple yet complicated. Simply it is a combination of multi-tracking (laying several of the same track on top of each other) and reverb. The complexity enters when you are deciding what to multi-track and how to apply the reverb. Depending on the sound you want to create there are numerous ways to get there so I’ll just give you the simplest way to get a big sound. If you have a POD or other DI recording device for your guitar, record one channel of this in mono. Then re-record the exactly the same part through an amp with one mike close to the speaker but off to one side of the centre of the cone and a second mic a few feet away. Record this on to one track in mono. Experiment with the distance of the second mic until you get it reinforcing the overall sound of that track. This is known as being in phase. When you have these two tracks recorded, pan one left and one right and hey presto; big guitar! You can improve the depth of the sound by applying reverb. Unfortunately you could write a book about applying reverb and so in my opinion the best way to approach it is to listen to the recording you are trying to emulate in comparison to your own and experiment with the reverb settings until you can get as close to the sound you want. Always remember that you shouldn’t sacrifice the rest of the recording by making one instrument sound great at the expense of other instruments; if you crank the bass up on the guitar amp, it might sound great in the room but will interfere with the bass guitar when you mix that in.
Your queries and conundrums solved with the Music Directory’s Production Guru Ryan Nolan.
QUESTION:
My friends and I have just started a band and were wondering if there are any tips you could give us to help with writing our own music?
ANSWER:
When you first think about writing songs it always seems like a mystery; is there a hidden secret that you don’t know about? The short answer is ‘no there isn’t’. Anyone can write a song but it is your musical ability, lyrical ability and your understanding of melody and harmony that will make your song good or bad. Different artists approach song writing in different ways.
For example Elton John receives a lyric sheet from Bernie Taupin and spends 15 minutes trying to put a piano part to it. If he can’t find music that fits he throws a hissy fit and the lyrics go in the bin. If he does, we all wince in pain at yet another drab ballad whilst he adds more pennies to his rather large piggybank. In contrast the Red Hot Chili Peppers take a short riff written by either Flea or John Frusciante and jam it until it turns into a piece of music. Flea, Chad and John then record this and Anthony takes it away and tries to put lyrics and melody to it.
My personal approach is that I think about the content of a song I would like to create and then give it a working title to help inspire the lyrics and music. Following this I’ll dig through my record collection to identify songs that I like the style of to match the idea I had for the new song. I’ll then analyse these songs for structue (such as intro, verse, chorus, verse) and arrangement. In my opinion, keeping a loose structure and arrangement in mind when writing is a huge help for inspiring creativity. Others may say that they find this constrictive but I believe laying some boundaries will stop you from wandering in to the realms of experimental nonsense. The next step is to write your various parts; the verse, chorus, middle eight and so on.There is no harm in writing three different verse parts and five different chorus parts and then play them in different combinations to see which works best.
Remember that to write good music you need passion, enthusiasm and a dollop of patience. When I settle on a verse and chorus that work well together I’ll start singing melodies on top of the chords to try and get something like. When I have this I’ll use my loose structure from earlier and assemble the whole thing, recording it onto my phone, mp3 recorder or whatever is to hand.
It doesn’t matter about the quality at this stage so long as you can make out what you’re doing. I’ll then forget about it for a week. Listening to your recording with fresh ears is useful; if you still like it, it is worth pursuing, if not - start again. Now you can begin adjusting the structure to make it more individual. Change the arrangement and improve the dynamics to make it high impact and interesting to first time listeners. After this I’ll do a rough recording on my home computer before playing it to someone whose honesty I can trust. If they suggest changes or things that they don’t like about it I’ll take it away and work on it some more. When I am totally happy that the song is just the way I want it to be and have practised so much I can nail it in my sleep, I’ll save up some cash and go to a good quality recording studio and get it recorded properly.
Finally, however you go about writing your song – and really whatever you are comfortable with is the best way to do it - the important thing to do is compare it to other songs. Put it on your mp3 player on a playlist with your favourite tracks of the same genre. If you track sits nicely in this self made compilation you are on to a winner. If it doesn’t then don’t fret, just go back and try again - if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
QUESTION:
I have a home studio and record on to PC, I am struggling to get a good vocal sound. What can I do to improve it?
ANSWER:
In home studios where sound-proofing and room treatment for reverb control aren’t realistically possible, recording good vocals is often problematic. Here are a couple of suggestions to assist in improving your vocal takes.
• Invest in a decent microphone. Rode microphones are great value for money; buy a large diaphragm condenser mic like the NT2A. It’s very versatile, will capture the vocals superbly and can be used for many other applications.
• Deaden the recording space.
You could go all out and buy an Auralex free-standing recording booth, but hanging heavy curtains a few inches from all the walls in your recording space will help diffuse any reverb. It’ll also cost a lot less!
• Record at times when exterior noise is a minimum. Take a day off work. Make sure there are no road works scheduled that day, close all the windows and doors in your house and there should be only a tiny amount of exterior noise to contend with.
• Get the vocal signal as loud as possible. When setting up to record, run the vocals through slight compression to enhance the quietest bits and to catch the loud parts without distortion. Spend time getting the input signal as loud as possible. Experiment with the singer’s distance from the mic and tell them to keep their head as still as possible when singing.
When you get a recording completed, listen to it in isolation for distortion. If there is noticeable distortion bin it and start again, as it will really become apparent in the final mix.
QUESTION:
How can I make my guitar sound as big as my favourite rock band when
recording?
ANSWER:
The key to this is simple yet complicated. Simply it is a combination of multi-tracking (laying several of the same track on top of each other) and reverb. The complexity enters when you are deciding what to multi-track and how to apply the reverb. Depending on the sound you want to create there are numerous ways to get there so I’ll just give you the simplest way to get a big sound. If you have a POD or other DI recording device for your guitar, record one channel of this in mono. Then re-record the exactly the same part through an amp with one mike close to the speaker but off to one side of the centre of the cone and a second mic a few feet away. Record this on to one track in mono. Experiment with the distance of the second mic until you get it reinforcing the overall sound of that track. This is known as being in phase. When you have these two tracks recorded, pan one left and one right and hey presto; big guitar! You can improve the depth of the sound by applying reverb. Unfortunately you could write a book about applying reverb and so in my opinion the best way to approach it is to listen to the recording you are trying to emulate in comparison to your own and experiment with the reverb settings until you can get as close to the sound you want. Always remember that you shouldn’t sacrifice the rest of the recording by making one instrument sound great at the expense of other instruments; if you crank the bass up on the guitar amp, it might sound great in the room but will interfere with the bass guitar when you mix that in.