I was privileged to work with singer-songwriter Melanie Peterson on producing a song for her Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. One of Melanie’s perk offerings was to write a song for a contributor.
Melanie wrote a delicate love song with a healthy melancholy. I’m always impressed at how Melanie employs clever wordplay without sounding clever (the double use of “good” in the title).
Recording process
I asked Melanie to send me a quick phone recording of the song. From this, I made a simple drum loop for her to record to. I employed a simple trick I use with most singer-songwriters.
- Record a “scratch” track of the entire song, guitar and vocals at the same time, with one mic
- Apply a “telephone EQ” to the scratch track
- Record the guitar next, by itself, using the scratch as a guide
- Record vocals
This approach ensures the performer always knows where they are in the song, and allows them to focus on the guitar part in the context of the whole song. I’ve found this is particularly effective for artists who are not used to playing the song without singing it at the same time.
Musical Arrangement
My brain went straight to a string arrangement. I used Native Instruments Kontakt Factory Library instruments – one violin, one viola, one cello, and a double bass, rather than using a single “strings” patch.
For the percussion tracks, I added a Dunun drum from Kontakt’s West Africa Discovery Series, a live shaker, and live stick hits using dowel drumsticks.
All the parts were very simple, to complement Melanie’s arpeggiated guitar pattern without overpowering it.
The key to making synth-based strings sound more realistic is dynamics. Performing with a variety of note velocities, articulations, and volume automation typically get me there. For this production, using volume automation to create swells and emphasis made the biggest difference.
Mixing and Mastering
The dowel stick I recorded posed a unique problem; the sound had virtually no decay. I used the Diffuser setting in Native Instrument’s Replika delay plug-in to give the sound a tail and fit the arrangement better.
Melanie wrote a song with a clear chorus, but it didn’t ring out with a higher melody, strong money notes, or a different guitar pattern. I got some more build in the chorus by automating my master bus volume in very small amounts, and narrowing the stereo width in the verses.
For the mastering process, I wanted to make the track sound fuller than the natural dynamics allowed. At first, I fattened up the track too much, and then dialed back on the multiple levels of compression and limiting to let the track breathe while still sounding full.
It was a pleasure to work with Melanie on this song, and we hope to collaborate some more once the world gets back to normal!
