I’ve listened to songs that confuse or irritate me. Some sounded like they were going in an interesting direction, and then just crashed. A few made me want to drop my monitors off a cliff.
The real gems though, are the complete package: They grab you, pull you in, and keep you riveted right to the end. The music, lyrics, and effects all combine beautifully to create a masterpiece.
Personal preference, as always, plays a significant role here. But one of the other critical differences between the former and the latter, is how well the different parts focused on a specific idea, or emotion.
Like a Dance
Thinking about my experience as a dance instructor is what got me on this focus-tangent in the first place. Music and dance are actually very similar in this way, except one is auditory and the other is visual.
One common element seen in all but the more experimental dance styles is the importance of isolating your movement.
That is, the hips should be (relatively) still when the arms move, the arms remain still when the chest pumps, and so on.
As any movement draws attention to itself, isolated movements help the audience know what to watch at any given moment.
If too many things are moving at once however, we get confused and uncomfortable. And who do we blame for that confusion? That’s right: The choreographer.
Like choreographers, music producers need to remember the audience isn’t likely to hear that rockin’ guitar in the background – unless you bring that same guitar to the front!
Attention-Grabbing Tools
Put simply, the most important part of your song should also be the loudest.
But that usually doesn’t mean you just turn up the volume fader. Plenty of techniques exist to help your star instrument or vocal shine through grab focus. (Sorry, was getting sappy there.)
- Layer your tracks. Recording multiple takes for example, can help make a bigger sound when combined – especially if you pan them to either side as well. A chorus effect can work similarly.
- Add distortion. Nothing like a little extra grit to help an instrument cut through the mix. Not just for guitars!
- Boost the highs. Increasing the upper frequencies of your instruments can add clarity. If your kick drum always seems to be buried, this can help a LOT.
- Find a niche. If your mix is crowded, look for a gap in the frequency spectrum that your other instruments aren’t using as much, and boost there.
- Create a niche. If your mix is REALLY crowded (I am frequently guilty of this) and you don’t want to get rid of anything, cut out or sidechain some of the competing frequencies to make room.
Providing Support
‘Cake by the Ocean’ by DNCE nestles the bright vocals in the upper-register synths and shakers to create a cohesive whole.
In ‘With or Without You’ by U2, the instruments follow the energy of the singer, from gentle sadness to a passionate crescendo.
And the rock opera-style background of Chris de Burgh’s ‘Spanish Train’ beautifully amplifies the tension of the story as it unfolds.
It’s one thing to let the audience know where to point their ears, but if you want them to really get the message, it needs to match the tone of the track itself.
Reference tracks can come in really handy here, because you can listen to the individual layers and decide whether you like what they add to the mix as a whole.
When I’m trying a genre I haven’t done before (like fantasy orchestral, for example), I also like to note the relative perceived loudness of instruments, transitions of song structure, effects, and any other common patterns I notice.
For vocals, what’s being said can be just as important as how it’s being said.
Obviously a love ballad will have a different harmonic balance from a rebel rock song, but you can add moments of more specific sonic interest, like adding reverb on the word echo, or a brief harmonic layer on a particularly passionate line.
Tl;DR
Like the audience watching a dance performance, your listeners, most of them anyway, don’t want to have to work to understand the message of your music.
You can accomplish this by staying focused on the the emotional goal of your song, and aligning the lead and supporting instruments behind it.
As always, not everyone is going to like what they hear. But at least they’ll know if they can get behind why you made the song in the first place.
Credits:
‘Group of Four Men Rock Band’ by Pixabay from Pexels
‘I will eat your baby carrots if you don’t want them’ by Blane from AwwMemes.com
‘Man Holding a Megaphone’ by Pressmaster from Pexels
‘Man Holding Face’ by Daniel Adesina from Pexels
‘Person Holding Magnifying Glass’ by Maurício Mascaro from Pexels