Hi ,
Ever noticed how after eating something sweet, that first sip of coffee directly after tends to taste more bitter?
Or after a period of difficulty in life, once the storm has cleared and you experience bits of joy, those moments of joy seem that much sweeter?
That last example is probably a little over-simplified as there’s lots at play there, but my point is that after experiencing one extreme, the opposite is often elevated and enhanced.
You’re probably asking ‘Why is he talking about this? I signed up for music production stuff not unsolicited advice about life.'
But it is about music production, in fact it is a crucial concept that often trumps any sound design ninja tricks or silver bullets people will try and sell you- and that’s the idea of contrast.
How does that relate to my music?
William Cowper famously said that "variety is the spice of life"- same goes for music.
Too much of the same sounds or same type of energy within your track will make for a very dull experience!
Utilise your abilities to create different sounds and textures and play with contrast in order to maximise the emotive qualities of your track and really give your listeners something to chew on.
In terms of sound design...
- If you've written a track with immaculately designed sounds that use all the ninja tricks you know and it sounds super complex, but for some reason it still sounds pretty stale/boring/drawn out, you might have an issue of too much of the same sound aesthetic throughout your different parts.
- If your A and B sections have really hard hitting drums with gnarly basses and aggressive leads and SFX, try taking some of those sounds out and including smoother/more fluid sounds in between bits of chaos, or even having your drum fills be completely mangled by spectral processing effects that destroy all the transients and turn it into a mercurial mess.
- You don't need to use contrast for every single bar in your track, often little moments that utilise completely opposite sounding elements compared to the majority of sounds in your track should do the trick and be enough to create more variety.
And what about arrangement?
Have you ever worked on a track where no matter what you do, the ‘drop’ just doesn’t hit hard enough?
And no matter what you do to ‘beef up’ the drums or bass parts, nothing quite cuts it? I most definitely have.
- If you experience this in the future, try toning down the section prior to it instead of building up the energy, the parts of your track leading up to your drop don’t always have to be extreme EDM wind ups.
- If your drop has lots of high frequencies in it, try filtering out the highs in parts of your track before the drums and bass come back in.
- Low frequencies are also a main driver of energy in your track, maybe you could filter out the lows as the drop approaches and bringing them back in as soon as the drums and bass come in.
- But sometimes even just a moment of silence riiiight before the drop hits is enough to create enough contrast that enhances the impact of that first kick and bass hit.
Of course there's no one-size-fits-all solution for anything, apart from using contrast there are plenty of other things that might help you achieve the track you've envisioned in your mind.
If you'd like some insight on how to start writing the music you've always dreamed of writing, come check out Future Media Academy's "Halftime DNB" music production course, an online course that will run from March 3-31, where I'll be sharing with you ALL my techniques for synthesising and arranging sound.
To top it off, you'll also be getting direct insight into the minds of two incredible producers in their own right, Halfred and Re:Set, both who I look up to in terms of their production and mixing/mastering skills.
Head over to this link now to check out what's on offer and secure your spot! (We’ve now implemented a payment plan system so that you can still attend the course if you really want to!)
Wishing you lots of creativity and joy in your practice,
Arthur
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