Production Walk-Through of Pop Demo
Project Overview
Developing a song can happen in many different ways, but when working with another artist, I like to explore the idea through a demo. The demo is usually built on a voice memo or scratch track. I like to take that basic idea and layer the sounds I’m hearing as quickly as possible. The point of the demo is not to have a polished sound or a perfect mix. You need to hear the energy and feel the emotion to make sure the project is heading in the right direction. In the following video I break down the fundamental elements that became a demo chorus for a song called “Gotta Get Away” by my friend Lucy.
Breakdown of the Elements
Layering sounds on a voice memo demo can be tricky. I like to prioritize speed and get sounds in the DAW as quickly as possible, preferably in one or two sessions. It’s easy to overthink this process, but I try to give myself the creative freedom to just go where I feel drawn musically. This project was all about getting the emotional factors in the right voices and adding voices that complemented or filled out the sound.
Original Demo
The voice memo is all I have to go off of other than a few references that Lucy sent me. The feel of the demo is driving and a bit hectic. I got that the project needed to feel somewhat tense and displaced, without it feeling overly edgy.
I try to listen to the emotional character of the song, the performance of the vocal, and anything in the instrumental part that seems to be contributing to the feel. I wanted to capture the energy she was giving in the recording without over-emphasizing the “four on the floor” feel that comes from a driving quarter note rhythm.
Gutiars
I’ll often start with a drum part or a bass groove, but I felt that if I went there first, I would put myself in a box musically. After thinking through what I could do to capture the steady driving feel without it becoming too monotonous, I landed on using a delay on an electric guitar part. This created a sense of ambience and depth around that underlying driving rhythm. It felt more organic and emotional than an eighth note chugging pattern or something more rhythmically mundane.
I processed the guitar through STARK by Klevgrand, which is easily my favorite guitar plug-in. I like it because the interface is not too complicated, and it gets me high-quality sounds quickly while offering a ton of variety.
The delay I used was Comback Kid by Baby Audio. I use this tool interchangeably with Echo Boy by Soundtoys. The strength of Comback Kid is that it is sonically very distinct. The breakup and tape saturation are the key to building my ambient guitar tones. What’s cool about this guitar sound is that it is as much about the delayed sound as it is about the original sound. I’ll admit that made it a bit challenging to record!
I double-tracked acoustic guitars to add the organic layer, motion, and stereo imaging, making this demo feel alive.
