“Baby I want all the same things you want/ And Baby I need all the same things you need…” Okay, I’m going to admit that the Dan Reed Network never wrote poetry, but when it come to melodic, kick-ass danceable pop/rock with an R&B twist, Dan Reed burst on to a scene that was already passing them by in 1987 with their first single, “Ritual”.
Clearly influenced by the hair rock of Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, The Dan Reed Network also mixed in funk and R&B into the stew for music that was much more sophisticated than the average song of the genre… even if the lyrics didn’t fit that bill. (“I love all the same things you love / I long for all the same things you long for…)
Part of why I like the band so much (I actually have all three of their albums) is they were the first time I had experienced the… “I’ve HEARD of them!” factor before anyone had heard of them. An older friend was going to college in Portland, and a year earlier had brought me their demo tape. (A cassette, yes. And I still have it somewhere.) So I was especially excited to see they had “made” it.
I picked up each album over the next couple years, and shook my head in frustration that the mainstream just didn’t get them. I have to credit the band, though for sticking to their style. Even as Grunge started to set in and it became clear that America wouldn’t be turning back to Dan Reed Network’s style of glam pop any time soon, they stayed tru to the music that excited them and their fans.
Their lyrics may never pass the grade for depth, meaning and complexity, but all three of their albums are filled with fun music with a surprising amount of complexity. Check them out!
Compression is used on pretty much every song ever used, but it you’re new to the game, maybe you don’t know where to use it, or are using it too much.
First, what is it? Compression reduces dynamic range. It compresses the loudest portions of a signal. This allows you to either turn everything up, or keep a signal more even so it can be placed in the mix better.
Many people advise using compression subtly, but let me be clear, not every compressor sounds the same, and there ARE better compressors than others out there. I personally love the UA 1176 from Universal Audio’s Powered Plug-in series.
The controls are simple and you can do some pretty extreme compression while still keeping the impression of dynamic range.
Whatever you use, there are a couple basic principles to keep in mind.
Threshold: This is the db level where the compression starts Gain Reduction: This is usually expressed as a ratio. For instance 2:1 would mean that if your signal was -3db and your threshold is -43db, you would have 20db of compression. Attack: Usually in ms. Keep low if you want to catch quick transients, raise it up if you want the crispness of the attack to come through and tame the tails. Release: How long after the signal falls below the threshold until the compressor stops working. Adjusting this can help if you experience “pumping”… where the audio volume seems to pulse with the beat.
While compression is one of the most basic audio processes, it can take a long time to fully hear and understand the best ways to use it in a mix. Take the time to experiment, and listen to the differences in different processors.
If you’re looking to find out more, there is a great article on this topic at Tweakheadz.com
I wouldn’t call Tears For Fear the one of the most underrated bands arounf, a couple monster #1 hits means they got more than their fair share of recognition. However, I’m not exactly sure why “Mothers Talk” wasn’t the FOURTH monster hit from their huge 1985 album, Songs From the Big Chair.
Okay.. maybe it’s obscure lyrics like “My features form with a change in the weather/ weekend/ we can work it out.” And I didn’t even know those lyrics until I searched and found them today.
But the back then, the beat seemed so primal… at least to my New Wave lovin’ ears. The melody was catchy as hell, and this song really reveals that the group wasn’t as safely mainstream as many believed. I do think Tears for Fears had so many smart and sophisticated musical arrangements that weren’t sniffed out merely because they were… oh no… a SYNTH band. But not too deep below the catchy melody of “Mothers Talk”, are staccatto counter-rhythms and smart arpeggios covering chord progressions that were anything but typical (then or now).
I found this video on YouTube, which has a slightly different arrangement than on the album, and found the differences interesting.
If you are a fan of smart pop music, and this song didn’t ring a bell for you, I strongly urge you to check it out.
Do you need to have a rock guitar that shakes the house, but every time you get near that bone crunching volume… the vocals (and everything else) just seem to disappear?
The solution is simple.
First, double those guitars up. I don’t mean copy a track, I mean use two separate takes and pan them far left and right. Right away this clears up the center for the voice, and in addition to being able to turn up the guitars, they start sounding A LOT bigger.
Next run the two channels through a bus and put some heavy compression on with a middling attack to still let the punnchiness come through.
Now, use EQ. Use a high pass to roll off the lows somewhere below 80-200Hz. (Trust me, you don’t need those lows). Also dip the mids between 400-1000Hz, give a boost somewhere between 2-3kHz to bring out the crispiness, and dip again around 4-5kHz to make room for vocal diction. Then give a nice overall 3-6db boost from 8kHz up.
Of course this varies depending on the type of sound you want, but not as much as you might think. This model is pretty close for heavy, distorted guitars, as well as big, thick, full acoustic guitars… it’s a close starting point, you should be able to tweak and find a satisfying sound.
I don’t know if there are many #1 hits as “forgotten” as the 1988 smash “Wild, Wild West” by the Escape Club. But this was a pure slice of pop heaven. From the pseudo slide-guitar instrumental hook opening, to the faux-reggae/rap bridge, this song always lifted my day, and it still does.
The opening lyrics, “47 deadbeats/ living in the back streets/ north east west south/ all in the same house” don’t promise depth or meaning, but they are just the beginning of the wordplay that continues through the rest of the song. And I dare you not to sing along, no matter how hip or cool you are. I remember when their megaphone effect on their third vocals seemed new and fresh, and does ANYONE actually know what they are saying in the catchiest of incomprehensible rap breaks? (I’m serious… if you do know, share it!)
I think pretty much everyone expected these guys to be a one-hit wonder, and despite the addition of another top ten hit, “I’ll Be There” to dispute that, the Escape Club’s career did indeed fade quickly. In fact, the group disbanded completely in 1992 with no apparent efforts to launch a reunion or comeback.
I, for one, am thankful. I like remembering my one hit wonders for how they were, and not seeing how old they’ve become. I can still listen to “Wild Wild West” and feel like I did when I was 17.
And it’s always fun to find these old videos on YouTube!
There are a lot of things involved in recording great Background vocals, but the biggest secret is… They take a lot of time, so be patient.
If you want a really tight BG vocal arrangement with several parts it can take anywhere from 2 1/2-6 hours depending on the experience of the singers and the skill of the vocal arranger.
First off, if you haven’t worked with BG vox before, get a vocal arranger. It may be one of the singers you are using, it might not, but you need someone who hears and understands not only harmonies, but how bacground vocal arrangements usually fit in with the type of song you are recording. I was a vocal arranger for years before I became an engineer, and I assure you, different styles require different treatments.
Also… you don’t need the world’s best singers to get a great BG arrangement! Depending on the style, they should be pretty much on pitch… but often a great tone isn’t needed. Obviously this is different if you’re talking about one harmony line (think Indigo girls).. but for full, multi-part arrangements… not a neccessity. (Though the session WILL go faster with better singers.)
These next comments work whether your working with one singer doing all the backgrounds (Maybe the lead singer) or a small group of 2-4 people.
Layer and double! Do at LEAST 2 tracks of each vocal part (each person). If your group is all good on pitch, you can have them all record at once on the mic for some great energy! For R&B and pop, doing 4-8 tracks of each part is NOT overkill and gives that of so smooth sound.
The more tracks you are doing, the more rhythmically precise each line should be. Remember, this isn’t the lead vocal, you aren’t looking for each line to sound good on it’s own. The more tracks, the more staccatto the vocals should be sung… if not, after all your layers are together, it will sound like mush. Trust me, even with very staccatto vocals, after they are all layered, they will start to sound smooth AND crisp.
When mixing, roll out the bottom end with EQ. You don’t want them muddying up the track. Boost the highs as well. Try panning each line hard left and right to get them out of the way of the lead vocals and other instruments. If you did each part in pairs, it will still be balanced and sound nice and big.
Finally, compress the hell out of them. BG vocals really need to sit in a constant place in the mix. You can (and should) save processing power by running the compressor on a bus you have all the vocal lines going to.
This really just touches the surface on getting great background vocals, but I hope it gives you someplace to start! For some genres, the song really can live or die depending on how the BG vocals sound!
I was talking about Jim Steinman the other day with my co-writer, Chris Williams… and this speck of a thought formed in the back of my mind… Didn’t Taylor Dayne do a Jim Steinman song back in the 90′s?
I couldn’t come up with the name of the song, but I did remember it was from a “superhero” type movie back in ’94 or ’95.
Armed with that knowledge, I later went to BoxOfficeMojo and looked at the top grossing movies from 1994… and lo and behold… there it was… “The Shadow”. I never saw the movie, but the song was names “Original Sin” and is WAS sung by Taylor Dayne.
I was pleased to find it was available on iTunes, and purchased it immediately. It was as good as I remembered it. Taylor Dayne has that big, melodramatic voice that just screams for Jim Steinman… and the collaboration did not disappoint… well, artistically at least.
(updated April 6) -- Here is the full video on YouTube!
Taylor Dayne was pretty much no longer in the spotlight, and I imagine this was supposed to be her “comeback”single… and it should have been. It is the best of both Dayne and Steinman with big melodies, a nice dark twist, dramatic turns, a pulsating tribal bridge… It still is magic today. This song proved Taylor Dayne was an overlooked vocal talent… and while I never was a HUGE fan, for one summer, because of this song that never took off, I was one.
Taylor Dayne has a new album with a horrible CD cover.
This is going to be just for other geekey engineers like me, but every once and a while I’m going to post some of best recording tips.
Want vocals that soar through the mix, but don’t want to lose the punchiness of the drums?
Many software suites (I use Sonar 7.0) and plug-ins now allow side-chaining. Side-chaining allows one track to control an effect setting on another track.
Tip: Send all your instrumental tracks (Not the drums) to a bus (sub-mix). Now put a compressor on it that allows side-chaining. (I use Vintage Channel in Sonar, but there are others that allow this.)
Set a low Threshhold (-40db) with a low ratio (1.09:1) fast attack and medium release. Your goal is 2 to 3 db of reduction when it is working.
Now, sidechain the compressor to trigger off the vocal line. You do this by setting up a send from the vocal line into the compressor, and then setting the compressor to recognize the “key” or “sidechain input”.
Voila! Now the music is compressed only when there are vocals, allowing them to pop through the mix a little better, and the music expands back out when the vocals are not there to fill out the mix. Be careful with this, the result should be subtle. If you hear the compressor working too much every time the vocal stops and starts, you’ve gone too far. Bonus, the drums will feel much crisper as well.
You can take this a step further and do a little EQ reduction in the 1-2Khz range on the music bus as well… this also gives the vocals a little more room in the mix.
This is a fantastic tool, and my mixes got much cleaner and punchier as a result!
Site that lets you sell digital AND physical copies of your music with great control. Includes gatering emails for your mailing list. (Use in ADDITION to TUNECORE or other digital distributor)
The defacto online board for music techies to discuss their craft. If you want to record at home, or just know more when you enter the studio, this is the place.
Fantastic Photographer if you need professional shots to capture the industry's attention.
New York Session Musicians
Links to websites are listed when available. If there is no website, email me for contact info
David Acker - Acoustic and electric guitars. Fantastic in about any genre and great at coming up with creative, unique arrangements.
Anthony Lanni - Acoustic and Electric Guitar. Great with Jazz, latin and Brazillian Music.
Dennis Michael Keefe - Upright and Electric Bass for Rock, Pop, Jazz and Musical Theatre
Michael McInnis - Alto, Bari & Tenor Sax. Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Flute and multiple ethnic reeds. Also a great Brass/Horn Arranger. Good at improvising.
Rob Mosher - Oboe, English Horn, Soprano Sax. Great improviser and arranger.
Read the First Comment 
“Baby I want all the same things you want/ And Baby I need all the same things you need…” Okay, I’m going to admit that the Dan Reed Network never wrote poetry, but when it come to melodic, kick-ass danceable pop/rock with an R&B twist, Dan Reed burst on to a scene that was already passing them by in 1987 with their first single, “Ritual”.
I picked up each album over the next couple years, and shook my head in frustration that the mainstream just didn’t get them. I have to credit the band, though for sticking to their style. Even as Grunge started to set in and it became clear that America wouldn’t be turning back to Dan Reed Network’s style of glam pop any time soon, they stayed tru to the music that excited them and their fans.
I wouldn’t call Tears For Fear the one of the most underrated bands arounf, a couple monster #1 hits means they got more than their fair share of recognition. However, I’m not exactly sure why “Mothers Talk” wasn’t the FOURTH monster hit from their huge 1985 album, Songs From the Big Chair.
Do you need to have a rock guitar that shakes the house, but every time you get near that bone crunching volume… the 
