How Song Arrangements Effect The Recording Process

Author: Jim SabellaArticle:So your band feels it’s ready to record a demo. You’vepicked your three songs and you have rehearsed them thoroughly.The guitar and bass player have had their guitar’s intonationchecked, strings replaced, and amps (tubes, I hope) biased. Yourdrummer broke down and bought all new skins for his set. Youwould be shocked to discover the difference in sound recordingswhen something as simple as drum skins are replaced. Sure, itcosts more for the drummer, but maybe the band should considerthe worth of such an investment into the recording budget. Yesall this does affect the way your next demo or record willsound. But…let’s see. Have you forgotten anything? Whatabout song arrangements. Most bands today don’t realize howmuch a song can suffer in the studio if the song arrangement isnot taken into strong consideration. Always record yourrehearsals so that you can hear your band’s sound from bothdirections, from both the playing and the listening perspective.You must learn how to analyze your own material from thelistener’s point of view, unless of course, you don’t careif you ever sell a record. Now, listen to three or four hitsongs from successful bands that have a similar style to yourband. How does your material compare and contrast in song form,temp and rhythm tracks? Their songs did not hit by accident,there are a lot of changes that your band can make too improveyour recording and the size of your listening audience. Whenlooking at your song, try to be objective and sensitive to themelody of the song. The melody is what the rest of the music inthe song should be supporting. The best place to start is bylaying down a strong foundation: the rhythm track. We willconcentrate first on the kick drum pattern. The kick drum partshould be independent from the other parts, i.e., the melodyline, the guitar parts. For example, in Metallica’s “EnterSandman,” although the guitar riff contains many accents andupbeats, the kick drum still resides on a solid 1 and 3 pattern.This may seem simplistic to some, but it ends up creating aclearer, massive sound with a hypnotic groove. The distancebetween kick hits creates a psycho-acoustic phenomenon for thelistener, giving more emphasis to the sounds that occur lessoften. In other words, the more space between kicks, the biggereach kick-hit sounds. Next, we will examine the bass lines.Whenever possible the bassist should try to avoid simplyrepeating the guitar line. Too often, the bass line is taken forgranted. The bass should be the anchor of the song. At times itcan even act as a sub-hook. The lower notes and the less oftenthey occur, the more likely you will get a product that has moreclarity and punch. For example, if the bass player is playingeight notes and the guitar player is playing eight notes, theguitar will just end up sounding muddy and the bass will beindistinct. Song form plays a vital role in the presentation ofyour music, whether it’s song length, structure, tempos, oreven intros. Although each individual part may be interesting,the song may still be perceived as being boring. A song must bepresented in a way that keeps the listener’s interest. Whenlistening to the hits of you favorite bands, write down thestructure (ABABCAB) for each of the songs. Notice thatsimilarities in structure between these songs, and see how yourmaterial fits in. One sure fire way of keeping your songinteresting is to get to the chorus quickly. We’ve all heardthe expression “Don’t Bore Us To The Chorus.” Always keepthis in mind. Get a stopwatch and time as many songs as you can.You’ll find that nine out of ten times, the chorus will appearwithin the first minutes. This is a conscious effort on theartist’s part, and it is a good guideline for you to follow.The tempo of your song is incredibly important. Most bands pushthe tempo of their song in rehearsal to create excitement. Thefaster your song is, the smaller it sounds on CD. If a song istoo fast, it will feel nervous, but if it lays back �" itfeels huge!! It’s the psycho-acoustic thing again. Write downthe tempos of your song and compare them to your heroes. If yoursong is a familiar tempo to other songs getting radio-play, thenit increases your chances of getting radio-play. Intros are atricky subject. A lot of bands fall into the trap of being sobored with their song (hearing it a thousand times) that theythink it will be interesting to make a spectacular introductionto their masterpiece. Big mistake!! When you sit in an A&Roffice and play a minute and a half of keyboard-preset #36“The Wrath of Kahn” before your vocal even comes in,you’ll see what eternity feels like. Keep it to the point.You’ll notice that your average hit song will have a ten totwenty second intro before the lead vocal comes in. Save thespecial effects. They don’t sell records If all of theprevious guidelines have been considered then there should be noproblems with song length. Again, take out the stopwatch, orjust check your CD’s. Are your songs six minutes long? Arethere fifteen different parts? Maybe it would be a good time tocut out all the insignificant parts. You’ll notice that mostsongs, by a new artist, are between three and a half to fourminutes long. One of the most common mistakes a band unfamiliarwith record will make, is to overproduce. They get into thestudio, see all the toys, and think it’s playtime. Thestrength of the song should not depend on the amount of guitaroverdubs recorded. Just because you have 48 or 96 tracks,doesn’t mean you have to use all of them. Even with digitalformats like Cubase or Pro Tools, when it is easy to justquickly add an extra track, fight the urge. The more space inthe mix you occupy, the smaller the sound. Overproduction canalso refer to the overplaying of each instrument. For example:the more drum fills and cymbal crashers in a song, the lessimportant each one of them become. One powerful snare fillbefore each chorus will make a bigger impact than a tom fillafter every four bars. K.I.S.S. �" Keep It Simple Stupid!!!!The sound of your CD is very dependent upon the parts you play:or should I say the parts you don’t play. Some people believea great sound comes from the right eq, compressor or the newestreverb-delay unit or the newest plug-in the come out this week.Not!!!! The sound starts with you and your performance. If youfeel your material is along the lines of Bon Jovi, Aerosmith,Extreme, or Motley Crue, and your bass player plays more notesthan Jaco Pastorius, and your drummer tried to outdo Neil Peart,you may want to reassess their position in the band. A baseballplayer doesn’t come out to the field with a football uniformon. It is important to note that these guidelines do not alwayshold true for all forms of music, but it cant hurt to compareyour music with that of commercially released material, and itcertainly will improve the sound of your recording.About the author:Jim Sabella is owner and head engineer of Long Island basedrecording studio Sabella Studios. He has produced and recordedsuch acts as Marcy Playground, Nine Days, Antrax, Warren Haynes,Public Enemy, Catch 22, and many others. His studio has some ofthe best gear ever to be built including a Neve 8068 vintageconsole with Flying Faders (which may be one of the bestsounding consoles eve built). Other gear and vintage amps andguitars