As much as we’d like it to be, the creative process is not straightforward.
There’s no linear line from the initial spark to the finished product (if ‘finished’ is really a state anyway…). Sometimes you get a song idea inspired by a sound, or a melody wafting around in your head or just a happy accident whilst playing and it sets you on a direct path - you get a coherent delivery of something tangible which feels like it comes from one place. It feels true and authentic.
Other times, it’s the cliche artistic whittling process. I’ve recently had one track which was mildly frustrating me. It had all the elements of something with legs - good grove, interesting melodic parts, breakdown sections that I liked and some good guitar bits that I was pleased with.
However, it wasn’t gelling stylistically. If it was a person, it would have been wearing sliders and a snow jacket, dipping chicken nuggets into their ice cream.
Now, sometimes this isn’t a bad thing - plenty of great music has been made by meshing different feels and parts within one piece and getting something new. However, if mishandled this can be terrible (looking at you, Prog Rock), so I’m aware that each piece has to feel as if it’s coming from one place. No one wants a Magnum with their main course. I also wasn’t totally sure who the audience for the track was - it was neither fish nor fowl (nor ice cream).
I reviewed the piece again (called ‘Cranberry’) and looked to see if there were any themes or musical cues it was suggesting as a solution. I realised that the initial idea in my head was to produce an ambient-styled piece, but it had picked up a rather heavy beat which propelled it into something a bit more groove-driven.
Here’s the initial melody:
And here’s the initial drum loop:
Listening to it now, this was probably the root of my problem - they were from two slightly different worlds even though together they kind of worked together, both sent me off in different directions in the same piece.
I decided that fundamentally as I had two styles, it might be worth breaking down the song to its basics and remixing it as two separate songs. The key to this was the horn section pad (see below) which suggested both something that would have appeared on Kid A/Amnesia period Radiohead, but also the sort of thing that might live on the Screamadelica album by Primal Scream.
Here are those horns:
I had a plan. Two tracks from one, built stylistically from those two cultural and musical references.
So, I saved two files (Kidult and Scream mixes) and weeded through them taking out anything which didn’t fit the ‘aural aesthetic’ of my artistic cue points for want of a better term.
In the Kidult mix, I drastically dialled back the drums leaving the main loop drop lower in the mix whilst letting the percussive ‘coat hanger’ percussion - sampled from a coat hanger as the name suggests - drifting in and out. This dialling back allowed for the melodic element of the piece to take charge, and freed from having to build to a bit ‘beaty’ crescendo.
Here’s that ‘coat hanger’ percussion.
Meanwhile, in the Scream mix the full drums were left in and added too with extra layers, as I knew we were heading to a big ending to the piece. Here’s those full drums without any other instruments.
But what was going on with the other instruments?
Guitars
I stipped out all the guitars apart from some heavily affected but simple arpeggios (see below) on the Kidult mix - the reference point (mid-period Kid A Radiohead) didn’t go in for heavily obvious guitars anyway. Meanwhile, I left in lots of distorted and lead guitars on the Scream version whilst adding a percussive acoustic track to help drive it along a bit more.
Here’s the simple arpeggiated guitar line:
Main Melody
Onto the main synth melody. This was one of the sticking points of the original track. It didn’t fit either style and felt out of place as it sounded a bit too cheery and poppy, so I put it carefully aside and rewrote it to something which I could develop across both mixes. Sound-wise, I shifted around some of the patches to give it a slightly more in-your-face sound on the Scream mix, whilst shifting back the note length to make it less sustained, giving in more space on the Kidult mix.
You might also notice a slight melodic shift at the end of these as I played with an uplifted note on certain repeats of the refrain during the track.
First up, the Kidult version:
Then the Scream one:
Horns
Meanwhile, the horn section pad is on both mixes. A more strident horn figure begins the Scream mix, and you can hear that again right at the end of the Kidault mix - but it’s much more key on the other version as it felt very Screamadelica.
Bass
Most of the bass lines are ‘as was’ apart from a bit of moving of the furniture. I also dialled back the choice of bass style - less growly electric and more upright style - EQ’ed so it was less prominent and forceful.
I did alter the bass melody line under the main melody on the Kidult mix intentionally - I wanted it to feel unresolved and ‘hanging’. This tweaked bassline made the main melody line quite different, shifting the feel of the mix.
Sections
After these alterations, I removed some sections - mostly to simplify the Scream mix so it was more of one ‘groove’, but left and reworked a few breakdown sections (seen at 00.59 seconds on the Kidult mix for example) where I added some ominous drones to take it somewhere new. This was very much part and parcel of the differing approaches to both mixes: the creative choices were ‘go somewhere new, slightly unsettle the listener and keep it downbeat’ vs ‘keep a central grove, feel more straightforward and slightly euphoric’
Added bells and whistles
In terms of additional instrumentation, there were originally some strings but the new mixes diverged here. I removed them from the Scream mix as they didn’t fit the feel and musical reference point, but added a quite large, verging on atonal string arrangement near the end of the Kidult mix - this happens at roughly the 03.30 mark and the aim was for the arrangement to ‘take over’ the mix almost as it was lifting off into space.
I felt the Scream mix needed a bit more rhythm support, so I added a Logic Drummer track (just a little), which is an AI-style drummer - you decide the parameters and lock it into the groove of another track (in this case the original drum loop) and it will add fills and percussion. Good in this situation, although it can sound a bit ‘drummer in a box’ in other situations - it’s horses for courses.
One fun element was to add some old skool sample ala ‘Loaded’ to the Scream mix - I tracked down a 1950s ad from the internet eulogising the power of Florida produced vitamin C (as opposed to vitamin C from other parts of the world), and affected it with plenty of echo and delay for a dub style flavour.
The mix
Finally, the mix and any inline effects were integral to the sound and feel of both pieces. I dialled back any reverb or delay on Scream mix, whilst either leaving it or adding to it within the Kidult mix. For example, the Kidult mix guitar figure is heavily affected using a rotary speaker effect to make it sound less traditional.
In-your-face drums were pretty much demanded in the Scream mix, so I upweighted the levels and gave them quite a heavy saturated and compressed effect using my favourite MS20 plugin, while in the Kidult mix they were dialled back to the background. Every mix element was a creative choice to ladder up to the style I was going for on both mixes.
The winner is…
Well, I don’t think there is a winner. It’s music. It’s subjective.
However, posted below are the final two mixes, and I’ll let you decide which you like best. I’ve also popped in a rough version of the ‘Cranberry Original’ so you compare and contrast.
It’s been worth developing two versions, both as a process experiment and for the outcome. Both mixes feel more effective in delivering a whole feel and mood of their own, and I’ve now got two clear tracks which I know would appeal to two different audiences (with a bit of overlap obviously) rather than something sitting in a stylistic no-man land.
For brevity, i’ve not included the hundreds of tiny little decisions I made along the way here - is a note held too long, is that beat a bit trebly, is the synth sound correct etc, however, I hope you get the general idea of what goes on behind the scenes of a rework like this.
What did I learn from this process?
There’s always a good idea in there somewhere - just approach it from a different angle.
If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right. Tear it down and rework it.
If an element doesn’t fit and contribute, it’s not really worth it being there.
Experiment with purpose. Have an idea kept in mind, and then get lost in it. It’s good to have frameworks.
Having a particular style, cultural cue point or artist in your mind whilst composing isn’t cheating. It’s still your work, you’re just doing it in a particular style. Artists have been copying other artists, getting it ‘wrong’ and then creating something new for centuries. That’s leading forward.
Here are the final tracks! Let me know if you have any questions about the process.
And here’s the original Cranberry track before reworking: