What did you guys hear from that demo? What? Like think Think of it from the point of view that you're a producer. What would you change about the song? I thought as a song. It sounded really good. The vocal parts all sounded really good. Um, but I think some of the tones sounded like the tones were good, but they sounded like they could have used more presence. And, uh, the vocals were kind of, um, overbearing. And a lot of the parts in the in the song. And ah, there could have been, you know, some parts where got a little bit quieter drops in things out in such. So that's interesting because you're looking at it right now from almost more of, ah, mixing standpoint, a lot of the things that you brought up saying the guitar tone wasn't quite there. The sound of the vocals, those air, all mixing problems, mixing issues. So I'm curious, too, to know what you think about the actual song itself. Um, you know, where their parts of the song that you thought were boring, for example on I mean...

, maybe towards the beginning, there were some, uh, some parts that I thought were a little bit boring, but I think that was more of like a arrangement type thing. That's that's exactly what I want to know. I want to know what you think. Arrangement wise. Gotcha. Gotcha. I I guess I was looking for the wrong things when I was into it first time through, but And that that's totally fine, because that's that's actually what a lot of people dio. Um, they will listen to a song, especially when you start getting to this stuff for the first time. You listen to a song like I don't like the guitar tone, but you have to kind of ignore the guitar tone at first because you know that when you go into the into the production side, you need to figure out what is the guitar playing. Why is it playing that doesn't work with this vocal part? Does it work with that drum part? So you gotta kind of ignore the sound of it first, because you're old dress that later. What matters first is the song itself. How about you? What? Did you hear that you would change? Um, I noticed that overall, the song um I thought it was a pretty good song overall. Um, but it just seemed like there wasn't a lot of dynamic flow per se. Like it. It was kind of all on one particular level, there wasn't a lot of peaks and troughs and dynamics. Yeah, that was kind of that was the big thing that really stuck with me was that, um the dynamic was very linear. And if there are ways that certain sections of the song especially like the lead guitar parts, they were kind of buried under the mix a little bit. And stuff like that that's more melodic should be coming out on top Mawr. And, like, there should be, um, more movement in the overall flow. The song, like before the breakdowns and stuff. It just kind of seems like it's this line leading into a breakdown, which is another line when a breakdown should be something that really has impact moment. Yeah, exactly. So cool. Dynamic was pretty much the only thing that I really noticed. I'm glad that you Ah, you noticed some similar things that I noticed when I first heard this song. Do we have any woo. Yeah, we have responses about, like just the sound and sort of the mixing and also the arrangement which ones you want to take for the arrangement. Arrangement stuff. Um, Mr Freak, sir says, Yeah, the intro was way too long on. There was no define herbal chorus, Nathan says, Really boring parts that didn't add to the song the solo didn't have. Ah, a nice lead in it at all. Um, M B 92 says. Any other wasn't too much variety in the whole song. I like that point about the intro, and that's actually one of the very first things, uh, that I looked at when I heard this cause, Really, it's just a sense or whatever that that makes a couple. It makes like a weird sound and plays a couple notes. And but then it repeats. And if you think about it from the point of view of of a listener who is listening to the song for the first time, it's gonna be they're gonna lose interest right after that 1st 1 So one of the first decisions I made was to shorten that that intro in half. Um, the other thing I liked was someone said the course was not define Nable. That's a really good point, too, because, um, with the way that he's created the demo, nothing really jumps out or you know, everything. Like you said, it's very linear, right? Um, that's often the case, though, with the demo, because the artist is just trying to get his idea down, so you won't forget. But, you know, um, it is the producer's job to go into that demo, you know, figure out which parts need to be defined more. Which parts need to jump out which parts should come back a little bit and create those and help the artists create those dynamics. Um, all right, So what I'd like to do now is play my version of the song, which is after I did all the production and the mixing in the mastering and everything on it. So you guys get a chance to hear all the things that we changed on the song Way, way, way, way what you do way? Awesome. Um, so, yeah. What do you guys think? Now that you've heard the better version of the song, I just I hope it's the same. That's an insane difference. I think a lot of times Ah, in in creativelive courses, Um and somebody said this in the chat to their you know, the trained ear of producers and engineers can hear, like, really subtle differences. So in a plug and they'll be like, Man, that sounds so much better. But there's really not a huge difference. There's a huge difference there. I hope that was really apparent that you could hear all the different decisions that were made throughout the song. Um, you know, all the boring sections Air now exciting. All of the transitions or smooth the course is very apparent. Would you agree, You guys definitely. So I just want to get, like, your unique perspective on just what you heard. Let's pretend you're in the band. Um, yeah. I mean, honestly, I'd be stoked on that. You know, everything sounds super crisp and open, and the chorus sounds really wide and huge, and the breakdowns smash. It's like it sounds like how it should, you know, cool. And the songs got a good flow, which is probably, I think, the biggest improvement other than sound, because obviously it's going to sound better when you get it professionally recorded versus doing in a demo scale. But I think the what I I hope to do for every song, for for any band is to make it better than they ever could have done on their own. And that's why they come to me, you know, is because I want or because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get there. How about your unique perspective on the differences? It sounded more like a song and less like just a hard core jam. Um, there was, you know, the chorus, which is really the meat of any song, was much more apparent. The sections kind of leading into, um, the breakdowns and the Mawr spatial sort of verse, areas and stuff like that were there was a lot more build up, a lot more dynamic range, and the fact that the chorus was more heavily applied throughout the song made it more recognizable. And, you know, you weren't ever waiting too long for something. You know, you were waiting for something enough to the point that you were anticipating it, and then it would show up, and especially with the course, it was very open. Sounding very um, kind of separate, but still within the composition itself in a way that it just stands out. And, you know, that chorus now makes the song memorable, whereas before it just kind of seemed like it was part of the whole thing. That's awesome. I'm really glad that people can hear the fruit of my labor because, uh, it's it's pretty much a roller coaster to get to that point. And that's part of what I want to show everybody is how to take a song from zero to hero.

Class Materials

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Syllabus

What is Vocal Production

Autotune Pitch Correction Modes and Tools

Understanding Pitch Graphing

Timing and Quantization

Vocal Mixing

Separating Lead & Background in Mixing

Mixing Harmonies & Adv Production Technique

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Joey Sturgis

Award-winning producer, recording/mixing engineer, programmer, writer, performer and software developer Joey Sturgis has forged a revolutionary new wave of American metal since his appearance on the scene in 2007. Working with The Devil Wears Prada, I See Stars, We Come As Romans

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topics covered in this class

Recording Drums Guitar Recording Bass Cubase Sound Mixing Cubase Recording Drums Rock Vocals Audio Engineering Studio Pass

Ratings and Reviews

Tim

I have been following Joey's work since the early Prada days... This is one of the best discussions any producer has ever contributed to digital audio. I love the amount of transparency. He simply reveals everything and guides you on a very wise path on how to become a in-the-box producer like him! Turns out, the answer is -- a ton of hard work! Plus, this has to be the best use-case on his own awesome and super-affordable plugins. I have watched almost every popular producer/engineer workshops and have also sat-in on Eddie Kramer, Alan Parsons and Quincy Jones producer workshops and believe it or not... This is the best one yet.

Adam Train

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of the bands Joey records. The only reason I bought this class was because I enjoyed the Periphery one so much. Joey takes modern production techniques to the absolutely extreme. He takes punch-ins and editing to a level where it's not even funny any more. If you're looking for tips on recording and mixing in general, this class is not for you. If you're looking for editing tips to see how far you can possibly push the strive for perfection, this is pretty spot on. If you're a beginner, don't take this class to heart - Joey's workflow is borderline psychopathic - go and get the Periphery session instead. If you've been recording for a while and you're looking to see how far editing can take you, it's worth a look.

a Creativelive Student

Easily one of the best investments I've made. There is so much information here that you'll have to watch it multiple times to really catch everything. Looked up to Joey Sturgis for a long time and this is literally a dream come true to get a behind the scenes look into his talent. He delivered the material in a very understandable fashion and was extremely clear with all his examples. I love creative live =)

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Lesson Info

2. Do You Hear What I Hear?

Lessons

Class Introduction