Beefy computer processors. Humongous track counts. More virtual instruments and plug-ins than anyone could possibly ever need.
And, it’s all (relatively) inexpensive.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be a recording engineer now than 1981. There have been so many advances in technology, so many ways to get really great-sounding music.
But is there a downside to all these options? Absolutely.
Just because you can use 64 tracks on a song doesn’t mean you should. Granted, some songs really do need all those tracks to pull off the producer’s vision.
But if you’re like me, sometimes you feel like all of your songs need to utilize all of this power you have at your fingertips. If your session has less than 24 tracks, you feel like you need to add some more to feel like you’re doing it right. Wrong…
The Evolution Of A Song
Let me walk you through an example. When I was working on my own album, there was one song in particular that just wouldn’t behave.
It was probably my favorite song from the album, but once I was ready to start the actual recording process, I kept running into brick walls.
Unlike any of the other songs, I would work on this one, trying to add all sorts of instruments, but nothing seemed right. For instance, in one attempt I added B3, bass, electric guitar, accordion…you know, the usual production stuff. Then I added some stacked background vocals on the chorus.
All this kind of stuff had worked well on all the other songs on the album, but after hours of messing around with it…I just didn’t like it.
So, what did I do? I scratched everything but acoustic guitar and vocals, and I started over. In my second attempt, I added a string section, some noodlely electric guitar parts, piano, a brushes drum kit and bass come in the second verse.
Then on the second chorus I brought in those background vocals, some strumming electric guitars. So on and so forth…
Well, I still didn’t like the result. It just sounded forced. Granted, it didn’t necessarily sound bad, but it definitely sounded like I was trying too hard and I just wasn’t happy with it.
What’s A Boy To Do?
After giving this song several chances, I decided it worked best as a simple guitar-vocal. The final mix had three tracks: lead vocal and stereo-miked acoustic guitar. And it is by far my favorite version.
Did I make the right choice? I think so. While it’s fair to say that surely the previous versions would have appealed to some people, I personally didn’t feel the track could be improved upon. So, I kept it simple, and therein lies our lesson.
There’s never anything wrong with allowing the individual musical elements of a track to speak for themselves. After all, It worked for me!
