How to produce an album with atmosphere

What is a music production language?

Have you ever noticed when listening to an album that the entire album has a certain atmosphere? That the instruments were used in a similar way for all songs? The backing vocals are placed in a specific space, all synthesizers have a vintage 80’s vibe. You could say; that’s just the line-up of the band. Or that’s how they recorded music at the time. Music productions often have more layers than you think. What does the method of recording, the use of spaces, the way the effects are used and how slick the recordings are, tell us about the starting point of an album? What atmosphere has been thought of and what was the plan to record it? That’s what I call the music production language of a project. How do you get this starting point for your recordings? It’s all based on a feeling.

What feeling?

When you are going to produce an album / EP for a band or artist, you can sometimes listen to demos of songs that have been made before. Sometimes you can go to the rehearsal room to listen to the band. Or you can record your own band on your phone in the rehearsal room. This gives a good impression of the atmosphere and dynamics within the band. If you’re lucky, the sound forged in a rehearsal space is quite well balanced, as the band is used to that space. The volume and the way of playing works in that space. The band members make adjustments by ear. You can make notes of what impresses you, both positive and negative. Write something about the atmosphere, the feeling the music gives you. How is it played? Is it messy or tight? Is the music intuitive or written out completely? This also applies to demos if you listen to them. You get an impression of what it is and what it could become. When you’ve finished your list of impressions, find out what you can do with it:

Positive points → This is awesome, we have to emphasize this!
Negative points → Can we get this more into the background or even remove it?

Preconditions

Once you have a good idea of ​​what the final music production might sound like, you can make a plan on how to achieve this. You now know what it should be, so now the question is; how do we achieve this together with the artist? The artist or band often also has a clear idea of ​​how the record should be. Ask for reference material, such as CDs from their favorite artists. Has the artist also thought of preconditions that the album must meet? An example of this could be;

We want the album to be playable live, so there should be no more than three guitar parts at the same time. Or it may only be the number of guitars that we could also play live.

As a producer you can of course come up with technical solutions such as pedals that can record and play an audio loop or samplers if it is really necessary. The end justifies the means. Another example of a precondition could be:

We record all the basic tracks of the band in three takes. In between there must be THE take, we choose the best one and build all the tracks around it.

Yet another example of the music production language taking shape could be;

We are going to tune all the vocals, so that it’s edgy and we are using Autotune as an instrument. All background vocals should be sung as naturally as possible. This creates a contrast.

The intended end result is therefore achieved by having the entire production meet certain preconditions. These kinds of decisions, before or during the creation of an album, that lead to an atmosphere that can be felt throughout the entire record, I call the music production language. It is the language that is created and that speeks through the different production choices that have been made.

Timeless or a snapshot?

Making an album or EP is often a snapshot. It’s about what every band member wants at that moment. The keyboardist has just got a new synth and wants to use his favorite sounds on most songs. The guitarist wants to record the entire record with P90 pickups. The singer does not want doubled vocals on this album. Three of the same reverb effects are used for the whole record as they are just new. After a few years, an engineer would say; oh yeah, back then I still used that compressor on all recordings.

Conclusion

Do you have an action plan for recording an album or EP? Do you ever think about which atmosphere you want to create and based on that do you make choices and decisions for the recordings and mix? By writing down what you notice about demos, you can form a music production language for that project. Then you strengthen the good things and weaken the less good things. It’s how you determine; This is what I want to say. That’s how it should sound.

Just listen to one of your favorite artists. By playing an entire album you can discover which choices have been made in all kinds of areas. In addition, you also have several songs with which you can compare how well those choices work. Recording an album is often a snapshot where things just happen. These quirky things that stand out are often what I like the most about a song. The degree to which you allow spontaneity in the music is also part of your music production language.

I hope that this post has inspired you to approach the music you are going to record in a different way. Do you feel the strengths and weaknesses? Where should it your music be heading? What should it be? How are you going to do that? Is this also an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other bands / artists?

Have you gained experience and knowledge while making an album or EP? Which production choices did you go for? Would you do it differently next time? I’d appreciate it very much and find it educational if you’d place a reaction on this in the comments below!

Happy hitmaking!
Kees Huizinga