In Summary

We’ve all used or heard ear candy tricks that may or may not be our own, but some of these certainly seem to have a life of their own. Here we run down some of our favourites that crop up time and again, and why we still love them all the same.

Going Deeper

All said and done, in its simplest form, record production is simply writing, recording, and mixing a title for people to listen to. OK, the actual reasons for the whole exercise might vary between commercial need or artistic mission, but whatever the cause, many records seem to gravitate towards a cohort of production tricks that are designed to draw the ear and make the song memorable. Some of these really can support the song but more often the intention is to make an impression with some kind of sonic motif. It could even be said that the best ones are too good not to be re-used for another time, and there are plenty of examples of that to be had.

Here we list some of the most commonly redeployed production techniques. Some are our favourites, whereas others that if for no other reason should be acknowledged because they’re still out there! Most might now verge on being cliches, but hey, if it’s good why throw it away?

Vocal Delay Drops

Also known as delay throws, this one was presumably invented by someone who didn’t like awkward silences. This is the effect that sees the last word of a line treated to its own exclusive dollop of delay, like Lionel Richie’s “Let the music play on-play on-play on-play on…” or Pink Floyd’s ethereal word shadows heard above. Used to add emphasis to lyrics, or maybe to even reflect the meaning itself, this is also a useful space filler in those arrangements where the listener is in danger of getting bored until the next line comes along.

In the days of Echoplexes and DDLs, this was simple enough to do by send rides, though keeping repeats in time could be a challenge, and in the DAW these can now be automated rather than left to the bass player on that ten-handed mixdown. This effect has even permeated the live arena. That said when it’s time to go back out on the road, surely there can be no greater indignity than watching music legends singing their own delay tails live when the engineer doesn’t know the song… However well used, this production technique still has its uses, and we can’t help but take our hats off to one move that continues to linger.

Pumping Mix Bus

Used to pulsate the entire mix, this is the mix bus effect that sets out to inflate the mix in-between the punch of each and every kick hit. Possible first uses include house hits from the 1990’s, where the rise and fall of the music almost seems to jump up and down with the crowd as they go wild. When overdone it can make the music feel like it’s turning inside out…

Much talked about are the sidechain compression techniques that let one thing control the gain reduction on another. In this classic dancefloor move, almost exclusively the kick, or a heavily kick-influenced submix is fed into the mix bus compressor. This can then be used as the antithesis of sidechain filtering that was brought in to fend off mix pumping like it was a bad thing… With relentless triggering from the kick, the entire mix can jump until the sun comes up. This effect might make you feel like your head is going to explode in the wrong hands, but when done right it’s hard to write-off this classic trick.

Telephone Voice

Used in Lo-Fi indy outings and global-mega sellers alike, this one does exactly what it says on the tin. Whether it’s conjuring a megaphone-like call-to-action, or a late night call from a menace in the shadows or femme-fatale, this classic effect isn’t just restricted to phones of varying descriptions, also aping the sound of radios, gramophones, and all manner of spectrally-challenged devices everywhere. For a shift of scene, this classic production trick brings charm, and some welcome light and shade to any mix.

The telephone voice is probably best deployed when used for sections of songs, or maybe just the odd line as a counter to its hi-fi better-self. That way its sometimes abrasive sound won’t lose its impact, or worse get on the listener’s nerves. There are lots of existing audio plugins that will do this kind of effect such as FutzBox or Bad Speaker, but the effect can be done with nothing more than a pair of ‘bracketing’ high and low cut filters, with a little saturation thrown in for good measure. Going further, noise, gated drop-outs, and resonant, short delays can dial up the sleaze. Megaphone effects can also work really well with some slapback echo. Vive la révolution!

Sub Drops

Although synths can bring all kinds of exotic textures for any genre, one place where they’re right at home is in electronic styles. Without physical limitations, their capacity to generate huge amounts of any waveshape at any level can give rise to supersized sounds that can fizz, boom, soothe, or abrade in equal measure. The sub drop is that huge bass tone that falls in pitch to mark when it’s time for the dancefloor to take a breather, or to mark that short slow motion ‘mid-air’ moment before things kick off again. As well as providing a musical device, this one is beloved of club DJs and live sound people who want to shake the foundations with all of their system’s awesome power. When done right, this one will make make real acoustic things sound like they’re wilting by comparison, making sub-drops the perfect low-end showstopper for any dancefloor odyssey.

Getting the sound is simple enough, usually built on huge downward sine sweeps that start at the bottom of the mix before falling downwards towards the centre of the earth. Often happening where there’s a gap in the arrangement, this trick needs a lot of mix headroom otherwise to stay audible for longer, and its use in electronic styles can be a showcase for the skill of the dancefloor producer. This well-used display of synth-supremacy may have had one night out too many, but it’s hard not to love its floor-shaking power for tracks that just want to party.

The Riser

This one is any ‘device’ that’s used to signal a transition from one part of the song to the next, often done with sounds that build up such as noise sweeps or backwards cymbals. Other favourites include modulation effects such as flanging, or upward filter sweeps that signal that the song is about to enter its next section, not unlike turning the page in a book.

Back in the pre-digital era, creating filter sweeps and modulation could be done with dedicated boxes or circuits, although the backwards cymbal took a little more thought to do linearly on tape. Taking the hit point, and then turning the tape over so it ran backwards allowed performers to overdub cymbal crashes or other sustained sounds such as piano notes. Flip the tape back, and the organic “riser” is born. We love the eerie sounds this can produce - who cares if it’s been done a thousand times before?

Hard Auto Tune

Antares’ Auto Tune is the production tool that needs no introduction here. Known to millions of music fans thanks to artists such as Cher, Kanye West, and T-Pain, it was of course developed initially to solve a problem. This was allegedly from a throwaway comment from the developer’s wife quipping about an invention that could make her sound like a proper singer, but whatever the intent, creative production had other ideas.

For no other reason than to dazzle listeners, the astonishing pitch-quantisation of Auto-Tune on 11 now exists as a sound all of its own. Those wanting to call up the sound of trailblazing records simply use Auto Tune and the sound is there instantly. Of course, there are now the ‘invisible’ fixes that this classic tool has since been updated to do, but in the cliche stakes, the android-like warblings of Auto Tune pushed to the edge will grab the listener’s attention and any voice by the vocal cords for instant signature sounds.

Its modern incarnation, Auto Tune Pro X still retains the Classic mode with all the glorious artefacts the effect can be used for. Ironing out any pitch variation using its Vibrato, and Humanize controls can then be supercharged with Retune Speed to snap sounds to pitch to complete the effect.

The Big Mute

Throughout the ages music has used silence to create tension, and for the last seventy years or so the pop song has carried on this tradition. We’re calling our last cliche The Big Mute, and it’s the point where the whole arrangement stops abruptly, often on the One of the last bar before that big chorus or guitar solo.

Getting the band to provide the stops is one way of doing it, but so much more effective is to use the gear at the vital moment to get that true vertical drop into silence. This is now ridiculously easy to do in any DAW using automation, or mutes on the timeline; the analogue days required the console’s own automation, or MIDI-powered channel mutes in some studios. For those doing completely manual mixdowns, Big Mutes needed everyone’s fingers covering the mute buttons on the console for when the big moment came.

They say the smallest things can sometimes can make the biggest changes, and using pure silence to hit listeners hard must surely be the genius cliche that’s going to be around for a long time to come…

How About You?

These are just a handful of our favourite production moves that have burnt themselves into the memories of engineers and a fair few listeners all over the world. What are your favourite production cliches? Or maybe you have some that you think should be consigned to history forever… Let us know in the comments.