Now that Greg Wells & Bryce Drew have solidified the structure of the song "Lucky Number", which they finished writing in Episode 1, it's time to work on the production.
To start off, Greg has decided to build the track around a scratch piano.
In this video, watch as Greg:
Works with Bryce to determine the proper tempo for the song
Explains why nothing is ever truly “scratch.”
Picks out piano microphones
Performs the song on a beautiful Steinway B 7’ Grand Piano at Sunset Sound
00:00:23 - So, I want to mic the piano
with real mics, and I'll put down
sort of a scratch piano.
00:00:29 And then let's find a click,
not in that order.
00:00:32 - Okay.
00:00:33 - And then I'll have Bryce
put down a scratch vocal
and we'll start to build out from there.
00:00:37 - Okay.
00:00:40 - What should we put on the piano?
- Do you want to go with 414s?
How do you feel about that?
- I mean, they're all going to sound
good on that piano.
00:00:49 - Yeah.
00:00:50 - Do you have two
U87s, or a good stereo mic?
- Sure, we have U87s.
00:00:57 - C24?
- I can check and see if the C24
is available. Yeah.
00:01:02 We only have one but it's pretty popular.
00:01:04 - Let's check.
- Sure.
00:01:07 - And 414s will sound great too.
Let's see if the C24 is available.
00:01:14 - You're welcome.
Oh, what do you want for the vocal?
- I think we should... Oh,
there's a U47 here that I love.
00:01:21 It's the one that's modded
by Klaus Heine.
00:01:24 Is that how you say his last mane?
The guy in Portland.
00:01:26 Which is sort of a forward-sounding,
present U47.
00:01:29 I've had really good luck
with that mic before.
00:01:31 - Okay.
00:01:32 - And Bryce also sounds great
on a 251 or a 250.
00:01:37 - Would you like to do a shootout?
- Just those two, yeah.
- Cool, sounds good.
00:01:41 - Okay.
- All right.
00:01:43 - And I need to find the tempo actually.
00:01:44 Bryce, can you please
come to the control room?
- Let's nail the tempo to the click.
- Okay.
00:01:52 - Is it kind of there?
- Yeah.
00:02:11 - Let's try that.
00:02:14 - Yeah.
00:02:18 - Do you want to hear
an eighth note click,
or do you want to hear
a quarter note?
- That's a sixteenth note click.
00:02:24 It's like 1, 2, 3, 4...
00:02:29 Oh, I see what you did.
00:02:31 So...
00:02:32 - So, split the tempo in half.
- Okay.
00:02:35 - So it's kind of 1, 2...
00:02:37 Right now it's going 1, 2, 3, 4...
00:02:39 - Okay.
00:02:42 - I have no idea what half of 158 is.
00:02:44 - It's okay.
00:02:45 - Those skills left me a long time ago,
like in fourth grade.
00:02:49 - Okay, let's go for...
- 79.
00:02:51 - Yes, 79 will be cool.
00:02:54 - Really?
- Yeah!
- Smarter pants.
00:02:57 - Do you...
- Now you can make the click eighth notes.
00:03:02 Do you want to try playing to that?
- Yeah.
- Let's just see.
00:03:19 - Yeah.
- Is it too slow?
I think it's a little brighter. Try 80.
00:03:30 - Okay.
00:03:46 - Keep going, keep going.
00:03:55 Let's try 81 just to see,
let's find out what too fast is.
00:03:58 What do you think?
- I think that felt good.
00:04:01 - Yeah, me too.
00:04:02 - I'm just not...
00:04:03 - I heard it was a bit brighter
when we were in there.
00:04:05 Let's just try 81 and see.
00:04:36 Let's try 82.
I haven't heard too fast yet.
00:04:38 - Okay.
00:04:40 - That felt pretty good.
00:04:41 - That felt really good.
00:04:51 - No.
- Nope!
- 81?
- 81 felt good.
00:04:55 - Do you like 82? 80 as well, I mean.
00:04:58 - Yeah. 81 felt good though.
00:05:00 - Good. 81, please.
- Okay.
00:05:04 - And let's...
00:05:06 - Do you like the sound of that click?
- It's fine, yeah. That's fine.
00:05:10 Let's find out about the C24.
00:05:17 And now we pause
for station identification.
00:05:23 - The C24 is not available.
00:05:25 - Can we kill those people?
- Yes, we can.
00:05:28 - Maybe... any other fun stereo mics here?
- We've got the Royer SF-12,
it's a ribbon mic.
00:05:36 That's kind of all we have right now
that I saw that's available in there.
00:05:39 - Well, if you like the 414s on the piano
let's start there.
00:05:42 I'm sure it will be great.
00:05:44 - Yeah, it's either that or C12As
I would recommend.
00:05:50 - Well, C12As.
00:05:52 - Okay, cool. Let's do it.
00:05:53 - Okay. All right.
00:05:54 Running into what? The console?
- Yeah.
00:05:58 - Okay.
00:06:00 Can we put a 33609 across it?
- Sure.
- Okay, great. Let's do that.
00:06:04 - Cool.
- Thank you.
00:06:09 I just made those numbers up,
I've got no idea what I'm talking about.
00:06:14 The reason that I asked Zack
to mic the piano up
with some pretty beautiful microphones
and compress it and give it
a really great signal path,
even though this is technically
just a scratch piano
to give Bryce something to sing to
and so we can kind of tell what
the song is in terms of the shape of it
and hear it through speakers.
00:06:34 That's how I can really tell the most,
when I hear something
back through speakers.
00:06:38 The reason is because so many times
things that are done in this way
where you're thinking,
"Well, we're not going to keep this,"
actually, there's like... occasionally
there are some great things that show up.
00:06:48 And I have been burned
by not capturing that stuff
in a way that I really want it to sound
at the finish line of a record,
so I don't believe that anything
is truly scratch.
00:07:00 Quite often a lot of lines
from the scratch vocal
make the final vocal comp because...
00:07:07 You know, the brain is the great enemy
in recording music for me.
00:07:12 You need the brain for writing,
specially lyrics,
but in terms of getting lost
in a performance...
00:07:19 I think in the same way that,
you know, if you are in a restaurant
and you're eating food
and the food is really great,
you can kind of tell that whoever
made this food really loved it,
they have a passion for it.
00:07:28 And you can also tell
when it was kind of phony
and no one really cared
and the food is sort of like... you know.
00:07:34 Music is like that too, and because
I have just done this for so long
I can really kind of tell
when people feel
lost in a performance,
or if they're thinking too much,
or kind of editing while they record,
so I want to just capture all of
this stuff in the best way possible.
00:07:50 Just like having a great lens on that
camera, it's the same thing for me
even though I'll probably
not keep any of this piano.
00:07:56 I don't know, I never really know.
00:07:58 Film directors often say the movie
is really made in the editing room,
not so much when you're shooting it.
00:08:04 Of course, you don't have a movie
unless you've shot a lot of footage,
but I just...
00:08:09 I don't want anything to be like,
"Argg! Let's do that again"
because recreating
is a totally different muscle
from creating.
00:08:18 I think because I was a studio musician
for most of the '90s
for other older record producers,
and then I eventually became
a record producer,
I have a lot of experience of
feeling something in my head,
and then when it comes out,
usually it is the first or second take.
00:08:32 That is what I keep
even if it's not perfect.
00:08:35 It just has like a spirit to it,
it has a vibe to it
that feels better than when
I go back on take five
and play it better,
but it's just sort of... it's less...
00:08:45 it has less of that sort of thing.
00:08:47 That's because it's me, it's me playing.
00:08:49 It's not so much like an idea
that shows up
but I'm kind of chasing it
like a puppy,
like, "What? Where is it?"
That always sounds better to me through
the speakers, if that makes any sense.
00:08:57 So, yes, we have some beautiful mics,
this is a beautiful piano,
we're in a beautiful studio,
let's just take full advantage of it
and capture everything
as if we were going to keep all of it.
00:09:07 - Can you hear me in the headphones?
- Keep talking.
00:09:10 - Check, check, can you hear me
in the headphones?
- Yeah!
- Okay.
00:09:13 Can you hear yourself play?
- Yeah.
00:09:21 - Okay, cool. Talkback is on 1,
Click is on 2,
and the Keys fader is where the piano is.
00:09:27 - Let's hear the click.
00:09:29 - Okay.
00:09:40 - There's a crazy overtone in that note.
Do you hear it?
It's like...
00:09:49 Anyway.
00:09:50 - Do you want me to just track it,
or do you want a 4-bar click pre-roll?
- Just go from bar 1.
I'll probably come in at bar 3
or bar 2.
00:10:01 I got to set my levels still.
00:10:05 Go ahead.
00:10:08 - All right, here we go.
- Okay.
00:10:12 3, 4...
00:11:16 - I think I've forgotten the form.
00:11:17 - No, that was good.
00:11:18 - That was the end of the thing? Okay.
00:11:21 You can keep rolling.
Keep rolling, don't stop.
00:11:24 So
here's, like, the last part of the chorus.
00:11:37 I'll try that again.
00:12:23 Keep going.
00:12:24 Chorus.
00:13:13 Keep going.
00:14:28 I got totally lost at the end.
I'm not quite sure
where or what happened,
but I think we can edit.
00:14:33 Let me come in and listen to it.
00:14:35 What a fun piano to play,
it's so full of life.
00:14:38 This thing is... I'd love to know
the history of it.
00:14:41 And it is equipped
with MIDI.
00:14:47 That's a keyboard player joke.
00:15:04 I love this studio so much!
Kind of loud. Was it okay?
- Yeah. Do you want me to start
from the very beginning, or just...
00:15:17 - Let me jump in there,
I'll mess with it.
00:15:19 I'm going to have to sort of
suture it together and...
00:15:22 - Cool.
00:15:24 - How much were we squashing it?
- I wasn't squashing it.
- Okay.
00:15:28 - I haven't...
- We haven't patched it in?
- No.
- Okay, it's all right.
00:19:02 My favorite
piano compressor
that I learned from Joe Chiccarelli.
00:19:08 Let's see what happens here.
00:20:37 Let's make sure this
is saving every minute,
which makes me happy.
00:20:43 It is. Good.
00:20:46 Okay.
00:23:10 Let's just check the form.
00:23:26 Voice 1.
00:24:35 - It might be a hair fast.
00:24:37 - I think so.
00:24:38 - Yeah, me too.
00:26:22 - It's definitely, definitely fast.
00:26:24 - Yeah.
00:26:26 - All right.
00:26:28 So let's find the tempo
now that the piano is in there.
00:26:46 Here comes Chorus 1.
00:27:09 - It's too fast.
- Yeah.
00:27:15 - Let's try this.
00:27:50 - Still fast?
- I mean...
- A little bit, right?
Let's try this, 78.5 BPM.
00:28:20 Even... let's try even less.
00:28:23 Let's try 78.
00:28:26 Try this.
00:28:54 That's my favorite so far.
00:28:56 Slower?
- That's good.
00:29:00 - Okay.
- I think it was good.
00:29:02 - So, that is always sort of
a surprise to me, the tempo issue,
and the tempo, it's so ridiculously
important to get it right
to where the singer is comfortable
and where it doesn't feel
like you're losing energy
but you're not, you know,
overcooking things
and she's having to swallow
words to get through it.
00:29:20 But when we were out there
playing piano
and doing it in the room,
we were way faster than this.
00:29:28 Or at least I thought we were.
00:29:30 I don't know, actually.
00:29:32 Came in here, heard the tempo
in my head, got it,
and I was completely, like, wrong.
00:29:37 It sounds so much better
considerably slower.
00:29:40 When you're in, like...
00:29:41 anywhere from 85 BPM to slower,
when you change it by 1 BPM
it's a big shift.
00:29:48 It's less of a shift
if you go from 135 to 136.
00:29:50 You'll feel it, but not as much as,
like, 80 to 79.
00:29:53 So right now we're at 78,
but I thought the tempo was 81 BPM.
00:29:57 Way, way, way too fast.
It was wrecking the song.
00:29:59 But I tracked the piano to 81,
so I'm going to use...
00:30:04 We're using Polyphonic, Elastic Audio,
to just find the tempo.
00:30:08 That messes with the sound too much,
but it helps me pivot quickly
and find the right tempo.
00:30:12 Now I'm going to tell Elastic Audio
to go to X- Form,
which is my go-to thing
for stuff like this.
00:30:19 It doesn't work on everything,
but for something like piano
it should make it pretty seamless
to where it sounds
like I played it at 78 BPM.
00:30:27 So it takes minutes, but it's
a lot of number-crunching.
00:30:30 But it's important,
and then we're going to build
everything on this piano track
which may not even see
the light of day at the end of the track,
but here we go.
00:30:40 X-Form,
do it.
00:30:44 Task Manager.
00:30:45 This will take a minute.
00:30:48 Okay, we got X-Form.
00:30:51 I'll turn the click off.
00:30:54 Okay, turning it off.
00:30:56 Yes, Commit.
00:31:26 I'm going to put some kind of
limiter after this,
I really love this one.
00:33:35 On the piano I'm doing two things,
it's just volume control.
00:33:41 I really like one of the very first
plug-ins that came with Pro Tools,
the Focusrite plug-ins,
the EQ and the compression,
and I'm a real fan of the hardware.
00:33:51 I know Chris Lord-Alge...
I think he still does.
00:33:54 I think Tom, his brother,
also uses the Red compressor
on the Mix Bus.
00:34:00 It sounds amazing.
00:34:02 And these plug-ins went away
for a little bit, I think,
and then they came back.
They were rewritten for AAX.
00:34:08 They sound great, they're easy to use,
I just go to them a lot.
00:34:13 I like them for compression,
and I also really like the limiter in it.
00:34:17 It's really simple to use,
it just catches the peaks.
00:34:20 And I played a really dynamic piano part
on a very punchy piano.
00:34:25 This is all so unnatural: speakers,
microphones, it's all so weird,
and when you get
really dynamic on a vocal
and it's like it sounds in the room...
00:34:33 If you're in the room, it sounds great.
00:34:35 The minute you record it
and hear it through speakers,
to me, it sounds sort of amateurish
when things get way too loud
and way too quiet, and I want it
to feel like it's getting loud and quiet,
but you got to contain and control
so it works through these crazy
dumb things called speakers,
so that it sounds right to our ears.
00:34:54 So I put the limiter on it,
I just shaved off the [click],
the real peaks
of the really loud punchy chords.
00:35:00 It still sounds like I'm playing
really aggressively.
00:35:03 It's not going to sound bad to Bryce
when she gets on the mic,
just a bit more controlled.
00:35:07 After that limiter
I put the UAD Neve 33609 compressor
which is just a magic box.
00:35:16 The software is magic,
their hardware is magic.
00:35:19 In my studio I have both
and it's just...
00:35:23 it's an incredible compressor on vocals,
it's incredible on anything
you put it through:
drum bus, bass.
00:35:29 And years ago
when I was working with Joe Chiccarelli
on the English artist Mika's first album,
Life in Cartoon Motion,
he showed me what a 33609
sounds like on piano
and I've never forgotten it.
00:35:44 One of the many lessons
I've learned from Joe,
who is one of my favorite record makers
and a real sweetheart.
00:35:49 And by the way, who was very sweetly
letting me use his ATC speakers
here at Sunset Sound
while we're working here,
and his rack,
we're about to use his 1073.
00:36:01 He has two, but the top one is the
best one I've ever heard in my life.
00:36:05 And I've really heard a lot,
and it took me...
00:36:09 it took me three years to find
my own 1073 that sounded
anything like his.
00:36:15 I kept comparing it to his,
and finally found one where the mic pre
sounded basically the same
but the EQ wasn't nearly
as good as Joe's,
but I was fine with just having
the mic pre be comparable to his.
00:36:25 I'll put the 33609 on the Mix Bus as well,
and I know that Andrew Scheps
is a big fan of doing that as well.
00:36:32 And neither one of us
do very much with it,
it's hardly compressing at all.
00:36:37 The lowest Ratio,
and the needles should barely be moving,
but it does more than control volume.
00:36:45 It just gives this sound,
it imprints a tone.
00:36:47 That's the crazy thing with compressors
that Michael Brauer
really, really, really blew up
and kind of made it obvious for all of us
through a lot of his experimenting
early on in his career.
00:36:59 It's realizing that compressors, while
they are really just a volume control,
they all have their own sort of,
pardon the pun,
circuitous ways of controlling volumes.
00:37:09 Michael realized that compressors
have a sound
and
they almost EQ the sound source
that you're putting through them.
00:37:18 You know, Michael does that in a big way
where he'll take the lead vocal
and run it through several
hardware compressors,
and then blend the output
of those to find the right tone.
00:37:28 And I have copied that approach
and I am addicted to doing it,
and it almost sounds like the vocal
was mastered after you do that.
00:37:36 And the real kicker is it doesn't
sound that compressed,
even though you're running it
through 4 to 6 compressors.
00:37:43 It just does this beautiful
balancing thing.
00:37:45 I'm really indebted to...
I mean, all of us,
even guys like Michael and Andrew,
we're all standing on the shoulders
of people that built this stuff:
Bill Putnam, Les Paul,
and all these amazing engineers
that kind of almost
accidentally discovered
other uses for this gear.
00:38:02 What a rabbit hole I just fell down.
00:38:04 Anyway, those are the two plug-ins
on my piano track!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Grammy award-winning, Canadian musician, songwriter, and record producer, Greg Wells, has been dubbed “A Swiss Army Knife” in the recording studio by the legendary Stewart Copeland for good reason.
As a multi-instrumentalist, he has the ability to artfully mold his productions with incredible precision, craftsmanship, and most importantly, taste. Combining his musicianship with his uncanny abilities as a producer, engineer, and mixer, he has seen album sales top 120 million, with streaming numbers in the billions. With a B.
His diverse list of credits includes superstars such as Adele, Dua Lipa, Twenty One Pilots, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Celine Dion, Deftones, Kid Cudi, Weezer, OneRepublic, Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams, Aerosmith and so many more that we would need a really long scroll bar to list them all.
Greg has seen monumental success recently with the release of the motion picture soundtrack for “The Greatest Showman”, which he not only produced but played on as well.
