Continuing with the top line, it's on to the song's pre-chorus before writing out the lyrics. Once the idea is in place, ill Factor and Jared go into a looping workflow with Ableton Live, allowing ill to work on the production while Jared continues crafting the lyrics.
See how ill Factor:
Lay down rough ideas for the top line of the pre-chorus
Add effects to fill the space in the top line and add inspiration
Start writing the final lyrics
Use a loop workflow to continue to build the production while working on the lyrics
Break down the guitar recording chain with Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5
Watch ill Factor, produce "Light Shine Through" from Jared Evan. Only on pureMix.net
00:00:23 Right. So, you sent me a file
that you worked on last night.
00:00:27 Let me go ahead and...
You airdropped it to me.
00:00:29 So, let's line this up.
00:00:32 And this is like what you have
for the rap verse for Verse 2?
Second verse, yeah.
Filter those drums though, make sure...
00:00:40 Alright.
00:00:42 A lot to make the drums
being filtered really quick.
00:00:47 So first let's turn on the
filter for second verse.
00:00:53 Turn on and then...
00:01:06 Now we'll keep it going until like,
over here.
00:01:15 And it's like it's a little off
but it doesn't matter,
it's for reference purposes.
00:01:20 It's for the kids.
00:01:21 It's for the kids.
00:01:31 I'm gonna warp it,
I'll just nudge it a little bit over.
00:01:34 Like this.
00:01:35 I think it's fine because the end
of that rap is different.
00:02:02 I see what you're saying.
00:02:04 You know what I'm saying?
Like, now the verse rap is...
00:02:09 But I don't wanna change
the rap because of that.
00:02:11 No.
00:02:12 Now we're trying to
figure out the whole structure.
00:02:15 So maybe that Pre is not the Pre.
00:02:19 But when we compare it to
what we have for the verse.
00:02:22 Like the first verse.
00:02:58 So let's see what it sounds
like going to the old Pre.
00:03:01 But it could be neither,
it could just be a new Pre.
00:03:05 Because the contrast we have here
with the sung verse
feels good.
00:03:08 Or the second verse could
just be a rap all the way through
and then you don't
have to have a Pre at all.
00:03:13 I love the vibe of the verse
Me too.
00:03:16 That's like golden.
And then,
sung and I just wanna
have that kind of move,
just kind of pick things up a little bit.
00:03:28 Let's go to the old...
00:03:30 There's probably a better
Pre than both of them.
00:03:48 That's good.
00:03:49 It's a little to Tom York like.
00:03:52 Like feeling like you just woke up,
we gotta spruce it up a little.
00:04:10 I'm just gonna play
a bunch of stuff down.
00:04:12 Yeah.
00:04:13 So, let's just do this here.
00:04:16 So close, it's just this gosh darn Pre.
00:04:22 So what I'm gonna do is
create an audio track, another one here,
record enable that
and punch in and out.
I'm gonna just loop record
this section here
and just do a whole
bunch of different takes.
00:05:07 Let me extend this real quick,
I guess the whole change.
00:05:13 You know what I'm saying,
something like...
00:05:15 If we can combine both,
the updated...
00:06:02 So, I'm gonna sing the last part
of the verse.
00:06:08 There's something dope out there...
00:06:10 Yeah.
00:06:15 Yeah, let's go.
00:06:21 Let's solidify that.
00:06:32 That's dope.
00:06:39 That's cool.
00:06:43 Put on, put on.
00:06:44 -Is that picking that up?
-Yeah.
00:07:07 Or should be the same, like,
should not change the second half?
Yeah.
00:07:17 Should I go up like that?
You like that?
So, let me see here
So, yeah, this one here.
00:07:30 Leave that empty there.
00:07:44 Just change that last one.
00:07:46 And so, like...
00:07:48 I'll punch in...
00:08:10 So like...
00:08:23 So, leave that one out,
so it will be like...
00:08:43 So, this...
00:08:45 Just stay on the same.
00:08:46 Stay on the...
00:08:51 And then...
00:08:57 So let's see what that sounds like now
with this verse idea and that
because that could be a good link
also for the second verse.
00:09:31 That's dope.
00:09:53 Let's see what it feels like...
00:09:55 The rap?
After the rap verse here.
00:09:57 This Pre section,
right over here.
00:10:10 Dope.
00:10:13 That's it brother.
00:10:14 Yeah, it's cool.
00:10:33 The 'Pre Idea'.
00:10:36 This will be
'Verse Ideas'.
00:10:40 Alright, cool.
And this is like
'Rap idea'.
00:10:57 Let me just group all of these,
so these will all of our rough vocals.
00:11:03 Make a group and there we go.
00:11:08 I love that that opens.
00:11:51 Like, second pre, you could put ad libs
in the holes, you know what I mean?
-Cool.
-That's it.
00:12:10 That's the best thing so far.
00:13:24 That's cool.
00:13:25 It feels like they're
connecting a lot better.
00:13:28 -That's just a writing stuff.
-100%.
00:13:30 And then,
while you're kind of thinking on lyrics,
I'll send it to your headphones
so you vibe,
I'll start like...
00:13:37 Do you want me to write, like,
you play in here...
00:13:40 Where are you going concept wise?
I know you mentioned something about...
00:13:43 Getting through the darkness of
what the whole world is in right now.
00:13:46 But isn't 2020 just delightful?
2020 is the best...
Let's just call this record 2021.
00:13:51 No, 'light shine', like there's hope...
00:13:53 There's hope,
I see this being like an uplifting.
00:13:56 Play the first verse,
this is the vibe I'm thinking.
00:14:05 Got you.
00:14:08 Whatever...
00:14:09 Like I'm tired, like everyone's tired,
when you wake up and it's the same thing,
what's on the news today.
00:14:14 Do you know what I mean?
That's the vibe.
00:14:17 When will it all get better? Basically.
00:14:20 And it will.
00:14:21 It's like a warm hug.
00:14:23 It will get better when you
write the lyrics.
00:14:25 It will get better.
Let me hear.
00:14:28 Let me give you a lead-in.
00:14:31 I don't know if 'tired' is the word but...
00:14:43 Yeah, or...
00:14:46 Right, exactly.
00:14:50 Like... 'I'm inside'...
00:15:04 Exactly, something like that.
00:15:07 Cause like...
00:15:17 So, go back to, remember,
going back to phrasing.
00:15:20 I'll loop the...
00:15:33 It will be like that?
Yeah, I'll delay up the vocal.
00:15:36 ill, can you just lower the master volume
in my headphones?
OK, cool.
00:15:43 Is that good there?
Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, it's so dark outside
but we need some...
00:16:25 -'So cold outside'...
-'So dark outside'...
00:16:29 But there's bound to be some light
on the other side.
00:16:36 Like so...
00:16:40 I don't know if 'find' is the word but...
00:16:42 Yeah, like...
00:16:45 It's 'we'...
Yeah, it's 'you'.
00:16:50 Alright, or...
00:16:55 Yeah, yeah.
00:16:57 I want a different rhyme scheme
but what you're saying is right.
00:17:00 Alright, cool.
00:17:03 Do you want me to loop...
00:17:05 I'm gonna loop a couple sections
for you to just vibe with.
00:17:07 Is it gonna play loud out here
or just in my headphones?
No, just like this.
00:17:12 You just come up with
some different lyrics...
00:17:15 Just the loop up to the 'Pre'.
00:17:17 OK.
00:17:18 So, up to the 'Pre'.
00:17:19 I'm gonna let you do your thing,
this is where you zone in
and then...
00:17:23 and just kind of marinate with all that.
00:17:25 I know what this is about,
I know what you wanna say.
00:17:27 I love the concept,
I love where we're going.
00:17:29 And yeah, the track does feel
a bit more like
hopeful and...
00:17:33 It does,
especially when we get to the hook,
it just feels like...
00:17:37 Cool. And then,
what I'm hearing in my head is
filling up the production
with some of that,
I'm gonna add maybe some more
majestic stuff that can
really create a journey.
00:17:47 100%.
00:17:48 But I wanna hear where
you're going lyrically
so I can kind of mirror that.
00:17:51 Cool.
00:17:52 Alright, so just loop up to the 'Pre'.
00:17:54 Yeah.
00:17:55 Usually in this process
I'm just gonna keep looping this
and often times what I like to do is,
while this is looping and
he's focusing on the energy,
lyrically, conceptually,
where he wants to go,
I can actually start to
add a little bit of production
on pieces on this.
00:18:11 So, already in my head I'm kind
of feeling like putting a drum roll
or some kind of drum fill
in transition from the Verse to the Pre.
00:18:19 That's just kind of where my mind goes,
I start to think: 'OK'...
00:18:21 But the trick is to not
deviate from what's there.
00:18:25 If start taking things away that's
gonna mess with my artist and his vibe
and that's a big no-no.
00:18:30 I don't want to disrupt that vibe.
00:18:32 That's very important.
I just wanted to mention that
because the temptation for me
is almost getting,
not getting bored of the loop,
because we hearing it over and over
to focus and write on this,
I don't want to be tempted
to be like:
'Oh, let me change this, let me add this
and let me do all these things
that can alter the vibe'.
00:18:53 The important step is
keep
the momentum
for the artist or for the person writing.
00:19:00 And if you're writing for yourself
then simplify the process,
make sure that
you're narrowing down.
00:19:07 What are the top 5 things I need
to make this track or
this idea feel finished?
And that's gonna help you stay,
not get glued to the demo
and not be tempted to deviate from it.
00:19:18 Because there's a magic there,
there's something really cool
from what we have
but yet it's not all the way there
and we're gonna walk
you through that process down the road,
I just wanted to highlight that.
00:19:28 Alright, ready Jared?
I'm just gonna loop this.
00:20:33 Alright, so,
in the process of kind of
just jamming and looping the
whichever Verse, Pre or Chorus idea,
just so that Jared can focus in lyrically
and zone in on what he wants to do
on that end
I get lost in the music as well.
00:20:49 As I have mentioned earlier that
I sometimes like to fiddle around
but not deviate from the vibe originally
but just kind of add.
00:20:58 And in that process what it does is it
also stimulates Jared,
it really just kind of helps us
get lost and vibe out in the music.
00:21:05 So, in that process
I grab the guitar here that I have,
it's just like a cheap little
Fender Squier guitar
and I'm plugging it into
my Warm Audio preamp,
the same thing as the vocal chain,
it's going through the 1176, the WA76
and then what I'm doing is,
I have an audio track here
that I create on the
fly while this is looping.
00:21:31 Again, this is all about
not stopping and starting and
just continuing the momentum.
00:21:36 So, while it's looping,
while he's vibing
I just create an audio track,
put the input to monitoring,
so I can hear myself,
and then I've got a couple plug-ins
to just give some texture and space.
00:21:47 I'm just kind of jamming out really
and that's what we have here.
00:21:50 So, let me just solo this track,
here is with everything on.
00:21:54 I'm gonna walk you through each
of the plug-ins and what they're doing
but we'll start with just the raw audio
and this is me just jamming out.
00:22:09 It's amazing, I'm a virtuoso, right?
But what I'm doing here is
just trying to, you know,
create some atmosphere and space.
00:22:16 So, the first plug-in here is Guitar Rig,
this is also by Native Instruments.
00:22:23 I've got the AC Box.
00:22:25 Just the regular,
the way it comes when
you load up the preset.
00:22:31 And I added the Ableton Live
stock compressor.
00:22:38 Then right on to the chorus ensemble,
this is the stock Ableton Live chorus,
I love this plug-in,
I use it all the time.
00:22:49 Then I'm just gonna give it
a little bit of echo,
some delay,
this is set to an 8th note delay.
00:22:59 And I like filtering out my delays,
so I like this plug-in because
it has a built-in filter,
it's actually filtering out,
I'm like EQing the signal
that's flowing through the delay.
00:23:10 So, I don't like a lot of the low-end
going through on the stereo delay
so I'll cut that off and just kind of
focus on the high and mid-range.
00:23:18 And then let's create some space,
real atmospheric type of stuff.
00:23:21 So, I'm going to insert a reverb.
00:23:24 And once again,
the way Ableton Live works
it's the chain is going left to right
so the guitar amp, compressor,
chorus, delay
and now we have our reverb.
00:23:40 This reverb in particular is a combination
of two reverbs,
we have a convolution reverb
and a digital algorithm reverb.
00:23:48 And you could blend between the two.
00:23:49 And what I like about this is
the pre-delay you can actually
go classic milliseconds or
sync it to the project
so I'll have it at every 4/16 note there.
00:23:59 And dial the feedback.
00:24:00 And this is me just tweaking
some of the parameters
while I was jamming live.
00:24:04 And again, this is more of that
getting lost in the flow things here
to create a vibe and atmosphere
that enhances
Jared's ability to just keep
locked-in and write on some lyrics.
00:24:16 So,
just dialing, up and down,
the dry/wet
so it just makes a really cool vibe.
00:24:27 I like the pre-delay
where it's at
because I can hear the dry guitar tone
and then the reverb
comes a lot later than that.
00:24:33 So that's the effect.
00:24:34 Then EQing that signal
right here with the built-in EQ
and I'm gonna use a compressor to side-chain.
00:24:41 In this case,
rather than having a specific,
like, a kick drum or snare drum
side-chain the compressor,
in Ableton Live I can open
up the side-chain section here.
00:24:50 I'm choosing,
I want the kick drum to side-chain
but you notice that the XO is having both
the hi-hat,
snare and the kick drum all
coming out of the same place.
00:25:00 So, what I'm gonna do is use an EQ,
so anything from 153 Hz,
I just moved that, but 153 Hz or below
will cause the compressor to side-chain.
00:25:11 And what's happening is it's causing the
guitar signal to duck out of the way
once anything from that frequency
or below is heard.
00:25:19 In this case, primarily, the kick drum.
00:25:27 I like the effect it's giving.
00:25:29 The guitar has got this
pulse action going on
so it really does...
It's adding movement.
00:25:35 And I love that,
I love things that are moving,
things that have some character to it.
00:25:39 I think it's a really cool
texture to the track.
So, it adds some atmosphere,
so let me play you,
I think I was looping this
during the chorus section...
00:25:48 Or no, actually where he was rapping.
00:25:50 So, one of the perks of working
in the Session View
with Ableton Live
is that I don't have to alter
any of the arrangements.
00:25:57 So, if I'm taking things out
or, let's say, adding things
such as this guitar part
we have here a second verse
which I think Jared was working
on a rap part here.
00:26:08 I can add things in my Session View,
temporarily and mix around
with the arrangement
without literally moving the arrangement
here in the Arrangement Window.
00:26:16 This stays the way it is
and the moment you incorporate
an element that's not part of the arrangement
you see this little track,
or this triangle here show up
on that specific track,
it's grayed out.
00:26:27 Meaning: 'Hey, you're stepping away
from the current arrangement.
00:26:31 Feel free to jam,
do what you gotta do.'
And at any moment you wanna go
back to the way you had the arrangement
you could hit the button here
or the back to the arrangement button.
00:26:41 And now I'm focusing on the way
I have it linearly
in the arrangement window.
00:26:46 That's what's going on,
let me go and play you with
the guitar part.
00:26:50 And let's add it, so I'm gonna go ahead,
click this,
hit the tab button
and add that into our
chorus section and see what that does.
00:27:00 I know I had a guitar already, here,
this is the virtual instrument
guitar from Kontakt.
00:27:05 It sounds cool, I like it,
it has a unique texture.
00:27:08 So this might be just
for like atmospheric stuff.
00:27:28 The moment I hit mute
you notice that the emotion just
went away.
00:27:32 And that's important,
I wanna add things that make sense
and enhance the emotion and the vibe,
the energy of the track,
not just add something
for the sake of adding it.
00:27:40 So, that's an important thing here.
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Ivan Corraliza, professionally known as ill Factor, began creating music where most everyone begins, in the bedroom fueled by ambition and a dream to turn his hobby into a full-time job. Countless hours of music-making and tweaking led to some moments of frustration while trying to get his music noticed. However, everything changed when Ivan sought out a mentor and was blessed to be taken under the wing of Jimmy Douglass. Jimmy is a veteran in the music industry with more than forty-plus years of experience working with artists from Aretha Franklin to Justin Timberlake. He began sharing his network and insights into the Industry with Ivan, which helped Ivan create relationships with artists and industry professionals, turning his hobby of making music into a career.
