Ear Candy

Once the drums and vocals were tracked, the next step was to flesh out the arrangement. As in all aspects of this project, I looked to Epworth for inspiration.

Now, I think it's important to point out that a good producer doesn't necessarily have a "sound." If they're going to work with different artists they need to adapt to the sound of those artists. Epworth himself has said of his own work: 

"I feel that my work is one part acoustic recording, one part electronic dance music production, and then the rest of it is basically formed by the artist I’m working with, including his or her influences and the records that have shaped his or her style. I always find that I try to hone in on something that’s specific to the sound of the individual artist, and I’ve always tried not to have a specific sound myself." (Gallant)

So what are those acoustic and electronic elements he's talking about? Obviously, they'll vary from track to track. However, after analyzing some of my favorite tracks that Epworth has produced I was able to identify some commonalities.

First: Big, crunchy drums. Listen to the distorted hugeness on this record:

I made a mental note to try some moderate tape saturation and distortion on the drums when I got to the mixing stage. I also noticed a subtle electronic loop enhacning the groove on that Florence track, so I added one to my song:

Epowrth has also layered some big percussive elements with his drums here. You can also hear this in "Rolling in the Deep."

Epworth has publicly explained several times how he got that stomping sound. He recommends going for creating your own samples rather loading up a preset.

"It’s very easy to go, ‘let’s find a sample of that,’ and it’s just as easy to record it. And ultimately you end up with a bit noise on it that gives something feeling." (BBC)

"Most of the kick drum (on Rolling in the Deep) was a multi-sample — I have this little wooden step in my studio which is hollow and has cables running underneath it, and we miked Adele stomping on it. We wanted it to sound like the stomps they used to do in the glam rock days when they tied pieces of wood to their feet. We really wanted the sound of people jumping and dancing to the record. So the closest we could get at the time was having Adele stamp on a step. The actual kick drum was a big marching drum strapped to the front of my kit, so it’s actually a 30-inch kick that we miked up. Most of what you hear, though, is multi-tracked Adele stamping on that step." (Gallant)

So, I tried something similar. I had my friend Hari and myself stomp around in the studio.

Had I not been pressed for time, I would have tried some different mics, different shoes, and different surfaces. But, in the time allotted, this is the sound we got:

The other connective element I was able to discern across Epworth's tracks is his approach to vocal pads. He likes to add subtle vocal layers for ambience. They're very present in the Florence track above, but they're even more noticeable here:

Guitars, bass, and drums--those are all straight U2 through and through. But those ghostly howls in the intro and throughout--to me that's a signature Epworth contribution. So, for my track I added a healthy number of layers of my own ghostly howling.


Next, I did some virtual strings and a couple more guitar layers, just filling things out. I left bass for last in accordance with commandment VII of my Epworth Production Bible. Turns out I did find that I had a much better idea of what space was left for the bass to fill than I would normally. I won't always do it this way in my own work because I'm a fan of tracks that revolve around the bass line. But it was a helpful exercise, to be sure.