Production Notes 2: Intentionally Designing for "Shout"

Emotional intent cannot happen by accident

Deciding on sounds for a track should be a very intentional process. Artists likely have an emotional feel in mind when going into production on a track. This may not be true at the demo level since the idea of a demo is to quickly get a sonic idea down on “paper” before the idea is lost in the Mental Realm of Forgotten Melodies. However, once the track has progressed from demo to production the emotional intent would ideally be decided.¹

Whereas on a demo, we might just grab a drum machine and a guitar from the rack and start jamming away regardless of the sound of said drum machine or guitar, the final production needs intention.Yes, there can be happy accidents, but if the artist is not intentional with production and sound design, the emotional intention is not likely to fall into place out of nowhere.

For more on emotional intent, see Rob Schustack’s “Making Your Tracks Hit Harder” article available for free here.

For Start the Tape’s cover of “Shout”, the emotional intent was there from the moment I had the idea of doing a mandolin-based cover of the song. I wanted to capture the feeling of tragedy, of tension, of a love torn apart. There are so many families that have been ripped apart due to various things this wicked world bombards us all with, and sadly not all families are able to weather the storm and stay together through the onslaught.

The first major adjustment we made was to slow things down. This instantly brings a darker feel to the song which gives it a solid foundation for the tragic tension. The first part that took shape was the main riff mandolin²:

This, for me, has always been the most recognizable part of the song. This riff repeats just about through the entire song. There’s more information on the original recording here - perhaps the original riff came from the CMI Fairlight, which would not be surprising given the timeframe. The original synth carries the anthemic feeling of the original song, but playing the riff more slowly and on an ancient mandolin it gets more of the feeling we’re after.

The original track starts with a triangle sample. The original demo featured the LinnDrum, not sure if that’s what ended up on the final version of the track or not, but it’s the first thing the listener hears when playing the song. We replaced it with a sample of Johann Schreiber tapping his violin strings with his bow.

Supporting the violin taps (is there an actual name for that?!) is a synthesized bell with reverb. The idea here was to convey the feeling that there’s a problem, something is wrong:

A late addition was a bit of piano. Arturia’s Piano V was amazing here. It helped to fill things in but keep also to keep the track grounded in its sorrow:

Later came the acoustic guitar fill, which for me was actually one of the hardest parts of the production. If listening to our cover, the acoustic comes in when Iona starts singing the first verse. You can hear where the mandolin, piano, and acoustic layer really nicely. The final production was a tiny bit looser than I wanted, but given the deadline for submission I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

The song structure starts with the chorus and then the verses. Starting with the second chorus, a droning synth bass is added - this is where a lot of the foreboding sound comes from. We’re slowly building up to something big.

Everday and Iona sang the middle chorus in a way that really clues the listener in that they are dealing with a difficult situation. And then after the first bridge, my vocal comes in. He’s definitely the villain in this scenario. Doing those vocals was also the most difficult part of this production for me. I was trying to capture the emotionally damaging sound, but that was very challenging given that it was my wife and daughter providing the rest of the vocals. We all actually get along very well, so getting into a “bad guy” mindset was difficult, but again the final result turned out nicely. Big time shout out to Travis Leeman for making us sound even better. He had the idea of adding the background echoing “let it all out” parts that give me chills every time I hear them.

And then that violin solo. The violin was not a part of the original plan, as at the time I had the original idea Johann was not only not playing the violin yet, he wasn’t even born yet. But being able to have him pull off this solo, replacing Roland’s guitar solo from the original, was a special treat. I added in the staccato orchestral string accompaniment. Here we were building up to the crescendo - this is supposed to build up to a sharp burst of emotion. In my mind, during the solo the villain is walking angrily down a hallway, slamming any doors or violently hurling any objects that are in his way.

The listener may notice that up to this point, there have been no drums in the song. That has been intentional, of course - the lack of drums keeps the moodiness in place, and then allows us to build to the big finale. The part of our cover that is most similar to the original is the electric guitar at the end of the song. While I played a more distorted tone than the original (thanks Joshua Heath Scott and the NOTAKLÖN and Kilt v2!), it hammers home the division that’s going on in this family. Another big time shoutout to Travis for the post-production enhancements on this section. The raw audio is fun, but the way it all came out in the mix is astonishing to me.

And can I just say how much fun I had doing the “they really really ought to know” part? This for me was the defining piece where this guy shows his true colors, he’s willing to go to extreme lengths to have his voice heard, even to the detriment of his own family.

This was the first ever full production I’ve done with other participants, so there was a lot of learning involved. Given more time there are definitely areas that I would have cleaned up a bit more, at the very least making them a bit tighter, but given the deadline I’m quite proud of what we accomplished. Please take a listen to the final product (if you haven’t already) and let me know how we did. Specific constructive feedback is welcome.

And if you like the track, it would mean a ton if you would consider purchasing it. The proceeds will go straight back into our music, helping us to cover the costs of mixing and mastering and also helping cover the costs of various resources in the production process.

Thank you to Johann Schreiber, Everday Solaris, and Iona Kassel for helping me to bring this production to life. It’s been a pipe dream for longer than two of you have been alive and now it’s out here in the world for all who care to hear. I love all three of you so much and hope that we can continue working together. (And in no way do I view you the way the guy in this song is viewing his own family.)

1. This is not to say that the emotional intent must be set in stone at the beginning of the production. It is OK for the artist to have an emotional shift or for a happy accident to take things in a totally different direction. These are probably exceptions, though, and not likely to be the rule.

2. All audio samples in this post are raw and unmixed.