Def Leopard "Foolin" Isolated Vocals

Def Leppard's first album was one of producer Mutt Lange's many masterpieces, with layer upon layer of stacked parts that fit perfectly together. Here's the isolated vocal track from "Foolin',"one of the hits from that album. Here's what to listen for (the quality isn't that great, unfortunately).

1. The lead vocal is compressed pretty hard, but it works perfectly in the context of the mix.

2. The vocals have an interesting gated reverb effect that blooms and then cuts off instead of the normal decay that you'd hear. Some mixers and producers used to refer to this as the "cloud" sound.

3. You don't think of Def Leppard as a keyboard oriented band but there sure are a lot of synths on this song, especially the low synth on the B sections and coming out of the solo.

4. Listen to the stacked background vocal harmonies at 4:10. It almost sounds like the background vocals on The Cars early albums.

Def Leppard "Rock Of Ages" Isolated Vocal

When Def Leppard's Pyromania album hit in 1983 it turned the band into superstars, and rightfully so, since the record was filled with hits (and selling more than 10 million copies in the US alone). One of the best was "Rock of Ages" and that's what we'll be looking closely at today.

Pyromania was produced by Mutt Lange, who has long been known as a perfectionist, and you can hear it in the isolated vocal track. Here's what to listen for:

1. The vocals are perfectly in tune and in the pocket (except for the doubles), and although the punches are pretty smooth (this was recorded back in the tape days), many of the vocal phrases are so on top of one another that the only way to sing them was via tight punching.

2. There's a lot of compression of the vocals so there's almost zero dynamics. That was a trademark of engineer Mike Shipley, and one he did very well.

3. The vocals are doubled primarily on the chorus and intro to the chorus, but on select other phrases as well.

4. Listen for the backwards vocals at 3:02.

---

Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this blog at no cost to you (just click here).

Def Leppard "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" Isolated Guitar

Def Leppard is one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and their recordings are great examples of excellent production, thanks to producer Mutt Lange.

Here's an isolated guitar track from a hit off of the band's second album (High n' Dry) called "Bringin' On The Heartbreak." There are a number of things to listen for (it starts at 1:05):

1. You need headphones to hear this because it's barely audible, but at :55 you can hear the intro guitars on the left and someone giving the count ("one, two, three four") on the right side.

2. The verse begins at 1:05 with a doubled clean guitar that's spread left and right. Listen to how precise the picking is.

3. On the beginning of the B section at 1:55 there's a distorted guitar only on the right side, which turns into a big double distorted guitar spread left and right at 2:00. Once again, listen to how precise the picking is.

4. The chorus is interesting in that it's only a single note line. This is the same in every chorus.

5. Check out how the rhythm of the 3rd B section changes to increase the intensity.

6. Listen through to the end to hear a part that didn't make the record.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this blog with no cost to you.

Nashville Engineer Bob Bullock On My Inner Circle Podcast

Nashville engineer Bob Bullock is the guest on my Inner Circle Podcast this week. Bob has worked with some top-shelf Grammy winners, including Steely Dan and Shania Twain, as well as Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffet, Reba McEntire and many, many more. Bob is also one of the few engineers that can talk about recording the fast Nashville way versus the precise Steely Dan/Mutt Lange technique, and we'll touch on the subject in the podcast.

On the show intro I'll discuss YouTube's new streaming music service called Music Key as well as Gibson moving into the famed Tower Records building on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

Remember that you can find the podcast either on iTunes or at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, and now also on Stitcher.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this blog with no cost to you.

Pat Travers On Mutt Lange

Mutt Lange is an interesting guy not just because of his excellent production skills, but because there's so little known about him. He's publicity shy, and there's only one old picture of him available anywhere, so not many people know what he even looks like. That said, this video interview of the most excellent Pat Travers (remember "Boom Boom, Out Goes The Lights"?) gives a little insight of what it's like to work with Mutt.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

Shania Twain "Any Man Of Mine" Song Analysis

A number of readers have asked for song analysis of more country music and Mutt Lange productions. Here's both in one song with Shania Twain's "Any Man Of Mine." This was the first #1 for Shania as well as her first crossover into Top 40 radio. The song was the second single from her 1995 breakthrough album The Women In Me.  As with all song analysis, we'll look at the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and the performance.

The Song
"Any Man Of Mine" is a pretty formula pop song wrapped in country instruments like fiddle and steel guitar. The form is simple, yet the arrangement makes it interesting and different. The song form looks like this:

Intro, Verse, B Section, Chorus, Half-intro, Verse, B Section, Chorus, Solo, Chorus, Outro

The solo is taken over half a chorus while the outro is just the intro repeated over and over.

The Arrangement
The arrangement is what really makes this song go, and it's a Mutt Lange trademark. His productions are always dense and you can bet if there's a hole between vocal lines he'll find something to tastefully fill it with. As far as song development is concerned, listen to how the verse starts out sparse and gradually gets larger as it goes along and instruments are introduced. Also, listen to how the 2nd verse develops so it's different from the first.


  * The Foundation: Bass and drums

  * The Pad: The steel guitar, but it's subtle.

  * The Rhythm: The fiddle actually serves dual duty with the lead by pushing the motion of the song along.

  * The Lead: Lead vocal and fiddle in intro and outro.

  * The Fills: In the chorus it switches between guitar, fiddle and steel.
 
The Sound
This album was one of the first batch of "new country" contemporary sounding records that used serious rock and pop techniques combined with traditional country instruments. When have you ever heard a John Bonham-like kick on a country record before? Well there's one here. And in the verse the snare is doubled with claps with a nice long reverb, which is far from traditional country.

Another of Mutt's trademarks is sonic layering, which you'll find everywhere in this song. First of all there's a good amount of reverb on the vocal but it blends so well into the track that you don't hear it, but listen to the guitar slides and fills during the first verse - dry as a bone so they seem like they're right in front of you. The background vocals also go from Shania singing a harmony with herself to big Def Leopard-like answer vocals. You can learn a lot about production from this record for sure.

The Performance
While all of the performances here are top flight, Shania's vocal does stand out, especially the ad libs. Everything is just great and disciplined playing.

Send me your requests for song analysis.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.


Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.

AC/DC "Back In Black" Song Analysis

Reader Efarmosmenos Stokos requested a song analysis from AC/DC's seminal Back In Black album, so here's the title song - "Back In Black." This was actually the 6th album by the band, but the first without singer Bon Scott. The band considered disbanding following his death, then hired Brian Johnson as their new lead singer and lyricist. Mutt Lange, who had previously worked with AC/DC on Highway to Hell, was again brought in to produce. The recordings were made at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the album was also mixed.

What most people don't know is that Back In Black is the 2nd biggest selling album of all time, with 49 million copies sold world-wide (22 million in the US alone). As all song analysis, we'll look at the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and the performance.

The Song
"Back In Black" is a very typical rock song form-wise. It uses mostly arrangement techniques to develop the song rather than varying too much from the form. It looks like this:

Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse/Solo, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Verse/Solo

As you can see, it's basically two sections - a verse and chorus. The solo happens over a verse, and a line is added to a verse later to change it into a bridge.

The Arrangement
In their typical style, AC/DC keeps this song as pure as possible with almost no overdubs, and just relies upon a few changes in the verse part to keep it interesting. First of all, listen to the turn around  between 8 bar phrases during the solos. It's still a verse, but it sounds different thanks to this slight change of bass and rhythm guitar. There's nothing added to the 2nd verse to develop it, which is unusual, but it still works great, and background answer vocals are added to the last chorus.

The arrangement elements look like this:

  * The Foundation - like most songs, it's the bass and drums, with the addition of the rhythm guitar/lead guitar.

  * The Pad - none in this song.

  * The Rhythm - this is unusual for a rock song, but the vocal is in double time to the pulse of the song in the verse so it adds motion.

  * The Lead - The lead vocal and solo guitar.

  * The Fills - The lead guitar between the vocal lines in the verse

The other thing that's interesting is the dual countoff, first with a guitar and then the high-hat. Countoffs are almost always cut off from a song (they're the sure sign of a demo), but it just adds to the live feel here.

The Sound
The sound of this record is great - big, pristine, very real and in your face. But there's a lot more going on beneath the surface than it seems. Although the record seems bone dry, the rhythm guitar has a long reverb tail that only appears on the same side (the right) and the lead guitar has a short double that's panned to about 1 o'clock of the rhythm guitar side.

Brian Johnson's vocal also sounds like it's doubled, but the second voice is not at the same level, instead just there for a bit of support. The snare has a nice room ambiance, but also an ever so slight bit of delayed reverb as well. Angus Young's solo guitar is overdubbed and placed up the middle.

The Performance
"Back In Black" is such a band oriented song in that what you hear live is exactly what you hear on the record, with just a couple extra parts for support. In order to pull this off, the band has to be exceptionally tight during recording, which AC/DC certainly is.

The thing to listen for is how disciplined the band is. They play only what's necessary, with no extra ghost notes, slides or other things that you'll hear most copy bands play when doing this song. Also note the way the attacks and releases are played by the bass and two guitars. They're perfectly in sync.

I especially love how drummer Phil Rudd plays on this song. Listen how far behind the beat he is, giving it that tension that the song needs to really work well.

Don't forget to send me song analysis requests.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.

"Rock Of Ages" - Def Leopard Isolated Vocals

Today we analyze Joe Elliott's isolated lead vocal on the Def Leopard classic "Rock of Ages." This was off their huge 1981 hit, Pyromania. Here's what to listen for.

1) This vocal is really compressed. The attack is so short that there's almost no high end and you never hear a clear "s" or "t".

2) It's interesting how producer Mutt Lange doubles certain lines, and then uses the standard chorus double.

3) This is one of the few lead vocals that you'll hear on record that is dead dry.

4) You can also hear a number of punches. In one case there's even a slight click but most of the time it just feels slightly unnatural because of the breath.

5) Mutt is said to be a real stickler for in-tune vocals and he certainly is here, except for the doubles which are noticeable off in a few places.

6) Note the backwards vocal starting at 3:04

7) Note the arppegiated synth with a sample and hold at the end.

----------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.