Hi friends,

Another two weeks, another newsletter. I know that last month I spat out a bunch of ideas but they’re all still germinating, still bubbling on the stove, still wrapped in their little cocoons. Plus, I did this. So while I’m in the middle of recording this month’s song, let me tell you about what the recording process looks like for me right now.

~How to build a song at home in 10,000 easy steps~

1. WRITE IT: The song should be mostly written—this is both easier and harder than it sounds, depending on the song, but let’s just say, for the sake of ease, that the song has been written, chords & melody & lyrics.
2. BRAIN IT: Record the song acoustically as a voice note, and listen to it approximately 10-30 times to try to audiate what you want the arrangement to sound like. This can happen anywhere, car, line at grocery store, shower, staring off into space instead of working, etc, etc.
3. DEMO IT: Got an aural vision? Great! Now make another bare bones recording but this time do it to a click track in your audio program of choice (currently am using Logic). (Note here: Determining the tempo is pretty important. Even one or two clicks up or down can change the character of a song. Maybe play around with your metronome before you get too far along).
4. BASS IT: Record the bass notes as a midi track on your keyboard, and maybe consider throwing a filler system-created drum beat on there to help ease the live tracking process.
5. PLAY IT: Record your rhythm instrument as many times as ya gotta. This one’s the literal foundation of the song, after all. Get it right!
6. FAKE IT: Make a quick version of a main vocal & any main harmonies, so that you can turn off that bare bones track from step 3
7. BOP IT: Here’s the fun part! Start going wild & throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. Mostly, in my case, that means trying a bunch of weird midi synth noises out, layering lines on lines. Here’s where I generally make beats, too.
8. MAKE IT: Got the mainframe of the instruments? HELL YEAH YOU DO. It’s time for Real Actual Vocals, which means you should have been hydrating like mad for the past 24-48 hours & that you need to warm up (my current warm up songs are Drake, Allison Krauss & early Keane, there are no rules, I just need songs that are in my range with words that I know). Record the main vocal no less than 8 times, but no more than 10. You’ll probably start getting where you need to go somewhere around take 5, and then it’s just a matter of making sure you put some goddamn energy into your sound
9. (YOUR PRICE IS WAY TOO HIGH YOU NEED TO) CUT IT: Cut all the best bits of the takes into one main vocal compilation. Slap on some EQ, reverb, de-esser, any other effects you desire, etc etc. Pitch correction (for your main vocal, at least) is a trap. Don’t fall into it. If you’re not singing on key, record more takes on another day.
10. TWIN IT: If you’re doubling your vocals, do that now. Sing over top of your comp, and make sure your consonants line up. It’ll take a few tries & that’s okay.
11. SING IT: Harmony time! Time for harmony! My other favorite part. Sing ‘em! Sing as many as you want! Make up background vocals! (Again, just try to match up your consonants or you’ll have to cut them entirely, which is a finicky lil hassle of a chore) You may choose to use pitch correction if you want your bgvs to sound like shiny robots. Only do this if it serves the song!
12. TWEAK IT: Very good, you have all your big pieces. You want any other instrumental lines? Any little twinkles of glittery synth? Any guitar lines that double the harmonies or something like that? Record them now.
13. TRIM IT: Trim the whole song—cut off the count in at the beginning & the extra time at the end. This is important because....
14. TWIST IT: Voume automation is a bitch but it is much easier when all the tracks are in the correct place. Now: automate that volume! Make the quiet parts louder! Make the loud parts quieter! Or vice versa, whatever the heck you want!
15. MIX IT: Send the mix to iTunes & then your phone.
16. HEAR IT: Listen to the mix in your headphones (both pairs), in the car, on your laptop speaker, on your phone speaker. Take notes.
17. ANALYZE IT: Look at your notes, go back to the song, fix your problems.
18. DO IT (ALL OVER AGAIN): Repeat Steps 15-17 ad infinitum.
19. SHAKE IT: Send to helpful friends if you are trapped in a sonic everything-sounds-the-same hell.
20. CALL IT: Are you done? Maybe! Are you tired of this song? YEA BOI. Give it a day or two of rest, if you have time. If you don’t have time, make some choices and then just… call it good.
21. POST IT: Send the final mix to iTunes & then drag it into Soundcloud. Type the lyrics out.
22. SEND IT: It’s done, send your newsletter, share it to social, text your friends, whatever you do to mark a new song.
23. GIVE IT A BREAK: Allow yourself to be done. Rest like god on the seventh day. You made something and its existence is good.
24. MOVE THE FUCK ON FROM IT: Don’t obsessively check your stream count (ahahah that would be crazy. Who would do that?) and do start thinking about the next song :)

Not 10,000 steps? Only 24? WHO KNEW! I definitely didn’t when I started typing this.

Currently I’m on step 5 (aka PLAY IT) for this month’s song, while also still being in step 2 (aka BRAIN IT), so please wish me luck & I’ll see you in two weeks with it, however it turns out.

xoxoxoxo, Lauren