Music Technology

DRUMS, BASS AND KEYBOARD PLAY

You know, making music doesn't have to be mysterious

anyone can have a go.

And today's technology makes it even easier

for you to have a crack at making your own music.

To our ears, a finished song might sound so perfect,

so amazing that it's hard to imagine how it was put together,

but a track or a piece of music is usually made up of ingredients,

elements that, with a bit of listening,

you can start to separate in your mind.

Take this song so, first off, here's the beat.

That's usually a drum pattern,

and it's the motor of the tune driving it forward.

Now here's the bass.

BASSLINE LOOPS

Here's the rhythm.

KEYBOARD LINE PLAYS

And here's the melody.

GUITAR RIFF SWELLS

Those are all just sounds a beat, a series of bass notes,

a series of chords and a pattern of notes forming a tune.

Each of those sounds was made and then combined together

using computer programs and musical software.

But you don't need a professional recording studio and loads of money.

Smartphones and computers can run software and apps

that allow you to make music the same way the professionals do.

Listen to the people already doing it, like 15-year-old Happa,

who's making amazing electronic dance music.

It's just becoming so much more accessible and cheaper,

and, you know, pretty much anyone can start,

just in their bedroom, just with a computer.

So you can use these brilliant apps and programs

to make amazing music wherever you are,

at home... at school with your friends...

or out and about.

And now is an amazing time for us to be making music.

But don't just take my word for it.

Here's Radio 1 host and club DJ Monki.

The thing is now

it's like it's so easy to make music if you wanted to,

compared to...like 20 years ago.

You don't need a big studio,

you don't need lots of analogue equipment that costs loads of money.

You can simply buy a laptop and buy the software

and get going straightaway.

And what about Ellie Goulding's producer, Starsmith?

The possibilities on some of the apps

are crazy about where you can go with drums

or different synth sounds and things like that.

It's a completely different way of thinking,

as opposed to drawing it in with keyboard and mouse,

and it takes you out of your comfort zone in a good way.

Now, music and technology have always worked together.

Musicians have always tried creating their own electronic instruments.

Think of the electric guitar.

Nowadays I can use the technology

to take the guitar in a completely different direction.

This loop pedal only needs a few notes

in order for me to create a brand-new world of sound.

HE PLAYS UPBEAT RIFF

RIFF LOOPS

HE PLAYS MELODY

Not a bad little melody.

There's loads of different ways you can make beats.

You can get a whole drum kit on your phone,

or you can use a MIDI keyboard and some friends

to create the kind of rhythm you want.

I can compose on a MIDI keyboard, too.

And I don't have to read music to do that.

I can pick it up as I go along.

You can play any instrument you can imagine on these keyboards.

In fact, some musicians write their whole song just using a keyboard.

Dan Smith from Bastille and his producer Mark Crew

have written a lot of songs, including Laura Palmer.

Like a normal piano sound,

and then you can very easily change that to a distorted electronic piano.

We use it quite a lot on the album.

You can now get libraries of samples loaded onto your computer,

and you can start building up whole songs on your own using that.

Or try out a bit of kit

that lets you physically improvise and create a tune on the spot.

Technology hasn't just changed the way that we create sound.

Once you've got all this amazing music at your fingertips,

you want to be able to record it.

Music used to be recorded on one of these.

Audio tape.

The tape used to be physically cut up to make the track.

Now the audio tape has been replaced by the computer.

Computer software will give you a timeline.

Basically, that's the blank tape,

and you can add those different elements onto the timeline

the beat, the bassline, the melody, the sample and the vocal.

Whatever ingredients you want.

So what music do you have in your head?

What do you fancy having a go at?

Pick a piece of technology, like a virtual drum kit in your phone,

or a sampling program on your computer, and have a go.

All you need are your ears and your imagination.

Technology means that if you want to have a go at making music,

you don't have to wait for a recording contract or hire a studio.

If you want to, you can create and record music wherever you want

at school, with friends,

or like Kito, who made this amazing track Sweet Talk,

in your bedroom.

# Work it hard, take it far... #

The idea of a home recording studio may sound complicated,

but it's not.

You've already got the most important thing imagination.

Then all you need is a device to record and edit the music on,

something to listen to the music with, and you can get started.

Kito has written some amazing tracks

using a really straightforward setup.

Her music may have begun in her bedroom,

but it's ended up on Radio 1, so I'm heading out to meet Kito

and ask her to take me through the basics of setting up a home studio.

-Hiya, nice to meet you!

-Hi, nice to meet you!

I want to get started making music what are the essentials that I need?

Yeah, all you need is a device.

You could use a tablet or a smartphone,

or a laptop, which is what I use.

You don't even need speakers if you don't want them.

You could use your headphones.

It depends, like, how much money you've got

or how in-depth you want to go.

But I use my laptop, and I use these studio monitors,

and they run through an audio interface.

I pretty much use the bare essentials.

OK, so you've got your device,

you've got your way of listening to the music.

What's next?

So, basically, all you need is software to edit your music.

There's so many different digital audio workstations.

There's more professional, industry-standard ones,

and then there's like really basic free software

that you can download online.

With your canvas, you can start adding in music

in the form of MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface -

or you can use samples and waveforms.

You can record vocals, you can record all sorts of sounds.

But that's your workstation and your canvas.

So this is what a blank canvas looks like, or timeline,

and then there's also a mixer page,

which will have your channels and your master output.

Basically, this is where all your tracks will go.

So all the instrument tracks and audio tracks

will make up the arrangement page, and that will be your song.

Now, looking at the timeline,

I can see that making music isn't just about listening,

it's also a visual thing as well.

Yeah, it definitely is.

It often starts off as an idea, and you can have like one melody

or something that you want to start with,

but you definitely need a workstation to organise everything.

And it is very visual you can see where the intro is

and the drop and the breakdown.

Especially in dance music, it's very structured.

So when you record something,

it records into your arrangement page as a waveform.

This is what a waveform looks like of a recorded vocal,

and you can see when it's sustained, the waveform gets fatter,

and when...Reija sings quieter, the waveform is much smaller.

# If you want me back... #

And then I've gone and added a lot of effects.

I've EQed it, and I've added delay and reverb.

# Gonna, gonna bleed you dry-y-y-y

# It's like you're on the starting li-ine... #

So adding effects makes the vocals sit in the track better,

and it makes the whole track come together.

This is actually a project that I've just been working on.

Each individual track is a different sound that's making up the song.

So even the drums are split into kick drum and the snare,

and then there's all the percussion and high hats,

and they're all on separate tracks,

so I could solo one and just listen to that individual sound,

or I could listen to all of those sounds together.

So now your set up, how do you get making some music?

So once you've got an idea, you can start developing it,

and you can build on that.

Like if it's a melody, you could add other melodies that go well with it.

Or if it's drums, you can start building a melody on top of that.

You can really do it any way you want.

You can make music just with your computer,

with samples or pre-existing software.

I'm very, very, very software-based,

so I don't play stuff on a keyboard, like most people.

But I actually draw a lot of it out.

So you can draw notes in with a pen tool,

and you can move them, change the size, change the velocity,

even select everything, change the key.

Can you tell us more about what kind of devices and instruments

you can connect to your computer?

You can connect lots of different things to your computer,

like a guitar or a bass, drum pads, synthesizers.

There's loads of options when it comes to making music.

All of these instruments can be connected

with USB, minijack, FireWire or Thunderbolt.

You can also use an audio interface,

which is an external soundcard to record these instruments.

This can help control the quality of the sound.

When you start making music, it might be a bit overwhelming,

but it doesn't have to be complicated to start with.

You can just start with a very simple project

and work on the things you already know.

As you learn, you'll probably get more in-depth with it.

But yeah, it doesn't have to be overwhelming, it's lots of fun.

The cables, buttons or pieces of kit shouldn't frighten anyone.

We just have them to help us make exciting music more easily.

Some musicians start off with a beat and then add a melody.

Others have an idea for a tune, jump straight in and record that first.

In the end, everyone finds a way that works best for them.

What's important, whether you're on a workstation working with samples,

or recording a mate on the drums, it's what works best.

Who knows? Soon I could be listening to a track that you've written.

You might think that in order to make music,

you need to be able to play an instrument

or read musical notes, right?

Wrong!

Using a technique called sampling,

you can build tracks using existing sound recordings.

In fact, the song we're listening to right now

has been made entirely from samples.

Listen to the beat of the song.

DRUM PATTERN PLAYS

Notice something? It's actually one short section.

That section is the sample,

and it's been repeated again and again to create a loop.

And you can do the same thing with a bassline or any musical sample,

using them once or looping them.

And when you're listening to these samples,

how would you describe the sounds of the instruments?

Well, you don't need to know complicated musical terms.

Every instrument has a timbre, and it's the quality of its sound.

That timbre can change depending on how the instrument is being played

and the music it's playing.

So listening to the timbre of these different guitar samples,

you could describe them as warm or cold, spiky or smooth

words that we already know and we all understand.

It's all about listening.

Back in the 1970s, DJs used to listen to funk and soul records,

took samples from them and created hip-hop.

Today, thanks to easy-to-use technology,

we can all have a go at sampling.

I went to Leeds to see 15-year-old Happa.

He got into sampling when he wasn't well and was stuck at home.

Now he's being featured on Xfm

and is producing some incredible electronic dance music.

Can you talk me through the samples that are available for people?

Pretty much all pieces of music software come with sample libraries

with loads of different types of samples.

Usually, you know, instruments, sometimes field recordings.

Most of the time they come with the software.

So I'm going to set you a challenge to build a track from scratch.

Now, the deal is, I'll let you pick the basic instruments,

like keyboards, drums and stuff,

-but I'm going to pick three samples that you have to use, deal?

-Deal.

All right, so your three samples are bongos,

a trumpet and my wild card, a car horn.

So how are you going to get started with the track?

I think I'm going to start with the bongos

and then maybe add some of my own samples,

just to build up a beat, to have that main structure and the frame.

And then build some melody upon that

and then try and inject the horn and trumpet into it somewhere.

So the program lets you set the tempo,

which is measured in beats per minute, or BPM, as it is referred to,

so I'm going to set it to 130,

cos that's the usual pace I tend to work at.

I'm just going to look through some of the different bongo loops I have.

Sounding good, I'll just drag that in to an audio channel.

That little section of coloured block there is like a small rhythm,

and if I click this button, it then loops,

so I can do some live editing and hear the changes as I go along.

It sounds a bit weak,

so I'm going to try some distortion to give it a bit more oomph.

I'm going to add some reverb to this just to make it sound a bit bigger.

I like to, erm...pitch a lot of the stuff I use down,

cos I just think it gives it a thicker, deeper sound.

So I'm just going to drag this plug-in onto a new MIDI channel.

It has like eight different sections,

of which you can drag samples in, if you want to build a beat.

So I'll just double click here to add a MIDI note,

and I want it to be on the beat.

And we'll give it a listen, press play up here.

So you can see that's now looping in time with the bongos.

The kick's a little bit too loud on there.

So this is where you're really using your ear,

trying to find the right sample with the right timbre.

So that's... got a nice beat going.

DRUM BEAT

And I think I'm going to add in a high-hat.

So I'll just drag that into one of the sections.

So then we're going on the offbeat.

So now we've got just a simple beat going.

FASTER DRUM BEAT

Now I'm going to bring in some more elements to the drum beat.

I'm going to add a snare drum.

SNARE DRUM STARTS

I think I'm going to try and...

somehow work some of the trumpet into it now.

I need to get the trumpet to fit with the beat,

so I'll use a tool called quantizing,

which will move it around so it's in time

with the tempo that I'm working at.

DRUMS AND HIGH PITCHED TRUMPET

DRUMS AND LOWER PITCHED TRUMPET

I'm quite liking the sound of that.

I think as a... like, side chain that to the kick,

I think that might sound quite nice as it ducks with the audio bit.

SLOWER TRUMPET

Yes, it almost sounds like it's, like reversing the trumpet.

It's quite good. Now we'll go for the wild card.

CAR HORN

LAUGHS

Let's try this, see what it sounds like.

MUSIC WITH REPEATED CAR HORN

This doesn't sound quite right,

so I'm going to alter the pitch of it.

VARIOUS CAR HORN TONES

CAR HORN FADES

You know, I'll probably work on it a bit more,

pay more attention to detail, progress it into a finished song.

DRUM BEAT AND REPEATED LOW TONES

So, this is a really clear way to understand a track.

There's no musical notes at all,

it's more of a visual roadmap of the song.

'In this format, I can really see how the track

'is actually a series of repeating sounds and riffs.

'I can see the way he's laid out the samples

'and how some appear more regularly than others.'

DRUMBEAT AND LOW TONES CONTINUE

I reckon Happa did a really good job,

considering I gave him some pretty crazy sounds.

So as well as listening to music, why not write some as well?

It's not too hard to get started.

Get stuck in to a software program, pick some samples,

start chopping them up, and build some music of your own.

You know, if you have an idea for a song,

there's no reason to not start writing it.

You don't have to wait years for your friend to become an amazing drummer,

or spend loads of money on an expensive string quartet.

You can play any instrument you want using MIDI and digital software.

This brilliant track called Laura Palmer

off Bastille's number one album, was produced exactly like that.

# All the people of the town... #

MIDI is a system that allows you to create

the sounds of loads of instruments on a computer.

You can also use MIDI instruments, like keyboards or drum pads.

The keys and pads can trigger sounds on your computer,

where you can later alter the pitch, strength,

or sound of any of the notes, which makes MIDI technology great

for song writing, because you can play any instrument in the world.

Dan Smith from Bastille and his producer Mark Crew

have written a lot of songs, including Laura Palmer,

using MIDI technology.

'I'm heading out to meet them to get a bit more info.'

-Hey guys, nice to meet you.

-Hiya.

-How's it going?

-Hey, man, all right?

-Dev, nice to meet you.

How do you guys use MIDI technology?

MIDI technology in the way that we use it

allows us to basically play anything into a keyboard

and have any sounds in the world that we want to come out.

We've used it, like, throughout the whole writing process.

Like, when I'm recording demos in my room, I just,

I will get a kind of, a lyric or a melody idea.

I kind of start working the songs

into a computer before the actual songs are finished,

so I'll map out maybe the piano line, get the chords together

and do bits of the melody and then try and think of a beat.

So, how do you start?

Where do the ideas and sounds for a track like Laura Palmer come from?

Well, I had these sort of chords and I wanted to do these

big, weird, kind of atmospheric oohs

that do this, sort of this, like, descending line.

-PIANO MUSIC

-And I think I initially put it in a piano

and I sung the oohs over the top.

Part of the demo process

is that once I've played in the chords, or the notes, or the parts,

or the beats, or whatever, those things are there

and they're really changeable.

-You can have, like a normal piano sound.

-LOW PIANO NOTES

And then you can very easily change that to electric piano,

which is another sound we use,

this distorted electric piano music, quite a lot in the album...

FAST LOW NOTES

And, you know, I could click a button

-and then you could be playing...

-The timpani part...

..the timpani...

-Or strings.

-Or the strings as well, like...

SLOW VIOLIN MUSIC

For us, it's great to just have it there

and in our minds know it's going to change a bit.

So, you started with an idea on your laptop.

How do you progress from a demo to the final version?

Once we'd listened to the demo together,

we started to focus on sections, starting with the intro

with the drums that Dan had already done and his piano part and oohs.

With the intro, we knew the oohs would probably stay,

and be something real, if not the voice.

So the first thing we focused on was the drum sound,

which Dan wanted to sound as much like a pulsing heart as possible.

So we sat and went through some different sounds,

and tried to find something that made us think of a heartbeat.

And then we started working on how to program the MIDI

to make it pulse as much as possible.

PULSING BEAT

We needed it to also be the backbone of the track and be really solid.

So we ended up putting more of a real drum kit,

full-to-the-floor kick on top of that.

BEAT CONTINUES

Our main job in the chorus was to get the drum kit sounding like a real drummer.

We used the MIDI from Dan's original demo

and chose a drum kit sound and went through all the different parts of that kit.

But we missed the big, cracky explosion of Dan's original,

more electronic snare that was in his demo.

So over the top of that, we used the same piece of MIDI

but just for the snare, to play a slightly different sound.

SNARE DRUM

With all the timpani and the drums and the pulse and the new snare

sort of all layered in, it kind of sounds up and big and driving.

Kind of exactly how we wanted it to.

BEAT CONTINUES

There are parts that were in the initial demo that we then decided to properly strip out

when it came to the album version.

So this kind of ran through the verse initially.

And then the chorus exploded into like a big arpeggio.

We kept the arpeggio in the final version of the song.

I mean, MIDI is kind of completely fundamental to how we work.

And you can be really, really ambitious with how you want things to sound,

and where you want to go with the track.

It's not me sitting at a piano writing a song

and trying to imagine what it's going to sound like with drums in it,

or what it's going to sound like with strings on top.

You can, from the off, in the laptop, start recording it.

And even if they sound a bit cheap and a bit rubbish initially,

it allows you to bring in instruments

and sounds that you would never be able to find,

or that would cost a fortune to try and be able to record yourself.

# Found yourself a path upon the ground... #

You can easily get your hands on some of this MIDI technology,

so why not come up with an idea and get experimenting yourself?

You've got a whole orchestra at your fingertips.

One way of making music is to take as much time as possible,

playing with the sound, perfecting each element

until you get the perfect song, and then sharing it.

So what if you want to recreate your perfect song live,

or experiment and make new tracks from scratch at a gig venue?

Nothing beats making music live.

That could be with your band or on your own.

But suddenly you've got less time, less equipment, and an audience.

Not a problem.

Technology has opened up loads more ways to perform music live.

There are plenty of tools and tricks you can use when you're playing live at a venue

to help replicate the sounds you've made at home.

Don't have a drummer? You can plug in a pre-recorded drum beat.

Need your guitar to sound really explosive?

Stick it through a distortion pedal.

The best way to put all of this to the test is at a real gig venue,

so I'm off to play for a super excited live audience.

All right, I'm here. I'm here, everyone. I'm here.

There's not even nobody here!

My fans are probably caught in traffic or something.

Anyway, there's no reason I can't rehearse.

Firstly, let's see what we can get out of the amp.

There's a whole range of amps available.

Some of them come with built in effects,

So I can take this riff...

..and I can add distortion, delay,

maybe even some reverb to change the tone.

You can get them in the form of pedals as well,

which you can trigger on and off.

Let's try adding some distortion.

Pretty meaty, right?

So you can add these effects while you're playing live,

or add them to other instruments, like a keyboard or a bass guitar.

Nowadays, all of these effects are available inside of a tablet.

And if you're playing live, chances are

you're going to want to play along to a backing beat.

Now, you can pre-program one of these using beats, samples or loops.

Seeing as I've got one here, let's give it a try.

And if I want to be my own backing band,

I can use a loop pedal to create my own sounds.

-Nice riff.

-Thank you very much. This is my mate, Tim Exile.

He's an amazing live performer and he is able to take a single sound

and make it into a whole performance.

So this all looks a bit crazy.

Can you talk us through your setup, please, Tim?

Well, it's basically like your setup there.

You've got your looper here,

which is like your guitar pedal looper thing.

And there's just a whole bunch of effects and stuff.

I've got drum machines as well, and synths and so on that I can improvise with.

So, how do you get started with the performance?

Well, I probably start by grabbing the mike, just like looping a sound.

'Looping a sound. Looping a sound.'

And then I'd just, like, take that sound, kind of chop it up,

turn it into some kind of rhythmic loop.

Looping a sound, looping a sound, looping a sound.

Looping, looping, looping, looping, looping...

By adding audio effects to his original loop,

like distortion and reverb, Tim manages to build a whole new sound.

You've made you a basic loop. Where can you take it from there?

So I've got this drum machine there and I've got some loops.

I can actually add some drum loops into that.

So, let's say I'll get some more, like with the voicing.

# Ah

# Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah... #

So to that I could just add a drum loop

and something that will automatically be synced to it. So, like...

And let's say I could add a synthesiser to that.

Tim now adds other instruments to his original loops,

taking samples from his synthesiser, drum machine, or even his own voice.

This all sounds amazing, but could you do it with another instrument,

-like, say, I don't know, my guitar?

-Yeah, yeah, totally.

Just plug it in, yeah.

It's so great to make music with other people,

and technology means you don't need to be tied to home equipment to do it.

You can get out and collaborate with friends in a band, or other DJs.

Your collaborators are also in your audience.

They can affect and change the whole performance.

Tim does brilliant gigs where people in his audience

and online choose the samples he is going to make his songs with.

So now you know, the music you're listening to wasn't

perfected in the studio or with lots of kit.

It was made in the moment. Live.

Coming up with a song like Ellie Goulding's massive hit Starry Eyed

means creating a brilliant sound.

The beat's been laid down, the bass line's in,

and Ellie's sung the melody.

But the way that we actually hear the song is

shaped by different audio effects.

Go right back to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

by the Beatles, or Madonna's Vogue.

Loads of the most memorable sounds in music are often

a simple idea combined with some amazing audio effects.

I want to get more info from an effects expert, Starsmith,

the man who helped create the sound of Starry Eyed.

As a writer and producer,

he's also worked with artists like Cheryl Cole and Kylie,

transforming initial music ideas into beautiful and powerful songs.

-Hey, man, how's it going? Nice to meet you.

-Hey, man.

-Nice to meet you. How's it going?

-Yeah, not too bad.

So, why do producers use audio effects?

Basically different things you can do to a sound that can affect it in loads of different ways.

You can use them for a lot of different reasons, really.

A lot of the time I use them to fill out ideas in the track.

If the sound isn't particularly clean and you want to tighten it up.

Say if it's drums and I want to compress them,

make them really punchy. Vocal might be a bit noisy.

A lot of the time it can just be to gel things together.

So can you talk us through what some of these audio effect are, and what they do?

If you want, I could demonstrate some of these effects, if you want to record a line from the song.

Sweet. I thought you'd never ask. Let's do it.

'Time for me to limber up and lay down my vocal.'

# Whu-uh-oh

# Everybody's starry eyed

# Everybody glows

# Everybody's starry eyed

# And my body glows

# Whu-oh. #

'Yeah, I reckon I got that in one take(!)'

-So, be honest with me, how did it sound?

-It was...interesting.

Let's have a listen.

# Everybody's starry eyed... #

So this is it, completely dry. This is what you just put in.

-It's going to hurt people's ears.

-In a good way.

-Yeah.

# And my body glows... #

Let's check it out with some flange, always needed.

Flange is essentially a delayed version of the sound that is being mixed with the original.

# Everybody's starry eyed

# And my body glows, whu... #

Now, let's hear it all together with some delay as well.

Delay is the sound and then being repeated afterwards.

Reverb is also really similar to that, except there's no

spaces between the original sound and the dying-away sounds afterwards.

# Everybody glows

# Everybody's starry eyed

# And my body glows, whu... #

And just to make it really radio-ready, I've put some pitch correction on as well.

So Autotune is essentially telling the signal that's running through it

to be only playing certain notes.

So here I've drawn in the notes of the D Major scale,

so when the Autotune is working, it's only going to play those notes.

# Everybody's starry eyed

# And my body glows, whu. #

So how did you use some of these effects on Ellie Goulding's track, Starry Eyed?

Right at the beginning of the song, I've used some looping

on little bits of Ellie's vocals that you can hear, that sound like this.

# Sta-ah-ah-ah... #

So there, I've just taken the beginning of the word "star"

and chopped that and looped it up.

I've also a reverse of Ellie's vocals as well.

PLAYS BACKWARDS

So that obviously sounds very clearly reversed, but in the mix of the whole track,

you don't really know what's going on with the song

and it builds up tension as well, ready for the verse to kick in.

Many of these effects, like looping and reversing, were

pioneered by bands like The Beatles on their album Revolver, for example.

The keys in this song, I've used some flange on as well.

On the chorus, I decided not to use it cos I wanted them to be punchy.

Then it goes into the middle eight of the song, I decided to bring the flange in

just at that point cos it gives it a bit more spacey and a very wide kind of sound in the mix.

PLAYS SONG

So at this point, there's no flange on.

You can hear it switch there when the chords changed.

It's really easy to go completely overboard with effects.

You can put too many on and not realise immediately.

The best thing to do is really try and figure out where each effect is filling a space in the track

and then you learn not to put too many on really.

The guitar is live and natural sounding, so that didn't have much done to it. It's compressed a bit,

but that kind of sits there and fills its own space.

On the bass, I've put on some distortion as well and some EQ to really bring out the low end.

So it really fills out, gives the whole track a real kind of punchiness and beefiness to it.

The keys, as I've said before, they're quite dry.

There's no kind of chorus or flange on them yet. They kind of sit there along with the guitar.

The synths, on the other hand, have got quite a lot of chorus

and stuff like that, they really fill up a lot of the width in the track.

Once all those are in, the vocals are in, and they're...

It's really good with all the EQ and compression used, they slice straight down the middle.

# And everybody glows

# Everybody's starry eyed... #

Now I can really hear some of these audio effects Starsmith used on the track.

The flange on the keys, the distortion on the bass

and the looping, reversal and Autotune on Ellie's vocal.

It's amazing. Sometimes I imagine a song I really like

couldn't have sounded any other way, but of course it could.

That song has been worked on so hard and each little audio effect

is doing its job, making that track spot on.

# Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air... #

This is You've Got The Love by Florence And The Machine. It's a great song.

I love how each instrument is crisp and clear. You can hear a lot of space in the track.

It's like there's a big distance between the left and right edges of the sound.

None of this is accidental.

These are great choices made by the producer of the song.

Because the way the instruments work together and the way the track sounds

makes every song you listen to unique.

And music producers create that unique sound by mixing and multi-tracking.

Multi-tracking is like painting a picture one colour at a time.

Using music editing software, you can create a song by adding layers of sound one by one.

This means you can control how each sound will be heard.

Which is crucial when later on you want to mix all of these sounds together as a track.

Charlie Hugall produced mega hit You've Got The Love,

amongst many others, so he was the perfect person to show me

how multi-tracking and mixing really works.

-Hey, man. How's it going?

-Hello. Nice to meet you.

So how do you start a multi-track project?

I normally get the band in together and get them to play through

that track, so we can work out a good tempo for the song to work at.

And then maybe you get the drummer in on his own, once you've

established that tempo, to lay down the rhythm part of the track.

I imagine it's a little more complex

than just sticking one microphone in front of the kit, right?

You start with nothing, a blank canvas basically in your computer.

We assign those tracks to the instruments that we want to use to build up the song with.

There's quite a few microphones on this particular recording.

There's two kick mics here and they sound like this. KICK DRUM PLAYS

We have the snare microphones. The hi-hat cymbal.

Beneath that, we have the room mics and the overhead mics.

And so all together, the drums sound like this.

FULL KIT PLAYS

So I'm sort of seeing this as like building blocks.

You started on a foundation level with the drums.

Now, what do we need to put on top of it to make it sound fuller?

Normally, it's bass guitar, but in this case, we decided to use

a really low piano cos we wanted to just have this really grand feeling.

And it sounds quite small on its own. In the context of the song,

it actually adds quite a big foundation to it all.

And so with the drums, that sounds like this.

DRUMS AND PIANO PLAY

All right. So, what's next?

I've left a space here to record some guitar,

-so if you're up for it, we should give that a go.

-What, me?

-Yeah.

-You want me on?

-Let's do it.

-All right. I'll give it a try. Cool.

'Charlie helps get me set up, so I can start rocking out.'

METRONOME STARTS

# Sometimes I feel like

# Throwin' my hands up in the air

# I know I can count on you

# You got the love

# You got the love

# You got the love

# Time after time, I think... #

That's my rock debut, right there.

Now we can really introduce the weird and wonderful sounds.

We wanted it to be really grand,

so we decided to kind of add some strings and a harp.

Actually, in this case, we didn't use any string players at all.

We actually just used a keyboard with samples on it.

Here's the lower string section.

LOW STRINGS PLAY

And then we added the high ones, but this is all from the keyboard.

You can find samples like this on the internet,

and they're readily available for you to use in your own projects.

So it almost feels finished.

What's, like, the last ingredient you would add?

Well, normally it's the sort of all-important vocals,

because they're just such an important part of the song.

And then maybe after that, you'll add things,

like effects, or a little bit of percussion or something.

So we've got a lot of layers going on.

How are we going to get them all to sit in the right place

and sound finished?

Well, that's where mixing comes in.

And that's basically the way in which you balance the levels of each

individual element in the song.

Let me show you.

So, each of these channels represents each of the tracks on the computer.

For example, we've got drums over here. We've got the vocals.

We've got a harp here, and guitars, strings and piano.

So all of these effects and stuff you've got here are things

you can actually do on a computer at home.

So let's take a listen to the harp. We can move that to either side.

HARP PLAYS

So, that's the left side, central, or the middle.

Or actually at any point in-between.

Let's put that over onto the right side.

And bring in some other elements now.

GUITAR STRUMS

So that's the acoustic guitar,

and we've put that all the way to the left.

So now we've got something happening on both sides.

It sort of separates them so you can pick out exactly what's happening

with each instrument, so that you feel like you're in the song.

We've got those two things in, let's bring in the drums

and find a place where they sit nicely with those.

DRUMS PLAY

I think maybe let's have a bit more kick drum.

It's amazing how it really starts

to feel like its really coming together and coming alive.

So, once you've got everything in,

you just keep listening, and get it to a place that you're really

happy with it, and it might take a long time, but it's worth it.

'Seeing how Charlie built up You've Got The Love

'track-by-track was like getting an X-ray of the music.

'It's his choices that help make the song come to life.'

Take any song you really like.

Think about what's been put in. What's been left out.

How many musical decisions have been made to make it sound

that addictive, that unique, that good?

There's loads of different ways to make music.

You don't need a swanky recording studio or even a computer.

Technology is so smart these days,

you can make music on your smartphone or tablet.

'There are so many apps that can help you do this.

'Samplers, touch drum kits, and even synthesizers,

'are all out there now.'

And other apps to help you mix and edit your track.

Some apps are simple, some are more advanced, but the quality

of the sounds and the range of apps is getting better all the time.

No wonder people are making some seriously good music on them.

'I'm going to spend the day using just a few apps to try and make

'a track inspired by being out

'and about in my neighbourhood in London.'

I'm starting with a melody on the keyboard.

Some sort of motif.

A pattern that will keep popping up again through the song.

ELECTRIC PIANO SOUNDS

The sounds on these are amazing now,

and you don't even have to be able to read music or play an instrument.

You just get stuck in.

ELECTRIC PIANO SOUNDS

So, with an instrument,

there's loads of different options that you can try out.

You can choose a keyboard or a piano or a synth, and there's

loads of audio effects that you can use as well, like delay or reverb.

ELECTRIC PIANO SOUNDS

Sounds like a good start.

Now I'm going to import my keyboard track

into a digital audio work station.

When all of my ideas and tracks are together,

I can see how they sound against each other.

'Next, I want to lay down some drums,

'so I found myself a good open-air studio.'

So there's loads of drum apps around,

some that allow you to play in a virtual kit,

and some that allow you to map out the drum sounds individually.

Before I get started, though,

I'll set off this inbuilt metronome, to help keep me in time.

METRONOME CLICKS

DRUM PATTERN STARTS

The good thing about this is

I can layer sounds on top of each other, time and time again,

until you get the exact sound you're after.

TOM-TOM RHYTHMS

So now, if I want to, I can change the tempo of the keyboard to fit.

It's all about experimenting.

Use your ears and figure out what sounds best.

'I was passing a local studio and fancied a jam.'

HE STRUMS CHORDS

And a brilliant thing now is you can actually hook up your guitar to your tablet or phone.

I'm using this little guitar jack down here, but there's

lots of different ways you can connect an instrument to a tablet.

Now I can select an effect that I want and get recording.

HE STRUMS CHORDS

Now, if you're learning to play guitar,

or you're a bit rusty, like me, there's plenty of programs

that can help you figure out the chords you might need.

'Some of these apps will break down chords by genres of music,

'and others will even show you the finger placement on your guitar.'

HE STRUMS CHORDS

Now, if you don't own a guitar,

there's still a way you can get the sound on your tablet.

I'm going to add some rhythm guitar. It's really easy.

CHIMING GUITAR SOUNDS

Now, I keep re-listening to the song that I'm building up all the time,

cos I want to hear how the new parts fit with the entire song.

The sounds are clashing because everything's at a different tempo.

Now, that's not working,

so what I'm going to do is work on the bass line instead.

BASS SOUND PLAYS

Now, that bass line's going to need a little bit of work,

but with all these apps, you can keep trying out ideas

until you get the sound you want.

Now I think its time to record some vocals on to this.

# Bah-bah-bada-bab-bab Bab-bab-bah-ah-dah-bah

# Do-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Do-da-da-dah-ah-da-dah. #

The voice of an angel(!) Let's listen back.

-VOCAL PLAYS BACK

-'It's not the perfect microphone,

'but it's great for laying down an idea you might want to work on later.'

'But, you know, I still want the song to feel like the streets I know.

'I'll use another app to record some live samples.'

BELL RINGS

With these kind of apps, once the sound has been recorded into the smartphone,

there's lots of weird and cool things that we can do to it.

The sampled sound could be turned into musical notes,

or I can add other effects to it.

'I've got about six different tracks on my mixing deck now,

'all made using apps you can find on a smartphone or tablet.

'I've put all of the tracks on my computer for editing,

'and back home I'm doing more listening and lots more work on the song.

'I need to change the tempos to bring all the instruments together.

'I'm altering some of the sounds and samples I've recorded.

'And that's all part of the process of working out the track.'

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK PLAYS

I'm pretty happy with my mobile music experiment,

and now you can carry round all these music-making tools with you.

One of the great things about making music is working

and collaborating with other people.

That's why I've got some mates of mine to help me

do a cover of this Gotye song, Somebody That I Used To Know.

Because working with friends

and other musicians can add so much more to your songs

and make them a million times better than if you're working on your own.

MUSIC: "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye

I mean, you can work on a rhythm at home,

but what about finding a drummer

who can lay down an awesome beat for you,

or maybe a guitarist who can improvise a great solo?

or what if you want a massive vocal sound for your chorus?

You don't need to go on a national search for a great choir.

there's probably friends at your school, college or youth club,

who are just waiting for you to ask.

And no matter what facilities you're able to use, there are always

ways for you and friends to work together and record a track.

I heard that there were loads of budding musicians at Hayes School,

so it was the perfect place to assemble my band.

My first recruit is 14-year-old Liam, a wicked drummer,

who's going to help me lay down a really tight beat.

But before we can get started, we need to set up the kit

and get it miked up.

'We're using mics for each of the drums, the kick drum,

'the snare and the hi-hat,

'and we're adding two overhead mics to give us a full sound.'

So Liam suggested that we try

something classic, like a rocky beat, so let's give it a go.

HE PLAYS A ROCK RHYTHM

So what do you think about trying a few short fills

-to break up the rhythm in there?

-Sure, yeah.

HE PLAYS TOM-TOM FILL

Liam's playing along to a click track,

that's a guide audio tempo,

so that the beat stays at the right tempo all the way through.

We both keep listening and then trying out different ideas,

until we hear something we really like.

Next up, I need to get some of the other solid elements recorded,

the guitars and the bass.

Andrew is my bass guitar pro,

and Dave is going to play both the acoustic and electric guitar.

I'm using different methods to record each of the guitars.

For the acoustic guitar, I want a natural feel, so I'm going to

try recording it with a microphone and also this portable recorder.

It's got a stereo microphone at the front,

which will record a lovely, rich sound.

HE STRUMS CHORDS

'For recording Andrew's bass line, I'm using

'a DI box that plugs straight into our music-editing software.'

HE PLAYS THE BASS

'Dave's electric guitar is plugged into an amp,

'so I've put a microphone right on the front,

'which connects straight into my computer.'

HE PICKS CHORDS

Both Dave and Andrew are listening to the drum track

while they're playing, to give them that solid tempo.

It also helps them hear when they need to play quite straight

and when they can experiment a little bit more.

HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF

I've also managed to get my own mini brass band.

I really want the chorus to sound big and grand,

so the guys have suggested we record the chords of the track with

all the brass instruments playing together.

And I help out by clapping to keep everyone in time with the beat

I've already recorded.

BRASS PLAYS

The track is really coming together,

and now I'm ready to record the main vocals with Will.

It's a good idea to record a vocal in a soundproof room if you can,

so you don't end up hearing lots of outside noise.

I'm using a condenser microphone, which will help me

get a really clean sound.

# And you didn't have to stoop so low

# Have your friends collect your records

# And then change your number

# But I don't even need your love

# Now you're just somebody that I used to know. #

So, a few more people wanted to get involved.

Said I needed a bigger sound. Is this big enough?

UKELELES PLAY

All right, guys. Let' go!

One, two, one, two, three, four.

UKELELES PLAY

HE CLAPS HIS HANDS

'Using just a stereo pair, a microphone on the left

'and a microphone on the right, I'm able to record the whole hall.

'It will really give me a big, booming sound.

'It's a technique called the wall of sound,

'and it was used by bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys.

'All the ukuleles are going to really bring the track to life

'and help support the huge sound of the choir.'

# Ah, dah-da-da, dah

# But you didn't have to cut me off

# Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing

# And I don't even need your love But you treat me like a stranger

# And that feels so rough

# No, you didn't have to stoop so low

# Have your friends collect your records and then change your number

# I guess that I don't need that love

# Now you're just somebody that I used to know. #

Hooray!

# But you didn't have to cut me off

# Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing

# And I don't even need your love

# But you treat me like a stranger... #

Can you hear how all those musical ingredients have mixed together?

How the choir has brought the vocals alive.

How the drums, bass and guitars have formed a really tight little section

and how the brass just adds a whole other layer on top.

# Ah, da-da... #

By working with my mates at Hayes School, I was able to come up

with loads of ideas and sounds for my track

which I never would have been able to on my own, so don't just

think about creating tracks on your own at home.

I bet there's loads of people you already know at your school

or college, that are waiting to make music...with you.

I know how much work goes into putting a song together, like this track.

I'm lucky I get to enjoy the end result, and that's one of the best

things about making music, getting to share it with everyone else.

Now technology has made it easier than ever before

to give your music a life of its own.

No record contract necessary. The internet is waiting for you.

There are loads of music-sharing domains and social-networking sites

you can upload your music to, and other sites that allow

schools or colleges to release music under their own record label.

You can actually share your song

any time while you're working on it.

If you separate out your individual audio tracks, like the beat,

the keys, the melody, you can upload these tracks,

or stems, as they're often called, to websites, where other people can

comment on your work in progress, or even collaborate with you.

You're best off uploading music formatted as an MP3,

and, if you're sure you've found the sound you want and you're

ready to share the finished track, you could think about mastering it.

You can compress the audio channel so that the difference between

the highest and lowest levels of the sound is reduced.

That way, your track will sound as good as possible on everything

from basic headphones to an expensive sound system.

And that's it, right? No way!

Your music now goes out in the world, out to all those different

people listening, and has a life of its own.

But even then, the tracks can still develop and change, because

as long as you have the permission of the artist, you can always

remix tracks, and the possibilities for remixes are endless.

MUSIC: "Scale It Back" by DJ Shadow

'I want to have a go myself, so I'm here at

'a new studio to make a remix of this great DJ Shadow track.

'And I'm going to get some help from my mate, club DJ, Rinse FM

'and Radio One host, Monki, who's popping by to give me some advice.'

So, I really want to make my own remix.

How do I get started?

OK. The first thing you need to do is download the stems, which is

basically, like, the individual parts which make up a track.

So, I've already downloaded the stems off the DJ Shadow track.

I've got keys, I've got vocals and I've got drums as well.

Now that I've listened to the stems, where do I start?

So, making a remix is kind of like starting from scratch.

Because you've already got bits from the song, you've kind of got

a musical idea where to start from, but you have to make it your own.

Where do you want to go with the song?

Do you want to make it like a dance record or something more ambient?

I want it to sound a bit housey,

maybe a bit of garage in there as well.

Basically the kind of music I used to listen to when I was growing up.

OK. So the first thing you want to do is work out what BPM you want to start at.

So what beats per minute.

I've gone for 126 BPM, nice and up-tempo.

I was going keep the kicks four-to-the-floor, and maybe

be a little bit more creative with the percussion and hi-hats.

Be, like, a bit skippy on the off-beats.

So, this is what I got for my kick.

KICK DRUM PLAYS

And then introduce some hats.

HI-HATS PLAY

Some snares percussion.

SNARE DRUM PLAYS

Really go to town on my hi-hats.

HI-HATS SPEED UP

So, now you've got your beat on the timeline,

let's listen to the vocal and see where it fits best.

# I swear I saw a blue light

# My feet followed it outside

# I thought I heard someone say "Fly far away..." #

So, this vocal won't fit with the beat that you have at the moment,

so what you want to do is either like

chop up the vocal to make it fit to the beat you've got, or loop it

or stretch it, and that way, it will fit better into what you're making.

So, I figured out that the original is 84bpm,

and obviously I need to bump that up to 126.

What I'm going to do is time-stretch it so it's in the right speed,

but I'll also have to chop it up a little bit,

cos it's a weird time signature.

Once I've chopped up the vocal, I can put it in a sampler and play it on the keyboard, like this.

VOCAL SAMPLE PLAYS

Now, that is because I can get a little bit more creative with ideas.

Sometimes when you're just trying to do all of your edit

on the computer, it can sound a little bit robotic, but this one...

VOCAL SAMPLES PLAY

..you can get a little bit more jazzy with it.

So I've got a few different plug-ins that I'd like to use

to get my bass line, depending on what kind of sound I'm going for.

With this one, I want to make it sound a bit retro, a bit classic, like '90s garage.

So I've got this.

DEEP SYNTH SOUNDS

And I always like really weird noises in songs.

It's kind of my favourite thing. So I've got...

LASER NOISES

..weird laser things. I like that. Nice texture.

So it's already starting to sound like it's got its own feel to it.

It's really good you have already started using certain plug-ins,

because that way you find your own sound.

So now you should start looking at your structure.

Well, the way that I work is,

I have to figure out what A is and C, before I can get to B.

A being my intro and C being the drop.

I need to figure out those bits first before I figure out how to get into it.

'It was so great working with Monki and working

'on that new remix with her.

'She brought loads of ideas to the party.'

You can just keep experimenting and sharing musical ideas.

I've taken this track, and it's become...this...

DANCE TRACK PLAYS

# I swear I saw a blue light

# My feet followed it outside

# I thought I heard someone say... #

Sounds completely different, right?

Well, it's still not finished. There's more work I want to do.

And technology and music are never standing still,

and that's exactly the way it should be.

Who knows what the music of the future will sound like?

But you could be making it, right now.

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd