Album referencing
When I’m recording, one of the things I enjoy most is referencing.
Not just finding a reference for how I want the whole track to sound, but pulling songs apart and finding individual references for each instrument.
For my new song, “California,” I had eight instruments — so I had eight references.
Drums: I wanted them intimate, dry, and underplayed, and for me that’s nearly always going to be Andy Shauf.
Bass: I wanted it plucky and slightly saturated, so it had to be Paul McCartney
Piano: Something warm and weighty. I always love the piano sounds on Without You by Tobias Jesso Jr..
Vibraphone: Something simple and kind of cute, playing octaves. I kept coming back to In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra for that.
Flute: I kept it very dry and breathy, similar to True Love Leaves No Traces by Leonard Cohen.
Flugelhorn: I don’t have many references for this, but I wanted that playful tone Burt Bacharach gets with his brass arrangements — especially on This Guy’s in Love with You.
Backing vocals: Weirdly, it’s the same song again, because I love the sound of those two female voices singing in unison before the big chorus.
Strings: Sadly, I didn’t have the budget for a full string section like his, but Sinatra’s strings have this romantic, high-gloss shimmer that just floats above everything else. So for that, I referenced California from the concert Sinatra.
All of these songs are in a playlist on both SPOTIFY and APPLE music!
Dan
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