Sound Selection in Trance

After composition, the choice of sounds that go into a song is the next most important factor in achieving an excellent end result. A good set of sounds playing a good composition should sound very listenable, before any additional processing (e.g EQ, delay, reverb or mastering) is applied. These processes can enhance the sound, but they won't fix poor composition or sound choices.

When I started mixing/producing, I focused on the "showpiece" sounds and took other sounds - such as the kick and drum sounds - more lightly. My attitude was "it's a kick - it sounds big and full. Easy, done". Then I wondered why my "showpiece" sounds didn't sound so good. In truth, every sound in a song affects how other sounds are perceived by the listener.

Today I'll outline the thoughts that go through my head as I choose each sound that goes into one of my songs. There are many different approaches to the art of music production – your method may vary!

I often start with the lead sound. I already have a melody ready from a composition session, so now I look for a sound, or combination of sounds, which sound great with that melody. Sometimes I have a sound in mind, and go straight to it, but usually this involves flipping through presets. I choose a synth I think will sound great for the melody, and see if any sound jumps out at me.

From there I tweak the sound – I make adjustments to the amplitude envelope settings, or the filter. I often turn off the reverb or delay if the patch has these. I generally prefer to add these during the mixdown, where I have much more control over them.

Once I have my main sound, I usually layer it with a complementary sound. If my main lead sound is quite centered and defined, I often combine it with a lush, wide sound.

Whenever I add sounds which have significant stereo processing applied, I check their mono compatibility straight away. There's no point in waiting until the song is almost finished to discover that the lead will disappear in some listening situations. I have a plugin on the master channel I can turn on to hear the song quietly in mono. If there are stereo issues, I either look to adjust the stereo treatment (if the sound is otherwise fantastic) or I choose a different sound. Adjusting the stereo treatment usually involves adjusting the timing of the stereo effect by a few milliseconds, whether it's a delay, chorus or any other stereo effect.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A LEAD: "strong enough to play by itself", "expressive", "distinctive" and "just as clear in mono".

Once the lead is in place, I add the next most important element to the overall mix. This is usually the kick, but could also be the main bass sound. For this example I'll go with the kick.

I generally have a sense of the type of kick that will fit with the lead, but am still open to serendipity - I have the lead looping while I browse through a library of kick samples. I don't listen to the kick in isolation (or any of the subsequent sounds) - sounds only have meaning within the context of the mix. I note down all the samples which sound decent in relation to the lead, to narrow the selection to a small number – maybe five to ten.

When I started making trance, I was more inclined to go with the "coolest, most hard-hitting" kick sample, without regard for whether it was appropriate for the lead and the overall song. Now, this can work for producers who have a very defined sound – in this case, the kick (and maybe the bass) would already be in place when selecting lead sounds, so it'd be fine - leads would be chosen which fit with the kick and bass.

Nowadays my main thoughts are "what does the kick do to the lead"? A kick can make a lead feel closed in, or open it up, make it seem bright or dull.

From this narrowed-down selection it's usually a fairly quick process to narrow it down to one. I find it helpful to turn on my “quiet-mono” plugin at times during this process too - If things sound good under these conditions, they'll generally sound good under most conditions. I do the "quiet-mono" thing for subsequent elements as well.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A KICK: "fits with/ enhances the lead", "oomph", "enough definition to cut through the mix" and "tight".

Once the kick is in place, I turn my attention to the main bass pattern and sound. In general terms, if the melody is busy, I make the bass pattern simple. Vice versa, a simple, sparse melody will usually go well with a busier, more driving bassline. The sound of the bass needs to fit with both the kick and the lead. In broad terms, I like to match the presence/hardness of the kick - a smooth, bassy kick will usually go well with a similar bass.

The relationship between the kick and bass is crucial to establishing a solid foundation for the mix. I like both elements to carry considerable weight – I want to feel the impact of both hitting me in the chest, rather than a clicky kick and subby bass. In terms of stereo placement, I usually have both the kick and main bass in the center - either as mono channels, or as stereo channels with the vast majority of the content up the middle. If I do choose a wider main bass I'll use a plugin (OtiumFX BassLane) to keep the low frequencies (below around 200 Hz) in the middle.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A BASS: "fullness", "drive" and "solid".

From here I turn to the Hi Hat and Clap/Snare samples. Once again, these involve browsing through sample libraries while the other sounds are playing. I narrow down the selections, I do the “quiet-mono” thing, I turn off the bass and lead to hear how the samples will sound in the intro and outro. All these factors play a part in the choice of sounds.

I look for sounds which fit into the space well – they have an appropriate stereo placement/spread, they aren't too dry/wet relative to the other sounds (although dry sounds can have reverb/ delays applied to them later on). I listen to the weight of the sounds – they shouldn't be too heavy or thin. I also pay attention to the length of the sounds and how these affect the groove. It's harder to pinpoint what I'm looking for in these sounds – a long gated clap could work well with a given kick and bass, as could a very short snare.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A HI HAT/ CLAP/ SNARE: “original/fresh”, "come through clearly in a full mix" and “good sense of space”.

Sometimes I add percussive elements at this point – I'm happy to create my own from one-shots, or use loops. Both methods are fine by me. To those who are fiercely anti-loop because it's not being original, I say that to create something truly original, first we would need to create the universe. The argument goes all the way down - why is using someone else's one-shot samples okay? If we create all our own one-shots, why is okay to use a drum which someone else has made?

Can we still respect ourselves, can we still sleep at night if we haven't created the universe? I can. It's up to each of us to make that choice.

The percussion is chosen/ created in a similar manner to the Hi Hat and Clap/Snare, though I do also focus on the way the timing of the rhythm interacts with the bass and lead patterns. I look for sounds which fit in around the Kick, Hi Hat and Clap/Snare – anything too similar in timbre to those will obscure the existing sound. I'm not overly concerned with the stereo space of the loop, since I often (though not always) spread the loop out to the sides anyway.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING PERCUSSION: "drive", "enhanced space around other drum elements", "not too heavy or piercing".

At this point I add in any additional bass layers, if I feel they would fit well. These sounds need to fit well in the overall context (naturally), but also need to lock in well with the kick and main bass. My main bass will usually be quite centered, while I use the higher bass sounds to fill out the stereo field with lush ear candy.

Again, I choose a synth and run through patches. The “quiet-mono” test tells me if the sound will get lost in a full mix. The pattern(s) played by the higher bass sounds will complement the main bass and lead patterns. When a sound is chosen, I usually apply a highpass filter to remove the portion of the low end which sits in the same region as the kick and main bass – enough to clear out space for these sounds down low, but not enough to make the high bass too thin. I often route the high bass sound to a send channel with a left-right delay, which has delays timed so the notes fall in between the notes of the high bass pattern.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING HIGHER BASS LAYERS: "expensive", "full and wide", "movement/modulation", "bass progression clearly audible even at very low volumes".

At this point I mute the lead sound and export the mix of drum and bass elements. I run this through a frequency analysis process which compares it to a library of other drum and bass sections from  great sounding trance songs. This allows me to quickly see where the mix is at, relative to the average and the extremes. If I've turned my kick up a bit too high, this quickly points out that 65 Hz is extremely high and that I should turn the kick (or the main bass, or both) down. It lets me know if a Hi Hat sample has a piercing resonant spike at 16 kHz, in which case I first try turning down the Hi Hat, then taming that frequency if that doesn't work.

Right – so now I have a very decent sounding foundation of drums and bass sounds to slot the other sounds on top of. I unmute the lead and listen to it in relation to the newly balanced foundation. Often the low frequencies of the lead muddy up the bass sounds, so I set a highpass filter to an appropriate frequency to rectify this.

The last main element I slot in is the pad, whether it's a single sound or a combination. The pad sits between the basses and the leads. I look for a sound which doesn't have too much going on in frequency ranges which conflict with those sounds. I often spread the pad out wide to the sides of the stereo field to provide a large, lush backdrop to the other sounds. I do the quiet-mono thing here too, though even the most perfect pad won't come through amazingly well under these conditions – nor should it, it would mean the pad is probably turned up way too loud! I also listen to the pad with just the lead sounds playing, to hear how they could interact during the breakdown. As an aside, I rarely add reverb to my pad sounds, whether directly or via a send channel. I used to, but I've found it really cleans things up when I don't do it, and pad sounds are generally lush/ sustained enough that they don't require any additional treatment to lengthen/ fatten them.

MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A PAD: "deep background", "filling the gaps with lushness", "warmth".

Beyond the main sounds, additional sounds fit in the gaps and are always auditioned quiet-mono, since at this stage many sounds will disappear in the full mix. I always listen to both the way the new sound comes through, and whether it obscures any of the existing sounds. The second part is a little more difficult - once we've heard a sound looping for a while, it's easy to take it for granted. That's why the "next morning quiet listening test" is so important - if anything is too quiet or loud or odd it'll jump out.

So there's my approach. It has changed a lot from when I started, when my thoughts were more like "grab all the coolest sounds and put them together". It will probably (hopefully!) keep changing as I have new mixing experiences.

I hope you've found this useful!

Fabian