The Mutt Lange Keyboard Trick

[@skyko]

Nice! Seemingly obvious, but how many times do we forget we are able to augment acoustic instruments with the electronic. Love it Bobby! Keep it coming. 80's FOREVER!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Skyko!!

[@genephillips4809]

Mutt is the legend he is because of years of experimentation. Most would've never thought to try this back in the day!

[@BobbyHuff]

Agree Gene!!!!!! Well said

[@aaronkaaimarino]

Awesome! Remember telling my friends back in the day, that there are keyboards playing with the guitar parts. Alao, pretty sure he was doing the same with the backup vocals.

[@BobbyHuff]

You were right Aaron!

[@BobbyHuff]

@ALJ Studios I must say in my humble opinion that it was the very best of the era for production and mixing. Name another album that sounds like it? The brilliance of the arrangements in the parts from a musical and sonic space and the carving of eq to make everything audible. Incredible....

[@davidfrench5407]

Before finding this channel, I had always heard that Mutt would stack the background vocals on itself a half dozen times or more, to make it fuller.

[@BobbyHuff]

@@davidfrench5407 there’s no doubt that he did that on some records. His voice by itself is amazing.

[@wildnites558]

I think Mutt was using a Fairlight to treat the vocals on this tune.

[@jamescordova1796]

Finally someone is helping me decode Mutt Lange's Def Leppard Production...Keep bringing the goods!!! Thank you!!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching James

[@MJ_Convey]

So much easier to follow now that things are color coded. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks MJ.

[@bryancolevox]

Excellent as always! Funny thing is I used that technique for years and had no idea that’s what Mutt did! Makes me feel like I’m not so crazy after all LOL! Thanks for posting

[@BobbyHuff]

Great Bryan! You are NOT crazy!

[@zibbybone]

Don't forget the quarter note synth-brass stabs during the B Verse/pre-chorus "Oh, look what you've done to this rock & roll clown"

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes I love that part!!!! Thanks for watching Zibb!

[@DrummerDaddio]

Whooooaaaa, look what you've done! I'VE GOTTA HAVE YOU! Sorry I love that part and couldn't resist

[@frankpaws]

Mutt would go through every patch on a synth until he found what he wanted.

[@jameskimble6133]

Mutt used to layer guitars that were close to overdrive so when you listened , you’d heard natural sustain and chorus and it would be just begin to sustain from piled up overdrive! Also, he would apply the sound of steam for a split second under heavy drum attacks that were of course, layered ! Man, just wait till I do guitars with keys 🎹 under em and Auria Pro is gonna be freakin awesome doing that.

[@BobbyHuff]

great! Have fun with it James!

[@MeTuLHeD]

When you blend in that keyboard, it almost sounds like a 12 string electric guitar. Shades of Roger McGuinn!

[@BobbyHuff]

I hear ya!

[@dallasstiles118]

I had the same thought

[@MeTuLHeD]

@@dallasstiles118 In fact, hearing the song many times on the radio over the years, I thought it WAS a twelve string electric guitar.

[@RicCrouch]

Nah... this is in tune!!!! :)

[@MeTuLHeD]

@@RicCrouch LOL!

[@Sonny_AA]

Who knew there was a synthwave version of Photograph buried in the Hard Rock version of Photograph!

[@BobbyHuff]

hahahaha

[@curvefeeler]

Reminds me of Boston's adding acoustic to electric guitar tracks.

[@PoppysGuitar]

Exactly! More than a feeling ! but its an electric 6 playing under the 12 string acoustic intro right?

[@dbendeth]

It is a great trick and opens up the guitars in a great stereo space. Nice one Doc!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Captain!! I appreciate you watching!

[@TranzparentMethods]

I love these Mutt Lange videos!!! He's one of, if not the best producers of all time. He's one of my biggest influences as far as producing music, without question.

[@tdz69]

Amazing how this little addition makes for such a huge difference.

[@andylong7759]

Amazing video! Thank you! This trick along with the whisper trick is what gives all his mixes that "fairy dust".

[@BobbyHuff]

Ur welcome Andy!

[@rayg6360]

Eddie Van Halen did that with and the cradle will rock

[@m4ssee]

Weird, I've been having ABBA's Knowing Me, Knowing You on repeat for the past couple of days because I love the guitar interlude that song has and just today I was thinking that there must be some sort of keyboard part playing along with the guitars since there's no other way the guitars sounds so good and then I come across this video. I've also been listening to a lot of Def Leppard's Photograph lately and I always think how crisp the guitar sounds in the chorus. Can't wait to try this trick next time I'm working on a track.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching man!!

[@oNTiger]

I had to go back and triple check because I like that interlude too, and I'm hearing at least 2 guitars with different tones, and definitely woodwinds or bell synths mimicking it filling it out

[@tibbss111]

Thanks for these tutorials. Should I even ask where you’re getting all these multitracks from? Would love to have them myself to explore

[@AljonGo]

Love the fullness! Great stuff Dr. Bob!!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Aljon!

[@mountaintop1368]

A fun trick I like is to split a guitar signal out of a DI box, overdrive and amplify one tap and record the other one clean. Later, you can combine them ( compression can help the clean channel) and you'll have a BIG harmonically rich tone. Experiment with relative levels, EQ, and panning for max impact. Additionally, if you're using a hollow body electric, mic it acoustically for a 3rd channel of harmonic richness. 🙂

[@jeffgreen4903]

More! More! More! Mutt tricks please!!!

[@Baribrotzer]

A couple of similar tricks dating from the Sixties: 1. Record the rhythm guitar part twice, but play it in different places on the neck so the chords have different inversions; pan the tracks hard-left and hard-right. This gets a huge sound. 2. Double a guitar part with a piano track turned low in the mix. Adds clarity. (A session keyboardist with a MONSTER ear is probably a help in this.)

[@BobbyHuff]

Great stuff man! Thanks

[@EZMusicman]

Good trick to know. Always interested in how Mutt Lange produced. Thanks for the info.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks EZ!

[@AZTEC-VAMPIRE-GOD1997]

Thanx Doc. Needed that proscription

[@MrDevins]

I always assumed that arpeggio layering was either a 12-string electric or a compressed direct Strat in position 4 (bridge + middle pickup), but THE DOCTOR's ears prevail again!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching Josh!!

[@glassheadaudio5819]

Love the “avoid-getting-flagged” rendition of Photograph. 😜 I’m definitely gonna start doubling up guitar riffs with synth patches more often. 👍🏻

[@BobbyHuff]

Great!

[@vaughanband]

Awesome, thanks Doctor Bob!!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Sam

[@kc3678]

I first heard of this trick used in guitar based bands in an interview with Beau Hill. I find synth really brings out the mood of a song. Now I have to get back my korg X3 I lent to a relative, paid $2300 bucks on a $1700 price tag due to interest, on a near minimum wage job. Those were the days.

[@BobbyHuff]

I remember some great Beau Hill records! Didn’t he do the band The Storm?

[@kc3678]

@@BobbyHuff Not sure, but another great band, vocalist was with Journey, or related? Ratt and Winger were the band's I was into that I read Hill produced.

[@michellelane6501]

@@BobbyHuff He did. Today I was reading an interview where he mentioned them along with Unruly Child and Kix as bands that he thought should have made it big....or bigger. But I think those bands (at least in the case of Unruly Child) were dropped when Hill left (or was asked to leave) Interscope

[@MarsHottentot]

I knew there was plenty of synth and Fairlight/LinnDrum on here, but I thought the "Photograph" chorus was an acoustic! WOW!!

[@seanemmettfullerton]

Cool baby cool... yes yes! give those edgy guitars something ultra plush to glide on :) You totally rock, Bobby Huff

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching Sean!

[@xjesusxchristx]

On some of my more proggy metal stuff, I often double the heavily distorted guitars with an acoustic, and pan it slightly more towards center than it's corresponding guitar(whichever is the inner of the two, just depends what I'm feeling is working best with the song). So say I've got a left and right distorted guitar, I'll put a different acoustic doubling each. I have a nylon string I often use on one, and pick another of my acoustics(whichever sounds best) for the other. Then I blend this so it sounds like 1 guitar on each side - but it brings a bit of chorus, and voicing changes, and brings out the notes lost in the distortion. I do this even in extremely low tunings, or doubling my 7 strings. If it's a really prog leaning song, I'll often include piano, or some sort of organ, as well. The piano/organ may or may not be identical.

[@regardinghenry2145]

Another great look behind the scene! And finally you discovered color coding! You´re becoming more and more a Cubase expert! ;-)

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahaha! Thanks Henry. I get in a hurry and don’t color code or name my channels... bad habits.

[@DH-zw6vz]

Another great and helpful video from the Doc!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Dolb. ❤️

[@JimPerdue14]

Great video. I used to do a similar effect using an Eventide H3000 set either one or two octaves up and mixing it in under the guitar. Of course it works best on clean-ish, picked notes.

[@BobbyHuff]

Great trick Jim!!!!!

[@Andyanddiana467]

Another cool keyboard trick is Bob Ezrin’s simple use of piano to double and thicken guitar notes. “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss is perhaps the most well known example.

[@BobbyHuff]

Good one! Ive worked with Bob several times. Talented guy!

[@tomforsythe7024]

I read somewhere that he does the same thing with bass, autotuning the real bass and mixing it with synth.

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes that is correct...

[@tonysalpinoiii5063]

When that guitar first came on at the beginning it reminded me of Run to You Bryan Adam's, which I believe Mutt worked on also..amazing

[@freez092also]

Bob Clearmountain special right there!

[@BobbyHuff]

Hey Tony. I love that one too. Not a Mutt production as it was before his time with Bryan but wow what a sound...and part! Mesmerizing!!

[@mikesmedleymusic6287]

Same here!

[@canuckupchuck2174]

Ever drive yourself crazy trying to find a Def Lep song that doesn't exist only to find out its Bryan Adams , I have. Thought Id died and gone to heaven and Lets make a night to remember, sound eerily Def Lep like.

[@DeanWThomas]

Thanks for all of these great videos.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching Dean.

[@SeeWhyMan]

100% cool. I just can’t stop hearing the 5th note of the added keyboards though.

[@ellamcclanahan9811]

Yeah keyboards suck

[@ryananthony4840]

Man another great one! Perfect timing too, been going synth crazy lately 😬😬 just picked up the Behringer clone of the Roland SH-101

[@BobbyHuff]

Great Ryan! Have fun with it!

[@ancientdesertsr]

Finally, an engineer that's using Cubase.

[@BobbyHuff]

Love Cubase!!

[@LoueWhose]

@@BobbyHuff = true dat Dr. R.B.G. Manors Creep

[@BukanIbuMu]

Joey Sturgis and Joel Wanasek both also use Cubase

[@BobbyHuff]

@@BukanIbuMu and David Bendeth, Dan Korneff, and Hans Zimmer.

[@BobbyHuff]

@Mr Zero thanks Zero!!

[@darrylmoore127]

Really Interesting , adds alot to it . Wish I had known this in the 80s when I had a personal studio

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Darryl!

[@TimE_5150]

Great stuff Doc, powerful simplicity. Another tool for the toolbox.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Tim!

[@rockinchippy]

Mutt is pure genius! Thanks for sharing

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching man!

[@WineSippingCowboy]

You hear this in Do You Believe in Love, Huey Lewis version, Lou Gramm + Mick Jones' Waiting for a Girl Like You, Ric Ocasek's Drive, Bryan Adams + Mutt's songs, Corrs + Mutt's Breathless + Irresistible. 🐕

[@BobbyHuff]

You’re a real Mutt fan too! Great songs.

[@WineSippingCowboy]

Yes! I did not know I was until I read the credits in liner notes of my favorite musicians or songs! 😎 I started paying attention #30years ago 🎂 starying with Waking Up the Neighbours + Hard at Play. I noticed Mutt's name. Then I looked at Hysteria. His name again! L🤣L Bc I played piano as my 1st instrument, I played the bridge to Everything I Do I Do It for You. I noticed the marimba + chime pattern was similar tonthe outro of Pour Some Sugar on Me. The cowriter + producer of both songs is Mutt! Aha moment! 🤯 No wonder E I D I D F Y went to Nr 1: modification of a sample from a 1987 Top 10 smash! 😎 What a genius! 🐕 I noticed that When from Shania + Mutt was in the same key as Bye Bye Love from The Cars, a Mutt client (song came before Mutt produced them). I forgot to add that Mutt had keyboard tricks in his + Shania's Come On Over album. No wonder that is the greatest selling country album by a female! 🐕

[@pdxfun4888]

Thnx Dr Bob

[@markgodden4727]

Sounds great!

[@soulSaysHi]

Killer!!! I’ve been experimenting with layering my moog one with my guitar tracks but I wasn’t able to crack it. This should help a ton!

[@BobbyHuff]

Great Aaron do it!

[@loungermusic]

Because I'm a lazy hack who now uses MIDI for almost all my guitar parts (Plug in a guitar? Pfft. Effort!) I discovered this when I accidentally duplicated my MIDI part onto the wrong channel. Yay for fat fingers. I was surprised how well it worked. But the real reason I'm commenting is that another nice thing to try is to add a pre-fader send effect to the synth (pre-fader, so that you can 'mute' the synth itself). That way you're getting the guitar mixed with the effect-only (reverb or whatever) of the synth .

[@BobbyHuff]

Very cool man! Thanks for watching. Gotta love happy accidents!

[@faderhead]

For most non-virtuoso music you can easily use MIDI for guitar parts. I am in the same camp as you.

[@myownyoutubification]

Golden content as always Dr BoB!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching man!

[@GetLocklab]

Great tip, thanks Bobby! 🤘🏻...I'm absolutely going to use this!

[@BobbyHuff]

Great! Thanks for watching!

[@mantrinbago]

Great tip Mr. Huff. Discovered this by accident messing around with some Alchemy patches. The layers sounds so good that am thinking of leaving out the original guitar part.

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahah! Another guitar player fired!

[@martintorrez999]

Thank You for this. I'm new at this and you're helping me sound like I know what I'm doing.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching Martin!

[@crisrose521]

All these nice tricks of the trade so to speak are interesting and helpful, though it would be nice to hear how to master them all together as well . . That’s where the magic happens

[@BobbyHuff]

It’s like driving a car. You have to learn how to steer, accelerate, brake, park, etc.. The more that you practice all the important elements of driving…the better driver you become.

[@crisrose521]

@@BobbyHuff yes , but you still need to learn how to park it in the garage. Hence , Mastering. Nice educational posts , thank you and keep them coming 🙏

[@EricMartinez-dg2lu]

You're awesome! thanks for sharing.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Eric!

[@themindbadger8]

Great trick. Thanks Dr B! I'll try this next time I've got something that sounds... almost there, but not quite.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@roknrole]

Who the heck is thumbing this down?! This is a great tip/tutorial.

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahaha. Gotta love the haters too Tim.

[@roknrole]

@@BobbyHuff good philosophy! Seriously, I’m so glad I found your videos...I love learning about these classic tricks! Amazing.

[@BobbyHuff]

@@roknrole thanks for watching Timothy!

[@crazybeatlefan]

The intro alone should get this 100k likes!...I regret I only have ONE like to give..lol..

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahaha! Thanks for the kindness David!

[@carlostorres1171]

I saw the Periphery guys doing this and it’s all over worship music. I always wondered where it came from. Thanks!

[@BobbyHuff]

Great! Just getting into Lauren Dagle. She’s fantastic!

[@amonchhetri1053]

damn..just the thing i needed RN..thanks so much!

[@JaviBello]

Nice one!!! Thanks again, Bobby!!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Javi!

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Like in "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" the electric strummy guitar is layered with acoustic strummy guitar.

[@BobbyHuff]

YES

[@archdukebigdogkoopa3821]

I'd add in more Guitar parts here & there to make it more powerful.

[@BobbyHuff]

I hear ya

[@Hiprich]

Wow! I love this. Beautiful content ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Cobby!

[@roynichol3751]

Nice thanks Doc !

[@BobbyHuff]

Thank You Roy!

[@whychromosomesmusic5766]

Love your new opening. The Dr. "Lounge" singer -- clever. I'm going to have to try out some of that with my keyboard. Just hope if I play it different it doesn't come OUT my nose! ;-)

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahahahahaha

[@whychromosomesmusic5766]

@@BobbyHuff And I had very good intentions of doing that, but, like so many times I ended up just messing around and improvising something. Story of my life but then that IS how I have written songs so I should not beat myself too bad about it. One song actually started from a Listening Exercise that my best friend/guitar instructor made for me to listen to. And we ended up recording it! lol

[@gregmann5687]

Thanks so much for another great set of tips! Keep it up, this is going to pay off! :)

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching Greg!

as always Dr. Bob, great surgery of the tracks. Mutt Lange's productions with Def Leppard are in the Quintessential Pop Rock production works, along with RTB's with Queen... Bob Rock... Flood... Rick Rubin... Butch Vig... Ross Robinson... CLA...

[@BobbyHuff]

Love all those guys and worked with some!

[@alanunseld4942]

once again dr bob mind blown 👍😎

[@BobbyHuff]

Haha! Thanks Alan!

[@bimscutney1242]

Damn. I never knew there were keyboards in that song! I use my poor playing to spice up my guitar……playing…..things.

[@freez092also]

There's another quarter note moving keyboard line in the chorus that wasn't featured in this!

[@BobbyHuff]

Spice it up!

[@Tterba42424]

Excellent!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Brett!

[@ardiris2715]

Not just keyboards, I toss in sampled guitars under the works as well. My songs generally only have one guitar part, but that part is HUGE! LOL

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching Tim!

[@Mysterio-Solar]

Look folks , Mutt Lange was fascinated with the The Cars / Human League bands at the time of High N dry and Pyromania albums . He actually wanted to incorporate Synth Keyboards up front on Foreigner and Def Leppard songs that he produced in the early 80s . The guys in Foreigner and Def Leppard rejected that . Mutt probably used Keyboards to do this trick . But there were EHX Synth or Piano Pedals for Electric Guitar at the time in the early 80s that could simulate these Keyboard sounds , as a Guitar was played .

[@keithnorris2109]

Dude - pure genius (Mutt, I mean; you're kind of a jacka$$)! Seriously, though, I've learned a lot from your channel. I use a lot of arpeggiated guitars in my stuff, and this trick is definitely going to make an appearance soon. Thanks, Dr. Bob!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Keith!

[@crazeyjoe]

As previously stated, the keyboard simply mimics the sound of a 12 string guitar.

[@StormrazorOfficial]

Best intro!

[@AzaleaMusic]

Great video. And aways a pleasure to see Cubase on the screen! 👍

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching! Been Cubase/Nuendo since day 1!

[@AzaleaMusic]

@@BobbyHuff Greetings from Nashville. Although I've used pretty much every DAW by this point (depending on the project), whenever it's up to me, Cubase/Nuendo is always my first choice. And WaveLab for the mastering platform. WaveLab plus Ozone is a pretty hard combination to beat! Looking forward to checking out more of your videos. 👍

[@BobbyHuff]

@@AzaleaMusic thanks man!’

[@DJMerck]

Had to give you a like just for the intro song alone...

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahaha! Thanks DJ!

[@timkrukowski1255]

The sound of my childhood.

[@BobbyHuff]

mine too Tim!

[@WizardOfArc]

I’m a steal this trick for sure!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Do it Azi!

[@WizardOfArc]

@@BobbyHuff sometimes I’ll write something in the midi/keys and then learn to play it on guitar... btw I’ve been using your/Jeff Lynne acoustic guitar trick in places as well 😁 I’m such a thief 😈

[@AGENTARMES]

What would you call that keyboard effect?

[@andrewoye3203]

Great vid....any chance you can let us know which Omnisphere patch you used for the 12 string sound?...thanks

[@BobbyHuff]

it is mislabeled in the video. That was actually Mutts patch!

[@HuffwareStudio]

Another flawless surgery with Dr. Bob...

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Huff!

[@toddscotdrumcovers2341]

Very cool!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Todd!

[@palmbeachdronepros152]

slick trick

[@josephballew]

You can do the same thing with a Roland Guitar Synth and layer two sounds with your guitar. I have been doing that for years.

[@BobbyHuff]

Great comment Joseph!

[@yerpman57]

Same here. Two Roland GR55 guitar synths for an enormous wall of unlimited sounds and textures.

[@robertbeaman5761]

I've used piano under down tuned guitars and also doubled bass parts with piano.

[@BobbyHuff]

Love that!

[@dalewier9735]

Bobby, at 5:06 when you add the guitars, i am hearing a lot of distortion, is that a function of mixing or is it recorded that way. Also the echo is adding to the competing sounds, is this mixed or is it suspensions with the sustain played on the keyboards? Anyway, really like your videos, i am classically trained and never bothered with learning the engineering side. You make me wish i had.

[@AndersJensenthreeonthego]

OMG I do this all the time! Never knew Mutt Lange did so too… cool!

[@BobbyHuff]

Nice!!

[@heartshinemusic]

Producer Howard Benson is also famous for doubling guitar parts with synths. Not sure if he uses the same method? But I guess so... (In the evening he doubles the guitars that were recorded during the day.) Would transforming the audio parts to midi be a good workflow to quickly get a synth double?

[@BobbyHuff]

Worked with Howard a bunch and you are correct! Yes transferring Audio to midi would be a great way. I’m not sure of the accuracy of that in most DAWS so you may just have to do it by ear.

[@heartshinemusic]

@@BobbyHuff Hey man, thanks for answering. Yeah, the accuracy could be a problem, especially if the guitar parts are distorted, but none the less you could at least get a good starting point, incl. the right timing. Monophonic lead guitar parts would probably be the easiest to convert to midi.

[@BobbyHuff]

@@heartshinemusic agreed!

[@MichaelGuy]

Are the only production consulting channels through that website?

[@mikaelandre4019]

This is just what I have been looking for. Now I don't need to buy a 12 string electric guitar. What Omnisphere sounds do you use? Great videos that gets right to the point. Great work. Bobby Huff.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Mikael. Not sure the exact programs I used because I rendered them and didn’t save the name!!!!! Omnisphere will have a bunch that sound great. Look under the pads and keyboard sections.

[@deansch6089]

I'm gonna have to go back and listen to Back in Black and see if I can hear it there. Seems like when you have players like Malcolm and Angus you might not need it after all.

[@BobbyHuff]

Yeah don’t think this technique was used on those records.

[@downboys]

Bob Ezrin did this with a piano all over KISS’ Destroyer record. Get the stems for the original recordings of Detroit Rock City or Shout It Out Loud.

[@JTguitarlessons]

Too bad those guys suck!

[@downboys]

@@JTguitarlessons - what the fuck ever man

[@merchannel7762]

Wow is this the difference between 70s and 80s guitar picking production

[@BobbyHuff]

In one respect yes...

[@scottakam]

Good tip.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Scott!

[@Kaisas]

You're pretty good at it Dr Bob. Are you doing professional mix/masters for artists?

[@dusty3913]

I knew about Booker T Boffin, but I didn't realize just how much he contributed to the songs. Im afraid now all I'll hear is keyboard when I put Pyromania on.

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahaha! Thanks for watching Dusty

[@archdukebigdogkoopa3821]

Def Leppard Photograph.

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes it is.