Making a Midwest Emo Song (Joyce Manor, Modern Baseball)

This is my first time doing this so...go easy on me lol.
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⌚️ Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - Drums
04:19 - Bass
07:00 - Guitars
12:45 - Mixing
16:24 - Mastering
18:05 - Listening to the Song
19:33 - Final Thoughts / Outro

[@kevin.-iq7oh]

Love chilling to these videos. You also look like a dude that loves strawberries a lot

[@TrevBarnes]

This is my favorite comment

[@kevin.-iq7oh]

@@TrevBarnes mine too

[@konic2770]

dude your videos are my comfort place i swear

[@TrevBarnes]

That’s so kind, glad I could be that!

[@ImaginePrimal]

This is actually so fire 😭 i need someone to put some vocals on this

[@Whatdeflip-c9z]

Please never stop making these video's it's so inspiring 🔥🔥

[@jukeboxjoseph]

For midwest emo, Open tunings, Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, and weird timings! Love your videos man. It helps you use logic and a lot of the plug ins I have so I can follow along.

[@hobbyzach]

Love it! You're helping me get into production, love the videos.

[@TrevBarnes]

Glad I could help!

[@DylanDelirium]

Excellent work yet again Trev!

[@TrevBarnes]

Thank you!

[@drazenparicmusic]

Keep em up man!

[@ralfhammermeister9352]

Wunderbar! Danke!

[@TrevBarnes]

Herzlichen Dank!

[@CalmedByNature]

Nice work! I love to deep dive new genres. It's one of my favorite ways find new music and improve as a musician.

[@TrevBarnes]

Thanks! You gotta forward me your work!! Btw, this has been my #1 video to have on in the background while I work so thank YOU kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYiUYYuulK2XqtE

[@CalmedByNature]

@@TrevBarnes Nice! I had wondered what you watched when you mentioned it before. Those summer nostalgia themes have a hold on me. I haven't recorded any music but I did spend the better part of the last couple years learning Hawaiian slack key guitar which was a new genre for me. If you like messing around with open tunings it's a really chill and fun style to learn and play. This song got me hooked: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJTJnYRqa5WYqsksi=_81ehMzBQG0atL1y

[@noaha3006]

Wow. You nailed the Sound! Really really cool Song🎉

[@TrevBarnes]

Thanks!

[@isaiahcervantes4438]

I've watched over 10 videos already! Your content makes me feel content and chill. If you ever feel inclined. I would love to see your take on a shoegaze song! Keep up the good work!

[@tommyroyson5463]

Light synths are common in this genre, I’m also partial to the familiar good solo with bad tone that can pop up often

[@thanadech_sintheeradech]

ty

[@TheNightlyNoodle]

Subscribed before you even started making music! Keep on killing it

[@TrevBarnes]

Thanks my noodle!

[@chrismaghintay]

OMG! I love this. Pretty good grasp as someone new to the style of music. The swing feel of the drums makes it feel like a Joyce Manor song. Though JM doesn't use them, twinkly guitar riffs (hammer-ons, pull offs, and tapping) are a very common trope. But I think the true heart of this genre is the amateur vocals. It's really what ties everything together. Also, thank you for showing off your process. I write a lot of songs on acoustic guitar first and it never translates well when producing something on the computer. But up until now I've never really thought about laying down the drums first. I think I'll try that method.

[@TrevBarnes]

Thanks for the insight! I definitely should’ve added more “twinkly guitar riffs”, there was a small section of the video where I tried them out but decided to cut it out for time. Try out writing with drums first and let me know! I’m about 50/50 when it comes to what I start with when writing (either drums or guitar), it always just depends for me on the feel

[@SaltSpirits]

@@TrevBarnesthe lack of twinkly riffs makes it feel a bit more post-punk than midwest emo to me personally - not that that’s a bad thing, but those riffs *really* carry the mood of something like this and make it stand out. I recommend checking out Hot Mulligan’s album “Why Would I Watch” if you haven’t - it’s a fantastic example of this genre.

[@TrevBarnes]

@@SaltSpirits After listening more to other's suggestions, I totally agree! I will check it out for sure, thanks!

[@iainthemusic]

copying over the midi bass plug-ins to the bass audio track is such a good idea i cannot believe i never thought of that! that's so smart wowza

[@TrevBarnes]

I didn't think about it until waaaay later in my production career. It's saved me so many times when I was stuck with developing bass tones from scratch. Hope it helps!

[@iainthemusic]

@@TrevBarnes it really does! absolutely incredible.

[@TrevBarnes]

@@iainthemusic Also, love your videos! I caught your autotune video organically on my feed the other day, keep up the great work!

[@iainthemusic]

@@TrevBarnes GET OUT OF HERE THATS SO COOL your novo amour video came up on my feed and i watched a couple others of yours! dang that's wild. your stuff is so great! wow

[@iainthemusic]

@@TrevBarnes i would subscribe twice if i could

[@rashika19music]

that's such a cool thumbnail!

[@TrevBarnes]

Thanks!

[@therealmattmann]

Dude! I keep hearing a weird synth melody in the background during the driving chorus bit and a synth string drone. Killer song!

[@TrevBarnes]

I was heavily debating adding that exact idea to the chorus...I totally should have! Great minds think alike haha

[@therealmattmann]

@@TrevBarnes Maybe I’ll write the parts and send them to you as stems to see what you think! 🤔

[@TrevBarnes]

@@therealmattmann That's a stellar idea my friend

[@aquieteveningmusic]

These vids always make me wanna make music. Thanks dude! I'm going to try this out this weekend. Just spend a couple hours making something just to have fun. And I gotta check out Chromaglow!

[@TrevBarnes]

Absolutely! I've always found that making genres outside of your typical wheelhouse allows you to expand more within your field. And Chromaglow is seriously awesome, I'm loving it so far. I recently turned a vocal into a super gnarly synth with it, I'll have to share that on the channel. Enjoy!

[@samthomas1945]

These videos are so good, just excellent content. Also where did you get your shirt??

[@TrevBarnes]

Thank you! And I got it from Target! They have a whole bunch of linen shirts and pants that I've been loving.

[@harrythompsoncook]

The last section punches hard! Sounds great!

[@TrevBarnes]

Thanks!

[@BenjiDalton]

I'm not sure it sounds very midwest to me but that's subjective but in any case, killer tune!

[@TrevBarnes]

after listening more to the genre it’s definitely not Midwest emo lol and more so pop punk. Got the genres mixed up while making the video

[@BenjiDalton]

@@TrevBarnes well there is a lot of genre cross-over for sure though. Emo overall is a confusing genre that spans like 4 or 5 waves of movement. After the 90's were over people kind of tried to divide up what was emo and what was not and it's been a futile argument ever since.

[@curtisbrause9255]

Great job and this was a lot of fun! This is one of those genres I enjoy from time to time but the guitar always perplexes me. I’ve been playing for over 20 years and I’ll try to play a Tiny Moving Parts song or something like that in an alternate tuning with a bunch of slidey taps and it’s like what is any of this??? It’s like learning the instrument all over again.

[@TrevBarnes]

I’ve been really enjoying playing in Yvette Young’s tuning (D A D F# B E), but to your point it feels like learning a whole new instrument lol. I see a lot of younger guitar players who are incredible at the finger tapping and polyrhythmic stuff, but I think it’s mainly just because that’s what they are interested in learning when they’re starting. I have such strict muscle memory on traditional style that it just feels so unnatural to do anything else

[@curtisbrause9255]

@@TrevBarnes Oh for sure. My hands go right to the pentatonic scale. Not that it’s the only thing I play at all but if I’m noodling around that’s what ends up happening. Young players are so good now it crazy. Also though they’ve grown up with a KZbin instructional video for how to play any popular song. It’s so much easier. I don’t know how old you are but I’m 36 and I grew up hoping someone made the tabs for whatever song I wanted to learn and it would be somewhat accurate. Lol. Either that or you learn it by ear.

[@jackson.mp4]

so sick man! i’d love to hear you make a psych rock/pop song similar to tame impala :))

[@TrevBarnes]

For sure! Love the pfp btw!

[@jackson.mp4]

@@TrevBarnes thank you!! i’d love to see you do some tøp related stuff too, these videos are amazing

[@TrevBarnes]

Careful what you wish for because Paul Meany is my idol lol

[@jackson.mp4]

@@TrevBarnes you’re so real for that

[@csmcrckrs]

Spot on ... except for the glasses!

[@TrevBarnes]

Well how am I supposed to see :(

[@csmcrckrs]

@@TrevBarnes Haha sorry I should have made myself clearer ... the midwest emo stereotype would be one with thicker rims!

[@TrevBarnes]

@@csmcrckrs Lmfao directions unclear, running into walls in my house now

[@curtisbrause9255]

@@TrevBarnesGenuinely hilarious comment. 😂

[@RyanTrostle]

Would love to see you make a post hardcore song like Touche Amore, Fiddlehead, citizen etc.

[@theonejet]

So sick bro I wish guitars were real

[@TrevBarnes]

me too

[@wheresallthezombies]

It’d be interesting to see you do a post rock song.

[@kevinagustin349]

shoegaze next🙏

[@gr260]

you remind me of my therapist (compliment)

[@TrevBarnes]

Haha love it

[@ghastlyshimmer]

18:47 part would be nice if there was some twinkly tapping stuff. Cool video

[@TrevBarnes]

For sure! I know that's common in this genre, i just completely suck at it lol

[@ghastlyshimmer]

Haha. Extended chord voicings too very common in the genre.

[@pcvsgrande4707]

you should do song reactions someday!! here's one i recommend you listen to just in case: soul-net by DIIV. even if you decide not to do a song reaction video you should definitely check this song out whenever you can.

[@TrevBarnes]

I’m not sure I’ll ever do reactions, but what I could see myself doing is recreating something and trying to mimic the production style. So in a way, it’s kind of like reacting, but with implementation. I’ll check it out!

[@MattMaGunDee]

Loved the sound of that “mistake” at 11:52

[@TrevBarnes]

Happy accidents :)

[@gabet3754]

Was that a Mulan reference you made there?

[@TrevBarnes]

it absolutely was

[@itsfryzz4414]

is it midwest emo? hmmm

[@TrevBarnes]

not really. while recording the video that was the intention but turned more into pop punk.