Look Inside a Production with 850 MILLION Streams

[@mwright80]

Finneas himself said something to the effect of "if doing something produces the sound you want, that's the correct way to do it". I totally agree!

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Beautiful

[@CalikoTube]

But if you’re mixing and mastering yourself, there’s more to it. Unless you’re recording acoustic music.

[@BuffaloSpiritGuide]

love it! When Billie's album, that he helped write and produce, won all the grammys they were criticized heavy by some for various methodologies but there was a notable mastering engineer who was able to vote for the album to win a grammy who said: "At the end of the day it doesn't matter where you make the record or how, what matters is how it sounds and in this case it sounds great.". Something else to remember too is no one has ever invented or push the boundaries of music or the genre or whatever by coloring inside the lines or only sticking to the established rules. Breaking the rules in order to see your vision or idea through is the hallmark of countless silicon valley success stories.

[@MrBigNoodle]

It's kinda like food. If you put 10 different amazingly tasting foods with strong flavors together, it wouldn't taste good. You don't put chocolate and pizza and watermelon and salt and vinegar potato chips together. They all are amazing on their own but if you mixed them all together it would be horrible. You need some ingredients that are somewhat bland on their own for a dish to taste good. The most important ingredient is the one you leave out.

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Very well stated

[@Mope333]

Basically like a cheese burger

[@koppamida]

slayyy

[@p4ry4h]

well said ! the funny thing is my mom was a successful chef and my production is very much inspired by her cooking

[@BritishBoi_]

Im hungry

[@wellthisisinteresting4912]

It makes me feel quite relieved to see the simplicity and attention to detail in this

[@AJoelInOne]

Ryan Tedder talked about this in one of his master classes. Mic bleed, leaving fox comped, etc. The trend right now is for productions to sound more unpolished and raw. Intentionally underproducing this track in that way definitely fits that theme.

[@halfbee7886]

This really gives us confidence that we can do it! Simple is better when it fits the context of the song you want to make.

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Amen. So many people don't realize it doesn't have to be rocket science

[@joshuacrane]

Just watched an interview with Finneas where he said they used an AT2020 microphone on this track-a $100 mic!

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Yep. I mean the raw vocal pre-process is kinda "ehh" but it is good enough and processing worked super well

[@ZackWilliams_TheProducer]

Ayy that's the mic I have

[@Kshitijj]

Difference is he has the AT2020 going through $3000 worth of outboard gear 🤣🤣

[@chandeleerjet5637]

So cool to find this out. Same reason Billie sounds great on a $100 mic is the same reason Jimi would still sound great on a $100 squire and why someone like Flea would still sound like Flea on a $50 bass. Same reason Kanye recorded a quarter of his Jesus Is King album on iPhone voice notes and nobody noticed. :)

[@eprep9745]

@@Kshitijj yeah lmao and how many years of experience

[@patrekuringvason6579]

if you look at 10:00 in the video I think he cut the vocal pattern to avoid the click, if you listen closely he was just getting rid of a clicky sound :)

[@marcel1416]

yep, a softer "th" sound on the other layer. Great level of detail...

[@cryptokingz615]

If you get the multitracks from any of the classics from the 70,80,90's they are full of bleed but a lot of the time it adds energy and character to the track even if we don't know it's there. Polished doesn't always equal better.

[@ni3449]

BRO JUST PROVED "SIMPLICITY IS KEY"🎉🎉

[@CarmAlg]

Wow, this really puts things into perspective for me! I sometimes fall into the trap of fixating on little complexities, and the need to add more and more layers at the expense of simple, beautiful musicality. I guess our job as producers is to enhance what's already beautiful in the melodies or draw out and highlight the best in our artists.. not kill the vibe with over-production 🙈 Such an eye opener. Thanks for sharing this Nathan! Always bringing so much value through your videos, brilliant course and members community 😃

[@espacemaxim]

850 Miliion streams? That $10 check from Spotify is on it's way!

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

lol... try more like $3+ million. But close

[@jesssss12]

😂😂

[@BeeHatz]

always wanted to see something like this, it helps me be confident in my creativity

[@mukeshpathak7302]

Bro If you know more videos like this... Pls suggest. They help me build confidence as well.

[@jayjayrecordz]

Just get logic, there’s a couple more files like this on there that you can dig in and analyze

[@vewilli]

It‘s incredible how Nathan analyzes this producer‘s work. How effective all the little things are that are used here (effects, sounds, layers and much more). And if someone is able to analyze like that he knows what’s important to make a production successful. Here again one can see again what can be done with Logic alone. Incredible! 👍🏻👏🏻🙏🏻

[@peterbrandt7911]

Regarding mic bleed, small noises, imperfections in general, if you have a merely VST instrument only production, you maybe want some not so predicatbel details in your sound.

[@frog4744]

Dude! I have Logic and had no idea this existed, that's awesome. Really reassuring, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Awesome! Yeah it's in the Demo Projects in Logic! check it out

[@greyleaf]

Same until a few weeks ago. When I found out about it I think I spent 6 hours that night just digging through it lmao

[@dafingaz]

@@greyleaf There were a few others released over the years. You may be able to find them somewhere. :)

[@pemathinlay157]

NEED MORE OF THIS STUFF ITS VERY INFROMATIVE

[@alexanderpiano1506]

I have logic and love how they include these project files. It’s so cool to see the chains and decisions that a near billion steamed song has. Nathan, I know you talk about this a lot, but I went through and took off aallllll the plug-ins, and, the production still sounds excellent. I do think the mixing is incredibly refined on this production, but it just adds to a rock solid foundation. This song is eq’d the heck out with tons of boost to the high end, and yet it isn’t harsh. It’s wild and I don’t fully understand how all those boosts to the high end don’t make it harsh. But still, take everything off and the bare production sounds really nice.

[@Gino_567]

Some of the stuff you deleted I find pleasant. Like the mic bleed and the vocal tails, it's makes it sound almost vintage or warm and gives a feeling as if it live as if it was sung live. If you delete them, it immediately made it sound too clean.. it sounds very clinical.

[@thelookingcat]

I'm a part of Producer Accelerator rn, and I'm curious how you manage to keep making so much useful content, as it's honestly really respectable

[@pavlosberd.609]

9:53 he cut that place there for a reason, if you listen to it after Nathan removed the cut the vocal has a distinct click at the word those. So Finneas removed that click t hats why it was cut there.

[@DebraBrown162141]

This was a great video, Nathan. I *think* Billie was 13 when they recorded this which would have made FINNEAS 17. I’d love to see how he does things now at 24. He’s an amazing producer because he keeps it simple with a side of imagination. Check out the soundtrack he just released for the movie Vengeance. Same brilliance.

[@parsahasselhoff7986]

Even here there's much to learn from him. Kid's phenomenal.

[@radbradmusicartist]

This is exactly what i pictured

[@andremack1580]

Yes. I realized this too. A decent amount of successful songs doesn’t have 100 tracks in their DAW. It’s pretty insane and cool

[@mikhailfomin3851]

Tell that to Quincy Jones when he did the "Bad" album

[@andremack1580]

@@mikhailfomin3851 lol true

[@carriesolomonmusic]

@@mikhailfomin3851 VERY different style. It really depends on the genre and what you’re going for 🙃

[@dugganater]

It's simple, but you have to be GOOD to pick the right sounds. That's what takes years to learn (I still haven't learned)

[@carriesolomonmusic]

True, that is a big challenge for me too as I’m still learning. But we can totally learn and play around with sounds that sound interesting together 😊

[@xeityrj405]

As for the vocal's comping at 9:52 - he did that to get rid of this clicking sound at the begginning of the word "those". I'm not sure how to explain it, just take a listen and notice the click

[@PorshiaVonne]

13:38 lol I’m certain he knows by now lol I was also late to Ocean Eyes 🌊 I started crying to it in 2019 💜 them!

[@vivaleroca7511]

This is actually great reassurance that I'm producing my songs decently. Sometimes, you see EDM artists throw all these ear candies here and there and get the pressure to just add more, but in the end, everything is just essentially trusting your ear.

[@PorshiaVonne]

This session is so old but I enjoyed your deep dive. I’d love to see their recent projects (as adults) broken down.

[@joshuaallenzurbano3476]

Smart indeed. Unique kind of producer. Cause most producers use so much fx processing. His’ style is using textures of different instruments to complement each other.

[@PSOLOBEATS]

Finneas to me is a very smart and practical creator. His creations are kept interesting.

[@ethanarmstrong2888]

At 10:01 you can hear the high sounding click from her singing “That”. He chopped that part onto a new track and tweaked it.

[@L.S.DistrictRecords]

music doesnt have to be overly complicated. sometimes less is more. Also if it sounds good, then it sounds good. No need to over-do it when it comes to music.

[@dawid962]

THE KINF OF VIDEOS WE NEED. THANK YOU

[@jairrobalino]

I saw a video where finneas was explaining how he likes to leave the space in between vocal words to keep it more natural, and not making it so choppy by cutting out the spaces

[@joshuaallenzurbano3476]

Absolutely! The final outcome is all that matters. Those vocal track is not too clean to make it sound live or human.. Yup producers’ main responsibility is to support the song and not over produce it. Thanks for sharing your insights sir.

[@alvinedwards434]

Great breakdown. This is definitely a "less is more" type of production.

[@ninobangz]

Simplicity is the key .

[@LindaMary-sp7dg]

Crazy man. Mind blowing. I thought u had to have so much going on, but.... this has changed my perspective. Like you said Nathan... THE END RESULT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

[@whiteskull1067]

Nice. Lots of negative comments here that just don't get it. You are 1000% correct that it was a bunch of ingelligent decisions yet by no means perfect. The guy is a true artist as are you. It's the big picture that matters and he likely used the best tools and knowledge he had at the time to bring a specific vision to life that supports the song as you said. Artists work with a goal in mind. Not just throwing a bunch of stuff together that looks or sounds good.

[@whiteskull1067]

And the negative comments have all the tools and opportunities to stop being hates and start "getting it" but they can't stand to leave their ego at the door

[@mukeshpathak7302]

I love your videos Nathan. They help a ton ❤️ helps me realise that I know whatever is necessary to make a nice song, all I need to work upon is my creativity. Because sometimes I get these thoughts that I lack technical skills... But your video just made me realize, less is more. If done right. 🙏 Thanks for putting great content bro. Mad respect for ya 🙏💯

[@PetrolMediaInc]

I like to take advantage of gates a lot. Helps when the production starts to get to large.

[@AbC-db7ox]

I think they really good at story telling and just giving us their thoughts with sounds, in the right context, everything can sounds great.

[@speedyplays2006]

This was extremely informative and I learned a lot of things that I would not have learned otherwise. If you did more of these, that would be so awesome!

[@antoniotran5846]

I like these kinda production breakdowns wit nice clean smooth vocals

[@hzpfyjdcrbq]

9:59 there's a quiet click if you put it back, so I guess he just removed this noise

[@ShilohKeeling]

When it comes to vocals I think finneas tries to keep the vocals as truly natural as possible down to leaving heavy breaths in there. he digs deep into this method when it comes to “what was I made for”

[@arkistrate]

10:00 There are small cuts to remove pops etc, if you pay attention you can hear it.

[@ShilohKeeling]

This blows my damn mind! I’ve been literally trying too hard 😮😂

[@jdimeleegoku2971]

Perfectly timed video since I've been watching reactions of this project for 2 days

[@letyd250]

Thank you Professor. taking notes and learning more

[@lucasmoreira3237]

Thank you.

[@JonKovach]

Using that African kit particularly the kick with most of the low end filtered out will make it more audible across different listening platforms. You will still hear the kick on something like your phone speakers and when listening on anything with a sub the low end will be there from the other kit.

it's so insanely interesting to see how such world famous hits are put together wtf! Mind blowing.. 😮

[@shellypage]

Thanks so much for this video! As the queen of overdoing it (out of fear that I must be doing something wrong if I keep it too simple) this helped me realize I’m being silly. Great breakdown

[@Mc_Fleury.]

I wanna see more break throughs like this video of Finneas's and Billie's work

[@Genolexis]

This video is golden. Thank you Nathan

[@maximilianschaffler9981]

Just wanted to say that all the effects and presets he used are all built in Logic! No third partys on this song. On other songs that i watched videos on he barely used third partys, this really shows how far you can go for 200€ when producing. No multi thousand setups. Btw you where on low latency listening mode the whole time, where is disables certain effects (seen in orange and the speedometer at the top)

[@e-volution]

« It’s so simple » But simplicity is the most difficult things to do.

[@cinematichormone]

You areA-Gift To Producers Bro 💪

[@GewoonJimmyy]

great vid, it took me along time to wrap my head around the simple view. your vid wouldve helpt me if i found this ealyer

[@winstonhumphrey1985]

I does help when you have an incredible singer to sing in your songs

[@lawinter1949]

This was also made before some of the features included in this sample session were available. I remember when this first dropped on sound cloud and there were no vintage EQs yet in Logic plus I think a few other things I can't remember off the top of my head. So in short this session was even simpler when the song was actually released.

[@djcj]

Really cool breakdown. Thanks!

[@djronakdelhi]

Ofcourse it's simple but the idea behind it is what makes it what it is

[@p4ry4h]

i first heard ocean eyes (astronomyy remix) in 2015 and it inspired me to keep going once i found out it was kids some years younger than me making that in their bedroom.. i got to meet them in 2017.. v humble and sweet, talented ppl. thank u for this!! it's all coming full circle for me

[@majorwaveproductions]

wait, this has existed since version 10.5?? why have i never heard of this before? this is sick

[@carriesolomonmusic]

This was both informative and encouraging! Maybe I don’t have to spend 1000 to finish a song after all😂 Just get better at choosing the right sounds and arranging. Thank for this vid!

[@kevinsmoore1172]

Very interesting for sure! Question…I’m working on a song with vocals from 3 different people and one of them stood farther way from the mic than the others,,(my bad, I should have asked him to stand closer)..Now they’re gone, and I’m struggling to get a warmer sound from him. Did you do any tutorials that may cover a fix for this? Thanks in advance

[@deikay5414]

i think what makes finneas' production is the voices. not many producers push the voices as far forward as he does

[@smokeghost7814]

10:06 you dont hear that? he just removed that high noise its actualy wery good, 11:00 i dont rly remember but i was watching some grammy producer that was talking about that, and he said that he dont cut everything to death idk if i find him i sent it to you here

[@JBugz777]

When you have great lyrics & a great singer u don't need anything special

[@chrise13]

She's a damn angel.

[@wastelanderx]

9:50 He removed a "pop"/click sound. Thats why!

[@inFAMOUSBeatsGFx]

1:34 Ngl, that sounded like the pre-made test projects you get when you first open up the DAW 🤔Oh well, guess that's why I'm just sitting behind a screen commenting on yt.

[@DanielRojasBuscaglia]

It is not that it is good or bad, produced by millions of dollars or only 100, it is the identification that achieves, through the current letter or generation that will finally make it a success or not.

[@kennybissettsongs]

Love your commentary. Excellent.

[@mediahouseband]

I feel like Billie’s sound is super mouthy and “intimate” might explain some of the odd vocal edits. Great commentary!

[@orlasmusic2895]

Nathan could you hear the vocal bleed etc in the song before you looked at the the project files?

[@kimearo6035]

If that was an instrumental it would not get 850M streams imo. Billie's vocals what makes that overall production stand out. But I like that Finneas doesn't throws 100+ tracks of barely hearable sounds.

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

I mean name one instrumental apart from insanely popular film scores that have over 850M streams. I definitely agree that the vocals on this make a massive difference.

[@georgelydon4290]

he cuts out the part in the vocals where the lips are smacking on the T in "those" makes it sound a bit smoother

[@sarklimt]

simplicity is key

[@avav7223]

Initially I chose not to download the song examples when I installed my DAW but this is making me curious to see those works now 😂

[@bjarnyg]

geniuses makes a lot from little, others make little out of a lot.

[@sergio_grez]

Ocean Eyes is my favourite Billie Eilish song

[@nickoet2885]

11:52 now we know what those were lol. over the years, people have been debating as to what those words were turned out its just the reverse of the chorus

[@produktbaby]

Simplicity is all you need sometimes everything is simply perfect for an artist like Billie just a lil salt and pepper

[@jesssss12]

Billie coming through with all her layers 😂😂. Dam queen 😅

[@franciscifuentes1849]

La buena música es más simple de lo que pensamos...

[@squirrelhallowino29]

Yeah man there's this super crazy plugin on his song called billie eilish that just makes it pop. Also by the time he produced Ocean Eyes finneas wasn't no ''big producer''.

[@felicitysun]

I think finneas said something like there's no correct way to do this, if someone says you're not doing it right, but that's just how you like it, and if you like it a certain way then that is the right way for you.

[@derekmidgley]

Love your take on this one. Hope he gets to see it too 🙂

[@pierrefontaine5684]

How did you get this logic project. My Logic Pro x came with a lil nas x song not a Billie Ellish song

[@jshstuff]

This sounds like my first beat if I sent it to a good mix engineer

[@8teenOfficial]

This is why I love Finneas production

[@smrat3881]

Really great breakdown! Learnt a lot!!!

[@ozzebeatz1519]

The most simple beats are really the most complex

[@ProfessorSaibertin]

Thx for the breakdown :D

[@oliverkraft1621]

It all adds character. if it’s too perfect it’s dead

[@jonasgustavsson1133]

Thanks! This was great!! :D

[@ifiwantyoutofeel]

:D

[@PedraamJam]

The genuinity of your questions feels good I don't know what it is I just like genuine shit