Sound Like Bon Iver in Your Bedroom (Indie Folk Production Tutorial)

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In this video I show my entire music production process as I record and arrange an ambient indie folk song inspired by Bon Iver. I see this song as a mix of a few tracks from Bon Iver's 2011 self-titled album (Holocene, Towers, Wash).
If you're an artist or producer and you want to work together on a project, get started here: lucasfourniermusic.com/
My sample pack: lucasfourniermusic.gumroad.com/
The Justin Vernon interview in this video: www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2011/06/23/137328981/bon-ivers-justin-vernon-talks-about-his-bands-new-album
My social media and personal music:
linktr.ee/lucas_fournier
0:00 Intro
1:28 Guitars
3:58 Vocals
6:30 Electric guitars and pianos
8:49 Drums and bass
11:04 Recording strings
13:37 Backing vocals
15:00 Final song

[@snowandlightsmusic]

I don't think you made a Bon Iver song.... but you definitely DID make a Novo Amor song!!

[@TheZenMaster001]

Damn, this sounds like a mixture of Bon Iver and Novo Amor! Props dude, nice video!!! I'm a violinist myself and would looooove to make music like this! KEEP ON GOING! Love from Switzerland

[@SailingMagicCarpet]

This is exactly the sort of production tutorial I've been trying to find -- THANK YOU! Expertly done.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

super glad to hear, thanks so much!

[@ProdbyMxwell]

Your string production is insane

[@RuthBQuezada]

I hardly ever see producers who play violin/viola so seeing your playing made my jaw drop; you're on another level! Thank you for making these videos!!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! violin was my first instrument and I'm so glad I found a way to incorporate it into what I do every day

[@faxegameplay9918]

You are the right person who can explain how to do "Fine Line" by Harry Styles!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I love that song! definitely will be doing more breakdowns in that style

[@miguelpichardo07]

The closest tutorial to Bon Iver’s sound I’ve seen!! The self titled album happens to be my favorite!! Loved it!! Hopefully you can make more of this Bon over stuff for us!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you so much! Bon Iver's my absolute favourite artist so I'll definitely make more content about their music!

[@mattstalker4084]

Phenomenal. Truly a wonderful homage. The only thing that could have made it more Bon Iver would be more pauses, breathing space and slowing of tempos. Love it.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much, totally agree! I had to keep this under a minute for social media purposes, but if it was a full song the pace and build would slow down a ton

[@Sofiaaira]

this is perfect! i'm writing an indie/folk album for my dissertation and this is exactly the type of tutorial i needed. thank you so much

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that's so cool! super happy to hear it was helpful :)

[@massimilianoiannitti5838]

sounds a lot like S.Carey too, of course! great content btw

[@thelastbeing]

Wow! That was an amazing video and song! I'll be buying your string library.

[@pseudonymlifts2]

KZbin pushed this one hard in my recommended, took a while but I'm glad I gave in and clicked.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

haha welcome aboard, thanks for watching!

[@charltoniv3610]

Love how you articulate the way the double-tracked vocal is heard from both sides, as opposed to "one" source. Such a distinctive feature of Vernon's production. Gonna now attempt to try something similar... with 8 channels on my Ableton Lite 😅

[@lucasfourniermusic]

Absolutely! Sufjan Stevens did it first but Justin really put his own spin on it and popularized it a ton. Now it's just become a staple of indie folk!

[@scottkwiatek]

Ive never commented on youtube but WELL DONE. Great for educators and artists alike.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you so much!!

[@sn0wherb]

this is AMAZING stuff! so glad i found your channel :)

[@antoinebreton7632]

Def would have chosen the same album! The first one is iconic but the production on the second album is a more fletched out Bon Iver I feel like. Love the final result. Awesome job man!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

could be interesting to try the first one too honestly, I have this odd feeling that it might end up being more difficult

[@gabself]

Super helpful dude, thank you!

[@mon_nobi]

Dude, this is so good!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you :)

[@ThomasParrish]

awesome video

[@ryancohenmusic]

Hands down my favorite video yet! This was really awesome to see, pure magic brother!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much man :)

[@jamesfournier5324]

my fellow fournier! sounds great!!! thanks for the vid

[@lucasfourniermusic]

ayyy thanks so much!

[@matt_greene]

this is sickk and the video is very well made! excited to keep watching your content

[@lucasfourniermusic]

Thanks a ton, really appreciate it!

[@httjulia]

Please continue to bring more videos like this, your teaching is amazing

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I appreciate that a ton! Will be posting these breakdown videos as regularly as I can

[@oraclemusic2328]

have just started watching your videos honestly its FUCKING LEGIT ...... Pls dont u ever stop making videos

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much!!

[@Geothermal_Escapism]

oh wow! I've been looking for this style of breakdown of genre productions for a while now and nothing comes close to how well you've done this. Loved it. PLEASE continue to output more. Instant subbed.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

so glad to hear! I'll be doing one of these roughly once a month -- Phoebe Bridgers is in the works right now :)

[@TheHallberger]

Damn dude you absolutely nailed it! I’ll follow your progress, looking forward seeing where you will be in a year or two! 🤩

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you, I appreciate that a ton :)

[@west4coast77]

Really well done and thanks for breaking down your process. Excellent writing and musicianship!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you so much!

[@aashisheapen8230]

The strings add so much to this song

[@lucasfourniermusic]

strings have a tendency to do that haha!

[@HenryNewbury]

Well this is fantastic!!! Sublimely done, thank you. This deserves so many views ❤🎶

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you, I appreciate it a ton :)

[@ciaranocraobhach]

Very well done! You really nailed the vibe on this production, and it's truly one of those 'sum of all parts' scenarios.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much!

[@cwestmont]

Great job on this. Your efficiency is really impressive (in addition to all the musical talents!)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! I always feel very inefficient haha but glad to see it doesn't come across that way

[@WillWorth]

Excellent work. Subscribed. Keep going!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you :)

[@andressanunesmusica]

Muito bom! Amei ❤

[@oczyotwarte9207]

Great job! Thank You!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

Thanks so much!

[@Preohhh]

Wow, nice! Good tips and nice track at the end. I am very inspired by this to finally start making that album I've been thinking about making for a while now. Cheers! :)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I'm so glad to hear that, thanks so much and good luck!

[@tobyk-b6303]

More vids like this pls, this is exactly what ive been searching for, I know it wont be the same probably since the reason this was good is because you love this style of music, but even branching into other genres could be hype. Love your work and the music sounds great!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much, I'll be doing one of these a month and the next few are planned already!

[@PurosandMusicPodcast]

Wow. Great job! Thank you.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

Glad you liked it!

[@camstanley]

Beautiful track, amazing tutorial and great video editing. What more could you want in a production vid haha

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you so much, means a lot :)

[@BradleyRyanMusic]

great work!!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@GeorgefiVe]

Amazing job man! both the songwriting and the video are lovely to enjoy. Congrats and keep up the great work. You deserve soooo many more views

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much, really appreciate it!

[@yashvardhangaur3107]

holy hell, it took me a WHILE to realise you have less than a 1000 subs. This is SO WELL MADE! Loved it!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

haha thanks so much, really appreciate it! just getting started with posting videos consistently but I'm having a great time making them and seeing really awesome results :)

[@LaupaireOfficial]

Love it

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@ScottRandall31]

I love that you pulled back the curtain! Good stuff!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that's what we do here :) thanks so much!

[@philosyche]

so damn good! keep making videos and music!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you :)

[@Sean-qt8sj]

Fantastic!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@ashe_b]

great job man

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@AfterMorningmusic]

Thanks for this brother, really gave me inspiration to get into the studio! Would love to see production like RY X ;) Keep on going man 🙏🏼

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much, that’s a great suggestion! i did a cover of Berlin ages ago so it could be a lot of fun to run it back

[@Dhrubamuzic]

Sir plz upload lesson on different vocal backgrounds effect ❤btw thank you u r an awesome artist

[@beetlejuice4893]

super helpful video!!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

so glad to hear!

[@SimonMac]

Nicely done! I really enjoyed the video and was inspired to go make some music - you earned yourself two subs from this! :)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that makes me so happy to hear!

Very very good!!!!!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@JulianFernandez]

well done. subbed!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!!

[@AndeeRoemoe]

Well done

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@DavidComdico]

Nice job.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@danielefumi2493]

Good job

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you!

[@pepperbagbrethren]

incidentally this is also an even better tutorial for how to make a s. carey song

[@lucasfourniermusic]

absolutely! I've spent more hours listening to his solo stuff than any other artist. Would love to do a dedicated S. Carey episode but probably just wouldn't get the clicks unfortunately :(

[@monicafearon3507]

I LOVE THIS VIDEO! just what Ive been looking for! Any tips on building the chord progression?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! I wish I included more of the songwriting part in the video. Bon Iver chord progressions are usually really simple, at their core it's usually just something like I-vi-ii-IV. But what makes them sound so unique is that they always use pedal tones (held notes between chords that end up creating interesting inversions/extensions). On a guitar just try leaving a few strings open on every chord to create high pedal tones. And on piano just add a drone of a single note or chord that plays the whole time. Happy songwriting!

[@Paintingwithlight140]

nice song! good job

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you :)

[@marlonknockaert3233]

Thank you so much for making this, so hard to find videos like this, could you do: jp saxe, or adam melchor?

[@mrcouch1]

Amazing! any plans to do one for their 22, A million style prosuction?

[@jamesjames77777]

Just liked and subscribed, thanks for the great video. It’d be amazing if you could do a follow up explaining the reverbs you used!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! I use the plugin RAUM for like 95% of my reverbs. I'll try to include more mixing stuff in future videos

[@jamesjames77777]

@@lucasfourniermusic Appreciate the response man!! Will check RAUM out. I own a bricasti, a raumzeitmaschine and various other hardware reverbs and here I am salivating over what reverb you used, and it’s a plugin! Just goes to show that it’s all about how you use it. Great job man 👍

[@noahstelter9490]

this is so insanely good! you should try doing a novo amor track next!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

Definitely will do this in the future! won't be right away though since it's so similar to Bon Iver, but this is my favourite style to make

[@MikeWh]

You got it. Brushes on cardboard sealed my decision to subscribe.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

haha it works so well! I do that on a solid 50% of the songs I produce. Thanks so much for subscribing!

[@benjaminamundsen7812]

Amazing video. Love that you use FL studio, I do as well. More Bon Iver please! Also, you look like John Mayer.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

FL Studio is honestly so underrated. I've never gotten the John Mayer comparison before but it's a huge compliment haha so thank you!

[@kubricksghost6058]

Dope video man, im producing some similar sheit rn

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much, hope it's going well!

[@davidwilson5748]

Do you have any videos where you go in to depth on how you edit / treat your vocals? Amazing work!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! actually just posted one :)

[@St.Ivory_]

Can you make one for Hozier? These videos are sick man! :)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! great suggestion, I'll definitely consider it for a future one

[@garrettfrye2682]

The chord progression subtly shifts this song to more of a S. Carey feel.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I've spent more hours listening to S Carey than any other artist in the world so that doesn't surprise me haha!

[@NathanMandjes]

This sounds so much like Bonnie Bear and S. Carey as well! Great stuff

[@TheBeardsShow]

Tbf they are pretty similar sounding

[@theheaviestheads]

​@@lucasfourniermusicalso, very Novo Amor -ish

[@bowinski8645]

Very very well done! I’ve watched the video several times and everything it blows my mind! I have a question, do you offer any FL studio templates? All color coded and what not?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! this is something I've been meaning to do for a while. I'll make them available for free on my gumroad page soon once I get a chance to touch all my templates up!

[@DarrenMichaelMusic]

The video was super helpful man! what plugins did you have on the Accoustic guitar sends tho?

[@MrFenderado]

New Subscriber. Excellent job! Would you tell us your effects and mixing steps? I am trying to sound like that but my mixing is awful.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

there's a lot to show but I'll try to make more mixing-focused videos in the future! in general though, remember that a good mix starts with good recordings/a good production. I know that's *eye roll* advice but it's true - especially in this acoustic genre things should be sounding great even without any significant processing

[@clemensmaguire2953]

Great track. The vocal chain I would be very interested in.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I wanted to include the mixing but the video was getting so long haha! will definitely dive into this kind of thing more in future videos

[@clemensmaguire2953]

@@lucasfourniermusic Excellent. Looking forward to it. You are amazingly talented.

[@Dan-qy3td]

Great vid! Would looooove a 22, A Million breakdown but I wonder if the writing and production style of that album might be too specific and idiosyncratic to be able to replicate. But would love to see you take a stab at it!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much! I'd love to have a go at it one day, it's my favourite album. Honestly don't know if I'm a good enough producer for it to be honest, Bon Iver's last 2 albums feel almost impossible to emulate haha

[@gjeizon1235]

can you do a video on how to mix vocals cuz i really liked the way it sounds

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I'll add to the list! But for now if you watch my recreation of The National I actually show my whole vocal chain, but it's a very different style to this one.

[@gjeizon1235]

​@@lucasfourniermusicthanks man

[@Denizzen]

Hey man, great video! I have a question, tho. How do you record your DAW screen while also capturing the sound? For some reason when I try to do it I can only record the screen, and I'm pretty sure it's because I'm using an audio interface. I assume you use one too!

[@lucasfourniermusic]

oh dude, this PLAGUED me for ages! I use a plugin called ReaStream (native to Reaper but you can get it on any DAW) to route audio to OBS studio. It can be a bit CPU intensive sometimes but does the trick for me now!

[@Denizzen]

@@lucasfourniermusic thanks!!

[@tihhOfficial]

Novo amor

[@NoyElankry]

Thank you! I have a question about mixing the double vocals - if you tune them with auto tune and fix the timing aren’t you going to have some phasing issues? I feel like I have some issues (listening back in mono) not sure how to fix it.. any tips? Thanks 🙏🏻

[@IDontKnow-vd4vl]

Great video man! This might be a stupid question and maybe I missed it in the video but with multiple takes of vocals, do you line them up perfectly or do you just make sure they’re close enough? (Hope that makes sense)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

whatever sounds good! in For Emma Forever Ago Justin's vocals are super raw sounding and misaligned, and it sounds fantastic. But if you're going for more of a Sufjan Stevens sound with that chorusing effect, the 2 vocals are nearly identical. Just depends on what you're going for!

[@ahaabit11180]

Great job! One thing I was hoping you'd address was reverb on the vocals. What kinds of reverb plugins did you use and did you use more than one reverb on the main vocal and the background vocals?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I use the plugin Raum for 95% of my reverbs, for this project it was a medium sized spring reverb. Usually I do one reverb send for my lead and another for my backing vocals, but since they kind of all blend together in this style I just did one here in the final mix, it seemed to fit better!

[@ahaabit11180]

@@lucasfourniermusic Good to know! Thanks for the quick reply :)

[@ahaabit11180]

@@lucasfourniermusic Also, your website isn't working properly. I tried to check out your string sample pack and keep getting an error message: Error code: PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR

[@seantreyfr]

Do something like LANY Malibu night album (and vocals too)

[@harrywatson6184]

Brutal i,i slander to start lol

[@lucasfourniermusic]

haha I realized how sarcastic it came across, I actually like that album a lot but it's got nothing on the others imo

[@paolokutufa6625]

Sounds exactly like Novo Amor and Hailaker

[@noahshighlightreel]

6:06 okay Angelo De Augustine

[@christianhodgson5201]

This actually sounds alot like novo amor or ed tullet

[@tylerdobbsmusic]

do you have any fl vocal chain or guitar chain presets?

[@michielfransen9246]

Great tutorial! But I always feel like these bon iver tutorials are way more similar to other artists like novo amor and s. Carey's solo work instead of bon iver. Probably because of the breathy vocals and it being too smooth or something?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I actually agree - I think it's because Justin's voice is a big part of Bon Iver's sonic signature. I've never met a singer that has Justin's tone, and I know for sure my own voice is more similar to Sean/Ali. I do think the production on this track is most similar to Bon Iver's self-titled album (I pretty much copied Holocene lol), so I bet if you replaced my voice with AI Justin or something it would sound 10x more like Bon Iver.

[@mariusziskaband]

Hi where can i write to you if i want strings on my song ?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

e-mail me! [e-mail]

[@andrewjones_fitness]

Can you do one of these for Beach House style tunes? great vid btw

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that would be a really fun one! I'm doing one of these videos a month and I do a poll on my instagram story to see which artist people want me to do. I'll include Beach House in the poll :)

[@montecoucou53]

Another vote for Beach House 👍🏼

[@lucasfourniermusic]

@@montecoucou53 there's a poll up on my instagram story right now for the next one and beach house is on there if you wanna vote!

[@brentmarch3602]

what was on the acoustic guitar bus?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

In the final project there's a high pass filter, an SSL channel strip taking away some high end, an LA-2A compressor, and some final tonal EQ. I forget what was on the track when I first routed the guitars but it was way too bright for Bon Iver so I changed it a ton in mixing!

[@phonyk568]

“i, i is cool too” hahahaha

[@lucasfourniermusic]

funny thing is I actually really like it lol. just goes to show how incredible the other 3 are

[@phonyk568]

@@lucasfourniermusic yeah I agree. I really like it but if I’m going to put on Bon Iver/Justin Vernon, it’s not at the top of my list.

[@ambientworld5693]

how much is that software and how long does it take to learn...I am still using tascam 8 track lol

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I use FL studio, which is pretty uncommon for people in my genre, but it works great for me! It (and most DAWs) are a couple hundred bucks for the standard versions. They can definitely take some getting used to but are pretty essential for music production nowadays! Definitely worth taking the time to learn in my opinion.

[@ambientworld5693]

THANKS SOOOO MUCH,,,,so thats what was used in this great song?@@lucasfourniermusic

[@kubricksghost6058]

How did u find the harmonies for the vocals at the end? Is it just autotune or are u finding the harmonies to match the chords? Using 9ths and other intervals?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

It's a mix of improvising and thinking about the notes of the chords. I have a pretty extensive music theory background which definitely helps!

[@kubricksghost6058]

@@lucasfourniermusic nice! I understand some basic music theory. Is there anything in particular u recommend to get his sound, like pitching the vocals a octave apart or focusing on colour tones in the chords like 9ths or suspended tones

[@lucasfourniermusic]

@@kubricksghost6058 it's always good to have octaves so that your vocals are spanning a big range, yeah! I think for this style I usually stick with chord tones, but always making sure to have smooth voice leading in each of the voices (moving stepwise or by thirds instead of leaping around a ton)

[@tdc_2021]

Sounds like Novo Amor

[@lucasfourniermusic]

which in turn sounds like bon iver haha

[@tihhOfficial]

Spotify 😢

[@theclinkmusic]

Can I ask, why would you record in stereo to then pan left and record again in stereo to pan right. Is that not then mono?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

you'll get a slightly different tonal quality, since even when you pan it fully to one side you're hearing a combination of the tone of both microphones, since one is pointing more towards the sound hole, and the other towards the fret board. Also, if you pan it partially and not fully you'll still get a bit of stereoization. That being said, for the way I used it here, it probably made a very tiny difference in the overall sound. It was just easier for me since my mics are always set up in stereo!

[@theclinkmusic]

@@lucasfourniermusic thanks for the reply and love the song. Can I ask what’s your acoustic guitar. I’m just getting into recording and I’m going to buy a better acoustic guitar and a pair of mic’s for it and I want it to sound decent

[@lucasfourniermusic]

@@theclinkmusic In this video I'm using some kind of Yamaha, I'm not even sure the exact model haha but they're a great brand for acoustic guitars. I'd recommend just going to a music store and trying out a few different instruments to test out the sound. And as for mics, definitely recommend a stereo pair of small diaphragm condensers like the KSM137s I used in this video!

[@lillyellipsis7516]

It would really help if you would go through the vocal chain. It’s such an essential part of the “indie” sound. This video is almost useless without that information

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I actually disagree! I used a very standard and minimal vocal chain on this, basically the same as I use on every song but a little less bright and airy. I fully believe the sound comes from the writing, performance, and arrangement much more than processing chains. My only advice for this genre is being as minimal and raw as possible when processing.

[@tylerostermayer6726]

Sufjan is pronounced Soofyan

[@hoggboyy]

You wouldn't have to spend 90% of your time routing things if you'd get a DAW more suited to audio recording and mixing. I started out on FL and love it for making bests but it is really bad for recording, especially if you are doing lots of tracks.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

true to an extent -- I'd probably be slightly better off on logic or pro tools, but that comment I made was mostly a joke. Over the years I've found so many workflow shortcuts and optimizations, so I've gotten pretty speedy on FL. Some DAWs are certainly more geared towards specific things, but they can do any job if you dig deep enough.

[@LiamHaleMusic]

Or just go live in a cabin in Wisconsin for a few months

[@lucasfourniermusic]

haha that's a prerequisite

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

"I always auto tune my vocals"

[@lucasfourniermusic]

sure do!

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

@@lucasfourniermusic do you think that bloke out of Bon Iver does?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

@@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc have you listened to woods lol

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

@@lucasfourniermusic no

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

@@lucasfourniermusic first I listened to him do it live, singing through auto tune. Maybe he has worse taste than I thought.