The Subtle Art of Modern Pop Production

[@shibuyajin_music]

its so refreshing to see someone talk about pop music in a not "boomer" way, like "back in the good ol days" or "kids these days don't know what is good music". Also this editing! Subscribed! So good!

[@MarsLos10]

I also love the fact that he technically is at a boomer's age.

[@jessticulatewildly]

No, not even. mid-GenX.

[@kozmobluemusic]

yeah unlike some people *[cough]* BEATO *[cough]*

[@michaelwu7678]

Pop Composers: “This is fun!” Baroque Composers: “THIS IS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD”

[@digitaljanus]

Pop Composers: "I have to make sure the snare hits at the exact same moment that swell cascades and then have them decay at the exact same rate." Baroque Composers: "Here's some numbers, bass and harpsichord players. Figure something out on your own."

[@McSlobo]

Baroque pop composer: "Hold my Fairlight CMI!"

[@MarkTarmannPianoCheck_it_out]

@@digitaljanus that's it in a nutshell. Quality on the most basic musical level, as opposed to glitzy tricks to make up for utterly disposal crap "organized noise" pretending to be music.

[@matthewmoore2839]

I suspect the space between those two sentiments is smaller than one might think.

[@JeanDoMax]

@@MarkTarmannPianoCheck_it_out I hope you never pursued learning music, otherwise it'd mean you actually took the time to learn how music works and still didn't understand anything. "This * insert any music genre you don't like * is not music" is a statement only made by people who have no knowledge of what music is.

[@7177YT]

Missed a few videos, came back for this one, and holy shit Mr. DavidBruceComposer what happpened? Editing and production quality of this channel apparently moved to stratospheric heights. Well done! Thankfully that's the only thing that changed, content is as superb as always...

[@wwvvvvvww]

It's particularly noticeable since the last video, probably because David now has a lot of extra free time during quarantine lol

[@crankypepper7343]

#streampunks in the wild

[@Syfoll]

Lol, same happened to me

[@tenalock]

its nice to see appreciation for those of us that spent 20 years dragging bits around on a computer screen

[@jalfredprufrock620]

Most dismissals of pop music as simplistic or meaningless reflect an ignorance regarding how to listen, analyze, and understand contemporary music as a whole. People still listen to music using common practice-era frameworks, when pop music production is a vastly more modernist, electronic, and detail-oriented process than most seem to understand. This video does a great job of showing what pop music is about, and I hope it reaches many many people who, regardless of musical education level, may not have even thought to listen for these details.

[@samcmusic3031]

Yeah typically the only thing that’s actually simple in pop music is the chord progressions but other than that it’s completely wild now

[@JZStudiosonline]

A big issue with pop music is that the singers generally aren't very good and the lyrics are absolutely terrible. The chord progressions are very simple and the songs really blur into a menagerie of mediocrity pretty quickly. I actually like the "genre" of chillstep, but pop music remains bad. There's also some that just have to be designed specifically to be annoying. It's kind of like that saying, you can polish a turd, but it doesn't make it worth anything. There's people in the world that polish mud balls and occasionally turds into glossy spheres, but they aren't really worth anything and it's otherwise meaningless.

[@AlexNiedt]

It really depends on the song, as far as things like chords go. There are some nice progressions in a bunch of trap/pop songs. Check out "Wake Up In The Sky" by Gucci Mane, Bruno Mars, & Kodak Black. Very colorful jazz chords, really. Same with Kendrick Lamar's "Alright". I always have to mention Omarion's old hit "Touch", too. Pharrell produced the latter two songs, and he is not afraid to throw crazy chords into chart-toppers.

[@jalfredprufrock620]

My point about misapplying "common practice-era frameworks" to pop has been missed entirely, it seems...

[@JZStudiosonline]

@@jalfredprufrock620 No, it's just that your point isn't really inherently correct. Sure, there can be some pop music that has depth, but then there's Taylor Swift singing about stupid relationships and twitter arguments. It's kind of like rap/hip-hop. The beat is fine, it could even be complex and potentially interesting though a lot of it is remixes of older songs, but most lyrics are just bitches and hoes, cash and blow. Real deep listening experience there. It's also hard to argue that the songs have any comprehensive depth when they all mimic each other and get muddled. It doesn't have anything to do with "common practice-era frameworks."

[@Patricia_Taxxon]

Thank you so much, music theory youtube talking about music production has felt very undercooked for a long time, this is an excellent primer for how deep the craft really is

[@LordQueezle]

David, I'm really liking the editing style you've started using. Crisp and clean. Keep up with the fantastic content. :)

[@arunthebuffoon4554]

Yeah, I really like small bits, like at 7:58 Some cartoon character walking across the screen (probably Mickey) Edit: actually it's Felix the cat. It pops up around 9:40, too. Also it's *actually* running for some reason in Kirkpatrick's original breakdown video (Dua lipa-pretty please)

[@kappabravomusic2101]

Animations reminds me about Monty Python hahaha

[@bveracka]

This is the first video of his that I've watched, but the editing is top-notch for a one-man operation. It kept me my eyes entertained and my ears listening.

[@ofvmusic]

I'm a "pop" music producer and this video is AWESOME, a lot of people says that pop music isnt even good music or that pop is efortless but its the opposite, it can be a really interesting and creative genre to explore if you want to. Great video David :).

[@Manafii102]

It's important to remember that even though high C sits at around 4000khz, a piano still creates harmonics and sound much higher than that in frequency each time a note is played. So you can't just EQ out entire sections without thought

[@Dudeguy217]

think you mean 4000hz, 4000khz is crazy high

[@ejb7969]

@@Dudeguy217 I think you mean 400 hz, or actually closer to 500 hz.

[@JimCullen]

@@ejb7969 uhh, no? 400 Hz is within the same octave as middle C.

[@ejb7969]

@@JimCullen Middle C is 262hz. Next octave up is high C = 262x2 = 524hz, which is much less than 4000hz. 4000hz is closest to the highEST C on the piano which is 4 octaves above Middle C = 262x(2^4) = 262 x 16 = 4192hz So uhhhhh that must be what you were referring to?

[@-iliketurtles-6127]

​@@ejb7969 You're mostly right, except High C is actually 2 octaves above Middle C, not 1. Therefore High C is about 262x(2^2) = 1048hz Also, 400hz *is* within the same octave as middle C.

[@duxnihilo]

"For a classical composer like me, it's good sometimes to step outside of my normal habitat and check what's going on in other genres and I particularly like checking out pop music production." Bless you! I recently listened to "Bad Guy" (or "Bad Boy") and that might as well have been something from another planet. I feel old.

[@laurenpinschannels]

Just sort of yammering thoughts this made me have: I think, similarly to microtonal music, if you're not used to listening to a genre, it can be easy to legitimately not have it fit in your ear properly. just listening to the genre for a bit, and getting a sense of what tonal combinations within the genre feel most musical to you and what songs do it well, I think can bring someone from "kids these days" about music to "kids these days, but hey at least there's a version of their music that preserves the legacy and depth of music". But, like, again, like microtonal music, "not what you're used to" isn't the same as "good". maybe you won't ever like Bad Guy because she's singing about emotions you don't share and the instrumentation matches them, or maybe seeing it as a song about her emotions and not about yours would make it enjoyable even if it's still not your thing; I've had both experiences with different songs

[@mutantbaby1672]

Try Ocean Eyes or 6 Feet Under or Hostage. Pretty traditional just dressed in modern pop. idontwannabeyouanymore is downright retro. The search bar is up there. Give them a go.

[@breitbartsimpson4940]

@@laurenpinschannels I think you're on to something, in this Adam Neely video he talks about difference tones. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hofZgJijqpKNis0

[@simonprecheurllarena]

Finally a classical music composer who dares to praise pop production ! It seems like wherever I go people just think it's cr*p without even trying to see its good sides

[@1998Cebola]

You're hanging in the wrong circles

[@Jinx-iw6zb]

Guitar players criticize pop music way more than classical music composers.

[@laurenpinschannels]

I think a lot of popular music is low effort in dimensions classical listeners tend to care about, precisely because so much of what defines modern pop and electronic is in things besides harmonies and complex melodies - instead often going for things like the funky timings, very (in-)harmonically rich sounds like the fire flick, etc things shown in this video, and one more I want to call out: often, boring simplicity - as part of what makes the music interesting in the first place. I tend to think of music in terms of what style of dance it's intended for, and eg berlin styles of techno and house are very musically interesting but are *very* focused on the main thumping rhythm because the music exists to headbob to. So if you don't realize you're listening to a song actually intended to guide you in headbobbing rather than guide you in ballet, I feel like that might guide you to look for the wrong things in order to perceive the song's intended emotion. THAT SAID, if you love classical, check out n'to, worakls, joachim pastor, etc. Porto is *so* good.

[@ze_rubenator]

@@laurenpinschannels The one aspect I find the most interesting in music is change. How a composer will take something and manupilate it and change it in all manner of ways over time. In classical music it's called either development or variation depending on the use, in pop music it pretty much doesn't exist. There are many cool beats and things out there, but the repetitiveness of modern pop music is so extreme that by the time I've listened to a song once I'm already tired of it.

[@1998Cebola]

@@ze_rubenator that's a hilariously tone-deaf response

[@Bthelick]

I was trained classically and eventually ended up in hiphop/dance/pop as a professional player/programmer/producer, and the one difference that stands out in comparison is that groove was rarely discussed in classical circles. like any rabbit hole, just as the classical arrangers will dive hard into chord progression, voicing and expression, these days in more electronic music I'm just as used to manipulating sounds by milliseconds until everyone is emotionally reacting to the rhythm.

[@ahmadmoussa3771]

Can you teach us how to surf on the sound spectrum in your next video?

[@DBruce]

It's a lot of fun :-)

[@DarkSideofSynth]

@@DBruce Do it with Jaws' soundtrack... still fun? :)))))

[@hassaanbangash4294]

@@DarkSideofSynth This is an Eisensteinian comment and I love it

[@DarkSideofSynth]

@@hassaanbangash4294 Thanks! Have a nice weekend.

[@hassaanbangash4294]

@@DarkSideofSynth Thanks! You as well :)

[@StephenJPilat]

As a producer it's incredibly refreshing to hear production talked about from an outside perspective without all the jargon and received wisdom. Thank you for this video!

[@stereoreservoir]

i felt the need to pop down here and mention this because no else mentioned it here... Nick Bertke (Pogo) actually had the exact idea to sample an Australian sidewalk crossing machine sound years and years ago on his track "Perthection" and many other songs of his use this sample. i know that his music isn't the most poppy thing in the world but i seemed relevant...

[@Bladavia]

Pogo is the God of sampling ^^

[@wellurban]

And Orbital on “Impact (The World is Burning)” back in 1993. It’s a distinctive sound that’s caught the ear of a lot of producers!

[@doug_I_do_not_consent]

I was thinking of Nick the entire video.

[@J5L5M6]

Meanwhile, blind people are losing their shit wondering if they can cross the street or not.

[@tomktl879]

And I almost didn't watch this because title says "...pop production". The "as seen by a classical composer" in the thumbnail made me watch it. Was worth it.

[@kaivrock]

I'm nearing 70 and have been recording for 23 years. This is fascinating and really not that far from mult-tracking from the 70's. Except now it's art for art's sake in a very good way. I admire the fun these people are having with this stuff. They're fantastic collage artists. I always verbally shoot down people my age or even younger who say nothing interesting is going on in music. Great video.

[@pakasokoste]

So the producers are the real artists behind all those famous pop stars. I always knew, but it's nice to be reaffirmed.

[@dontbeafool]

The reason mid range are lower is to trick your brain into hearing the music louder than it is. That trick is used a lot for movies as well

[@nightjaronthegate]

Yes, a shedload of work. You would be exaggerating if you said "shipload."

[@michaelandrewnewell]

AWESOME video! Thanks for throwing us music producers some love!

[@zaneonmeinhart7952]

I am very glad to see you interact with modern pop music that I feel gets dismissed by classical musicians too often. As a music educator, I feel that we classical musicians must first draw in new musicians through the music that they listen to, bridging the gap for the students to eventually gain a greater musical understanding. So, huge props for revealing the similarities in the creative process for classical and pop musicians.

[@jamaicanpianistcomposer]

@@BB27823 Does that mean you have the same energy toward minimalism?! more bad than good in classical music...Some interesting rhythms don't make up for simplistic harmonies, melodies and chord changes? I'm just asking.

[@asukalangleysoryu6695]

@@BB27823 Oh ho ho, that is where you couldn't be more wrong. Top pop producers are anything but lazy, they know what they're doing 100%. The true reason for simplistic soundscapes is that they sell more. People are used to 4-chord progressions now and familiar-but-new sounding stuff sells. Harmony and melody simply aren't what modern pop songs use to distinguish themselves. They use timbres, production and lyrics (of course) to set themselves apart. And that's okay. Pop songs are more products than art nowadays. If you want to listen to music made with more of an artistic intent, you are completely free to do so with numerous streaming services. Why does it matter what the masses are listening to?

[@MertensHelbelga]

@@asukalangleysoryu6695 he's never heard of SHOPIE and Carly Rae

[@JudeCrescent]

@@BB27823 Yeah well that's a very classical perspective to only assume that harmonies, melodies, and chords are the only important thing in music, or the things that determine quality.

[@JudeCrescent]

@@BB27823 that is completely incorrect. In fact I'd argue that minimalism in classical music is usually complete bullshit that would never survive or be taken seriously if it wasn't considered "innovative" or "subversive" or something else.

[@AustinAto]

Still watching but thought I'd throw this in as I'm a dance producer. You would reduce certain EQ areas to ensure key sounds cut through on the record, EQ areas that are more key for clubs, festivals..etc (basically kick, hats, snares/claps). Dance music tends to have its audio sculpted in the mixing stage with the context in mind. I think that's a difference to the perhaps purely artistic composer who writes for live setup in mind, whereas we write for the recording. (This is my POV and I'm sure many other people feel differently).

[@petermarsh4578]

But why would scooping out a whole slice of the master help a certain sound cut through? It makes sense if you're reducing one track to make way for another, but not so much on the track as a whole, no?

[@7177YT]

@@petermarsh4578 But it's true , you have to control what's happening in particular parts of the spectrum to showcase the important bits of the arrangement. The thing with the reduced low mid band though specifically isn't done to make a specific sound cut through the mix. That specific trick helps reducing muddy sounding frequencies which blur/mask bass and kick afaik. The lingo often used for ot is 'the track gotta have ass cheeks' (;

[@laurenpinschannels]

I'm not a professional producer, but as a hobbyist, personally it seems like the main reason I'd want to cut the 100hz to 200hz band would be to avoid distracting from the actual bass - especially relevant if you're trying to get the actual bass frequencies to cause distorted harmonics on bad speakers that sound to the listener like plausibly part of the song, which is a neat horrible trick to compensate for tracks being played on crappy speakers imo. I'd guess that songs that have that pattern also tend to have pretty intense high bass harmonics, from the various wobbly phasing sounds that define a lot of gritty vaguely-dubsteppy basses these days. I wonder how well that plays out in practice

[@micindir4213]

Because most spaces people record/mix in has muddy 100-250 hz range - typical untreated bedroom (or worse attic/basement with even worse acoustics). So marking such dips at mastering stage would : 1. Trying to fix issues with freq buldup. When you don't hear something clear you tend to overdo it, hence the buildup 2. Trying to apply different db/ freq curve. As you know ear percievs freqs differently at 85 db vs 115 db. That's my theory at least

[@tonedowne]

@@petermarsh4578 It's best not to do it in the mastering, or at least not too much of it. The low mid balance is the hardest. It is where the warmth and thump live, but as a result it builds up very easily and turns into mush. Almost every instrument has energy in that frequency range, so you have to be quite brutal when deciding what is going to make use of it. Also cheap playback systems like bluetooth speakers and Apple earbuds, don't have any real bass, so they hype the low mids to compensate. This means that if you overdo those frequencies, it will sound awful to the point of sounding broken. The big scoop on the Skrillex stuff makes it sound aggressive , tight, cold and detailed.

[@themandownstairs4765]

I've produced music for a little while now and I always subconsciously grouped tutorials and music theories into "me" and "them" categories, like production was an exclusive club that I was trying to get into. This outsider's perspective helped me realize what I already subconsciously do and what I've quietly avoided, which is really bridging a huge gap. Thank you.

[@LordEmilous]

3:43 I'd just like to point out that, from what I know, the ~250Hz cut that people make is mostly done in electronic dance music, where the bass and the high end are the most important. Each genre has a different mixing style. You wouldn't want a big fat bass on a ballad with a piano.

[@genesisPiano]

You really do put out quality entertainment that's educational. I feel like I've taken a college course in the past so many hours of your vids I've watched. Well worth supporting financially.

[@_banja]

you just condesed a huge amount of research and learning into a short fantastic little video

[@NiallC]

Just discovered your channel . Loving the animation edits and your descriptions. Essential viewing for one who's new to DAWs and composition (me ..lol). Thanks a million!

[@MuayThaiDreadlock]

Remember...at one point miles davis was considered pop and his listeners "hipsters" my father was/is one of them. Pop music is very much so the "heartbeat" of the people. In the period a song is popular no longer determines hoe "cool" or even "useful" it is.

[@xander1052]

damn I've never been this early to a quality analysis of music by David Bruce.

[@petermarsh4578]

I adore your graphics work. So much great character to keep the video engaging on top of the top notch content!

[@MentalBlue]

Very very god perceiving of details. I love the freedom of no rules in pop production! As long as it sounds good - there are simply no rules at all.

[@tedtrump930]

Yes it's awesome

[@5StringTheory]

What a step up on visuals and graphics! And the educational content is amazing as always. Thank you Bruce!

[@Bthelick]

yup, every aspect of music is a beautiful, complex rabbit hole, that very few can 'wear all hats' of, heavily generalising here I would argue 'classical' tends to focus largely on harmony, but harmony is just one small part of the greater picture, and not always the most important depending on the message of your art. I've consulted in sessions with producers discussing what frequencies the reverb should contain so that listeners who've taken the drug mdma will react best to it, and then in another session been asked "what chord progression would best describe an orgasm?". All aspects of music are fascinating to me, as Bob Katz put it so well, the "art and the science" go hand in hand.

[@faheezeee]

Excellent video production for a classical composer. It's almost like you took what you learned from pop production and applied it to the production of this video! Liked and subscribed. :)

[@foerdeklang7617]

Thanks for mentioning the Ian Kirkpatrick livestream. I searched his whole video and It's definitively worth watching.

[@mopippenger7373]

It's so refreshing to see an honest look into the pop craft from a classical pov. It reminds me that you're a true professional!

[@shibuyajin_music]

so many gold nuggets on this video. Definitely will try some of those 7:48 lfo with the party crowd sample to make a hihat also foley. I know people think it's obvious shit but I never remember to add foley to my junk and finneas really made me realize how important those details can be

[@dacoconutnut9503]

"Avengers is, certainly, the most ambitious crossover ever made" This video, with Billie Ellish and David Bruce sharing the thumbnail: "amateurs"

[@Actiomedey]

its not a crossover though, its a picture

[@harrylane4]

@@Actiomedey "it's not a crossover, it's a movie"

[@VaughanMcAlley]

I produce classical music, and the goal is entirely different-to give the listener a faithful reproduction of a performance. Unless there's stuff wrong with it, hehe. Then you use all the tricks to make it sound like the right thing happened in the first place.

[@shibuyajin_music]

the idea of bringing the main valuable takeaways from youtube tutorials on the internet is genius to me. Please do more! So much value PACKED! There is a lot of youtubers I didn't know that I want to subscribe to them now

[@slimyelow]

Thanks Bruce for introducing me to Billie Eilish. I love your channel !

[@jazmineyazmin]

10:26 I actually noticed that when listening to this song a little while ago I had always wondered why it was chopped instead of faded out but it works perfect (most producers would fade out a vocal after they cut out a blank phrase to make the vocal sound more natural but he just left it here)

[@ChristopherRoss.]

As someone who works in protools all day, its interesting to see an outsider's perspective on what I do. Always love your content David, keep up the good work.

[@AdamSalaah]

background track is dope!

[@YostPeter]

I've never gotten so many good ideas from one video. Very well researched!

[@dsilvatrio]

Hey Bruce, thanks for posting this video very interesting as usual. How about exploring how certain composers blend different sounds of an Orchestra or even in reduced combos, for example the brasses or and woods, what roles they give to them and how creative that can get.

[@tommibjork]

Nice that you keep an open mind about music and find inspiration and innovation in pop music. As a "pop/rock" musician I hope this is a two way street and pop artists learned to play more real instruments, study tonality and edit their actual performances and not only samples from someone elses library. Peace!

[@devidasa9637]

Well done Sir !! Very generous of you to share

[@TimmyRamone]

It's wonderful to be a music fan in the current times. There's so much creativity occuring all over the place.

[@BabyBat14]

Just found out your channel, amazing didatics, explanation and video editing! The illustrations not only make the video more fun to watch, but actually add to one's learning process. Thank you very much!

[@danielbohen6476]

As a lousy music producer myself, I don't like the idea that everyone has been associating these "brilliant" production methods with big names like Finneas O'Connell . I just want to point out that ideas such as using everyday sounds in music, have been around in electronic music for a long time. Every time I heard these producers talking about their "tricks" with pride, my reaction has been: yeah, I watched a video tutorial on that 3 years ago! Pop production has not become revolutionary, it has just absorbed more techniques from electronic music. BTW, I love your channel David. For me, yours is the my only one with notification bell turned on. Keep it up.

[@lulimas]

Yes.

[@JZStudiosonline]

And yet, just above your comment @Jongsun Suh is claiming it's like modern art, where our pre-concieved notions are holding us back from truly appreciating the mediocrity and trite derivative brilliance of pop.

[@WalyB01]

It all comes back to the great pioneers of electornic music, like the mentioned Stockhausen en Fareses.

[@shmunkyman33]

I didn't see him claiming that the producers he showed *created* those techniques, just that he thinks it's cool that they do. Just because a technique has been used before doesn't mean you can't praise a producer for using it

[@BiblicalDeath]

even the consept of side chain which is used in just about everysong nowdays is belived to have come from daft punk. as an aritst that's part of the underground bass scene it's crazy to see things that are making their way to the pop world. even the concept of sub bass and all the super saws you hear in modern pop came from edm. I wanna see what he thinks of artists like kursa or Truth. even mr. bill and ill Gates with thier crazy grainular sytnhisis stuff. music is such a crazy fun world these days.

[@airanmilian]

This is a top top analysis, didn't expect to see you cover the production behind the musicality itself. Great fr

[@redtrooper7622]

Thanks for all of your hard work, I've learned so much through your videos!

[@jimmyhsp]

im so happy somebody like david bruce isn't just like "aagh it's all terrible you shouldn't be allowed to do all this my music was better." he's learning stuff from skrillex lol.

[@joelknecht7800]

Wonderful video again David...looking forward to your next one

[@zachary963]

A thought on the 100-250 Hz thing in classical music: when I produce, I’ll frequently dip out that area on an orchestra or other wide pads or anything with a lot of reverb. That area gets messy, so taking out a fee db in that are tends to “clean up” the sound.

[@daltorb8739]

@9:20 I've always considered the melody chopping in pop music to be a modern styling of hocket.

[@wheeledwards7684]

The editing and animation style is really good, if this is a shift in how you make videos I’m enjoying it very much

[@thejawshop-AdventureRecording]

David, great video and so nice to see your work again! Was just watching Groanbox after so many years.

[@dwilliams4142]

Fantastic. Thanks.

[@ThatLucasGuy93]

Hey this was really helpful. You're great. Articulate, patient, knowledgeable. Can't thank you enough.

[@chrisharrison809]

These videos have really gotten quite produced. Way to go. Thanks man

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

Wow, awesome video. You can tell the effort in the production as you say at the end. It is much appreciated :)

[@joshdistefano149]

This video was awesome, David! Thanks for the information. The video looks great too!

[@brendanhoffmann8402]

Wow! I really love some of the songs that you featured in this video and I'm an amateur DAW enthusiast. Really great video!

[@JP-zq8yv]

You became my favourite channel on KZbin.

[@michelnormandin8068]

Ce compositeur aborde régulièrement des sujets qui me fascine. Merci David Bruce pour ce bon boulot.

[@JimNichols4]

Excellent video. Will definitely return to this again. Great content. Thank you!

[@Caesar_Online]

This is incredible

[@mcavenaghi]

You are top notch David! Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy them!!!

[@harmonicparadox2055]

Pink Floyd's "Money" is another good example of the sounds matching the subject matter, while still being part of the music.

[@ScottSmithMusic]

Great put together, David! Super well done!

[@rontomkins6727]

Don't get me wrong, I too find all this stuff fascinating. What bothers me personally, about this process is that it is so incredibly specific to the minute detail, that it basically isolates the music to only working on the "recorded version". Once we all have that song in our ears, it will never match any attempt to recreate it again. If you as a performer then wish to carry this "finish product" and perform it live, you have to go through an excruciating number of work and computers and gadgets to recreate all the specific electronic sounds and digital effects, and even then, it will never be like the actual studio version that everyone has in their ears. You will always be making some alternate "version" of the song but it will miss all of that Produced Magic that it had in the studio. So it makes the music only work as that one finished product which cannot then be recreated. And yes, I know this is also true to an extent for all music, but this type of music is the most extreme version of that, making it so that some songs will simply not quite work when trying to perform them live. Or then, the amount of work to try to get them to sound like that, makes it almost not worth it since the musicians are putting more work into trying to replicate a sound, than simply playing a song. I believe it was John Cage who said that recording music was the equivalent of killing it. I never quite agreed with that, except in the case of highly produced electronic music. In that case, it's not quite killing it. It's more like: You've created something so perfect and precise, that it can only work inside its pre-recorded pre-engineered cage. You cannot take it out nor make any changes, or you will kill it. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but again, that's what personally bothers me.

[@josh34578]

I don't think all music must be performable in general. I think a musician can also be like a painter where the finished product is the focus.

[@MarsLos10]

@@josh34578 wow that's a perspective I've never thought of. Very interesting. You made me think twice. I generally agree with the opinion of the initial comment, but your way of seeing it is very acceptable in my brain too, nice.

[@samuelconnolly347]

I find this stuff interesting from a technical standpoint, because I want to improve the quality of my recordings and knowing what all these things do is useful. Some audio wizardry can really help to enhance a track and, it's a bit of a cliché to say, but all these digital tools are just that - tools to be used. This may not be the sort of music I enjoy listening to, but I admire creativity generally, so I'm interested to hear what people do with them. Where this video did lose me was when David talked about changing the notes and creating new melodies from a live-recorded guitar. It would really bother me if someone did this to one of my guitar recordings or if someone did this in a song I wrote. The songwriter/player clearly played that tune for a reason - manipulating this takes away ownership from the writer and performer. Then there's the issue of playability. What happens when you muck around with these things so much that the guitar line is no longer playable? What do you do in a live situation? I remember I composed a piece back in school and showed it to my trombonist uncle, who promptly replied that the brass lines I wrote would kill the players because of how impossible they were. Stuck in my mind ever since. I appreciate the acoustic/'live' world that I operate in is very different to the digital/studio world of these sorts of artists inhabit. It's something I find very difficult to get my head around. That minute level of audio manipulation seems rather insincere when there doesn't seem to be much creative reason for it - perfection for the sake of perfection, except the artist is never going to be able to reproduce it.

[@rontomkins6727]

@@samuelconnolly347 I agree!

[@SgtMacska]

@@josh34578 That is an interesting point. So this type of recorded music relates to live music as cinematography relates to theater acting? Related but made by different artists using very different media of expression.

[@JackMcDonnell91]

as someone more on the pop-production end of things, this was hugely insightful

[@liriosogno6762]

You really opened up my eyes about pop music!

[@Slooby]

It's so cool to see a creative marvel like you tackle unfamiliar territory. I'm glad you featured Ahee, he's a cool producer and his channel is far from as large as it should be. Please let this be the beginning of composers, musicians AND producers networking and forming relationships like we naturally do in our peer groups. My absolute goal in life is to be the best *artist* possible, something that production can only partially fulfill. Seeing videos like this really helps bridge the gap between classical theory and modern techniques and teaches young, aspiring (just turned 19) artists like myself confidence that one day, I will be able to pick up any instrument, record them, mix them interestingly and score a soundtrack worthy bridge right in the middle of the song for the hell of it. The only mainstream artist I can really think of that was ahead of his time in terms of thinking about music was Prince, and I think anyone would love to have the creative confidence and skill that he did.

[@ethern3l]

I Come from a classical composer background too and when i got out out of uni i started mixing/mastering it,s a whole new world. I compare mixing as the interpretation of a piece. Like i compose and put the notes on the sheet as Bach would do and the mixing is all the little details that the interpreter does to make plane notes sound alive and interesting. Before i used to frown a little bit upon pop music as being simplistic, but when you truly know everything that's is going on you gain a lot of respect for all the artist involved. It's a different world but brilliant individuals will always push the limits and find creative and imaginative ways.... to get laid! :)

[@thebooda]

Man I love your videos! Thank you for all your effort to make our days better!

[@forformgamer]

I really appreciate the craft that goes in to it. Personally, I find myself having issues with the way a lot of pop music sounds these days though. It often feels either really empty or too cluttered

[@stefan1024]

Great video! Love your reference to Eisenstein, just recently realised how much sound editing ows to film editing.

[@klokmedia]

Awesome David! I love how you approached this topic with curiosity and showed the cool, creative ways that music can be made. Totally refreshing rather than hating on something new like some other popular guitar KZbinrs do. Great video

[@soundguitar]

Super inspiring video and awesome production value! I hope to make teaching videos like this someday. Thanks!

[@chrissiper]

I love that videos like yours shed more light on all the detailed work that goes on behind a pop song! I get really frustrated when people have this elitist attitude and talk down about pop music when the focus of pop music is just different.

[@DannyJamesGuitar]

This is a really well made video - great work.

[@natigrinkrug]

Great vid! I've never been a fan of pop and rap music, but this kind of gave me something to appreciate in it...

[@louispearson8306]

oustanding video, please keep up the incisiveness and quality really appreciate it!

[@Cont0rt]

I'm personally not into modern pop music since I previously saw a lot of it as generic garbage but seeing how these songs were made makes me realize that a lot of effort was put into this stuff, even if it isn't to my taste.

[@bryanlevay2549]

The thing at 3:05 about the 100-200 Hz dip is interesting. My recording engineer brain hears it as “hyped up sub-bass”. I suspect this is EQ or other techniques that really goose the 200Hz.

[@idontwantahandlewhymustidothis]

This content is high quality af. I'm a visuals guy, I can't do audio for my life. Subbed

[@marcobizzaro3526]

EDM producer here! These kind of inter genre videos really push the boundaries of creativity, it's really cool to see pop and production from your perspective

[@henrywolf5332]

Mr. Bill and Frequent are electronic music artists who do amazing things with sound.

[@repker]

praise be mr bill, our ableton lord and saviour

[@odealianaffairs9001]

@@repker Mr Bill is my jesus

[@nukillerfridaymusic911]

it is too bad that this is seen as anything other than derivative production with nothing novel. Having someone that knows classical unfortunately does not give merit if the merit they are attributing is pretty much techniques that were done decades ago. Focus on the people doing interesting things. Pop is pretty much just production at this point and if that is derivative, then it is shitty art.

[@captainhero6550]

Didn´t expected to read those names here, but yeah they do incedible stuff.

[@uniworkhorse]

Man, this video was so enlightening! I love that this gives me so much more respect for producers

[@edde7752]

First time here, impressed with the amount of information and work youput on the video. Liked and subscribed with pleasure

[@AidanXavier1]

this is a really well put together and informative video

[@jacksonsmith9652]

Really awesome and insightful video. Subscribed!

[@roeland1205]

My favorite music genre is a genre called Hardstyle. Here producers have found a way to manipulate distorted kicks drums to play the bass line melody. Its beautiful and it's as populair as pop in The Netherlands. A great example of a track where this was done like it is done now is Noisecontrollers - Cntrl Alt Delete.

[@roeland1205]

Oh, a d ultill very recently, this could not be played live, because of the many many many layers you have to manipulate

[@RatzaChewy]

The vocal line on Don't Start Now is incredibly synthetic, with Dua's timing being so tight that she sounds like a vocaloid, but it's so full of little hooks that it just works. I think it's the way it contrasts with the classic disco tropes of 4-on-the-floor, bouncy baseline, electronic drums and bright string section in the bridge.

[@dennismikha7541]

love the editing

[@JamJam-VIII-II-XC]

This is refreshing. Great Video. I hit the Like button as soon as I saw you go Surfing.

[@NickP333]

Absolutely brilliant vid. Phenomenally put together.