This always makes a huge improvement on any song

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Chapters:
0:18 What is ear candy?
1:28 Example song
2:35 Manipulated vocals
3:36 Ad libs
3:55 Background instrument fills
5:31 Foreground instrument fills
7:02 Drum fills
7:13 Bass fills
7:27 Arpeggios
8:06 The reverb trick
8:47 Swells & impacts
12:13 Risers & fallers
12:58 Lyric responses
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If you're new here, my name is Andrew Huang and I'm a musician who works with many genres and many instruments - and I've also made music with many things that aren't instruments like balloons, pants, water, and dentist equipment. For more info visit my website: andrewhuang.com
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Thanks for watching today and a big hug to you if you share this video with someone!

[@makeshift_battlefield_music]

sometimes I feel like I am overthinking my music, but Andrew makes me feel like I am not thinking enough

[@BraigeRoleyMusic]

Trueee

[@austinoblambino]

You know Veritasium’s video on Drew and Gun, the two mental processes? Musicianship is purely a function of Gun. Which means the only way to develop it is to throw yourself into the environment and let yourself figure it out. Musicianship is not something you can develop by thinking. It can only be developed by experience

[@pariwatwatthammasiri7099]

Same here bro

[@namebrandbeatz]

Please don't ever stop making these technique videos. They truly are priceless to learning producers. 💎💎💎

[@jsr7599]

for real, thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@jsr7599]

@L P they're philosophers like good movie directors can be. Put a movie like the terminator or the matrix in a written format and remove the "entertainment" factor and it is a poignant philosophical piece. I also feel songs/music/producers embody this and it's refreshing to see individuals like andrew huang break down the process behind it instead of keeping it hidden like some sort of great magician would.

[@WangleLine]

Yes please!!

[@Cautosome]

When I add ear candy to tracks it's like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. You never know if the candy will be banana flavored or vomit

[@yackman4368]

lol I've found if the idea doesn't instantly sound at least a little good especially when in context with everything before and after it then just scrap it. like I feel like all the ear candy that I have to spend a bunch of time on is usually the vomit and the stuff I spend almost no time on is the banana.

[@mrgsb]

this gotta be the funniest comment here!

[@kitschkub1379]

Yo it’s Cautosome! 👋

[@Standbackforscience]

I write/record extreme metal exclusively, and I find this channel to be a gold mine of useful information that easily spans genres, also Andrew doesn't yell at us the whole time.

[@Randuski]

Coming from bands, and acoustic music, ear candy was never a part of that. Just core instrument parts. But after exploring hyper pop, which is full of bizarre nonsense, it's completely changed my perspective. Even with soft acoustic songs, sprinkling ear candy all over it is really amazing. Total game changer for sure

[@juan-xn5kp]

Hello fellow hyperpop enjoyer

[@markturner2561]

I think the easiest acoustic ear candy equivalent I can think of is mandolin fills in folk music

[@TheSeeking2know]

💪

[@TheSeeking2know]

@@Leviathan-mj8gi I agree.

[@Randuski]

@@Leviathan-mj8gi yea for sure. But i guess my view point of it has always been different i guess haha

[@fish8128]

I love doing this. I love using way too many effects so this really brings a song to life. I love having synths with loads of stereo delay, really low in the mix. It's really good when properly mixed and mastered

[@andrewhuang]

Oh yah that can add so much!

[@slink66]

💊✨🉐✨💊

[@shala_shashka]

Using the Valhalla plugins to space out string synths is something I’ll never NOT do

[@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester]

Absolutely right. Just like classical composers did. Although Bach most probably didn't call it, ear candy .

[@someluck9354]

🤠

[@colinbrash]

Beethoven DEFINITELY didn’t.

[@davidwatts8281]

He called them ear lollies

[@EarleMonroe]

In German it's "Ohrenschmaus." Mmmm, just like Grandma and Google Translate used to make 😋

[@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester]

When I was in a band in the 70s, our recording manager used to say the music has to be sonically dense! Of course we were all on drugs at the time.

[@yackman4368]

I think my favorite type of ear candy is a break in the beat, or an entire switch up of the rhythm for a second, It's like a fill but more impactful. I love it when rhythm section is a bit unpredictable like in Jazz and Funk. Sugar is nice but so is spice.

[@offchristianamr]

i’ve listened to a couple electronic tracks where the artist chose to do a quick cut to complete silence during a chaotic drop section; it’s a super bold choice but it definitely grabs the listener’s attention and, ironically, adds a lot to the rhythm 😉

[@yackman4368]

​@@offchristianamr Yea I love that stuff. Rests, stutters, time changes, weird delays, polyrhythms, anything that keeps it fresh.

[@ingolifs]

This is actually really helpful. Adding little fiddly bits to a track is a fairly obvious step, but this shows you really can push it a lot further than you might otherwise think. I've always struggled with adding 'too many' tracks to a song, and it feels wasteful to me to have an entire track for a single background sound you only use once. The truth is, no one will ever care how messy your sequencer will look. They only care about the end result.

[@KingDavo]

Thisssss... Some times I look at the number of tracks in the playlist of my song and feel like it's too many stuff... But I know better now!

[@JonnyBriers]

This came at the perfect time, I've been thinking about this a lot lately! I call the process "juicing" One technique you didn't mention I call "subtractive juicing", which is just about cutting out tracks. For example you can cut everything out all the instruments so it's just the vocals for a couple of words (works great for punchlines in rap) or more subtly just cut out the bass for a beat or something like that. These things really make a big difference in creating memorable moments in your songs imo!

[@MaybeAnnatar]

One of my favorite music challenges I ever did was having a friend provide me a sample of another friend laughing and telling me he'd pay me $100 if I could use it in a track and get it approved by the client. My project at the time was orchestral. So this was QUITE the challenge. But I chopped up and manipulated the sample in a way that it felt like a cello if someone built a cello not knowing what that was. I made $100 that day.

[@iam_aaa3025]

sheesh

[@MaybeAnnatar]

@@iam_aaa3025 I remember when they issued the challenge I was super intimidated. But he never once said I had to make the sample obvious, so I did everything I could lol

[@iam_aaa3025]

@@MaybeAnnatar lol, cool that it worked out then!

[@wokeil]

I love using random audio sources and molding them into something completely different. Synths from vocals and vice versa and pads from noise. All kinds of generated soundscapes are a great starting point too. Mr. Bill has a great video on this and it basically says that the source doesn't matter, the effects do. Which I think is a good mindset for exploratory sound design.

[@rav3102]

0:18 WHAT THIS LOOKS SO GOOD

[@rav3102]

also the way the background music plays a fill right after he mentions fills *chefs kiss*

[@andrewhuang]

Haha happy accident but when I noticed that too I was like yeeeeeeeaaahhhh

[@badwave]

okay, ive gotta ask, is there any chance that you’ll go into more detail on how you do your video production?? the vfx and some of the camera work always just blows my mind.

[@j3ffn4v4rr0]

yes, and it's always been getting cooler the whole time

[@necronomazarathian9506]

I'll take a guess: he hires freelancers, like on fiverr

[@nigelthursday5052]

definitely one of the best pieces of advice i've ever gotten in terms of music was actually from one of your older videos in which you mentioned ear candy: the composer/arranger may be the only person who will ever notice the ear candy, but it still fills space that the listeners will appreciate no matter what. it's made me look at ear candy as a thing that's basically never noticed when it's there, but IS noticed when it ISN'T there, which really does make all of the little layers add up to make any song feel more alive.

[@futuremontreal]

One question: do you wait until the rest of the song is done before adding ear candy or do you add it as you are going along?

[@andrewhuang]

A little as I go along but I often have a dedicated session or two for just ear candy and transitions

[@DaveChips]

@@andrewhuang how do u keep track of your tracks on your projects? 100 tracks... I'm getting mental breakdowns when I step over 30 😅

[@maryanne2025]

@@DaveChips maybe keep ear candy on a group by itself ..

[@highcry]

Would you mind checking out the music + visualizer on my KZbin page to let me know if I’m using “ear Candy” properly?

[@highcry]

I’ve been making music for about 6 months now and people tend to say my music is too minimal - I’m trying to change this.

[@KiDAppleBorg]

Thanks Andrew. I’m finally to a place e where I can apply some of the awesome advice you’ve been giving for so long. Thanks a ton!

[@taranhuston]

My Dad had a band in the 2000s called "The Oohs" and they had an album called Ear Candy. Funnily enough it features a lot of ear candy.

[@taranhuston]

(also if anyone reads this and wants to check out more of their stuff the only other record on KZbin is called Llama Lamp but they actually had a third record called Saturday Morning Dream. That one is their best one.)

[@nm-hi5dp]

@@taranhuston you should post the ones that aren’t already online

[@taranhuston]

@@nm-hi5dp good idea. I should ask my dad about that

[@michael-luce]

RIP long hair. I was also growing mine out so it was kinda fun to compare. Buzz looks good tho. I love this video! Ear candy is one of those things that's so simple in theory, but much harder to actually execute well. Great tips here!

[@christianprice4049]

Heeey, shouldn’t you be studying? 😜

[@soft-llama1530]

@@christianprice4049 wtf

[@michael-luce]

@@soft-llama1530 lol he and I are good friends

[@soft-llama1530]

@@michael-luce ohhhh. sorry!

[@ChicagoJo3]

Excellent video and really thoughtful additions to the song. I'd also add that some of the intro elements that are pulled from later in the song serve a more traditional (or "classical") purpose similar to opera or musical theatre: In those forms, the overture serves in part to preview motifs and ideas that will become important later. The overture and the intro bits in your excellent piece both enhance the listener's enjoyment by giving a sense of familiarity later in the piece when they come up again. Nice work and excellent job using it to teach.

[@Booby_toesdays]

Thank you!!!! You make it easy to translate visual art skills to music production! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 even if you dont talk about music like painting, we get to see how you decorate time 👍🏻

[@westonkenyonmusic]

Wow, what a coincidence. Just listened to the entire Spacetime album (almost twice through) for the hundredth time on my 45-minute drive home from work an hour ago. My favorite album of yours. Liftoff and The Hill are my tops.

[@gunnbr]

Thanks for all the great ideas! Bookmarked this one to come back to again and again!

[@i_am_lambe_]

This is what I need to focus on to improve my productions. I'm happy you dedicated a full video to this! Thank you.

[@craigpurdie3528]

This is a GREAT description of your technique! THANKS SO MUCH!!!

[@hiddenhippo7338]

Epic as usual Andrew, your layers always astound me, so detailed, gorgeous chords straight from the start, awesome baseline & lovely arp, yep epic through and through. The moog matriarch is an absolute beast also, I'm fascinated by the inner workings of synths like that think moog r absolute genius's at what they do making a trillion instruments in 1 baffles me, competitions great also I did that straight away, u & moog r legends love ya you've both inspired me crazily, I always go back to my mini moog when after beefy basslines find it difficult using anything else Thanks from Devon England :-D

[@oscarcamey8]

Great vid! I can def apply these ideas in my own way to the genre I like making!

[@phoenixrising9483]

This also makes a big difference from random producers and skilled ones. Those little details are a big part of this artistic process we call music and are really important to communicate emotions. Good video, as always!

[@gregv.8564]

such neat clean and pro retro-futuristic production I love what you did there that is a killer banger!

[@jayster1017]

You explaining it is so satisfying. Everything just fits so nice and makes sense

[@michaelkonomos]

This is really impressive. Even though I do a different genre of music I learned so much from how you approach this and seeing all the tracks in your song. Thanks so much!

[@9anqar]

amazing art of music you did great ❤

[@tete1805]

One of your most amazing videos! Thanks Andrew.

[@jamesdonnelly8888]

I don't know how you do it, but your vids are always flawless. Entertaining and informative. Very grateful to have your chan in the world dude. THANKS!

[@Keeeeeeeeeeeev1]

Thanks a lot for this video! I wrote my first instrumental song and thought, something is missing. Now I am totally motivated to add some ear candy. And I love the Matriarch. I bought it a year ago for massive base lines but only using it for the most of my lead lines.

[@Hamdererindeibatman]

Thank you! for all your videos! Have never seen one that I couldn't learn from. And I'm so jealous of your gear collection 👍🏻😄😄

[@sched_ar]

great video! well done Andrew! thx!

[@fotgjengeren]

Good timing as I feel stuck on some tracks that I'd say are most of the way done but with something missing. Thanks so much!

[@simex909]

hey man, don't tell them the secrets ;) There's this psytrance subgenre called 'forest' which is 90% ear candy. I always listen to it when I need ear candy ideas. A good example would be "Loom - Elf on Woodwinds" if you're interested.

[@reoakiodesu]

"don't tell them the secrets;)" *proceeds to tell them secrets* ur an angel

[@simex909]

@@nymph.mp3 I keep trying to respond to this, and youtube keeps deleting the comment. I think its because of an artists name... testing

[@simex909]

@@nymph.mp3 Forestdelic Records

[@simex909]

@@nymph.mp3 Dream Crew Records

[@simex909]

@@nymph.mp3 An album called "Pura Vida" on Sangoma Records (I think this artist name is the problem)

[@beatsbybeto]

Andrew your Videos are super Dope, really love your Videos thanks for giving me Inspiration on and on 🙏🏼🔥

[@craig7810]

This is just what I needed right now. Great video breakdown. Thank you 👍

[@husssamo]

Andres, thank you for the lesson. This is just fantastic! Tremendously helpful for a hobbiest like myself.

[@alexanderpiano1506]

Andrew, I did your monthly class and have made a handful of songs since then. It's been lots of fun and I feel like I learn something new every time I make a song. The fun in the creativity is what it is about. You taught me that. It's aways a breath of fresh air and inspiration to watch one of your videos. Thank you! (also 14:12 sour patch kids are the best, I agree)

[@homebassproductions]

Totally awesome info thank you so much.

[@AtomicToucan]

This needed it's video! Thank you!

[@davidhrivnak]

This is such a great exploration of a ton of useful (but surprisingly not talked about often) techniques! I especially liked how you used the lyrics to inform your sound design.

[@danarbeau6437]

So many good ideas. Thank you.

[@Milizavalia]

This is amazing thank you so much

[@teriscallon]

amazing how much goes into all of this

[@gelatinous6915]

Every single one of your videos is so inspiring

[@halfbee7886]

The most helpful video about music production I’ve ever encountered! I could imagine how much more insightful Andrew’s monthly course is. I wish I could enroll to it.

[@kylegoff9612]

Andrew’s candy, your so humble and cool thank you for being a great human. Don’t ever stop making music content.

[@ridiculousbeats]

Great video. It’s good to rewatch this occasionally for renewed inspiration.

[@krysidian]

Ear candy is awesome. I love discovering new little sound details in songs I have listened to countless times. It really refreshes the experience and makes me relisten to old songs with more attention to detail!

[@stickytentaclesmusic]

Super interesting and helpful video. Thanks for doing this!

[@DaBeatsFreak]

Wow! I’m blown away 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾. U r amazing bro 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@garrettsell3294]

Haven't even watched it yet and came to say thank you. This is the exact video I have been wanting from you for a long, long time. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[@KabilanKarthikeyan16]

I forgot how much of a banger interstellar is. I am going to listen to it after this video now.

[@wkale90]

This was so good. Thank you!

[@bonerici]

The lesson is if you want to make a song better put ear candy in it from top to bottom. I know Michael Jackson tracks are full of it. Recently the pro tools mixes have been released so you can see how much there is. 20 tracks of candy isn't unusual.

[@hunzhurte]

Man your videos are just next level

[@alexgrunde6682]

You can also use the old industrial trope of using a film/TV/speech sample as ear candy.

[@JoelMartinez]

The system, is down

[@cavedwellersound]

There are tons of ideas in this vid, thanks!

[@MasterofNoneTV]

I absolutely love these tutorial style song constructions. Insights into brilliance.

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

Such a fantastically-produced track!

[@MIHAO]

fire as always bro 🔥❤

[@laszlocsikos189]

Wow! The track really makes good vibes!

[@jacobtallen]

My favourite bit of ear candy of all time is the wobbly synth stab I feel good inc.

[@colognialist1964]

great production. great experience. Chapeau.

[@9teenangelz]

you have real good energy andrew love ya

[@aiaccident]

Awesome as always

[@luqmanography]

thanks man. this is so well explained 🔥

[@dizzymoosic]

this is my biggest hurdle to get over. thanks for giving me more tips

[@notrac1773]

It's been occurring to me lately that ear candy really is what gives a song impact. The chords or melody can be borrowed from another song but the ear candy is so much of what makes the tone of a track. So glad you talked about this

[@lysanderskyj5409]

I'm autistic so every little detail really pops out and makes my brain very happy. I often dislike listening to live versions because often the candy is different so I miss out on things I'm anticipating. xD

[@TheGodlike300]

that's really interesting!

[@makeshift_battlefield_music]

you might like my music then haha also Lysander is my favorite name, the main character in my book is named Lysander

[@wokeil]

Same but not autistic. I get disappointed when that little clang was supposed to be there at around 35 degrees to my right but it wasn't haha.

[@hipwitthekids793]

woah i just realised that yall probably can listen to music “better” or in more detail thats so sick

[@CrazzyJokerr]

Can you "see" it too ? I mean like you can see how its build in your head and know which would be the perfect next note? Thats how it works in my brain, my psychologist told me years ago thats a kind of autism, I'm curious if it works for you like that too. Never studied music or anything it just was like that as long as I can remember

[@SquidGhast]

Seeing Andrew imitate the drum sounds made me think that it'd be very cool to work along side a beatboxer. Making a track that's complimented with unique beatbox sounds would probably make for something very interesting. Idk, food for thought!

[@khievritthypoung373]

Thank you, Andrew. I needed this.

[@sinematrix]

Andrew you are absolutely from another space, I think you are the same level with Daft Punk, there are so many 80s' magic in your music!

[@ShredOfficial]

I'm just about to start researching ear candy as part of my dissertation at uni and you post this today! Great timing!

[@ormondalex]

WOW! That OTT on the reverb send tip blew my mind. This video rocks, thank you!

[@KEPSAGAMER]

Great video, full of useful information

[@DocRamadani]

Andrew, thank you so much for this really helpful video.

[@cosmicowl7584]

WOW! Gold! So glad I stumbled on this video...it's like I couldn't stop watching...it was like a wizard sharing his secrets to alchemy...thanks for sharing🤘🏼

[@Donder1337]

Damn you are so good with all the stuff man :D

[@PM-ke9ry]

Love this album ! 🔥🔥🔥👍🏽

[@JACKSONPRYORBENNETT]

Andrew, you are amazing. Thank you for being amazing

[@Coda02]

Thank you for this kind of content. It's very interesting and useful

[@brennanmoran1739]

its like you read my mind, was literally looking for this exact tutorial from you just yesterday

[@alexkatsaropoulos1984]

I've been looking for an ear candy vid for a while now. Thank you!

[@andrewhuang]

Woo!

[@riomariogroove]

Thanks for all your contributions, they help a lot!

[@midsoulmusic]

this was so good!!

[@AutumnRainTurkel]

While I am not a huge fan of the super busy production, I appreciate the fundamental concepts you're sharing. Thanks for always having great content!

[@lil_floofer]

Using a square wave lfo on the pitch is such a good idea, I hadn't ever thought of that, thank you!

[@KordTaylor]

I love the “drum fills are self-explanatory” 😂 Actually my wife was just be bemoaning that tracks don’t have them as much these days. I gotta play her this! 🔥

[@nathanwilliams819]

That was great info!

[@reaktormannen]

Awesome song! You rock!

[@scottrim143]

love your videos

[@deathtubemusic]

God damn that song is a banger. Great work man!

[@xersxo5460]

I’m only now realizing that a lot of the characterizing, subtle details in music is adlibed. And it’s the most natural thing too, but I felt it was too simple to be true. I always thought you had to start off with all the color and detail planned out (in your head) before touching an instrument instead of it being a spontaneous compounding process.

[@Aminorharmony]

Impresionante!

[@mattrixx_audio]

Great song @Andrew Huang Soooper hooky!!