Singer / Songwriter Production & Arranging
Chapter 1 : Building Up the Arrangement
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8:19 The Song
Learn what this series is about and hear the before and after versions of the song “Sticks and Stones” by Rex Strother.
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4:37 Finding a Direction
Follow along as alternate feels and tempos are explored in order to determine what best suits the song.
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4:54 Adding Acoustic Guitars
The feel of this song so far seems to lend itself to either a picking/arpeggiated guitar part or a strumming approach. Why not use both?
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6:16 Adding Electric Guitars
Several different ideas and parts are added for potential use in the arrangement.
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5:09 Making Some Decisions
The piano and bass are re-programmed, and the drums re-recorded, to fit a more rock oriented direction.
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3:50 New Breakdown
A dramatic breakdown at the top of the third chorus is created to help emphasize the protagonist’s inherent tension and conflict.
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5:15 More is Good
The arrangement is augmented with some new brass and keyboard parts, along with some revised programming and editing of the bass and guitar parts.
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4:37 Less is Better
After reflection and sober second thought, various elements are moved and removed, and the arrangement is shortened.
Chapter 2 : Vocal Tracks
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7:08 Working with New Vocals
Melodyne is used on a newly recorded lead vocal track to clean up phrasing and pitch.
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4:50 Vocal Doubling
See how Melodyne’s random deviation functions are used to create a thickening effect on the lead vocal.
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4:15 Creating Vocal Harmonies
Selected bits of other vocal takes are used either for unison doubling, or transposed to create vocal harmonies.
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3:15 Adding Female Vocals
A remotely recorded female vocal track is brought into the project and edited.
Chapter 3 : The Mix
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4:43 Drums
Take a look at the routing and plug-ins used on the multi track drum mix.
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3:47 Bass & Keys
Hear how various plug-ins are used to subtly enhance these tracks.
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3:51 Acoustic Guitars
Listen as two different EQs are compared on the acoustic guitar sub group.
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5:32 Electric Guitars
Discover the unique tone shaping possibilities created by simultaneously subgrouping electric guitars to a stereo and a mono bus.
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5:00 Vocals
Multiple EQs, compressors, and delays are used to create a warm and rich vocal sound that cuts nicely in the mix.
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3:46 Master Bus & Automation
See where automation is used and how some plug-ins are used to sweeten the full mix.
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5:41 Conclusions & Final Playback
A quick review of some of the arrangement’s defining elements followed by playback of the finished song.
Product Overview
Are you a singer / songwriter who wants to create complete songs? Join Eli Krantzberg in this in-depth video tutorial series as he shows you how to take a song idea, arrange it, expand it into a complete band production, and mix it down to share with the world!
Eli starts by introducing you to both the raw song idea and the completed mix of “Sticks and Stones” by Rex Strother, the song that Eli uses for this series. Eli then shows you how to expand your initial idea, experimenting with feels and tempos until you find what best suits the song.
After that, Eli starts to build the arrangement by adding acoustic and electric guitar ideas, and shows you how the decisions you make with various parts can affect the entire direction of the song.
Next, Eli tackles the vocal tracks, demonstrating how to use Melodyne to clean up phrasing and pitch, as well as to thicken the lead vocal. He also shows you how to create vocal harmonies and import and edit female vocal tracks to your project.
Time to mix! Eli now begins the mix with the drums, explaining the routing and plug-ins he uses on the multi-track drum mix, and then moves onto how he enhances the bass and keyboard tracks.
Eli now demonstrates how he shapes the tone of the guitars during mix down, and shares his vocal processing secrets. Then he sweetens the entire mix with automation, and then reviews the series and plays back the completed song.
If you’re new to songwriting and arranging, or are looking for new ideas to make your productions pop, watch “Singer / Songwriter Production & Arranging” today!
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Reviews
Submitted 4 months ago
It was a well presented and compiled series
I watched the whole thing. It was well-paced with enough info to keep juiced and enough techniques to make you think again.
I am a: Semi-Pro, Musician, Producer, Cubase, Digital Performer, Studio One
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 1 year ago
Very Good
I really enjoyed this tutorial. I always enjoy seeing how others go about arranging a song and the decisions they make to get more ideas for my own stuff.
I am a: Beginner, Hobbyist, Musician, Producer, Audio Engineer, Studio One
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 1 year ago
Great
Only just started this but it looks to be really good - dissecting raw material and building it into a finished song should greatly help me
I am a: Student, Hobbyist, Musician, Logic Pro
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 1 year ago
beautifull work, all video to see
Good example where take ideas and professional work, To see.
I am a: Hobbyist
Value of Training
Submitted 1 year ago
More Arranging videos please.
More Arranging videos please. Workflow is more important than those Plugin promotion videos.
I am a: Professional, Producer, Cubase
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
Really Clarified the Process of Producing/Arranging a Song
I'm thrilled by what I learned in this video! I have really struggled with what to do to take my new song to a fully-realized production. Being able to follow Eli on all the decisions he makes and get some insight into how he thinks about the arrangement will totally help my next song.
I am a: Professional, Musician, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
Awesome isntructions!
This has given me a more broader way of thinking when it comes to arranging. love the series.
I am a: Beginner, Musician, Producer, Audio Engineer, Cubase
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
Thank you.
I learned a lot from this series. Thank you!
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
If I could only hire Eli as my personal instructor..... oh wait! I can! LOL
Though I've been at home recording for a few decades, I like and learn when I watch someone else's approach/methods. Eli has the scope/chops to present a thorough overview and all the methods you'd need in a broadly general way. I enjoyed this, and got some very cool, totally useable ideas, to incorporate into my productions!
I am a: Professional, Musician, Producer, Audio Engineer
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
Useful Tips
I liked the tips presented, though I wasn't really into the demonstration song. I wish he would have explained the individual note tuning done in Melodyne. I like how he shared his approach to everything. He can be a little dry sometimes, but the information is worth it.
I am a: Semi-Pro, Producer, Musician, Hobbyist, Student
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Reviews
Submitted 4 months ago
It was a well presented and compiled series
I watched the whole thing. It was well-paced with enough info to keep juiced and enough techniques to make you think again.
I am a: Semi-Pro, Musician, Producer, Cubase, Digital Performer, Studio One
Submitted 1 year ago
Very Good
I really enjoyed this tutorial. I always enjoy seeing how others go about arranging a song and the decisions they make to get more ideas for my own stuff.
I am a: Beginner, Hobbyist, Musician, Producer, Audio Engineer, Studio One
Submitted 1 year ago
Great
Only just started this but it looks to be really good - dissecting raw material and building it into a finished song should greatly help me
I am a: Student, Hobbyist, Musician, Logic Pro
Submitted 1 year ago
beautifull work, all video to see
Good example where take ideas and professional work, To see.
I am a: Hobbyist
Submitted 1 year ago
More Arranging videos please.
More Arranging videos please. Workflow is more important than those Plugin promotion videos.
I am a: Professional, Producer, Cubase
Submitted 2 years ago
Really Clarified the Process of Producing/Arranging a Song
I'm thrilled by what I learned in this video! I have really struggled with what to do to take my new song to a fully-realized production. Being able to follow Eli on all the decisions he makes and get some insight into how he thinks about the arrangement will totally help my next song.
I am a: Professional, Musician, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools
Submitted 2 years ago
Awesome isntructions!
This has given me a more broader way of thinking when it comes to arranging. love the series.
I am a: Beginner, Musician, Producer, Audio Engineer, Cubase
Submitted 2 years ago
Thank you.
I learned a lot from this series. Thank you!
Submitted 2 years ago
If I could only hire Eli as my personal instructor..... oh wait! I can! LOL
Though I've been at home recording for a few decades, I like and learn when I watch someone else's approach/methods. Eli has the scope/chops to present a thorough overview and all the methods you'd need in a broadly general way. I enjoyed this, and got some very cool, totally useable ideas, to incorporate into my productions!
I am a: Professional, Musician, Producer, Audio Engineer
Submitted 2 years ago
Useful Tips
I liked the tips presented, though I wasn't really into the demonstration song. I wish he would have explained the individual note tuning done in Melodyne. I like how he shared his approach to everything. He can be a little dry sometimes, but the information is worth it.
I am a: Semi-Pro, Producer, Musician, Hobbyist, Student
1. When did you start dabbling in music?
I started playing drums in high school at age fourteen. Like most kids my age around then, I was into progressive rock. Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Yes. They rocked my world. A few short years later though, my musical life changed. While studying music in college I discovered Charlie Parker, Milt Jackson, Sonny Stitt, and John Coltrane. Milt Jackson spoke to me in such a profound way that it left me no choice but to take up vibraphone.
These great players, along with drummers like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Elvin Jones changed not only the way I thought about drumming, but also music - and by extension, life - as a whole. I realized life was meant to be a creative endeavor. The idea of improvising based on a loose set of guidelines and rules permeated into my psyche even when I wasn't holding a pair of drumsticks or mallets. But if I am going to be perfectly truthful, I have to hold Henry Miller and Woody Allen equally responsible for shaping the way I view and experience the world around me.
2. What training have you had?
I am currently an Apple certified Logic Pro. Young and cocky, and armed with only a partial University degree, I dropped out of school and began playing steady commercial hotel engagements and jazz gigs when I could. This went on for many years until I decided it was time to complete my degree - which I ultimately did with a major in Political Science and a minor in music.
It was at this point that I formed my current band Nightshift. We are going in to our twenty third year now - playing commercial one nighters like weddings, corporate events, etc. Don't turn your nose up at it though - it has allowed me a wonderful quality of life. It gave me the freedom to go back to school and complete a post graduate degree in Communications Studies - all the while supporting myself by playing weddings.
3. When did you get into recording?
It was in this graduate program - in the early nineties - that I found myself drawn to the fledgling emerging universe of hard disc recording and midi sequencing. Based on nothing more than the recommendation of one of my band mates who had an old Atari, I jumped in head first and bought a Mac LC ll, along with a version 1.1 of what was then Notator Logic. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But, in hindsight, it was a decision of epic importance in my life - shaping my future as much as the music of Milt Jackson and Charlie Parker did fifteen years prior.
I opened up my own commercial home studio in 1998 and began doing a variety of projects, working on radio jingles, artist CD projects, and whatever came my way. A couple of years later a colleague called me up - desperate. He was working at a post production house and one of the editors had just quit. They were doing audio post for a weekly TV series and needed a Pro Tools editor - and fast! And so, once again, I jumped in head first into what would ultimately open up my world even more - the world of Pro Tools.
4. People you have worked with/for?
Focusing on Logic, I built up a small but loyal client base and my phone kept ringing for Logic tech support and instruction. Film composers and studio owners all over the city were calling me. Even the music stores were giving out my phone number at this point! This kind of stuff becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The more of it you do, the more calls you get to keep doing it. At least that's the way it should be!
As my Logic chops kept growing, I was hired by an old buddy of mine, Len Sasso, who was then an associate editor at Electronic Musician magazine, and began writing some columns for them. I had a blast doing them - and really learned to focus and express my thoughts in a concise and clear manner. This lead to a collaboration with LA based composer Terry Michael Huud on the 2006 film called Civic Duty - which was certainly one of the highlights of my professional life as a composer.
5. Why are you so good at training people?
I wake up every day excited to boot up, and create. Whether it's instructional videos, creating music, working with a studio client, performing with my band, or teaching at the schools - my days are filled with what I love doing. Enriched by the stimulation and creative freedom this modern music making software brings to my life. I bring that excitement and passion to each and every training product I create. My years of experience both using and teaching these programs has taught me the best way to make the user comfortable with these complex programs.
Products by Eli
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tutorial videoAAS Chromaphone Explained
Eli Krantzberg returns, this time showing you the incredible AAS Chromaphone creative percussive synthesizer. This synth is capable of creating incredibly expressive drum, percussion, string, and synth-like instruments, so hold the phone and check it out!
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tutorial videoAAS Strum GS-2 Explained
In this FREE series commissioned by Applied Acoustic Systems, Eli Krantzberg covers the expansive performance library of electric and acoustic guitar strumming inside and out, and shows you how to make Strum GS-2 your new favorite session guitarist!
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tutorial videoAirEQ Explained
Eli Krantzberg returns with an in-depth series on the amazing AirEQ by Eiosis, which was designed with a vision of achieving musical, technical and sonic excellence in equalization. This just might become your to go-to EQ!
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tutorial videoAlchemy 2 Explained
Logic Pro X 10.2 integrated Alchemy 2, one of the most powerful virtual instruments ever made. In this three-hour video training tutorial series, Eli Krantzberg teaches you how to become a Alchemy wizard and unleash all of its power on your music!
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tutorial videoApogee Maestro 2 Explained
Maestro 2 is Apogee's flexible and powerful OS X Mixer software solution that's included with all Apogee interfaces. Studio master Eli Krantzberg shows you everything you need to know about Maestro 2, as well as how to get the best performance out of your Apogee interface and improve your workflow.
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