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Making Radio Ready Songs with BIAB and Real Band

Graham Cochrane at Recording Revolution has a great video busting lots of myths about home studios, and then giving a GREAT piece of advice about making a radio ready song that I have turned into a Real Band Template.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp1eEyWzcR0

Here are the highlights:

1. The songs you make in YOUR home studio aren’t just DEMOS. They can be RADIO READY Productions. The only people who want to condescendingly call your home studio songs DEMOS are people with expensive recording studios who are mad that they are losing business and who want you to drop $2,000 at their place for something that sounds worse. So they insult you thinking that will make you come to their place and spend all of your savings. Don’t fall for it. Hallelujah and thank you Graham.

2. The song is not about your GEAR and Plug-Ins. You probably have enough gear and enough VSTs to last until Jesus comes back. It is about HOW WELL YOU KNOW HOW TO USE WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE. You don’t need to get out your credit card every time there is a flash sale. You need to learn how to use your mic and you need to know how to mic your guitar.

3. Finally: YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO ARRANGE A SONG. He offers a really cool PDF on this if you give him your email, and his advice is rock solid.

Here is the simple version: The difference between a boring song and a radio ready song is that in a boring song nothing ever changes, but in a RADIO READY SONG, something new is being introduced or changed up all the time—like spices are constantly being added.

You can break this down into about 24-30 steps, which conveniently also line up as TRACKS.

So, for myself I created a template in Real Band that allows me to keep track of what I am doing so I don’t get lazy.

I have pasted screenshots and you can make one of your own and save as a template. If you use this the way I am with my BIAB tracks as the top 8 (this is a feature you can select in RB from EDIT>Track>make first 8 tracks BIAB Tracks) then you have to export your BIAB tracks and then past/import them into these slots in your template. If you simply open the BIAB song in Real Band the template will go away. But this minor loss of time is worth it to me to use the template, because the template is where the gold is—in terms of prompts and usability.

Anyway, here is the reason why you need to look out for 30 things:

1. Intro: Anything hooky or catchy going on there??? Any funky instrument or riff to make a bold entrance? Maybe a vocal riff? An ooh or an aah or an Oh yeah???

Here is where Real Band comes in really handy: with the click of a mouse you can select about 5,000 or more interesting snippets to add spice to this slot. You have more at your fingertips that anyone. So use it!!!

V1/1 and Verse 1/2 – The point here is to realize that a verse is long and to at least think if you want to add something in to the second half of Verse 1, no matter how slight or small, to add a building piece of interest.

Now, for the next 31 slots—KEEP BUILDING, KEEP ADDING, OR SUBTRACTING, AND CHANGING, AND PLAN IT OUT LIKE A BLUEPRINT.

ALSO: Almost every super famous song has one thing weird or unexpected in there somewhere. Think of the Beatles with their honking sounds, fire station bells, fog horns, etc. Is there one weird thing in your song somewhere people will go crazy for and remember forever? Make a "weird sound" track like I have in the template so you don't forget to add it.

Lost for Ideas?

YOU HAVE REAL BAND AND THE BLUE SPARKLY GENERATE BUTTON STARING YOU IN FACE. HIT THE BLUE SPARKLY BUTTON. SELECT.

RADIO READY.

Here are some screenshots.

Please tell me if this makes sense.

Comments or other tips welcome!!!!

I love you Real Band and Band-in-a-Box!!!!



P.S. I love Real Band for use as a track generator, a place to record audio, and an easy way to keep my blueprint straight.

But once I am done, I export all as individual files and mix it in Cakewalk/Sonar.

Thanks for posting this, David.

I believe in this for live performance, also. I was putting a band together with another player and I asked him not to put fills in the first verse. Wait and let me establish the song with the vocal, then give the audience something new. This guy is a recording engineer so you'd think he would know. He couldn't restrain himself and we couldn't play together.

Again, good post.

Good link with excellent advice, and the PDF also has good links.

David,

Excellent write-up that is full of good advice. While the talking points originated at The Recording Revolution, your additional information specific to Band-in-a-Box and RealBand is very much appreciated.

Very true, I have done radio and TV ready stuff in RB alone. Other DAWs may be able to do so easier or faster for some, but it can be done in PGMusic products too.

To add to your comment, 'knowing how to use your stuff' includes making references so you REMEMBER how to use your stuff.
Example:
We recorded a bass part 2 weeks ago that sounded awesome (like someone was working on a Buick, grin)
This week it took us 10 minutes to find that sound again .. which included me going over and twisting the knobs on the bass itself (while he played a note repeatedly) until we found it.

Once I found the sound we took pictures.

Since we recorded him with a direct out signal from his amp and not a mic, we didn't have to worry about mic placement, only the amp settings (more pictures!).

Whenever you hit on a sound you like, always document it by saving a new preset, using screen shots, your phone or whatever you can.
Saves time later.

Also, I didn't follow your screen shots in your original post, what do they show?
First one has BiaB tracks, second shows a RT, third I'm not sure what to notice. I'm failing to connect the dots
Explanation appreciated, sometimes I'm slower than others

Rharv,

Sorry for being obscure.

The thirty or 30 tracks represent a check list to think about.

Some people will get six BIAB tracks, mix them and add some vox and say they are done. That is cool, but that is missing a chance for arrangement in the sense he is talking about "radio ready" or "interesting throughout."

The template allows you to keep an eye on the song's blueprint.

For example. You have your five basic tracks.

Then you ask, as an example, should there be some kind of distant sound, a guitar pluck or a piano part maybe, in the end of verse one to spice it up?

If so, add it to that track/slot in the template board.

Moving on, post chorus, should you add a quick riff, or percussion part, before V2? Maybe a clap or two? If so, add it here. Not a whole other track--just some spice, a small part.

As you move done the tracks you can visually see if you have at least thought about adding small stuff in (or taking stuff out of the original tracks) just to keep it interesting.

(Dropping stuff out for a while is as important as dropping other stuff in--and this allows you to see what is going on in visual form from top to bottom.)

As you scan the entirety of what you have done from top to bottom (30 or something rows) you see your ARRANGEMENT.

It is just one way of staying organized and reminding yourself it is time for something new and interesting in the background, so to speak.

Hope that makes sense.

If you enlarge the pix you can see my track notes.

Just something to use an an idea prompting tool--to help you remember to take advantage of the thousand upon thousands of sounds available as spice in Real Track generation as the song moves from intro down the rows and time frame to the end of chorus 3.

Some people use spreadsheets to track this kind of thing.

I decided to skip the spreadsheet and do a Real Band Spreadsheet, so to speak, because if I think of a part I do it right then and there.

Then process render.

Done.

Good stuff.

Interesting. I’m so far out of this loop (no pun intended) that it’s overwhelming.

I still operate from the perspective that my productions improve not when there’s nothing left to add but when there’s nothing left to take away. If a four piece band couldn’t play it live it’s above my mix pay grade.

Bud aka Old Phart, Ole Skool Curmudgeon

Hey Bud,

I guess I was talking about recording “arrangements” and not stuff that could be played live with a four piece band. I am not against those types of songs—I think some of the best songs are one guitar and one vox, actually.

But as we move into the discussion on home studio recording and “how do you sound like the radio”—Graham’s observations on solid pop song arrangement are very useful, I think.

Even the Beatles—starting with Sgt. Pepper—continuously moved further and further away from stuff that could be performed live to stuff that could only be done in a studio.

With arrangements in mind, I think he is just saying don’t be sloppy or willy-nilly. Give some thought to what you are going to add in, as SPICE, and map it out. So while we may still be talking about four or five BASIC tracks, we are merely looking at placeholders for occasional sounds or “orchestral bits” to widen the sound. (The orchestral bits can be an electric guitar or a horn, it doesn’t matter, they are in there for “flavoring” as brief moments or very short passages.)

If you look at a classical score in Finale, for example, you will often see 30 rows. For much of it, you will see nothing in the row. But when the bassoon comes in on row 29, measure 50--WATCH OUT! That bassoon part is gonna make the song man.

Arranging a pop recording of the type he is talking about is exactly the same as arranging a classical piece for orchestra.

You have basic tracks, and then here and there you have small, well-planned parts that come in that sweeten the mix in terms of richness and depth.

What I presented in the context of Graham’s advice as a Real Band “spreadsheet”--so to speak--was just one way of keeping track of those sweetening “bits” to remind myself to at least think about them. And I thought it would be helpful to others who may want to modify or make something similar.

Just a tool.

Hope that helps.

No value judgements from me. Just my admittedly narrow perspective. I get more than 4-5 tracks and it make my hair hurt. I totally get The Beatles shift to studio only productions. Heck I hung out in a studio in the summer of ‘65 and folks were madly mixing backwards tracks, bouncing tracks, and recording through drive in speakers for effects A buddy and I started a little recording outfit. it’s simply that nowadays I have no inclination for the complex. But that doesn’t mean I don’t admire textured and interesting arrangements.

Bud,

You may say that, but if you were really honest, you would admit that you are dying to go back into that '65 studio, fire up some fat ones, maybe drop a few tabs, put on your Birkenstocks, braid your ponytail, and spin up some backwards tape with that ADT handle pushed all the way up, and Brian Wilson standing right there with you playing the bagpipes. 64 tracks and backing orchestra. With goats in the room for special effects.

Come on Bud, just admit it man.

How the hell did you know about the goats? That was akin to a Coca Cola recipe in the studio.

1,2,& 3. YES Always approach every song with the idea and attitude that this is going to be on TV, in the movies, or on the next (fill in the blank name) of some big recording artist's new CD. Gear is good, but all the gear in the world is unless unless you know how to use it. You can get better mixes with a basic stock DAW is you know what you're doing, vs having a million dollar studio at your fingertips and don't know how to turn it on.... (figuratively speaking) ....and arranging and producing.... sooooo very important. Plain vanilla is good, in it's proper place and time...... but so is a fully produced mix with all the choirs, orchestras, strings, etc....

The advice to keep adding and subtracting is excellent. It's how I look at every song. Start sparse and build from there. Every line is an opportunity to do something new and exciting. I haste to hear songs that start out full bore and stay that way....ALL. THE. WAY. TO. THE. END. A few exceptions of course, but you know what I mean. You didn't write Call Me The Breeze or Led Zep's Rock & Roll.

My planning, and arranging are done in the BB song construction process. Plan ahead. Think or better yet, envision how this song will sound when it's done. Chances are good it's not going to be a hit, so..... have fun with it. Make up interesting parts, swap the fill instruments around on the verses, and do something totally different on the chorus..... next verse, try to again, be different. Make that song uniquely yours. Who knows, it might be that carefree arrangement that just happens to catch the attention of someone in the industry and the song will be cut by someone other than you, or show up in a movie or TV show.

Don't stay with any one thing for too long in the song no matter how cool and unique it is and no matter how much you like it. Leave them wanting more.

Yes it's so true ! I recommend Biab to others and always point them to David's post on “Hey, What Nashville Studio Did You Cut Those In?”
and the CMT videos in the User Showcase.
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=317027&page=1
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=318836&page=1

Amen Herb.

Thanks Pipeline! You got it man!!