Hey Friend,

Regarding mood and music, I've been having an interesting conversation with my buddy Ian S.

He made mention of listening for the elements behind the music that may be having a bigger influence on you than you realize. If you listen closely to a piece of music, you'll begin to hear additional rhythms and harmonies buried in the background of the song.

Modern music creation really isn't all that different than what Classical composers did in the past. They would write out sections for each instrument group in order to cover every sound spectrum. Each instrument group provided a different element to build up the overall emotional aspect of the music.

The great composers knew how to balance every instrument section to just the right level so it benefited the entire piece. The finished piece drew on the strengths of every instrument and together, they provided the emotional impact that was the goal of the composer.

When an artist goes into the studio these days, they follow the same methods the Classical masters used to build up that emotional impact.We don't need to have an entire orchestra under one roof to do that - in fact, we don't even need the instruments. We have virtual instruments at our fingertips and can recreate literally any sound imaginable.

But there is danger in so much freedom. We can get carried away by so much liberty. Before you know it, a great idea can be bogged down by adding too many instruments or effects.

There are some general rules in music recording that are wise to follow. One of them is to remove anything that doesn't benefit the song.

When artists record a song, it's not uncommon to layer track after track in the mix to cover every idea they might have. There will be multiple rhythm tracks and contrasting leads thrown in, often at a lower volume to prevent it from distracting you away from the main melody. 

Some of those additional tracks add to the overall sound, but some end up doing nothing more than muddying the song. It's up to the producer and mix engineer to sort through all those additional tracks and find the pieces that enhance the song - cutting the ones that don't.

When it's done right, there's a balance that puts the main elements in the forefront of the song, and then there are subtle undertones that support the melody.

What I find really cool is that these reveal themselves slowly over time. You may find yourself listening to a song years after you first fell in love with it, and then you notice a little guitar riff or drum fill that was never there before in all the times you played the record. 

Give it a try - pull out a favorite song from your past and listen to it with fresh ears. But listen deeper than just the music in the foreground. Focus your attention on just the guitars, or just the keyboards, and listen to all the subtle things going on in the background that you never paid attention to before.

You might be very surprised by what you find... Rock on!

Peace~

Dave