Pro Pop Sound

[bloodstone]

How do you get that pro pop sound that you hear on a lot of stuff by someone like Brittany Spears where the whole mix is "in yo' face" and every track in the mix sounds like it's gated or been hand-cleaned of any and all noise? Thanks.

[Dave Pensado]

You may have heard my remix of the Brittney/Madonna tune. I don't use gates. Hiss reminds me of the ocean, and that is a wonderful thing. Experiment with the 1k-3,5k range. That is where the clarity and in-your-face is. Don't use reverb on the main elements. Think of reverb as a pan front-to-rear knob. Put you kik and snr loud, then turn them up another 4dB. Now make your vocals sit on top of that. Select a few important elements of the track to hear, and screw the rest. REALLY. If you turn your mix up and it hurts your ears, then you are close. My HURT YOUR EARS, and I'm proud of it.

[Football]

Hey Dave,

thanks for this interesting info. Do you find the Sony Oxford EQ a little too smooth for you in this range (1-3K)?

I was A/B-ing it with the URS plugs the other day which seemed to have more bite.

Which plug-in EQ do you prefer in this range for vocals and also the mix in general?

Thank you Dave.

[bloodstone]

Originally posted by Dave Pensado
You may have heard my remix of the Brittney/Madonna tune. I don't use gates. Hiss reminds me of the ocean, and that is a wonderful thing. Experiment with the 1k-3,5k range. That is where the clarity and in-your-face is. Don't use reverb on the main elements. Think of reverb as a pan front-to-rear knob. Put you kik and snr loud, then turn them up another 4dB. Now make your vocals sit on top of that. Select a few important elements of the track to hear, and screw the rest. REALLY. If you turn your mix up and it hurts your ears, then you are close. My HURT YOUR EARS, and I'm proud of it.

Interesting. I used to avoid 1-5k like the plague, but I'm starting to see what you mean. What about channel or 2 bus compression? Thanks.

[MAProTulz]

The sound of pop is compression. And remember that reverb on vocals will make it sound "old". DRY DRY DRY! I guess you could experiment with a short delay, something that emulated early reflections, but that just sounds phasey to me. If it's the vocal standing out on a breakdown in the middle of the song, I typically bring it up front and compress the hell out of it. Roll off extreme lows, even use a split compressor that only compresses midrange to really crank it.

When I mix, I'm typically making vocal king anyway. Anything you want punchy and in your face, mix in mono at a low volume; then crank it up and check the balances.

[Chrisac]

Originally posted by Dave Pensado
Put you kik and snr loud, then turn them up another 4dB. Now make your vocals sit on top of that. Select a few important elements of the track to hear, and screw the rest. REALLY. If you turn your mix up and it hurts your ears, then you are close. My HURT YOUR EARS, and I'm proud of it.

The above is a horror story for some producers......

I take it your not a traditionalist then

Nice to see a straight talking modern music making producer....who wants IT LOUD.

I like your style dave

[NeoVXR]

Originally posted by Dave Pensado
Now make your vocals sit on top of that. Select a few important elements of the track to hear, and screw the rest.

part of pop success is minimalism. the number ones seem those, where this selection went lucky, and the basic elements are outstanding in SOMETHING, flow, sound, intensity, personality..

dave, please, can you tell us examples of the process, how these elements have been determined in some particular projects?
e.g. the artist said "I love those cowbells" or did not like another sound that you introduced. is there a choice taking place between different mixes with different basic elements? how are the opinions weighted, or do you most time win with your concept?
does the composer or producer come in like "this is a song with a banjo but no hihat" and so it goes? or are there a couple of surprises?

[Chrisac]

Less Is Best

This is what the guy I learned from told me years ago (early 80's) for making pop productions. This is still true today and I reckon theres even less elements in a pop song today than there is from the 80's pop productions.

Jacksons 'Thriller" is perfect example of the less is best approach. Listening to some of todays M+M productions theres nothing there but beats a vox, and some background music.