The Real Me - Super Love

Composed and produced a dark, moody track that started with a bass groove from a late night jam session. The final track is sonically reminiscent of Latin rock, and built on a groove with a smooth, blue guitar created from an unlikely pairing of scales. The moody melody allows you to comfortably slide into the awkward juxtaposition of your own duality.

GOAL

  • Bring rule-breaking Jazz elements and a dark mood to a hooky Pop track

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH 

  • Leverage stack of a hip-hop beat, Latin groove, and jazz guitar to create a track with Pop appeal

  • The conceptual approach for this track was more collaborative than many of my other tracks, and as such followed a looser creation process. This track evolved by chasing a feeling as the team jammed together, starting with a moody grove that developed into a supporting melody.

ROLE

  • Music Producer

  • Composer

  • Instrumentalist

  • Sound Mixing and Mastering

TEAM

  • Vocalist

  • Lyricist

  • Session Drummer

  • Vocal and Musical Consultants

TECHNOLOGIES USED

  • Logic Pro X

  • Antares Autotune Pro

  • Apogee Duet interface

  • AKG C414 with an SE Reflexion Filter

  • Akai MPK 261

NOTABLE INSTRUMENTS USED

  • Fender jazz V elite bass

  • Fender Stratocaster, American

PROCESS

  • I placed a single AKG C414 a foot away from a Phil Jones 4x2 amp nested into a noise baffling SE Reflexion filter, and recorded the bassline into Logic Pro X. 

  • I sang the melody while playing the groove, and partnered with the lyricist to work lyrics into the song. I worked with the lyricist and came up with the lyrical hook that also became the track's title: I’m the real me.

  • Recorded the vocalist using the AKG C414 and Reflexion setup and added a heavier chamber reverb after recording. The initial instrumentation was in C-minor; this provided a melody that dropped one note below the vocalists range. We worked with her vocal coach and experimented with various solutions, ultimately keying the song up to D-minor, prompting a re-record of the existing instrumentation.

  • Used Antares Autotune Pro Graph mode to sweeten the modal and moody melody. 

  • First, I used the AKG with baffle and then a Senheiser shotgun microphone to record an acoustic Admira Sombra guitar. But the results were too warm. I used an Apogee Duet interface and a Fender Stratocaster to emulate an Santana vibe for the track, and worked on the bridge’s guitar solo to give it a jazz fusion feel. 

  • I mixed the track using multiple monitors and speakers, and mastered it using my own compressor settings in Logic.

Results

  • 152k+ yearly streams on Spotify

“[An] unapologetically authentic electro groove-led pop triumph.”

— Amelia Vandergast, A&R Factory