Complete EP production: Ollivier Roy - Des peurs et des envies (Fears and desires)

From drumming to recording to mastering, this is how the desire to produce this EP entirely on my own came about, a milestone in my life as a musician/sound engineer.

As usual, there's nothing better than listening to get you in the mood!

The story

Fête de la musique 2014 in Orléans, while I'm doing the sound for the event created by the Java PopAs soon as everything's ready and the drums are balanced, Ollivier Roy takes the piano/vocals solo. Although I don't really have a French chanson background, I noticed that the man had a nice level of melody and originality, with a progressive side and an emotion that I found very appealing. After about thirty minutes of listening to this very pleasant piano/vocals, but with a ready-made drum kit asleep in the background, I suggest we try an improvised accompaniment, because after all, isn't that what the fête de la musique is all about? To let people experience a moment of total musical discovery, to try things out and let their feelings speak for themselves?

Result? (battery arrival at 2m30

So OK, it's hesitant, I don't directly grasp the right moments for the variations, I even drop a stick at one point (let's say as an excuse that switching from faders to sticks isn't easy), but the potential for it to sound good was undeniable for us.

We met up again, formed a duo and played a few concerts with fairly convincing results, before finally realizing that an extra bass would be nice. We then met the fabulous bassist Thibaut Lurton, rehearsed, played gigs and so on.

In the meantime, I'd been listening to a lot of Olivier's previous solo recordings, and I didn't like the results: the quality of the tracks was undeniable, but the recording and arrangement didn't correspond to what we were playing, and the more I listened to them, the more frustrated I became that I hadn't done them myself. So we decided to record a few tracks together.

The project

Our ambition is first and foremost to share our music, but also to get the word out about us and take advantage of the opportunity to canvass nice places to play concerts. The budget is limited, however, as we are self-produced and the idea is not to sell an organ or go into debt over 10 years. So we're going to have to use all our know-how to do everything ourselves.

Registration

And so the first questions for the recording begin:

• How and where can we register batteries without selling a kidney?
• How many pieces can we make?
• Where and how are pianos, vocals and bass recorded?
• What is the rec process?

Answers:

• The batteries will be registered at PolysonikI'll be taking my PC and sound card with me, and we'll be borrowing the microphones usually used in the venue's mini recording studio to complement my own.
• We're aiming for 4 to 7 tracks over the two days, so we'll see what happens!
• The bass will be recorded at my home by myself, the piano will be recorded at Olivier's home by himself, and the vocals will be recorded at Polysonik over slots of a few hours.
• A demo of each track with all the instruments will be recorded live on the first day at Polysonik, all the drums will be recorded the next day during a hard day, and the rest will be done little by little, according to the previous point, the arrangements being done on joint sessions where Olivier and/or Thibaut and I meet to finish this work.

Everything went according to plan. As everyone had non-musical lives on the side, the entire recording process took several months, a period of time during which the spirit of the songs can quickly get lost, but which nevertheless allowed us to explore several possibilities for each track. For example, "Here, if I make this heart here and it goes in front of the voice", or "Here, if I take the piano out at this point", and so on. Many subtleties emerge. Some arrangements are made even before the tracks are finished recording.

Some random facts about the recording:

• Drums are recorded on 8 tracks: Kick, Snare top, hi-hat, alto tom, bass tom, 2 overheads, 1 room. Isn't there something missing? A snare bottom, yes... Hebe, let's have some fun at the mix! But if you had to choose, it was the best compromise in my opinion.
• The sound card used for the drums is an M-Audio Profire 2626; vocals and bass were sometimes recorded on this same card, but mainly with a Focusrite 2i4 for driver stability reasons.
• Snare tuning has been slightly modified on some tracks.
• Vocals were recorded with my famous Rode NT2-A and a Polysonik AKG C414 on some tracks, at a distance of 10 to 25cm depending on the track.
• No colored or DI preamps were used for this EP.
• Recalibrate and fully edit the drums after the bass recording to keep the feeling: Never again, this is the best way to have to recalibrate a bass that was perfect and unnecessarily degrade a good Jazz Bass sound, and to waste time trying to limit these degradations as much as possible...
• Because yes, I set my batteries back more than I expected, and the imperfections that seemed nice at first soon ended up bothering me, so I left very few.
• We've gone straight to the point, with little extravagance on the rec other than that.

We spent a considerable amount of time working on the backing vocals and arrangements, but it all helped to really give the songs the pep they needed.

Then comes the moment when we've got everything we need, and we can finally get down to mixing!

Mixing

Certainly my favorite part: making each sound shine to the maximum, finding the balance that gives the most appropriate energy to each piece.

It hasn't (just) been easy, and it's cost me a lot of elec fags! Here are the main reasons:

• Firstly, because drums/bass/piano/vocals can easily sound a little empty in the upper midrange, and we were looking for a sound that was a little "in your face" at times. The arrangements helped to fill this space a little, but it wasn't easy to place them, as they were generally not allowed to take precedence over the rest.
• My drum kit isn't really an arrow, a 2005 Pearl Forum Series will make it sound... Well, it's well maintained, tuned as well as possible, the Sabian AAX cymbals are full of energy and clarity (sometimes even a little too much), but it's not an arrow either. All without a snare drum mic. This was really the most complicated part for me to deal with, and at the same time a priority, because in my opinion, a mix hardly sounds good if the drums don't sound good. I used a little discreet trigger on some snare/kick tracks.
• The voice gave me a bit of trouble, with a relatively large amplitude and very varied sounds. I really had to try out different things each time to find what worked.
• Synthetic piano based on real piano recordings, however well done, remains complicated to make sound really good, especially when it's a lead instrument. The result is a piano that's either too metalic or too muffled, so finding the right balance wasn't easy, especially as each track is a different universe, often with a different piano sound.
• The bass DI, full amp simulator, with a rather medium sound and not quite round enough for my taste, sometimes too much fret and attack noise, not necessarily easy to tame to keep a minimum of attack and dynamics at the same time. I sometimes had to use several tracks and multiband compressors to find the sound I was looking for.
• We wanted to keep the sound as natural as possible while at the same time "pop-rockifying" the whole thing, which isn't the easiest mix in the world when you start from sources that aren't of the highest quality.

Overall

If I had to summarize the most predominant treatments in these mixes :

• Lots of harmonic distortion, such as console or tape edge simulators, to give the sound a richer, dirtier, more analog feel, which sometimes veers unabashedly into total distortion to provide the necessary energy.
• Lots of reverb play to create ambiences that are either very intimate or very spacious.
• Quite a lot of play with delays, for ambience, but also to fill the space in the high mids.

Song details

This time, I'm sharing my complete impressions of the tracks, both as a musician and as a sound engineer. For a better experience, I suggest you listen to each track described here at the same time as you read the notes, it will certainly make for a more interesting listening experience!

A Saturday in winter

First track, certainly the most pop track on the EP, a little light, almost frivolous, originally written for a Valentine's Day concert at "Club 15" (cf. the lyrics a little after 1m15). I was reminded a little of the band Keane on this track, hence the particularly low-pitched, slightly down-pitched snare drum (yes, I dared). The track oscillates between intimate and spacious, with a slightly cool, airy feel on the chorus (the reverberated tambourine works well). The piano gets a special stereo treatment on the chorus to gain amplitude.

My little kiffs on the track:

• 1m13, switching to a synth sound on the 2nd chorus, for variation and a little more lightness, with its cute little sound and delay.
• At 1m56, the bridge/montée, it already ends with a triplet delay on the voice, then the backing vocals are nice, the shaker + ride sound pretty good, then at 2m06, when the climb begins, a saturated piano delay sound supports the climb, becoming more pronounced as it passes over the bass tom, all culminating in a little set of bass notes followed by a huge slide.
• The following section, a second bridge at 2m14, the "Wou hou" have an immense amplitude, and the whole ends with a drum break accompanied by a bass descent, followed by the particularly soaring pre-chorus.
• The piano variation at the end is notably catchy.

In the end, the result is rather satisfying for our part, my only regret being the sometimes a little too dry result on this track, particularly on the intro and verses, for the style we were aiming for.

Diving

The EP's most rocking track, with a certain originality. First of all, a bass/vocal intro isn't something you find on the streets. I find this track quite mechanical, which pleases me a lot as a drummer, and it's certainly the most pleasant to play. It's probably due to the overall playing, which is very square and eighth-note oriented. There are a lot of nice things in this mix, including :

• A muted intro that deliberately lacks air
• 0m29, arrival of the drums with their beautiful gated reverb that provides strong power and amplitude, accompanied by the piano that immediately creates a melancholic/aerial ambience.
• 0m45, what I call "pre-chorus", where the piano is doubled by a particular synth, very round and a little crunchy
• 1m00, a small synth makes little notes on the eighth notes, and reappears on other similar parts in the piece.
• 1m13, bridge pre second verse, the snare is fitted with a reverse reverb, and a tambourine every other beat, adding even more pep, the voice takes a breath with a delay worthy of the Stade de France, the piano sounds distant and very natural for its little gimmick.
• 1m41, reprise of the "full" drums, with a reverse reverb of the snare drum that also contains a cymbal, which adds a lot to this reprise, then the piano makes a repeating note that really creates a cool universe. Voice with a very long delay, giving a feeling of great space.
• 1m57, bridge, with a chorus of "ahoo" to amplify the climb
• 2m13, pre-chorus again, the bass lets in a slight distortion that lasts until the end of the song, adding a little extra pep.
• 2m39, bridge with a very gruff acoustic drum kit, which for the occasion has a set of stereo made thanks to the micro room which is breaded on one side, a frenzied bass, huge backing vocals
• 2m55, very rocking and heavy bridge, very fun to play
• Followed by the end of the track, with a rising filtered white noise, coupled with a synth on eighth notes, all quite discreet but adding volume nonetheless, with a final distorted piano/bass note.

A rich, fun, powerful track that works really well in my opinion.

Fragile

Another track that oscillates between intimate and ample/aerial. Musically interesting, with several interesting liberties:

• Reverse reverb intro to the track, with a little high-pitched arpegiator synth adding a little ambience, the overall sound is very acoustic, very natural.
• Verse, vocals very close, drums just kicking, but if you listen carefully, you can hear a drumstick strike on the thigh (yes, you have to keep the tempo!) kept deliberately.
• 0m46, arrival of a chorus, spatialized further away, I wanted it to sound as if a second person behind was doing the chorus, singing in a way akin to a scream.
• 0m53, ride bell, much appreciated by the whole group, we're so used to it that if it's not there, we miss it.
• 1m05, chorus, immediately a little groovy thanks to this bass line, with a brand-new chorus found during the arrangement phase and the famous tambourine that binds the whole rhythm section together.
• 1m33, a little question/answer between the piano and a synth that took us a long time to find.
• 2m03, new chorus, this time with the arpegiator synth, whose sound was also difficult to find, adding a more catchy feel than the previous chorus.
• 2m25, a quiet passage evoking many musical references for me. The backing vocals are as original as they are interesting, and the overall universe reminds me of certain films with Johnny Depp such as "Edward aux mains d'argent", but also the quiet passage in Muse's "Citizen Erased", but the piano build-up at the end reminds me of Robbie Williams' "Feel".
• 2m48, final chorus, the apotheosis of the piece, completed at 3m10 by a variation of voices and a distorted bass, with an all-powerful final surge at 3m26.
• The bass/piano end note seems particularly low and deep, and gave us plenty of (non-physical, if that's any consolation) listening pleasure.

In the end, I think we manage to serve and sublimate this rich piece through the mix.

First second

A track divided into two predominant parts, the first melancholy, then a resolution after a minute. Lots of delay play on the vocals and pianos.

• Immediate intro with vocals, harmonic-like bass and piano delay
• The delay effects remain, with an isolated, filtered piano note.
• 1m13, cut with a powerful cymbal, disappearance of the long reverbs, we move on to a confined space, until a bass/drums break that pleases Thibaut and me at 1m44 where the airy side resumes.
• 1m46, fun fact, the high chorus, which is very complicated to hold just right given Olivier's tessitura, is quite strongly autotuned, but during processing, to avoid sounding too robotic, I tested the introduction of an artificial vibrato, which gives a sound close to Theremin, but with a human tessitura. I thought it was fun and left it at that.
• 2m14, a variation on the chorus, where the piano is washed out, accompanied by a cool synth, and the backing vocals come together in an interesting way.

This track is a universe unto itself. Very pleasant to play, the result is, in my opinion, quite convincing.

It could be you

A slightly groovy/pop verse and a soaring chorus; you're probably starting to know the structure that's part of Ollivier Roy's style. The mix of this track was an obvious choice, with the arrangements found by Olivier, who had lots of ideas for this track. But in particular, he had the idea of having a female singer sing the last "back" of the last chorus. So I thought of Manon, lead singer of my other current band. Spoken Hopeswho came to lend her voice, in French, which was unusual for her, and in an equally unusual style.

A few fun facts about this title:

• 0m34, a "bell"-type synth is close to a vibraphone, and several synths are deliberately a little fuzzy.
• 0m52, the verse features saturated and delayed backs, as well as a vibraphone this time, and the violins make a strong entrance, remaining throughout the track.
• 1m23, new refrain, the violin and tambourine in sixteenth notes give an acceleration effect.
• 1m36, an infinite and gradient delay on the "you" helps to announce the next part.
• 1m40, the "han han" with the delays were hard to get right, but I think the effect is amusing.
• 1m57, the question/answer entry between Olivier and Manon. The compression, the doubles and the different backing vocals made this female voice sound pretty good.

In the end, it's a 2m25 track that's often considered too short, but which has time to live with rich sounds and ambience. You'll want more, especially after the arrival of a second voice at the end, and that frustration, the desire to listen to the track again after it's over, is what I think makes it so interesting and beautiful.

Sentinel

So this is the big general trip, which is why this track is put at the end, to leave on an amusing note, but at the same time very powerful, both in music and sound. Saturation all over the place, huge drums, huge bass, what I'd call a "jungle" feel to the verses (the hi-hat/tom bass parts), a relatively unstructured jazzy/rock rhythm on the chorus, which then barely resembles a chorus at all. This track represents the freedom that animated us for this EP.

Several funny bits in the piece of course :

• The track is originally played on piano, so the totally dirty synth sound of the intro alone is fun.
• At 0m09, we note the arrival of the totally filtered and dirty drums, which un-filter at 0m15, bringing a sensation of power, correlated with that immense reverb on the snare (and tom) as soon as it enters.
• 0m27, I've turned down the synth input in the distortion, so it's much less crunchy but still a little
• 0m45, there's a lot going on, the little synth arpeggio that's new compared to the original compo, the saturated bass slap, dirtied and "stereoised".
• 1m17, you can hear artifacts on the synth due to an alignment, in the end I didn't try to remove it, it still messes up the sound and so much the better.
• 1m26, muffled and dirtied vocals, muffled drums with a slight flanger, arrival of claps, then arrival of a what-the-fuck sounding bass that ends with a big slide and a reverberated chorus, heralding the next part which will feature more accentuated claps.
• 2m01, arrival of new "wooo" backing vocals, quite stereoised
• 2m25, the explosion of the track, soaring and energetic, with a voice spatialized in a rather immense way.
• 2m47, outro with synth still very slightly crunchy

All in all, a really fun piece to work on and, I hope, to listen to. Despite all the what the fuck, it manages to stay coherent.

After long hours of listening, it's time for mastering!

Mastering

It's never ideal to master your own mixes, so we let some time go by and came back with a slightly fresher ear. Honestly, there's nothing special about this mastering compared to what I've done in the past. It was a question of homogenizing the tracks as much as possible, regaining a little volume and still a little analog feel. I had to switch back and forth between headphones and speakers to correct the audible faults with the means available, without letting myself be fooled by the shortcomings of the small room I was using as a control room.

The physical disk

Only 100 copies of the atypical album cover were printed. The album design and illustrations were brilliantly realized byMonster Agency in Orléans, which perfectly matched Ollivier Roy's musical universe. This album "sleeve" is made of thick, black cardboard paper, laser-cut in the shape of gears, giving it an industrial appearance. The whole thing stands upright, and the disc itself is housed in a special compartment at the back, along with a leaflet featuring one illustration per track.

A beautiful object that even me, who disavows physical discs a little, is happy to own and to have left my name on it.

The last word

I hope you've enjoyed listening to it, and that the details of the EP's production have interested you, developed your ear and taught you a thing or two about making a self-produced record.