The clarity is amazing.
Detail is everywhere and sometimes it just pops out when you least expect it. I’m listening to the radio in the car the other day and the song Warrior by Scandal came on. I love this song. It features Patty Smyth, who has such a great voice and an awesome vocal range. For some reason, I could clearly hear a guitar part bopping along in the background. That got me to thinking, why is that? Here’s my theory.
I think my listening is now much more attuned as to how songs are put together. There are a lot of common traits and techniques that are used in Pop/Rock/Country music production. One technique is to riff behind or along with the vocals. The idea is to complement what the vocalist is doing and not detract from it. Most of the time, the vocalist will sing a line and then one of the instruments will follow with a riff after it. It creates a little back and forth movement to the song. I noticed this with the guitar in Warrior.
Another technique that is very common is to double track the rhythm guitars. I noticed in Warrior that one rhythm guitar simply played muted 1/8 notes, while the other pushed out long power chords. This kept the song ticking along like a clock but still maintained a very full and rich sound with the power chords ringing out.
Towards the end of the song one of the rhythm guitar players, was throwing in some tasty licks in between the power chords. I believe it was guitar that was playing the steady muted 1/8 notes. They were very subtle licks and unless you were paying attention, you never would have heard them. These were used to intentionally build more excitement as the song progressed. The ability to add in tasty licks that are so well integrated into the song, you don’t even know it, set professional musicians apart.
Use a little concentration, add in a good set of headphones and you’ll be amazed at what you hear.