DRAMATIC IMPACT

As those working in music production develop their skills and begin to pay closer attention to the way in which music they admire is made, one question arises more frequently than any other: "how do I make my music sound like that?" Rarely are those asking that question thinking about harmony, melody or "treading on the toes" of the musical foundations of admired tracks. Instead, it’s usually asked as a lament to the fact that commercial tracks often sound wider, bigger, louder, punchier, more dynamic and, somehow, more impactful. And, of course, the temptation is to imagine that the way to bring similar levels of "impact" to one’s own tracks is to add more and more and more layers as, surely, more parts equals more impact. Right? As we’re going to discover over the next few pages of musical examples, actually, this doesn’t always follow. Unfortunately, you won’t have to look hard to assume that we’re not being honest. Look at the template DAW projects for composers like Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Junkie XL or Spitfire Audio’s Christian Henson and you’ll discover track counts that run into the hundreds and even thousands. And their studios are filled with outboard and hardware too, suggesting that there’s as much music to come in via audio channels as there are software instruments contributing to these mega-productions. How to explain that? Read on…

Less is often more

So why