Question/Comments About Production

[Frank]

One thing that I really like about Enchant's music is the production. It is just as good as anything out there, and in many, if not most cases, it's better.

I have absolutely no knowledge of how an album is produced and composed, so perhaps I'm just easily impressed.

Anyhoo, I see if I can phrase my questions so as not to imply anythign negative.

Enchant is not a "big" name in the music industry, yet their albums are well polished. The songs are composed well, down to the background rythyms and vocal harmonies. It sounds very very professional. Multi-million dollar bands don't do any better.

I guess I want to ask how does Doug (you) do it? How did he (you) get the knowledge and skill to be able to do such a thing? How do you know where a harmony goes, or where a spot needs more keyboards to fill in?

And since it takes two to tango, I'm sure the entire band has influence in the composition of the music. I definitely don't mean to imply that it's all Doug. Again, multi-million dollar bands don't do any better.

When I listen to the music, I just think, "how do they do that so well?!".

Even Rush, THE GREATEST BAND ON EARTH, doesn't do it better, well.. maybe slightly better.. /wink

I guess I would like to know how a band, with members that have "daytime" jobs, make it sound so good, professional, and emotional, both musically and vocally. This is not an esoteric question with no real answer.

I hope I made myself understood.

 

[Douglas A. Ott]

Frank,

Thanks for the compliments! I'll try to answer any question you have about how it's done, but it won't be easy...forgive me if I miss something. Let me say this...Production, in my opinion, is the hardest aspect of making a record. It's really about making things work with each other, i.e., the kick drum and the bass, the guitar and the keyboard, etc. You have to know frequencies so that instruments are not competing for space in a mix. I certainly don't know everything, but I know what I hear and that helps me get the sound I like. It doesn't always work either. I'm my biggest critique and am always trying to make things better than the last time I did a record. Sometimes I re-do a guitar part because the tone doesn't work in the mix. It may sound great by itself but competes too much with the keys , Bass or vocal. Likewise with the keys, sometimes I myself, Benignus or now Bill have to try different tones or patches till we find something that sits in the mix and doesn't over power the rest of the band but compliments the sound. Arrangement is key as well. Knowing where to put each instrument as so not to step on another part but to compliment it. I've always work under the assumption that less is more so I try to leave space at times for the music to breath...ala, Follow the Sun, Comatose and even smaller sections in our earlier material like the third verse of Acquaintance or the intro of Pure. This helps greatly when mixing because the "Competition" aspect is minimized. Tom Size is a big help as well. When working with a true professional who knows his stuff, it makes my job as Producer much easier. I hope that each Enchant album sounds better than the last...that's my goal. I really started with Wounded and I think it is very obvious that I didn't really know what I was doing if you listen to the production of that and Time Lost. But I knew what I wanted to hear so through trail and error our sound slowly got better with each record. I mean, Although I love Blueprint, it is probably the worst sounding guitar tone I've ever recorded. Hard for me to listen to actually, especially the solo tone...ugh!

But I think the Wounded solo tone is 5X better sounding because I really tried to work with it until I found something I really liked. It sounded like my tone and not someone else's interpretation of what I sounded like. That's what really made me take the reigns and start producing the band. I wanted to capture the band like I heard it and not have someone else try and mold us into sounding like something that they wanted us to sound like. I don't think I was always successful at it, but I do think that it has gotten better with each attempt.

Well, there you have it in a rather large nutshell! Hopefully that answered most of your questions. I look forward to the next Enchant studio album and making it sound even better than the last!

Doug

 

[The Stormbringer]

In my opinion, Tug had the best sound of all Enchant albums. Each and every instrument can be heard clearly and is placed right where it belongs. Blink had a nice sound, too, but the bass makes my speakers tremble sometimes (could be a matter of the speakers, of course).
J9 sounded a little muddy, whereas Break was really good, I think, very warm and comfortable-sounding. Wounded has my least favourite production, pretty thin and cold... I actually like the sound of Blueprint, although I can see why Doug and Ed don´t like it.

 

[ProgMetalFan]

I quite like your solo tone on "Wounded". It sounds especially sweet on the solos in "Look Away". Thanks for the details!

 

[Frank]

Thanks for the insight Doug, I really appreciate it. I not only like to listen to music, but I like to understand what's involved in creating it because it gives me some perspective of the effort behind it.

I imagine finishing a song has to be like giving birth and raising a child, your heart and soul goes into it, and when it leaves your hands you hope you raised it right.

I don't have Enchant's first 2 albums yet, but the rest are very polished. I really can't think of anything negative about them.

 

[DTArtstar]

Enchant's albums have had amazing production since J9 I think. As far as other bands with much bigger budgets, I think Enchant actually compete very well. I think J9, Blink, and Tug have superior production to almost every Rush album(Moving Pictures may be slightly better but that's not really important.) My personal favorite is Juggling 9 simply because I love the tom and snare sound on it. But whatever you guys are doing, keep doing it! The production is awesome

 

[DiscoDave]

I'm inclined to agree...I can't imagine how you guys ever break even with all the work you put into the albums. That goes from the songwriting (of course), to the production quality, and even the covers of late have been really quite remarkable.

*thumbs up*

 

[thopman]

Hi, guys. Bumping an old thread here that I found searching for info on how the band makes their CDs.

Doug, your reply in the thread above/below talks about your general approach to things, but I'm curious what kind of equipment, software, etc. you guys are using in the studio?

I'm a musician myself (actually a kind of "Enchant wannabe", you guys are my new heros!). I have a fledgling home studio, and I play guitar and keys (and sing). I was in a band and wrote originals *years* ago, but I'm hoping to get back into it, and you guys really inspire me.

Anyway, any "techie" flavor of your recording process you can give me, without boring everybody else here I guess, would be great!

Thanks,
Terry

 

[jyng]

Thanks Doug, for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Personally, my favorite Enchant album is Blueprint. Yeah, it might not be mixed as good as the latest albums, but it's got the energy and freshness of a new band exploring and experimenting with a different complexity of feel and sound. And I like your guitar tone on it a lot. I'll admit that you definitely have a heavier and better sounding tone now with your new music, but your guitar tone fit in very nicely with the other instruments on Blueprint, in my opinion. I guess what I'm trying to say is the way Blueprint was mixed, with the different arrangement and tones of the instruments, gives me a feeling when I listen to it that I really like.

The thing I really like about Enchant is it puts me in deep thought and touches my feelings. I love how the music fits with what the songs are talking about. And Ted really knows how to sing in such a way to bring reality into what the song is saying. I was listening to 'Under Fire' on my way home from work today, and it put me in another world where I was in a trench, under a blood red sky in the midst of a battle. But not only was I seeing the flashes of gun fire going off, I was going deeper into unknown feelings of fear not only for the moment but for the future. And the music screams out the pain of what this individual is going through. Man, what an intense song!!!

Anyway, keep up the great work Doug! Each album definitely sounds better than the previous, but never put down the earlier ones because they definitely shine with pure artistry of both feeling and emotion.

Jay

 

[thopman]

Hi, Jay. Terry here.

Actually, I'd "bumped" an old thread from February in order to ask for some "techie" details on the Enchant recording process. . .

 

[aabrewer318]

great question and a very thorough and interesting response from Doug. Frank is right. Its evident that there's a lot of time and thought put into arranging the albums and the individual songs.

I have to say though----i do like the............"unfinished" nature of Blueprint. I'm really drawn to it and other albums like that. There's something about it.
Not so much unfinished but maybe a little raw, if i can say that. I think it was fitting that it was the first album i had from enchant. Maybe thats why i llike it so much.

Doug, i think your guitar sounds great on the album, but i guess from your perpective, hearing yourself play, you'd notice very particular things that we may not.

-Aaron-

 

[klondorwarrior]

Jesus i love Doug's tone...ESPECIALLY his solos...sounds like ethereal wails. So awesome.

 

[The Stormbringer]

Doug, i think your guitar sounds great on the album, but i guess from your perpective, hearing yourself play, you'd notice very particular things that we may not.

Knowing nothing about the technical aspects of production, I enjoy the Blueprint sound, the up front, echoing drums giving it a grandiose, epic feel none of the other Enchant albums has. The bass could be a little more prominent, though... how about a remaster?

 

[thopman]

Hey, I'll try this one last time. Don't mean to be a pest . . .

Doug, if you're out there, how about a bit of tech-talk on the Enchant recording process? Do you guys use Pro Tools, computers, etc.? What kind of guitars, keys, etc. do you tend to use? That kind of stuff . . .

--Terry