“Flight Back Home”: Warm, comfy Lofi EP.

Music Production:

Purpose: Create a cozy & comfortable Lofi track.

Process: Fireplace
When choosing the key, we decided to go with Bb Major for its association with comfortable moods. Next was to keep a simple chord progression to reinforce good vibes. We elected a IV - I chord progression being played with increasing voice leading. The idea was to keep the sound smoothly building towards new inversions and tension releases. From there, Daunyé was able to work his magic in creating variations of melodies and drum loops. Once we arranged all the separate parts into sections, we sat on the best way to arrange the flow of the song while aiming to have the song finish in under two minutes. Each section was made unique and designed to be an experience meant to be longing for more. In order to distort the perception of time and stick with the “Endless Afternoon” vibe, I focused on playing with the tempo of the song. On occasion, the song experiences a tape slip and slowly distorts to displace time. Not enough to be distracting, but to push boundaries of linear music composing.

Engineering:

Purpose: This project was planned for submission for labels. In order to submit, we were required submissions to be at 44.1K Sample Rate & -14 LUFS.

Process: This project gave me a new appreciation for the sonic quality of audio at 44.1k and at 96k. The files and sessions were maintained at 96k for the highest quality audio for the production phase. When mixing, I used the Brauerizing technique calibrated with a J37 tape machine and API-2500. I choose the API-2500 for the clean tones as a solid-state compressor. I brought in the J37 for use of vintage saturation and manipulation on the characteristics of odd-order harmonics. The busses were set up with High-Frequency Content (Pianos & Pads), Drums, Mid Frequency Content (Guitars), and Spatial Content (Reverbs, Delays, SFXs & Textures). The Mix and Master sessions were held in 96K then converted into 44.1K. I’ve heard Jack Joseph Puig uses 44.1K to run through his analog equipment to bring out a rich and unique sound. I might use this sample rate for more projects in the future. Possibly do an entire start to finish in 44.1K.

Specs:

• Software:

  • Ableton Live 11.1

  • Pro Tools 12

  • API-2500 plugin

  • J37 Tape Machine Plugin

  • Izotope Neoverb

  • Logic Pro

• Hardware:

  • Scarlett 18i20

  • Gibson SG 50s Tribute
    

Credits:

Wayne Brown - Producer, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer

Daunyé Synigal - Session Pianist, Co-Producer, Arranger, Writer