The Complete Guide to Making a Taylor Swift Song
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 3 дек 2023
- Thanks to AIAIAI for sponsoring this vid! These monitors are on an entirely new level, check them out: aiaiai.audio/studio-monitors/...
@TaylorSwift is bar none the most popular, influential pop star of our time. She's changed pop music forever....she literally changed the US ECONOMY. Let's break down some of her songwriting tendencies, as well as dive into her production and mixing tropes so we can use some of these same concepts in our own music.
Artist featured in the ad placement: loramouna?...
Join the Discord - / discord
Follow me: / realaudiohaze
-------------------------------------------
My Studio Rig: amzn.to/46ridMo
My Camera Rig: amzn.to/48DPQNg
(Please note these rankings represent my subjective tastes. These lists would change with different applications, so this is a bit of an oversimplification.)
TOP THREE BUDGET CONDENSERS:
🥇Lewitt 440 Pure - amzn.to/3imNwRh
🥈Neat King Bee II - amzn.to/3JOYATU
🥉Rode NT1 - amzn.to/2NUoBJK
TOP THREE BUDGET DYNAMICS:
🥇Shure SM57 - amzn.to/2P1pUXC
🥈Behringer XM8500 - amzn.to/3utvKmp
🥉Shure MV7 - amzn.to/3BfewuF
TOP THREE CONDENSERS
🥇Austrian Audio OC818 - imp.i114863.net/qnGXBO
🥇Lauten Clarion - amzn.to/3EkXpdQ
🥈AKG C414 XLS - amzn.to/3lMAgXq
🥉Soyuz Bomblet - amzn.to/3YLjr1E
Honorable Mention: Roswell Pro Audio Mini k67x - amzn.to/3BeT9Mt
TOP THREE DYNAMICS:
🥇ElectroVoice RE20 - amzn.to/2UFdyaM
🥈Shure SM57 - amzn.to/2P1pUXC
🥉Sennheiser MD 441 - amzn.to/3S6st6b
TOP yOu CaN'T pUT mE iN a bOx MIC:
🏆Lauten LS-208 - amzn.to/40u0guB 
Видеоклипы
![mgk - Sun to Me (Zach Bryan Cover) [Live from Cheshire Cottage]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_ZnbTEs4O6U/mqdefault.jpg)
I gotta admit. Swift really left a mark to not just music but popular culture in general. Reminds me of how the Beatles did their run in the US.
Yeah definitely true! I guess we have yet to see the influence she leaves behind :) the Beatles have generations of artists that follow, we’ll see what happens with Taylor!
Is this sarcasm?
@@crazyprayingmantis5596I really hope so
@@Cancel_Vulture Where's the lie tho
This is 100% how I feel about Taylor Swift! Even though a lot of her discography isn't to my personal taste, you can't deny she's incredibly talented and influential. I MAJORLY respect that she still writes her own songs and performs her own work even though she's at a point in her career where most artists turn to ghostwriters. Even though I didn't go to the Eras Tour, it's clear that her set was more than a show, it was a PRODUCTION and experience.
So well said!! Couldn't have put it better myself
Incredible video! So happy there’s channels like this that cut through a lot of personal taste and get down to the bare idea of what makes music sound good. We can always learn from everyone, and it seems a damn few people love taylor and her music.
So well said!! Glad you're liking the vids, thanks so much man :)
I'm so glad you made this video. Personally, I like to give credit where it is due, regardless of whether it is 'cool' to like something or not. Let's face it though, Taylor Swift's music is routinely disregarded by people who have, let's say, less mainstream tastes in general. I would include myself in this group. I prefer alternative metal, indie, folk and many more genres over straight-up radio pop. I'm quite picky actually. But there is something I just cannot deny, and it's that Taylor Swift is just a damn good songwriter, as well as a performer and business women etc. Even though her songs are simple in structure, she (and her team) have an incredible talent for making the same structures sound unique for each song. That's really hard to do. Sure, she has a 'sound', but her songs don't all blend into one; they are all unique and easy to tell apart. Lyrics are majorly important in her song's appeal, but also, as you've beautifully articulated, it's the clever production choices that make the songs have stand-out parts that stick in your head. One song that comes to mind is 'all you have to do is stay'. It's a rather unremarkable song in composition, but one production choice that made it stand out was pitching up her voice on the lyric "stay" in the chorus to an almost unnaturally high register. Boom, right there, it sticks in your head. The bottom line for me is she is one of the very best at this style of music; she has mastered it, and I appreciate it for what it is. I do genuinely enjoy it (in doses). Anyway, I just wanted to say, thank you for not shying away from making a video like this. As always it was nothing short of exceptional.
Thanks so much my friend! Glad you liked it, and well said! So true that Taylor has a universal sound that transcends the genre she's writing in
seeing this video in my feed brought me joy, love this sm!! this is such a great analysis and is already making me rethink how i record/produce my songs. as a swift learning production, thank u!!!
I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome, that's awesome!!
Amazing breakdown, thanks so much for all the work you put into these!
Eyyyy thanks Curtic!! Hope you're doing well my friend
It's always so amazing to see UNIT-4 out there in the wild like this, especially somewhere as iconic as Central Park. Thanks @audiohaze!
AWESOME tool!! Its become a staple to use for everyone in our little music production household :)
Nice one - some fantastic lessons, particularly around the arrangement and how that helps make vocal hooks "pop" more. Nice one.
Great video. The Shake it off on guitars moment was jaw dropping. Thanks.
I love this topic🔥
Your video is made with such care👍
really didn't expect this video but i really needed to see everything she does as an artist be dissected. thank you.
Loved the video ! I'm glad YT recommended your channel to me! As a beginner home recording enthusiast, I would really appreciate some pointers on how to have the loud, compressed track with just vocals and limited instrumentation (as you showed in the video).
what a cool video, thank you. I also appreciate the DIY of my own productions, even though I produce mostly synthpop and industrial, i think this is something to learn a lot from.
Great video and the message. I also have recently started simplifying things, because that way it's just easier to get at least something done, especially as a solo artist/producer. And it's always motivating to see that other artists are people and that they go through iterations and work to make music. Makes me feel bonding and not being alone.
Thank you for the video, loved it!
Yayyy that's so amazing to hear!! So true, simplify until you've gotten to the bare essence of your track :)
Loved this video! She really has such a beautiful way of telling stories through her songs, whether it be in a concise pop way or through the more folky albums Evermore and Folklore. Been a fan of hers since I was a kid and it's great to see her getting the respect she deserves when it comes to her craft. Me out here trying to get Tame Impala's snare sound and write songs as catchy as Taylor Swift hahah I can't be the only one!
Fran!!! Yess what a great way to put it :) get those snare sounds from Tame Impala and use them on a Swift hook >:)))
I always absolutely love your videos and I have been subscribed for a very long time:) keep up the good work!!!
Thanks Brooklyn!! Glad you enjoy the vids :)
Great Video again! Please keep doing these even if they take so long to make.
Also I think personally I think my brain releases way more dopamine if there is a sudden unexpected but beautiful change in the chord progression :)
I'll definitely keep them coming! And nice! Personally I try and listen for songs I know I'll like over several listens and give more complex songs time to sink in :)
your channel is soooo underrated!!!
Love Taylor Swift. I was late to the party-Folklore was the first album I listened to-but her lyrics, her ear for melody, it's incredible. The arrangement too. "The 1" has a something different happening every two bars, it's amazing.
Great to hear! Been a while since I listened to Folklore in depth, I'll give it another listen :)
@@AudioHazeplease do and it would be so cool if you made a video in the same style of the phoebe one for folklore and evermore!
Thank you for the video and final motivational words to dip my/our toes into the waters of producing!
Happy recording my friend!!
Great video! I have 3 daughters so it's safe to say I get to hear a lot of T Swift. As students of audio, definitely a lot to learn from her and her production team!
will be so great to see you doing a song with low budgets equipments
Excellent video and definitely a surprise. I think Taylor deserves more credit as a musician’s musician, if you know what I mean. Wouldn’t call myself a Swiftie, but I do find most of her music enjoyable and I definitely cried when I saw her live last spring.
I’d love to see a video from you about how to record like the Smashing Pumpkins in a home studio. Too many Pumpkins sound guides just tell you to grab a Big Muff and be done with it, but there’s sooo much more to their sound.
Great video and topic. I’m not the target audience for Taylor Swift but as a songwriter I’ve been fascinated by her music. The first time I heard one of her songs (before she was a big star), I had to find out who wrote it and was blown away that it was her at such a young age (as with Billie Eilish/Finneas). How about extending this out into a video where you attempt to make a TS-style track from scratch?
so good to see this! talking about antonoff an episode about lana del rey would be dope!
That's a great idea!
I just got into Taylor Swift songs recently and her song writing and production (Jack) are really good
Great video. There is really something to the notion of simple predictability. So many songwriters feel that they need to think of the twist or extended chord that others wouldn't have expected because a 4 chord progression is too easy. There is not such thing as too easy if it sounds good. Just wright the song and stop worrying about what keyboard warriors are going to say about the modality and technique.
I hear you, but I have to disagree. Simplicity is fine but when things get too formulaic it gets boring. There is a lot to be said for experimentation and original ideas and some artists, inc in pop music, can challenge your expectations AND sound good!
As a songwriter who adores her, wasn’t expecting this video but thank you!
I love the tongue-in-cheek self awareness regarding your audience - I’ve never felt simultaneously so seen and also so attacked haha. But I think when combined with the point about harmonic complexity/dopamine response this makes a deeply insightful observation. Like, I’m not a huge Swift fan - but dissecting and understanding her approach to the game is useful, even if it’s only to help roadmap how to achieve the exact opposite. I’d never thought about it like that. Man, this channel is ace.
hahahahah Don't feel attacked, I attacked myself too lol, we're all a bunch of tech nerds here. Thanks dude glad you enjoyed the vid!! Finding the right balance of harmonic complexity mixed with pop sensibility is a killer combo too, so hard to get right :) good to pull info from wherever we can
How close does Taylor’s live performances get to her recordings? Excellent video!
Very inspiring. I really appreciate your videos. And love the fact, that you stopped making gear reviews and just focus on these kind of topics. That’s the content, that makes me want to make music with what I already have. instead of buying more and more gear…
Yesssss that's the goal! I felt like I was selling the idea of gear production more than I was teaching, this feels so much better to me :)
Love it 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Thank you so much!!
Tailor Swift gives me the feeling that if she can do it, then I can do it as well, and that was the main reason that rock music became so popular a long time ago.
That is also why her music is so inspiring.
Women rule the world!! :)
06:19 Bro.. that works.. that is/was/will always be a strong melody
Great video. Not sure about the dopamine thing, i think you need to be able to predict it but have it slightly change, otherwise it would be boring.
Great video as per usual. I'd love to see you do one on Ed Sheeran as well. Another chart titan, dynamic performer, and one of the best songwriters of our generation.
I'll see if there's a vid out there that make sense for Ed Sheeran! :)
That would be great! Ed Sheeran was the one who made me love guitar and want to write songs in the first place.
There's an Ed Sheeran: Songwriter documentary on RUclips where he films his processes.
@@jordanhogan8545 Yeah I've seen all of that but tbh I didn't find it super helpful in terms of making artistic choices in songs, how he thinks about melody, etc. We just kinda got to see him make stuff without a ton of insight.
I'm predicting it, this video is gonna blow up, dude!
lol that would be cool! Idk though, production and tech may hit or miss with Taylor Swift stuff idk
I'm by no means a regular listener of Swift's music (at least, not exactly by choice - my wife plays her a lot on car rides), and I don't care for the overdone pop records, but there's no denying there's something for just about everyone in her music. I saw her on her Speak Now tour. She is a magnetic live performer, no denying it.
Also, I really enjoy your channel. The breakdowns are very bingeable, and explainers like your one on compression from way back are really accessible and easy to put into action.
YES!!! I have been a big Taylor Swift fan my whole life and when I found your channel, I was always hoping you would make a video like this. It's been really interesting following her songwriting and production decisions throughout her career. The clean pop rock beats and catchy lyrics on "Red" are almost nothing like the simple yet sophisticated tracks off of "evermore", yet they have the same common denominator and are both incredible in their own ways. Loved the video, keep up the great work!
Thanks Jacob!! Yess what a great way to put, definitely a common thread throughout all her music but the production and instrumentation choices make each very distinct
I can see this vid hasn’t done as well as others on your channel but I want to say that if you enjoyed making it and it is creatively interesting to you then there is definitely an audience for them, even if it is a bit smaller.
I don't care what anyone says. There are more than a few Taylor Swift songs that I like and a few I even love.
YESSS Covet....but also Talyor! :D
This is really a great video (and yeah I know all of yours are 😂). But yeah she also does great writer/producer collabs. And folks should remember that she first moved to Nashville to be a SONGWRITER and not an artist. 🚀
So good! I wanna hear your take on any artist you wanna do! Kendrick would be so cool
KENDRICK yes I definitely need to make a video on Kendrick!!
@@AudioHaze Yesssss :D
My biggest dream is to be just like Taylor Swift ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I do write songs...but I'm really insecure about my writing..... I really wanna know Taylor's formula in order to reach her position..❤❤
Can you do video like this on Lizzy McAlpine, she's an amazing singer songwriter that has a really cool sound. Thank You !!
Although i have heard her name, i wouldn’t recognize any of her songs if they were playing on the radio. I guess i’m living in a parallel world (?!?). But what i do know is that the more complex and unpredictable the music, the more it triggers me to listen (more dopamine!) and the bigger the chance that i will like it. That might be part of the answer why Taylor Swift’s music probably doesn’t work for me (predictable = less dopamine), and therefor until now hasn’t really caught my attention.
Hahahah that in itself is impressive 😂😂
I am a recent Swift convert and I loved this, thank you!!
REQUEST THOUGH: Would you consider doing a video like this for Maneskin if there's enough info available????
Glad you liked it! I'll see what I can find on Maneskin and see if there's a vid there!
Nice measage in the end!
Thanks, hope its helpful!
How would the singers voice affect the accompaniment? Like if your singers range occupies the low and mids would you instead place most of the accompaniment in a higher register? I’m a song writer who’s just starting to learn to mix so all of this is really new to me lol
Great question! If you're singer is occupying more low end information there are still ways to bring out the breath and detail in their voice, but my inclination would be to work within their vocal, if they exist in the low end I would personally try and build a mix that suits that style. The pop examples I gave all have quite high voices, so you may need to taylor your approach to a darker vocal. Tyler the Creator is a good example of a deeper voice in pop music!
@@AudioHaze and @wade2999 you might want to see how Geoff Castellucci and VoicePlay tackle that with his incredibly low lows. Though they're using voices and beatboxing extraordinaire to do it all. Still, the way they layer the frequencies each uses is instructive, IMHO.
would be exciting to see you make a video about Beach House!
I love a few of her songs, "Lover" and "Anti Hero", no doubt she is am excellent songwriter. But as you demonstrate with the guitars, I really don't care for those over produced pop songs. I hope you make another of these kinds of videos, if you could explain the success of Ed Sheeran to me I would be all ears!
I'll put it down on the recommendations list!
ok ate with this RUclips video 😝
What does that means I know its lingo but I don't understand it hahaha
You missed one big thing. The thing that makes Taylor Swift by far one of the best songwriters in the world: The Bridge. Taylor Swift doesn't use the bridge as a thing to break up the verse and the chorus repetition. The bridge is often the best part of the song entirely.
Not her fan but love your video. She can be described as a one note musicians of the pop genre among many, and that simple melody can be made popular if rightly produced and distributed such as Enaudi who just plays repeated phrase shit and people are mad about him. Like the fact that u keep ur videos short.
gear and production goblin trying to get the snare tone from Tame Impala
oh wait, that"s... Me... Must admit
What was wrong with the guitar version of "Shake It Off"? In isolation it sounds like an excellent foundation for a song.
can u PLEASEEE do LORDE love you videos and have been watching them all!!! I love it, I am a singer/songwriter/pianist and have been starting producing w your help. I love Lorde and Billie could you please do PURE HEROIN stufffff
Best content!
Thank you so much!
i get that it’s me not you but so confused! such great vids but maan the music picks are like 90% uninteresting top 4o type, but i’ll consider adjusting to pop / mainstream (gulp) gonna be challenging !
yeah and you can always choose to add a LITTLE pop sensibility, as much or as little as you think works for your music :) a little goes a long way!
hate to be this guy - but taylor/ jack & laura sisk mostly use a Wunder Audio CM7 over a U47 - citing a more consistent sound compared to the unpredictability of aging components in OG U47 units.
really subtle detail, but something i’ve learned being a fan of Jack & Laura Sisk’s work with Taylor! Loved this video!
Oh really?? No that's great to know, thank you! I haven't heard of Wunder I'll check them out
Anybody wanna produce for me, or give my recording some tips??? I suck, but I think my songs got something 🤷🤷
McDonald's is the world's most popular burger chain.
Is units shifted truly an accurate measure of musical quality or artistic merit? I mean 'Wet A** P***' was a hit. But it's a complete throwaway song. Will Taylor Swift's music still be played in 30 years and looked back upon as genre defining? Serious question. And please...no "how dare you" responses from Swifties.
I think there's a good chance Swift's music is still played in 30 years yeah. We tend to look at current pop stars with an overly critical eye, then once public opinion fades and moves onto the next big star we look back fondly. Happened to Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, you name it
Okay, so summarized: Music-wise, Taylor can think of 2 note melodies & write halfway decent lyrics, while her producers make the actual art; Taylor‘s little to no more than the public face, and her producers do all the work, or am I wrong here?
So very much NOT what the man said, nor implied. Correct, you are wrong.
I agree, all RUclipsrs talk beauties of Taylor because otherwise they'll be doomed. Her music is so predictable that I can't understand why people keep saying that she is an excellent songwriter.
....and yet I find it hard to like any of her songs and don't get what people hear there. Anyone relates? 💁🏻♂
Im even trying to copy Taylor Swift lol
hahahaha I mean lots are!! Definitely a desirable sound
the USA economy omfg
Marketing
Did I just become a Swifty? 😮
:0000
Same few chord progressions all the way through back catalogue. It's a winning formula and it's higher than usual quality arrangement and polish. Lyrics do nothing for me but tbh I've not really listened that intently. It's good, simple pop music. Good on her and if that's what you like fair enough. Massive popularity has made her culturally influential but that's when the celeb over-hype starts to kick in. Artistically and musically, she is not influential at all, there is nothing there to get excited about or anything very new. I like her, but she is nowhere near Beyonce , Lana Del Ray or Billie Eilish imo and when I hear people comparing her to the truly influential female artists like Aretha Franklin, Pj Harvey, Jonie Michell, Bjork, Patti Smith, Janis Joplin? That's just daft. They shouldn't even be spoken about in the same sentence! Keep it real.
not a bad video by any means but i think the title is misleading. this is all about producing like jack antonoff, not writing like taylor. very little of the video says anything about writing at all.
I actually kind of feel like you playing Shake It Off went against your point, as it showed the song worked just find on an instrumental level! (Also your demo is changing because I definitely don't fit either of those categories. I just like budget gear. We exist, lots of us!)
Hahaha yeah I see your point! I thought that a bit after I exported lol, "ahhh this kinda sounds alright", but good to know about the demo thing!! Maybe I should be too specific lol
I’m a bit disappointed tbh, because you concentrated on the pop singles everybody knows which aren’t close at all to her best work she’s done. Songs like willow, cardigan, tolerate it or older work like I know places or all too well which are constantly overlooked would have been really cool to dive into. Instead half of the video is about “Look what you made me do” which doesn’t really represent her music or skillset imho.
Still great video tho.
Without watching the video I'm gonna answer how she do it: Having a team of professionals who do this everyday.
The United States had to look for a woman who represents them in their music and both in their culture, it is pure status quo
I have great respect for Taylor´s song-writing and most of her production (I find Jack´s style quite unbearable in most of his projects). BUT I cannot see how Taylor benefits small artists in any way. She imo carves the door, yes, but also locks it behind her (through labels and not on purpose, but she does). Also her music and her lyrics are very personal and you have to find her personality interesting. I find her as a person boring to a large degree, I find her "LGBTQ+" activism - bordering on exploitation (literally just embracing queerness after all the hard work was done to see if she could make the money of it) and don´t get me started on how blatant she is about the use of private jets, to me she is 100% a climate terrorist.
the way to do it is to be as generic and safe as possible while offloading all the actual hardwork to the mixing and mastering engineers. Taylor swift sucks big time
I wouldn't walk across the street to see her if she was playing for free.
if taylor swift is not pretty, would she still have the same success?
I have no idea what people see in her music. Its all the same and its all boring!