Writing A Paper on Robin Guthrie's Production

[hungryghost]

I have to write a short paper on Robin Guthrie as a producer. Can anyone give me some ideas or point me in a certain direction insofar as how his ideas on production have carried over to his work on bands like Lush, Chapterhouse, etc. from his work in Cocteau Twins or how they might have changed over the years. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[agcu418]

I have to write a short paper on Robin Guthrie as a producer. Can anyone give me some ideas or point me in a certain direction insofar as how his ideas on production have carried over to his work on bands like Lush, Chapterhouse, etc. from his work in Cocteau Twins or how they might have changed over the years. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

What's the purpose of the paper ?

[hungryghost]

It's for an audio engineering/production class. We have to pick a favorite producer and write a paper about his/her production style, values, ideas, etc. I just got into Cocteau Twins recently so I figured why not. I'll learn in the process and also get insight into the music I've been listening to lately.

[salve_sons]

I guess you could call the production "Expreimental rock". The experimental aspects come from the lack of lyrics and discernable pop vocals (though Liz is great creating melodic hooks and they approached pop structures at the end of their career), the approach to the guitar which places it in the background instead of a "riff" that is the memorable hook of the whole song (for example, Zep's Whole Lotta Love... the riff is the song for the most part), and the production values which favor machine beats and harsh textures (giving way to dreamy textures and more rock live drum productions later). The textures of the music seems almost more important than the "traditional content" of the melody or guitar work. Those textures were also deliberatly challenging, and include: Extreme chorus effects on the guitars for a unique fuzzy warble tone; delays for layered guitar chime effects; reverb on the kick drum (early work) and snare.

Music production can be boiled down to a few things, in my opinion: 1. the sound stage. Does the music seem flat and upfront in the speakers, or is it washed out and reverby? Both approaches basically establish a sense of space for the listener. Jazz production, for example, may want to establish a tight club sound with room reverb only. Robin and CT obvious did more of the soundscape approach, where the melody of the guitars is secondary to the texture and reverb. This allowed Liz's vocals to pop on top.

2. Mixing: Keep it simple. Its easy to lose the focus of a song and if not mixed right will stop the song from "breathing" or appearing to have separation between the instruments, frequencies. This may make the song sound cluttered (too many instruments) or "muddy" (the vocals and the guitars and the bass all seem to be competing for your attention instead of complimenting each other) and may prevent the listener from focusing on the song's best aspects. The song should pop in the listeners ears, that is, it should offer a memorable phrase that the brain just finds immediately memorable. Sometimes its the lyrics, sometimes its a change from minor to major for a chorus, sometimes its the overall impression of a dramy sound. Heavy metal, for example, will have the same guitar riff done by the guitar, bass and the vocals sometimes as well. It might come off as easy to remember, or it might come off as stupid and simple. Either way, the mix should be done in a way that the hook is co-ordinated to be explosive and immediate. CT obviously was looking to establish sonic soundscapes, either harsh and thrashy or melodious and dreamy, not punchy pop, and so much of the guitars are layered and playing different phrases than the bass or vocals, with the drums mixed with less hip-hop bass and more 8th note or 16th note hi hat "keep a solid metronome" approach (though of course Robin experiemented with different drum programs, textures, reverbs, machines, etc). But, Keeping the hook upfront, the bass simple and in beat (Simon would do a lot of the keeping 4/4 time via a bass pulse), the guitars mixed right so that they create a texture of winds upon which the vocals can soar... Robin's production does that well.

So there's that....

[hungryghost]

That was a lot of help. Thank you so much.

[Tinspur]

You can also check out cocteautwins.com, they have lots of interviews and information on the band that could prove insightful for the purpose of your paper.

[dprid]

If you go to www.robinguthrie.com you can e-mail him directly and ask questions :)