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After completing his second song submission, producer/songwriter, Jake Tee, took the time to answer a few questions about his approach to songwriting.
Dive deeper into his songwriting process below...
Which song are we diving into?
In A Little Town
What was the inspiration for your song, or what is it "about"?
Killing Floor - Lee Child, more specifically Reacher on Amazon Prime.
What was your writing process for it? When we got “A Book of Your Choosing” I realised I hadn’t read a book for fun in probably half a decade, so I had to rely on something else. After watching the Reacher adaptation on Amazon Prime I decided to try and write a Bond theme for it. Lyrics wise, they all tie back into the story. I think my favourite line that I wrote was “They all come in loyal to Washington/Yet they all walk out with a Franklin” which, spoiler alert, ties into the story as it is about a former military police Major, Jack Reacher, who cracks down on a counterfeit cash ring. The organisation is bleaching $1 bills and then reprinting them with $100 bills. George Washington is printed on the $1 bill and Benjamin Franklin is printed on the $100 bill. This line also makes sense given the number of police officers, FBI agents and local government officials who are bribed to keep the organisation a secret. In this case, Washington refers to Washington DC and Franklin refers to them being paid off in $100 bills. As inspiration for this track, I listened a lot to Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ and Paul McCartney’s ‘Live and Let Die’. Having stolen Adele’s chords, I decided to write an orchestral piece to go along with the vocals and piano.
What musical equipment did you use?
Finding a basic layout of an orchestra, I started filling out the song with various different instruments I found in Native Instruments’ Kontakt library. After adding a good 30 instruments, most of which were layered on top of each other, I recorded the vocals. I unfortunately didn’t have long, but I managed to record all the vocals and vocal effects in a little over 3 hours. I used an Addictive Drums 2 pack for my drum kit.
What recording equipment did you use? I used an SM7B to record my vocals, which was connected to my laptop via a Clarett 4pre USB interface. To monitor, I used a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro’s and just a cheap pair of headphones when I didn’t have access to my interface.
What’s your favourite element/section of your song?
Personally, I like the second verse. I had fun with that section!
What would you change about it or hope to improve upon next time?
After my rather disappointing first submission, I was hoping to redeem myself this time by tightening up my vocals. The first submission I did I was ill, so my vocals needed a lot of work. I overdid the processing and it ended up sounding robotic and fake. Unfortunately, this time I didn’t have enough time to work on the vocals, so I would definitely add some proper de-essing and volume automation to make it work. Another thing I would like to work on is making a more clear definition between my different sections, as these tended to bleed one into the other.
Can you remember the first song you ever wrote (if so, tell us about it)?
My first song... I’ve been writing little songs for over a decade (which, given I’m 20 as of writing this, feels like a very long time!) but I think the first song I ever “wrote” was a parody of ‘Ace of Spades’ by Motörhead, when I was about 10. The first piece of music I ever wrote down in a piece of software was for my music GCSE, and for the life of me I can’t remember a thing about it! I wrote a small piece of music for a section of the show ‘Westworld’ for a competition hosted by Spitfire Audio. That was fun, although I only had a few days and it was the first time I’d seriously tried to use a DAW.
Apart from your own, which MBM song/artist should we check out?
Weighted Smile by Theo McBride.
Finally, how have you found being an MBM member so far?
I'’m a student studying Music Production and Sound Engineering. MBM allows me to actually use the skills I’m learning on something other than assignments or my own work, which comes without a deadline. It’s nice to have a new theme each month and actually start to receive feedback on music that’s constructive and helpful.
Listen to all of Jakes songs via the 'Official MBM Playlist'.
Month by Month has been created to be a safe, inclusive & creative space for all who join. If you're interested in joining please remember, This is not a competition,
For example; you could be a first time songwriter recording through your phone, a touring musician, bedroom guitarist or a well crafted producer.
If you’re looking to get your creative juices flowing, then you’re safe and welcome here.
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