I have worked on hundreds of songs over the years and everytime I work on another song these concepts become more and more apparent to me. Kinda like panning for gold, the more water you add (aka songs) the more you are able to identify what is true and what elements a great song encompasses. So here are a few of my thoughts when it comes to contrast in your music.

It’s pretty easy for me to spot a beginner song/production just in this one area alone. For example, the beginner productions typically will have an acoustic guitar playing at the same intensity level the whole way through the song not pulling back in the verses and bridge, just plowing through the whole duration of the song at the same intensity level. Not good..lol Another example with a more full production would be the verse feeling almost as big as the chorus with no added instrumentation in the big sections. This will cause the listener to lose interest so quickly. We are trying to take the listener on a journey. Take them up, take them down, turn them sideways… you get the idea lol. It’s all about the plus and minus- take away here and add there- make small then make big. Another way to think of it is like a painting if you were trying to paint a landscape and were only using one shade of paint there would be no way to create dimension differentiation, you’d just be left with a blob of paint haha and the same goes for your song.

This same concept applies to an artist’s sonics. So often we are tempted to replicate sonically what we have seen to be well received and just make it slightly different, repackage and release. I think a better approach to gaining attention in a world with so much noise is to do the exact opposite of what is currently working. You will have a way better chance of getting noticed and will increase your odds of cutting through the noise. If you are a pop artist and everybody is going super polished electronic then consider going raw stripped back acoustic. Art has and will always be about presenting something unique, you lose every time when you walk down the path of emulation. It’s so important to polarize!! I cringe a little bit when I hear a song and know what reference tracks they were using in the songwriting & production phase. Listeners aren’t dumb and will totally pick up on this.

On a more production note think about frequencies and sound-field. When it comes to frequencies a subtle way to make the listener feel like things are constantly changing is to control how you are presenting low-end. Low-end is super exciting and really can impact the listener in a visceral way- don’t use it haphazardly. Try pulling most of the low-end out of your tracks during a verse and then when the chorus hits add that back in or vice versa. Or try using full frequency on the verse and then pulling everything but the vocal and a pad or piano when the chorus hits. It is all about adding and taking away constantly through the song. This is what separates an amateur production from a professional one.

When it comes to sound-field you have mono and stereo to play with so fully exercise that. Oftentimes I receive tracks to mix and everything in the track is basically stereo. Here’s the deal though if everything is stereo it's basically just mono sounding. Stereo can’t feel big with out mono elements in the track. For example, let's say you have a stereo-tracked electric guitar part all the way through the song try automating your panning to create more interest. So in the verse’s pan have those tracks at more like 50% in and then when your big sections hit then pan those puppies hard left and right. This will really give the listener the sense of the song getting massive in the chorus! Just remember- contrast baby- in everything!

Hope this helps!

-Stephen