In this paragraph I will compare the techniques I found by analyzing the songs „Mankind“, „Monster“, „Time Alone With You“, and „All I Need“ with the main points stated in the interviews by Jesse Passenier and Freddy Tings.
Chronologically, I first analyzed the four songs, then compared them to the interviews and finally extracted nine techniques which I analyzed more in detail.

This page contains from top to bottom:
– comparison analysis with interviews (second step)
– analysis of techniques (third step)
– analysis of the four songs (first step)

Main Voice:

In the Song „Mankind“ by Jamie Cullum the main voice and its effects develop throughout the song but it mostly keeps an intimate quality. Only for the climax towards the end of the song when the arrangement becomes fuller and the energy rises the lead voice gets embedded in the mix.
This corresponds to the general developments in Pop-Jazz stated by Freddy that the vocal should be upfront and loud in the mix but rather natural and also to his statement that effects and strange sounds need to be a confident statement since we have the unnatural and strange gated and side-chained reverb in the first verse of the song which sounds like a Slap-Back Tape-Delay and as a contrast the compressed and dry ASMR-like whispering at the end of the bridge.

„Mankind“ first verse only voice:

„Mankind“ bridge only voice:

This supports the statement that everything has to be authentic and a statement. We do not find any „boring“ sounds in the lead voice but always conscious decisions in the production process.

In the Song „Monster“ the sound of the lead voice is coined by a distortion of the lower frequencies which makes the tone feel warm and energetic almost like being sung through an old microphone.

The distorted sound fits all into the context of the song which starts with a Wurlitzer accompanying the voice.

The general sound of the song embraces the noisy and distorting qualities of analog gear and real human instruments which fits the by Freddy mentioned trend towards retro-vintage sounds.This specific characteristic combined with a certain amount of compression brings out details in the voice which creates a feeling of closeness and adds to the singer’s authenticity.
Example isolated voice:

Jamie Cullum already has a rough and characteristic voice quality and all effects on it are being used in a way that supports what is already there in his tone instead of changing his natural voice color. If the effect of the used techniques also apply to other voices in general respectively my voice in particular will be researches in the chapter „Album“ where I will apply certain techniques to my own music.

In the song „All I Need“ the main voice changes dynamically between being very upfront

and being buried in the mix.

In contrast to that there is except for a few moments no reverb on the voice at all. Jacob Colliers records his voice in a natural way and too much reverb would most likely clash with his thick vocal layers.

In the song „Time alone with you“ the main voice sung by Daniel Caesar is even more extreme regarding the aspect of natural sound of the voice. The relaxed atmosphere of the song asks for a conversational and natural sound which you can clearly hear in the tune.

Only in the choir parts where the main melody is sung by many different layers the lead vocals are not standing out as much.

In comparison to Jamie Cullum Jacob Collier has a dark, smooth and rich voice quality which asks for a natural tone in the production because effects like distortion or saturation could cover his original voice tone which would change it fundamentally and probably be less authentic. He creates thickness and textures rather by stacking his voice and by using vocal techniques than processing it. This is a different approach which preserves his personal vocal color.

Conclusion main vocals:

Both artists have a strong vocal identity and therefore the lead vocal is of special importance to them. This reflects in the placement of the main vocals of both artists in the mix. They both use vocals that feel „close“ and „intimate“ as a way to express their artistic identity and authenticity. Where Jacob Collier has a rather natural vocal sound in his productions Jamie Cullum is working more with tools that bring out certain elements in this voice without „standing in the way“ of sounding authentic.
Still the technique of upfront vocals is not used in a static way but consciously in places that require a strong personal connection to the listener.

Backing vocals:

In the song „Mankind“ the backings are sung by a choir including female voices which contrast the main voice and live above it in the frequency spectrum and therefore open up the sound. As Freddy stated in the Interview the backing vocals only support the main voice as it is common in contemporary music. We find supportive harmonies in the pre-chorus and chorus,

a pad sound and doubled whispering in the bridge.
Isolated voice in the bridge:

The song is not overloaded and backings are effectively being used only in places where they have a powerful impact. This is important since the song itself is quite rhythmical and the essence of it being an intimate, gospel influenced and mostly acoustic production needs enough space to take full effect. This makes sense also in the context of what Freddy says about authenticity in the context of contemporary music when he states that every instrument needs to be heard and decisions have to be made consciously in order to have meaning. For example intimate songs work well in an instrumentation with less instruments and real instruments with little flaws and unperfected sound qualities appear human and more energetic songs benefit from instruments with a rougher sound quality and distortion because they support the intention of the song.

In the song „Monster“ the backing vocals only come in after 0:57 seconds where they act as an echo for the main voice.
Isolated vocals:

In the second verse the vocals function as a dark pad sound matching the atmosphere and the topic of the song. These vocals are a single line but heavily processed and pitched down so the formants get much darker.
Isolated vocals:

Vocals in context of the song:

This is an example of the generally growing love of experimentation with sounds in the scene as mentioned by Freddy Tings. Again the backing vocals function as support for the general atmosphere or like in the following refrain as support for the main voice. Only in the final and dense chorus the backing vocals add a counterline to fill the arrangement.

Isolated Vocals in final chorus:

In the song „All I Need“ Jacob uses mostly natural sounding backings consisting of huge stacks of his own voice and occasionally other artists. He uses his backing vocals very frequently and in all conceivable ways. Dominating is the function of supporting the lead voice (what Freddy mentions as the main function of backing vocals in contemporary Jazz-Pop music).

Isolated voice:

and answering/interacting with it in form of harmonies and counter melodies (both functions and types are mentioned by Jesse as important in modern vocal arrangements) where interaction is used a little less frequently. Naturally there are more places in which supporting a lead voice is appropriate compared to interactive vocals which also thicken the arrangement instead of just the lead voice’s texture.
Very typical for Jacob are creative elements like vocal pyramids, dense, clashing and dissonant voicings and other ad lips and ear candy-like human sounds.

Vocal pyramids:

Kissing sound:

Dissonant Harmonies:

(Transcription by Jason Fieler, Youtube)

In the song „Time Alone With You“ he uses predominantly harmony and doubling to support the lead voice or answer it. Interesting textures are created by heavy processing through varispeed (recording vocals in a different tempo and the speeding it up or slowing it down to match the tempo of the song)or by doubling the lead in octaves. This can be seen in Jacob’s Logic Breakdown session where the explains the technique in detail.

He also uses the stereo image as a tool to create phasing or width within the vocals.

Arrangement backing vocals:

In Jamie Cullum’s songs „Monster“ and „Mankind“ Jesse’s point that the structure in voicing is important was definitely considered when writing the arrangements because the backing vocals are throughout arranged in strong structures.

„Monster“ Vocals + Backings (chorus):

While in Jacob Collier’s productions you find strong structures like doubling or triads which he uses in an unconventional way more as a color in itself than as a normal harmonic filling he paints a lot with dissonance and huge chord stacks

(Transcription by Jason Fieler, Youtube)

which also act more as color and convey movement between different harmonic fields rather than just following the chord changes.

Conclusion backing vocals:

Jamie Cullum tends to use much less backing vocals only in specific places to support the main voice and/or the mood with mostly simple and strong structures sung by female voices whereas Jacob collier uses backing vocals more as a creative tool to paint his songs with thick vocal stacks that are mostly unedited and therefore represent his own vocal color even though he likes to mix it with other vocal stacks from artists he collaborates with. He also includes a lot of dissonance in his arrangements and difficult voicings and scales that represent more sound colors or modes than actual chords. Across both artists you find soundwise either pure and authentic backings or standing out processed weird sounds which is also what Freddy states but the amount of usage is vastly different and while Jamie uses only one type of backing vocals with a particular function at a time in Jacob’s arrangements different types of backing vocals with different functions can overlap and be used simultaneously. The borders between them are fluent. This approach to vocal arranging differs fundamentally from what Freddy and Jesse state is the common way in modern Jazz-Pop territory but it is part of what makes Jacob Collier unique and what he is known for.

Arrangement and production in general:

When looking at the songs „Mankind“, „Monster“, „All I Need“ and „Time Alone With You“ they all seem to follow these principles that were also stated by Freddy in the interview as being part of general recent trends in contemporary music production:
In the arrangement nothing just goes through. There is always a development of sounds and textures within the instruments themselves. They all follow the same sonic trend of sounding warm and retro but at the same time modern and authentic, in Jamie’s case created by working with a lot of distortion and saturation in low frequencies as you can clearly hear in the Wurlitzer sound in the beginning of the song „Monster“. Jacob does it by layering sounds and the use of a barely noticeable details.
The drum sound they use is mostly dry, snare sounds are often layered and only certain snare/clap sounds have some sparse reverb on them. This can be seen in Jacob’s Logic session breakdowns where he shows the isolated drum tracks. The high frequencies are tamed and that creates a loft-like sound that is relaxing to listen to.
The bass has a sub-bass-like quality even in „All I Need“ and „Time Alone With You“ where the bass itself is more lively and active in a funky way compared to Jamie’s more traditional way of assigning the root notes of the harmony to the bass. Still both use a certain amount of bass fills in their songs. This statement is based on my subjective listening experience because the bass is only prominent in places where it plays a fill and on Jacob’s Logic Session breakdown where he shows the isolated bass tracks.
The other instruments have the space they need in order to be hearable but without covering each other.
The clarity and the space in the mix profits from short and controlled dry instrument sounds and consciously shaped reverbs.

Jamie Cullum follows the classic singer-songwriter approach where he bases his production on simple ideas that get embedded in a full mix in a more traditional way meaning that the production follows the core idea of the song. Jacob Collier has a more detailed way of puzzling hundreds of tracks and samples into a universe of soundscapes by layering different sounds and using ear candy in an almost sub-concious way while still preserving the dimension of density flexible in order to keep the transparency to be authentic.
Both artists use the by Freddy mentioned production approach to the extend that every sound and sample gets shaped and controlled to fit the production and the vibe of the song. For example in the song „Mankind“ the drum sound changes from a real drumkit with layered snare samples to an electronic MPC Drum Maschine sound in the end of the bridge and in Jacob Collier’s „All I Need“ the clean funky slap bass Trilian sample changes to a sidechained disco-like synth bass sound in the chorus. This way of music-production would be rather difficult without modern electronically devices and DAWs where powerful computer programs and plugins allow for easy and fast processing of sounds and arranging in a way that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.

Conclusion arrangement and production in general:

Both artists seem to follow the general trends in music production like upfront vocals, dead drums, sub-bass, and layering sounds but the approach to constructing a song differs in a way that Jamie Cullum’s productions are finished songs mostly written at the piano which are then produced and arranged to fit a band context whereas Jacob Collier is working with lots of unexpected electronic and real world sound to create a collage of sounds, instruments, and voices containing a song.
What productions of both artists have in common is that regardless of what the process might be their finished productions contain surprise and movement in the sense that no element is absolutely static.

In this chapter I will analyze the in my opinion most important found techniques occurring in the four songs with respect to their emotional impact on me, what the reason for that might be.

The following analyses and conclusions are partly based on my knowledge and experience as a producer, what I learned during my studies at the conservatory and on what I would describe as general knowledge in this field.

Technique #1: Upfront vocals

As found in the description of the four songs both Jamie and Jacob extensively place the main vocal in front of the whole mix meaning it is most of the time the focus of attention when listen to their songs. It may be the case that in most songs which contain lyrics the voice attracts the listeners attention through the nature of us humans being especially sensitive to other human voices but as I experience it from listening to music in our everyday life with other people in a lot of songs they often recognize a singers voice color but they have a hard time understand the words. This could be due to pronunciation issues but another factor regarding speech intelligibility is where the voice is placed in the context of the mix. A quieter vocal feels more distant because we perceive sounds that are far away from us as being quieter in general but the relation to the other instruments is equally important as well as the frequency profile of our voice. For example some high female voices cut better through other sounds than a dark male voice. Therefore it is important not to drown the voice in other sounds and leave enough space in terms of frequencies (around 1-3kHz is where our ears perceive human voices the best)and in terms of volume.
When speaking of frequencies it is also important to note that high frequencies behave more like a light beam and low frequencies radiate more like a round wave in all directions. That is why sounds that are far away sound thinner. The energy of the low frequencies radiates in all directions and gets lost while the high frequencies travel straight in our direction. From that we can conclude that voices which should be perceived as close and warm have more pronounced lower frequencies. A possible tool for achieving that is the use of saturation or distortion on the voice. Saturation and distortion function in a way that they add harmonics or overtones to an already existing sound based on its existing frequencies. If we now add harmonics based on the lower frequencies of our voice they become more pronounced without just getting louder because additional frequencies in the spectrum which are responsible for a „warm“ sound that were not there before are now present which changes the sound in a way that it also gets perceived as more energetic.
Another aspect of a vocal that feels intimate is the amount of detail we can perceive. If we diminish the dynamic range of our voice by using a compressor quieter details become louder which again means that the source of sound has to be relatively closer to our ear than if the dynamic range would be bigger. It is just like whispering into someone’s ear.
Of course the general rules of production techniques apply to the main vocal of a song as it does for other instruments and therefore these methods can help to acquire a more intimate and authentic vocal sound:

– making the lead vocals louder
– using no or less reverb
– compress the lead voice
– using distortion or saturation on the lower frequencies of the voice
– leaving more space in the mix

Technique #2: Own voice stacks

Jacob Collier uses harmony in form of vocal stacks of his own voice as a way to provide warmth and thickness for his vocal sounds which is one of his signature features as an artist.
One possible reason for his layered voice choirs giving me a warm sensation may be just to the fact that his voice color itself is quite dark and airy.
When layering the voice in a way like Jacob does by stacking harmonies on top of each other but without using reverb the already existing qualities of the voice get reinforced in a way that louder parts and formants continue to add even more and the soft parts become relatively quieter in comparison to the main characteristics. That applies also for the use of air when singing. The airy wind-like quality of his voice created by different irregular occuring frequencies (similar to white noise) also gets amplified which has a soothing effect on the listener. This combination of pleasant and warm qualities is what makes his vocal stacks work in the way they do and what creates the described emotional effect. The question is how vocal stacks of only one voice color work for different people but in any case it is a tool to amplify already existing qualities of the voice which makes the production unique on one hand because your voice is as much your personal sound as it can get because no one else has the same shaped resonance rooms in their anatomy as you do and on the other hand makes it therefore authentic because it stresses the way you already express yourself when vocalizing. In case that too many stacks tend to over exaggerate the desired effect an equalizer can help to tame frequencies that added up to much in the process of layering.
The used vocal technique while recording can also play a role when aiming for a pleasant vocal sound when stacking because harsh sung vocals can emphasis certain formants too much so the resulting sound can come out as unpleasant to the listener. Therefore singing with a softer tone can allow for more voices to be stacked without getting to dense as a result.
Aside from this amplification effect, stacking your voice can also create a warm tone because by layering one person’s voice, the different layers most likely have similar formants, vibrato and breathing noise. This homogenous quality creates a uniform color in contrast to different voices having potentially clashing overtones when singing in harmony and by layering many voices, little imperfections like hard transients in different takes are getting smoothed out in relation to the average volume of the whole stack. This unitiy effect gets even stronger when layering more vocals because the impact of a single take on the total sum becomes smaller.
Besides the special homogeneity there is another effect which played a role in creating a notably warm sound and pleasant sound when stacking your own voice. When singing the same phrase or syllable in a similar way there will always be minimal differences regarding timing, overtones, dynamics and pitch for each take which results is a light but noticeable chorus effect which enhances the stereo image and the feeling of being in the middle of a „wave“ of harmony. A wide spread stereo image in general is very useful when trying to open up the sound and create a more spacial feeling when stacking similar sounds. You can use the stereo image by panning different voices in different angles compared to the main voice.
Own voice stacks can be a great way to personalize the vocal production and give it some warmth. These points can be helpful when implementing the technique:

– singing with an airy or light vocal quality
– equalizing the whole stack as a group to keep general quality
– panning different voices in the stack for stereo imaging
– stacking a high number of tracks for more unity

Technique #3: Vocal pyramids

Vocal pyramids are another arranging device which is quite typical for Jacob Collier. A broken chord or scale is sung in an arpeggiated manner. The single notes are mostly overlapping creating a guitar like texture with previous notes still ringing while the next one gets sung. Therefore it differs quite significantly in sound compared to a simple arpeggio sung by a single voice in a single context. It can be used to create melody-like lines or when the single notes are being held out even harmony.
When the single notes are played from the lowest to the highest pitch of the figure the sound can be also „opening up“ and when playing downwards the sound can also feel like „relaxing“ or even „falling“.
Every new added note has an own attack in its sound which grabs the listener’s attention. The after each other sounding notes can be used to keep the attention because every time a note is sung „something new“ happens. This effect is even more attention drawing when the different notes are being placed at different positions in the stereo field, because the listener not only needs to „look“ at every new note but also „in different directions“.
There are a few parameters that can change the effect of a vocal pyramid. The amount of notes used in a pyramid, the distance between the singe notes and the frequency with which the notes are being sung. A long pyramid consisting of many notes stresses the overall effect of the direction in which the notes are moving and its correlating meaning in the context. The tempo has an influence on the amount of movement you perceive. For example a slowly developing pyramid as used in „All I Need“ (1:09) acts more like a relaxed buildup of the harmony where a fast falling or even messy pyramid that is not strictly going down in pitches and even formed like a composite of different downwards falling note sequences combined has an effect that feels like rain falling down as it can be heard in „All I Need“ (2:11).
The distance of pitches in-between the different notes also have an impact on the width of the spread harmonical fan. Chordal pyramids with wide harmonies where every note has room to breath can have a more dramatic character like a brass ensemble, a gospel choir or an orchester where a wide spectrum of frequencies are covered and that crates a big and energetic sound. When the notes are close together like in a scale they can be more of a musical mode, a color or a cluster with more dissonance.
Vocal pyramids are a versatile tool to add rhythmical and harmonically information to a vocal arrangement and these are important aspects when working with them:

– the number of notes
– the frequency of notes
– the distance between the notes (voicing)
– the placement of notes in the stereo image

Technique #4: Strong structures in vocal voicings

The strength of structures is a fundamental principle in arranging for all kinds of ensembles and therefore also for vocal arrangements. Jacob Collier for example uses a lot of dissonance in his voicings. In contrast to that strong structures like Jamie Cullum uses them in a more Pop-Gospel oriented context are meant to give the listener stability without distracting from the lead vocal by avoiding too big interval jumps and too much movement.
Strong structures like major chords with the third on top or stacked fifths work by having overlapping overtones which creates less clashing between the notes.
These kind of voicings are a good option when the goal is to just support the lead vocals in important places without drawing to much attention from them. The result is a clean reinforced harmony which does not require much listening capacity and therefore only adds context and dimension to the arrangement.
Since the harmony used in this way is more consonant and subtle and we as humans are stronger in groups which is anchored deep inside our evolution the use of strong structures evokes less of an intellectual picture but rather a feeling of energy, confidence and strength. This makes even more sense in Pop and Gospel music where the arrangement needs to convey the emotion and attitude of empowerment to the correlating group of people.
The possibilities here range from simple intervals to triads but also more advanced but still strong voicings that are stacked thirds, fourths or fifths.
Although strong structures in voicings have a clear function they can be combined with other dissonant intervals to create endless possibilities of emotions and degrees of stability depending on the context of the music and the desired emotion in a particular phrase.

Technique #5: Formant shifting in backing vocals

Formant shifting in doubling a melody:
A common technique in all kinds of genres of music production is to double the lead voice.
A single lead voice on its own can have a fragile and thin quality and this aesthetic has definitely its place but when a stronger and more powerful sound is the goal doubling a lead vocal can help to achieve it.
The simplest way is to just record the same phrase twice and layering it but this can sound unnatural and messy and lead to phasing issues which can irritate the listener. A solution for this can be to hard-pan both tracks meaning placing them on opposite sides in the stereo field. Although phasing can still be an issue the sounds no longer overlap as much and can sound more pleasant.
When adding a third track to the mix you can have a main central Voice and two tracks hard panned to the sides which can be turned down in volume and just add some color in form of organic and soft phasing on the sides. This method creates a fuller sound and a perception of depth.
Regardless of the placing of the doubling in the stereo image the voice in different takes can sometimes sound too similar or not similar enough to fit the context. In that case it can be a good option to shift the formants on the supporting doubles to create other textures that differ enough from the main voice to add something new to it without creating distracting harmonies.
The formants are the more pronounces parts of the frequency spectrum which carry the most energy when singing due to the shape of the singers vocal tract. Changing those can change the whole character of the voice.
The simple way of changing the formant of a singers voice is with a plug-in specifically made for this purpose like „Little Alter Boy“ by the company „Soundtoys“. With a single turn of a knob the voice can sound like a chipmunk or a giant.
Another way is to record the phrase an octave higher or lower and blend it with the main voice. This way we can use the same effect as a church organ for example where different registers which sound totally different on their own blend into an organic homogenous texture. Doubling a vocal an octave below can therefore sound more aggressive and energetic whereas a doubling an octave above can make the resulting sound lighter and more open. Also the different characteristics of vocal register of the human voice influence the overall appearance with their unique formants and qualities.
When using Apples DAW „Logic Pro“ we have even another possibility to change the formants of our voice by using the function „varispeed“. Just as an old tape machine we can slow down or speed up our project entirely to record our in a different key and when changing back to our original speed the recorded voice changes accordingly while the rest of the song sounds normal again. A good example of this is Jacob Collier’s „Time Alone With You“ (3:02 – 3:40) where he speds up doubles ob his voice in different amounts to create a „choir“ of female-like voices behind his main natural voice sound.
Changing formants in our backing doubles can help to thicken or brighten the sound by giving it a different texture and adding a touch of a different colored voice to the main voice which can have quite a significant impact on how we perceive a voice emotionally because humans naturally perceive „deep voices“ differently than „high pitched“ voices and we can use this concept to add a bit of this emotional response to the flavor of our main voice.

Formant shifting in other backings:
Another example where the formant shifting of the backings can influence the atmosphere of a song is in the song „Monster“ at 1:30 where the backings sound much darker than normal due to the downwards shifted formants. In the context of the song’s title they create a mystical, creepy and threatening feeling representing the „monster“.

Technique #6: Dead drums

The term „dead drums“ refers to the sonic appearance of a recorded drum kit where the cymbals have less high and harsh frequencies and the overall sound is rather dampened with just a little or even without reverb on it. Also the drums sustain is shortened so that the individual hits are more percussive and the focus lies more on the micro timing since every single hit has more space to „breath“. The aspect of tone becomes less relevant.
The absence of reverb makes the drums feel like they are in a small and dampened room like a bedroom or an acoustically treated studio, which generates a feeling of calmness as it can be found in the lofi-genre for example.
In combination with reduced high frequencies it suggests that the listener is close to the instrument which is based on the principle that a sound with more high frequencies feels further away than one with less because the absence of high frequencies imply relatively more low frequencies in the sound and that indicates nearness as already mentioned in the chapter Technique #1: Upfront vocals.
In times of the pandemic where the general trend of producing music at home alone in bedroom-studios became popular this was the sound that people naturally got when recording in their homes and it reflects the intimacy and the nearness to the instrument when being alone in a dampened room. This connotation reflects the zeitgeist and carries the longing for intimacy when being isolated.
The concept of dead drums brings the instruments closer to the listener and create a warm, intimate and calming atmosphere focussing more on rhythm and less on sound.

Technique #7: Sub-bass

As Freddy states the function of the bass in contemporary music moved more towards being a sub bass rather than a present and twangy solo instrument. It adds more low frequencies to the harmonic spectrum which gives the listener a feeling of foundation and warmth because low frequencies that are almost more feel-able than hear-able convey a sense of strength and grounding. It also means that the sonic image is more immersive since sub-bass frequencies are omnidirectional and more surrounding than higher frequencies
Shifting its sound more towards the lower sub-bass frequencies also allows for more space above it in the low and low mid frequencies where for example the kick drum of dead drums live. It helps to keep the mix clean and the other instruments hearable while simultaneously providing a sense of protection and comfort like deep voices can as well. Because deep frequencies correlate to powerful things like thunder or big animals which have a strong emotional impact on us using them consciously in the production process can add a powerful dimension to the experience of the song.
Also the potential contrast when leaving the bass out for a certain amount of beats or bars is bigger when the existence of the instrument has a stronger effect than if it would be more blended in to the higher frequencies of the mix where many other instruments like drums, piano and voice live.

Technique #8: Layering sounds

When it comes to layering sounds the possible combinations are endless. Because it is a quite general topic it is difficult to analyse the emotional effect of layering because there is not one specific effect but as many as there are possible combinations of sounds.
What can be said about layering is that by combining and shaping different sounds the possible palette of textures and colors can be drastically expanded leaving the realm of traditional recognizable instruments which draws the listeners attention. I want to focus on two specific cases of layering:

1) Layering drumsounds:
In both songs „Time Alone With You“ and „Mankind“ Jacob Collier and Jamie Cullum use layered snare sounds.
In the song „Mankind“ the snare consists of different snare samples where only the „brightest“ sounding one has a room/reverb on it. This makes the thick sound of the combined samples feel lighter in the mix since the following reverb brighter sounds than the layered snare itself.
A similar approach can be seen in the song „Time Alone With You“ where the snare consists of a snare sample and a finger snap sample of which again only the latter has a reverb effect.
The combination of snare samples can lead to a thicker, more energetic sound or when combined with other percussive elements like clap or snap samples create a more detailed and textured sound containing small timing irregularities and unpitched percussion which can sound pleasing to the ear because they do not have a clear fundamental pitch but rather consist of a wide spectrum of frequencies which in turn has a soothing effect on the human ear comparable to white noise. Sometimes producer layer exactly this white noise with their snare to achieve a more frequency-wise balanced and pleasant snare sound.

2) Layering melodic instruments:
A very good example what is possible when layering melodic and harmonic sounds is the main instrumental theme in the beginning of the song „All I Need“. The Logic sound „Mellotron“, the Keyscape sound „Toy Piano“ and the Retrosynth sound „Mellow Brass“ are being layered and processed to form a new organic texture that is more unique than a standard instrument sound. And it is about exploring new sounds and how they fit together to find different and unique combinations which fit the context of the song more than what is possible with individual sounds.
Important in this shaping process is the use of equalizer and other effects which help to „glue the individual instruments together“ and help creating an organic and interesting sound.

Technique #9: Earcandy and real world noise

When trying to create specific atmospheres in songs one option is to incorporate the sonic qualites of a certain situation into the arrangement (e.g. when the goal is to create a feeling of wind the backings can sing in their falsetto because it has similar qualities because more air is passing through the vocal chords which makes the air audible). Another option is to directly use a recording of the desired situation (e.g. recordings of certain weather or crackle of an old vinyl player). Either way these elements can be used in very prominent or in a more subtle way in form of ear candy. Ear candy are little, barely noticeable details which function by mostly influencing your subconsciousness or drawing your attention for a short moment. It can help to smooth transitions between different parts (e.g. crowd noise and reverse cymbal swells like in „Time Alone With You“ 3:37 – 3:41) or create a certain atmosphere (whale swim-by noise, rain and white noise create a subconscious soothing sensation in „Time Alone With You“ 3:40 – 3:50).
Ear candy gives the listener a rewarding experience when noticing and influences the feel when unnoticed. It can occur in the form of sounds, samples and also instrumental licks, notes and percussive elements which create atmosphere and/or keep the listener engaged because every new and unexpected sound and event requires focused listening.
Ear candy and other noise sounds do not contain the fundamental overarching story and backbone of a song but it helps to make it come alive and be more immersive by containing little details that amplify the implied emotion of a song.
To convey emotions both Jamie Cullum and Jacob collier use real words recordings of environmental things like wind or ocean noise to connect to the feelings associated with the situations in which these acoustic noises occur.

Conclusion Anlaysis

Most of the mentioned techniques seem to work because we as humans associate certain characteristics in sound with specific instincts, reflexes and emotional responses because in our history it was crucial to be able to judge another person, an animal or other events in nature by their sound in order to assess the degree of danger in certain situations and we can use these deeply in our evolution anchored emotional responses and implement them into our music in order to create a feeling or an emotion that we want to express in the listener.

The song „Time Alone With You“ by Jacob Collier is a D’Angelo/J Dilla-influenced slow funky R&B-Neo-Soul Song in the key of D half-sharp featuring Daniel Caesar.

In this article I will analyze the song by listening to it and zooming into the spots that trigger some sort of emotional response in me and by using Jacob Colliers Youtube video called LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: „Time Alone With You (feat. Daniel Caesar)„ as a reference and validation for my findings. I will add timestamps in the following descriptions to mark the relating spot in the video that support my findings. For the purpose of making my analysis easier to read I will mark important keywords that correlate to used techniques in blue and the effect it has on me in orange.

These moments in the song stood out to me:

048) 0:01

→ Main motif played by Rhodes layered with voice and prominent panning effect
→ feels organic/human and weird at the same time, created a unique texture

049) 0:03

→ only drums, bass and very quiet synth playing sparsely short notes
→ creates space, contrast and atmosphere

050) 0:08

→ layered snare sounds (rim hit without reverb + snap with reverb) (00:06:30)
→ adds dimension and sparkle to the sound

051) 0:09

→ kick drum and hihat sound have only few high frequencies and no reverb (00:05:10, 00:07:10)
→ drums sound intimate and dry

052) 0:09

→ bass player slightly ahead of the beat and some hihats are placed slightly behind the beat (00:04:50,00:08:15)
→ groove feels organic and wonky

053) 0:20

→ lead vocals come in very upfront and dry (no reverb)(00:17:30)
→ feels like whispering/someone talking into your ear, very intimate

054) 0:46

→ Snare layered with clap
→ creates a human, organic, thick crackling sound

055) 0:47

→ main voice doubled and layered with varispeed-vocals sped up (00:21:30)
→ makes voice feel alien-like

Because the song has so many different backing vocals with various different functions I tried to analyze them by categorizing them only by listening in the context of the whole mix:

Use of vocals:

– Lead vocal have a dry sound without reverb, most of the time very upfront
– Backings sound either natural (no reverb, no high cut) or are combined with other backing vocals which are recorded at a lower tempo and then sped up to create an alien-like or chipmunk quality by changing the formants of the voice
– the backings mainly supporting the lead voice or are in interaction with it in form of answer phrases 
– ad lips are used to create interaction and fill gaps in between phrases

To gain an overview of the different ways Jacob Collier colors this production with barely noticeable ear candy which has an impact on the general feel and atmosphere of the song I listed all the moments that stood out to me in this regard:

0:10 – vinyl crackle
0:15 – chimes
0:45 – vinyl scratch
1:06 – electronic, cosmic, interstellar sounds
1:17 – ocean noise
1:26 – vinyl scratch
3:08 – audio sample slide up
3:37 – euphoric concert crowd noise (00:34:45)
3:40 – three different reversed cymbal swells (00:34:45)
3:42 – wind, birds, ocean noise, white noise (00:34:45)
3:47 – reversed kickdrum samples

General remarks:

– Although there is a lot going on in terms of ear candy and layers the mix itself is rather clean and most of the time not too dense so the individual instruments all have their space and are noticeable
– In this production you can also find a lot of ear candy which is used in a way to provide atmosphere and fill the existing space but without distracting from the main elements like drums and lead voice
– The bass plays a lot of fills throughout the arrangement and behaves more in an organic manner instead of only laying down bass notes. Although the harmony itself is quite complex the bass plays rhythmically unpredictable and adds movement.


→ Arrangement: generally very transparent (enough space for all instruments) but including a lot of layering to create interesting textures and dimensions without making the mix muddy and too full. Ear candy is used to creates atmosphere and emotions.

The song „All I Need“ by Jacob Collier is a medium disco-ish influenced R&B-Funk-Pop Song featuring Mahalia and Ty Dolla $ign.

In this article I will analyze the song by listening to it and zooming into the spots that trigger some sort of emotional response in me and by using Jacob Colliers Youtube video called LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: „All I Need (with Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign)“ as a reference and validation for my findings. I will add timestamps in the following descriptions to mark the relating spot in the video that support my findings. For the purpose of making my analysis easier to read I will mark important keywords that correlate to used techniques in blue and the effect it has on me in orange.

These moments in the song stood out to me:

031) 0:01

→ Layered sounds (Logic mellotron + Keyscape Toy Piano + Retrosynth mellow brass) with high and low cut + RC20 plugin and LFO-Tool on it (00:07:10) + layered voice (00:31:10)
→ organic, unique and interesting sound/texture

032) 0:10

→ Slapbass (Trilian: Hardcore Funk Slide Down) entering with a lot of volume and high frequencies contrasts the previous sound (00:32:40)
→ contrast, surprise as a statement

033) 0:20

→ Call and response vocal lines in between phrases („there must be something…“, „hello“)
→ feels conversational, alive

034) 0:25

→ Backings („The way that…“) in low register harmony with low cut
→ creates a warm texture but without distracting from the lead vocal

035) 0:34

→ Kicks without pad/backings/synth
→ contrasts the dense arrangement, sounds empty

036) 0:44

→ Backings: harmony without lead voice leading into verse two
→ opens up the sound

037) 0:48

→ Backings: Male voice doubles female lead an octave lower (00:58:15)
→ makes a higher, thinner voice feel strong and supported

038) 0:57

→ Bells in background (00:35:25)
→ gives an „airy“, open feel

039) 1:19

→ rhythmical synth (Omnisphere: Prince Combo Comp Brite) sidechained to kickdrum, doubled by vocals with two different LFO shapes layered (00:10:20)
→ disco-like, makes me want to dance, „razor-clean“ rhythmical sound

040)1:20

→ synth bass playing syncopated transitions between bass notes + side chained to kick by LFO-Tool (00:13:55), layered bass sound „TR-Complex Voyager“ and „TR-Wall-Shaking Deep MINI“ (00:34:10)
→ drives the groove forward, creates movement, energy

041) 1:20

→ Three different snare sounds layered, no reverb (00:16:10)
→ sounds snappy, interesting texture

042) 1:37

→ thick vocal harmonies with chromatic voice leading as transition between chorus and verse (different energy levels)
→ makes me feel lost, like falling into the next part

043) 2:05

→vocal pyramids, chimes, „ahh“-sound create different sound layers (01:08:00)
→ feels like a lot is going on, unexpected and interesting sounds in a dense mix

044) 2:15

→ modulation to a different tuning (b-half sharp) (00:37:05)
→ throws me into a different universe, lifts energy

045) 2:25

→ backings: very high vocal note, octave jump upwards (00:58:50, 01:02:15)
→ creates euphoric atmosphere

046) 2:40

→ high synth note
→ creates euphoria in me, makes the atmosphere glow

047) 2:57

→ fast changing harmony with chromatic voice leading followed by simple, diatonic, slow moving harmony (01:04:05)
→ feels like falling/losing orientation and then being caught again

Because the song has so many different backing vocals with various different functions I tried to analyze them by categorizing them only by listening in the context of the whole mix:

Use of vocals:

– Lead vocal mostly dry sound without reverb, presence changes many times throughout the song
– Backings sound mostly natural (no reverb, no high cut), variety through vocal technique, diverse functions and different types of backing vocals keeps the colorful arrangement always interesting and unpredictable
– still an excessive use of backings supporting lead and answer phrases is noticeable
– voice used to create special effects (kissing, screaming, breathing) makes the song feel human and natural

General remarks:

– Sounds are often either layered and heavily processed to create new textures or rather natural like most of the vocals
– The song is more like a collage of a broad variety of sounds surrounding a song (e.g. gongs, bells, synths, bubbles, strange and unusual voice sounds, vinyl crackle)rather than a „band in a room“ performing


→ Arrangement: strong use of contrasts in various dimensions (full-empty, frequencies, harmonic density) adds an element of surprise and keeps the listener involved

The song „Monster“ by Jamie Cullum is a slow and heavy alternative pop tune.

In this article I will analyze the song by listening to it and zooming into the spots that trigger some sort of emotional response in me. For the purpose of making my analysis easier to read I will mark important keywords that correlate to used techniques in blue and the effect it has on me in orange.

These moments in the song stood out to me:

General remarks:

– Voice has a lot of distortion on low frequencies, a lot of compression, moves between intimate (close) sound and being buried in the dense mix
– Natural drums are heavily produced with saturation, extremely few high frequencies (sound „dead“)
– Backing vocals: serve different functions, following the meaning of the lyrics
– Bass is not standing out, feeling more as a sub than having character
– Brass supports vocals or serves same function as backings
– Reverb used sparsely

– General mix has distortion on low frequencies (hard distortion, low mix)

→ Arrangement: nothing goes through and sounds change with the energy, the song goes through different settings varying drastically in energy, intimacy and sounds, the music often clearly supports the meaning of the lyrics/song

The song „Mankind“ by Jamie Cullum is an energetic and uplifting medium-slow backbeat gospel tune.

In this article I will analyze the song by listening to it and zooming into the spots that trigger some sort of emotional response in me. For the purpose of making my analysis easier to read I will mark important keywords that correlate to used techniques in blue and the effect it has on me in orange.

These moments in the song stood out to me:

General remarks:

– Voice sound develops throughout the song: Slapback/gated reverb → dry sound → distortion
– Natural drums are heavily produced with saturation, instrument change to 808 and back
– Backing vocals: only in pre chorus rhythmical harmonies with lyrics, bridge as pad, after bridge whispering
– Bass comes in after verse 1 and drops out for the bridge and the asmr-part
– Reverb used consciously and treated like an own instrument

– Voice and drums have distortion on low frequencies (hard distortion, low mix)

→ Arrangement: nothing goes through and sounds within the instruments themselves change