Christian Contemporary Production Question

[nineofkings]

Question: How difficult is it to get this sound? Does it take an awful lot of work or can it be arrived at fairly simply, especially with the tools we have today? Also is this even possible to do completely ITB?

I'm still learning how to get it down myself, so it takes a fair amount of work. Maybe less so for Rick Rubin. It's mostly about referencing pro tracks while mixing to make sure what I'm doing makes sense.

I'm of the opinion that, in terms of mixing, everything made since the mid 80's is possible in the box... Maybe that's extreme, but to me, unless something is totally swimming in funky console distortion like it's the 60's, it can be emulated well by judicious EQ and compression and saturation. Especially this. This is so squeaky clean it might have been mixed ITB anyway.

[JJ_Jettflow]

Classic "radio pop" production techniques for a super-dense mix: lots of stereo and lots of compression.

If you focus on where the instruments sit in the stereo field, everything except the bass, drums, and vocals are off to the sides. Pianos, pads, and guitars are often on both sides at once, through stereo miking/keyboard tracking, chorus or synth unison, and double tracking, respectively. This lets the instrumental sound big without getting in the way of the vocals. Except for the third example, which has been summed to mono for some indiscernible reason. Sounds like a classic "I'm a video editor and know nothing about audio" mistake.

Also, everything is very compressed. You can hear the snap of the snare as it gets squashed by the compressor, which makes it sound super beefy. And the vocals, too, sound really upfront, which requires a lot of compression. Both these things together give a dense, thick mix.

So it basically comes down to two things.

1) Spreading out the instruments in the stereo field keeping kick, bass and vocals centered.

2) Compressing the crap out of everything.

Is that about it?

3) Singing about Jesus.

[Googly Smythe]

Plus, there's the instrumentation/arrangement - it's not unusual to have 3+ guitarists and 2+ keyboardists, and half a dozen "lead" vocalists. And some bands just turn everything up to 11...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsRM55_jsE

Is this going to be your next project?

[Aleatoriac]

Well now I've had a chance to listen to it, yeah... it's just basic modern pop. Dynamic range smashed to f**k, lots of mid-side with boost in the highs of the side. Perhaps musically beautiful, with vapid lyrics about incoherent nonsense.

I'm a strong atheist, "God" denying hedonistic baby eating soul-devourer, and even I love Contemporary Christian music. The stuff is often quite beautiful. If you can figure out how to do this, you'd be able to... well you'd be able to do this.

[wagtunes]

Well now I've had a chance to listen to it, yeah... it's just basic modern pop. Dynamic range smashed to f**k, lots of mid-side with boost in the highs of the side. Perhaps musically beautiful, with vapid lyrics about incoherent nonsense.

I'm a strong atheist, "God" denying hedonistic baby eating soul-devourer, and even I love Contemporary Christian music. The stuff is often quite beautiful. If you can figure out how to do this, you'd be able to... well you'd be able to do this.

Thanks. Well, I try some of the suggestions made here and see what I can come up with.

[Googly Smythe]

Well now I've had a chance to listen to it, yeah... it's just basic modern pop. Dynamic range smashed to f**k, lots of mid-side with boost in the highs of the side. Perhaps musically beautiful, with vapid lyrics about incoherent nonsense.

I'm a strong atheist, "God" denying hedonistic baby eating soul-devourer, and even I love Contemporary Christian music. The stuff is often quite beautiful. If you can figure out how to do this, you'd be able to... well you'd be able to do this.

Thanks. Well, I try some of the suggestions made here and see what I can come up with.

God bless your efforts!

[donkey tugger]

All good tips. Seems like the lord also loves a big reverb. I am doomed to hell forever then with my worship at the altar of the false devil prophet, delay.

[wagtunes]

7 months later I am actually going to start this project. I will be listening to every Christian Contemporary track that I can get my hands on as reference.

If anybody has any other suggestions, I will be forever grateful. I don't know if I'm going to be able to pull this off but I'm going to give this everything I've got.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[dayjob]

7 months later I am actually going to start this project. I will be listening to every Christian Contemporary track that I can get my hands on as reference.

why? i mean.. if you've heard one you've heard them all. they all do the same things. it's like the super commercial sheen on modern country music meant for radio play. it's a formula.. they all do it. it's not a secret.

it's essentially the same music. add a touch of church hymns to modern country pop and you're about there.

just do the most safe predictable acceptable by the masses type of producing that the lowest common denominator of music listener is capable of relating to and you'll be right in the wheel house. but if that fails just squash every track, boost the mids and cover it up when the priest has sex with children.

[JunSev]

7 months later I am actually going to start this project. I will be listening to every Christian Contemporary track that I can get my hands on as reference.

why? i mean.. if you've heard one you've heard them all. they all do the same things. it's like the super commercial sheen on modern country music meant for radio play. it's a formula.. they all do it. it's not a secret.

it's essentially the same music. add a touch of church hymns to modern country pop and you're about there.

just do the most safe predictable acceptable by the masses type of producing that the lowest common denominator of music listener is capable of relating to and you'll be right in the wheel house. but if that fails just squash every track, boost the mids and cover it up when the priest has sex with children.

this is very dark and exaggerated, independently of his beliefs, not all Christians are from the Catholic Church or do all sort of abomination like that.

the same as diferent ideologies, no because Germany, Russia or other nations in the past has committed war crimes are the same now a days (independently and individually of persons), not all communist are really atheist (believe it or not), not all patriots loves war, those are just some examples.

[wagtunes]

Guys can we please not get into a religious debate? I just want to know how to do a mix in this genre.

[experimental.crow]

butter ...

[JunSev]

Guys can we please not get into a religious debate? I just want to know how to do a mix in this genre.

no debates of course dude...

[surreal]

It all starts with a right heart and right attitude towards God and Jesus Christ... yes we talk about natural production techniques but this music is Praise and Worship.. it is Divinely Inspired and Divinely directed.. towards one purpose and that is to glorify God..pray and ask for Guidence

[Googly Smythe]

7 months later I am actually going to start this project. I will be listening to every Christian Contemporary track that I can get my hands on as reference.

why? i mean.. if you've heard one you've heard them all. they all do the same things. it's like the super commercial sheen on modern country music meant for radio play. it's a formula.. they all do it. it's not a secret.

it's essentially the same music. add a touch of church hymns to modern country pop and you're about there.

just do the most safe predictable acceptable by the masses type of producing that the lowest common denominator of music listener is capable of relating to and you'll be right in the wheel house. but if that fails just squash every track, boost the mids and cover it up when the priest has sex with children.

It's not all country...
https://youtu.be/VSVtcHzRfL4?t=61