In the 1960s, Phil Spector created what is now known as the "Wall of Sound" - a music production technique that involved a layering sounds of sorts - arrangements that included electric and acoustic guitars with multiple instruments doubling the parts to create a sound that worked better on AM radio and juteboxes of the day.
His most famous Wall of Sound production was Ike and Tina Turner's River Deep, Mountain High and the Beatles 12th album, Let it Be.
But, that wall of sound was created in a studio, with microphones and padded walls with all the musicians together in one place at one given time or another. Today, to create, say, some good Indie pop, artists don't even have to be in the same room, let alone country.
Carosel, an Irish Indie Pop band now based in Paris, created its soon to be released album, Back to the Start, via the power of the internet, technology, emails and of course killer guitar and vocals. Their first EP, Star, was recorded mostly in the studio. But 70% of Back to the Start, which features a cover of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, was recorded at home. The featured track, I'm Sorry, was recorded solely at a flat in Paris in the 15th arrondissement.
Inspiration starts anywhere or in this case, at home. Carosel's co-founder, songwriter and guitarist, Pete McGrane would have an idea for a guitar arrangement, bash it out on his six string, beat up wooden acoustic guitar that was connected to his computer and then email the tracks to his producer, Liam Mulvany, Asylum Studios in Dublin.
In his studio, Mulvany would give them the once over, improve them, layer them up and email them back to McGrane to revise. Then, when the tracks were ready for some hands-on care, he would take his hard drive and his guitar back to Dublin for some final studio work.
So how does it work? With a thing called M-Box. The M-Box allows McGrane to record directly into his computer using special music software, Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Then he records each instrument separately, one at a time so he doesn’t even need a full band, only to be able to play all the instruments he needs to make song good, which he can. The other tools, Pro Tools and Ableton Live allow McGrane to record voice and guitar, but also add in drum sounds, brass, etc.
But just like the Mighty Oz, a lot goes on behind the curtain. This video shows McGrane and Carosel's other co-founder, singer/songwriter Michelle Phelan, recording guitar, drums and vocals in a Parisian apartment and also what goes on in the studio in Dublin.
Let’s call it collaborative global music making. McGrane says using technology at home enables him to send his ideas to producers and other musicians in around the world and they can add their ideas to his recordings and email them back.
“I like the fact they can make suggestions and hear the direction I’m taking with the song,” adds McGrane. "When I'm happy with my arrangement, then I send it to the studio. Obviously recording to a laptop isn't as good as the quality of recording with studio equipment, but I always email my recordings to my producer in London or Dublin and they improve the quality or give it a different treatment that I hadn't thought of before."
This has changed the way I produce music because I'm free to follow my instincts - Pete McGrane, Musician and Songwriter
McGrane says producing music digitally is beneficial to him as a musician because it allows him the freedom to experiment, not rely on a producer or their equipment, but more importantly, he isn't wasting time or money in a studio with an arrangement that isn't quite ready.
Here's a track recorded in McGrane's home before the studio treatment. Before the Studio - Back to the Start
And, here's the same track after the studio treatment. After the Studio - Back to the Start
Physical things becomes digital, moving seamlessly back and forth until the final product gets polished for the harder challenge of digital distribution and of course, making money.
But just because it's easy to make music digitally, doesn't mean it's easy to get your music out there without a big music label behind you. But according to Emily Gonneau, Unicum Music, a music management and consulting company, there are a lot more tools out there today to help indie artists get their music to he masses.
"Soundcloud is great for streaming an entire album, has a huge user community, social networks built right in and it's embeddable everywhere," said Gonneau. "YouTube is still the first source for music discovery, but Bandcamp, which is totally embeddable, lets artists sell directly both music and physical product."
Much like all domains in the tech industry today, crowd funding has made its way into the music scene. Kickstarter (735 music projects) Music-centric funding platforms like Oocto, Pledgemusic and Indiegogo have all helped artists communicate directly with their fan base and get love money for their next project instead of being so dependent on finding a record deal.
"In the end however, traction depends on how ready a band's fans are to actually come out to their shows, buy the album and actively support them in real life, not just the digital world," adds Gonneau.
But that isn't a problem for Carosel. The other way to make money in this business is through synchs - selling their songs in TV and film, either in advertisements or as soundtracks etc. of which they have quite a few - four TV shows, one film and three brands in South Korea, Japan, Norway, Canada and France.
That is a sticking point for McGrane, because what he creates at home on his instruments through his laptop, generates a very good income for Carosel without having to stress over album downloads.
McGrane's next project is at the Paris Jazz Club on November 16, with Liz Monaghan.
But in the meantime, sometimes just playing music without any other equipment is enough and better than not playing music.
