Just Me… and My Gear
When sculpting the sonic chaos and immersive brutality I desire, every element of the production chain matters. From microphone choice to digital effects, the tools I use are carefully selected to enhance the vision that I have. Specifically for this debut album "Metal Multiverse” which is a high-speed, technically advanced death metal journey inspired by the Marvel Avengers universe. It’s not a studio full of synths or an orchestra—just me, my Jackson 5-string bass, amp, Shure dynamic mic, RØDE mic, in-ear monitors, a pile of adapters, and my 16″ MacBook Pro (M1 Max, 64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD) running Logic Pro X.
Lyrics
I write all the lyrics out on my computer at random times when I’m working on a song, or even randomly during the work day. I should be using Notes or Word, but I often find myself tying out my ideas in the body of an empty email, just like I’m doing right now. Often times I will run my lyrics through an AI Software to put better structure to it and substitute words or phrases for synonyms, and then I let it flow.
Composition
I usually map out how I’m envisioning the song to go by actually picturing it and writing it all out on paper, until getting to a place I feel it is solid enough and then I save it as a word doc in my Death by Design FL folder. (I keep it on my iCloud Desktop in case I want to add or edit it from my phone at any random time.)
Vocals
I do all the vocals, usually wayyyy too many times until I feel satisfied. Then instead of using Auto-Tune like a lot of Rappers and such use, I modify it differently but in a similar way. Depending open the track and what character I’m trying to channel and emotions I’m aiming to convey, I run my vocal tracks through an AI Modulator that can alter them in dozens of ways. I’ve been able to go as far as taking my vocals and making them female such as on the song ‘Core Resolve’. Obviously since Captain Marvel is a female, that’s what I wanted to convey to the song and the story..
Guitars & “Lead Bass”
As I mentioned before - I usually play a Jackson JS Concert Series 5-Sting Bass. As many of my past & present bandmates will tell you. I generally play what they jokingly refer to as “Lead Bass”, meaning I like to get technical & creative with my style. So I often adjust my tuning and record sections of what I want the guitar tracks to sound like. Then I run my guitar tracks in Logic Pro X, through a number of experimental pre-amps, effects, distortion, reverb, and such until I achieve as close to my desired outcome as I can get. Then I run it though a different AI software to put it together seamlessly based on my structure and composition of the song to glue everything together.
Bass
The Bass tracks I lay down myself and record them in Logic Pro X. Then I run my bass tracks in Logic Pro X through a different yet similar and complementary set of experimental pre-amps, effects, distortion, and such until I achieve as close to my desired outcome as I can get. Then I run it though a different AI software along with the guitar tracks and soon to be mentioned Drum track to put it together seamlessly based on my structure and composition of the tone and style I’m trying to achieve in the song.
Drums & the “Motograter”
- This is where it gets fun. I have a fun little program I found online where I can use my MacBook Pro’s Touchpad as a sort of electronic drum kit! What I do is basically just create short samples of the speed & tempo I desire to got with the song and save a bunch of samples to Logic Pro X. Then I rearrange them based on time signature and style composition until (yes, you know what’s coming) until I achieve as close to my desired outcome as I can get. Then I run it though a different AI software to put it together seamlessly based on my structure and composition of the song.
- On a few tracks such as 'Heart of the Arc’ and ‘Rockets Requiem’ for example that I wanted to give a more metallic feel to. I recreated my version of a unique instrument shared with the Band & their Self-Titled Released "Motograter". I basically took and OLD plumbing snake that my dad had buried in his garage, grabbed a leftover 4’x4’ I had in the garage from a Pergola Project, and mounted it on there very tight. I had an old set of electronic pick-up’s from an old Fender P-Bass laying around, so I wired those up to a 1/4” input, adjusted the height and got excited. I ended up using and old branch that I had cut down that my daughter saved (probably as a wand or something) that had been laying in the garage that I had carved all the bark off years ago and was now nice and dry and hard. I would play thing 1 “string” instrument like a drum to get a unique sound for songs that needed a metallic feel to them.
Everything Else
You would be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t be) at how many things you can find online to create something new, unique, and exciting, just by Google Searching something like "audio tone changer free online” and trying things out. Yes, “FREE ONLINE” is clutch for me because I’m usually broke. I have found so many different website with Tools that people have created or even experimental software on GitHub that renders a sound/tone/feeling that is hard to replicate any other way. The important part was to avoid anything that said “NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE” so that I may share these creations that came out almost exactly as I had hoped with You. I hope you truly enjoy listening to these songs as much as I loved making them.
No smoke & mirrors—just 20 years of practice, a handful of tools, and the secret sauce of AI, all concealed behind the scenes.