Deconstructing Badbadnotgood 'Speaking Gently' Full Remake

Badbadnotgood is that group with which you feel the closeness of 4 friends who enjoy jamming and who transmit that humility and sincerity in their songs. The band is made up of Matthew Tavares, Alexander Sowinski and Chester Hansen. They met in 2010 through the jazz program at Humber College in Toronto.

As a trio, they uploaded to Youtube a shaky black and white clip of them playing jazz covers of Odd Future songs. Things turned out well, and they caught the attention of Tyler, the Creator, who became his first big support, sharing his "Odd Future Sessions" on social media. Then they added a fourth, multi-instrumentalist member Leland Whitty, who has been a backing member of the band for years, playing guitar and saxophone.

With their album IV, they managed to bring in Sam Herring, Kaytranada, Colin Stetson, Mick Jenkins and Toronto R&B singer Charlotte Day Wilson of Future Islands. It is in this album where you discover the more flexible and relaxed side of BBNG, full of different passages, under a backdrop of jazz fusion.

I wanted to deconstruct one of the better songs on this album in my opinion: 'Speaking Gently'. An instrumental song where the drummer unfolds his full potential with that sloopy touch in the multitude of fills, a hypnotic bass, and some keyboard melodies with a very characteristic sound.

Listen to my remake below and discover step by step how I have managed to redo each sound continuing reading in this article.

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MUSIC THEORY

But before we get fully into production, let's briefly analyze the harmony of this song. Thanks to Rodrigo Arribas for helping me to write this section.

The feeling that the song gives is of being in 2 different keys when it goes from verse to chorus. See all the chords used below.

The first area would be in G minor, where it begins by playing the typical V and I degree minor, although it misleads that the bass is in A in the first chord.

The second area would be in Dorian B flat, in the first place because the first Bbm7 chord sounds conclusive so it would be taken as the first degree. And secondly, it is known to be Doric and not minor because the second chord is played as a Cm7. If the key was Bb minor and not Doric, the second chord should be played as diminished (Cdim) instead of the Cm7 that sounds in the song.

Then, a chain of chords appears in the break that do not fit in any tonal area and that break the theme before linking to the next part.

Finally, a very typical descending bass cliche appears in the bridge used in many famous songs, whose progression ends at the V degree with a transition from Vsus to V, that maintains the tension before resolving in the first grade once it goes back to the chorus. The F# chord is the substitute dominant of the V grade

Finally, a very typical descending cliché appears in bridge, used in many famous songs. This cliche plays with the seventh; the chord begins as a minor triad Bbm, then Bbmmaj7, then Bbm7 and ends in Bbm6. This progression passes through the substitute dominant subV/V and ends in the V degree with a transition from Vsus to V that maintains the tension before resolving in the I degree once it passes back to the chorus. Below you can visualize and listen to this fragment, where you can see how the seventh note descends by semitones and the tension at the end before resolving into the chorus.

Bridge - Piano progression

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SYNTHS

The theme is characterized by the sound of the synthesizer with which it opens the song and which will accompany us until the end, with melodies that enhance the mysterious and melancholic color of all the minor chords of this song.

To rebuild this keyboard I have used three different synthesizer layers, similar to each other but with small differences that make them complement each other. For all of them I have used the VST TAL-U-NO, emulation of the classic Juno 60.

For the first sound I have started from the preset “41 Violine” which usually comes by default. I have changed the following parameters until obtaining a sound of keys with good attack and presence in high freqs. This is just the first step, listen to the raw sound below.

Keys 1 Sound with no effects

You probably think that it looks nothing alike for now. You're right. So we are going to add a powerful reverb to it. The same reverb included in Ableton will do. We set the size to a high value to simulate a wide hall or plate, and we increased the decay time to give it more release. Additionally, I have added the RC-20 Retro Color to give it a more analog and warm touch, and not look so much like a digital VST. Listen to the result below, do you notice the change from the previous audio?

Keys 1 Sound with effects

The second layer that I have added is similar to the previous one but with more presence in the middle frequencies, giving more body to the whole. You can see the changes in the TAL-U-NO parameters from the previous one below. The reverb has a bit more decay time and the RC-20 Retro Color stays the same.

Keys 2 Sound

The third sound is also part of the previous ones and is intended to give a touch more clarity and definition, so in this case I have eliminated the reverb. Listen to it below.

Keys 3 Sound

Finally, listen to the 3 layers of keyboards at once, the first two panned to the right and the last to the left of the stereo to give more breadth to the whole.

All Keys Sound

Later, a sound appears that I identify as a wind instrument. To recreate it, I have used Arturia's Mellotron, a recreation of one of the first electric keyboards, which can be considered as the direct antecedent of the sampler, as it uses pre-recorded loops on tape to create sounds.

With the following parameters and a delay I have managed to capture the essence of this sound. Listen to it here.

Mellotron Sound

Arriving at the bridge of the song, where the chords descend chromatically, we find a piano sound that accompanies making the chords. This is a conventional piano sound without much mystery. I have used the Arturia Piano V for this. Listen to it below in conjunction with the other synth.

Piano Sound

Remember that you can download all these presets from my patreon, in addition to supporting my work.

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DRUMS

Drums have undoubtedly been the most complicated (and tedious) to recreate given its complexity and heterogeneity between parts. BBNG's drummer is extraordinary and he doesn't stop making variations and different fills in each part, in addition to playing with a lot of swing. It has been a surgeon's job to recreate each of the hits in midi, with their different intensity, and above all and the biggest nightmare for working in midi: this song lacks a specific tempo. Therefore I have had to draw each shot without the help of a marked tempo, with its ups and downs.

It is important to note that giving each shot a different intensity will make everything sound more human, in addition to each shot not being tight to the grid. The fills have that sloopy touch, like stumbling, that makes them special.

As a drum sound I have used the VST Addictive Drums 2, with the “Modern Jazz Bundle - LA Jazz Roomy” preset. Just by reading that name I knew I would fit in with Badbadnotgood.

Then I added the Goodhertz Vulf Compressor to compress the whole kit and give it power. I also usually add the RC-20 Retro Color to drums for the touch of applying the “wobble” setting, which slightly changes the pitch of the hits and makes it sound less robotic or digital.

Listen to the solo drums below.

Drums Sound

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BASS

The bass is the instrument that I enjoy playing the most, and in this particular song it's really fun to play. The bass of the original song has that mute and percussive touch that hits a lot with the höfner bass that I have used, making palm-mute to enhance this effect.

To outline the sound I have passed it through an effects chain that I usually use, composed of various compressors and the Waves Rbass and some EQ that I usually define for each song.