Melody's Echo Chamber - I Follow You
I've always been a big fan of Tame Impala, and because of their connection to Melody's Echo Chamber, it didn't take long for me to discover this other band. Melody's Echo Chamber is the main project of French musician Melody Prochet.
His previous project My Bee's Garden supported Tame Impala on their European tour in 2010, and after that Prochet collaborated with Kevin Parker to produce his new solo material as Melody's Echo Chamber, recorded in Parker's makeshift studio in Perth, Australia. and at Prochet's grandmother's seaside home in the south of France.
The self-titled debut album was released under Fat Possum Records in 2012, patenting the neopsychedelic and dream pop influence of Kevin Parker, who was also her partner at the time. (By the way, don't miss my other Tame Impala remake!)
I wanted to deconstruct the song “I Follow You” from that first album so representative of their sound. Enjoy my remake below!
MUSIC THEORY
The chords of the song are as follows. Keep in mind that in the first verse of the song, the guitar does a series of arpeggios without the presence of the bass doing the tonics. This can be confusing, but if we analyze these arpeggios from the bass notes when the bass appears later in the second verse (minute 01:26), we arrive at the following chord sequence:
On the other hand, the chorus chords are quite easy to play, try them!
VERSE GUITAR SOUND
The song begins with a beautiful arpeggio of 3 notes for each chord. I managed to get a similar sound using 3 guitar tracks.
Guitar 1 uses Guitar Rig 5 with the following preset that I usually use.
Later, I used the Vulf Compressor from Goodhertz to compress the signal, and later the Doubler4 and S1 Imager from Waves to double the signal in stereo and make it more enveloping.
Listen below to guitar 1 without effects, and then add each of those mentioned to see the difference.
Guitar 1 without effects
Guitar 1 with Guitar Rig 5
Guitar 1 with Guitar Rig 5, VulfCompressor, Doubler and Imager
Guitar 2 uses the same preset and compressor as Guitar Rig 5, but this time I use the ReelADT effect from Waves to give it movement. Listen below to the audio without effect and with effect.
Guitar 2 without ReelADT
Guitar 2 with ReelADT
Finally, guitar 3 uses a different amp simulator this time: the Cory Wong Archetype with the following preset. To this guitar I have applied the Doubler4 and the ReelADT mentioned above. Listen here:
Guitar 3
Finally, the three guitar tracks together sound like this, getting a thicker sound:
All Guitars
CHORUS GUITAR SOUND
In the chorus I have recorded 2 different guitar tracks, each of them fully panned to each side of the stereo to get that width.
For the first one I have used the CLA Guitar by Waves with the following preset, with that warm and distorted sound. Listen to it here:
Chorus Guitar 1
For the second guitar, I've used the Archetype Cory Wong again with the following preset, with a heavy mid freqs sound and a send to the ValhallaReverb, listen here.
Chorus Guitar 2
And here you have the two guitars playing at the same time:
Both Chorus Guitars
OUTRO-SOLO GUITAR SOUND
At the end of the song there is a guitar solo with a ripping guitar sound that I love. I've managed to recreate it with the following Guitar Rig 5 preset and with Doubler4, listen to it solo here.
Solo Guitar Sound
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER BASS SOUND
I have line recorded the bass with the Höfner Viola Bass, the same one Kevin Parker uses, and I have put the Waves Maserati B72 and the Waves CLA-3A compressor on it. This is how it sounds:
Bass Sound
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER DRUMS SOUND
For the drums I have used Addictive Drums 2, as I usually do when I recreate songs with guitars and with a less electronic style.
After trying numerous presets, I have come to the following kit, and I have changed the snare for one with a more suitable sound. Slightly adjusting the volumes of the kit already achieves a similar sound. I have passed the whole kit through the Goodhertz VulfCompressor to give it power, listen to the result!
Drums sound
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER VOCAL PRODUCTION
For the voice I use the same effects chain as my previous articles. To those effects I have added the CLA Vocals of Waves, and finally it has a couple of sends to the H-Delay of Waves and the ValhallaReverb to give it that ethereal atmosphere of Melody's voices.
I have recorded 3 tracks of voices, one of them being an octave higher to give it that more feminine touch and resemble Melody's voice. Listen to the bass ones, and how the 3 sound at the same time with all the mentioned effects.
Vocals sound
Vocals with octave
SYNTHS
This time, in this song we only have a single synthesizer, which appears in the second and third verse. It is a string sound that I have recreated with the Arturia CS-80 and it adds some treble in that part. Listen to it alone and together, do you appreciate it?
Synth sound
All together
That has been all! I hope it has been useful to you.
Remember that you can support my work on Patreon and download all the additional content.
Don't forget to watch the remake on youtube! See you in the next one!
Siempre he sido muy fan de Tame Impala, y debido a su conexión con Melody’s Echo Chamber, no tardé en descubrir este otro grupo. Melody's Echo Chamber es el proyecto principal de la artista Melody Prochet.
Su proyecto anterior My Bee's Garden apoyó a Tame Impala en su gira europea en 2010, y después de eso, Prochet colaboró con Kevin Parker para producir su nuevo material en solitario como Melody's Echo Chamber, grabado en el estudio improvisado de Parker en Perth, Australia y en la casa junto al mar de la abuela de Prochet en el sur de Francia.
El álbum debut homónimo fue lanzado bajo Fat Possum Records en 2012, quedando patentando la influencia de neopsicodelia y dream pop de Kevin Parker, quien también fue su pareja por aquel entonces. (Por cierto, no te pierdas mi otro remake de Tame Impala!)
He querido deconstruir la canción “I Follow You” de ese primer album tan representativo de su sonido. ¡Disfruta de mi remake a continuación!
MUSIC THEORY
Los acordes de la canción son los siguientes. Ten en cuenta que en el primer verso de la canción, la guitarra hace una serie de arpegios sin presencia del bajo haciendo las tónicas. Esto puede dar lugar a confusión, pero si analizamos estos arpegios partiendo de las notas del bajo cuando éste aparece más tarde en la segunda estrofa (minuto 01:26), llegamos a la siguiente secuencia de acordes:
Por otro lado, los acordes del estribillo son bastante sencillos de tocar, pruébalos!
VERSE GUITAR SOUND
La canción comienza con un hermoso arpegio de 3 notas por cada acorde. Logré conseguir un sonido similar usando 3 pistas de guitarras.
La guitarra 1 usa el Guitar Rig 5 con el siguiente preset que suelo usar.
Después, he usado el Vulf Compresor de Goodhertz para comprimir la señal, y posteriormente el Doubler4 y S1 Imager de Waves para duplicar la señal en estereo y hacerlo más envolvente.
Escucha a continuación la guitarra 1 sin efectos, y después añadiendo cada uno de los mencionados para ver la diferencia.
Guitar 1 without effects
Guitar 1 with Guitar Rig 5
Guitar 1 with Guitar Rig 5, VulfCompressor, Doubler and Imager
La guitarra 2 usa el mismo preset y compresor del Guitar Rig 5, pero esta vez uso el efecto ReelADT de Waves para darle movimiento. Escucha a continuación el audio sin efecto y con efecto.
Guitar 2 without ReelADT
Guitar 2 with ReelADT
Por último, la guitarra 3 usa otro simulador de amplificador distinto esta vez: el Archetype Cory Wong con el siguiente preset. A esta guitarra le he aplicado el Doubler4 y el ReelADT mencionados anteriormente. Escúchalo aqui:
Guitar 3
Finalmente, las tres pistas de guitarras juntas suenan así, consiguiendo un sonido más denso:
All Guitars
CHORUS GUITAR SOUND
En el estribillo he grabado 2 pistas de guitarra diferentes, cada una de ellas paneada totalmente a cada lado del estéreo para conseguir esa amplitud.
Para la primera de ellas he usado el CLA Guitar de Waves con el siguiente preset, con ese sonido distorsionado y cálido. Escúchalo aquí.
Chorus Guitar 1
Para la segunda guitarra, he usado el Archetype Cory Wong de nuevo con el siguiente preset, con un sonido con medios potentes y un envío al ValhallaReverb, escuchalo aquí.
Chorus Guitar 2
Y aquí tienes las dos guitarras sonando a la vez:
Both Chorus Guitars
OUTRO-SOLO GUITAR SOUND
Al final de la canción hay un solo de guitarra con un sonido desgarrador de guitarra que me encanta. Lo he conseguido recrear con el siguiente preset del Guitar Rig 5 y con el Doubler4 de Waves, escúchalo en solitario aquí.
Solo Guitar Sound
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER BASS SOUND
He grabado por línea el bajo con el Höfner Viola Bass, el mismo que usa Kevin Parker, y le he puesto el Maserati B72 de Waves y el compresor CLA-3A de Waves. Así es como suena:
Bass Sound
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER DRUMS SOUND
Para la batería he usado el Addictive Drums 2, como suelo hacer cuando recreo canciones con guitarras y con un estilo menos eléctronico.
Tras ir probando numerosos presets, he llegado al siguiente kit, y le he cambiado la caja por una con un sonido más adecuado. Ajustando levemente los volúmenes del kit ya se consigue un sonido similar. Todo el kit lo he pasado por el VulfCompressor de Goodhertz para darle potencia, escucha el resultado!
Drums sound
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER VOCAL PRODUCTION
Para la voz uso la misma cadena de efectos que mis artículos previos. A esos efectos he añadido el CLA Vocals de Waves , y finalmente tiene un par de envíos al H-Delay de Waves y al ValhallaReverb para darle ese ambiente etéreo de las voces de Melody.
He grabado tres pistas de voces, siendo una de ellas una octava más aguda para darle ese toque más femenino y asemejarlo a la voz de Melody. Escucha las graves, y como suenan las 3 a la vez con todos los efectos mencionados.
Vocals sound
Vocals with octave
SYNTHS
Esta vez, en esta canción no tenemos más que un solo sintetizador, que aparece en el segundo y en el tercer verso. Se trata de un sonido de cuerdas que he recreado con el CS-80 de Arturia y que aporta ciertos agudos en esa parte. Escúchalo en solitario y en conjunto, lo aprecias?
Synth sound
All together
Eso ha sido todo! Espero que os haya sido de utilidad. Recordad que podéis apoyar mi trabajo en Patreon y descargar todo el contenido adicional. No olvidéis ver el remake en youtube!
Nos vemos en el próximo!
thanks for reading!If you liked it, or if you want to download the Ableton Projects with the
plugins used and all the tracks & midi files by one click, check out my Patreon page!
