10 Chord Layering Techniques (that add energy to boring chords)

Summary

The video teaches eight effective chord layering techniques to add energy and uniqueness to songs, particularly for genres like EDM, pop, and hip-hop. It provides specific examples of using granular synthesis, combining skinny and wide chords, adding rhythmic layers, choosing appropriate sounds, using vocoders for vocal harmony, re-articulating chords in different rhythms, manipulating reverb with LFOs, contrasting dynamics, and layering single harmony notes. The instructor aims to help producers arrange better chord progressions and offers additional music production resources for more in-depth learning.

Takeaways

• 😀 Granular synthesis can add interest to boring chord progressions
• 💡 Layer skinny chords with wide chords for big, full sounds
• 🎹 Use arpeggiators on chord layers to add rhythmic energy
• 🎵 Pick chord layers that complement the existing parts
• 🎤 Add harmony to vocals with vocoders sidechained to the main vocal
• 🎹 Re-articulate chord progressions by playing them differently over time
• 🌀 Add movement with high-passed reverbed layers modulated by LFOs
• ♾️ Contrast sustained layers with rhythmic pluck layers
• 👥 Use single note harmony layers instead of full chord stacks
• 🚀 A filtered, decaying saw wave adds energy and space to any chord layer

Q & A

What chord layering techniques are covered in the video?

The video covers 8 chord layering techniques: granular layering, skinny wide layering, rhythmic chord layers, picking the right chord layers, using a vocoder for vocal harmony, re-articulating chords, using LFOs on reverb chords, using alternative chord dynamics, using harmony layers, and layering with a saw wave pad.

What instruments and effects are used for chord layering in the video?

Instruments and effects used include: pianos, granular synthesizers like Arturia Pigments, reverb, arpeggiators, vocoders like VocalSynth 2, pluck synths from the Orbital sound pack, saw wave pads from Serum, and effects like OTT and Valhalla Shimmer.

What is the skinny wide chord layering technique?

The skinny wide technique layers a set of thin, centered chords with a set of wide, spacious chords to create big, full chords with width and depth.

How can you use chord layers rhythmically?

You can copy the main chords to a new track, add an arpeggiator with 8th notes to create rhythm, and use this rhythmic chord layer during transitional parts of the arrangement.

How do you pick the right chord layers?

Listen to the other elements like bassline carefully and consider what textures and rhythms would complement them best. Avoid layers that clash or get too muddy.

Why use a vocoder for vocal harmony?

Downloaded acapella vocals often lack built-in harmony layers. Using a vocoder with the chords as input is an easy way to generate vocal harmonies automatically.

What is re-articulating the chords?

Re-articulating the chords means playing the same chord progression on a new sound with a different rhythm. This adds rhythmic variety and energy over the course of the arrangement.

What does using alternative chord dynamics mean?

It means layering contrasting chord textures - like a wide, sustained pad with a narrow, rhythmic pluck sound. The contrasts make each layer stand out more.

Why use harmony layers instead of full chords?

In a dense mix, it's often hard to fit full chord stacks. Using lighter harmony layers with fewer notes avoids clutter while still enhancing the chords.

What is the go-to saw wave chord pad layer?

Duplicating the chords with a Serum saw wave pad, filtered and with lots of reverb, is an easy way to hugely expand the sound for bigimpact transitions.

Outlines

00:00

😄 Introducing chord layering techniques to add energy

The passage introduces the concept of layering chords in music production to add uniqueness and energy. It outlines 8 specific techniques to layer chords in creative ways to improve arrangements.

05:06

🎹 Using granular synthesis to enhance chord layers

This technique involves duplicating chords onto a piano instrument, balancing and converting to audio, then dragging into a granular synth like Pigments to generate textures that follow the chord progression.

10:11

🌈 The "skinny wide" technique for huge layered chords

The "skinny wide" approach layers thin chords with very wide stacked chord layers for an expansive stereo sound. The thin chords drive the arrangement, while the wide layers are brought in for transitions and effect.

15:13

🎤 Adding chord layer rhythms for energy

Sustained chords can get boring quickly. This technique copies the chords to a new sound and adds an arpeggiator triggering 8th note rhythms to create satisfying chord layer transitions.

💡 Choosing fitting chord layers for your song

There are no wrong chord layering choices, but some work better than others for each song. An example is shown improving a mellow chord progression by adding dynamic rhythmic layers.

🎙️ Using a vocoder to add chordal harmony to vocals

Vocals downloaded from the internet often lack backing harmonies. This technique uses a vocoder like VocalSynth 2 sidechained to the lead vocal to generate automated chordal harmonies.

🎹 Re-articulating chords with plucks and rhythms

Playing the same chord progression differently over an arrangement adds interest. This copies mellow chords to a plucky synth and creates new rhythmic articulations.

🌀 Building big washy chord layers with LFOs

An intense layered chord effect involves duplicating chords across instruments, adding lots of reverb, then modulating the layers with fast LFOs automated to sweep during chord hits.

🔀 Layering chords with contrasting dynamics

This layers wide sustained pad chords with a narrow plucky arpeggiated rhythm in a contrasting pattern. The rhythmic layer introduces the sustain later for interest.

🎼 Using selective harmony notes instead of full chords

Layering full chord stacks can get messy. This just layers individual chord tones from airy instruments, allowing more control while keeping chord identities intact.

🚀 The ultimate chord layering trick

A reliable way to energize chords is duplicating them on a bright synth with filtered saw waves, light decay, doused in epic reverbs and glued with OTT. Transition from dry to this layered sound for liftoff!

Keywords

💡Chord layering

Chord layering refers to stacking multiple chord instruments or samples on top of each other to create a richer, more complex harmonic texture. As described in the video, it's a very common technique in EDM and pop production. Effective chord layering can add energy and uniqueness to a song, but overdoing it can make the chord progression sound muddy.

💡Granular synthesis

Granular synthesis is a production technique that works by manipulating very small snippets of sound called grains. As demonstrated in the video, loading a chord progression into a granular synth and tweaking the parameters can generate interesting textures. This is used in the breakdown section for variation.

💡Skinny wide layering

This technique layers a set of thin, centered chords with a set of wide, spacious chords occupying more of the stereo field. As shown in the video, starting with the skinny chords and bringing in the wide chords at a certain point creates dramatic contrast and energy.

💡Rhythmic chord layer

This refers to supplementing a sustained chord progression with a rhythmic arpeggiated chord layer. As explained, while the main chords establish harmony, adding rhythmic energy keeps things interesting in transitions and prevents the chords from getting stale.

💡Vocoder

A vocoder is an audio effect that analyzes and imposes the harmonic content of one sound onto another. As demonstrated in the video, vocoders can be used on chord layers to harmonize and widen lead vocals to make them fuller and more vibrant in the mix.

💡Re-articulating chords

This means playing the same chord progression on a different instrument or with a different rhythm, articulation, voicing, etc. to spice things up over the course of arrangement. As shown, transitioning from sustained pad chords to plucked synths re-articulates the progression.

💡Chord layering with LFO

This experimental technique involves stacking multiple reverberant chord layers and modulating parameters like reverb size using an LFO (low-frequency oscillator) to create almost psychedelic undulating effects. It generates lots of energy and movement.

💡Layering alternative dynamics

In this context, dynamics refers to the spatial and rhythmic qualities of the chord layers. The example in the video contrasts a wide, sustained layer with a rhythmic, centered layer. Layering complementary dynamics in this way makes the chord progression more complex and variable.

💡Harmony layering

Rather than stacking full chord voicings, this focuses on supplementing the chord progression with extra notes from the chords added sparsely to fill out the harmonic spectrum. As shown, just a few complementary tones can make the chords more emotive without getting too dense.

💡Layering with saw synth

This reliable trick involves subtly fattening up chords by duplicating them on a saw wave synthesizer layered underneath. As demonstrated, the synth fills out the mids and adds bite, while reverb creates airy spaciousness. This works to expand almost any chord progression.

Highlights

Layering chords is very common in EDM, pop and hip-hop.

Well-placed chord layers can add uniqueness and energy to songs.

Adding too many layers makes the chords muddy and unsatisfying.

The "skinny wide" technique layers thin and wide chords for a big sound.

Add rhythmic chord layers during transitions for satisfying sounds.

Choose chord layers that complement other song elements like basslines.

Use vocoders on vocals to add harmonic layers.

Re-articulate chords by playing them differently over the arrangement.

Crazy LFO chord layers create cool effects.

Layer chords using alternative dynamics like rhythm vs sustain.

Just layer harmony notes instead of full chord stacks.

Serum saw chord layers instantly add space and richness.

Structured programs and feedback help learn production right.

Enrollment offers track feedback from students and teachers.

Focused programs provide clear learning paths in production.

Transcripts

layering chords is a very common

practice especially in digitally

produced genres like EDM pop and Hip-Hop

well-placed chord layers can add a lot

of uniqueness to your song and also a

lot of energy but you have to do it

right adding too many unnecessary layers

of your chords can lead to a muddy and

unsatisfying result if you don't know

what you're doing so I'm going to show

you eight ways to add energy to your

chords with layering techniques that

always work let's go ahead and get into

it this is a granular layering technique

I like using this in verses and

breakdowns the chords sound like this

we got about eight bars of those before

they start getting really boring and dry

so what I'm going to do is I like to

duplicate them onto a new instrument

which is a piano

and we do is we have to balance this in

place and turn it into an audio file and

then you're going to need a granular

synthesizer I like using arturia

pigments it does come with a free trial

if you want to check it out what you're

going to do is grab your audio file and

just drag it into the synth and engage

its granular engine and by default the

engine just goes to work

not gorgeous I'm going to write down our

note all we need is one note that goes

the length of the entire chord

progression we have to make it follow

the chords though so what I'm going to

do is grab an automation to make it

start on each chord

as the chord moves through the

progression listen to this result

[Music]

this next technique is called the skinny

wide it's when you take a set of skinny

chords and then you layer them with a

set of very wide chords and the result

is a set of very big chords so our main

chord sound that drives the arrangement

sounds like this

very thin sound as you could see there

on the stereo image so I'm going to

duplicate these onto a new track so

here's the same sound

but I'm going to open it up a little

I'm gonna make this sound wide I'm going

to add a bunch of voices of Unison to it

and already if we look at our stereo

image

we have a pretty wide sound I'm going to

add some layers to this sound and put

this up an octave turn off to sustain

[Music]

I'm going to add some Reverb to it and

then filter it

and then when you're arranging your song

you start with your thin layer and then

you work the wide layer in

[Music]

I feel like I'm on stage this next one

is an excellent way to enhance the

chords during the arrangement using a

rhythmic layer of chords so what you do

is you take your main chords that drive

the song Mine sound like this

[Music]

all right

excellent chords but they're going to

get old really quick the layer you want

to add to sustained chords like this is

something with rhythm so I'm going to do

is I'm going to copy these create a new

sound and just paste these chords on

this new sound then we're going to add

an arpeggiator and make it trigger the

chords at a speed of eighth notes

when you use that on the transition of

your Arrangement you get a really

satisfying sound

[Music]

[Music]

this next one is the pick the right

chord layering technique for your song

in music there are no wrong answers as

to which sounds or chord layering

techniques you use in your songs but

there are better decisions than other

decisions for example I was in my

student Braden's project I was checking

his work and he has this really nice

Rhythm Section

[Music]

now the chords he had over that nice

bass line really mellow

I thought it would be a good idea to

make another chord layer that would

complement that bass line a little bit

better so what I did is I took this

mellow cords and I rewrote them in this

sort of freestyled rhythm

foreign

without the dynamic chords

and here's the Rhythm with the dynamic

chords

this next one is using a vocoder to add

Harmony to vocals and we do this with

the chords again we're still in my

student Braden's project and he has this

vocal that sounds like this

[Music]

Behavior he downloaded this vocal off of

the internet and a lot of the times

those vocals don't come with Harmony

layers that's okay we're producers

and we can do that ourselves you want to

add two instrument tracks each with

vocoders I like to use vocal synth 2 by

izotope but there are free options in

every Daw as well and what you want to

do is you want to add the chords to the

vocoder now you want to tell your

vocoder to trigger every time the vocals

happen so you do that in logic just by

going up the side chain and then side

chaining to your vocal then we'll get

this sound

[Music]

high but I can be home always Behavior

that's an okay sound but I found with

vocoders that I don't like using the

root note in the chords because we can

make an instrument like a real

instrument play the bass notes

[Music]

and I think it just sounds better when

the vocoder plays the higher notes and

the chords step two would be to take

these chords then add them onto that

second layer now the reason we

duplicated these layers is because vocal

harmonies like to be wide so we'll need

one layer of harmonies to pan into the

left ear and another layer of Harmony is

the pan into the right ear I'm going to

pick a preset to put into the left ear

and I'm going to pick a different preset

for the second layer and pan it into the

right ear so we get a lot of variety in

this performance

[Music]

this next one is re-articulating the

chords this just means that over the

course of your Arrangement you play the

same chords a different way and this

changes things up and adds a lot of

energy to the arrangement so here's our

chords

[Music]

and how you do this is you load up a new

sound that is more Plucky and has less

sustained I'm going to use this pluck

synth from my orbital pack

[Music]

Plucky sounds make a great complement to

sustained chords like the ones we

already have I'm going to take our

chords and just duplicate them and out

of these chords I'm just going to take

the notes that I like and add a new

Rhythm to it

now this one takes a lot of trial and

error to come up with something that

works and that you like but here's what

I came up with

[Music]

thank you

this next one is one of the craziest

chord layering displays I've ever seen

and it's when you take a lot of high

Reverb chord layers and then add an LFO

to it this project was sent to me by my

student Kevin the main chords they sound

like this

[Music]

foreign

duplicate them and make them play a

different sound for each layer

[Music]

the next step is to add an LFO to all

these Reverb layers to tie everything

together so if we take a chord hit

and we just crank it at some speed of 4

000 Hertz

[Music]

you can hear you get a nice tight wobble

and at different speeds this wobble can

sound pretty cool

but what happens if we use automation on

each chord hit to adjust the speed of

this LFO in real time

[Music]

[Music]

all the sounds in this project were from

my new pack future colors check out the

pack below this next trick is layering

your cords using alternative Dynamics

what this means is we take our main

chords

foreign

[Music]

that basically does the opposite of

what's going on here so our main chords

are very wide

and they have no rhythm they're just

sustained chords I'm going to layer

these chords with a very narrow sound

and I'm going to use a chord pattern

that has a lot more Rhythm sound I'm

going to use for my orbital pack sounds

like this

we're just going to write a rhythm

that's different than the main chords

and in this case it could literally be

any rhythm so I'm going to do a dotted

eighth note rhythm

a cool way to arrange this layer style

is to start with the plucked Rhythm and

then work into the sustained rhythm

[Music]

this next one is using Harmony layers

instead of just stacking full sets of

chords on top of each other so sometimes

what you're going to run into is you

can't fit a bunch of chord layers in

your mix I had a section of my song

sounded like this these are the chords

from earlier

[Music]

and they just sounded a little dry and I

knew I could not layer these because one

it's a really big piano which is pianos

are one of the hardest instruments to

layer and two I layer this instrument

later in the song so what do I do now to

make this piano come to life what we

could do is we could grab really light

Airy instruments and just layer single

notes at a time instead of all the notes

of the chords so I loaded up another

instrument with a lot of Reverb on it

sounds like this

[Music]

what I could do to make this piano come

to life now is just layer one note per

chord and it doesn't even have to be a

specific note just pick a note that

sounds good

probably even add one more note

[Music]

that's pretty but we can go one step

farther I took this gorgeous self-made

pad that I usually use in dark Songs

Like This

[Music]

so again one note per chord

this final trick I do in almost every

video and it's by far my number one most

reliable go-to chord layering trick to

add energy you can take any set of

chords

[Music]

that's a beautiful sound but it's not

going to open up by itself it's too

mellow so what we do is we duplicate

these chords

onto a fresh new layer you could use any

virtual analog synth I'm going to use x

for serum

initialize the preset and I'm going to

get a nice saw wave

like this I'm going to shove some Unison

in it let's go ahead and pull it up an

octave I'm going to filter this a little

bit with a mild filter

we're going to go to envelope one

turn down the sustain

and then up the Decay just a little bit

and then what I love to do with the

sound like this is ADD just a bunch of

Reverb to it so I actually have two

reverbs Valhalla Shimmer it's a really

long lasting Reverb and then I have

Valhalla vintage verb it's which is very

heavy I'm also going to add some Ott to

kind of glue the sound and the Reverb

together just a little bit so let's

listen to the transition from one

section without the layer into the layer

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

just adds so much space and Heaven to it

it's like not even fair best layer

that you could ever use that's a video

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