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Producing Electronic Pop Music with Hot Chip: 10 Questions with Production Mastermind Joe Goddard

Producing Electronic Pop Music with Hot Chip: 10 Questions with Production Mastermind Joe Goddard

Producing Electronic Pop Music with Hot Chip

10 Questions with Production Mastermind Joe Goddard

For 16 years, Hot Chip have been perfecting a unique blend of dance and electronic indie rock, replete with hip production prowess. The resulting fusion has earned the London-based group both Grammy Award and Mercury Prize nominations, in addition to a rapidly expanding global fan base.

Hot Chip’s latest album, Why Make Sense?, draws significant power from both the vocal and production chops of Joe Goddard. A prolific figure in the studio, Goddard is also an in-demand remixer, a member of the band 2 Bears, and a respected solo artist who has released multiple projects under his own name.

Here, Goddard ruminates on the ins and outs of dance music, crafting the perfect future/retro drum tones, and keeping the humanity intact in his tracks.

1 One of Hot Chip’s calling cards is the mix of live drums and electronic beats. Is that an effort to give your grooves more depth?

Yes, absolutely. The part robotic, part human feel that you get by mixing a drum machine and a human player is often really interesting and funky. It has been used since Sly and The Family Stone, so it’s not a new invention, but it’s an exciting texture that can transform a track.

2 Would you say you’re anti quantizing?

Well, we quantize when absolutely necessary. For example, when we’re using layers of kick drums, we will quantize them so they don’t flam and sound horrible. But apart from that, we generally to keep the natural feel of the player intact. That being said, sometimes it’s fun to quantize something in a creative or unusual way — you can definitely create strange rhythmic effects and grooves that can be a basis for a whole track.

3 You have mentioned how less-than-perfect tuning, timing, or mix issues can make tracks feel alive and human on a subliminal level. How do you get to a point where you can embrace mistakes as part of the character of the music?

It starts by appreciating that mistakes are evidence that an actual human made the track. The audience can feel that and it is a good thing. As a human and a listener, I think you can love, be excited, and relate to a piece of music more easily when you can hear the humanity in it, even if it’s not obvious.

4 You use a mix of vintage synths along with software synths. Do you concern yourself with making software synths sound more “real?”

Depending on the song, I will embrace the more “artificial” nature of a soft synth, especially if I want the part to pop out a little. Using an unadulterated soft synth sound can also give a retro-ish track a little more modern sheen, which is cool. If I want soft synths to sound more analog, I’ll add the Studer A800 Multichannel Tape plug-in, or distortion from my Thermionic Culture Vulture hardware.

5 Hot Chip brings a lot of different dance elements together, including disco, techno, funk, and house. How do you do that, yet retain an identity with your tracks?

A good way to give a track its own identity , is to layer an old synth or drum machine with one that has new, very modern sounds. It’s simple, but doing that can really add complexity — both sonically and rhythmically — without being overtly retro or from a certain era or style. In general, taking a moment to ponder your stylistic references, and carefully choosing a production style to juxtapose on it will make your ideas more personal.

6 Nothing is more important to dance music than the groove. How do you ensure that Hot Chip tracks have the right movement and feel?

One trick I use a lot is I put rhythmic delays on hi-hats and percussion. That’s a simple way to make patterns swing and groove with more nuance. I use the Galaxy Tape Echo and Cooper Time Cube MkII plug-ins a lot for that. I will also put a slapback delay on hand claps or snare tracks. It not only thickens the sound, it makes it longer, which enhances the groove. The Galaxy Tape Echo in particular is a good tool to reach for in terms of adding that organic feel. I also use the Moog Multimode Filter plug-in to liven up sequencer patterns and add forward motion.

7 What about the Galaxy Tape Echo plug-in resonates with you?

The spring reverb section has a lot of character and soul to it. It’s a sound that I associate with ’70s R&B and reggae mostly, and that can be a good reference point for Hot Chip’s music. We use modern samples and drum machine sounds, but try to imbue the tracks with that classic soul and reggae feel in terms of the effects that we add.

8 You’ve lamented about the sound of modern pop on big club systems, and that Hot Chip’s sound is a product of wanting to make club music that is pleasant to listen to. How do you try and achieve this?

Really just by mixing tracks so that there aren't too many harsh, treble-y elements in them. I take inspiration from big US R&B records where the track sounds groovy and exciting in a club, but you can listen at high volume without feeling like your ears are being destroyed. These records are very well constructed sonically and that kind of sound is what I aspire to — exciting but still warm. Tracks like “Try Again” by Aaliyah, “What About Us” by Brandy, “It’s Not Right But It’s Ok” by Whitney Houston, and “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy and Monica really illustrate what I try and go for sonically.

9 Do you have any tips for shaping the bottom end of your mixes?

I use the Little Labs Voice of God plug-in a lot to get my low end just right. I’ll add it to a kick drum or bass line, scroll through the presets, and listen how they effect the track, and dial in the correct amplitude so that the part sits nicely without overpowering the rest of the mix. It’s a really great tool. I also use the Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection on the mix bus. The “Subtle Enhance” preset opens the track up a little, while he “Huge Kick” preset really gives the bass response a lift that’s perfect dance music.

10 You still DJ at clubs. How does that inform your production skills?

DJing in clubs just means that your ears are open to new sounds or rhythmic ideas which you can then employ on your own tracks. Having the experience of reading a crowd and building a DJ set gives you an understanding of the dynamics to aim for in a record. Good dance producers try to excite an audience by finding sounds or textures that people have never heard before. You generate energy in a club by playing with people’s expectations, and there is no better way to do that than craft new, interesting sounds.

— Michael Gallant/Darrin Fox

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