My Bloody Valentine  Ambient Guitars 3 inspirations and Influences

The sounds on Loveless were a major influence on the sounds that i produced for my latest sample pack Ambient Guitars Volume 3. Here are some insights on some of the production techniques used on the record Loveless by My Bloody Valentine.

8 PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES ON LOVELESS by My Bloody Valentine

1 Kevin Shields decided early on in the production process that nearly every element on Loveless would be in mono.His reasoning came from the way the early Spector and Beach boys records were produced.Shields seperated the individual elements through Equalisation rather than using stereo width.The low frequencies would be stacked at the bottom while the high elements could peak through the mix by accentuating the high frequencies.This was a reaction to the abysmal 80s productions that Shields felt lacked power.

2 There is a massive misconception that there are loads of multi tracked guitars on Loveless but this isn't the case.Shields states that there are probably only about 3 to 4 main guitar tracks on each song.He states that there are as many guitars on this record as most guitar bands would have on their demos.

3 Most of the drums on Loveless had to be programmed and sequenced due to the drummer being ill during the making of the record.The first song Only Shallow is in fact the only song where Colm played live.

4 The vocal tracks on Loveless take the opposite approach from the guitars.On some songs there are up to 15 vocal tracks.Shields would then push one through slightly higher in the mix and Put some high frequency boost to help it cut through ever so slightly.

5 Sampling was a massive part of this record and many of the Valentines techniques were closer in spirit to the pioneering techniques of the Bomb Squad(Public Enemy) and electronic artists.An example of this is the flute type sound on Sometimes.That sound is actually a flute type patch on the sampler mixed with Belinda Butcher's voice,creating a kind of organic electronic sound.

6 Much is made of Shields guitar technique.One paricular technique that he is renowned for is his use of the tremelo arm on the Fender Jaguar.Kevin Shields would have the tremelo fitted very loose and held with some tape.This would allow him to cup the tremelo in his hand gently whilst strumming and then when he wanted to change the pitch he would just use a small amount of force to pitch shift the chords when needed.He doesn't even claim to be the originator of the technique but no one else has used it as effectively as shields and integrated into the songwriting as well as him.Just an opinion.

7 Another important element of the guitar sound on Loveless are the tunings used.Shields uses a lot of varied tunings.He uses various drop D tunings including DADGAD and would sometimes even have a couple of strings pitched within a semi tone of each other.This creates a lot of drones and discordant,melodic atmospheres within the chord changes.The Actual chord changes the Valentines use are like no other guitar band out there,possibly Sonic Youth are the only others i can think of that have that combination of spine chilling chord changes,melodic overtones and a drone like feel constantly through the songs.Again,just an opinion.

8 For the guitar lead part on Only Shallow, Kevin Shields used a really interesting technique to create the startling bent out of shape sound.He placed two Vox AC30 amplifiers facing each other and set two tremelo speeds for each one,fast and then half the speed for the other.This was recorded and then put into the Akai S1000 sampler.In the sampler the whole sound was pitched and played in a full octave higher.This was then blended into the original recording to create an astonishing lead part.Shields also uses the technique of bending the g string on guitar up 2 semitones much beloved of many guitarists,from Chuck Berry to Joey Santiago.

Discover more on Ambient Guitars Volume 3 at these links

sampledelicsounds.com

sampleism.com