Insights into HBTB, MAC & The Greatest production process

[Dominikx4 25,418]

Bonjour hoes

 

So, a while back I actually bought access to that Mix with the Masters website. Both Kieron Menzies and Jack Antonoff had videos about Lana, in Kieron's case about High By The Beach and for Jack it was about Mariners Apartment Complex and The Greatest.

 

I decided to write down some of the more interesting stuff they said about Lana, since I haven't seen anyone else sharing this before:

 

High By The Beach

• HBTB started with the chorus
• It was made when they were about halfway through the recording process, in the summer of 2015
• Lana usually comes in with an idea, and Rick plays the piano trying to find the right chords (as seen in the Change video Lana posted back in 2017)
• Lana wrote the rest of the lyrics the same day they recorded the song
• The hip-hop vibes were Lana's idea
• All of Lana's vocals on the Honeymoon album were recorded with a U87 microphone. It was an extremly old mic Rick found somewhere in a closet of his and they never used it because it always sounded so bad, but they thought the trashy, lo-fi feel of it suited the Honeymoon tracks because it had the right amount of "dirt and brokenness"
• Lana usually does not record her vocals in the vocal booth, but in the control room with speakers on, which is the reason why there's always so much bleeding from the instrumental on her acapellas
• No autotune on Lana's vocals
• They call the outro a "poem". Lana wrote it after they had the idea for the music video and it was specifically written with the MV in mind.
• During the HM production process, recording, producing and mixing was all pretty much happening at the same time, rather than producing the song and mixing it at a later date.
• Lana was involved in every step of the album making process, from writing, producing, mixing and mastering it.
• Lana's mindset is "this is her vision, [...] this is what she wanted to hear". A lot of the mixing choices on Honeymoon were Lana's call
• Kieron says he thought the beat shouldve been brighter and hotter, but Lana said she doesn't like it, and he thinks they ended up with a more natural sound that way

 

The Greatest

• Lana and Jack usually write songs by Jack playing on his guitar and Lana singing over it
• The Greatest started with the chorus chord progression
• Jack added flutes and horns because the song feels like a "death march" for the culture
• They were figuring the song out as they were going
• There's 40 vocal tracks in the final song
• They wanted it to feel like Lana is singing in a bar
• Lana's voice was supposed to feel like its the glue holding the entire album together, which is why its so "on top" of the instrumentals

 

Mariners Apartment Complex

• There was no chorus at first, Lana started with the verses
• Jack thought it would be called "I'm Your Man"
• Again, Lana and Jack record in the same room, she's singing, he's playing the guitar
• The end of the song is a homage to Venice Bitch with the trippy guitars coming in

[takeitdoen 10,629]

 

11 minutes ago, Dominikx4 said:

The Greatest

• Jack added flutes and horns because the song feels like a "death march" for the culture

. . . Okay, um,  I guess I will just accept the mixing must be extremely subtle in these elements since they sound basically non existent despite that grand reflection from Jack.  Did he point out time stamps on where to listen out to these?

(EDIT: Actually, I think I hear the horns on the chorus? Not sure about the flutes)

 

Fascinating observations, thank you for voting the bullet and paying to listen, and then reporting back to us! 

[Liz Taylor Blues 18,853]

Thanks for sharing this. I love that Lana was so involved with the production of HM. Why it’s her Magnus Opus I guess

[Dominikx4 25,418]

4 minutes ago, takeitdoen said:

 

. . . Okay, um,  I guess I will just accept the mixing must be extremely subtle in these elements since they sound basically non existent despite that grand reflection from Jack.  Did he point out time stamps on where to listen out to these?

(EDIT: Actually, I think I hear the horns on the chorus? Not sure about the flutes)

 

Fascinating observations, thank you for voting the bullet and paying to listen, and then reporting back to us! 

i love jack as a producer, but his mixing is... so bad. not just lana, taylor as well  he seems to put so much effort and so many details in his productions, only to compress them all until you cant hear any of them any longer. theyre in the pre-chorus and chorus, yep

 

[sjatib 5,174]

Absolutely grateful to you for sharing this with us. The production and recording details are some of the stuff I love the most about music, and would have loved to watch those episodes -but couldn't, obviously-. So thank you sincerely, man!

[electra 20,644]

just post ha on dbree and run nick!!!

[cashcomesquick 5,381]

16 hours ago, Dominikx4 said:

Bonjour hoes

 

So, a while back I actually bought access to that Mix with the Masters website. Both Kieron Menzies and Jack Antonoff had videos about Lana, in Kieron's case about High By The Beach and for Jack it was about Mariners Apartment Complex and The Greatest.

 

I obviously cannot share any video or audio tidbits due to copyright, but I decided to write down some of the more interesting stuff they said about Lana, since I haven't seen anyone else sharing this before:

 

High By The Beach

• HBTB started with the chorus
• It was made when they were about halfway through the recording process, in the summer of 2015
• Lana usually comes in with an idea, and Rick plays the piano trying to find the right chords (as seen in the Change video Lana posted back in 2017)
• Lana wrote the rest of the lyrics the same day they recorded the song
• The hip-hop vibes were Lana's idea
• All of Lana's vocals on the Honeymoon album were recorded with a U87 microphone. It was an extremly old mic Rick found somewhere in a closet of his and they never used it because it always sounded so bad, but they thought the trashy, lo-fi feel of it suited the Honeymoon tracks because it had the right amount of "dirt and brokenness"
• Lana usually does not record her vocals in the vocal booth, but in the control room with speakers on, which is the reason why there's always so much bleeding from the instrumental on her acapellas
• No autotune on Lana's vocals
• They call the outro a "poem". Lana wrote it after they had the idea for the music video and it was specifically written with the MV in mind.
• During the HM production process, recording, producing and mixing was all pretty much happening at the same time, rather than producing the song and mixing it at a later date.
• Lana was involved in every step of the album making process, from writing, producing, mixing and mastering it.
• Lana's mindset is "this is her vision, [...] this is what she wanted to hear". A lot of the mixing choices on Honeymoon were Lana's call
• Kieron says he thought the beat shouldve been brighter and hotter, but Lana said she doesn't like it, and he thinks they ended up with a more natural sound that way

 

The Greatest

• Lana and Jack usually write songs by Jack playing on his guitar and Lana singing over it
• The Greatest started with the chorus chord progression
• Jack added flutes and horns because the song feels like a "death march" for the culture
• They were figuring the song out as they were going
• There's 40 vocal tracks in the final song
• They wanted it to feel like Lana is singing in a bar
• Lana's voice was supposed to feel like its the glue holding the entire album together, which is why its so "on top" of the instrumentals

 

Mariners Apartment Complex

• There was no chorus at first, Lana started with the verses
• Jack thought it would be called "I'm Your Man"
• Again, Lana and Jack record in the same room, she's singing, he's playing the guitar
• The end of the song is a homage to Venice Bitch with the trippy guitars coming in

Thank you for this insight! For me, Nowels definitely established the role of a mentor to Lana in terms of her art and the process itself. His experience with outstanding artists like Tupac and Dido will only have advantages to Lana! Really hope the team who produced Honeymoon will work together again ?

[venicebitch 14,553]

this is so cool thank u dominik!!!!

[Lanalouis1 2,511]

1 hour ago, takeitdoen said:

 

. . . Okay, um,  I guess I will just accept the mixing must be extremely subtle in these elements since they sound basically non existent despite that grand reflection from Jack.  Did he point out time stamps on where to listen out to these?

(EDIT: Actually, I think I hear the horns on the chorus? Not sure about the flutes)

 

Fascinating observations, thank you for voting the bullet and paying to listen, and then reporting back to us! 

definitely hear flutes in the intro

[IanadeIrey 62,141]

This is so cool. Thank you so much for sharing! 

[rightofjupiter 16,731]

Thanks for sharing, I always wondered what info these videos held!

[The Stargirl Pinky 72,196]

Do ya’ll think her and Rick are still tight? Idk what the professional dynamics are when you regularly use one producer and then you switch things up. Is it offensive or rude? As much shade as I’ve seen thrown at grandpa Rick I think he’s still pretty talented. Might not be ~the moment~ of the music industry but I enjoy the music that came from his eras.

[Dominikx4 25,418]

1 minute ago, rightofjupiter said:

Thanks for sharing, I always wondered what info these videos held!

for the most part, its just the producers showing how/with which plugin they created a certain sound, drums etc. which is only interesting if you produce music yourself tbh

im glad kieron talked quite a bit about lana, more than jack at least

[Dark Angel 203,530]

this is really cool! thank you for sharing!

[Miss Honeydew 616]

As someone who is interested in music production, this is an absolutely fascinating read. Especially for Honeymoon! (which is my fav lol)

 

I absolutely would not have guessed that she recorded the entirety of HM with some random ''trash'' microphone from Rick's closet?!! 

And the fact that she was completely in on every single process of the album just confirms how personal this album must be. Hence she doesn't acknowledge/sing it? 

 

But wow i gtg listen to Honeymoon again with these new facts in mind. 

 

Thank you so much for sharing!! 

[Get Drunk 17,997]

8 hours ago, Dominikx4 said:

Jack thought it would be called "I'm Your Man"

Idk the context in which he said this but it kind of reminds of me how he thought the greatest/FIILY were being released at a different date and even teased them or whatever. Like, does he just not talk to Lana or the rest of her team once he leaves the studio?

 

Edit: thank you so much for this, absolutely love the insights on Honeymoon. Jack doesn't seem to give much

[Dominikx4 25,418]

https://dbree.org/v/936201

https://dbree.org/v/fe6938

https://dbree.org/v/0a257b

 

this is literally all there is

[Turtledove 546]

The official High By the Beach is a more natural sound ?!? Hmm. Wonder how they view that word. Its always felt almost otherwordly to me with how dreamy it is.  Isnt natural sounds banging coconut shells together and stuff? 

[Distantly 3,931]

This is beautiful, thank you for sharing 

[plastiscguy 63,439]

28 minutes ago, Dominikx4 said:

https://dbree.org/v/936201

https://dbree.org/v/fe6938

https://dbree.org/v/0a257b

 

this is literally all there is

my god