ENERGY CURVE ENGAGER

The Challenge

This challenge is all about making your song as interesting as possible. Whether it’s a 100bpm folk tune or a 180bpm punk ripper these fundamental concepts apply. Use this guide whether you’re writing, producing, mixing or even mastering and you’ll be amazed when you compare just how much more engaging your new song is.

Infographic with text and an energy curve diagram labeled 'Energy Curve Essentials.' Includes musical sections labeled Intro, Verse, Chorus, etc. Various sections discuss musical elements like Kick, Bass, Hi Hat, Cymbals, Toms, Percussion, Arrangement, Frequency, Melody, FX, and Instruments. Large text overlay reads 'Free PDF Download'. Logo at bottom says 'Mixing with Hertz.'

Grab the free cheat sheet to help you on your way

The Goal

The idea behind this challenge is to help you train 3 core production skills:

  1. How to build and break down energy

  2. How to take listeners on a journey

  3. How to create engaging moments throughout a track

***Read through the challenge before you get started. It will help you be more effective (especially the sum up).

The Process

Step 1 - What’s the point?

Listen to your song and ask yourself

  1. Does it have defined sections?

  2. What is the point of each section? 

  3. What's each section's place in the energy curve?

  4. Can you map your listeners emotional journey throughout the song?

  5. Assign clearly defined roles for each section.

Step 2 - Sections that shift the dynamics

What can you do to make your point? Hold your listeners hand and guide them!

  1. How can the bigger sections be made bigger?

  2. Where can you scale things back to create intimacy or contrast?

  3. Which parts can be improved to serve the energy level better?

Step 3 - Magic moments

Does every section have a magic moment?

  1. Where can you add unexpected flourishes?

  2. Does something interesting happen at the beginning, middle or end of each section?

  3. Sometimes less is more, can you cut something out for effect?

Step 4 - Smooth transitions

Glue it back together.

  1. Does the overall energy flow in a way you like?

  2. What can you do to tie your magic moments together?

  3. Does your energy curve work? - Green lines, orange arrows and a constant orange line?

Here’s some easy tricks to try out:

  1. Cutting the bass out of a section

  2. Cutting the snare or kick out of a section

  3. Having a slow fill to bring the end of a chorus down

  4. Making sure guitars and synth performances build towards the end of sections

  5. Use panning to create interest

  6. Look for gaps in the vocal to add interesting guitar lick, percussion, drum fills of FX throws

  7. Less is more, make the end as big as possible then make everything before it smaller

The Sum Up

Take your time with steps 1 and 4 but go mad with steps 2 and 3. It’s better to get ideas out and refine them later than to miss out on inspiration. This process might be iterative, At first you might just want to change or write parts. Then you might want to work on additional production elements. And finally you might want to factor this process into your mixing and mastering workflow.

Thanks for giving the challenge a go. If you’re a social media type then please share your experience and tag @mixinghertz in it so I can share it with other students. If not, send me an email I’d love to hear about it and if there’s anything I can help you with.