
Paula Wolfe: “We very quickly get used to hearing a song a certain way’
Reimagining ‘Staring’ – the singer, songwriter, and producer on the sonic surprises of rediscovering and reworking her debut album from 2003
Capturing and communicating effectively the emotion of a song in a recording is the key challenge facing any producer. As a self-producing singer-songwriter, I have found that challenge holds specific characteristics. Self-production promises a wealth of creative opportunities but there are potential pitfalls. For example, being too close to the song can cloud judgment and familiarity, which can result in a staid approach. We very quickly get used to hearing a song a certain way and a subsequent lack of ‘fresh ears’ can stop us from ‘hearing’ that certain sections, or even the song itself, may not ‘work’. With so much at our fingertips in our DAWs, danger also lies in confusing great production ideas for a great song.
1. EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE OF SELF-PRODUCTION
I became particularly mindful of this in my recent project that entailed a particular kind of self-production, the complete re-working of 14 songs from my early catalogue. Following the double release of my third album White Dots (Sib Records 2019) and my book Women In The Studio (Routledge 2020), I wanted a digital release of my full back catalogue before releasing my fourth. Part of that generation of female artists who embraced the arrival of digital recording in the late 1990s, I had recorded both records onto disc on a digital 8-track but could not access the original files of the debut EP and album.
Attempts to remaster from the CDs were unsuccessful so I decided to re-record the songs which morphed into a complete re-working. I had to ensure a fresh take and also exercise judgement as to which songs had stood the test of time and actually merited re-working. So, I started to pay close attention to instances of sonic surprise to guide me throughout the process.
2. THE SOURCE OF ALL SONIC GOLD DUST STARTS WITH THE WORDS
I have always viewed my songs as snapshots that attempt to capture a moment lyrically and musically. Harnessing the initial excitement from an idea, followed by lyrical precision, allows for precision in the composition and phrasing of the melody that kickstarts the whole production process. Like many self-taught musicians, I ‘hear’ the arrangements as soon as I record the raw song with just guitar and vocals on my phone or in my DAW. That initial emotional response then informs every compositional, performance, production and mixing choice that follows.
3. REWORKING THE PAST CAN HELP REFINE THE PRESENT
A lot of the songs on the first EP and album are stories based on people and situations observed when living in Manchester in northwest England throughout the 1990s. In a period of hardship for many, the fictional characters find themselves on the edges, responding in different ways to their marginalisation. At the time, finding the right words to communicate the essence of those characters was key. The second time around, some reworked lyrics evoked a refined melody or new backing vocals, offering a fresh, new dimension to be embellished with new instrumental arrangements and then brought out in the mix.

Paula Wolfe: “A dead space is more suitable to hear more accurately any added effects, such as reverb”
4. THE POWER OF SPACE AND SUBTLETY
Surprise can also result from what is not said. When the sound of the different instruments I was playing resonated in the space between the words, it triggered further excitement with the resulting compulsion to develop the line. Editing out unnecessarily busy guitar parts or taking out the beats and the bass also created surprise. I used edits like these on the title track of the re-worked EP Find and on the album track, Oldham Street, to highlight the string arrangements and create a sense of anticipation before the main vocals came back in. On another album track, Leanne, I stripped everything back as the track simply did not need any more than the clarinet player’s beautiful, nuanced performance to support the guitar and vocals.
5. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS, HONE YOUR SKILLS
In the mixing process, I have tended to rely almost exclusively on my ears but this has sometimes created problems. Firstly, the mixing process has taken far longer than it should; secondly, I have sometimes ended up losing the ‘vibe’ from trying too many different approaches and thirdly, I have hit a brick wall at times from not having enough technical knowledge to find a way round a problem. In this project, the mixes were sounding increasingly harsh and I needed to find out why. Although I have always had ‘good ears’ and have been able to hear the impact of boosted different EQ frequencies, I needed to gain a clearer understanding of the impact of the kind of boosts and cuts I was applying within the different frequency ranges to pinpoint why I was not getting the sound I wanted.
6. ADDRESSING MIXING CHALLENGES
Similarly, I have always been sensitive to (and disliked) the sound of too much compression so I have made much use of automation. However, my usual methods were not working, things were not cutting through and so again, I needed to find out why.
What followed was a year’s worth of conversations with engineering friends and colleagues. I also read some mixing textbooks, articles and academic papers; I watched a range of videos, listened to some music production podcasts and attended a few online and in-person mixing workshops. As a result, I gained a range of new perspectives on some of the fundamental technical principles behind mixing. In the process, I left the security blanket of the respective DAW stock EQ and compressor plug-ins within Logic that I had used on the last album and instead experimented with a variety of recommendations.
7. EXPLORE NEW TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
This resulted in two things. Firstly, I came to understand the impact of cutting rather than boosting frequencies to get rid of muddiness or increase presence and the impact, also, of how broad or narrow those cuts and boosts might be. In addition, I came to understand how the frequency of an instrument can be masked by the same frequency of another, resulting in its getting ‘lost’ in the mix. Finally, I learned a range of standard EQ-ing techniques, such as the combined use of a low-pass filter, a 300hz cut and a high-frequency boost to accentuate the vocal.
This is not to say that I disregarded my ears and my instincts, as applying textbook formulas across the board could not possibly work with such a large range of instrumentation that included a violin and viola, cello, trumpet, clarinet, flute, sax, piano, full kit, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars as well as midi synths and beats and my voice. Furthermore, I was very resistant to adopting genre-determined sonic trends or using plug-ins to achieve the sonic clarity and control I was striving to learn how to do myself.

Paula Wolfe: “As a producer of your own songs, you do know when a track is finished”
8. ACHIEVE GREATER PRECISION THROUGH BETTER MONITORING AND ACOUSTICS
Upping my skills also meant that I needed to update my speakers and my headphones as greater precision in the ability to control EQ movements and compression settings demanded greater monitoring precision. In addition, I came to understand the impact of the room. I have a rich-sounding live room which is perfect for recording, but its natural acoustics are misleading when mixing. A dead space is more suitable to hear more accurately any added effects, such as reverb.
9. POLISH THE MIX, PRIORITIZE THE SONG
Once all issues had been addressed, this new sonic clarity afforded the final instances of ‘surprise’ from simply being able to hear clearly the impact of cutting or boosting a given frequency which allowed me to bring out certain qualities of a given vocal or instrumental recorded performance. In turn, the greater presence of each tonally polished recording, thanks to more powerful compressors, allowed me to achieve greater separation and overall greater depth in the mix.
This does not mean to say that I had lost sight of the most important element of the whole process – the songs. Achieving a good mix means that you can hear every element, or the impact of every element of the arrangement, but if the essential song itself is not right or good enough – that is what you are showcasing also.
10. TRUST YOUR EARS AND KNOW WHEN IT’S DONE
In every conversation I have ever had with an old engineering friend of mine, he has urged me to trust my ears — advice echoed in every paper or textbook on mixing I read. In this project, I trusted my ears that, in the first instance, some of the songs were not right because the lyrics were not right and so I had to strip them back to clarify what I was really trying to say. I then trusted my ears that the mixes were not right and acted on my instincts to gain more technical knowledge that would allow me to make more accurate decisions with more powerful tools. Finally, I trusted those instances when I found myself no longer peering at the screen trying to fix things but listening. It was then I knew that the mixes were ready for mastering.
Sonically, it is not until the final mix that the ‘real’ track emerges, that is, the most accurate compositional, performative and sonic representation of the intention underlying the song’s initial composition. The best sound of the best-recorded performance of the best melody and the best words in the best order.
One of the common criticisms of self-production is that you can keep going forever. I disagree. As a producer of your own songs, you do know when a track is finished and I have found that it is at this precise and final point of surprise that I know.
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