🎧 Digipop Production: Indie Folk/Rock × Bitpop — Specific Moves, Not Theory

✨ Key Traits (At a Glance) — With Concrete Moves

🎸 Guitars up front; DI + amp tones, doubled hard L/R

• DI safety track + amp/sim track; align to sample start; flip polarity if low-mid hollows.

• HPF 80–120 Hz on rhythms; LPF 8–12 kHz to kill fizz before de-esser.

• Double-track: play twice; nudge one side ±5–12 ms only if phase stable.

• Add a mono center fill (quiet, −10 dB vs sides) on choruses for density without blur.

🗣️ Vocals intimate in verses, wide in choruses

• Verse chain: HPF 90–120 Hz → 4:1 comp (attack 15–25 ms, release 60–120 ms) → de-ess @ 5–8 kHz → tilt EQ +1–2 dB above 3 kHz.

• Chorus width: tight double (within 20 cents), hard L/R; center stays lead, doubles −8 to −12 dB.

• Pop clarity: parallel comp bus (8:1, fast, −15 dB send) just on choruses.

🕹️ Bitpop colors: pulse/triangle/noise, 1/16 arps, UI SFX transitions

• Duty-cycle animation: modulate 12.5%↔25% at 1/2 or 1/4 rate on leads.

• Tracker arp: triads implied via rapid arp (root–5th–oct) at 1/16T or 1/24; velocity ghosts −10 dB.

• Noise hats: band-pass 6–10 kHz, decay 80–140 ms, no reverb.

• UI SFX: blip up 7 semitones over 120 ms into downbeat; gate to 40–60 ms.

🥁 Drums read “pop” (short kick, bright snare)

• Kick: tune to song root or fifth; transient shaper +2 dB; decay <150 ms.

• Snare: parallel white-noise burst (HPF 3 kHz) layered at −18 dB; plate 0.6–0.9 s with LPF 6–8 kHz.

• Hats: randomize 3–8% velocity; micro-nudge offbeats +4–8 ms for bounce.

🔊 Low-end: clean sub + square/saw mid

• Sub sine mono below 120 Hz; mid-bass band-pass 150–1.2 kHz; saturate mid only.

• Sidechain: attack 0–5 ms, release 60–120 ms; GR target 1.5–3 dB on kick hits.

🌈 One shared plate + one shared room

• Plate: 0.7 s, HPF 250–300 Hz, LPF 9–12 kHz (vocals/snare).

• Room: 0.3–0.5 s, HPF 200 Hz, predelay 10–20 ms (guitars/bit leads).

• Rule: send amounts change; verbs don’t.

🧼 Arrangement by rotation, not sprawl

• Every 8 bars: swap one element (hi-hat pattern A↔B, arp voicing, alt guitar inversion); never stack changes.

🧠 Song-First Philosophy — Practical Checks

• Phone-memo test: verse + chorus naked; if tempo feels slow, +3 BPM increments until lyric holds.

• Hook audit: can the chorus TL;DR fit in 7 words? If not, prune.

🛠️ Step-By-Step Build — Specific Tactics

1) 📓 Write It Naked

• Key choice: favor guitars (E, A, D, G). If singer struggles, down-tune guitar a whole step; keep open strings.

• Lyric tool: write chorus first; verses answer the title in 2 lines each.

2) 🎛️ Track Guitars Like Indie, Arrange Like Pop

• Rhythm chain: HPF 90 Hz → 1176-style comp 4:1, attack 3, release 7 (2–4 dB GR) → tilt EQ +1 dB @ 3.5 kHz.

• Lead hook: slap delay 90–130 ms, <10% feedback, mono center; automute in verses, unmute in pre/chorus.

• Palm-mutes for pre-chorus lift; open chords in chorus; same part, different articulation.

3) 🕹️ Make the Bitpop Kit

• Lead synth init: pulse wave; glide 80–120 ms; pitch-bend range ±2 st; vibrato 5–6 Hz depth 10–20 cents on long notes.

• Arp voicing: for major: 0–7–12; for minor: 0–7–15 (natural 6 vibe).

• “8-bit tom”: triangle osc, pitch env −7 st, decay 120–180 ms, no reverb.

• Bit-crush parallel: 12-bit/22 kHz on aux at −20 dB; automate send for fills only.

4) 🥁 Drums That Read “Pop”

• Kick–bass fit: if kick at 55–60 Hz, park sub at 45 or 70 Hz; vice-versa.

• Snare top snap: shelf +3 dB @ 7–10 kHz; notch 400–600 Hz if boxy (−2 to −4 dB, Q≈2).

• Ghost claps: −12 dB on “e” or “a” of beat 2/4; flam 12–20 ms before main.

• Fill recipe: bar −1 → tom hits every 1/8, velocity ramp 60→100; final hit choke with gate 25 ms.

5) 🧱 Low-End Stack

• Sub synth ADSR: A 0–5 ms / D 180–280 ms / S 0 / R 80–120 ms; LPF @ 90–110 Hz 24 dB/oct.

• Mid-bass: square→saturation (soft clip, drive until 2nd harmonic clearly visible) → band-pass 250–900 Hz → transient shaper +1 dB attack.

• Sidechain key: filtered kick (HPF 120 Hz) to avoid mis-triggering from sub boom.

6) 🎤 Vocal Aesthetic

• Intimacy trick: cut 250–350 Hz −1 to −3 dB; add 120–180 Hz +1 dB if too thin.

• Double-tightener: hard-tune doubles slightly stronger than lead (retune 15–25 ms vs 25–40 ms).

• Gang shouts: hp filter 180 Hz; group comp 2:1 3–5 dB; hard pan LCR.

• Breath control: gate keyed from de-ess band so breaths dip when S-energy spikes.

7) 🧩 Glue: Acoustic × Electronic

• Bus plan: GUITAR, SYNTH, DRUM, VOX, FX; light mix-bus comp 1.5:1, attack 30 ms, release auto, 1–2 dB GR only on choruses.

• Re-amp bit-lead quietly through cab IR (1×12 open back) low-passed 6–8 kHz at −18 dB to “seat” with guitars.

• Micro-duck: duck bit-lead −1.5 dB from vocal sidechain only when lead sings >500 ms notes.

8) 🧭 Arrangement Blueprint

• Intro: 2 bars riff solo → 2 bars add UI blips every bar-end; stop-tape 120 ms pre-verse.

• Verse 1: kick-snare-hats minimal; sub rests on bar 1; enters bar 3 for lift.

• Pre: arp opens filter 12→50% over 2 bars; tom fill ends with gated coin-blip.

• Chorus: bit-lead doubles topline in octaves; widen guitars +1 dB on sides only.

• Bridge: halftime drums; chopped vocal “aaah” one-shots on offbeats; final bar silence → chorus tag.

• Final chorus: add third-above harmony on bit-lead every second phrase; last hit extend 250 ms.

🧪 Sound-Design Recipes — Drop-In Settings

🎯 Bit-Lead Hook

• Pulse 25% duty; glide 100 ms; filter LPF 2.5–4 kHz; key-track 50%.

• Add 1/16T arp ghost (−12 dB); saturator pre-filter until 2nd harmonic is −18 dB vs fundamental.

💥 Console-Style Snare

• Noise + triangle @ 200 Hz blip; ENV A 0 / D 120 ms / S 0 / R 40 ms.

• EQ: HPF 180 Hz; +4 dB @ 8 kHz shelf; notch −3 dB @ 500 Hz.

• Plate send −14 dB; predelay 10 ms; verb LPF 7 kHz.

🔔 UI Transitions

• Pitch-up ramp: 250→2000 Hz over 90–140 ms, exponential curve; brickwall gate at 50 ms.

• Downbeat stamp: copy blip, reverse, place 120 ms before 1.1; stack with pick-scrape reversed, both gated.

🧊 Pop Bass Stack

• Sub: mono utility plugin below 120 Hz; oversampling ON on limiter.

• Mid: band-pass 250–900 Hz; multiband sat only on 400–700 Hz; clipper ceiling −1 dB on bass bus.

🧷 DAW-Specific Mini-Moves

Ableton Live

• Arp groove: use Swing 16-(55) on arp lane only; leave kick grid-tight.

• Utility > Bass Mono; EQ Eight “Oversampling” on.

• Drum Bus: Glue Comp 2:1, attack 1 ms, release auto, soft clip ON, 1–2 dB.

Logic Pro

• MIDI Transform “Humanize” on hats: position ±6 ticks, velocity ±7.

• ChromaVerb Plate, Time 0.8 s, Size 20%, Pre 12 ms; Low Cut 250 Hz.

• Retro Synth pulse with PWM LFO synced 1/2 for duty animation.

FL Studio

• Arp: Pitcher not needed; use Arp tool in Piano Roll (Alt+A), Range 2, Gate 40%.

• Patcher for sidechain: Fruity Limiter comp mode, key from kick, attack 0, release 80 ms.

• Fruity Love Philter: 1/16T gater on UI blips for stutter before drops.

🎚️ Mix Discipline — Numbers to Hit

• Produce with peaks around −6 dBFS; loudness target pre-master −16 to −12 LUFS; final −10 to −8 LUFS if needed, ceiling −0.9 dBFS.

• Mono check each section; if chorus thins in mono, reduce L/R delay on guitars by 5–8 ms or lower side channel 1 dB.

• Low-end mask test: low-pass master @ 150 Hz briefly; kick and sub should alternate clearly—if not, lengthen sub decay or shift note.

⚡ TL;DR — Action Pack

• HPF guitars 80–120 Hz; LPF 8–12 kHz; true doubles + quiet center.

• Verse vocal chain: HPF 100 Hz → 4:1 comp → de-ess 6 kHz → +1 dB tilt >3 kHz; chorus adds tight doubles L/R.

• Bit-lead: pulse 25%, glide 100 ms, vibrato 5–6 Hz 10–20 cents; arp 1/16T root–5th–oct.

• Drums: kick decay <150 ms; snare plate 0.7 s HPF 250 Hz; hats velocity humanize 3–8%.

• Bass: sub mono LPF 100 Hz; mid band-pass 250–900 Hz; sidechain release 60–120 ms.

• One plate + one room; arrangement rotates one element every 8 bars; limit last.