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YouTube

How to Make a Song Like "The Life of a Showgirl" - Taylor Swift Style Production Tutorial

Make Pop Music via YouTube

Overview

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Learn to create a Taylor Swift-inspired pop song by deconstructing and recreating elements from her album "The Life Of A Showgirl" in this comprehensive music production tutorial. Dive deep into the complete songwriting and production process, starting with drum programming and layering techniques that capture the signature sound of tracks like "Elizabeth Taylor," "Cancelled!," and "Actually Romantic." Master the art of mixing individual drum elements including kick and snare processing, then explore bass writing and mixing techniques with chorus effects that define modern pop production. Discover guitar arrangement strategies including muted techniques and effects processing, while learning to build compelling verse synth arrangements with automated EQ techniques. Progress through prechorus and chorus construction, covering drums, bass, guitars, and synth layering that creates the dynamic build characteristic of contemporary pop music. Develop advanced vocal production skills including lead vocal mixing, effects sends, vocal layering and stacking techniques, and sophisticated harmony arrangements. Explore call and response vocal techniques, background vocal arrangement strategies, and gang vocal production methods that add depth and energy to modern pop tracks. Complete your production knowledge with mix bus processing techniques and gain insights into the creative decision-making process behind crafting songs in the style of one of today's most influential pop artists.

Syllabus

Intro 0:00
The Inspiration For This Video 0:24
Programming Drums 1:15
Layering And Mixing The Drums 2:27
Mixing The Kick 2:55
Mixing The Snare 3:44
Drum Bus Effect 4:45
Quick Plug 5:30
Writing a Bassline 5:52
Bass Mixing 6:43
Bass Chorus Effect 8:00
Adding Guitar Mutes 8:42
Guitar Effect 9:40
Verse Synth Arrangement 10:15
Automating EQ In The Verse 12:00
Synth Pads 12:20
Prechorus Drums 13:30
Prechorus Bass and Guitar 13:55
Prechorus Synths and Keys 14:23
Chorus Drums 16:26
Chorus Bass 17:25
Chorus Guitars 18:00
Chorus Synth Arrangement 18:18
Extra Key Additions 19:00
Post Chorus Arrangement 20:17
Lead Vocal Mix 21:31
Vocal Effects Sends 22:45
Vocal Layering And Stacking 23:53
Prechorus Vocal Arrangement 24:50
Handling Call and Response Vocals 25:49
Background Vocal Arrangement 26:30
Chorus Vocal Arrangement 28:45
Chorus Harmonies 29:20
Gang Vocals and Chants 30:00
Mix Bus Processing 30:41
Final Listen 31:32
Outro 33:03

Taught by

Make Pop Music

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