Model Comparison

• Style & features
  • Kate Bush – pop/indie vs Futureheads – indie rock
  • Both have degrees of being ‘unpolished’/lack of big label support/DIY ethic of production (Kate Bush – one musician recording lots of parts, working in home studio; Futureheads – indie rock band ethic, rawer sound with guitar-led instrumentation) Date & features

• Kate Bush – 1985; synthesisers have been popular since late 1970s, early digital sampling technology (Fairlight CMI), large-scale analogue multitrack recording or perhaps early digital tape. Futureheads – 2004; likely recorded on a DAW; more available tracks, less hiss (better signal-to-noise ratio), more overdubs, easier to drop in and out to re-record sections. Can loop small sections of audio easily (e.g. perhaps backing vocals at the start)

Capture

• Both feature a high standard of recording because of the available track count (despite Futureheads likely having more available, the arrangement is simpler than Kate Bush’s)
• Both feature close mic drums and overheads for stereo. There is a chance that the Kate Bush version features sampled drums but they sound live. Full drum

1

kit used in the Futureheads version so more mics needed / more potential for

issues with phase.

• The guitars in the Futureheads version would have been recorded by close- micing an amp; the guitars could also have been DId/both at the same time and mixed together. The electronic instruments on the Kate Bush track would definitely have been DId, which would have been easier to achieve in a home studio environment.
• Overdubbing of backing vocal edits at the start in the Futureheads version; many of Kate Bush’s parts would be overdubbed as she’s singing/playing many of them. The lead vocal is doubletracked in the Kate Bush version (which would require her to sing it twice).
• ‘Cello used in Kate Bush version – mic would be placed so it wasn’t struck by the bow, but sufficiently close to get the sound of the string attack – condenser for high frequency content / detailed capture of dynamic range. Sampling

• Kate Bush uses a sample from a film at the start (‘it’s in the trees – it’s coming!). This sounds like it is band pass filtered because it is lacking bass and treble. It is lacking high frequencies because of the limited sample rate (Nyquist) of the early sampler (Fairlight CMI – but you couldn’t be expected to know that!), and likely lacking low frequencies because of an existing musical backing in the background. There is no clear audible sampling in the Futureheads version, but it is possible that there is some looping of audio material, for example in the backing vocal patterns at the start.

Synthesis

• Use of string pads in Kate Bush version. Sustains long notes; low pass filtered as some high frequencies but not lots. No audible synthesis in Futureheads version.

Other electronic instruments

• Synths/samplers as above in Kate Bush version. Distorted electric guitar in the Futureheads version. Only slightly distorted – ‘driven’ sound, or slight overdrive/gain boosted at amp stage.

Creative FX

• Kate Bush version uses very gated reverb to increase sustain and avoid muddiness on the drum sounds. Stylistic of 1980s production (e.g. Phil Collins – ‘In The Air Tonight’). Futureheads version is much drier, in line with how you would expect Indie Rock to sound.

2

• The lead vocals have a slight delay on them in the Kate Bush version. The Futureheads version doesn’t really use any other creative effects with just some light distortion/overdrive on the guitars. The Kate Bush version uses telephone effect on the vocal sample at the start.

Dynamics

• Futureheads – Distorted electric guitar has a narrower dynamic range than other instruments. Kate Bush – electronic instruments also have a narrower dynamic range than acoustic instruments, so acoustic instruments require more compression to share the mix space with them.
• Kate Bush – drums are heavily compressed; ‘big’ sound – high ratio/low threshold – increases sustain. Futureheads – drums conventionally compressed to hold place in the mix.
• Mastering – more heavily compressed master in the 2004 Futureheads version because of the Loudness Wars – overcompression/limiting/multiband compression/squashing the peaks. The Kate Bush version is overall much quieter, and has less mix/master compression. There might be some slight tape saturation which has a similar effect to compression, but is more musical. EQ and Filtering

• Futureheads version has a high pass filtered / low frequency cut on the electric guitar at the start. Synth pad is low pass filtered in Kate Bush version to avoid stealing focus from the vocal.
• (Could further compare EQ on specific parts e.g. brightness/how muffled the drums are). Balance, Mix and Stereo

● Strings alternate from hard left to hard right in Kate Bush version. Toms are spread across the stereo field. Stereo reverb – reverb sometimes sounds in the opposite speaker to where the sound is occurring. Electric guitars are doubletracked/spread across stereo field to give width in Futureheads version. The drum kit is spread as expected from L to R (toms/overheads)

Mastering

• Conventionally, 80s mixers are brighter than those in the 70s but lack low frequencies. This is true of the Kate Bush version. The Futureheads version has more low frequencies and more high frequencies, reflecting the clarity of digital production/use of DAW compared to large-scale analogue multitrack tape.
• See mix/master compression above in ‘dynamics’.