Q&A with ‘Mad Designers’ creator Christopher Ave

If you’ve seen the SND STL video, then you’ve also heard “Mad Designers,” the catchy, spy-noir soundtrack by Christopher Ave. (Go ahead — play it again.)

Journalism-themed music is nothing new to Christopher — he’s the guy behind “Copy Editor’s Lament (The Layoff Song)” and “Deadline.” Christopher was kind enough to answer a few questions about how he created “Mad Designers.”

What’s your full-time job? Political editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLtoday.com

What’s your dream job? Opening for Paul McCartney on his next world tour.

What inspired “Mad Designers”? (Illustrator) Brian Williamson asked me to consider doing a song for a video he was creating to promote SND’s 2011 St. Louis conference. He explained it would be done in a sort of retro visual style, and he had me listen to an instrumental by Tom Waits, “Knife Chase,” as a rough guide to the style he and (SND STL co-chairman) Will Sullivan were looking for.

The piece has a nice, retro feel, but hardly any melody. I decided to try to create something that sounded old-school, and yet had a bit of a melody to it. I also thought some grungy, tremolo-heavy guitar would be good to include, sort of like the guitar on Elvis Costello’s immortal “Watching the Detectives.”

Also, I am totally enamored of AMC’s “Mad Men,” so I was looking to get something of that early ’60s cool feel into it.

I started the song’s idea with the simple chord structure of the main part — which is where I often start. It’s actually similar to the old song “Moon Dance,” although the feel is different (in my song, they are Am-Bm-E7).

Next I played around with some rhythm tracks for a couple days. I was looking for some drum and percussion samples that sounded natural, something that a jazz band would play. Once I selected those, I looked for some keyboard sounds for the chords. I then added a “blue-note” chord — F7 — for the little middle section.

I also found samples for sax and trumpets. I “played” those parts on the keyboard, which simply controls the sounds found in software.

I decided to use my semi-acoustic bass to play the bass parts. It looks like Paul McCartney’s bass, which is a Hofner. Mine, however, was made in China at about one-tenth of what his model Hofner goes for.

Finally the guitar. I played my Fender Stratocaster and used some Line 6 effects and the guitar’s real whammy/tremolo bar to get the desired sound.

Come on, give us all the geeky details: I record into Cakewalk’s Sonar on my PC. I use an RME soundcard, a no-name preamp (a low-cost copy of a Neve design) and keyboard/horn sounds by Cakewalk’s Dimension Pro. I used Smart Loops drum samples.

How long did it take to create? In all, it probably took six or eight hours of recording time to complete the song. I mixed it as I went, so I didn’t have to start the mix from scratch when I was done recording.

Thanks, Christopher!

You can download “Mad Designers” by subscribing to Christopher’s mailing list (click “download” under the song’s title). Hear samples of and learn more about his work at christopherave.com and reverbnation.com/christopherave, and check out his blog on music and media, christopherave.wordpress.com.

1 comment

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  Charles Apple 09.27.10 at 2:40 pm

  Wonderful stuff! Had to download the MP3 as well. Thanks much!

  Reply