Don’t Spare the Hooks
From a fleeting guitar fill to a round of standalone drums, exploring the many ways of injecting infectiousness into a recording
To many people, a song’s “hook” is its chorus, lead riff, or any other repeating part that stays with the listener long after the song has ended. However, there are numerous other ways to make a recording more alluring, whether it’s just a quick guitar fill, a few bars of drums only, or a “call-and-response” vocal exchange—almost anything that might catch one’s ear along the way can be fair game. Here we explore a few of these ideas, and how even the most seemingly subtle sounds can be a big part of a song’s success.
Riffs and fills. Leading with a guitar or keyboard riff that resurfaces throughout the song is a time-honored tradition that’s figured in numerous classics over the years. But there are other instrumental bits that you can work into the music, such as fills and accents that may only cover a bar or two, yet act like musical seasoning, helping to enhance the flavor of a well-built song. Once you have a rough framework for your new track in place, look for potential openings along the way (usually in between vocals) to add some accompaniment, whether it’s a guitar that echoes some of the chorus melody, or any other kind of melodic counterpoint. Remember that repetition is key, so if you inserted a lick on the fourth bar of the first chorus, do it again at the same spot on the succeeding choruses.
Mix tricks. Because listeners respond to changes in sound (whether they’re aware of it or not), something else you can try is bringing the ingredients into the mix gradually, rather than having all parts on full from start to finish. For instance, you might open the song with the main instrumentation but leaving the bass track muted until the first verse or chorus; conversely you could mute everything but the bass during the intro. Starting out with several bars of standalone drums is another old stand-by, as is a vocals-only excerpt of the chorus melody. Just about any kind of mix creativity can be unusually effective at getting one’s attention.
Coloring with effects. Effects can also be used to create subtle hooks throughout the song. You could try applying a delayed echo to the lead vocal or an instrument track, but only to accentuate certain parts—say, the last word of a verse, or to elongate a tambourine hit. Reverb can be added in the same manner—that is, by using the effect-send control you can “push” the effect at predetermined spots, such as the end of a lead-guitar break, or, like echo, to highlight certain vocal phrases. And when used judiciously, tone-shifting effects like flangers, phasers and Leslie emulators are themselves capable of adding some extra ear candy to the track.
Percussion perks. Another way to pique listeners’ interest is to drop in some hand percussion, from the ubiquitous tambourine, cowbell and maracas, to niche instruments like finger cymbals, handbells, vibraslap and the like. Not only do they help drive the rhythm track, but when strategically placed can act like mini-hooks—say, inserting a tambourine at the start of each chorus, then reverting to shakers for the verses (or the other way around). Sometimes the most effective percussion instruments aren’t instruments at all—smacking a drum stick against the side of a couch, a block of wood, an empty bottle or other household object may be perfect for injecting a splotch of unusual color here and there, particularly with a bit of echo or reverb added. And don’t forget to try a few layers of handclaps, which appear in way more songs than you think and can sometimes juice a track better than any real percussion.
Of course, starting with a tune that has a killer chorus and is performed competently and with purpose is still the best way to get your record into the public consciousness. Having done that, employing some of the above production ideas can often make a really good song that much better.
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