Producers of "El Dorado," "Baby Don't Cry," and more does AMA
Not directly related to the boys, but the production team Devine answered questions on reddit a few days ago. Some of their answers are pretty interesting!!
Their discography includes:
EXO - "EL DORADO" [EXODOUS]
EXO - "BABY DON'T CRY" [XOXO]
EXO - "TWO MOONS" [MAMA]
EXO - "THE STAR" [MAMA]
[other kpop songs theyve done]
MISS A - "ONE STEP" [COLORS]
4MINUTE - "CUT IT OUT" [CRAZY]
JONGHYUN - "HALLELUJAH" [BASE]
SINHWA - "CAT"[WE]
SNSD - "WHISPER" [HOLLER]
F(X) - "STRANGER" [ELECTRIC SHOCK]
F(X) - "HOOL JUCK" [ELECTRIC SHOCK]
TVXQ - "STEPPIN" [TENSE]
SNSD - "BABY MAYBE" [I GOT A BOY]
SUPER JUNIOR - "LETS DANCE" [MAMACITA]
KARA - "POP STAR" [FANTASTIC GIRLS]
HYUNA - "FRENCH KISS" [A TALK]
SEO IN YOUNG - "OH MY GOSH" [BRAND NEW ELLY]
SHINEE - "SLEEPLESS NIGHT" [WHY SO SERIOUS?]
TVXQ - "RUMOR" [KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN]
TVXQ - "DESTINY" [HUMANOID]
SNSD - "LAZY GIRL" [THE BOYS]
M - "TAXI" [M-TEN]
M - "NOLIMIT" [M-TEN]
ZE:A - "HERE I AM" [LOVABILITY]
ZE:A - "BE MY GIRL" [LOVABILITY]
JEWELRY - "BACK IT UP" [BACK IT UP]
SHINHWA - "NEW ME" [THE CLASSIC]
DALSHABET - "BE AMBITIOUS"
ZE:A - "PHOENIX" [HUNTER]
IVY - "COMPLICATED" [I DANCE]
M - "LOVE ME ICE CREAM" [MINNOVATION]
M - "MASQUERADE REMIX" [MINNOVATION]
BOYS REPUBLIC - "L.I.U"
HISTORY - "TELL ME LOVE"
HISTORY - "BLIND"
ZE:A FIVE - "FIANCE"
Q: have you seen this?
A: Exactly. The EXO kids totally just blew it up! I almost peed my pants!
Q: Thanks for doing an AMA! I had a couple questions.
What's been your favorite song to work on and why is it El Dorado?
Have there been any songs that you had trouble with (whether in writing/composing etc)?
A: El Dorado is a bit memorable. It's been three years working on this track. In Chanyeol's debut teaser, a part of El Dorado came out. Three years later, El Dorado was finally released. It's a track that we really worked on. We had 100's of emails back and fort with EXO's A&R team. There were a lot of recordings and fixes that went into this track so it's a bit dear to me.
With Baby Don't Cry, we watched the video first and then wrote the song. Typically a song comes out first and then a dance routine is constructed, but this time I watched a clip of Kai dancing and used that as a background to write the song.
Q: 1.) How does it feel to work and play or hangout (if you guys do, do that) with the artists?
2.) What is it like? Such as, time and planning it takes and do you get tired of what you do?
3.) Who was top 5 groups (boy or girl) to work with? Why?
4.) What were your favorite 3 songs to produce? Why?
5.) What was it like to work with GG/SNSD and TTS?
P.S I'm a huge fan of Girls' Generation/SoNyeoShiDae. I loved "Whisper" and "Baby Maybe". One of my favorite songs. Really happy if you do see this. I feel closer to SNSD as a fan to speak to the producers of one of my favorite songs.
A: 1.) We don't really hangout but we do sit and talk deeply about music and their thoughts related to our field.
2.) Sometimes it a little tiring, but we don't only work on albums but we also work on concert music as well. Sometimes the songs that are put in concerts it has to be produced in a really short time, but when we see the final product it's very fulfilling.
3. I really loved all the artists I've worked with so far. There are no favorites.
4. El Doradao!
5. They are beautiful girls and are very sweet. They're also very passionate and sincere about music. It's great to see.
Thanks so much for being a fan!
Q: Not really a question, but I'd love to know about the process behind producing "El Dorado". It's one hell of a song.
A: It's thanks to Jinhyun Lee. He's actually EXO's A&R person. I'm also really thankful to the whole A&R team. A lot of communication when into producing the track. They would give us feedback from their team as well as the artist about every 8 bars, which is really detailed. It's a track that came to be after a lot of people's sweat and tears. It was truly a process, which we explained a bit more up top.
Q: THE PRODUCERS OF EL DORADO AUGJFINDOCJDUJDPFJ
1) How did you manage to build such epicness around UD_Essence_140bpm_F#_trail.wav? (seriously, lazy producers should learn from you how to use loops. I'd never have come up with those chord progressions over that)
2) What DAW do you use?
3) How did you end up producing songs for Korean agencies?
4) How much creative freedom do you feel you have with kpop compared to other production works? Do you feel freer to experiment or do you feel compelled to stick to a certain sound?
5) How much of the toplines in the finished songs is your doing and how much is from the agencies' in-house songwriters?
6) Do you come up with nonsense lyrics like SOULATRONIC HIPPOPHONIC NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE to go along with the melodies when pitching songs? Is this how ridiculous lines like "because I naughty naughty" end up in songs?
7) What was your reaction when you heard EXO singing the "cry" in Baby Don't Cry with two syllables, obviously ruining the intended flow of the melody?
8) Did you come up with the "roll like a buffalo" line? So bad SM doesn't like rolling buffaloes :/
A: 1) When the teaser was made, we really liked this sample and felt it was great for El Dorado. We were inspired from the sample and created a full track El Dorado track, which ended up on the album.
2) Logic and protools
?) For example, Miss A, I did the toplines myself. As for me, within Devine Channel, I focus a bit more on the overall track.
6) If there isn't enough time to write proper lyrics, sometimes we'll build the skeleton of the song in this way. Especially when we're trying to match deadlines, we may not be able to focus on the lyrics so we will make a demo in this method.
7?) We do not think it was ruined at all, but that the boys did a great job expressing the song in the way we had imagined.
[Other Interesting Questions (not directly about exo)]
Q: Do you produce the song and make the demo then send it out to musicians/labels or are you approached by a company then you write the song for the group?
A: Sometimes we work directly with the label sometimes we submit a catalog so you can say we do both.
Q: Ayo waddup, Devine Channel
How long does it typically take a track to go from demo to album?
Does Jonghyun got you singing hallelujah? How much did he contribute? Is his on hands approach all a ruse? Did he do your job? Was it 50/50?
Do you have any comment on this? Do you ever put things like that in songs hoping someone will notice?
Do you have a track you really like, but nobody will use it?
Roll like a buffalo.
A: It really depends. For example a track on Jonghyun's album (Hallelujah) took a year. We mentioned in an earlier question that an EXO song took three years. I think there are so many factors that go into it that it's really hard to give a specific number.
Sound wise Jonghyun would work on it with us in real time. Communication with Jonghyun & SM's A&R was constantly giving us feed back and input production wise. The part where the choir comes out we did a lot of talking with Jonghyun regarding that aspect as well.
We don't really mess with our music. :)
Not yet. If that happens I'll just release the album myself!
Q: 1)What song took you the least amount of time to produce? The longest amount of time?
2)Which groups/artists are the easiest/fastest to work with.
A: 1.) The shortest would be Ivy's Complicated which took about two and half hours. The longest would be EXO's El Dorado, which we explained up top.
2.) While recording with Miss A, it took about 4 hours to record all the vocals. They were really passionate and really good about the recording.
Q: how much freedom do you have for your compositions?
does a label like SM make specific requests?
A: The label has things they want, but they also work with our artistic style to match us as well. We're really thankful to SM for thigns like that.
There are more questions (related to production in general) at the source!
Source: reddit
Their discography includes:
EXO - "EL DORADO" [EXODOUS]
EXO - "BABY DON'T CRY" [XOXO]
EXO - "TWO MOONS" [MAMA]
EXO - "THE STAR" [MAMA]
[other kpop songs theyve done]
MISS A - "ONE STEP" [COLORS]
4MINUTE - "CUT IT OUT" [CRAZY]
JONGHYUN - "HALLELUJAH" [BASE]
SINHWA - "CAT"[WE]
SNSD - "WHISPER" [HOLLER]
F(X) - "STRANGER" [ELECTRIC SHOCK]
F(X) - "HOOL JUCK" [ELECTRIC SHOCK]
TVXQ - "STEPPIN" [TENSE]
SNSD - "BABY MAYBE" [I GOT A BOY]
SUPER JUNIOR - "LETS DANCE" [MAMACITA]
KARA - "POP STAR" [FANTASTIC GIRLS]
HYUNA - "FRENCH KISS" [A TALK]
SEO IN YOUNG - "OH MY GOSH" [BRAND NEW ELLY]
SHINEE - "SLEEPLESS NIGHT" [WHY SO SERIOUS?]
TVXQ - "RUMOR" [KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN]
TVXQ - "DESTINY" [HUMANOID]
SNSD - "LAZY GIRL" [THE BOYS]
M - "TAXI" [M-TEN]
M - "NOLIMIT" [M-TEN]
ZE:A - "HERE I AM" [LOVABILITY]
ZE:A - "BE MY GIRL" [LOVABILITY]
JEWELRY - "BACK IT UP" [BACK IT UP]
SHINHWA - "NEW ME" [THE CLASSIC]
DALSHABET - "BE AMBITIOUS"
ZE:A - "PHOENIX" [HUNTER]
IVY - "COMPLICATED" [I DANCE]
M - "LOVE ME ICE CREAM" [MINNOVATION]
M - "MASQUERADE REMIX" [MINNOVATION]
BOYS REPUBLIC - "L.I.U"
HISTORY - "TELL ME LOVE"
HISTORY - "BLIND"
ZE:A FIVE - "FIANCE"
Q: have you seen this?
A: Exactly. The EXO kids totally just blew it up! I almost peed my pants!
Q: Thanks for doing an AMA! I had a couple questions.
What's been your favorite song to work on and why is it El Dorado?
Have there been any songs that you had trouble with (whether in writing/composing etc)?
A: El Dorado is a bit memorable. It's been three years working on this track. In Chanyeol's debut teaser, a part of El Dorado came out. Three years later, El Dorado was finally released. It's a track that we really worked on. We had 100's of emails back and fort with EXO's A&R team. There were a lot of recordings and fixes that went into this track so it's a bit dear to me.
With Baby Don't Cry, we watched the video first and then wrote the song. Typically a song comes out first and then a dance routine is constructed, but this time I watched a clip of Kai dancing and used that as a background to write the song.
Q: 1.) How does it feel to work and play or hangout (if you guys do, do that) with the artists?
2.) What is it like? Such as, time and planning it takes and do you get tired of what you do?
3.) Who was top 5 groups (boy or girl) to work with? Why?
4.) What were your favorite 3 songs to produce? Why?
5.) What was it like to work with GG/SNSD and TTS?
P.S I'm a huge fan of Girls' Generation/SoNyeoShiDae. I loved "Whisper" and "Baby Maybe". One of my favorite songs. Really happy if you do see this. I feel closer to SNSD as a fan to speak to the producers of one of my favorite songs.
A: 1.) We don't really hangout but we do sit and talk deeply about music and their thoughts related to our field.
2.) Sometimes it a little tiring, but we don't only work on albums but we also work on concert music as well. Sometimes the songs that are put in concerts it has to be produced in a really short time, but when we see the final product it's very fulfilling.
3. I really loved all the artists I've worked with so far. There are no favorites.
4. El Doradao!
5. They are beautiful girls and are very sweet. They're also very passionate and sincere about music. It's great to see.
Thanks so much for being a fan!
Q: Not really a question, but I'd love to know about the process behind producing "El Dorado". It's one hell of a song.
A: It's thanks to Jinhyun Lee. He's actually EXO's A&R person. I'm also really thankful to the whole A&R team. A lot of communication when into producing the track. They would give us feedback from their team as well as the artist about every 8 bars, which is really detailed. It's a track that came to be after a lot of people's sweat and tears. It was truly a process, which we explained a bit more up top.
Q: THE PRODUCERS OF EL DORADO AUGJFINDOCJDUJDPFJ
1) How did you manage to build such epicness around UD_Essence_140bpm_F#_trail.wav? (seriously, lazy producers should learn from you how to use loops. I'd never have come up with those chord progressions over that)
2) What DAW do you use?
3) How did you end up producing songs for Korean agencies?
4) How much creative freedom do you feel you have with kpop compared to other production works? Do you feel freer to experiment or do you feel compelled to stick to a certain sound?
5) How much of the toplines in the finished songs is your doing and how much is from the agencies' in-house songwriters?
6) Do you come up with nonsense lyrics like SOULATRONIC HIPPOPHONIC NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE to go along with the melodies when pitching songs? Is this how ridiculous lines like "because I naughty naughty" end up in songs?
7) What was your reaction when you heard EXO singing the "cry" in Baby Don't Cry with two syllables, obviously ruining the intended flow of the melody?
8) Did you come up with the "roll like a buffalo" line? So bad SM doesn't like rolling buffaloes :/
A: 1) When the teaser was made, we really liked this sample and felt it was great for El Dorado. We were inspired from the sample and created a full track El Dorado track, which ended up on the album.
2) Logic and protools
?) For example, Miss A, I did the toplines myself. As for me, within Devine Channel, I focus a bit more on the overall track.
6) If there isn't enough time to write proper lyrics, sometimes we'll build the skeleton of the song in this way. Especially when we're trying to match deadlines, we may not be able to focus on the lyrics so we will make a demo in this method.
7?) We do not think it was ruined at all, but that the boys did a great job expressing the song in the way we had imagined.
[Other Interesting Questions (not directly about exo)]
Q: Do you produce the song and make the demo then send it out to musicians/labels or are you approached by a company then you write the song for the group?
A: Sometimes we work directly with the label sometimes we submit a catalog so you can say we do both.
Q: Ayo waddup, Devine Channel
How long does it typically take a track to go from demo to album?
Does Jonghyun got you singing hallelujah? How much did he contribute? Is his on hands approach all a ruse? Did he do your job? Was it 50/50?
Do you have any comment on this? Do you ever put things like that in songs hoping someone will notice?
Do you have a track you really like, but nobody will use it?
Roll like a buffalo.
A: It really depends. For example a track on Jonghyun's album (Hallelujah) took a year. We mentioned in an earlier question that an EXO song took three years. I think there are so many factors that go into it that it's really hard to give a specific number.
Sound wise Jonghyun would work on it with us in real time. Communication with Jonghyun & SM's A&R was constantly giving us feed back and input production wise. The part where the choir comes out we did a lot of talking with Jonghyun regarding that aspect as well.
We don't really mess with our music. :)
Not yet. If that happens I'll just release the album myself!
Q: 1)What song took you the least amount of time to produce? The longest amount of time?
2)Which groups/artists are the easiest/fastest to work with.
A: 1.) The shortest would be Ivy's Complicated which took about two and half hours. The longest would be EXO's El Dorado, which we explained up top.
2.) While recording with Miss A, it took about 4 hours to record all the vocals. They were really passionate and really good about the recording.
Q: how much freedom do you have for your compositions?
does a label like SM make specific requests?
A: The label has things they want, but they also work with our artistic style to match us as well. We're really thankful to SM for thigns like that.
There are more questions (related to production in general) at the source!
Source: reddit