Last Updated on February 7, 2025 by IDS Team
The famous Phil Spektor wall of sound technique made music history, but as different bands have come and gone the term has now expanded to describe many forms of intense production and layered rhythm sections, from shoegaze to indie to hard rock to black metal.
If you make heavier music you may find the term describes a powerful rhythm section that blows your listener away, especially in more alternative metal genres. Yet even in indie and alt rock, there are numerous benefits approaching your production this way can bring. We’ve compiled here a few general wall of sound production tips so you can touch base on each while building up the perfect sonic atmosphere.
If you want a wall of sound rock music or metal fans will love, there are still some basic tips that apply across all genres. We’ll also dive a little way into wall of sound layering and processing, so you can see how to put together tracks to make everything sound bigger. Note that this tutorial is mostly aimed at beginners who want to learn how sound fits together and are familiar with the basics of mixing. However, it won’t contain any avanced level tips or more complex techniques. Nevertheless, the following areas of focus can get you very far, quite quickly, so long as you think about how all the different sections fit together.
1. Use Double Tracking To Layer Sound, Not Just Bulk It Out
It practically goes without saying that you’ll be double tracking your guitars, but how do you want to actually incorporate this? It can be tempting to just turn up the distortion as much as possible. Yet in reality this is a technique where there is a lot of scope to do something different that can increase the thickness of your rhythm section in ways you might not have considered. Double tracking is part of the general wall of sound layering and processing, but because it forms such a foundation it’s crucial to be satisfied with it before you add any other FX.
For example, more is not better. If all your guitar tracks are just turned up to 11, you may end up with the aggressive powerful sound you’re looking for, but it will lack texture. Instead, adding different kinds of distortion and different sets of pedals on each track can give you a more textured sound that ultimately makes everything seem larger.
Furthermore, this can help separate your guitars, to prevent double tracked guitars simply blending into one. Choosing different impulse responses for each track can also be a good idea, so long as you keep everything sounding like a natural studio setup. This can give your track more of a realistic feel.
Also, discount the power of digital guitar VSTs and simply using digital IRs to switch things up in making the different layers of your track sound differentiated. Some of our favorite IR VSTs are IR Loader by ChopTones and NadIR by Ignite Amps, which is a cab simulator that contains resampling and the ability to mix two IR files, too.
2. Pan To Make Things Sound Larger, But Use The Space Judiciously
Largeness is an allusion, but it’s a huge part of sounding like what you want, whether that’s like you’re surrounded by a brutal wall of eardrum-splitting meta or in an underground indie club reminiscent of MY Bloody Valentine. If this is what you’re going for, you’ll want to immerse your lister, and for that, you need to pan. Don’t just double-track your guitars and pan left and right. Think about panning in the full 360 degrees and separate your guitar tracks by having some panned fully to the left and right, some only halfway, and so on.
The wall of sound layering and processing stage also includes panning, but remember this can’t fix bad source material. So, don’t forget that your IRs (impulse responses) will go a long way towards influencing the general shape of your recording, or the listener’s ability to feel as if they are in a realistic room with your musicians. They’ll also influence your panning – although bear in mind this can be soemtimes quite subtle and easier for more intermediate or advanced producers to work with.
A good rule of thumb, however, is that it can help to think of panning more broadly not just as something to ensure your track sounds ‘good’ but as a creative sculpting tool that you can use to give it a character of its own.
3. Include Multiple Kinds Of Reverb
You’ll already be using different reverbs for different instruments, but deciding how to apply multiple different reverbs simply for your guitar or guitars and bass is a good start to adding texture to your track. The classic phil spektor wall of sound made ue of the studio innovations of the time, but subsequent more alternative music including bands like My Bloody Valentine redefine the term to create a wall of sound rock music fans would recognise decades later. This used FX in a very different way, including dreamy and dramatic use of reverb.
Decide what space your want your track to be performed in, and work from there. Reverb is meant to replicate actual echoes, so this can help prevent you sounding unnatural whilst also giving more guidance as to exa tly how you want to make things larger and more intense.
Is your track in a huge hall? A cavern? Outside, in an amphitheatre or an icy mountainside? With metal – especially depending on your subgenre – the possibilities are endless, but consider having some guitars that you add slightly more reverb to than others – or a slightly different kind.
Our reverb rundown: Of course, you’re not just limited to digital FX. If you’re open to physical pedals, two that have been recently making waves – for good reason – are the Walrus Slo and Strymon Nightsky. Whilst not strictly metal, they offer an easy route to the wall of sound technique that can add oomph to tracks.
4. Don’t Discount Pedals Other Than Distortion
If you’re amking a more mainstream kind of metal or you’re a metal purist, this might not be up your streat, but consider using kinds of plugins like fuzz if you’re in a subgenre that might call for it. For example, if you’re working in punk, emo, blackgaze, pop metal, or another genre that allows for the blending of influlences from non metal kinds of music, you have a much wider basket of sounds from which you can choose.
You may not necessarily be a fan of these – especially if you’re working within heavier music – but they are genres that are fantastic at doing this. Thinking of some of the less obvious FX for your track can go a long way to building up the sonic intensity you may be looking to create.
The Best Extra Pedals To Consider:
Wall of sound production tips dont just apply to the DAW. In some ways, there isn’t a fine line between where recording ands and production begins in terms of creative decisions. Think of pedals such as fuzz, phaser, flanger, and so on. These are not just relics of the 70s or reserved for lead guitar solos. Instead by using them in more understated ways you can layer sound with more texture. This is something modern indie bands do well, even those on the heavier side that straddle the line with alt rock and metal such as many emo bands.
Best pedals to spice up your playing: The Fender Bassman range as well as pedals from Tone City are affordable, interesting fuzz pedals that you can use across genres. They offer fat, rich tones that are ideal for building up the intensity of your rhythm section without simply loading on more crunch. Yes, they’re not typical choices, but we’re not being orthodox with this article, so keep them in mind if you’re open to venturing off to the side. But if you want a deeper look at exciting pedals, check out some of our other articles such as this one.
5. Remember How Much Is In The EQ’ing
It sounds obvious, which i why we have saved it until last as a reminder. One of the biggest things you might risk whilst trying to make your rhythm section fatter is muddiness. Muddiness is something most producers are familiar with, but how do you sort it out without detracting from the intensity of the sound you want to create?
One tip is to let the drums cut through, which means bringing the higher frequencies to more prominence on your drum tracks, and cutting some of the sub-bass frequencies so your drums don’t clash with everything else. Remember that lots of tracks can make everything sound fatter than it actually is, and not in a good way, so getting rid of sub-bass is something most producers can afford to do on an average metal track without digging into the overall sound too much.
What’s more, if you have different tracks peaking at different levels of the frequency, curve, this can make your sound seem more ‘diverse’ and therefore larger, more varied, and more interesting.
Final Thoughts
When people describe a wall of sound, one of the most obvious things that comes to mind is the work of Phil Spektor in the sixties with acts such as the Beach Boys. However, a wall of sound in metal can make or break the difference between a track that is simply good, and one that blows you away. The wall of sound rock music needs might be different to that of indie or metal, but either way, bringing this approach to your rhythm section can really pump up any track, especially if things aren’t sounding as aggressive as you’d like.
Whilst it differs from subgenre to subgenre, we hope that this article has given you a basic framework as to how to start with a wall of sound technique if you’re a beginner producer.
And, if you love plugins, be sure to check out more in our vst software section here. Furthermore, if you love metal, Check out our metal articles such as this one. And lastly, if you’re looking for more great production tips, check our our tutorials section.
