Creating FireIn Me’s driving snare and brass in Logic

John explains how the track’s key drivers – the slamming snare and rhythmic brass stabs – were done

01 > “I was really trying to write I Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd,” confesses John. “It was the production by Max Martin that was so on point and slick but it had such vibe. The main thing driving the track is the snare… so we just took the snare!”

02 > “I didn’t want it to sound too polished as it does in the original track, so we used Valhalla DSP Vintage Verb, specifically the Very Nice Hall on the 1980s setting,” John continues. “I have it sent to about .24 seconds on the Decay, with about 25–30% on the Mix. The Valhalla is amazing because it gives you this really rough, grainy feel.”

03 > Another tip for getting a rough snare sound: “I use the old Logic plugins. I use Guitar Amp Pro for everything, you just put a Clean Tube Amp on there with a Modern setting. Then just DI it, go into the verb, put a small spring on it and turn the output down. It creates this massive sound and makes it quite slappy and springy.”

04 Fire In Me’s rhythmic brass, inspired by Dua Lipa’s New Rules, was originally a full riff not a stab. “The trumpet is a sample from Splice, pitched down three semitones with Waves Sound Shifter for bottom end. I used the Slate Digital Verb Suite Classics, then Waves Aphex Vintage Exciter, that’s my Motown inspiration.”