The Making of Making the Welt a Bötter Place

I was asked by a friend, how I made Make the Welt a Bötter Place (the song, not the video) and when I told him, he suggested to write it up for all the millions of people who seem not to care about the song in the first place. Which I found both intriguing and futile. So I did just that.

The song was recorded on a Yamaha MOX6 synthesizer using mostly preset voices. I wanted the song to be ready for the 2014 World Cup and decided to keep it simple and stick with presets for the time being. I didn't really expect the song to rattle the world, to be honest, so why waste any effort. Vocal recording and mixing were done in Cubase AI 5 that came free with the synthesizer.

The origin of the song was a running gag segment in the Swiss Sunday Late-Night Comedy show Giaccobo-Müller called Wise Words by Sepp Blatter. The FIFA corruptor president has at times some difficulties articulating his thoughts, and in the show some of the more peculiar ones were re-branded as "wise" words. When I saw the sketch about him wanting to make the Welt a bötter place (apparently swapping vowels) I thought that his slip of the tongue sounded very much like the chorus of a bad rock ballad. That thought sparked my imagination. I started recording.

Piano track

I don't really remember how the melody came about but I usually start playing the MOX using the Full Concert Grand piano voice, so I guess that's how. When I had the piano motive I also had the ending because I found it nice to end the song with the same motive. Recording the piano track required several takes, two dozen or so, because I tend to miss keys, and editing single notes seemed tedious. Starting over appeared easier. To keep the rhythm smooth, I quantized the track. I didn't quantize the ending because I wanted it to slow down.

Drum track

I checked the built-in drum arpeggios in the MOX for one that matched the song, but didn't find a suitable one. So I recorded a simple drum pattern myself. It obviously lacks variation, but then the World Cup loomed. However, I think I managed to record a nice drum break before the ending choruses.

Guitar solo

A rock ballad needs a guitar solo, and so did mine. I decided to jettison another verse and use the section for the guitar solo instead. The guitar voice is a No.1 GTR AS1&2 distorted guitar.

Guitar accompaniment

So far the song sounded surprisingly well, but a bit thin at the verses. I checked the guitar arpeggios for a suitable accompaniment pattern, but there are not many generic ones that are suitable for a wider range of genres. So I had to record one myself. To get a strumming effect, I couldn't quantize the track, which is why one or the other note is a bit off. Later I found, that a second accompaniment track panned to the opposite side would help adding volume to the song. I voiced both guitar tracks using the Single Coil Chorus guitar voice. They play almost but not completely the same notes.

Pad

To add gravitas to the second chorus and then the solo section, I needed a pad. I'm quite certain to have checked every single MOX string, synth string, and pad preset voice to find a fit. After some deliberating (and given Sepp Blatter's propensity to proselytize), I was very close to using the Nativity choir voice but eventually managed to resist. I ended up using the Strings & Choir pad. When researching YouTube for mixing tips, I found a video where the author recommended using a soft string pad to support the chorus. I added an almost imperceptible Lush ensemble string track for the final choruses at the climax of the song.

Bass

Initially, the song lacked something at the lower end, despite my playing the piano voice one octave lower. I added a bass track using the Finger PBs AF1 voice, but later found that my studio monitors mislead me a bit about the bass of the song. I had to subdue the bass quite a bit during the mixing session.

Vocals

I cannot sing. Full stop. There's no need to lie about that fact. I. Just. Can't. Still, the song needed vocals, and because I don't have a singer at hand, I had to do it myself. After about 30 takes and with the help of a collection of VST plug-ins to gate, pitch-correct, equalize, filter and whatnot my singing, I eventually had something that I could just barely dare leaving in place.

Mixing was a chore because for technical reasons I had to mix all the music on the Yamaha MOX and then render the track as audio into Cubase. I then had to mix and balance the voice track, and when I found that in the mix one of the instrument tracks was off, I had to adjust that on the MOX and then re-render everything into Cubase again. And again. And again. And again.

Conclusion

I honestly think that I have a nice song with a pretty melody, fine lyrics, and all to the extent of my limited abilities fairly decently performed. The vocals leave a lot to be desired, and I mean a lot, but neither I nor the genius of modern sound technology can perform magic. So that's it. That's how I made the Welt a bötter place. Or not.