For over two decades, Shane Madden has been a name synonymous with innovation in electronic music, thanks to his influential project Govinda. In the mid-90s, Govinda broke new ground by blending gypsy violin with electronica and incorporating mesmerizing live performances with belly dancers.
Now under the moniker Spherical, Madden explores entirely new genres with deep house and organic, melodic sounds at the forefront. Rooted in the same artistic curiosity that defined his earlier work, Spherical embodies Madden’s dedication to evolving his sound with authentic, introspective vocals and subtle, mesmerizing depth.
Fresh off the success of his reimagining of Kool & The Gang’s “Get Down On It,” Madden returns with a glimmering original track, “Lucid Dreamer.”
In this feature, Spherical takes us behind the scenes of his latest single, “Lucid Dreamer,” sharing insights into the creative magic that makes this track so captivating. Join us as we dive into the details in this edition of How It Was Made: Spherical – “Lucid Dreamer.”
CrossTalk Piano By 10 Phantom Rooms (Kontakt)
I love the CrossTalk piano plugin by 10 Phantom Rooms for Kontakt. It really lets you customize a real organic sounding pianos and layer weird effects to make it juicy. This is a work horse for my Spherical project as it is the backbone for the intimate acoustic feel I am going for.
I like to start with a basic piano sound that I created to fit the project sound (as you can see in the preset field). I use this sound to write the song and block the chords to sing and produce to. When I get to the mixing and sweetening level I will start tweaking the sound to make it more interesting. In this case I added some noise and hammer ambience. All of this gives a very intimate organic sound.
I have found that for this genre, less is more. Because I like to have multiple layers of ear candy , I will usually end up taking out a lot of piano ornamentations to give room for other cool nuggets of audio like synths squelches and vocals bits. Usually the subtle sounds of the instrument itself are interesting enough to hold their own and more notes aren’t necessary. But I am also kind of a minimalist in nature..
God Particle by Cradle
I always use the God Particle by Cradle on my master chain. It adds some last minute magic like exciters and expanders and maximizers that make the tracks glisten. I will say its not as programmable as it could be but I like the simplicity of it too. Ill use it in conjunction with the Ozone plugins for EQs.
I use the God Particle the whole time I am writing and producing to make sure my audio and frequencies are sitting where I want them. Ill keep the limiter pretty neutral until I am making the final mix. At that point I can crank it up and smash as needed. Just make sure you aren’t overloading the input here so you aren’t compressing distortion unless that’s the sound you are going for.
Portal Plug by Output
On this track I put the Portal plug in by Output in the master chain. I place it before the Ozone EQs and then the God Particle. I can automate parameters to affect the whole mix which gives it a remixed/Dj’d feel. I use it sparingly on this track but you can go crazy with it too.
I used some of the granular and time stretching features in this effect mostly in the transitions to give it some motion and build the tension. I love what it does to the vocals here. I mostly just found the sound I liked and automated the mix fader to engage the effect.
This one is a great plugin to use anywhere but I particularly like using it in the master chain to “play” your final mix like an instrument. It’s sImilar to how a DJ will be manipulating the whole mix of a song in a live setting.
Quick Fire Tips For Making Organic House:
Tip #1: I come from an acoustic background and approach music in this way. I love the contrast of electronic and human elements. One subtle way to create this vibe in a track is to add passing instrument sounds. For example, I like to have a track of just acoustic guitar finger sliding noises in between the chord changes. Its crazy how the human ear will hear this as a guitar part even if you aren’t playing any chords.
Tip #2: My biggest advice for home studios is to get Sound ID from Sonarworks. It will help balance your mixes by compensating for untuned rooms and monitors.
Tip #3: Take a few days off before making your final mix. Your ears will be fresh and you will hear the composition as a while instead of hyperfocusing on the snare’s eq or whatever detail.
Tip #4: If you are recording vocals or any instruments, try not to punch in every single note or piece it together to much. The performance should be as fluid as how you felt the expression of your idea. Thats the only way it will be felt that way by the listener.
