Foreground, Middle Ground, and Background
Problem:
Your music has a feeling of “flatness” or two-dimensionality that is somewhat difficult to explain. The music that inspires you definitely doesn’t suffer from this, although you find it equally difficult to express what it is, specifically, that’s more satisfying about those inspiring songs.
Typically, we think of different instruments and/or voices in a song as having different levels of prominence. And we probably have some
instinctive ideas about how to reinforce these levels of prominence when working on a mix. For example, important sounds are typically mixed louder than less important ones.
But creating a sense of varied “depth” in music is more complicated than just applying basic mixing rules. By thinking about depth even
during the composition phase, we can complement our mixing decisions and create an even stronger sense that each element is fulfilling a
specific functional role.
Solution:
The notion of foreground, middle ground, and background are well known to anyone who works in the visual arts: film, photography, painting, etc. In visual art, these layers refer to objects at different physical distances from the viewer’s eye.
Typically, the objects in the foreground are the ones with the most prominence. In a photograph, for example, foreground objects are
commonly the “subject” of the composition. They’re often in focus, and we can see the complexity and fine detail. The background, on the other hand, contains objects in the far distance. We recognize them, but they might be blurry or otherwise less rich in detail. The middle ground
contains everything else—objects which are generally not the primary focus of our attention but which are closer (and thus more prominent) than those in the background.
At a technical or production level, this concept can also be applied to an audio recording, and this is what mix engineers refer to when they talk about the “depth” of a mix. For example, sounds can be made to seem closer to the listener by making them louder, “brighter” (an increase in high-frequency content in comparison to other sounds), and/or “dryer”
(an increase in the amount of original, unprocessed signal in comparison
to the amount of reverb applied to that signal). Likewise, sounds can be placed in the background by making them quieter, darker, or more
reverberant.
But even before the mixing stage, we can think of our musical elements themselves as being divided into foreground, middle ground, and
background. For example, in a track with a singer, we usually want the voice to be the most important element. We can try to force this to
happen when mixing, but we can also make musical decisions to
enhance the effect. For example, imagine a scenario in which the vocal melody is doubled note for note by a synth line that plays an octave
higher. Our ears are naturally drawn to the highest sound in a mix, so we might subconsciously hear the synth line as the dominant voice. In an even more extreme example, imagine that our accompanying synth didn’t double the voice but instead played a line that was more
complicated, with faster rhythms, jagged jumps from note to note, etc.
We would probably hear this as still more prominent.
We tend to hear things as being in the foreground if they’re high, loud, fast, or subject to a rapid rate of change. For example, the drum groove of a song is often quite loud in comparison to the rest of the mix. But because it’s also generally consistent and unvarying in relation to the other voices, we’re able to place it in its appropriate place in the texture:
the middle ground or background. When a drum fill happens, however, the sudden change in textural density and complexity causes us to
switch our focus to the drums; they temporarily jump to the foreground.
When writing music, try to think about where each element should reside on this three-layered depth chart of foreground, middle ground, and background. Draw the elements in a box like the one in the previous picture if it helps you to visualize. Or simpler yet, just make a list.
Here’s an example of what a list of song parts for a minimal techno track
might look like if divided into foreground/middle ground/background:
Foreground
Middle ground
Background
Each element in the list is followed by decisions about musical
parameters which will help to reinforce the selected depth. The rate of change in the middle ground and background elements is kept to a minimum, while foreground elements are allowed more freedom of motion.
Additionally, try to experiment with making temporary changes in the depth at which certain voices reside, as in the drum fill example
mentioned before. By varying the depth of elements in a song, we also draw attention to the fact that we’re using depth in the first place, which helps to reinforce the overall effect.
Pitch-shifted spoken text (irregular, mostly non-rhythmic)
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Metal clang “interruptions” (irregular, high-pitched, loud)
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Synth bleeps (medium pitch, repeating patterns)
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Synth marimba chords (medium pitch, repeating patterns)
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Acid bass line (medium pitch, repeating patterns; sometimes comes to foreground via brighter filter settings, variations in the pattern)
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Drums (steady-state)
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Sub bass (steady-state, low pitch)
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