Currently enjoying huge success as the producer of Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe!, Dan Nigro is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Olivia Rodrigo.
He’s produced both of Rodrigo’s albums so far - 2021’s Sour and 2023’s Guts - and Mix with the Masters has now captured him in his studio (on video, that is) as he talks through the making of Vampire, Rodrigo’s huge 2023 single.
Vampire starts quietly and keeps building to a massive final crescendo, and this “arc”, as Nigro calls it, was definitely intentional. It’s about “starting in a really subtle place and then bringing it to a really big place,” he confirms.
Changes in tempo help with this, of course: Nigro reveals that the original demo was recorded at around 138 or 139 bpm, but that this tempo gradually came down as Rodrigo believed it felt “rushed”. The final version, it transpires, starts at 135 bpm, rising to 138bpm when the drums kick in.
Some of these drums, it turns out, were recorded live at Nigro’s studio by Sterling Laws. Mics used included a Soundelux ifet7 on the kick and a Shure SM57 on the snare, all going into a Shure SE 30 gated compressor/mixer or an Ampex MX-10 mixer.
Nigro also discusses the phrasing of Rodrigo’s vocals: “For us it’s like this fun little dance when she’s on the microphone,” he explains. “Like figuring out the right notes to kind of ‘push’ on, you know?” A listen to the finished vocal demonstrates what he means by this.
Of his guiding production philosophy, Nigro says: “To me the relationship with the artist is the most important thing. You really have to create a space in which they feel comfortable in the room being as vulnerable as possible to create the art they want to create.”
You can check out the trailer for the Vampire video series above. Subscribers can watch all five parts on the Mix with the Masters website.
