How to make Harry Styles 'As It Was' with DRC

From The X Factor to a Grammy Award winner: Harry Styles has come a long way.

Born in England and heard all around the world, Styles is best known for being in One Direction, the pop band that melted teenage hearts for 10 years. Although they became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, garnering critical acclaim such as American Music Awards and MTV Awards, Styles and the other group members ultimately went in different directions.

He started his solo career in 2016 and after three albums here we are. ‘Harry's House’ (2022) was released this year, with lead single ‘As It Was’, shooting directly into the UK and USA charts. Harry Styles is everywhere, and no doubt you will have already heard his music on the radio or bump into it on YouTube, Spotify or other streaming service.

Currently with 188M views on YouTube, this synth-pop catchy song takes us straight to summertime, very much an ‘earworm’ that stays with you for the rest of the day. Underneath the upbeat tuneful melody, there lies some deep, personal undertones within the confessional lyrics. Life cannot be all happiness of course; sometimes the most happy and sad moments come at a confusing crossroads and this song shows it well. Styles sings lightly about the sad passage of time and how life consists of inescapable cycles, and in the official music video dons a very fetching sparkly sequin outfit fit for the ballroom.

Sadly no ballroom dancing (or sparkly outfit!) from Lucas, but he did recreate a whole host of the track’s elements, including VOCALS! Yes! Lucas’ dulcet tones are once again back on the mic - who can forget the last time, with the epic Tears For Fears - Shout’s DRC tutorial ?!

So let’s jump right into this week's DRC Sound Design Tutorial: ‘As It Was’ by Harry Styles.

Click here to download the Ableton project file.

Covering all styles of sound design,
Team Imaginando

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