The Cars 'Drive' - How to make with DRC

Music videos are quite a unique artform, or at least they can be, with the right kind of creative vision behind them. More than just a key component of the marketing for mainstream single releases, some artists dare to dream of higher aspirations for the realisation of their work in video form. If you’ve put your heart and soul into writing a deeply personal song with a message, you might feel that simply lip syncing the vocal in some abandoned warehouse is an injustice to your creativity.

Back in 1984, music videos were an exciting new medium, thanks in part, to the popularity of the US television channel MTV, which launched just three years prior. By now, music videos were attracting the attention of established movie directors, but the manager of US band ‘The Cars’ didn’t need to look far when searching for someone to take on directorial duties for the band’s biggest single ‘Drive’ - he hired his next door neighbor; Timothy Hutton. Only 24 at the time, Drive was his directorial debut.

Depicting the breakdown of a relationship, the female lead was played by actress and model Paulina Porizkova, who later married the band’s vocalist and guitarist Ric Ocasek, the writer of the track.

Stylistically very ‘of its time’, watching the video today, it’s easily dated as being born in the 80’s, but as soon as the first note hits, it fills us with a warm nostalgic glow, and not just from the early VHS aesthetic that the surviving, low-definition, archived copies online.

In this week’s DRC Sound Design Tutorial, Lucas recreates the bass, pad, high piano, and two lead sounds. Special shout out to Marcelo for suggesting this track to us!

Click here to download the Ableton project file.

We’re always driven,
Team Imaginando

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