This is the second remake I’ve made from Frank Ocean. Since the first one was very well received, I decided to do another one for the people who asked for it.

The song is ‘Pink + White’ from the amazing ‘Blonde’ album. I've already talked about it in my last article, so I think there is no need for further introduction. Let’s dive into it!

Here you can watch the remake video, and below all the deconstruction of it:

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The chord structure is really simple and repeats throughout the song:

The tempo of the song is 80 BPM.

SYNTHS

The keyboard section is featured by a piano melody with a reverb tail, repeating throughout the song over the voice.

To recreate this piano I used the Arturia Piano V, with the American Small Studio preset. Next I have looked for an EQ that makes the higher frequencies stand out to give it air and cut something in the 1k-2k Hz range.

Then, to achieve the same room and atmosphere of the original piano I have used the Valhalla VintageVerb, with the following parameters.

Check it out below.

Piano Sound

Beneath this piano, there is a layer of pad or strings that generates a harmonic cushion in the high frequencies. I have recreated it with the Solina V with the following parameters, and I have put an EQ cutting the frequencies of 1k down to make this sound lighter.

Check it out below.

‍Solina Pad Sound

Finally, I seem to hear a kind of electric piano doing some chords and arpeggios (maybe it's my imagination?). To recreate it, I took a basic electric piano preset with the Arturia Stage-76, and modified the EQ a bit. Check it out below.

Stage-73 Electric Piano Sound

Another linear string sound appears in the middle of the song and remains on a single note. To recreate it I have used the Solina V with the following parameters and I have applied an Auto-Pan to give it movement in stereo. In addition, I did a volume automation, since in the original song it appears and disappears irregularly.

Escúchalo a continuación.

Solina Strings Sound

Por último, en esta parte también aparece un bass-synth que he recreado con el Prophet V. Tiene un sonido bastante plano y redondo, y tiene glide en algunas notas. Los parámetros son los siguientes.

Check it out below.

Prophet V Bass-synth Sound

This is all the synth section. Remember that you can find the synth presets for all the songs I've reviewed and the Ableton projects with all the tracks on my Patreon page, whilst also supoorting my project.

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BASS

The bass in this song has a very natural and organic sound, with quite a strong punch.

To recreate it I used a Höfner bass that has a very percussive and clean sound. I have line recorded the bass hitting hard with my fingers.

To resemble the original song it has not been necessary to apply any effect, nor any amp simulator, nor EQ. The sound is totally clean. Check it out below.

Bass Sound

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DRUMS

The drums section of this song has a soul style, with a medium snare and some room reverb sound.

I have used Addictive Drums 2 to recreate this drum kit, which consists of a 22x16” Yamaha Absolute Hybrid kick drum, a 14x5” Ludwig Acrolite snare, and a Zildjian Vintage K 14” hihat.

I've added some hall and room reverb to the whole kit and especially to the snare to get that intimate sound of the original song. I've also added the Goodhertz VulfCompressor to compress it and the RC-20 Retro Color for a lo-fi touch. You can hear the result below.

Addictive Drums 2 Sound

GUITAR

In the middle of the song, an acoustic guitar appears with a bright and light sound. As I don't own an acoustic right now, to recreate it I have recorded an electric guitar with a microphone directly strumming, and I have tried to equalize and compress it so that it is as similar as possible. Listen to it below.

Guitar Sound

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VOCALS

Lately, I have been using a specific effects chain in my voice that consists of Autotune Pro 8 by Antares with a slight adjustment without losing the natural character of the voice, the Virtual Mix Rack as a microphone emulation, an EQ and a compressor, the FabFilter Pro-DS to correct the pronunciation of some “s”, and the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 to give a final EQ.

I have recorded a single voice track, without the need to dub it. Still, using the Dim 64 effect, an emulation of the Roland Dimension-D widely used in many studios, you get a lot of space in your voice with a single track.

I have also used the ValhallaVintageVerb in some specific parts where the vocal is immersed in a lot of reverb. Listen to the solo voice below with these effects.

Vocals Sound

‍I hope you liked it, don't forget to watch the video on youtube and subscribe! You can also download the presets and sounds that I have used on my Patreon.

See ya!

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