Look Ahead (New Year's 2026)

[Craig Anderton]

Genre

Rock

Instruments

Cherry Audio Dreamsynth, Polymode, Miniverse
PreSonus Mai Tai (it's underrated IMHO)
Korg Triton (bells)
Kontakt 8 (choir)
Drums (Chris McHugh loop library)
TW816x (Gibson Les Paul bass samples)
Fender Telecaster Player
Gibson J45 Acoustic Guitar
Microphone (UA DLX modeling mic)

Effects

Presonus Pro EQ (lots!), Limiter, X-Trem, RedLightDist. Room Reverb, Chorus
Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar
Waves RVox, CLA-76 (drums), SoundShifter (drums), CLA Vocals (acoustic guitar)
Helix Native
Rare Signals Transatlantic Reverb

Mastering chain: Pro EQ + Waves Curves Equator + Waves L3-16 (LUFS -12.5, LRA 6.9, True Peak -1.0)

Special techniques

(Page numbers refer to tips in The Huge Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks v2.2)

Superior Stretching Fidelity with Acoustic Drum Loops (page 616)
All vocals "Enhance Solo Vocals" preset (page 533)
All Vocals "Better Vocals with Phrase Normalization and Gain Envelopes" (page 513)
Impart Motion to Percussion Parts for Better Mixes (page 576, used mostly on the rises and background pulses)
Tele, J45, Ravish Sitar "Sweeten Amp Sims with Equalization" (page 420)
Bass "Make Bass Pop in Your Mix" (page 485)
Extensive gain staging due to so many tracks (blog post: https://www.presonus.com/blogs/home/gain-staging-part-2-optimizing-levels)

Released when

January 1, 2026

I wanted to post a video to start off 2026, and...well, you'll figure out why I wanted to post this one. Sometimes the world can get you down, but it's better to look ahead! I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, prosperous, and loving 2026.

 

[Gerran]

Wow Craig, you keep adding value to the general public with these extensive application lists of all your tips and tricks. I can't say enough how instructive and informative that is. Much appreciated! Also wanted to let you know this song really struck home for me on a personal level.

 

[AAV]

Great! Happy New Year Craig and many happy returns.....

 

[Craig Anderton]

Also wanted to let you know this song really struck home for me on a personal level.

It's super-meaningful to know that something I wrote struck home. Thank you for mentioning that.

 

[Hanson]

Sounds great as always, Craig!

 

[SoxialAxxidense]

Actually, not my preferred genre, but what I hear is that you have a great feeling for good and interesting arrangements. The song is not getting boring (like many other songs).
Nice lyrics, especially the main theme "look ahead" (something I have to do personally because of my desolated health state at the moment :-( ).
Great video composing, too.
So, I really like it and that will mean something, because as I stated above: this is not my preferred genre of music

 

[Craig Anderton]

So, I really like it and that will mean something, because as I stated above: this is not my preferred genre of music

That does mean a lot, thank you! It gets my day off to a good start But I'm curious what genre you consider it to be. I have no idea how to classify it.

 

[SoxialAxxidense]

That does mean a lot, thank you! It gets my day off to a good start But I'm curious what genre you consider it to be. I have no idea how to classify it.

Hard to say what genre it is. I cannot even classify my "own" genre LOL

 

[JBMusic]

Wow Craig, you keep adding value to the general public with these extensive application lists of all your tips and tricks. I can't say enough how instructive and informative that is. Much appreciated! Also wanted to let you know this song really struck home for me on a personal level.

Indeed! Craig has been publishing books on home recording and music production for decades. I remember buying one of his books in the late 80s giving valuable tips on recording with a 4 track reel to reel, an 80s style synth (DX7?) and a digital drum machine of the era. His great ideas know no boundaries. This is yet another great tune, Craig. Happy 2026 to you.

 

[Michael John]

Enjoyed this upbeat pop song! Great mix of instruments and the choir coming in on those 'God' chords sounds phenomenal!

 

[Craig Anderton]

Reminds me of a tip - the Kontakt Choir in their factory selection has a strange upper midrange harshness. I added a notch filter to clean it up, and it sounds much better.