Kate Malone and Devin Malone are two musicians who have been at the center of crafting some of the biggest hits coming out of Nashville.
Kate is an expert producer and songwriter with over ten years of experience alongside the likes of Sam Hunt, Alana Springsteen, and Emma White, while Devin is a versatile producer and multi-instrumentalist who has played on countless top 40 country hits, including those by Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, and Carrie Underwood.
In celebration of the release of their Nashville Essentials sample pack on Splice Sounds, we had the unique opportunity to sit down with the two to discuss some of the top insights they’ve garnered over the span of their careers in Nashville country music—read on for highlights.
The sound of Nashville country music is ever-evolving
Many may associate timelessness, tradition, and consistency with Nashville country music—and while all of these descriptors can be fitting in their own right, Kate and Devin reveal that the Nashville sound is actually one that’s seeing equal amounts of evolution, experimentation, and change.
“The ‘Nashville sound’ has really blown wide open in the past couple years, which is awesome for producers like myself who started out in pop or sync and have been working outside the system,” Kate tells us. “My taste in music covers a lot of genres, and I get fired up about being able to play with the soundscape of a country song and pull from various sonic influences like R&B, indie rock, ’90s grunge, etc. I love the recent influx of diversity in country, and I have been lucky to work with artists who want to combine the best of what’s ‘traditional Nashville’ with the best of what feels fresh.”
Hear how Emma White and Kate Malone seamlessly blend influences from country, pop, R&B, and more in “Cowboy”
Musicianship is at the heart of it all
Despite the expansion of Nashville country music’s sonic palette, there are some things that remain consistent. “I would say at this point, the most unifying thread for all Nashville releases is still incredibly polished live musicianship,” Kate says. “Every time I book a band and track a record for an artist, I’m so grateful for the attention to detail that the players have here. Everyone is holding themselves to extremely high standards and ensuring that the entire band’s musical choices are aligned.”
“You never know what’s going to end up being a hit, so players really do play on every song as if it’s the next chart topper and give it their best. In my circle, there’s very little ego and everything is done out of a pure desire to serve the song—I think that’s why Nashville has the sterling reputation it has, and we all want to contribute to upholding it. I can honestly say that everyone should make their record here if they’re lucky enough to get the chance.”
“There’s an enormous amount of recorded music coming out of Nashville—there has been for almost 100 years,” Devin adds. “So, it’s obviously very difficult to categorize it all. It seems to me that a major common thread through all of it is that, no matter what technology arises in production and synth sounds, the use of real and traditional instruments keeps music in Nashville anchored.”
“I routinely work with talented producers who are adept at making the most of the latest production techniques and heavy-handed audio processing to create new and extremely unique sounds. That said, I often find that they need a traditional instrumentalist like me to bring the track just a little bit back down to earth. A lot of my favorite music is a great blend of fresh and classic sounds, and those more ‘normal’ or ‘traditional’ sounds are definitely more my forté.”
Hear Devin’s pristine acoustic guitar, bass, and pedal steel performances on Jelly Roll’s hit track, “I Am Not Okay”
The intersection of cutting-edge and classic sounds
In discussing their favorite and go-to tools for making music, Kate and Devin demonstrate this marriage of fresh and classic sounds that defines the current state of Nashville country music.
For example, Kate is quick to embrace leading software instruments, sample libraries, and in-the-box workflows. “I have a lot of custom sounds I’ve designed in Omnisphere that I rely on these days,” she shares. “We’re building a studio right now, so my ‘quick demo’ setup has to be entirely mobile and in-the-box. If I’m doing an artist co-write on the go, I like being able to have all my favorite sounds contained within my laptop, so at the moment, my Omnisphere ‘User’ library is getting heavily worked.”
“I’m also using a lot of the content from the Nashville Essentials pack for building tracks—the steel loops are clutch, and just last week I built an entire resonator solo out of individual licks I rearranged from these samples and this loop. It has honestly been great to have those sounds right there and ready to go, no matter where I’m working.”
By contrast, Devin barely uses plugins in his workflow. “I generally want to leave that all in the hands of the producer who’s receiving my files,” he says. “My setup at home is purposefully simple for a number of reasons. I’m easily bogged down by options if I spend too long thinking about getting ‘the’ sound instead of concentrating on parts and feel. I use an Audio-Technica 4033 for most acoustic instruments, unless I need to capture more bass detail, and then I’ll use my Shure SM7B. For electronic instruments, I use a combination of the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx units and classic tube amps recorded direct via a Two Notes Torpedo Captor X speaker sim.”
Effective collaboration is key
With advancements in technology and the aftereffects of the pandemic, remote collaboration and at-home production have become more commonplace than ever for bedroom producers and seasoned pros alike.
“One thing I’ve learned is that great music is made in an infinite number of ways,” Devin observes. “Across my credits list, some were recorded in full studios, some were recorded piece by piece at multiple musicians’ home studios, and some were built almost entirely in the box by the producer before I came to their home studio to add the final elements. Some were even recorded years prior for another artist and then found later, pitch shifted, and reworked for the artist who ended up having a hit with the song.”
“There really is no one formula for how music should be made or what makes music great. I’ll also say that I’ve worked on many big-budget projects that the label was certain of that ended up as complete flops, and other songs that the label was sure would be a disaster that ended up being enormous hits. You never know what will resonate with people, so just make the art you like.”
As Devin discusses a few of his recent collaborations that he’s proud of, it’s clear that regardless of how much or how few of his contributions make it on the final mix, he’s aligned with Kate’s sentiments around foregoing ego and dedicating everything to serving the song. “A fairly recent Sam Hunt hit called ‘Outskirts’ was a case where the producer, Zach Crowell, built the programming of the track entirely at home. Once he had it together, he sent it off to a drummer named Luke Sumner to lay drums on it at home, and then I came by Zach’s studio and played all the other real instruments on it. There’s definitely a certain feeling of pride when you shoulder so much of what ends up being a hit song.”
Hear Devin’s heart-tugging instrumentation in Sam Hunt’s “Outskirts”
“But, on the other end, the latest Jelly Roll record involved many collaborators and was a much longer process. In that case, I was part of a larger team of musicians who were each trying to leave room for one another and find a smaller way to fill up the canvas. It’s a different mindset, but also very rewarding.”
As a songwriter and producer, Kate approaches collaboration by placing the process of bringing the best out of an artist at the center. “If you can make an artist’s vocal sound really incredible, you will have a loyal creative partner for life,” she says. “Even if your goal isn’t to become a mix engineer, learn everything you can about mixing vocals so your rough mix can sound great from the jump. I’ve tried every tuning plugin on the market, and learned the differences between them and what works well for what type of vocalist. This has really helped me in coaching an artist through a performance and knowing what I can and can’t fix quickly.”
“If an artist feels like they get a great end result working with you, they’ll be back for more. They may not be listening to every detail in the musical arrangement, but they will absolutely be listening to every detail in their vocal.”
Sparking inspiration with Nashville country samples
While the two are used to creating full tracks alongside top artists, crafting samples to spark ideas for creators everywhere was a unique experience for Kate and Devin.
“I enjoyed getting to bring a songwriter’s perspective to the creation of these packs and making loops that are purely designed to inspire other people,” Kate shares. “This is a tricky line to walk, because a musical idea needs to have enough interesting melodic content to spark something, but not so much melodic content that nothing you sing will work over the loop.”
“Getting to think, ‘Okay, what would give someone an idea?’ was a fun challenge. We tracked way more content for these packs than we used, and my standard for going through these loops was, ‘Does this make me think of a melody?’ If I wasn’t able to get at least one idea within the first few seconds, that particular loop didn’t make the cut. There’s one rubber bridge guitar loop that still gets stuck in my head when I’m writing… This other one also really got me going on a couple melody ideas that I can’t wait to use.”
“I also played all the keys in the Nashville Essentials pack, and I really love this loop,” Kate continues. “I think this would be an awesome loop for a song intro or a down chorus, or even as some instrumental walk-on music for someone’s live show. This loop was basically me layering a few distorted guitar sound sources saturated in delay with one of my other favorite elements, which is an analog string pad with dissonant passing notes. You could throw a filter sweep on this loop and have a really incredible moment on stage or in the middle of a song—if someone tries it please let me know!”
“I also love this keys loop—this one is just begging to be an intro where the whole thing sweeps in and then the big acoustics and drums come in. There’s an energy to that chord progression that just feels like a hit to me.”
“It’s a very different creative process when you’re purposefully trying to keep options open vs. tightly tailoring tracks to a single song,” Devin adds. “Thinking about keeping phrases loopable and stackable while still being musically interesting was a little tricky at first, as well as trying to find the balance between creating elements that can set someone down the path of creativity while still leaving room for the user’s own imagination.”
Go forth and create your own music
Whether you’re looking to directly channel the sonic energy of Nashville country music or reimagine its sounds in an entirely different genre, Kate and Devin are eager to hear what you create with their sounds.
“I hope these loops inspire you,” Kate says. “Please hit me up on Instagram and share any music you make with these sounds!”
“I absolutely love all the great sounds and great things that can be done in the box these days with incredible software and rich libraries like Splice,” Devin shares. “However, especially for the country genre, I would insist to young creators that they also put in some real time learning to play an instrument and learn basic theory and the Nashville number system. The roots of country are in real instruments, and I believe that bringing that to the table will be important in the genre for many years to come—if not forever. With that said, have fun, create, and thank you!”
Find inspiration with Splice Country:
December 3, 2024
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