The vocals are famously pitched up to sound childlike and nostalgic. Looking at the stem, the raw take was much lower. The pitching effect (probably a combination of varispeed and formant shifting) is what gives the song its yearning quality.
But the real lesson? The vocal stem is drenched in a room mic. There is a ton of natural spill and air around the voice. It sounds like he’s singing in a concrete bunker. That ambient bleed helps the vocal glue to the washy synths. m83 midnight city stems
If you have never listened to the isolated sax stem from Midnight City, you haven't lived. The solo (played by saxophonist Morgan Sorne) is actually quite simple, but the tone is enormous. In the stem, you hear the breath of the player, the key clicks, and a massive stereo delay. This stem is a masterclass in arrangement—the sax enters exactly when the track needs an emotional release, not a second sooner. The vocals are famously pitched up to sound
Let’s put on our headphones and solo the individual stems of the track. Here is what you will hear if you load the official multitracks into your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Let’s put on our headphones and solo the