SIGN UP & WATCH

Start to Finish: Greg Wells - Episode 1 - Songwriting

Free Video

01h 20min

(121)

In episode one of this eleven part Start To Finish series, Greg Wells sits down with singer/songwriter Bryce Drew in Studio A of the world-famous Sunset Sound, to hear her song for the first time and get it "record ready."

This video is an in-depth look at what it's like to sit in the room with a world-class songwriter and producer as they bounce songwriting ideas back and forth, work on chord progressions, lyrics, production ideas and the general vibe of the song before recording a note.

In this video, watch as Greg and Bryce:

  • Play the song for the first time
  • Work on the chord progression to add memorable moments for the listener
  • Discuss chord substitutions
  • Explore a key change
  • Write lyrics
  • Create a bridge from scratch

This is your chance to see how Greg Wells works out a song with an artist before production begins.

Watch the rest of the series here

Chapters
CLICK_HERE
Transcript
CLICK_HERE
Not a Pro Member yet?
Pro Memembership
Watch all videos for
$24.99 / month
Mentors
Greg Wells

Grammy award-winning, Canadian musician, songwriter, and record producer, Greg Wells, has been dubbed “A Swiss Army Knife” in the recording studio by the legendary Stewart Copeland for good reason.

As a multi-instrumentalist, he has the ability to artfully mold his productions with incredible precision, craftsmanship, and most importantly, taste. Combining his musicianship with his uncanny abilities as a producer, engineer, and mixer, he has seen album sales top 120 million, with streaming numbers in the billions. With a B.

His diverse list of credits includes superstars such as Adele, Dua Lipa, Twenty One Pilots, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Celine Dion, Deftones, Kid Cudi, Weezer, OneRepublic, Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams, Aerosmith and so many more that we would need a really long scroll bar to list them all. 

Greg has seen monumental success recently with the release of the motion picture soundtrack for “The Greatest Showman”, which he not only produced but played on as well.

Credits

The Greatest Showman

Adele

Katy Perry

Twenty One Pilots

Grace VanderWaal

Dua Lipa

What do you have to say?
Leave a comment
Bevanmusic
2022 Dec 14
This is actually unbelievable. How efficient Greg is. So much done in so little time. Very inspiring!
beschornermusic
2022 Feb 10
Amazing Video! Hi Greenelives, I have turned off the subtitles and than its fine. Its not the best way but so its sync. :-)
Greenelives
2022 Jan 13
Why does the audio and video keep going out of sync. It’s enough to make me go crazy. I’m on google fiber and it does it on 99% of the videos. If there a fix?
Dcadoch
2021 Jan 11
As a novice singer/songwriter I am totally floored at the detail and pure candid honesty at the way Greg Wells guides Bryce into perfecting her song. It is so inspiring and brings to the forefront that songwriting is truly an art of refinement with the grace and patience of time. Every word, every lyric, bridged with a note to bring out an emotion, with the courage to experiment with chord voicings...daring to be bold.... Thank-you!!! David
palbratelund
2021 Jan 11
Kudos to Bryce for this session. Allowing us to peek into something as vulnerable as a session (with Greg!) is very cool of her.
Initial Sound, LLC
2020 Dec 09
Greg! What hell man? You’re fucking great man :)
ncrstudio
2020 Nov 24
HER VOICE! Seriously the best part. She could sing the phone book. But...it all really encapsulates the actual process. I pretty much live in the studio and have literally seen weeks of this stuff, but it never gets old...the supernatural magic of the song being born. It's always inspiring.
vivalazik
2020 Nov 06
LOVE IT ! But SOOOOO frustrating because I felt like I was with them and I had ideas every two minutes that I couldn't share !! I was almost screaming at my phone "try this word !" Or "sing it like this!"
kelvyn
2020 Oct 28
The mid 8 section on the finished production is what does it for me as it really takes the song to a higher musical place. Very, very nice change:)
simone.gr
2020 Aug 02
Sub ita? Grazie
barracoustic
2020 Jul 10
her sound could have been better dudes lol
YrkoBeats
2020 May 26
:) This was vary amazing!
dlapanja4
2020 Jan 13
Great stuff guys. I really apreciate it!
ombor10
2020 Jan 13
This video shows Greg Wells's incredible solid musical foundation, talent and expertise and he applies and shares solid songwriting techniques here and is nice to see how Artist Bryce Drew is open and willing to Team up with Greg instead of just use resources so the best of both will benefit the song.
Brbarbosri3
2020 Jan 04
Eu estou achando demais. Aqui tem um conteúdo riquíssimo. Que Feeling incrível. Vamos para a parte 2.
Eric …..
2020 Jan 02
It was very brave of the artist and producer to share this process...thanks guys. Much appreciated! definitely valuable in many ways!
bernsense
2019 Dec 30
Oh man, great to watch amazing talents at work...! At 6:23, she almost makes a mistake, instead of the C a C#, which could’ve been awesome later in the chorus... if someone was looking to change it up...
Mokam
2019 Dec 25
Very Inspiring to watch and that million chord possibilities with that sustained note just shows how endless are the possibilities really....Where are the other parts of this project?
dotrob
2019 Dec 23
Greg and Bryce rock! Love it!
Marcus Raynal
2019 Dec 21
Man!! This is so amazing to watch yet so painful at the same time. Hearing them searching for ideas, I just want to chime in lol. New city, no car. Auditions, are so far. Everywhere I go, I’m late. Still need a place to stay. That apartment, was everything I wanted. Til I saw the bedroom could’ve been a closet. Everything looks great...on...line. Until you walk inside. And that first bridge melody he came up was LOVE. Play that with just the piano then add in the some power chords from the acoustic towards the end with a slide down the neck into a full out chorus. Whew!
justin.gr
2019 Dec 20
So good. Being in the middle of nowhere and trying to learn all this stuff can be hard. But thanks to these videos, it's helping a ton. Thanks.
tobbegorm
2019 Dec 19
Very inspirational! Thank you!
jaretglynnwilliam
2019 Dec 17
Really enjoying this series, it's awesome to see the ENTIRE process from start to finish and to see how well and how professionally all of the various steps are handled! Really looking forward to the rest of this one, and more series like it to follow!
wellsound
2019 Dec 12
Love it! This ist how it suppose to be...two People in a Creative Situation, concentrate, trusting themselves, wonderful communication , ideas jumping around , sometimes so funny.....and than after a While there is something to work on, further and further. A new song is born . Thank you for sharing this !!
JuanKurtis
2019 Dec 09
Thank you Bryce for opening up so we all could learn along with you and Greg. Thank you Sir Greg for being so technically creative and transparent in your music composing. I’m learning so much on where I need to improve as a producer and engineer. Thanks PureMix for such an amazing platform. #worththe$spent
hummarstra
2019 Dec 08
I'm only 20 min in but had to leave a comment. I've never seen any footage like this in my life. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! And, Greg has me cracking up with his self deprecation. After coming up with a bridge progression he said "That's insane......or is it?" I had to stop the video and laugh for five minutes. I love that guy! Thank you, Fab for something truly rare and unique.
rwhitney
2019 Dec 07
Tedious, yo! But that's the way songwriting goes some (most) times :)
Sariel Montalván
2019 Dec 04
Please, subtitles in spanish!
Zulusound
2019 Dec 03
She should have had a lavalier mic on, if she or the producer didn't want a 414 right up close. Or even more automation on the mix so she could be heard? Ducking compression anyone? Ironic how difficult it was to hear what she had to say, considering that they were in one of the best studios in the world with a dedicated engineer and production crew. Other than that, it was a very good, enlightening video. And Greg has massive ears.
gonzostudios
2019 Dec 03
subtítulos por favor ,, así son casi inútiles los videos
maulican
2019 Nov 30
Grate! Please add spanish subtitles.
Djike
2019 Nov 30
Wow! I understand the process! I work with Japanese artists, and have to fill in the English all the time. This video shows me how to be patient, and allowing the artist develop. She’s patient too. Some artists only want what they feel, even though it could get better. I’m really impressed. I’ve been out of the game for over two years due to illness, but seeing this makes me want to hurry up and get out of this hospital, and get back to the music life. Thank you!
Antekrivero
2019 Nov 28
Lovely! Great work! I'm looking forward to the next videos of the serie!
jessrho
2019 Nov 27
What a snoozefest! But sometimes songwriting is just like that. Cheers to Greg Wells, the talented songstress, and Puremix for letting this whole process be shown. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series.
bmonroe
2019 Nov 25
Great video! I wish the mic on the artist was turned up a bit more. I had to ride the fader on my console to bring up her comments every time she spoke to Greg Wells. His mic was plenty loud. I'm eager to watch the rest of the series.
EFJahn
2019 Nov 25
pureMix is my mentor like no other and this series looks like a winner. Keep up the incredible job you're doing.
Otlib
2019 Nov 25
Looks like a gold mine and we just found just found the first gem ... Thank you Puremix, it's exactly what it's missing on the other websites !
luisin
2019 Nov 25
Impresionante. Si se subtitula en español , más impresionante todavía. Gracias
Contrackz
2019 Nov 24
Loved it big fan of Greg Wells when ever he does a tutorial theres never a wasted moment. Dope video Thanks
Still Swingin' Studios
2019 Nov 24
A fantastic opportunity to witness the patience, humility and persistence that goes into a creative session. It’s a blessing to be able to compare and contrast my own bedside manner in the studio with one of the greats. Excited for the rest of the series. PureMix continues to validate my subscription with flying colors.
SonWolf
2019 Nov 23
I wish I was in that room, I want to write that 2nd verse so bad!! Ahhh!! Here we go: -- New city, no car -- Just wandering ‘round the boulevard -- Dreaming as the days float by --In this cruel summer and cold bed -- The ceiling drips above my head -- Still I’m feeling like the stars have aligned -- And they tell me I’m outta my mind -- But I see my lucky number everywhere I go...
dvnt
2019 Nov 23
The song is a GREAT song
SpaceInfader
2019 Nov 23
So much talent in one room it almost hurts! Everything she sings is just INCREDIBLE... You can tell that it‘s coming from deep down the heart. Even an experienced guy like Greg is moved. I love how he humbly throws in his very cool ideas in an insane pace.
davidcurry
2019 Nov 23
...spending too many hours online....
pabloquijano
2019 Nov 23
en español por favor!
mijh
2019 Nov 23
Great Greg, great Bryce, great voice... what else...?
Gwenshana
2019 Nov 23
Great to see Greg writing and figuring it out with the artist. i'm sure this will help me be less scared of moments in a session where it's hard to find the right lyrics.
Carpintero
2019 Nov 23
Thanks for the chances, it's wonderful.
mataran
2019 Nov 23
So nice and inspiring! I cannot wait for the rest. Merci à vous, Greg, Bryce and Puremix.net to give us this opportunity to watch the genesis of a song.
Banjoboys
2019 Nov 23
The video is great but can't you just release the whole series . I cannot get onto the next chapter . If this is dribbled out over weeks / months then that is misleading
JorgeZM
2019 Nov 23
Nice
soupiraille
2019 Nov 22
It may look easy for us being behind our screens, but it’s not. Inspiration is not something your order on Amazon; you throw a demand with your mind to the nebulous and mysterious `World of Inspiration and Ideas’, and desperately wait for an answer arriving to your antennae of creativity. I got some ideas about the few missing holes, let’s see if in the next episodes my inspiration was the same as Greg’s and Bryce’s! Thanks a lot pureMix and Greg for letting us in, live and feel the whole process of making a record. I feel lucky, and grateful.
lordmusic
2019 Nov 22
That was NICE
L Pass
2019 Nov 22
I love the creative process.
pmlogin
?>