Olivia Rodrigo started her career on Disney shows like High School Musical: The Series. In 2020, she signed to Geffen/Interscope and began working on her debut record, Sour. Her first single, “drivers license,” appeared in early 2021. It received 32 million streams in two days, breaking Spotify’s daily record for a non-holiday song. Rodrigo crafted most of her album with producer Dan Nigro (Kimbra, Carly Rae Jepsen), and the pair favored emotional power ballads over viral dance hits. Their introspective songwriting and sophisticated production helped Rodrigo become a sensation. Indeed, critics and fans alike praised the mature and relatable vibe of songs like “Deja Vu” and “Good 4 U.” Using ZENOLOGY, we’ll recreate the mellow tones and lush soundscapes of Olivia Rodrigo’s heart-wrenching ballad “drivers license.”
About ZENOLOGY
ZENOLOGY is a powerful software synth that brings fresh possibilities to any musical experience—including recreating the tones of “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo. At the heart of ZENOLOGY is the ZEN-Core Synthesis System. It allows users to design large and complex sounds using a wide range of detailed parameters.
ZENOLOGY Pro gives you full access to all the tools you need to take your sound design game to the next level. Each tone contains four distinct synthesis voices called “partials” that can be used simultaneously. (Model Expansions may contain fewer partials.) In each partial, you can select the oscillator waveform and adjust parameters for the dual low-frequency oscillators (LFOs), filter, amplifier, and EQ. Choose from thousands of waveforms. In addition, there are 10 types of modeled filters, 11 LFO shapes, and 90 audio effects.
"What makes a track like 'drivers license' so impactful is its minimalist approach to production."
Piano
What makes a track like “drivers license” so impactful is its minimalist approach to production. The song consists of just a few elements: piano, synth bass, strings, and light percussion. The most important of these sounds is the piano. The song is in Bb major and centers around three chords: Bb major, G minor, and Eb major. The first verse begins with a pulsating Bb on the top voice of the piano while the chords shift from Bb major to G minor and then to Eb major.
The chorus starts on an Eb major chord and transitions to Bb major. What propels the harmony here is a three-note ostinato. It morphs the single note Bb line into a broken arpeggio of G minor and Bb major in 2nd inversion with a few extra notes in between.
Morphing Sound
Upon viewing the “drivers license” music video, it becomes clear that the single Bb note emulates the sound of a car door opening. In a normal context, the tone is an annoying reminder to shut the door. By contrast, here the tone morphs into the chord progression of the song, immediately placing the listener inside the vehicle.
Rodrigo describes finally getting her license and driving to see her ex-partner. As she does, the single sound changes into an ostinato which gives the illusion of more harmonic movement. We can interpret this can as a musical metaphor for finally driving.
"The single note emulates the sound of a car door opening. As the sound changes into an ostinato, we can interpret this as a metaphor for driving."
Piano and Strings
To recreate this sound, use the “Piano + SftPad” preset and the “Pianomonics” preset. This will create a soft, brooding piano sound that maintains pad undertones. Play the full piano part on the “Piano + SftPad” preset and adjust the Cutoff (1 o’clock), Reso (1 o’clock), Attack (11 o’clock), and the Release (1 o’clock) parameters. Then, emphasize the chords with the “Pianomonics” preset and adjust the Cutoff (2 o’clock), Reso (4 o’clock), and the Attack (9 o’clock) parameters. The combined sound has textures of a real acoustic piano with some slight electronic enhancement. In fact, the “Pianomonic” patch mimics pedal noise and other harmonics from an acoustic piano.
Bridge
This semi-pad piano sound shines on the bridge where the chord progression centers around G minor, and the song reaches its climax. Because this track is so minimal, the bridge section sounds enormous with only a few added elements. Aside from the drumbeat, a primary factor propelling this section is the bass. We’ll explore some of the other bridge textures further in this article.
Synth Bass
In modern pop, the bass has an understated yet equally important role than in previous musical eras. Traditionally, a bassline defined a dance hit. In the current musical landscape, many tracks feature 808 basslines or synth bass. On “drivers license,” the bass sneaks in during the verse and only truly becomes present on the chorus and bridge.
To recreate this sound, utilize the “Hefty Bass” preset and adjust the Attack (1 o’clock) and Release (1 o’clock) parameters. Finally, add the Tone Fattener effect from the MFX menu (DRIVE/AMP).
"As the song builds to a peak, a string pad creeps in on the choruses. Although this sound appears only briefly, its presence lends weight."
String Pad and Synth Pad
As the song builds to a peak, a string pad creeps in on the choruses. This pad is further enhanced on the bridge by a synth pad. To recreate these sounds, use the “St. Strings” preset and adjust the Attack (1 o’clock) and Cutoff (11 o’clock) parameters. Then adjust the PCM oscillator of the 1st Partial to add a Pulse synth (JX-8P) as an additional sonic layer.
Although this sound appears only briefly throughout the song, its presence lends emotional weight. The pad sustains one chord, G minor, throughout the bridge. This grounds the bridge in the relative minor tonality, differentiating it from the rest of the song, which is in Bb major.
DOWNLOAD
"drivers license" Patches for ZENOLOGY
Try out the patches from this article in ZENOLOGY Pro, ZEN-Core-compatible Roland hardware, and the ZC1 Synthesizer* in the Zenbeats music creation app.
DOWNLOAD: “drivers license” Patches for ZENOLOGY
*ZC1 does not support patches using sample packs
