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I said I was working on it? I am really new to production so mixing/mastering is mostly trial and error at this point. Having a full time job and wife leaves little actual time to spend working on it so that's why it has dragged out.
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Jan 27, 2017 22:53
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| # ? May 17, 2024 07:50 |
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As long as you feel working on it is teaching you something and it's not a matter of having your boots stuck in the mud of insecurity. The latter is what people want to warn you against, I think.
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Jan 27, 2017 23:07
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Yah of course. I just got really frustrated when I had a pretty good mix going, then added just a couple elements to fill it out, changed a couple samples that weren't quite right, and now the mix sounds way off from what it was. I know I like the track its just a matter of getting it back to the mix-quality that I had before.
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Jan 27, 2017 23:42
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I guess I should add that making "Save As" your friend should not get overlooked.
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Jan 28, 2017 00:17
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That is definitely something I thought about but of course it was after the fact. I didn't really think about it before-hand because I wasn't making massive changes or anything. Oh well, all part of the learning process. It also lead me to look up some more tutorials on EQing, Compression, and Limiting and I have picked up a bunch of new tips and tricks from watching them. That is definitely something I would recommend to anyone if they feel like they are getting bored. Watch a tutorial using some effect that you either haven't or rarely use and then see how you can incorporate it into a track. I hadn't touched Ableton's Glue Compressor until I watched a video demonstrating it last week.
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Jan 28, 2017 00:30
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Don't be afraid to just put a song back on the shelf for awhile. One you have a bunch of unfinished tracks built up you'll have plenty to jump between whenever you get tired of one.
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Jan 28, 2017 11:07
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Hot off the presses. Insofar as I have ever written or wished to write a "banger" I suppose this qualifies. https://soundcloud.com/lush-runner/home As always, comments and critiques welcome.
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Feb 4, 2017 04:38
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This is just from listening to it on my laptop speakers, but the hihats seem to walk all over the vocals in places. I'd highpass them a bit more. I'd probably also clean them up a bit by shortening up the samples through the envelope settings of whatever plugin you're using for them. Make sure open hats are cut short by following closed hats as well, so there's no overlap. In some plugins this is done by adding them to the same "mute group". In others, you might want to change the envelope type so the open hat duration responds to midi note length and manage it yourself from there on. If the hats are now an audio recording only, some tinkering with a transient shaper plugin might help. It's not a huge problem to start with, but I feel these tweaks may be beneficial in moderation. Congrats on the vocals if you did them yourself. The acoustics of the recording space aren't perfect, but you make it work here anyway.
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Feb 4, 2017 12:35
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Thanks, I'll give that a shot - the mute group thing especially is great info, I'd never heard of that! Yeah, the vocals are me in my little drywall bedroom studio. I need to look into treatment, until then I'm taking the "drown it in reverb" approach.
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Feb 4, 2017 20:49
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Chitin posted:Thanks, I'll give that a shot - the mute group thing especially is great info, I'd never heard of that! I really like your voice man. I am always jealous of vocalists because I love to sing and can usually sing in key but don't have a "good" voice or much training so anytime I try and record myself, it just comes across as super bland and boring.
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Feb 6, 2017 04:45
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Aww shucks. My degree is actually in opera performance so I kind of feel like I'm cheating a bit in that department. I'm happy to moonlight on other people's tracks in return for a "feat. Lush Runner" with the obvious caveat that my recording situation is unideal.
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Feb 6, 2017 21:33
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Lately, I've been removing sidechaining from my tracks before bouncing stems for the mix stage, then re-applying sidechaining at the end of my mix chain. Would this be considered good practice? It seems to me that any compression I'm applying at the mix stage will simply fight against the ducking provided by sidechaining in the arrangement A tutorial I watched recently (Can't remember which) also suggested your mix should consist of maybe 8-12 stems max. The idea was to group all of your arrangement tracks into a few busses (drum, perc, bass, leads, etc.) and making sure the sounds all work together in a 'pre-mix'. I know this is an intermediate/advanced question but I didn't see an active 'mixing advice' thread. Any guides for typical production workflows would be great. I learned for years on Ableton, and the boundaries of production stages are often blurry. I feel like it promoted some bad habits in my production that I'm trying to identify.
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Feb 9, 2017 01:48
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Not sure if this helps but one technique I have seen used in a recent production tutorial is to create a dedicated Sidechain track that literally just contains a compressor that is sidechained to the kick. Like you mention in your post, I would then put tracks into groups (incredibly easy in Ableton) like Synths, Bass, Drums, Vocals, FX, etc. On the group channels, instead of sending it to the Master, send it to the Sidechain track you created (make sure to select In on the Mixer settings). This makes it incredibly easy to toggle the Sidechain for everything with one click. You can also easily add effects to an entire group which will affect the sound pre-Sidechain. Hope this gives you some ideas! I think having Sidechain on is pretty pivotal for dance music at the early stages because of the tendency for stuff to drown out the kick, giving you a bad reference.
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Feb 9, 2017 03:20
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Agreed, Sidechaining is not just an effect for EDM, it's a pretty major rhythmic, compositional choice.
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Feb 9, 2017 17:13
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What kind of volume level do you set the kick at? I typically set it around -4 dB for an EDM track, but I'm working on a track that seems too heavy on the bass end, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what combination of volume reduction to use.
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Feb 9, 2017 19:59
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If it's too heavy on the bass end why are you going for volume reduction rather than EQ? Don't forget to carve space in the subbass for the kick transient.
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Feb 9, 2017 20:03
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Chitin posted:If it's too heavy on the bass end why are you going for volume reduction rather than EQ? Don't forget to carve space in the subbass for the kick transient. I prefer to start at the source of a sound before I EQ it. It keeps things simpler. And I do have a sidechained compressor for the kick. I was just wondering what other people set as the final sound level for a kick drum, like if you solo the kick drum.
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Feb 9, 2017 20:40
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It's all relative anyway, but -8 or so is a decent starting point to ensure that you've got enough head room for mastering. You want to be using EQ to make sure the frequencies where your kick is most powerful- usually around 50-80hz - are reduced in your bass, and I usually high pass the kick at around 40-50hz to make sure the sub bass has room to breathe. That will help take a lot of the flab out of the low end and keep your bass and kick differentiated. Side chain is important but it can't do all the work.
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Feb 9, 2017 23:30
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I really need some help with bass sound design because I am having all sorts of problems. Here are a couple questions to start off: How do you generally approach writing/creating the High Bass vs. the Sub Bass. I find when I start to write a bassline that I tend to always go for a sound that has some good sub frequencies. However, this generally ends up with the bass taking up too wide of a range of frequencies, and not having enough "pop" in any one area. Should I be splitting these into two tracks and if so, how should I process them to get them to fit together? After I write the bassline, I also have a hard time getting it to sit well in the song. I feel like one note will have have a nice deep reverberating sub sound, while the next note that goes up a few semitones is flat with very little sub. Not sure if this is pretty standard or if there is a way to balance it out so that the sub in each note is more even. I have been using Limiting to set a threshhold and pump the gain up a bit but am wondering if this is a bad technique before the master. Lastly, I have a hard time reconciling the sub-bass in the Kick Drum with the actual SubBass. I mean, I don't want the kick to be completely devoid of sub frequencies because then its just a thwack with no thump, but I have a hard time getting the two to play nice even using Sidechain compression.
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Feb 10, 2017 19:52
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MrSargent posted:After I write the bassline, I also have a hard time getting it to sit well in the song. I feel like one note will have have a nice deep reverberating sub sound, while the next note that goes up a few semitones is flat with very little sub. You should be able to check with headphones if there is more consistency if you encounter a pretty blatant example of it. A simple sine wave patch should not exhibit this problem at all, ideally. If that is the problem, there is no easy solution per se. Putting your monitors on stands and away from the wall should help a bit. Monitoring at a lower volume so you're listening more to what comes out of the speakers directly than what's bouncing around the room is also a thing. Actual acoustic treatment for bass problems is complicated. If that's the problem, that makes solving the other mixing problems next to impossible, because it's like flying blind. Flipperwaldt fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Feb 10, 2017 |
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Feb 10, 2017 22:28
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I have great monitors (KRK Rokit 6's) but poo poo acoustics so that could very well be the problem. The wife and I just bought our first house and will be moving in over the summer and there is a perfect bonus room downstairs for all of my music stuff. Really looking forward to having a proper room for production instead of 1950s construction with hardwood floors. I'll try using headphones as a reference point and monitoring at lower volumes, thanks!
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Feb 10, 2017 22:56
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I recommend digging into the soundonsound archives to read about room modes, bass traps and what not to help you design your new space with the proper "feng shui", so to speak.
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Feb 10, 2017 23:34
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Hey for all of you Serum users out there, I created a dedicated thread for Serum here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3809652 Come share your patches with us on the Google Drive I created!
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Feb 11, 2017 22:01
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I have an old tx816 with two TF1 cards (the ones that are pretty much DX-7's). I want to be able to adjust a lot of the operator's parameters with a MIDI controller in real time. I can adjust some stuff like if sustain is on or off, but the other stuff seems more complex. Maybe impossible with a controller? There's some MIDI implementation stuff here: http://manuals.fdiskc.com/flat/Yamaha%20TX216%20&%20TX816%20Service%20Manual.pdf
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Feb 13, 2017 23:44
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You may have better luck in the synths thread.
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Feb 22, 2017 01:31
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Not sure if this is the best thread but I have been looking into getting a record player for some time now and primarily wanted it just for listening to old records. My parents gave me a huge collection of records and I thought it would be fun to start collecting. Since I have been getting into production a lot, my focus has shifted to wanting a record player that is good for listening but can also be easily connected to a computer for recording samples into Ableton. Does a hybrid like this exist? I would never be using it for performance if that makes a difference and my price range is probably 200-400.
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Feb 23, 2017 02:23
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MrSargent posted:Not sure if this is the best thread but I have been looking into getting a record player for some time now and primarily wanted it just for listening to old records. My parents gave me a huge collection of records and I thought it would be fun to start collecting. Since I have been getting into production a lot, my focus has shifted to wanting a record player that is good for listening but can also be easily connected to a computer for recording samples into Ableton. Does a hybrid like this exist? I would never be using it for performance if that makes a difference and my price range is probably 200-400.
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Feb 23, 2017 10:19
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If you have an OK soundcard, can't you just use the regular stereo leads from the turntable into that?
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Feb 23, 2017 10:20
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well why not posted:If you have an OK soundcard, can't you just use the regular stereo leads from the turntable into that?
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Feb 23, 2017 11:07
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I've been half-heartedly working on a few downtempo things and got a bug up my rear end to do something by sampling the poo poo out of things and this is the result: https://soundcloud.com/killhamster/power-tools
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Feb 23, 2017 16:59
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So whenever I look at a mixing tutorial, they usually have the drums bussed into two tracks, usually 'Drums' and 'Percussion'. The distinction between the two has always seemed a bit arbitrary to me; is this a vocabulary thing or one of those 'feel it out' things? Most often I'll see bass, snare, clap, and maybe simple closed hh in the first category, whereas the more rythmic/groove elements are usually in the latter. And as a matter of taste- do you goons prefer to bus your snare rolls, reverse snare/crash, and crashes up with the drums or with your effects?
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Feb 28, 2017 20:23
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I don't usually bus effects, including crashes and snare rolls. Drums, all I do is keep my kick seperate from any bus (I don't always use a drum bus anyway).
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Feb 28, 2017 20:43
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JVNO posted:So whenever I look at a mixing tutorial, they usually have the drums bussed into two tracks, usually 'Drums' and 'Percussion'. The distinction between the two has always seemed a bit arbitrary to me; is this a vocabulary thing or one of those 'feel it out' things? Most often I'll see bass, snare, clap, and maybe simple closed hh in the first category, whereas the more rythmic/groove elements are usually in the latter. To me, Drums tend to refer to anything that is barrel-shaped with material wrapped tight over one or both ends like Toms, Snares, Bongos, etc. When I think percussion I think Open & Closed Hats, Cymbals, Crashes, Gongs. If I am using a drum/percussion sample for my reverse snare/crash, I tend to bus with the other drums. But if I create one with a synth or something, I will usually bus it with the rest of my Effects.
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Feb 28, 2017 20:50
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It loving figures that I would finish my first track ever, only to have Soundcloud's upload services down since this morning. gently caress you SC, trying to cast a cloud over my impending super-stardom.
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Feb 28, 2017 21:40
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Blame amazon, their cloud web service has been tossing cookies all day.
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Feb 28, 2017 21:41
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As a drummer, to me drums mean drumset (snare, bass, toms, hats, cymbals), percussion is auxillary stuff like shakers, bells, odd textures, etc.
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Feb 28, 2017 21:53
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MrSargent posted:To me, Drums tend to refer to anything that is barrel-shaped with material wrapped tight over one or both ends like Toms, Snares, Bongos, etc. When I think percussion I think Open & Closed Hats, Cymbals, Crashes, Gongs. Snare rolls go with the snares in the drums. Cymbal crashes go with the hats. Etc. Like in a way that would make sense if we were talking about actual It's all not prescriptive though. Use busses where they practically make sense. If it's convenient to have a "kit" relative submix you don't want to touch anymore during regular mixing, or if you want to fade stuff in and out together or if you want to apply a common effect; bus stuff.
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Feb 28, 2017 22:10
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JVNO posted:So whenever I look at a mixing tutorial, they usually have the drums bussed into two tracks, usually 'Drums' and 'Percussion'. The distinction between the two has always seemed a bit arbitrary to me; is this a vocabulary thing or one of those 'feel it out' things? Most often I'll see bass, snare, clap, and maybe simple closed hh in the first category, whereas the more rythmic/groove elements are usually in the latter. i got all my drums under a group in ableton, but each element gets its own channel. i got a compressor on the drum group and filters as needed for sweep events throughout the song or w/e
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Feb 28, 2017 22:24
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I finished my first song ever last night and man, it feels really good. I wrote the whole thing in one night and the second night was mostly spent filling it out and mixing/mastering. It really showed me how far I have come in that I was able to take an idea from its infancy and see it through to completion in a very reasonable amount of time. It's definitely a dance/electronic track but isn't your typical 4 to the floor beat. As always, any feedback is appreciated and most importantly, I hope there are some of you that enjoy it! https://soundcloud.com/bradley-freeman-3/hayes-valley Edit: Updated with public link MrSargent fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Mar 1, 2017 |
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Mar 1, 2017 00:52
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| # ? May 17, 2024 07:50 |
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MrSargent posted:I finished my first song ever last night and man, it feels really good. I wrote the whole thing in one night and the second night was mostly spent filling it out and mixing/mastering. It really showed me how far I have come in that I was able to take an idea from its infancy and see it through to completion in a very reasonable amount of time. Very uplifting, and I especially like the sucking noise. Seriously. And cross-post from the serum thread, I'm still waiting for you to hit me up on ICQ or specify some other IM (apparently ICQ isn't very cool, but as I don't use any IM on a regular basis, the point is somewhat academic)
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Mar 3, 2017 02:35
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