newbie question - i am dabbling in production - be kind!

gezabelle · Post by **gezabelle** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:16 am

Hi guys.

i have been djing with ableton for a couple of years now, and have started dabbling in production recently. Im really enjoying learning something totally new and being a total newbie to it all!

I have a question. I do many topic searches on here and i often read about frequencies of kick drums , snares etc
How do i go about actually changing the frequencies of said elements? Im using a few little vsts and such, (505 drum one) and impluse etc. Do i put an eq on the channel and play around with the frequency? I know this probably seems like the lamest simplest thing to many of you but i have no musical training etc, and am merely dipping my toes in (and finding it quite addictive!)

Many thanks for any tips/advice/answer to my question you can furnish me with

elektrovert · Post by **elektrovert** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:53 am

this should get you started on where to edit:

There is a much more detailed one floatig round the web somewhere.
I'll have a look for it later.

Just realised there aren't much drums on that one.
but it'll give you an idea anyway.

Robert Henke · Post by **Robert Henke** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:55 am

Not such a dump question actually.

Your bassdrum (and any other sound appart from a static sinewave) contains numerous frequencies and their level changes over time. A bassdrum might have one very loud frequency that defines its "pitch" but also other frequencies which have some realtionship to that loud frequency and these define the "sound" of the bassdrum. If you apply an EQ you change the sound by changing the relationship between the frequencies which are allready there. You might find several frequencies in drums and depending which ones you boost and cut the drum might sound more deep or more kicking. But if you want to change the tuning of the whole drum, and EQ will not help. You need to change the way the drum sound is generated.
A very simple thing to do is using the "transpose" knob in the Sample part of the clip view. A more sophisticated way is to put a drum sound in the Simpler instument and play different keys. This will play back the sound at different speed and the pitch changes accordingly. There are numerous ways in Live to change the sound and pitch of things....
good luck!

Robert

Robert Henke · Post by **Robert Henke** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:57 am

@ elektrovert:

if I were a newbe producer this chart would scare me to death ... LOL

R.

gezabelle · Post by **gezabelle** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:58 am

thanks guys, exactly the sort of tips i was looking for.
getting my head around building some quite tight driving jacking drums at the mo.... its an awesome thing, just never really bothered about production, but just got back from sonar and am feeling quite inspired!

eamoon · Post by **eamoon** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:07 am

One other bit of common advice that's kind of hard to get your head around to start with -- when you're EQing, try to remove frequencies (cut) rather than boosting. Otherwise things get muddy really quick.

eamoon · Post by **eamoon** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:09 am

Also, if you find that pitching your bass drum (or whatever) down makes it sound weird, consider running it through a highpass filter with fairly high resonance and a low cutoff. That can add a nice tight boom to an otherwise dull sound.

gezabelle · Post by **gezabelle** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:08 am

excellent tips here... what would be the best eq to use on them? lives own ones? eq4? eq8?

the girl next door · Post by **the girl next door** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:10 pm

If your new to production and you want to produce Dance Music then buy this Book..It will be priceless to you http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Music-Manua ... 539&sr=8-1

theque · Post by **theque** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:25 am

the girl next door wrote:If your new to production and you want to produce Dance Music then buy this Book..It will be priceless to you http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Music-Manua ... 539&sr=8-1

+1

very good place to start,

rbmonosylabik · Post by **rbmonosylabik** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:55 am

gezabelle wrote:excellent tips here... what would be the best eq to use on them? lives own ones? eq4? eq8?

You should do really well with EQ8. EQ3 is more aimed at DJs.

If you're making dance music, it's usually a good idea to cut everything but the Kick and Bass under around 150 Hz. That should help remove some mud and weirdness from your low frequencies.