Reveal your dirty production secrets...

funky shit · Post by **funky shit** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:50 pm

Superchibisan wrote:also, contrary to everybody else. use compression! its fun, makes stuff go boom.

got a bassline with not 1, not 2, but 3 compressors on it, freaking thing is HUGE

I know what your sayin. You can get some kick ass out by doing shit that some people on this forum would hang you for

j2j · Post by **j2j** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:15 pm

I wouldn't hang you'll...

I just have a different take on it. See I think, so many people overuse things like, compression, that I hardly use any.

I use quite a bit of verb, but imho, that is overused as well.

Finally, be careful with eq. 1 cut, is worth 1000 boosts....

-- Mates..

funky shit · Post by **funky shit** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:19 pm

Yeah theres nothing worse than a track that sounds toooooo compressed.

TBH i know jack shit about how to proper EQ, limit, compress etc.
I just know some tricks which give my tracks more beef

Would love to know all this madness tho.

knotkranky · Post by **knotkranky** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:34 pm

Work and overdub in mono, mix in mono until it sounds good then start panning and enjoy the clarity. If you rely on stereo to clear up a mix you're sucking already.

Stereo is for pussies.

Qaudraphonic is for old people.

5.1 is for Palin fans.

7.1 is for insects.

Aequitas123 · Post by **Aequitas123** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:40 pm

knotkranky wrote:Work and overdub in mono, mix in mono until it sounds good then start panning and enjoy the clarity. If you rely on stereo to clear up a mix you're sucking already.

Stereo is for pussies.

Qaudraphonic is for old people.

5.1 is for Palin fans.

7.1 is for insects.

Hahahah, nice.

roach808 · Post by **roach808** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 12:48 am

funky shit wrote:Yeah theres nothing worse than a track that sounds toooooo compressed.

TBH i know jack shit about how to proper EQ, limit, compress etc.
I just know some tricks which give my tracks more beef
Would love to know all this madness tho.

Compression like anything is best used, when you know what your doing with it.

As for EQing and all that stuff, its just one of those things that when you do it long enough it will click. i know it sounds so played out to say this, but really its just turning the knobs until you like what you hear. I never solo tracks I want to EQ tho, normally I will leave it sitting right in the mix and EQ it to get the sound in the ballpark for what i need. Then when I'm ready I'll solo it only if there is some really really fine tuning I need to make.

funky shit · Post by **funky shit** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:14 am

Oh.. ive got one.
I remember half learning it ages ago lol.
Ever get to tweakin your mix, and on the bass line, a certain note has sort of, more bass than the others. You can use one of these...

http://www.podcomplex.com/images/podcom ... -chart.gif

..to find which frequency that note lies under and then tweak that certain frequency till your hearts content.

lunabass · Post by **lunabass** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:24 am

i was told this dirty little secret from another producer friend of mine...

dont spend all of your time on the ableton forum

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:35 am

My best trick is to actually stop adding. Lots of times you'll see songs with 30+ tracks. I usually stop below 10. Then I prune it out ( usually by manually muting/unmuting) and then I dub it out ... a LOT.
When that's done I *might* go over the recorded arrangement and "delete time" a few places.

I don't "mix" a track. That happens during the composition phase, and is part of the sound design.

And I work with a full mastering rig already set up and enabled. Yes I fucking do, whatcha gonna do about it?

roach808 · Post by **roach808** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:48 am

lunabass wrote:i was told this dirty little secret from another producer friend of mine...

dont spend all of your time on the ableton forum

its a great way to spend your time while your waiting for your tune to render.

Altho, I have found in the past that this works just as wel......

Grappadura · Post by **Grappadura** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:36 am

Machinate wrote:My best trick is to actually stop adding.

Same here. Its often much more valuable to figure out a track that can be deleted than to find yet another melody that could fit in.

Also, its good to really learn how to edit the arrangement effectively. Know all arrangement shortcuts and practice to use them. Do things like manual delays for example, and youve got much more flexibility and precision.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:59 am

1)cut the low end off of anything that isn't a kick or a bass instrument. even things like high hats and pads have low end that you're not really hearing much and don't need in the least but it's taking up space in the mix. the mix is kinda like a bucket, you can only put so much stuff in it. so chop off anything you don't need.

2)high pass your reverbs and delays can be good too.

3)stop trying to get your kicks to sound bigger, you can waste days on that shit, a simple pitch mod on a sine wave is good enough. start making a song not the "biggest kick in the world that totally blows your mind"

4)stop compressing your music so f*ing much!

Grappadura · Post by **Grappadura** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:52 am

Johnisfaster wrote:1)cut the low end off of anything that isn't a kick or a bass instrument. even things like high hats and pads have low end that you're not really hearing much and don't need in the least but it's taking up space in the mix. the mix is kinda like a bucket, you can only put so much stuff in it. so chop off anything you don't need.

2)high pass your reverbs and delays can be good too.

3)stop trying to get your kicks to sound bigger, you can waste days on that shit, a simple pitch mod on a sine wave is good enough. start making a song not the "biggest kick in the world that totally blows your mind"

4)stop compressing your music so f*ing much!

If its a main instrument, dont cut out all frequencies radically, its better to make soft manipulations. Mostly a gentle approach is better for the overall sound, but with some sounds its better cut them radically.

+1 on the kick drum pitch modulation. Also, a huge eq boost in the 2000-5000 hz helps the kick a lot, while the 200-300 hz area should be diminished.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:08 am

Don't try to boost EQ frequencies that are not there. Good example, most miked electric guitar recordings (and ESPECIALLY DI'ed electric guitar into an audio interface) tend to die at around 8 Khz. You read a book about 'adding sparklies and air' you think 'cool, I need to add some air to my guitar' and you go and throw a whole bunch of 15 Khz on there.

Only problem. There is almost nothing above 8 Khz and like nothing at all above 11 Khz on the guitar audio, so all you are in fact doing is adding high frequency noise into your mix.

Use spectrum analysis tools frequently to avoid these scenarios !!

It would, in fact, be better in the above scenario, to filter out frequencies above 12 Khz or so and leave them for that for stuff which benefits, i.e. cymbals, vocals (if recorded well with a good mic, a small boost of air often helps, or at least brings the vocal upfront), and real (not vst) pianos etc.

spkey · Post by **spkey** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:23 am

funky shit wrote:I just know some tricks which give my tracks more beef

Spit it out