Post your production tips

[DJ Finle]

Thanks everyone...I have got 5 pages of tips from this thread...
If anyone else is reading this and plans on doing any type of audio engineering,this is great stuff and sometimes hard info. to get.
Picking peoples brain that have experience in this type of stuff is gold. GOLD

[WordToYoMama]

Originally Posted by Kelle Marie

I keep this by the computer:

20 Hz and below - impossible to detect, remove as it only adds unnecessary energy to the total sound, thereby most probably holding down the overall volume of the track
60 Hz and below - sub bass (feel only)
80(-100) Hz - feel AND hear bass
100-120 Hz - the "club sound system punch" resides here
200 Hz and below - bottom
250 Hz - notch filter here can add thump to a kick drum
150-400 Hz - boxiness
200 Hz-1.5 KHz - punch, fatness, impact
800 Hz-4 KHz - edge, clarity, harshness, defines timbre
4500 Hz - exteremly tiring to the ears, add a slight notch here
5-7 KHz - de-essing is done here
4-9 KHz - brightness, presence, definition, sibilance, high frequency distortion
6-15 KHz - air and presence
9-15 KHz - adding will give sparkle, shimmer, bring out details - cutting will smooth out harshness and darken the mix
60Hz with a Q of 1.4 -- Add fullness to kicks.
100Hz with a Q of 1.0 -- Add fullness to snare
200Hz - 250Hz with a Q of 1.4 -- Adds wood to snares
3Khz with a Q of 1.4 -- Adds atack to snare.
5Khz with a Q of 2.8 -- Adds attack to Kicks
7Khz with a Q of 2.8 -- Adds Sharpness to snares and percussion
10Khz with a Q of 1.0 -- Adds brightness to hats and cymbals

FREQUENCY:
USES:

50Hz
1. Increase to add more fullness to lowest frequency instruments like foot, toms, and the bass.
2. Reduce to decrease the "boom" of the bass and will increase overtones and the recognition of bass line in the mix. This is most often used on loud bass lines like rock.

100Hz
1. Increase to add a harder bass sound to lowest frequency instruments.
2. Increase to add fullness to guitars, snare.
3. Increase to add warmth to piano and horns.
4. Reduce to remove boom on guitars & increase clarity.

200Hz
1. Increase to add fullness to vocals.
2. Increase to add fullness to snare and guitar ( harder sound ).
3. Reduce to decrease muddiness of vocals or mid-range instruments.
4. Reduce to decrease gong sound of cymbals.

400Hz
1. Increase to add clarity to bass lines especially when speakers are at low volume.
2. Reduce to decrease "cardboard" sound of lower drums (foot and toms).
3. Reduce to decrease ambiance on cymbals.

800Hz
1. Increase for clarity and "punch" of bass.
2. Reduce to remove "cheap" sound of guitars.

1.5KHz
1. Increase for "clarity" and "pluck" of bass.
2. Reduce to remove dullness of guitars.

3KHz
1. Increase for more "pluck" of bass.
2. Increase for more attack of electric / acoustic guitar.
3. Increase for more attack on low piano parts.
4. Increase for more clarity / hardness on voice.
5. Reduce to increase breathy, soft sound on background vocals.
6. Reduce to disguise out-of-tune vocals / guitars.

5KHz
1. Increase for vocal presence.
2. Increase low frequency drum attack ( foot / toms).
3. Increase for more "finger sound" on bass.
4. Increase attack of piano, acoustic guitar and brightness on guitars (especially rock guitars).
5. Reduce to make background parts more distant.
6. Reduce to soften "thin" guitar.

7KHz
1. Increase to add attack on low frequency drums ( more metallic sound ).
2. Increase to add attack to percussion instruments.
3. Increase on dull singer.
4. Increase for more "finger sound" on acoustic bass.
5. Reduce to decrease "s" sound on singers.
6. Increase to add sharpness to synthesizers, rock guitars, acoustic guitar and piano.

10KHz
1. Increase to brighten vocals.
2. Increase for "light brightness" in acoustic guitar and piano.
3. Increase for hardness on cymbals.
4. Reduce to decrease "s" sound on singers.

15KHz
1. Increase to brighten vocals (breath sound).
2. Increase to brighten cymbals, string instruments and flutes.
3. Increase to make sampled synthesizer sound more real.

There are more great production tips on the studio forum at undergroundhouse.net

Is that in chronological order? Left to Right?

Spend the majority of your time writing music, but advertise yourself as a dj so people will pay thousands to book you. Don't worry about having any technical ability though. Sloppy mixing is the new black.

[MacIX]

I think the most effective mean of writing solid tracks is to be naked.

Originally Posted by MacIX

I think the most effective mean of writing solid tracks is to be naked.

Only the good break heads know that trick. The level of bass is measured by the amount you are forced to clinch your ass cheeks when the sub drops. This can only be determined by listening to playback in the nude.

Originally Posted by WordToYoMama

Is that in chronological order? Left to Right?

If you are talking about looking at the EQ this would be correct (left to right).

[Eddie Archive]

Originally Posted by DJ^3

Only the good break heads know that trick. The level of bass is measured by the amount you are forced to clinch your ass cheeks when the sub drops. This can only be determined by listening to playback in the nude.

hahahahahahah!

[Left]

wow, haven't been this excited about a thread before,
first, to state the obvious:
-DON'T CLIP! (very rarely acceptable).
-learn to synth. FUCK PRESETS. we could all use more originality (if you go by the theory we are all a produkt of our experience). Plus, synthing gives you a whole new understanding of sound architecture.
-As far as strings go (being a cellist), get some actual samples or make your own recording with actual string players. MIDI STRINGS BLOW ASS. (same with piano and most classical instruments)
-EQing is an ART. Learn the techniques, practice, and then make it your own. Learn to think stylistically with the track. some bands go for muddy as does some EDM.
-LEARN TO LISTEN CRITICALLY. step back. get multiple perspectives. being too close to a project can be damaging.
-Oh, and DEFINITELY MORE COWBELL.

I would suggest taking small breaks in between your sessions to give your eardrums a break. Ear fatigue can lead to over compensating when eq'ing, mixing, etc. And dont mix when you're drunk, stoned, or whatever. What sounds good to you at the time will not sound so hot the next day. I speak from experience Now writing when you're drunk, stoned, or whatever...that's a different story. Also, a good set of earplugs at the club doesn't hurt. You can still hear what's going on and you'll also be able to hear the next day as well.

[tekloid]

subtractive eq is mo' betta than additive

listen to your tunes from another room

ease up on the compression. it's not always needed. infact, it's far too overused. plenty of artist make banging drum tracks without ever using it.

ignore your levels...if it's clipping and sounds good, then it sounds good.(more for the analog realm)

sometimes, you can get a bit more out of a break by normalizing it to 105%. it will chop off a bit of the spikes leaving you with a louder sound that hasn't been colored by trying to achieve the same effect with a limiter.

take every tip in this thread, and do the opposite. break the rules. show no mercy, sweep the leg.


...more to cum

[Oscuro]

Originally Posted by Stefan Anion

1. Keep your drums mono and pan percussion left and right.
2. Use compression, but use it right, it will do magic with drumsounds.
3. Basslines: If it's big, keep it mono, you don't wandle the needle to skip. A little bit of Chorus can do wonders to a boring Bass Sound.
4. Take your copy of "BT Breaks from the Nu Skool" and burn it. I admit, i've used a few bits of it, but after hearing 8,933,955 tracks with the same BT Loop i've decided to not ever use it again for anything.
5. Make your own Synth Sounds. There's nothing cooler than having your own textures and blips and blops than sampling stuff that's already been sampled a thousand times.
6. Experiment: build weird synths combined of TapeDecks and Guitar Effects or Crosswire old Casio's and Yamaha Toy Keyboards...the results are a library of original sounds that will make your sound more unique.

I trust anything Stefan says.....



You da man !!!!!!


-Nick

If it hasnt been said yet.

Get a good set of monitors.

[tekloid]

Originally Posted by DYKAST(etech)

If it hasnt been said yet.

Get a good set of monitors.

yep.. as well as some acoustic tiling and basstraps(set up correctly). a shitty listening enviroment will render the most expenive monitors about as useful as some 5$ radioshack speakers.

*do not use eggcrates as acoustic treatment. it doesn't work, and it's a fire hazzard*

if your studio is small. stick to smaller nearfield monitors. hr824's are going to be overkill in a typical rinky dink room. suffering from this now. thank god they have adjustable enviroment settings on the back that somewhat sort it out!

and of course, set your monitors up in an equilateral triangle to your ears. pointed at your ears and not just straight foward. your ears should also sit inbetween the woofer & tweeter.

[J. Fees]

pass the dutchie to the left hand side, the right can cause bad vibes, and don't smoke too much schwag, cuz it makes you sleepy, and can cause you to play with synth sounds all day.

[GoldenHorse]

DAMN. There's some serious production talent here, ya'll.