Post your production tips

[Soccer Mom]

Originally Posted by conquering lion

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.

And keep the ashtray off the keyboards, that shit can be hazardous to your gear.

Oh, and less is more. Subtractive EQing is your friend.

[Stefan Anion]

Here's some more tips i thought of:

Studio Setup:

1. Get seperate stands for your monitors. Having them too close together or sitting on your desk causes unwanted harmonics. try to keep them at least 6 feet apart and not to close. point them so that the "sweet spot" is pretty much at your head level.

2. roomsize permitting, put in a couch or bed on the opposite end of the studio as a basstrap. also, you can get the big cardboard rolls that carpet comes on and in combination with a sheet of well, carpet, wrapped around you can stick them in the corners to further reduce unwanted bass resonance.

3. eliminate clutter. a clean organized studio helps in the writing process and also keeps stuff from rattling (breaks and dnb producers know about rattling alright )

4. keep your power cables and audio cables seperate to eliminate uneccessary humming or noise and make sure that all your power sockets are grounded. get a power conditioner (like a furman or rackrider), they're only 50quid and well worth the investment.

in case of a thunderstorm, ESPECIALLY HERE IN TEXAS, turn off your stuff and unplug everything....i've neglected this once and had a laptop that ended up picking up mexican radio stations instead of recording sound due to lightning.

5. try to keep food and drinks outta the studio and keep your gear clean. dust can get into your mixer faders and create unwanted crackling.

6. don't smoke in your studio, unless you absolutely can't do without. nicotine deposits on chipsockets and can detiorate electrical connections....plus smoking can give you a serious headache after a while


Writing/Producing/Mastering:

1. Save your ears. It's fun to turn it up, but you don't want to wear out your ears when you spend some time working on tunes.

2. When you work on a track you'll get to hear the same thing about a thousand times or more, so take a break, go for a walk or excercise. it really fuels the creative process to clear your head.

3. Mastering does not fix everything. it's the last thing you'll do before turning the track in for vinyl or else. don't spend more than 30 minutes mastering and don't blast the crap outta your system either. a well mastered track should be crystal clear at very low volumes.

These are just some suggestions. Everyone's got their own way of working on tracks, of course. These are just things that have really helped me over the years.

cheers

[Adam D]

Originally Posted by Grey

3. Cutting basslines of frequencies 12 db and lower as they are unaudible and thend to muddy down the mix.

Same applies to kicks...


...I think it's everything below 20 that is inaudible, hence the reason why many EQ devices auto cut below 20.

[Adam D]

Originally Posted by stargazer

i'm going to see if i can milk some free advice here...

i'd like to get a workstation... like a Roland Fantom (8 i think) or the Korg extreme... but they are very expensive... thats the way i'd prefer to go...

and then there is the way where you can use your computer with a midi-controller.. i prefer not to go that way..

is there some other option between those two? can you get a synth (not a workstation) and record into the computer and use a software sequencer instead of the one onboard on the workstation synth? i assume you can...

i'm just trying to see the best way to go about starting WITHOUT having to get a midi-controller and use 100% software...

Yeah, you just program your sequence in the software and connect the synth to the MIDI port (or your MIDI hub) and set them both to the same channel. The computer will control the synth.

[Anomaly]

I know there are alot of other producers out that frequent this forum but haven't chimed in. Protecting trade secrets?

Originally Posted by Anomaly

Post your production tips. They should be hardware or software nuetral.

1. use eq and panning to make your drums sound less cluttered
2. If you have to put delay on your melodies or bassline to make them sound good, go back to the drawing board.
3. 909 drum samples should be used in extreme moderation.


Post yours!!

1 is good

2 and 3 are opinions

my .02

um,,

my adivce,..

turn off the phone

Get somebody else to produce.

I'm fuckin with FL Studio. I also fuck with Sound Forge for samples and eventually want to learn Adobe Audition & Cubase. My advice is to get with those who are advanced in it and ask them to show you a thing or two.

[Deff Gordon]

ok- here's a tip if you want to add a stereo feel for a bass. (can be used for anything- apply at will)

first- your bass sounds should be in mono (obvious)

duplicate the track. on one- eq out the highs - on the other eq out the lows.

on the one that only has the highs- put a stereo pan or chorus or whatever and leave the rumble steady on the low track.

[Stefan Anion]

Originally Posted by stargazer

i'm going to see if i can milk some free advice here...

i'd like to get a workstation... like a Roland Fantom (8 i think) or the Korg extreme... but they are very expensive... thats the way i'd prefer to go...

and then there is the way where you can use your computer with a midi-controller.. i prefer not to go that way..

is there some other option between those two? can you get a synth (not a workstation) and record into the computer and use a software sequencer instead of the one onboard on the workstation synth? i assume you can...

i'm just trying to see the best way to go about starting WITHOUT having to get a midi-controller and use 100% software...

you could a Korg Karma and use a sequencer like cubase, digital performer or even FL Studio. Here's list of Controller Synths that i've found to be pretty amazing in Sound Quality and Usability...even if some of them are a bit old:

Yamaha CS2X (i use this one )
Korg N5
Korg Karma
Korg MS-2000
EMU Proteus 2000 Keyboard
Roland Juno 106 or Alpha Juno

In most sequencers you can record outboard gear while it's receiving MIDI. It's called Sync-Record (i guess). Plus each one of the Synths above can be edited and programmed. There's tons of sounds on them that you would never think of using, but a little bit of tweaking and recording, in combo with VST Effects can yield some very unique results.

[Stefan Anion]

to add to my studio tips:

1. about mastering: properly mix down your track. seperate bass, drums, vocals, synths by using levels as well as eq and compression. layering can be done by eq, volume as well as stereo width. after that mastering should be no more than a final polish.

2. pets: yes we love them, but kittens, puppies or whatever else you keep around the house love to chew on cables. keep your cables out of reach, otherwise you'll spend hours trying to figure out why that synth isn't getting midi even though the cables are all plugged in.....and then you find out that your new puppy left you a little present behind the rack case....along with a selection of nicely chewed cables....(speaking from experience here....)

if i get some time, i'm gonna put a production tips page on blueplasmarecordings.com. so if any of you wanna contribute send me a pm. hopefully we can get enough info together for a highly valuable resource page by some of the established producers here in the area.

cheers

[Eddie Archive]

Peggy chewed your cables???

I wuv peggy!! woof woof

[Left]

Originally Posted by spoony m

ok- here's a tip if you want to add a stereo feel for a bass. (can be used for anything- apply at will)

first- your bass sounds should be in mono (obvious)

duplicate the track. on one- eq out the highs - on the other eq out the lows.

on the one that only has the highs- put a stereo pan or chorus or whatever and leave the rumble steady on the low track.

Good call. Makes sense, and protects the bass (rumble) from being distorted by the effect(s).

Originally Posted by Stefan Anion

EMU Proteus 2000 Keyboard

Sweet - I didn't know this came in a keyboard. I thought it was a rack mount only.

5 years ago when I worked at Brook Mays they let me have all kinds of gear including an EMU E6400 ultra (It was new at the time). I loved that thing. Had to give it back when I left.

Vocal tip:



If you want to make your vocal tracks sound bigger, here's a trick I use when making radio commercials and sweepers for the various radio stations I image around the country.


Take your original vocal track (A) and duplicate it twice (B & C).

Pan track B all the way to the left, track C all the way to the right, and leave A in the center.

Move track B so that it starts a split-second BEFORE track A.

Move track C so that it starts a split second AFTER track A.

Move these around until you get the desired effect.

You are basically creating a Chorus, but your results will be much better.














Oh... one more thing...

























... step away from the computer and learn a damn instrument.

[hippyk]

Originally Posted by Soccer Mom

Oh, and less is more. Subtractive EQing is your friend.

werd :drink: :