VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Heyy, I'm your 100th follower
Not sure why these replies didn't show up in Who Quoted Me. Thanks so much guys.
Really means a lot to me knowing what works and what doesn't so I can keep improving.
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Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
NEOGAF's Official Music Production Thread: calling all producers
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Not sure why these replies didn't show up in Who Quoted Me. Thanks so much guys.
Really means a lot to me knowing what works and what doesn't so I can keep improving.show me your skeleton
Member
i feel like a complete idiot for asking but does anybody know why, in my latest project, some of my notes are missing velocity markings in logic? i have to copy/paste a previous note that has a velocity marking for one to appear, drawing in a new note doesn't do anything...
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Could you elaborate on what happens when you draw in a new note? A screenshot would help.
show me your skeleton
Member
so the stuff on the left has velocity markings, the stuff on the right, which i've drawn in, has none.
any idea why?
to get any velocity markings i'd have to copy a note on the left each time.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
You mean to change velocity? I've never used hyper draw for that. What benefit does it give? I usually use the Velocity Tool to change a note's velocity.
Here's an example of how I change velocity: http://vine.co/v/bgTOF0U5evX
velocity velocity velocity velocity velocity velocity such a weird word now.
Here's an example of how I change velocity: http://vine.co/v/bgTOF0U5evX
velocity velocity velocity velocity velocity velocity such a weird word now.
show me your skeleton
Member
ha! i didn't realise you could do that, thanks!
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Glad I could help!
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Fought back and forth about whether I should invest in Symphobia 2. I'm really glad I did. This thing is POWERFUL. Wrote this quick piece in less than an hour to demonstrate: Whiskers Symphobia 2 Demo (Excuse the clipping, it was very much a rush job)
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Sylenth1, NI Massive and FM8 is all you'll really need. Shit, Massive alone is powerful and versatile enough.
Sweet, thanks man. Also wanna say your stuff is pretty dope.
Absynth is also good.
What sort of sounds are you after and for what genre of music?
Try the Fabfilter pack. You'll have an amazing Equalizer, Compressor and Delay and much more. Try to avoid using Nexus presets, you really need to learn sound design with VST's like Massive.
Mostly been producing Hip-hop, Electronic & Acoustic guitar stuff. Not sure what kind of sound I'm really looking for though, but I mostly use the piano presets and a few Bass, Saws & Classical sounds on Nexus or Vanguard, but yeah I want to try experimenting with other vst plugins.
Thanks, Will try these when I get back.
Oh shit I missed all this on the last page..
Love dat full range fat bass in the intro that gets squeezes into a lead. Sick fills too. Awesome tune all round m'man!!
For hip-hop and electronica check out Massive (as already mentioned it's a classic VSTi synth which is insane for modern bass and leads), dodge Absynth (it's ambient focused), check out U-He's Ace for more vintage bass and lead sounds and if you want some wild effects check out Camelspace and PSP Nitro. Also keep on eye on native instruments website as they've been teasing a new monster VSTi lately.
In new synth news:
http://www.waldorf-music.info/en/rocket-sythesizer.html
Analog multimode-filter (VCF) with Low Pass / Band Pass / High Pass
VCF-input
Highly flexible oscillator-section with pulse width modulation and hard sync
Up to 8 oscillators in unison for chords or Ultra High Density Sawtooth
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) for modulation
etc etc. The real drawcard is the fact it should be around $250 or so.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Thanks dude! Do post your work if you ever feel you need impressions.
Always appreciate the impressions Fuse! I'm already working on a new single lol.
Wow I did not know this. Just saw the teaser on their website. "One synth to rule them all" hmmm...
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
Anyone have any tips for mastering and eq-ing, as well as any recommended programs for it?
I've been attempting to master in Logic, but can't seem to get it down.
Can't tell if its my sub-par speakers and headphones or i'm just bad at it.
I've been attempting to master in Logic, but can't seem to get it down.
Can't tell if its my sub-par speakers and headphones or i'm just bad at it.
Speakers are important, but the right technique and approach are more important.
There are tons of videos on youtube you'll find helpful, not to mention lots of blog articles all over the web - just Google whatever specific insight you're looking for. Consider browsing/joining/lurking forums like Future Producers, Gearslutz and KVR - they have conversations about mixing and mastering all day every day.
Personally, I've used T-Racks 3 and Ozone versions 2 through 5 for mastering. I find Ozone to be superior. You don't necessarily need a specific program to do it though - you can just drop your final mix into a track in whatever DAW you use and a get an effect rack setup going with the right effects in the right order.
Generally I'd go with an effects setup in this order:
EQ>compression (sometimes)>stereo imaging>reverb>saturation>limiting
You can change the order around a bit in the middle to suit your needs, but as a rule I always keep EQ first and limiting last, with maybe a second EQ a little later in the chain if necessary.
Make sure you bounce your final mix so that it's peaking at somewhere between -3db and -6db - just leave yourself some room because all the mastering effects are going to inevitably boost your signal and you don't want it clipping before you've even started.
I generally like to EQ mid/side instead of stereo (this goes with the V-effect I'll get to on stereo imaging) - gentle low mid boost, and a gentle high side boost/low side cut. I also always cut everything below 40hz and everything above 18khz - no subsonic rumble, no unwanted hissy air, and your overall mix sounds louder because you've lessened the non-musical frequencies and given your mix more room to breathe.
With stereo imaging, you want your mix to be like the letter V. Your lower frequencies (basses) should be narrow, as close to mono as possible, while your upper frequencies (vocals and melodies) more spread out in the stereo field as they get higher. If you can handle this effectively in the mixing process, you shouldn't worry about it too much in mastering.
With saturation I always crank it up to a point of audible distortion, then reel it back in until barely audible with a nice bump in volume. There's a subtle but noticeable added fullness you get with the right saturation settings. Be careful here.
Reverb - usually a small room with short tails is enough, just enough to add a little space and presence, barely noticeable. I don't always do this, but sometimes it helps.
Hard limiting at -.2db, boosting about 3-5db usually, depending on the signal level at that point and the style of music. The more your boost the limiter, the louder you'll get, but keep in mind at some point your sound is going to start to sound squashed.
Someone may suggest multiband compression somewhere in the chain. I'm not nearly good enough to use it myself without destroying my work, but if you think you've got a grasp on it, go for it. This is probably the easiest way I've found to destroy my work.
Consider what your work sounds like on multiple devices. How does it sound on your monitors? In your car? On your phone/mp3 player? On your gaming console connected to your TV? It can very well sound good in one place and sound like total hissy shit somewhere else because maybe your monitors are dull in the high range but full in the mids and lows, or maybe your mix is muddy because your subs produce too little bass response and you're boosting the lows too much to compensate. Take notes on that stuff in various listening environments and come back to your work environment and make adjustments accordingly. You've got to learn how to most effectively work with what you've got.
Another thing to consider from the DIY perspective is that it's difficult to master your own work after listening to it for too long - it becomes harder to identify the things you might need to correct as your ears become fatigued, so it helps to step away from it for a while (days/weeks) before you attempt mastering. The upside is if you're good at mixing your own work you can get most of it right in the mix process, and mastering can simply be just limiting for loudness. There's no wrong approach per se, but just be aware it's incredibly easy to fuck things up for most people, not just you.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
New single: Sky Gazer
Tried to go for a more cheerful, trapped-in-a-videogame-world style song. Used Symphobia 2 for the staccato violin, Massive for bass and some leads, and Nexus 2 for some lead tracks and bell.
Tried to go for a more cheerful, trapped-in-a-videogame-world style song. Used Symphobia 2 for the staccato violin, Massive for bass and some leads, and Nexus 2 for some lead tracks and bell.
It's out?! Gotta get on that free upgrade.
Thanks for this. I haven't completely gotten the hang of mastering my work but your post shed some much needed light on a lot of things I'm not very well-versed in.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
Thanks so very much for that!
Looking forward to messing around and testing these.
I've been following some tutorials around the web and all of the ones i've seen have suggested the multi-compressor. I'm starting to think the Multi-pressor may have been the source of my problems. I'd get it to sound good on my studio speakers, then when I would play it in my car the levels would be way off.
Your final point brings up an interesting bit. When I first started producing, my only known 'mastering' process was just limiting for loudness. Overtime, this forced me to get better at my mixing. Now that i'm more knowledgable of my DAW, I seemed to have complicated my process with all the new plugins i've been getting and finding out about. Perhaps I'll go back to basics or find a nice middle ground.
My main reason to use hyperdraw was for setting an entire loop of notes to the exact same velocity. If you hold+click you can set a start point, then drag to an end point to set its velocity progression.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Oh sweet. I used to do that manually which would usually take some time lol. Thanks for that little tip!
gladiator
Chris Murphy
Member
I'm just working on a tune that I really like the sound of; I haven't really been able to emulate this type of sound before.
Some feedback from you guys would be great.
https://soundcloud.com/imba/midnight-drive
Some feedback from you guys would be great.
https://soundcloud.com/imba/midnight-drive
I like it.
Haven't posted in this thread before. I do random sketches once in a while but nothing serious.
Here is the track I think turned out best, would love any thoughts good or bad
https://soundcloud.com/ianbarkerspam/sketch-2
and if you're feeling generous check out this trancier track i did as well
https://soundcloud.com/ianbarkerspam/flav
Here is the track I think turned out best, would love any thoughts good or bad
https://soundcloud.com/ianbarkerspam/sketch-2
and if you're feeling generous check out this trancier track i did as well
https://soundcloud.com/ianbarkerspam/flav
I'd say you're on the right track trying to perfect the mix process. I've seen and heard plenty of mastering engineers say that their job is made easier the more competent the work of the mix engineer.
If you want to use compression, keep it simple with a tube compressor, no multiband shit. I usually go with a ratio of 2:1 or 3:1 at a threshold just 1-2db below peaking, fast attack, slow release - nothing crazy. Just be mindful of where it is in the chain depending on how you want to affect your dynamics. It definitely makes sense to put it late in the chain before limiting.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
KOMPLETE 9 announced. Welp, time for an upgrade.
Slightly tempted to upgrade due to Battery 4, but I really don't have the cash right now. I'll be interested to see what the reviews say about the changes and additions.
Here is some friends chiptune EP that he made. I feel compelled to post it somewhere as I did the cover art (which Amazon/Itunes has ruined!)
http://soundcloud.com/katsucurrytime/sets/katsucurrytime-ep1-low-quality/
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/ep1-single/id572267258
http://soundcloud.com/katsucurrytime/sets/katsucurrytime-ep1-low-quality/
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/ep1-single/id572267258
I've got a copy of Logic Pro and an Axiom 49. I'm considering selling the axiom and getting a maschine. It seems easier to learn and a better controller for what I want to do. Which is make music (moohmbahton, trap, hip hop) not score a soundtrack or master a rock bands album, which logic seems great for.
Any recommendations?
Any recommendations?
Yeah man Maschine is way better for beat creation than Logic. Maschine + Ableton is a killer combo too.
How does Maschine and Ableton differ? I thought they were kinda the same thing?
They're pretty similar in terms of clip (loop) creation and quickly jumping around between clips, but trying to arrange a full song in the Maschine software with microedits is just painful. I use Maschine to create my beats, then I muck around with those and all my other midi clips in Ableton and eventually arrange it in Ableton. Also maschine doesn't work with realtime outboard DSP effects like my LiquidMix.
If you were just doing simple hip-hop though Maschine would probably be fine.
edit: On the other hand because you're starting fresh Ableton 9 + Ableton Push is also another excellent option.
If you were just doing simple hip-hop though Maschine would probably be fine.
edit: On the other hand because you're starting fresh Ableton 9 + Ableton Push is also another excellent option.
Would this offer any advantages over Reason + Ableton?
:Motorbass
Member
Oh my gawd! KORG puts out 3 different analog grooveboxes for 150$ each! *faints*
http://www.korg.com/volcaseries
Presentation
http://www.korg.com/volcaseries
Presentation
Teknopathetic
Member
I'm digging all three of those. Price is amazing, too. An analog poly (only one osc, but still) for 150$? Sick.
I also really like the recent announcement of Softube Console 1. If you've worked with Softube plugins then you know what to expect in terms of quality. Too bad it doesn't support Rack Extensions as I try to do everything in Reason nowadays.
I have a copy of Ableton (8) intro that came with my audio interface, I'm gonna fire that up and play around for a bit before I invest in anything more.
I think the lead one is actually paraphonic, so 3 oscs that can be played at the same time but only one filter stage so each additional press either retriggers (or ignores) the filter envelope for the other two.
The bass in the presentation vid :Motorbass posted sounds a bit thin and acidy but that might be his settings coz both my monotron and monotribe an do way baassier bass than that.
The chords one sounds quite lush at times but I don't like what he does with it toward the end of the clip, it gets messy.
The drum one sounds HUGE but he doesn't change up the pattern or use the stutter features or anything.
Based on what I've seen the drum one excites me most with the Electribe style step sequencer and that huge kick but I'm confident that the other two will sound way better than what they do in that video.
Even if they aren't to the sound quality of some of my other outboard gear, the fun factor on these can't be beat, I can't wait to chain em all up and get tweakin.
Teknopathetic
Member
Ah, I suppose paraphony would be more realistic.
I think they're intentionally aiming for something 303-ish with the bass one.
I think they're intentionally aiming for something 303-ish with the bass one.