Random Production Tips Thread™

[forensix (mcr)]

We all pick up little pearls of wisdom whilst producing so share some of them. I'll start;

1. Save regularly (esp on PC's)

2. When you make a wicked sound save it as a preset (i used to spend ages going through old tracks to find a sound ive made)

3. if you get a bit of writers block make some loops with a synth and some effects and save them in a folder: you may find a use for them one day or after a couple of hours try making a tune out of them you get inspired

4. Sometimes a break does you good

someone else can go

and please don't post unless you are going to spread some wealth

[westernsynthetics]

record your own shit as much as possible

and dont get stoned too often when making beats...you will end up EQing a snare for 5 hours rather than making music.

ohh...and break up with your girlfriend and quit your job if you want to make as many tracks a skream.

[whineo]

- Before you get into your 6th straight hour of working on the same tune - stop - sleep on it and then Listen to your tune with fresh ears in the morning.

- Use top quality samples and be mindful of where the sound's detail is in the frequency range

- If you are only playing your tunes to your friends - rather than offer constructive criticism - they will probably just give you praise regardless. Get an independant opinion from someone who knows the genre.

- Search this forum and others relating to the software/hardware you are using.

[Sub Shifter]

record your own shit as much as possible

and dont get stoned too often when making beats...you will end up EQing a snare for 5 hours rather than making music.

ohh...and break up with your girlfriend and quit your job if you want to make as many tracks a skream.

lol truth right dere

[daft cunt]

- Better have less gears and know them at 100%

- Read your manuals again & again

- Learn about layering, that's how a beat or a bass get deep

- Compress and EQ what needs it using a spectrum view

- If you mute a track and your tune doesn't sound less good, delete it

- Dubstep loves reverb

[cryptic]

Save regularly (esp on PC's)

- Essential!

don't get stoned too often when making beats

- in my mind thats rubbish, i think smoking gets you more in zone, and i also come up with a lot more great ideas....([tb]hats me anyway[/b])

Each to there own

Compress every single track,

- why would you do that? you don't want be compressing everything. Why compress something that doesn't need compression?


Regular Breaks

id also get two monitors wired - makes life so much easier

[thesynthesist]

Frequent bathroom visits never help

[mrhope]

* Don't believe every bit of audio advice you get until you've tested it out yourself and know it to be true as fact. There's a lot of people out there with slightly bogus information about pro audio.

* Stay sober and in control.

[powerpill]

u know about fucking about with eq-ing when stoned, its ridiculous but sometimes bears some wicked results, its best to do final mix down completely sober as drugs affect the muscles in your ears, for instance if you listen to a mix that someone has done on coke you will prbobably notice that theres far to much high end

[narcossist]

don't have the sub set too loud, route it to a mono group and use high passed sends rather than inserts to increase its presence

use a reference when mixing

panning is useful

use efx in at intervals - if they're omnipresent you don't notice their effect

sample grooves rather than using strictly metronomic grids

overly clean mixes sound sterile

reverb used lightly on the master or as a send on all channels glues the track together

never get a job in a hotel

[AFL]

never get a job in a hotel

bahahaha. That's so funny. I'm an AV tech for a hotel here in Vancouver and you're right, the people can be a pain in the ass. My job isn't so bad but I watch the house staff deal with shit all day.

[cryptic]

Try to remove un wanted frequencies rather than boosting!

Paz frequency is very useful

[AFL]

Try to remove un wanted frequencies rather than boosting!

Paz frequency is very useful

Thats great advice. If there is one thing I learned in school it was that.

[gravious]

1. Save regularly (esp on PC's)

...and back-up very regularly, whenever you get a decent producing session in. For your regular backup, an external flash drive or hard drive is good. I feel its not a bad idea to do a recordable media backup now and again, DVDs have shit loads of storage, so they work well. Then put the DVD in a nuclear bunker, in a hermetically sealed container. Its the only way to be sure.

This has saved my ass before (apart from the bunker bit) so I'd recommend it. Even though you might have backed up versions of older/finished projects, it's still gutting losing a new exciting project that you just started.

4. Sometimes a break does you good

yup! Give your ears a rest. You will notice the difference. It also gives you advanced warning when something isn't sitting right in a tune. If you don't have a break you sometimes don't notice till a lot later, leading to a lot more work sorting it out...

[forensix (mcr)]

-Saturation is your friend - esp PSP mixsaturator

-Set up a template project to start with on every tune - mine currently in cubase is 10 Audio Tracks 10 Midi Tracks 3 Sends (FX tracks) Reverb, Delay, Distortion/Saturation

-i reiterate the point about reading manuals this is very important

[crytek]

I think the two best ways to learn the art of producion are:

1. Practice

2. Collab on a track with friends


The first one.. well that's common sense. No sense in wasting time, TAKE ACTION!!

The second... my knowledge and passon has elevated a great deal by collaborating with others. I really like it when after a session or tune is done, I've learn so many tips from them, and passed some of my knowledge to them. Also, we did do a myth busters type thing and proved which techniques worked - for US- and which didn't.




oh.. and layer your sounds.


and also resample


and finally, layer some more [/b]

[cryptic]

Another thing i do is!

while your making your tune, have a break and listen to another tune that is well mixed down, it gives you an idea where your levels should be. this always helps me!


Also when when your listening back to your tune, try and sit some where else in the room, don't just sit on pc/mac chair. I find it great standing in the corner or in hall way. Listening to it a different way, gives you a better perspective of the beat, especially the low ends!

[gravious]

Turn off AIM!

You'll get a lot more done...

[shonky]

Turn off AIM!

You'll get a lot more done...

And msn. And dubstep forum. Never ever open youtube. Visit your myspace page maybe once a month. Never ever go near the internet ever

[cryptic]

your lucky u can have it on @ the same time lol

my pc could never handle that