Random Production Tips Thread™

[notch]

In terms of work flow, one thing I can say is:

LEARN THE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

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PRODUCTION NINJA

Even general computing - I only learned last year you can select a bunch of shit at once by holding down shift and clicking the last point....sad

HAHAHAHA me Too and I have been using computers forever...

[melodik]

start a track with the end product in mind. like build up a loop with minimal or no freq conflicts, this will help make the eq process a lot easier. make sure the source is as good as you can get it cause no eq'ng, comp etc. will get it to sound good if it soundd shyte to start with

[wub]

Seeing as it's Friday and I've got a full weekend starting at FL ahead of me, though it might be an idea to share any production tips people have picked up recently.

I'll start with a pretty standard one;

Analyse those frequncies - Stick a frequency analyser on the master channel. If your having trouble identifying a muddy element in your mix you can solo channels and identify tracks that may have overlapping frequencies and therefore bringing you headroom up. Eq them as need for clarity.

[wub]

My thang is to set up a detailed template which you can use as a good starting point for any project.

I've got one of those setup in FL - side chain setup on the drum/bassline channels, group channel for percussion with Blockfish running as standard, spectrum analyser, compressor (turned off) and Big Clock running on the Master.

Oh nad you can use pretty colours on all the different groups - I like the pretty colours

Yeah, that too

[r]

http://www.dynamicrange.de/en/download





A tool that goes against the loudness war.

[lojik]

My thang is to set up a detailed template which you can use as a good starting point for any project. I set up filters on each of the channels to weed out super low end and split the bass into low and hi channels with a mono utility on the bass and whatever effects like overdrive on the top - I also now leave a little gap between the two as per Macc's advice in the gain structure thread.
This all takes a bit of non music making time but once its up your work flow speed increases to cos all the dull little jobs like setting up drum groups and stuff is all ready to go out of the box.

Oh and you can use pretty colours on all the different groups - I like the pretty colours

I like the friday help threads - the last one had some cool tips in!

I really need to get round to doing this. Really can't be bothered though lol.

My tip would be regarding writers block, KEEP TRYING. Even if you sit down at the computer 3 times a day and only stay there for 20 minutes, if you keep going back you WILL start a tune that you like sooner rather than later.

[wub]

A tool that goes against the loudness war.

What does it do exactly? And how would one go about using it?

[nellon]

Good sample selection is half of the work

[r]

its a tool telling you how many dynamics your track has. A track that isnt well mixed and is limited to the max will have no dynamics. If producers already mark the dynamics with this tool. They probably gonna solve their mix. Master engineers could master ur tracks better etc.

it searches the most silence point of your track and your peak. the db's between that is your dynamic range. If your dynamic range is too high, you know you could compress some peaks. after compressing the peaks you can put up your volume of the tune again.

[lojik]

Great little tool, thanks for that!

[r]

no problem. for more tricks and tips give a shout

[r]

tip on compressing :

put treshhold on maximum.. like -50db
ratio on 1:30
attack on 0
release 0

NOW start with adjusting the attack. till you got the attack you like. The little punchieness. Don't overdo it sometimes it doesnt take lots of ms.

Adjust the release till it sounds balanced. Probably you'll hear 'gated' kinda shit of your sample/midi info. Put the release in a setting you like, but remember till it sounds balanced and not overdone. It has to stand on its own and still have the power of it.

Put the setting of your ratio. Listen till it sounds natural and clean/correct compressed.

after that put down the treshhold so it sounds like non-compressed but its still working.


This is something my sound engineer learned me. It's a bit hard in the beginning. It takes some (years of) practice. But this is the most easy and logical way to compress things instead of guessing the settings. That what's told me and i think the same nowadays

[james fox]

yep this is a technique also known as the safecracking method...

[macc]

I've always set the release first but it's a great method

My tip to throw into the pot:

EQ loud, compress quiet, work sure, work fast.

[wub]

Kicks - Layer them, get a nice subby one, layer a clicky fast transient kick and eq to perfection. Also if you kick is full try removing 50% or so from the back of it to use as an intro kick drum. When you paste the full kicks audio after the first drop you will notice a more urgent feel.

[r]

a trick with kick layerin.

if you got 2 kicks and you cant eq the 2nd one the way you want it. Try to invert the phase. Sometimes the kick will merge very very very nice into your first kick. This trick doesnt work always ofcourse haha. But at least you can try after eqing your butt off

[connection]

A: Try something different! If you're train of thought is hindering your progress in producing something, then throw in a few random samples and mash them to get a whole new sound and feel going. (I recently did this and it's cleared my writers block that I had for 2 months!).

B: Log off from DSF! No distractions = Muchos more tunage!

[kapital]

Can somebody explain in a lot of detail about splitting the bassline? I tried last night and got a little frustrated. Wasn't sounding as strong as I wanted...although this obviously has nothing to do with the method and everything to do with what I'm doing.

Thanks