Here to become an ARTIST, not a copycat. PLEASE HELP!!!

[mromgwtf]

Another tip: Back in time when I was a shitty producer (I'm not good now but I have some experience now ), to make my track not clip, instead of gently compressing different busses and playing with their volumes... I just put a limiter on my master. That is the worst thing you can do.

I actually keep my busses at low volume and put a gained up limiter on the master. If it clips I turn down the gain, but my ears and speakers are still protected.

no

[Triphosphate]

Another tip: Back in time when I was a shitty producer (I'm not good now but I have some experience now ), to make my track not clip, instead of gently compressing different busses and playing with their volumes... I just put a limiter on my master. That is the worst thing you can do.

I actually keep my busses at low volume and put a gained up limiter on the master. If it clips I turn down the gain, but my ears and speakers are still protected.

I guess to each his own, but I don't see the point in this. You're mixing quietly, then boosting the gain on the master to the point that you have to go back and tweak the gain to keep from clipping? Why not just mix quietly and raise your monitor's volume? I can understand if you have a bypassed limiter on your master that you occasionally toggle on and off to get an idea as to how loud you can push it, or having a limiter on the master that does nothing but act as a ceiling at 0db for protection. But to keep your busses low and then have to stay on top of your limiter's gain you might as well have just mixed with your busses loud.

[Gravehill]

I listened to that Kesha remix, I really like the kick you used in that song.

I think your number one priority over everything should be improving sound design

[Gravehill]

Holy shit man.. I have one tip. STOP USING OVER DISTORTED LOUD MODERN TALKING

Hey, thanks for the tip. How productive.... So got any real advice? Or do you prefer being a jerk towards those who are legitimately taking this $h!t seriously and trying to learn? How obnoxious. But if you'd like to contribute to productive conversation rather than play grammar police, I'm all ears.

To be fair, its a good tip

[Gravehill]

Does anybody think Massive has it's limitations or any weaknesses in creating instruments? I know it's probably the best for making bass sounds, but what about all the other sounds? Is there any reason I should invest in another plug-in> I've already invested a ton just for Massive because someone assured me I couldn't go wrong. Took forever just to save for it, just didn't wanna be misled.. I really haven't got into sound design enough to know all the capabilities it does possess. I plan on reading the Sound Design thread tonight. Just noticed it today.. Was it just posted recently?

You should generally stick to a small amount of plug-ins and learn them in and out. Massive is great, you werent mislead. Learn as much as you can about it

[mromgwtf]

I listened to that Kesha remix, I really like the kick you used in that song.

I think your number one priority over everything should be improving sound design

NO
NO FUCK NO
BULLLLLLLLLSHIT

FIRST WORK ON YOUR MUSIC THEORY SKILLS AND CREATIVITY THEN WORK ON SOUND DESIGN SO YOU WON'T' BECOME ANOTHER SHITTY BRO PRODUCER

[Gravehill]

FIRST WORK ON YOUR MUSIC THEORY SKILLS AND CREATIVITY THEN WORK ON SOUND DESIGN SO YOU WON'T' BECOME ANOTHER SHITTY BRO PRODUCER

He should make whatever the hell music he wants to make. What Im saying is that based on what Ive heard on his soundcloud he needs to focus on sound design and learning his synths as a top priority, because IMO that is what is most lacking in his tunes. I dont think this guy wants to be the next Burial or Mala (and even if he did sound design would be right up there on the list of priorities)

And how do you work on creativity exactly?

[Grime Syndicate]

AAAAAAAaaaaanyways, as has been said, there's no shortcut to hard work and dedication. However, there are a few companies putting out some solid tutorials that aren't "some 12 year old" who doesn't know a compressor from a limiter. Soooo, in no particular order, peep tuts from Ask Video, Artist Pro Series, Audio School Online, bluewater-vst, Ben Rosser's Conservatorium of Audio, FM8Tutorials.com, Groove 3, all of the Computer Music Magazine artist Masterclasses, as there is some real gold in a handful of them (some really repetitive shit too, so take what you need n leave the rest), Digital Music Dr., FaderPro, Lynda.com, MacProVideo.com, MassiveSynth(.com?), MixNotes.tv, MPC-Tutorials, Mr.Bill, Music-Courses.com, Nicks Tutorials, PlatinumEars.com, PureMix, SonicAcademy.com, Tom Cosm, and last but not least, Dubspot.com. Now, there is some real google-fodder GOLD, so go get to searching, then get to tor.....erm, buying some of these tuts, and learn something why dontcha?

[Genevieve]

Thread fulla people try'na teach what can't be taught. Write tunes. Whatever happens, happens. If you're a creative person this'll shine through. 'Forcing creativity' will put you in that spot where you'll do all the things that are 'normally considered creative', that are actually just cheesy and dramatic sounding.

I started out as a Flashbulb copycat, but I evolved as I changed as a person, artist and found new ways to channel my creativity. At this point in time as a producer, I can see influences from stuff I was listening when I was 12, 15, 16, 19, etc in my sound. People have told me there's a definite 'me' sound to my trax (though I don't hear it haha) but honestly, I don't worry about it. Write tunes that make you happy and fullfil the desire you want them to fullfill. If you channel your creativity through sound design rather than composition or melodic progression, then make that work for you and fuck what other people are saying. THEIR modus operandi isn't important to you. If you're a minimalist rather than a maximalist, be that minimalist and ignore the maximalists who think they 'know' how it 'should' be done. While you're writing tune after tune, most of those heads spend more time berating others online than writing their own.

Do what makes you happy and only put thought in things that require thought.

[BrainSick]

It seems obvious everyone has their own opinion and I appreciate the various perspectives. Really, they're all beneficial. To address creativity... Most of my stuff has been silly remixes but mostly because I wanted to have groundwork already laid out so I could focus more on the production. Writing some half assed bass line and some leads, risers etc. and then learn to EQ, compress, filter and chop and rearrange. I haven't put up my newest project but it's actually pretty damn cool. I'm having trouble getting the vocals how I want, though. Basically, I recorded vovals (not lyrics or singing) and slapped an effect on them that I found in audio effects. Basically the effect makes the pitch of the voice adjustable. I lowered the pitch about 3 db (I think) and it gave me that "devil-ish" shounding voice I was going for. Problem was it's not really clear. Also, the volume is low so I slapped an effect which boosts gain and I can choose "blues" "rock & roll" "clean" etc. I chose clean and boosted gain a tad. Anybody seen that effect before? Not at my computer right now so can't remember the exact effect.

Anyways, that fixed my gain issue. Problem is, when I pitched it down it lost clarity, obviously. It's still semi-clear but not as clear as I would like with the words.. What would I do to clear those up? I'm also still tossing around releasing it as an "Intro" track, with the possibility of finishing it out with a drop and a full song. I really like the idea of it being just a little intro, though. It's pretty cool. If I can clear up my vox, I'll release it later today as an intro for you all to hear (if you're interested). I promise, it's not horrible production this time... All the other production is pretty much done. I may EQ a little and compress a little but for the most part the synths are not operating in a conflicting manner, so only issue is the vox. I think some of you may actually like my composition on that one. It's simple in dynamics but the melody is fairly complex so it sounds good.

[Icetickle]

I listened to that Kesha remix, I really like the kick you used in that song.

I think your number one priority over everything should be improving sound design

NO
NO FUCK NO
BULLLLLLLLLSHIT

FIRST WORK ON YOUR MUSIC THEORY SKILLS AND CREATIVITY THEN WORK ON SOUND DESIGN SO YOU WON'T' BECOME ANOTHER SHITTY BRO PRODUCER

Yea, some basic music theory and arrangement come first. And listening to mromgwtf is your best bet, don't mind the CAPS

[Gravehill]

I listened to that Kesha remix, I really like the kick you used in that song.

I think your number one priority over everything should be improving sound design

NO
NO FUCK NO
BULLLLLLLLLSHIT

FIRST WORK ON YOUR MUSIC THEORY SKILLS AND CREATIVITY THEN WORK ON SOUND DESIGN SO YOU WON'T' BECOME ANOTHER SHITTY BRO PRODUCER

Yea, some basic music theory and arrangement come first. And listening to mromgwtf is your best bet, don't mind the CAPS

I agree but judging by the stuff hes already made, theory isnt what is bottlenecking him at all. The theory required to make this stuff is so minimal - chords + extensions, note divisions, modes, and not much else really. Mixing and sound design is what he is really going to have to sink a lot of time in to.

[BrainSick]

Yeah, I just started getting into mixing recently and it's quite a complicated and in depth process. Probably consumes more time than anything else IMO. And sound design is a major work in progress... Always. I would like to have enough knowledge that I don't have to use a preset or alter one if I dont want to. If I wanted to sit down and design a specific sound, I could. I understand how to fix up envelopes to fit what I want. It's the Wavetable I have trouble with, sort of. I understand there's like a Square-Sin and if you turn it to the left you get only square, turn it to the right you get only sin blah blah... I ubderstand how to detune and drop/raise an octave or whatever. I mostly need to understand filters.. What do they all do? Obviously the HP, LP are easy but what about notch and some others? I know how to route oscillators to filters, I know how to put fx in and EQ in although, I'm not always sure which to choose and what to boost. I know what noise is and amp and that there's different "colors" of noise that make different sounds. I know how to add voicing and what effect that has, I know rate modulation or sync modulation, I know glide and how to adjust the "time" of that. Don't completely understand performer but I think that just takes practice and messing around and it comes to me as I go, I kinda figure it out. I'm sure I'm missing a lot. I just don't know the in depth stuff... Like I can't just go in and make something quickly because I don't get all the little things that must be understood to make a sound. Like understanding the waveforms, modulations and stuff like that. There's a lot of complex stuff that I just don't know yet. Practice practice practice... I know.

[BrainSick]

Hey, I know sound design is pretty universal as far as the waveforms, frequency, cutoff blah blah.... Any good tutorials out there for Massive, specifically? I know there's tons of videos on youtube to make different patches like "How to make a skrillex growl" but I'm talking more about a tutorial on the interface and how to use each element and what results you will get by applying those? Haven't really ran across one of those, yet. And that was kinda the point of this thread. Trying to understand how to do things MY way and not copying sounds that people have copied from skrillex and knife party and such. While these sounds (some ) are cool sounds, I'm not gaining a damn thing by copying. And certainly not understanding it the way I should. I'm more interested in LEARNING what the hell it is I'm doing than STEALING someone's sound. Kinda defeats the purpose of being an artist. And where's the creativity in that???

[Crimsonghost]

I agree but judging by the stuff hes already made, theory isnt what is bottlenecking him at all. The theory required to make this stuff is so minimal - chords + extensions, note divisions, modes, and not much else really. Mixing and sound design is what he is really going to have to sink a lot of time in to.

You can fake sound design. Just grab a good sample pack or get some "dubstep" presets for massive. You can NOT fake music theory. If you know how to write a good tune, thats going to far overshadow any shortcomings you have with sound design.

[Triphosphate]

Basically the effect makes the pitch of the voice adjustable. I lowered the pitch about 3 db (I think)

I suspect you mean 3 semitones or octaves. Not coming down on you for it or anything. Just saying that you need to gain a good understanding of the terminology you're using so that you can understand what you might hear in a video and communicate successfully with other producers. Decibels is a measurement of loudness/amplitude. Octave/Semitones/Hertz are a measurement of frequency=pitch.

I mostly need to understand filters.. What do they all do? Obviously the HP, LP are easy but what about notch and some others?

A notch filter is a lowpass and highpass arranged in a way that a band of frequencies is cut out, creating a notch in the frequency response. It's the exact opposite of a bandpass, which is a lowpass and highpass arranged in such a way that only a band of frequencies is being heard, thus the band in bandpass. A comb filter is a series of notch filters. Most filters are lowpass/hicut, highpass/lowcut, notch/band-reject, and bandpass.

Don't completely understand performer but I think that just takes practice and messing around and it comes to me as I go, I kinda figure it out.

Performer is like a LFO, a low frequency oscillator, in that it's used to give instructions to another parameter. Try hooking up the performer to a filter's cutoff to give you an idea as to how it works.

Practice practice practice... I know.

Yup.

[Crimsonghost]

Hey, I know sound design is pretty universal as far as the waveforms, frequency, cutoff blah blah.... Any good tutorials out there for Massive, specifically? I know there's tons of videos on youtube to make different patches like "How to make a skrillex growl" but I'm talking more about a tutorial on the interface and how to use each element and what results you will get by applying those? Haven't really ran across one of those, yet. And that was kinda the point of this thread. Trying to understand how to do things MY way and not copying sounds that people have copied from skrillex and knife party and such. While these sounds (some ) are cool sounds, I'm not gaining a damn thing by copying. And certainly not understanding it the way I should. I'm more interested in LEARNING what the hell it is I'm doing than STEALING someone's sound. Kinda defeats the purpose of being an artist. And where's the creativity in that???

The problem with youtube is that you're not really going to get any info on how to properly use you're synth. Mostly just videos of guys doing stuff, but not telling you why your doing it. As someone said above, there are some good vids out there, but there usually on pay sites. MacProVideo and Massive Synth are a couple good ones. Aside from that, you should really try to reverse engineer some patches that you like. It will defiantly give you a better understudying of how the synth works.

[BrainSick]

Basically the effect makes the pitch of the voice adjustable. I lowered the pitch about 3 db (I think)

I suspect you mean 3 semitones or octaves. Not coming down on you for it or anything. Just saying that you need to gain a good understanding of the terminology you're using so that you can understand what you might hear in a video and communicate successfully with other producers. Decibels is a measurement of loudness/amplitude. Octave/Semitones/Hertz are a measurement of frequency=pitch.

Ah! Hz is what I meant. Couldn't think of it at hand. Sorry, like I said I'm getting used to the terminology. So yes, it was -3Hz. Any idea how to clean them up? When I lowered it, it gave it slight tistortion and obviously the pitch changed making it harder to understand. If you know what the vox are saying, you understand it. I let a couple people listen and they got it for the most part, but I want it to be clearer.

[Crimsonghost]

Basically the effect makes the pitch of the voice adjustable. I lowered the pitch about 3 db (I think)

I suspect you mean 3 semitones or octaves. Not coming down on you for it or anything. Just saying that you need to gain a good understanding of the terminology you're using so that you can understand what you might hear in a video and communicate successfully with other producers. Decibels is a measurement of loudness/amplitude. Octave/Semitones/Hertz are a measurement of frequency=pitch.

Ah! Hz is what I meant. Couldn't think of it at hand. Sorry, like I said I'm getting used to the terminology. So yes, it was -3Hz. Any idea how to clean them up? When I lowered it, it gave it slight tistortion and obviously the pitch changed making it harder to understand. If you know what the vox are saying, you understand it. I let a couple people listen and they got it for the most part, but I want it to be clearer.

When you lower the pitch of a sound its tends to distort and or slowdown the waveform making it harder to understand. Usually if your re-pitching something, youll only want to go a couple semitones before it starts to sound shit. You can usually go a bit further than that with percussion because its not as complex. Best bet is to get a sampler that can accurately lower the pitch without distorting it. Or something like Melodyne or Auto Tune, which are both dedicated pitch correction software.

[Triphosphate]

Basically the effect makes the pitch of the voice adjustable. I lowered the pitch about 3 db (I think)

I suspect you mean 3 semitones or octaves. Not coming down on you for it or anything. Just saying that you need to gain a good understanding of the terminology you're using so that you can understand what you might hear in a video and communicate successfully with other producers. Decibels is a measurement of loudness/amplitude. Octave/Semitones/Hertz are a measurement of frequency=pitch.

Ah! Hz is what I meant. Couldn't think of it at hand. Sorry, like I said I'm getting used to the terminology. So yes, it was -3Hz. Any idea how to clean them up? When I lowered it, it gave it slight tistortion and obviously the pitch changed making it harder to understand. If you know what the vox are saying, you understand it. I let a couple people listen and they got it for the most part, but I want it to be clearer.

::facepalm::
Not 3 hz... if you changed the pitch by 3 hertz you wouldn't notice. 3 semitones or 3 octaves. a semitone is like a key on the keyboard, there are 12 of them per octave and every octave represents a doubling of the hertz. 880 Hz which is A5 is one octave above A4 at 440 Hz. There are 12 semitones equidistantly placed between these logarithmic octaves.

The understandability of the human voice lies somewhere between 4000 and 8000 hz. I would try boosting this range in your vocal signal BEFORE you apply pitch processing. If you do it after, this frequency range will move down too.

Also, I edited in some more answers to your questions in my above post.