Producing dubstep in FL Studio for dummies.

[Aldal]

Soundcloud

This is maybe a better example of what you CAN do with NI Massive. A good quality filthy bassline convince people to continue listening!

[RandoRando]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^cool song, but dont use modern talking -_-

[Teknicyde]

Equalizers

Sounds occur on three different levels highs, mids and lows. Equalizers allow you to remove certain sounds and boost others.

No, sounds are measured in frequency (wavecycles per second), and there are literally infinite numbers of frequencies for energetic waves to travel, this is why you dont hear the light in the corner of your room... not 3 level... infinitely divisible increments. EQ's work by boosting or lowering certain frequencies of sound, its impossible to completely remove them, only progressively make them quieter and quieter.

Parametric EQ

The parametric equalizer is good for controlling the frequency level of sounds. It has some nice presets that can be tweaked such as “bass drum punch”, “hi hat sizzle” and “snare drum enhance” no prizes for guessing what instruments you would use these on though

Id never use presets. Id put a spectrum analyzer after the EQ, and treat each sound as the unique task that it is.

Filters

Fl has two filters but in my opinion the “free filter” is far better. Filters are a good way of tweaking the frequency of sounds; this is an excellent way to make your samples sound a lot different (in a good way)

Filters and Eq's are the same thing, typically a filter is used to refer to an EQ with 24db or higher decibel per octave slope. There is no reason to say the free filter is 'better' - if anything, it is far less accurate and customizable then the 'fruity filter', which allows you to customize the the response in 3 band mode, and has a knob which switches from 24db/octave to 48 9thats the 2x knob you see)

Delay and Reverb

Delay and reverb are somewhat similar they both produce an effect that is almost like echo. Delay and reverb sound great on snares, hi hats and cymbals. However reverb and delay should be used sparingly as too much can sound unpleasant.

Delay and reverb are very dissimilar, reverbs use algorithms to simulate room-reflections one would otherwise only experience through microphone recording, delay's do just that, cause the signal to wait a moment before being played. Delays, in modern definition, usually feature a feedback loop, with the delay time and feedback aounts being customizable, and will often include an EQ or filter post-signal but 'in the middle' of the feedback loop.

Compressor

Compression evens out your tracks making the loud parts quieter and the quiet parts louder when the monitor is excessively red (peaking) you should think about using compression (usually on loud sounds such as bass drums). Or panning other instruments to create space within the track.

Compression reduces dynamic range and shapes transients, and it doesnt TOTALLY make 'the loud parts quieter and the quiet parts louder', it reduces the peaks, and then the make-up gain increases the overall volume, inadvertently making the quiet parts 'louder', though technically, the compression doesnt effect them, the gaining them up to fill the newly created headroom does. If your using compression to 'level things out' your probably pushing into the limiter realm, and missing out on the wonderful aspects of transient modification that compression can offer.

To make sense of the nonsense knobs on a compressor = attack is the ammount of tie after a peak is detected that it takes for the compressor to become active and begin reducing, and decay is the amount of time after the attack it takes to return to the original dynamic range before responding again... The ratio is how much reduction occurs during this time, in ratio format... So a ratio of 8:1 will make something 1db louder then the threshold, 8 times lower in dynamic... The threshold is how much power the signal mmust output before the compression takes effect...

So, say, 1.5ms attack, 10ms decay, 8:1 ratio, -12db threshold... Everything above -12db will be reduced 8x its typical peak power after 1.5ms, and will be reduced proportionate for 15ms afterwords (sharp attack and decay)...

Think about this when thinking about compression and limiting... Imagine this slash (/) is the attack of a kickdrum... if you cut the slash in half horizontally, the slash would be the same angle, but cover less distance... The attack of the kick will be the same basic angle, but a shorter tie will be needed to reach its peak.

hard shit to explain really, fiddle with it.

I just fealt like your definitions were TOO lamens really, dont be afraid to expose newbies to the science of what their doing, you should never dumb things down for people, they can be expected to think just as hard as everyone else about these concepts, with-holding or simplifying definitions, in the end, is crippling.

And none of this is FLStudio exclusive.

[alita]

@Teknicyde

Man oh Man,

Your reply, the way you approach the teaching, I salute,

I joined this forum ´cos I am loving the dubstep and have wet fantasies at night of doing my own remix, having zero music theory experience, zero computer (FL let alone others knowledge) I know that my dream is going to stay that way unless I put an enormous and massive amount of effort and learning on it. So I lurk and lurk until I can make sense of the beginners tutorials ,at least, and in order to reduce noise and keep the signal clean, and your reply somehow gives me hope, and wanted to thank you for that.

Pure class.

Also thanks to the OP, sometimes it takes a beginner to understand a beginner, and blessed is he who encounters a master with the patience and will to share some, like Teknicyde did.