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I finally had this epiphany: Quit trying to make the gnarliest sound possible straight out of the synth...Every time. I've realized that some of the heaviest tunes rely on contrast between sounds, and that some of the simplest sounds with just a bit of added distortion for crunch/beef is the way to look at making a heavy tune. Otherwise, the whole tune doesn't really come out of the lower register.

I started to really listen to some tunes yesterday, all the while, keeping in mind one very profound statement: "Would I ever think to make/design a sound like that?"...Just about 9 out of 10 times, I found myself answering "No" to that question. And then I was able to realize that I need to quit trying to make the heaviest sound every time I open a synth. A little distortion/fx goes a long way in the overall feel of organizing sounds for the arrangement, and creating a monster tune.

There are some absolute gem Reaktor ensembles out there if you're willing to dig around. From synths and effects that mimic some classic hardware to stuff made specifically for what you're after (certain filters, reeses, delays etc). I'm honestly surprised more people aren't all over these things

Today I was going through some old project files. I may have gotten a fifth? of the way through. I deleted a lot of them and saved some things like patches. I also found myself learning what I do and do not like in my projects. Maybe try the same.

A good a capella works really well. Hearing Bjork or Massive Attack becomes a highlight.

Bro. I eaither really like, or personally do a good job of aggressive vocal basses.

Sample from tunes. The best drum sample I heard had some other sound over it, cut out with an enveloped lowpass filter. My immediate reaction was "that has great atmosphere," thinking it had some reverb on it.

Layer snares in dubstep. Related to the above, the corresponding snare was pretty thin sounding with the filtering. It really should have been layered.

Acid. A repeating sequence with a slowly moving filter still sounds good.

I learned that you can save pad defaults in able tons drum rack.
What i did was change from simpler to sampler,and put it in an instrument rack, then mapped the pitch peak to macro 1. That way any time i drop a sample onto a pad in the drum rack, i can tune the sample on the fly. Pretty handy.

i learned nothing this week

Learned this week:-

-Switching into FIR mode in DMG equilibrium allows me to access the impulses of the EQ's (Mastering)
-Also slowly trying to get off compression and use what compression I do have on now more intelligently (Mixing)
-Stop over thinking (DJ'ing)

ehbrums1 wrote:i learned nothing this week

I has no time for that.

Yeah my DJ'ing has just gotten significantly tighter. Like Outboudn said, less overthinking. If I keep up I can play nights by December.

antman wrote:Sometimes an envelope is more useful than an LFO.

Performer is vastly superior to both

Icetickle wrote:

ehbrums1 wrote:i learned nothing this week

I has no time for that.

i have no time for music

What foldback distortion actually does to a sound wave.

dubunked wrote:What foldback distortion actually does to a sound wave.

shock and awe it does what its says it is

ehbrums1 wrote:

dubunked wrote:What foldback distortion actually does to a sound wave.

shock and awe it does what its says it is

hahaha exactly

My mixes suck lol.. Actually trying to learn how to get a "wider" mix.. mine are sounding too "straight".

Gurnumsbug wrote:My mixes suck lol.. Actually trying to learn how to get a "wider" mix.. mine are sounding too "straight".

Spreading the higher frequencies and leaving the low centered.

That you can just right click the reason mixer and create an effect and it just adds it as a send. wow. how did i not realise, i have been creating them by dragging wires a round for ages now lol.
shit tip but eh.
also gurnumsbug i always thought your mixes sounded lush )

Sinestepper wrote:That you can just right click the reason mixer and create an effect and it just adds it as a send. wow. how did i not realise, i have been creating them by dragging wires a round for ages now lol.

tbh it's not that big a deal it's all just means to a send.

kill me now. i'm done.

I learned nothing cause college+work sucks all my time away

fuck my life.

ParasiTTe wrote:I learned nothing cause college+work sucks all my time away

fuck my life.

That sucks ass.

Sinestepper wrote:also gurnumsbug i always thought your mixes sounded lush )

Cheers mate! I've been listening to a lot of stuff lately and realized I sound like a diet garage producer. Need to step up my mix game.