Random Production Tips Thread™

[Wikum]

don't expect to make a load of money. get educated in something else too. i've recently had a back operation and now i can't do the line of work i've been employed in since leaving school (construction). next year when i'm 100% recovered i've gotta find a new career. hopefully i'll get somewhere with my music in 2011 too.

[AnalGangstaHo]

Don't get a day job.

[Trebek]

I would say learn as much as you can about audio engineering. I just finished up school for audio engineering and it has really helped me with understanding how everything works in the DAW, even though some of our classes were Pro Tools and Logic specific. But actually learning what is happening when you turn this knob or do this or that is a great help. Still working on actually taking the ideas in the head to make a song though is a different process for myself.

Also definitely get a comfortable place where you don't mind being for hours on end. A desk that isn't cluttered as shit, have your monitors aimed at the PRIME listening/mixing position, get to know your room and the acoustics of it. If you have a microphone you can download demo software called Smaart and run pink noise through your monitors and actually be able to "perfectly" align your monitors.

ALSO comfortable chair is a must. And I must say I've been browsing this forum for a while, just joined but I gotta say everything in here is such a GREAT help!

Thanks!

[egoless]

"The heart of music is silence"

"Songs cannot be finished, just abandoned"

[Basic A]

"The heart of music is silence"

"Songs cannot be finished, just abandoned"

[3za]

Don't quit your day job.

Fixed.

[tylerblue]

You can't polish a turd -- be patient with sample selection.

[deadly_habit]

You can't polish a turd -- be patient with sample selection.

but it's easier to work with the highest quality samples you can get as less time is spent making them sound good/filtering and eqing out the crap

[zuta]

In digital cut the highs (thats something i do a lot now )

learn your tools , experiment , make test (all the boring stuff)

Read the manual

Stop using internet when you are producing

organize your sample library

thats for now

[antipode]

sub iz gud

[jobbanaught]

You can't polish a turd -- be patient with sample selection.

good one

[Bass Music]

Aside from the standard mixing low, adding reverb, compression, lfo2cutoffzlol etc. there are obviously many techniques a lot of people on the forum haven't come across. This is the thread for posting any useful techniques! With the right contribution this thread could be gold
Write as little or as much as you want about the techniques, I'm sure people will be able to work it out from a line or so and a bit of googling...I have written a fair bit though just to get the ball rolling

Remember, anything goes! even if it's been said before (reminders are helpful) or even if it's a strange one, as long as it's useful then it's all good.

I'll start:

Kick drum stereo imaging (for cutting through in the mix, getting a fatter sound and making the imaging more interesting than mono)
I saw this on the forum already, can't remember who said it though but thought I'd go into more detail

I often do this at the end of a song when I have my kick patterns already completed in the song.

1. Make duplicate kick track
2. Copy amd paste midi data or audio files to that track
3. The low sound you want on the first track and high cut the rest
4. On the second track, lowpass filter all the bass and unwanted frequencies so you are left with the punchyness
5. Use a stereo imager to image the top end of the kick as desired

Waves S1 Imager is recommended but any will do.

Destructive Delay:

For a quite strange and manipulative effect, add a long delay to whatever you are working with (works well with shorter sounds from guitars and synths etc) and set the desired delay rate. Turn automation recording on, then play the midi or audio in your daw that you have applied delay to. By clicking another delay rate at the right time as the sound is already delaying it can create some strange and interesting sounds.

if anyone needs further detail on these or want to add anything, let me know

[Eridu]

preverb? reverse sample, apply reverb to the end then reverse it back and you get a cool incoming sound.

[vanz]

dubstep reverb and delays are best at 8ms 16 ms 32ms and so one trust logic sample delay on hihats with a touch of delay on one side works very well

[Debaser1]

I suppose this is a 'signature tricks' thread that are inflections of our individual production style. I like this idea to be fair.

Instead of whacking up an essay of my little habits I think I'll dabble them in every so often. Plus, I'm a purist's nightmare as I have a kinda set way of working that's out of order if you get me.

From the tune that I've literally just started, I'd day that snare reverb is key. get it so that it sits very low in the mix (i.e. low wet signal), but it's long and dense. Kinda gives the snare that added length and presence in the mix.


I look forward to hearing your tips though!!

[Nacklewicket]

i dont really have any tips.. infact i dont really know anything much about production..i just open fl put some shit in the grid listen to some samples. then twist some knobs and shit automate some stuff. then just do some mixing and blah blah blah and then it renders and then theres supposedly music!!!
really this is how the way i work i just open fl and do stuff. also i can only make music alone ive found out. ive never tried worked with another producer i think thats gonna be a whole different thing. but when mates around here i just cant put shit on there,thinking to myself i dont know shit about production. but when im alone i get hyptonized and my arms just move and the music juwst builds itself !!

[JemGrover]

Something I've recently been getting worthwhile results with is taking a single-cycle of a sine wave
Opening it up in a sampler in FL, looping it and then messing with the shape so you get some pretty interesting waveforms.
Duplicate that, detune slightly, et voilà... Sounds a lot grittier then M***ive.

[JemGrover]

Something I've recently been getting worthwhile results with is taking a single-cycle of a sine wave from an 808
Opening it up in a sampler in FL, looping it and then messing with the shape so you get some pretty interesting waveforms.
Duplicate that, detune slightly, et voilà... Sounds a lot grittier then M***ive.

[Nacklewicket]

Something I've recently been getting worthwhile results with is taking a single-cycle of a sine wave
Opening it up in a sampler in FL, looping it and then messing with the shape so you get some pretty interesting waveforms.
Duplicate that, detune slightly, et voilà... Sounds a lot grittier then M***ive.

how do u go on about altering the shape in the sampler

[JemGrover]

Something I've recently been getting worthwhile results with is taking a single-cycle of a sine wave
Opening it up in a sampler in FL, looping it and then messing with the shape so you get some pretty interesting waveforms.
Duplicate that, detune slightly, et voilà... Sounds a lot grittier then M***ive.

how do u go on about altering the shape in the sampler

Well once you've loaded the single cycle of your sine in the sampler, make sure it's looped then
Just tweak the Crossfade loop (second to last knob in the row that has the in, out knobs) and you'll see the wave warp to a kind of half sine, half saw.