Random Production Tips Thread™

[cmgoodman1226]

Great speakers help but they aren't a must have.

Yes they are

Tell that to KOAN Sound, skrillex, Kill the noise etc....

I highly doubt koan sound doesn't have halfway decent monitors at this point. And if they didn't when they first started, that would explain why their older stuff sounded so drab and poorly mixed. I also highly doubt that skrillex didn't at least have a pair of good headphones when he started mixing.

I'm sure it's "possible" to mix on shitty speakers; but a decent pair of monitors is worth so much more than buying a thousand different synths and plugins to try to get "that sound". The fact is unless you know exactly where your speakers fall short, (and crappy speakers fall short in just about every area), you have no real frame of reference on what it's going to sound like on different systems. You might have everything sounding perfect on your speakers, and then the mix just falls apart as soon as you put it on in your car.

[NinjaEdit]

Playing in a hardcore punk band is not sitting at a computer producing.

[Warwolt]

And Skrillex is like 25. He hasn't been producing for 10+ years, more like 3.

Just compensate for bias with EQ.

He has actually been producing for like 11 years lmao

Because whos heard of a kid who started producing at 15 years old? ( )

[RandoRando]

^^^
yeah i know how to split frequencies, but is noisia putting the bitcrushers at those frequencies on every individual instrument? or on the master, see i thought they were saying on the master channel, and i was wondering how to split frequencies on the master without making it sound horrible. But putting it on individual instruments seems like the way to do it. I wonder what bitcrusher they are using though cause redux in ableton kinds of makes it sound weird, and not "crystal clear"

Oh, I see what you're saying. I'm sure there are plenty more experienced people here to answer that. Intuition tells me that effecting the master is probably not the way to go. Also, I'm pretty sure they aren't using anything that comes "out of the box" regardless of their DAWs. Which could account for your results. I mean even splitting freqs the way I described is probably the "hard way" to do it judging from the other recommendations I've seen Ohmicide, CamlePhat, Fabfilter (saturn) etc.

Hopefully someone can chime in to help out.

seems like this thread has taken a turn towards skrillex's prodcution history

yeah, i saw a interview with downlink or someone who worked w noisia, and they said the vst's effects they are using have never even been heard of ! cause they use freeware for pc's and other unpopular FX companies, but they master how to use them and get great results

[ill mindset]

^^^
yeah i know how to split frequencies, but is noisia putting the bitcrushers at those frequencies on every individual instrument? or on the master, see i thought they were saying on the master channel, and i was wondering how to split frequencies on the master without making it sound horrible. But putting it on individual instruments seems like the way to do it. I wonder what bitcrusher they are using though cause redux in ableton kinds of makes it sound weird, and not "crystal clear"

From the sound of your tunes, you probably know more about production than I do. But considering putting a bitcrusher on your master channel? I dont know how you could ever expect to get anything but a distorted mess. I'd put it it on mids or highs of the intrument. Noisia records their basslines through mics sometimes.
Check it out:

[Augment]

Playing in a hardcore punk band is not sitting at a computer producing.

No it isnt, but producing is producing. He didnt spend 24 hours a day on that band u know

[NinjaEdit]

We're talking about monitors.

guitar amp -> ~studio moniters => producing -> ~Uproducing

[RandoRando]

From the sound of your tunes, you probably know more about production than I do. But considering putting a bitcrusher on your master channel? I dont know how you could ever expect to get anything but a distorted mess. I'd put it it on mids or highs or the intrument. Noisia records their basslines through mics sometimes.
Check it out:

not just a straight bit crusher on the master, but rather applying the bitcrusher to only 9khz and 16khz on the master channel. And i think that video was a joke, who knows though i would use that sample lol

[JTMMusicuk]

From the sound of your tunes, you probably know more about production than I do. But considering putting a bitcrusher on your master channel? I dont know how you could ever expect to get anything but a distorted mess. I'd put it it on mids or highs or the intrument. Noisia records their basslines through mics sometimes.
Check it out:

not just a straight bit crusher on the master, but rather applying the bitcrusher to only 9khz and 16khz on the master channel. And i think that video was a joke, who knows though i would use that sample lol

i wouldnt put a bit crusher on the master even like that as its probably going to make your mix sound quite muddy (maybe you want it too sound like that) unless it was just for a short amount of time; possibly in a buildup or something

[antipode]

Great speakers help but they aren't a must have.

Yes they are

Tell that to KOAN Sound, skrillex, Kill the noise etc....

Oh you mean all those producers that can't make a heavy tune without putting a bunch of midrange bullshit in it? Ok.

You are an idiot.

Good monitors are the first piece of hardware you should invest in.

[OfficialDAPT]

Great speakers help but they aren't a must have.

Yes they are

Tell that to KOAN Sound, skrillex, Kill the noise etc....

Oh you mean all those producers that can't make a heavy tune without putting a bunch of midrange bullshit in it? Ok.

You are an idiot.

Good monitors are the first piece of hardware you should invest in.

I disagree

[wub]

What would you say is then?

[Cubicle]

a computer

[wub]

Paradigm X would dispute that.

[antipode]

a computer

http://instantrimshot.com/

[ehbes]

Paradigm X would dispute that.

I thought the same thing

[cmgoodman1226]

as would dj shadow.

[Augment]

Great speakers help but they aren't a must have.

Yes they are

Tell that to KOAN Sound, skrillex, Kill the noise etc....

Oh you mean all those producers that can't make a heavy tune without putting a bunch of midrange bullshit in it? Ok.

You are an idiot.

Good monitors are the first piece of hardware you should invest in.

Wow, u are acting like such a cock.
I only mentioned them because they were the first ones I thought about. And they make a style you dont like, so what? Their mixdowns are still superb, and made without great monitors.

[antipode]

Great speakers help but they aren't a must have.

Yes they are

Tell that to KOAN Sound, skrillex, Kill the noise etc....

Oh you mean all those producers that can't make a heavy tune without putting a bunch of midrange bullshit in it? Ok.

You are an idiot.

Good monitors are the first piece of hardware you should invest in.

Wow, u are acting like such a cock.
I only mentioned them because they were the first ones I thought about. And they make a style you dont like, so what? Their mixdowns are still superb, and made without great monitors.

Sorry didn't mean to get aggy, just saying, buying monitors is good advice.

Whether S______x uses some or not.. dunno where you are coming from with this argument tbh.
Fair enough if you're not in a position to afford it, we all have to make do at some point - but ideally if you want clean mixdowns you need a transparent listening enviroment. (sorry for the wanky term there, dunno how else to put it.)
Coming from someone that produced on a hi fi system for about 5 years before eventually making the switch, I can tell you it makes a SERIOUS difference.

At any rate, S______x's music will have hundreds of dollars spent on it getting professionally mastered at studios that use...
monitors. I don't think most bedroom producers reading this thread have that luxury.

Peace

[Mr 50]

Workflow tips:

Save a blank midi/audio channel on your sequencer with color coded clips that mark different sections of the track - intro, 1st 16, breakdown etc.
Save this to your project template.
Whenever you start a new track you'll have a visual reminder and 'encourager' to think about the track as a whole, rather than getting stuck in loop hell.
Increased my productivity ten fold and is now hard wired to how I work. Beforehand it took me flipping ages to complete a track.


Stuck on a loop?
Copy it, then force yourself to replace 2 instruments and change 3 other elements [insert as many or as few changes as you feel your tracks need].
Repeat x 4
Listen back and you'll have a stack of ideas, may even have the track pretty much done.