How to tell if your technical production is good?

[Tiger Blood]

Hey guys

I have been working on production and need some advice on now I can know if i have done a good job.

Here is my most recent work: Soundcloud

I took the time to EQ, compress if needed, balance every element and adjust levels to make it slot together, as far as I can tell (in my headphones) this sould be good?

I often have issue balancing a lot of the upper mid stuff since so much sits there, lo passing everything is easy but the rest im kind of unsure what ducks for what etc etc

Im running Ozone on the master bus with a mastering preset and have tried to cover all of the frequency spectrum as required.

Any tips or advice I can follow from you more experience producers to give me a better sound?

[ehbes]

By posting it in the dubs board and feeding it to the wolves

[Tiger Blood]

By posting it in the dubs board and feeding it to the wolves

ah i didnt want specific feedback on that track like that section offers, more general advice. if you think its the best idea though ill throw it over there? I know its probably not that good!

[ehbes]

Yes post there

[Tiger Blood]

Yes post there

Done! thanks for the help, normally just have this board bookmarked so I forget about the other sections!

[Kilo Graham]

Yes post there

Done! thanks for the help, normally just have this board bookmarked so I forget about the other sections!

same, definitely

[Barka]

[...]have tried to cover all of the frequency spectrum as required.

shit, that makes me cringe. it's absolutely not required to cover all of the frequency spectrum unless you want to make either white noise or some super distorted brostep (a.k.a. almost white noise).

the track sounds okay, but there's room for improvement, check the moneyshot thread, the track sounds a bit muddy around the 150hz mark (about).

[Tiger Blood]

[...]have tried to cover all of the frequency spectrum as required.

shit, that makes me cringe. it's absolutely not required to cover all of the frequency spectrum unless you want to make either white noise or some super distorted brostep (a.k.a. almost white noise).

the track sounds okay, but there's room for improvement, check the moneyshot thread, the track sounds a bit muddy around the 150hz mark (about).

thanks, sorry i didnt mean required, I mean in all the EQ guides i read it says fill the space to get a bigger sound otherwise you have audible gaps in your track so i try and add little sounds in that will cover everything over the 16 bars overall.

Ill check that thread but last time i tried it it totally blew my mind and i couldnt get a grasp on it.

The 150hz mud would be cause by kick and snare clashing?

edit: made the suggestec changes, did some stereo work and now I have this

Soundcloud

[blinx]

How to tell if your technical production is good?

Take it to a club, push PLAY see if the mix/master just falls apart on a real club system.

[Tiger Blood]

How to tell if your technical production is good?

Take it to a club, push PLAY see if the mix/master just falls apart on a real club system.

fair point but most clubs arent going to let you do that.

Out of interest, my parents have a 7.4 surround cinema room with all the acoustic treatments etc. If i could set that 7.4 into mono would that replicate a club? Would be awesome to be able to test close to a club system within my house!

[Laika]

Hey guys

I have been working on production and need some advice on now I can know if i have done a good job.

Here is my most recent work: Soundcloud

I took the time to EQ, compress if needed, balance every element and adjust levels to make it slot together, as far as I can tell (in my headphones) this sould be good?

I think you should work on arranging and finishing complete songs before you get in to the technical side of things. Or else you're going to be stuck making intros and 16 bar loops forever. If you write and finish songs constantly the technical parts will naturally progress. The only way to get better is by constantly practicing and making mistakes. That said, I don't think anyone can give you any useful mix down/tech advice because you smashed the shit out of that clip with a ozone preset.

[Tiger Blood]

Hey guys

I have been working on production and need some advice on now I can know if i have done a good job.

Here is my most recent work: Soundcloud

I took the time to EQ, compress if needed, balance every element and adjust levels to make it slot together, as far as I can tell (in my headphones) this sould be good?

I think you should work on arranging and finishing complete songs before you get in to the technical side of things. Or else you're going to be stuck making intros and 16 bar loops forever. If you write and finish songs constantly the technical parts will naturally progress-- you'll only get better by constantly practicing and making mistakes.

yea im scaling this out tomorrow and finishing it, i just want to learn about whats after so i dont get there and hit a wall!

[Modern Twist]

few things you might be heard before, but in case you're not..
get a good pair of studio monitors,learn the faults and virtues of your room studio / monitors. work more with your ears and less by the book, monitoring headphones can really help and very good for cleaning "the little things" in your sound. compare it to another tune with "killer" sound that you wish to get, so you can have a clue how far you're from it. take it outside your studio and check it out on other sound system for reference.

[NinjaEdit]

Run some productions you like through an analyser, and compare the frequency response. Ozone lets you copy the EQ settings of another tune (I've heard).

my parents have a 7.4 surround cinema room with all the acoustic treatments etc

Maybe ask your lovely parents if you can mixdown and master in their awesome lounge room?

[Tiger Blood]

hey guys

so a regular finished tune from another producer is suitable to use for reference in terms of frequency response? I wasnt sure if it went through more stages etc. So if i load it into ableton and balance mine out at the same volumes and mix everything to fit then thats the way to do it?

A qustion I had was in terms of head room should i make my whole song at a quiet volume then turn up the sound card to compensate? Some of my channels already peak at 0db which i know isnt good!

[Ongelegen]

A qustion I had was in terms of head room should i make my whole song at a quiet volume then turn up the sound card to compensate? Some of my channels already peak at 0db which i know isnt good!

Moneyshot thread, read it again

[Tiger Blood]

A qustion I had was in terms of head room should i make my whole song at a quiet volume then turn up the sound card to compensate? Some of my channels already peak at 0db which i know isnt good!

Moneyshot thread, read it again

is there a specific area of it? i checked the one at the top of the forum (a new version?) and it has so many links!

Will spend some time on it today though!

[Electric_Head]

Ideally you want things to hit below 0db.
I tend to stick to a master mix of -3db.

[Tiger Blood]

Ideally you want things to hit below 0db.
I tend to stick to a master mix of -3db.

yup seen a few youtube vids that say shoot for a good mix coming in at -3 to make space for mastering.

I was wondering if i want to mix the sounds should I aim to do with with the master faders for each channel or should i adjust the sound through a plugin on the channel e.g. a utility in ableton (or some other gain plugin) or lowering the output on a compressor so they balance with the faders set to default?

Just something thrown up by reading a few articles!

[Electric_Head]

I use my main mixer panel and adjust each individual channels master fader.