/prod/ Production General

88 Key mono midi edition

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what's mono midi?

it's a shitty format for 80s budget keyboards with slow processors

but it's making a comeback, mono midi signals means lower latency for bigger setups

meme

aaayyyy

for a long time i have been adding a heavy amount of multiband compression to my master track just to beef up everything and make everything gel.

But i've noticed doing this makes it difficult to adjust the overall mix later on. LIke if i lower the kick just a bit (or anything for that matter), it can drastically change the mix due to the amount of compression happening on the master.

should i not do the multiband on the master and instead try to get everything 'beefed up' as individual tracks? if so, how do you make everything gel?

This isn't my song in particular, it's a friend's of mine. He recorded everything himself without any knowledge of what he was doing, and I just mixed and mastered it. It's supposed to KIND OF sound lo-fi but not TOO lo-fi, that'what he was going for. With that in mind, what do you guys think either of us could improve on?

>clyp.it/y5yui1il

[spoiler]It's about heroin lel.[/spoiler]

my master bus is always empty until the very last stage where I simulate a typical mastering chain on it so I can make some final tweaks to the mix to make sure it will work in the mastering.
I heavily use busses, though. usually I go with the typical quad bus thingy, means I set up four groups of main busses that glue together things that belong together, in most cases it's: 1. percussive stuff, 2. melodic stuff, 3. harmonic stuff, 4. FX
so everything drums, bass, funky attacky guitars and so on go to the first bus, vocals and leads to the second one, pads and other comping to the third and so on
glue compressing these parts together based on their function in the track works pretty well with the typical bus compressors like the api 2500 or ssl bus
multiband compression is a great tool to solve certain problems, but can be easily overused especially on busses. use as needed

Oh on a side note (and also a bump), here's some of my personal stuff. Might be more /prod/'s speed.

>clyp.it/vswrpfki

nice job. sounds crisp and clean...maybe a little too clean? it might just be the reverb doing that, maybe it's little too spacey/large?

i think your friend could do a little better on the vocals, specifically the parts when he falls out of key. I understand this is probably intentional, but it's happening too much i think, kinda loses the believability in his voice if you know what i mean. The lyrics are really really great, but i think there needs to be more confidence in his voice, especially the chorus. I think having him belt it out in full voice could really help.

>Half dead
i know this is about heroin, but i think this would emote better if this was thought of as a broken heart...really need to feel that "i'm half dead" pain.
>half asleep
got that vibe pretty well, but needs to sounds more aggravated i think.
>you'll never hear from me
there needs to be more strain here, "you'll never hear from me" implies the other person won, he is defeated and reluctantly giving up

Filter plug ins worth stealing?

>it might just be the reverb doing that, maybe it's little too spacey/large?
I think that's just how it was recorded. Pretty sure he recorded it in a large room. The instability in his voice was intentional. The reason he lacks "confidence" in his voice is because he was actually on heroin when he was recording it. That's the way he wanted to do it. Think John Frusciante's solo stuff.

The "other person" is the drug itself. Not an actual person.

Would it sound better if I dulled the high end a little bit? Maybe add some tape saturation?

yeah maybe do that... or just dull the high end on the sides and leave the middle.

...

There wasn't really much of a stereo image so only lowering the highs on the side didn't really do too much but I did what I could. Also added some tape saturation. Sounds more "bedroom recording" now, which is what he wanted.
>clyp.it/qqmy54uw

made this thread before this was posted or I saw this -but is it a good midi pad if I want something simple to make drums tracks with for hip/triphop and house? My only other controller is a korg microkey 2. What are some things I should know about midipads in general to? I've only made midis in tuxguitar and applied vsts to them

none. whatever proprietary plugin you have is good enough honestly. I think that filter/filterdrive units need to be hardware. they just respond to volume levels in ways that software has difficulty, especially given weird headrooms in software.

bump

Been a while since I've been here, got lost in finishing an album. Has the wiki been disowned or something?

Poorfags will get very mad at this post.

Is there an easy way to convert a bunch of wav files to 44.1k 16bit?

the 'quick convert' function in f2k is pretty powerful and easy

Here's another one that's a little more upbeat.

why are cirklons so hard to find?
is an octatrack a better choice?
I need a sequencer pls help
I have a few synths but I'm lacking a sequencer
I make mostly bleeps and "electronica"

>why are cirklons so hard to find?
So few made, high price
>octatrack
More of a sampler, not sure on the sequencing abilities

What kind of things do you want to sequence? Do you want to program with keys or on the unit itself?

Aren't cirklons made to order?

The OT sequencer is decent, but kinda sucks at the same time. It's 4 notes polyphony per track, you can assign multiple tracks to the same synth for more if you want. Your best bet is to just use a computer though, non analog hw sequencers are dated.

OT is a sampling groovebox/looper type of thing. It has 8 tracks of machines and 8 tracks of midi sequencing. It's hard to describe what the OT is because you can use it in a ton of different ways. You can use it as a 4 channel mixer/fx box if you want.

It has a sampler yah but I was eyeing to load drum samples on it so I can get rid of my drum machine. I don't really spend a lot of time making crazy drums anyway

Mainly to program on the unit itself, and maybe somehow map some of my synth controls in either the sequencer or some other controller...

oh ok, thought so. and yeah, it does have some limitations but I can get around the 4 notes thing. Thing is, I don't want to use my computer anymore, at least not for the sequencing. I know ableton is a very capable DAW, I've been using it for years. I want to move away from it as far as arranging/sequencing a track

What drum machine ya got?

electribe

clyp.it/hq02il2d

thoughts please

they don't make too many great midi hardware sequencers anymore. The beatstep pro is pretty impressive for a step sequencer. Beyond that you can find some great older stuff for pretty cheap.

Check out the emu command stations.
youtube.com/watch?v=zJgq-bZ2Y_A
genre/rom based groove boxes, but with a really great onboard sequencer and tons of programmable midi knobs. I used to have a xl-7 as my main sequencer for all my gear.

the yahmaha rm1x is also good
youtube.com/watch?v=l_kkHL5tz4s

Roland's grooveboxs are pretty good too, but i don't remember good they were for sequencing external synths.

Question...

How great is the difference in quality between vocals recorded in a proper soundproofed studio, and vocals recorded in an untreated bedroom with the windows/doors closed?

I'm aware that room ambience or background noise/buzz will be picked up in the recording, but let's say I remove the bulk of that from the vocals using a program. Would a studio-recorded vocal still be significantly superior to that in terms of audio quality? And if so....how/why?

Its the early reflections that you are usually trying to avoid. Just think about all the times you have heard some person on youtube and the audio is shit- you can tell they are in an untreated room, Same idea.

The good news is, your average bedroom with carpet, a bed, a bunch of random shit lying all over the place is a better scenario than a near-empty room- the worst possible scenario.

Despite being a drum demonstration, you can see what profound effect dampening the reflections in a room can have on the signal: youtube.com/watch?v=cp56A6TcL1E

Waves Metafilter, Fabfilter Volcano, or use the filters in kontakt (they are fuckin great).

I know I did. I got so mad, I deleted all my fruit loops

anyone want to trade invites to torrenting sites?

hmm, thanks for the input...i actually do it kind of similar already. except i bus to 5 groups then down to 2 then to master/stereo bus. I guess I have never really known at what stage to add the compression and how much...

Do you only do compression at the bus stages?
are you also compressing the individual recorded tracks before they get to the bus?

I've never tried those bus compressors you mentioned, only native ableton compressors. I'll have to check them out.

i mean 6 groups, not 5

of course I process individual signals where needed and this often includes both the dynamic control you get from compression and the 'color'. And then there's a lot more busses to compress on the way to the four main busses, for example a drum bus needs (parallel) compression in most cases, backing vocals need to be grouped, and so on
IMO: just don't overdo it, no matter how many or how few compressors are involved in the mix. lots of subtle control on all the single stages of the mix > one master compressor pumping hard
well unless that's the sound you want, of course then it's legit

i like this one better

thank you, I'll check those ones out

Posted my first jam of my modular /hardware set up today.... any advice from experience eurorack people?

youtube.com/watch?v=KHEIrWcIJEI

I'm looking for a good sequencer as well. the korg sq-1 is just ok.

Juicy

omg that eurorack sounds incredible. whats the make?>>?

Can you rec me any VST synths that can sound vintage and analog, but are actually really flexible?

I love Charlatan or TAL U-NO, but I'm starting to feel really constrained.

sounds cool
i recently got into eurorack too, but i don't have a full case yet haha. I have a beatstep, which i think is about the same as your sq-1. have you looked at a beatstep pro? or even better, a Make Noise Rene...

I need some cheap-ish headphones (around 100 bucks) for general /prod/uction, what would you guys recommend?

Sony MDR V6 all day

I think i've got the arrangement down. still looking for a good lead vocal, that is why it sounds kinda empty

clyp.it/profile

opinions so far?

wrong link
clyp.it/xhnor0t4

just learn how to use them

Anybody know a good DAW? I wanna make goth, Post-Punk, Dark Wave, and Ethereal Wave.

There aren't really better DAWs it depends of how your conceive music

If you can grab cubase it could be adapted but honestly search for a few of the big names and see which interface looks the clearer for you i'd say

Well IMO the current edition of Garageband sucks, I'm looking for something more extensive and versatile.

Diva sounds pretty good to me in that regard. Also Bazille.

If you are already familiar with garageband, then moving to logic should be relatively smooth. Logic has great built in fx, too.

They are all good though, pretty much.

does prod have a tip for having kick drums stick out or bump more? even when i side chain compressed the bass it still feels small and doesnt bump. i've even layered it with a sub kick but it doesn't make a difference. the only way to have the kick drums sound right is lower everything to fuckin cricket levels.

also have another problem. for some reason i have to have my computer volume at about 60-70 just h=to hear shit in ableton. how do i fix this?

good compression and transient shaping
also leave some space for it in your spectrum

#1 prod tip that nobody on here follows, if a drum sounds bad use another one, if it still sounds bad then try another one, if it still sounds bad after checking 2 different ones than it's probaly not the drum.

Good points. Everyone acts like they are stuck using hardware drum machines that have one kick sound.

it's the pittburgh moduler foundatiion

ive already tried that. it's like everything else just overpowers it even when the volume on those tracks is lowered. only way to have unch through the mix is to have them BARELY clipping. i always have this roblem with kicks drums i want th to stick out but almost every synth over powers the even with light side compression

You could try layering several kicks

Which VST synth would you recommend for IDM/glitch?

korg minilogue or dsi prophet 08

cant fucking decide

prophet 08 is clearly better but 3x the price better idk...

Ok. Is there anyone here who has used both the Maschine Studio and a Push 1 or 2? I'm getting tired of trying to find an easy way to complete a song, since Maschine doesn't have an arrangement mode and I'm thinking Push might be a better option for me.

Do the two hardware units work at all well together? Am I being stupid and just not finding an easy way to integrate Maschine into a DAW?

clyp.it/rven2cgb

wip

Mopho x4
The sub oscillators are a nice addition, plus you can add a tetr4 and make it more than a prophet 08

The minilogue looks neat, but I think you should wait until the price drops to get one. Minikeys are fine for monos, but I don't like them for polys.

You know maschine runs as a plug in in your DAW right?

Yes, but it has made no sense to me. I might be over thinking it though.

Reaktor blocks, build your own synths using the incredible sounding Monark blocks

compositionally its good, as a whole it sounds publishable

not experienced enough with mixing to comment on that though.

i feel like you should push it even further at the end of section 2 of 3, and develop it even more, texturally, before you finally back off in section 3. tension and release, i believe you can push it further

im a fan, where can i follow you?

I can't really help you then. I set mine up with multiple outs in logic when I first got it, but I've not used it inside logic since. I must be a freak but I absolutely love using the Maschine software. I tend to use it with my monitor off most of the time and work from the controller. It's always a bit more basic than running a proper daw but I always seem to find an easy work around for what I need if it's not obvious in Maschine?
What are you trying to do in Maschine that you want to do in your daw?

I'd imagine most people either just work inside Maschine or get the basics of a track down and then export the audio to your daw to finish off. Exporting the audio is easy and then you can arrange it how you want in your DAW.
I fall more in love with my Maschine studio everytime I use it. For a long time everytime I was using it I'd be trying to work how to do something that I was used to doing in my daw, but I think I'm finally getting past that stage and getting to know it much more intimately. The biggest thing for me was having the option of working in the software on my computer as it kinda defeats the point of the studio hardware, once I got the hang of turning the monitor off and working out to do everything from the hardware my workflow has sped up so much.
Stick with it user.

idk what u mean by section 2 of 3 desu.

my sc is:
soundcloud.com/theloungersz

>no spoilers on Sup Forums still

baka

I also just noticed I uploaded the wrong wip...

I'm too lazy to upload the right one desu unless u wanna hear it

clyp.it/ystszimu
just started this a few hours ago

general thoughts?
also does the high end on the kick sound flimsy?

maschine studio or ableton push (if you use ableton obv)

section one drums -- 0:00
section two chord prog -- 2:15
section three outro -- 4:30

upload it man

No bass, weak kick. But what else is new, this is /prod/

Try listening on something other than laptop speakers

beyerdynamic DT-770s nigger try again

Figures that you would have those memephones

hard to give advice, i dont really connect with this kind of music

there's a musical idea there, but the combination of patches/samples you've used don't seem to work together. keep tinkering with it

clyp.it/xffmobzz
i can get a skeleton arrangement down, but polish is difficult. general thoughts? mix advice?

What do you call this style of music?

i have no idea

sample is from 'sega sunset' by lorn, maybe i'm channelling a bit of him

...

ok so i can't tell the difference between a good mix and a bad mix beyond a minimum threshold

what is there on the web to train your ears in how to mix?

I have no idea if there is a place to train your ears, but just listen to your favorite albums and try to make your mix sound similar to it. It takes practice.

Kek this is shit