/prod/ - Music Production General

/prod/
>Give and receive feedback/discuss production topics

>Production Resources:
>Pastebin - Links, books, videos, articles, tutorials and stuff
pastebin.com/pYGCLu6q (embed)

>/prod/ wiki - still looking for contributors
mu-sic-production.wikia.com

/prod/ IRC is up!
To join, you can go to rizon.net/chat
Choose a nick, put #/prod/ as channel. Enter!
Or you can get a lightweight desktop client here hexchat.github.io/downloads.html

Remember to use clyp.it to post your tracks/WIP: posting a clyp.it is just providing sound for a question, posting a Soundcloud link is making self-advertisement and the thread doesn't need that.

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/results?search_query=vocal mixing
youtube.com/watch?v=Dza0RKSVLCo
clyp.it/hqotpjeu
clyp.it/pllcluik
clyp.it/qqfb4m1r
psiaudio.com/en/our-products/a14-m-studio/
clyp.it/pdjxsam0
soundcloud.com/saint-empire/wickedbeat-2/s-djQuN
clyp.it/ak4hvllz
youtube.com/watch?v=dGSkQmfVA48
youtube.com/watch?v=RoGRZ_JMSKA
clyp.it/nywvfb4u
clyp.it/skfa4d55
clyp.it/u0lb3cmk
youtube.com/watch?v=exY5hHN2J5I
clyp.it/4m4ip0e0
clyp.it/sqvcq3q4
clyp.it/o4shubnh
clyp.it/pdf5ruhs
youtube.com/watch?v=usl5u9ruA0U
clyp.it/ye0lfzva
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

>midi controller was supposed to ship on friday
>it got sent to the wrong city
damn you canada post

...

That's the dumbest fucking picture I've seen. What's the point of showing additive and subtractive options on the same image? It's just going to confuse people that haven't been doing it for a long time.

Pro tips:

For basically anything other than bass and kick drums, remove anything below 100Hz and make a decent notch around 300Hz. Take some frequencies between 10kHz and 20kHz out because you're probably using a shitty mic and this will counter that a little bit. Also remove a decent bit of 1kHz, also known as the telephone frequency.

>What's the point of showing additive and subtractive options on the same image?
... to show what adding and subtracting in those ranges does?

>you're probably using a shitty mic
also, most people in these threads are probably not using a mic at all

Right, except adding 100-150Hz is just going to add boomy nonsense into your recording, and adding anything around 1k is going to sound like dogshit. Also, "digital harshness" is not an EQ range.

...then what the fuck is the point of even trying to discuss "production"? All the pro audio tips in the world won't make laptop recordings sound better.

>adding 100-150Hz is just going to add boomy nonsense into your recording
if there's already enough low end, yes, in which case why would you do any additive EQing?
>adding anything around 1k is going to sound like dogshit
also just not true
>...then what the fuck is the point of even trying to discuss "production"?
i didnt mean they use laptop mics, i meant most people here use synths and samples instead of recording vocals and live instruments

10-20 k is not right, the image has it right at 4-9 or even 12k for sibilance.

You should respond to your material and what it needs not blanketly cutting and boosting according to what a thing tells you. Sometimes 1 k is fine and sometimes you don't need to high pass. Someone might mess up their sound if they think they have to follow that. Sibilance is important to contain though, even on samples

There is no fucking cheat sheet with production, no short cuts, if you're in it, you can't whizz through and skip shit while learning. It'll come back to get you in the end, because you'll inevitably say 'why does my mix sound no good?' and it'll be that thing you thought wasn't important to learn.

Here's some vocal tutorials

youtube.com/results?search_query=vocal mixing

So how do you guys keep your files organized?

I've got hundreds of gigs of unused wav files, many of them filled with large gaps of silence, probably never to be used. I wanted to keep them all so that I could go back and listen to them/sample them later on, but it is getting so cluttered and unorganized that I am starting to doubt the whole idea.

bump

here's a different question for you guys
if i lower the buffer size in my daw, does that affect the playback sound quality? for some reason i used to think that but now i'm not sure

No. The buffer is like a bucket with a hole in it, having more data in the buffer just safeguards against the bucket running dry, doesn't affect sound quality as long as there's still data in it.

>tfw you want to start making music so you download the Ableton Live trial but realize you're too retarded to understand any of it

Buffer Size has nothing to do with sound quality, it just means how many samples ahead it "looks", that's all.

youtube.com/watch?v=Dza0RKSVLCo

have fun my friend

Thanks, user.

This may sound stupid, but I'd like to start making music, and while I can play the guitar, I'm not that great at it and I feel like it hinders my creativity by not being able to play what I'm thinking.

cheers

That's okay, you can either record at a slower speed or do it in multiple takes or even get VST's and program stuff on the piano roll. Nowadays, sky is the limit.

tell me my starter drum kit sounds good

clyp.it/hqotpjeu

...

hello and welcome to busy works beatsssss dot com

clyp.it/pllcluik

Put me on blast.

I did 2 years of music production at college and my Logic skills are like a toddlers. I can mic up, record, mix and work with samples but EQing with Fz graphs feels like the most complicated shit ever.

>therealnigga.jpeg

What is the DAW that I should get familiar with If I really want to get into /prod/?

Most of them have trials, download them and see which interface/workflow you like I would say.

Personally I started with Cubase (if you don't count garageband), been using Ableton for about 10 years now and am loving every second.

Ableton seems to be the most used, so I think I'll give it a try

The flow is pretty nice. I'm not a huge fan of the autotune-ish chorus, but I like the beat.

>walking home from the club-wave
clyp.it/qqfb4m1r

Just copped a pair. How do I care for them so that they'll last me many years?

don't drop them?

All DAW's have the same capabilities but it'll be easier to communicate with other producers if you use either FL or Ableton since the majority use these

They don't really need care.

That's it? I thought you had to like destatic them or something

ableton is industry standard so no complaints. /unless you want to spend your time learning jt and producing nothing for a while.

a less intense DAW might be a good idea. extremely frustrating hobby/that passion so maybe not jump right into software people take years to learn properly.

The electronics in powered monitors are more resilient than the physical air-moving parts, the speaker drivers.

Drivers have a limit to how far they can travel either outwards or inwards (their excursion) and once the limit has been passed even once it'll be damaged by that travel.

So physical damage to the drivers from over-volume is what needs to be avoided most, and of course dropping as mentions won't do them much good either, especially if the speaker driver hits something on the way down.

Word, thanks. I didn't think about over volume. I didn't realize speakers could get louder than what they can handle.

>clyp.it/hqotpjeu
i like this user
it has a certain charm to it
i can see you doing shows for like 75 skinny heroin girls smoking cigarettes

oh yeah and forget about your drum tones
youre playing live drums and recording them so youre already miles ahead of all these other rap/techno phaggots here

thanks man; it's a shame that there aren't more people on this thread making live music. absolutely nothing against electronic music, it would just be nice to be able to talk to other people making similar music about production

Matching amplifiers to speakers is a complex subject but what happens in a nutshell is that an amp will be designed to be capable of driving a speaker to over-excursion - this way the amp under normal conditions can cope with fast transients to get closer to the ideal ability to reproduce square waves.

>PSI "Adaptive Output Impedance" technology makes might be a good solution, both for handling large transients and also for "slowing down" the speaker driver to avoid it overshooting the mark once reached:

psiaudio.com/en/our-products/a14-m-studio/

So at its upper limit even a matched amp/speaker combination has the capability to momentarily move a voice coil beyond its design excursion and unfortunately a moment is all it takes for that physical part to pick up damage.

>hurr so hard to mic le droms, i am le enginering genios
lol why do rockfags suck their own dicks so hard?

it's alright, i'd put more high end on the snare but that's just preference

could you mic a kit properly?

what about a double bass?

Idk, just some experiment... The music is almost non-existent, I'm mainly just trying to create some interesting wall of sounds. The drums hit at 0:57

clyp.it/pdjxsam0

>could you mic a kit properly?
yes
>what about a double bass?
i dunno, never tried it and dont know anyone who plays

basic mic placement does not make you "miles ahead" of anyone lol

i think the namefag was talking about dedication

anyone can key out drums, quantize them and mess around a bit. actual drumming will teach you so much.

anyone can bang on a drum set too, there's just a higher financial barrier to entry. you can dedicate yourself equally to either one and if you're playing in real time on a nice responsive controller you can learn a lot about rhythm with it

yeah it's not hard to mic drums if you have a nice kit and a nice space. I'm in an 11x12 room with carpet and a drum set that sounds like ass to begin with. it's no small feat getting the drums to sound decent

drumming isn't just about tempo and grooves. you'll focus a lot more on song structure and how you and other instruments affect or compliment each other. i'd bet my life savings every top electronic producer has drummed to at least some extent in their lives

crescendos are a big problem, extremely hard to program a natural and effective one but a drummer could knock it up in 2 minutes

Is there any non-shit DAW for android? I got a lot of free time in work and want to make something on the go.

Wow these threads really have gone down the shitter

i like dicking around in caustic on road trips

>top electronic producer
>top electronic producer
>top electronic producer
>top electronic producer

kek

had to include electronic

because believe me the best producers in the world wouldn't be seen dead in this scene

soundcloud.com/saint-empire/wickedbeat-2/s-djQuN

Beat I'm workin on for an up and comer in Chicago

>soundcloud.com/saint-empire/wickedbeat-2/s-djQuN
not bad

read the OP before you spam your underage b& ass in a thread. Also, your beat is heinous and you should cut yourself in the bathtub.
reported

Can I get a r8 pls?

clyp.it/ak4hvllz
>I think my bass is overpowering everything?

I could smoke weed to this / 10
But for real, I love the vibe you all are putting off. The only bad thing is that whole recording sounds you recorded it through a used campbell's soup can. #SAD!

>teh best producers r teh ones that make what i liek

you have never stepped foot near a compressor in your life

pretty sure my mixing is getting fucked up through my headphones

hey prodd!! what's up with this hihat patterns ? how do i get this? i've tried swing + 16th but that isn't really working. any idea'

youtube.com/watch?v=dGSkQmfVA48

youtube.com/watch?v=RoGRZ_JMSKA

clyp.it/nywvfb4u

pretty much just a bunch of ideas that arent fully complete put into one thing. i seem to have trouble with sticking to one sound and completing anything

>clyp.it/nywvfb4u
your choices of synths are flat out terrible. That being said, its interesting and the vocals are pretty neat to listen too.

completely agree, its hard for me to find a synth i like

clyp.it/skfa4d55

heres another

Worst thread in a very long time. After a listen through the clyps here, I feel it's disgraceful that I identify myself with this community. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

This isn't a finish product thread. Go back to your soundcloud thread you cuck

This is a stupid question but how do i get the audio to play out of my monitors and through the headphones?

1:40 min bluesy progression, followed by a 2 min slowed down soul hook; all played on piano

clyp.it/u0lb3cmk

nm the us122 mkii can't do monitor and headphone output at the sametime I need to turn my monitors off to hear through the headphones. Looks like I need to upgrade.

Maybe turn the gain down on the snare and toms if you can, I think it'd clear them up a little. I like your sound though, I'd chain smoke in my living room to this.

how do I do vocal fx like this

youtube.com/watch?v=exY5hHN2J5I

I like the Cashmere Cat drip noises, your mix is real tight too.

Makes me want to play Brigador

the effect is due to the multilayered snare/clap and kick being off time, not the hats

turn up the drums

i love the stereo imaging in the bass

Thanks alot. I think I'm about halfway done with the mix still.
Thanks man. Hooks are not my strong point but I managed to get my hands on the Anatres Autotune VST so ive been fucking around with it.

I'm digging the tom rolls on this track alot. and that little synth line at 0:48 is pretty sweet too.

>managed to get my hands on the Anatres Autotune VST

you say that like its an achievement

My bad. But for me it was an achievement. I had been using GSnap and Pitcher forever now and finally just bought Antares instead.

just me, but thanks mane. bummer you think it sounds like it was recorded like that. the vocals are the only thing that should sound like that.
I actually put slight overdrive on all drum mics to drive the sound and hide some of the shitty overtones, but I agree they might be too loud. I have the tendency to mix drums a little too loud

i learned some useful stuff from his channel but his beats are trash tho

clyp.it/4m4ip0e0

Thanks man. Let me know if that clyp is any better :)

yes, that is a stupid question

>remove a decent bit of 1kHz

Yeah no, that's where most of the clarity comes thru. Telephones are band limited to that range because it's the most important for interpreting speech.

Thoughts on this? Decent or Shit?

clyp.it/sqvcq3q4

>clyp.it/sqvcq3q4
I like it.

hat should come in right away, kick clashes with an already weak bass and the sidechain doesn't help, breaks are good, and reverb sounds cheap to me and is being grossly overused

clyp.it/o4shubnh

hows the mixdown on this?

sounds great but it is very thick, try and use some mid/side stuff to make space for all the elements

they can still be louder, keep them in mono but turn them up more, use some parallel compression or something

lol

Some trash beat I made using the little mermaid trailer.

clyp.it/pdf5ruhs

youtube.com/watch?v=usl5u9ruA0U

>I need to turn my monitors off to hear through the headphones
that shouldn't be the case

Opinions on the Roland MC-505?

looking to cop an electric drumset, making a small room into a secondary practice place and acoustic drums are just too big. Does anyone know of any MODERN models with this same hexagon pads? Im a sucker to this look

>tfw spend more time setting drivers and other shit up over recording songs
>tfw entire RPM Challenge album was spent setting up JACK and missed the entire thing
>tfw SoundFont/Fluidsynth drums sound like ass but too poor to even buy an eBay-tier drum kit
such is the life of the Ganoo/Linux musician

Thanks? I'd never heard of it before but it seems cool.

Thanks! I'm not so into autotune in general so I might be the wrong person to judge its quality. The rest of the song was booming though :)

clyp.it/ye0lfzva

how's my mixing? how could i improve? it's a sorta folky track with a choiry chorus and a baritone vocal

>stick with Audacity for 3 years
>realize that VSTs and LV2 instruments and effects don't work at all with Audacity
>can't understand Ardour's autistic UI
>jump to QTractor
>[spoiler]it's okay, nothing to write home about[/spoiler]

Don't know about any hexagon pads that aren't in the price range of highway robbery, but a used Alesis Nitro off Amazon or eBay is a pretty good deal for a kit that's cheaper than an acoustic 4-piece set.

Damn, not even I could have that much restraint on the reverb and chorus. What I would've done is to lightly lower the "pre-chorus" part so that the chorus stands out even more so, and then immediately compress everything lmao