Music Production
From TheGaffWiki
This page is a general collection of tips, mainly from the production tips topic on thegaff.
Contents |
Sequencers
- Acid Pro previously from Sonic Foundry, now owned by Sony.
- Cubase from Steinberg.
- FLStudio from Image-Line. Formerly known as Fruity Loops (often affectionally called Fruity).
- Live from Ableton. Live is usually called Ableton since it is the company's principle software product.
- Logic from Apple. Mac-only.
- Nuendo from Steinberg. Very similar to Cubase but includes some extra routing capabilities, video editing, and some other minor stuff.
- Pro Tools from Digidesign.
- Reason from Propellerheads.
- VENUE from Digidesign. Pro Tools for live environments.
Feel free to add to this list anyone --Bricky 14:41, 24 April 2007 (IST)
Editors
- Audacity. Free and open-source.
- Audition from Adobe. Previously known as Cool Edit Pro.
- Sound Forge from Sony. Previously known as Sonic Foundry Sound Forge.
- Wavelab from Steinberg.
Likewise add to this list if you have more. --Bricky 14:49, 24 April 2007 (IST)
Synths & Plugins
- the main ones im using right now would be, : Mr Tramp, Elektrik Piano, Predator (this is great), Albino 3, Saxlab, And a tonne more. --Dan Cummins
- the vst I think is the shit is Native instruments 'Massive'.... --Dashka
- FM8 and elektrik piano are also class synths by NI --Dan Cummins
- a plugin for pro tools called 'oddity', can do some mad stuff altogether --Complex
Techniques
Sidechaining
Sidechaining (more correctly Sidechain Compression) refers to a technique where the level of one channel is used to control the compression of another.
In Acid Pro
mmmmmm, never realised that the plugins in acid are the same as pro-tools, anyways in plugin-manager, there is a good rack in "amplitude modulation", just drag to track..... etc..... theirs a good graphic aswell --Dolce Stefano
In Cubase
With the Otium FX Compadre:
In Ableton
With the Otium FX Compadre:
Converting Audio to Midi
Theres 2 tools for converting audio files to midi out there:
- Akoff Midi Composer - Basic
- WIDI Recognition System - Advanced, supports mp3s
--Smithy
Never mind Akoff and Widi, i found a much better program. Its called Intelliscore Ensemble. --Smithy
General Tips
- Frequencies and arrangement: Its important 2 cover a full frequency range without overcrowding. There are 5 main elements in an arrangement, drum/bass, rhythm, lead, fills and pads --Dolce Stefano
- Get to know your instruments and what they sound like. Electric Pianos, Acoustic Painos, All the types of Drums & Percussion, String instruments, Wind Instruments, Guitars, etc. When you know of a wide range of instruments, and what they sound like, youll find it easy to find a particullar sound your are looking. Find out the frequency ranges of these instruments to help with eqaulizing them.
For example, for hip hop: The Fender Rhodes is a common sound found in that genre, for making that Dreamy and Lush Sound electric piano sound. You might find a nice Jazz drum kit from the 60s, that has the snares and kicks you always wanted in your hip hop tracks. Then you have a name for a particular sound youre looking for. --Smithy - Stick a track ya like into your multitrack, and use it as a guide for your own song --Dolce Stefano
- Listen to the track rather than visually sequencing the track --Dolce Stefano
- Most producers will tell ya that they put the beat down first, thats what i do anyway. then u can tell where you want to go 'as long as the foundation of a good drum groove is there, it could go pretty much anywhere --Dan Cummins
- mix down the track at -3db --Dolce Stefano
- Try not to sequence the same loop over and over, show that ya have put effort into the track, Thumbsup just make sure everything sits well --Dolce Stefano
- Get yourself a decent drum machine too!
Reasons Redrum is excellent,
Native Instruments Battery is insane, you could have like 40 samples at once at your disposal
Steinbergs groove agent can automatically turn loops into midi files, it makes grooves sound more human because you can randomise the sound.
Fruity Loops was a disaster for programming drums, until the FPC came along. It allows you to program drums from the piano roll instead of the step sequencer.
Also if you put each cymbal,hihat, kick etc, on different channels, you can eq them better and easier, and then save them as finished loops.
Programs like Ez-drummer can do this automatically i think. --Smithy - I usually start with the melody myself,I create the instument ,key,harmonies then the drum or bassline to follow....all in my head first.
Then I choose whatever Programme I think can help me create that exact sound and keep working with it until it comes out like I hear it in my head....I don't play around with programmes blindly looking for a melody,This would take forever..
I'm using Cubase,Ableton,Acid pro,groove agent etc at the moment so there's a great choice of vst's and Instuments in there to give me what I need...
Once I know the different parts/sounds/instuments I want to use, I choose my programme and then It is easy to set down a foundation like a drum or bassline first and build it up from there... --Miss Motif - I use Reason & Ableton but I think I prefer Reason.
Im no expert but I always start with the rhythm in redrum. find the samples i think will fit, tune them up, get the levels right etc and start sequencing.
next thing is to find an instrument for a melody which can be tough at times until I find the right one to fit. I try to come up with a melody in my head to suit the rhythm and then write it.
after then I add some baselines etc, but sometimes before the melody.
I dont know what im doing most of the time but trial and error helps me learn
It could take me weeks to write a track. I keep coming back to them when I get frustrated and sometimes leave it alone for days if im getting nowhere. fresh ears and all that.
once im happy I TRY to master it then burn it to cd and try to mix with it, compare it to other tracks. I usually go back then and tweak it a few times until im happy with it --Sean Crowley - best advise: INVEST!
cheap & free software or hardware sound cheap & free
if you're serious about it, get proper kit, or it'll always sound fifth rate.
if you're using a computer to make music, it'll always sound as good as the software, plugins & most importantly SOUNDCARD
(nothing less than m-audio firewire i.m.o.
one last thing....best sounding sequencer software with the easiest interface = pro tools, kicks cuebases' ass --Complex - For me anyways,a lot of the time any track i come up with is just a melody or more than likely a bassline that just pops into my head.I then just try and make the noise in my head on computer.
Normally for creating a track tho I start at the very beginning with the beats in acid pro,and work my way from there because i think that the beats can often completely make or break a track.Then its into cubase to make various noises and bleeps,import into acid and just mess about until i come out with something that resembles a track worth playing.
My main rule is that if you don't like it and wouldn't dance to it,don't expect anyone else to. --Dashka - its easier to add other sounds to a good beat than come up with the perfect beat to go with sounds/melodies --Complex
- I always found a few of these helpful:
- Sidechain your kick to hats and percussion, kick cuts through more and gives a nice pumping feel to your beats.
- Distort your sub bass (I like "datube" in cubase), then lowpass filter the noisy stuff. This adds extra harmonics that will make ur bass more audible on inadequate systems.
- Sample weird and random ambient stuff, clip from a movie or something, eq in and compress it under your drums, adds a nice airy feel to them and gels them together when mixed in right.
- In cubase, when you use the scissors to cut clips it leaves a nasty pop that you have to fade out, instead use the size tool and size to taste, usually it will cross at zero to avoid that extra step. If anyone knows how to "autofade out" clips when you cut them in cubase pls let me know!
- If you have a hardware sampler, sample your synths through them first, helps take out the sterile nature of them. If not, bitcrush them (very slightly) to help them fit in with samples.
- If you sample something from vinyl, its best to sample from zero so its centered on a key, then pitch it up by semitones in the computer. Otherwise you may be stuck having to shift synths and basses up/down by cents cuz they'll be a little off, which is a royal pain
- Hook rca outs from your tv to your computer and record random stuff, never know when you might get a great sound or vocal snippet
- When you're not feeling inspired to write tracks but want to be productive, fuck about in sound forge etc. making sounds and fx. This is something I used to spend hours doing before my production got decent and I neglect it too much now. or you could dj
- If synths, keys, etc. from a synth or midi keyboard I like to noodle over the whole track, then chop the good bits as if it were they were samples and retrigger/arrange to taste. often you will do something dope accidently while soloing as compared to just playing a little loop you composed --Dan Cummins
- I've always found these tips from Darren Tate particularly useful. --Bricky 15:17, 24 April 2007 (IST)
