Short Production Tips & Tricks

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
Post Reply
User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

yes, once every 7 leap years or so, I try to keep my posts short and simple.

I think the power of subsekt, apart from it's wonderful unique crowd and fantastic humour,
is the fact that many of us actually share a lot of production techniques with each other.
I have yet to find a better site for production tips on the net than subsekt (if you just scroll through my normal ramblings of course :oops: )

Anyways, the goal is : post a production tip/trick here.
Please try and post something that you think (most) others might not have tried yet, or would just have never thought about.
Maybe even just an alternative way to use tool X or Y, or technique A or B.
It doesn't matter if it's about sound design or mixing or EQ'ing or fist-fucking without lard... 8-)

Keep it as simple as possible.
Just enough info to not leave the readers puzzled, and not too many details so that everyone feels inspired to try out the different technique.
After all, techno is all about experimentation, no ?

And don't be a fucking cunt garding all your "secrets" to yourself.
Just contribute, cause if you're good enough at what you do, then you should have no fear of "uh, ow no, what if someone ran off with all my secret tricks and tips".
Yeah yeah... :)
If enough of us contribute to this, maybe this could turn into one of these topics that people can just browse through when they're creatively stuck.
Like the Oblique Strategies thing, but in a production tips/tricks form.

thx in advance for anyone contributing ! ;)
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
totalcult
BAD
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2016 2:45 pm
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by totalcult »

Use the "randomise" features of your VSTs - record the results - be prepared to ditch 99% of the outcomes, but revel in the unexpected magic of the 1%.

Loads of VSTs have 'intelligent' randomise features (Microtonic, Audiorealism Bassline and Massive are three that spring to mind immediately) - dig in and use them! Embrace the chaos.

[Hope this is the sort of thing you had in mind]

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

my tip/trick...

I have not heard of it being used as frequently as I use it,
but I have no doubt that others must have been doing this as well.

Anyway...
I use track delay constantly to move parts back and forth in my track.
It took me a while to adjust to it, and it can totally be a can of worms in the beginning,
but after a while it works all fine.
When in doubt : just close your eyes and listen and let your ears decide.

Some of the things I find it useful for :
* using it as some kind of transient designer when you move some drum sounds a little bit more forward in time
* just generally giving more forward drive in your track
* creating a totally different groove, obviously only when you use it in an extreme way (like anything between 100 to 300 or whatever positive or negative values)
...

Track delay was never meant to be used in this way, but I couldn't give a fuck.
It's techno, no ?
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

totalcult wrote:Use the "randomise" features of your VSTs - record the results - be prepared to ditch 99% of the outcomes, but revel in the unexpected magic of the 1%.

Loads of VSTs have 'intelligent' randomise features (Microtonic, Audiorealism Bassline and Massive are three that spring to mind immediately) - dig in and use them! Embrace the chaos.

[Hope this is the sort of thing you had in mind]
damn, you were even faster with a tip than I could type my own !
great ! and thank you for sharing.

It's a tip I have been using for ages (randomize), but nonetheless, one can't think just for one's self.
So yeah, it's not because person X or Y thinks about a tip "pfff, known this for ages",
that person A or B can't be pleasantly surprised by it.
This topic isn't created for me because I'm hoping to find lots of tips (though I hope to read a few good ones),
this is to prove how valuable subsekt is for production info.

So yeah, keep them coming... 8-)
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
Mono-xID
Uumfääng
Posts: 3380
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:20 pm
Location: Berlin
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Mono-xID »

Never detune two saw waves...
http://soundcloud.com/monoxid

Behringer = ARTS label of synths

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

Mono-xID wrote:Never detune two saw waves...
:lol: :lol: :lol:

let me just counter that irony, you selfish cunt ! ;)

wanna get a huge "beating oscillator" sound ? (don't know it ? google it, you dumb fucks)
take one waveform, put the exact inverted waveform on top.
At first you should hear nothing, cause if you do, the inverted waveform isn't an exact inverted copy of the original waveform.
Now, start detuning one of the 2 waveforms.
You will get a massively big sound immediately because the "beating oscillators" thing is used to the extreme of it's potential power.
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


Will Frances
Gnasher
Posts: 227
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:23 am
Location: London UK
Contact:
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Will Frances »

Duplicate a channel in your mix, say bassline, lead, vocal or whatever. Put a delay plugin onto the duplicated channel fully wet. Slightly change some of the Synth settings or process the sound to make it differ slightly from the first channel. Play with the delay via automation. Even use 2/ three delays to get a good bit of movement going. From here leave as is, side chain, resample, EQ, reverse, pitch shift or layer, and if it still doesn't fit, delete, cry and start again.

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

excellent ! keep 'em coming !
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Mattias »

Quick tips & tricks thread, what a fantastical idea.

Tip: Always make sure you listen to the sound(s) you're currently tweaking and processing in context with the rest of the music.
It's absolutely fine to do tweaks in solo mode, but you really want to work them while you listen to the whole picture most of the time. Most people never realize this.
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

arkos
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by arkos »

Take a 10-15 min break every hour, don't sit for hours and hours blasting your ears thinking your making informed decisions for your music, give your ears a break.

User avatar
Mono-xID
Uumfääng
Posts: 3380
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:20 pm
Location: Berlin
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Mono-xID »

If a friend hands you samples ripped from you tube, don't use them. Might be another mans whole track. :?

I'll chime in with some serious ones later. :)
http://soundcloud.com/monoxid

Behringer = ARTS label of synths

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Lost to the Void »

Monitoring.
2 tips.

Tip 1:

Always monitor and work at the same level. Buy a db meter, produce your tune to a good RMS level, say, -12db, plenty of headroom there.
Work to this RMS level on all your tunes.
Set your monitor to a good level for comfortable long duration work. Note down the monitor level on your monitor control or on the speaker itself. If you have a monitor preset, set this as your main preset.
Then set your monitor to your loud monitoring level for momentary checks. Note the level.

Now you can produce to your set RMS, set your monitor level to the main working setting, and you will give your ears a standard to work at.
Your production WILL improve a lot if you do this.

Play reference tracks through your daw at your production RMS, so you tune your ears to "good production" at your working level.


Tip 2:
Occasionally during production, move your monitors up to their Loud Level as set above, and then slowly bring down the level all the way to the point you can no longer hear anything.
take note of mix consistency. If everything remains balanced all the way down through the levels of volume, your mix is good, if things start popping out or changing dramatically, then these are the areas to balance.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

Mono-xID wrote:If a friend hands you samples ripped from you tube, don't use them. Might be another mans whole track. :?

I'll chime in with some serious ones later. :)

but wait... what if that "friend" called it "blue moog", because he probably has a blue moog, :!: :?:
and even if that friend can't vouch for you on the internet,
and somehow you can't even happen to reach him because he lives way back in the countryside,
and yeah, he's not on FB either...
and yeah unfortunately it's no longer your friend after you kindly used his ripped sample from youtube...

wouldn't that mean you might still be ok ???*
:idea:

you're fucking lucky I just finished my beer, mr mono, or it would have been all over my keyboard by now, you cunt ! :lol:

*believe it or not, that's what I heard...
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Hades »

Lost to the Void wrote:Monitoring.
2 tips.

Tip 1:

Always monitor and work at the same level. Buy a db meter, produce your tune to a good RMS level, say, -12db, plenty of headroom there.
Work to this RMS level on all your tunes.
Set your monitor to a good level for comfortable long duration work. Note down the monitor level on your monitor control or on the speaker itself. If you have a monitor preset, set this as your main preset.
Then set your monitor to your loud monitoring level for momentary checks. Note the level.

Now you can produce to your set RMS, set your monitor level to the main working setting, and you will give your ears a standard to work at.
Your production WILL improve a lot if you do this.

Play reference tracks through your daw at your production RMS, so you tune your ears to "good production" at your working level.


Tip 2:
Occasionally during production, move your monitors up to their Loud Level as set above, and then slowly bring down the level all the way to the point you can no longer hear anything.
take note of mix consistency. If everything remains balanced all the way down through the levels of volume, your mix is good, if things start popping out or changing dramatically, then these are the areas to balance.
excellent tip,
I've often wondered about how much your brain cheats you into thinking track A or B is better just because you play it louder on some days.

But how would you be able to do this practically ?
I mean, for example, in my case, I handle external HW and SW and combine the two all the time,
so even if I keep my mixers "main out" fader at the same level, it still won't mean it's the same "loudness level", no ?
(or whatever the appropriate mastering term is for this, sorry for my stupidity)
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Mattias »

Hades,
Your brain cheats you a lot. Hence the major importance of constant A/B comparisions.

When you produce and create music, you have to match A/B per individual bases a lot. Each instrument. It's a lot more tricky in real time with HW setups in the chain,
hence why you make your rough ideas and capture them and do the biggest A/B comparisons in your DAW where you can easier toggle between, for example, two fader positions.
The A/B is mostly important in the post-production stage. You can afford to be more rough when you capture all audio. Unless you just capture the 2-bus.

Back when I still used a mixer, I LOVED the total recall ability of my digital mixer for this.

Though when I was all analog mixer and I needed to make quick judgments of what was better I often just matched everything "by two hands". One hand on the master bus and one on whatever input I was working with to get a good balance of the level of the audio. Each gain I applied, at the same time, took down the over all master volume by a tiny amount and toggled between those states.
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

User avatar
Mslwte
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 5903
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:32 pm
Contact:
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Mslwte »

excellent topic hades :) i have learnt a lot already lol
https://soundcloud.com/mslwte
https://noizefacilityrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/subsekt909
https://www.facebook.com/subsekt909/
Lost to the Void wrote:Fuck off, get some tequila down ya neck and make some noise you cunt....

Alume
Confetti
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:50 pm
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Alume »

Layering is my go to tip.

Layer any element that needs more character or a more significant purpose in the mix.

so say you have 2 indentical tracks. Play with these parameters:
- pitch
- volume
- placement/quantize
- usual fx

When down correctly you can make evolving sounds ducing in and out eachother or simply add some more phatnes?

Planar
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3883
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Leeds
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Planar »

Some tips for the lazy.

1. Take a preset you like in one synth and try to reproduce it in another for a twist on the sound.

2. Morph presets in synths where you can. Save the best ones and then morph them again. Synth programming for idiots.

3. (Maybe Ableton specific) Take drum loops you like, convert to midi, clean them up to take the bit you like and save them with the default kit Ableton uses. Use them in new projects where a groove might be needed, but you'll be forced to change the sounds because of how they're saved. This is helpful for top loops especially.

4. Extract grooves from loops.

5. Turn off the midi grid once in a while.

6. Bounce to audio earlier. Commit to a sound.

Planar
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3883
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Leeds
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Planar »

7. Put a donk on it.

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Short Production Tips & Tricks

Post by Lost to the Void »

Hades wrote:
Lost to the Void wrote:Monitoring.
2 tips.

Tip 1:

Always monitor and work at the same level. Buy a db meter, produce your tune to a good RMS level, say, -12db, plenty of headroom there.
Work to this RMS level on all your tunes.
Set your monitor to a good level for comfortable long duration work. Note down the monitor level on your monitor control or on the speaker itself. If you have a monitor preset, set this as your main preset.
Then set your monitor to your loud monitoring level for momentary checks. Note the level.

Now you can produce to your set RMS, set your monitor level to the main working setting, and you will give your ears a standard to work at.
Your production WILL improve a lot if you do this.

Play reference tracks through your daw at your production RMS, so you tune your ears to "good production" at your working level.


Tip 2:
Occasionally during production, move your monitors up to their Loud Level as set above, and then slowly bring down the level all the way to the point you can no longer hear anything.
take note of mix consistency. If everything remains balanced all the way down through the levels of volume, your mix is good, if things start popping out or changing dramatically, then these are the areas to balance.
excellent tip,
I've often wondered about how much your brain cheats you into thinking track A or B is better just because you play it louder on some days.

But how would you be able to do this practically ?
I mean, for example, in my case, I handle external HW and SW and combine the two all the time,
so even if I keep my mixers "main out" fader at the same level, it still won't mean it's the same "loudness level", no ?
(or whatever the appropriate mastering term is for this, sorry for my stupidity)
Hardware or software doesnt matter.
You produce to a constant loudness..... As described, say - 12rms
Doesnt matter if it is in or out of the box.
Then you set your monitoring level comfortably. 70 to 75dbspl at the listening spot is quite comfortable.
Basically what I wrote above already not sure if I can explain it any better than I already have.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.


Post Reply