Fader rides / manual gain automation

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
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dubdub
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Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by dubdub »

Is that a technique that any of you frequently use? My channel gain / faders seem to be static most of the time, unless it's for fading stuff in and out. By 'fader rides' I mean manual gain automation ie. not drawn in but done live with a controller/mouse/mixer. I saw an video of Chris-Lord-Alge mixing recently and I was surprised at how much time he spent doing live fader automation on his SSl. It was always fairly subtle, small changes in gain but it clearly added something to the mix. Adding a db or two for certain elements during the peak of the track is something that seems to be fairly common in song-based music but it doesn't seem to be a big technique in techno as far a I can see.

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over9000
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by over9000 »

well i always use a controler to record the automation and dont draw it in.
but same here i leave the channel faders alone most of the time. i think it could be interesting to push some elements like the main synth line in volume during the peak of the track. then again i dont know if that can cause problems when mixing into a compressor, because it would act different then?

dubdub
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by dubdub »

over9000 wrote:
Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:13 pm
well i always use a controler to record the automation and dont draw it in.
I'm specifically talking about automation of gain/volume and not parameters in general.
over9000 wrote:
Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:13 pm
then again i dont know if that can cause problems when mixing into a compressor, because it would act different then?
Well, dealing with irregularities in amplitude is what compressors were designed for, no? I don't think a couple db extra is going to be big deal. But it might fuck with your overall mix balance, which might be a bigger issue.

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Mattias
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by Mattias »

I use that always
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0dd
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by 0dd »

I was wondering about this recently and the answer I gave myself was try it out. Set everything to get a "main" balance and then fader mix into this at some point, or never, just have it as a reference point so you know what it's like when everything's at 0. I guess it's not very popular a technique since it requires more skill and attention, but adds another element of liveliness to the track. Tried it once, I liked it but forgot to repeat next time.
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Lost to the Void
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by Lost to the Void »

It's more relavent for "real" music with physical instruments and vocals etc.

Dance music is more about intensity
Fade ins and fade outs etc, but there isn't much need for gain riding, at least not in techno, which isn't really about being "live", half of it is the repetition and
Predictablity.


Do some more idm ambient or experimental with less predictable sounds and gain riding comes in to play more.

Although if you are dealing with basically the same loop dragged out for 6mins then at least some volume automation is something..

If it works do it, at.this stage techno is so predictable now it's time to throw all rules out the window in some respects
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Root
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by Root »

i recently bought that launchcrontrol xl thing to stop clicking everything by mouse. so now i'm playing around with jamming arrangements and also fader automation stuff. what i already found out is that it can change the mood of a track and how it's elements play together when your playing with the volume of a pad. if it's louder it's like a bathtub and everything get's glued, if it's more subtle everything stands more out in the mix. i think i will achieve nice development in my arrangements with this.
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Re: Fader rides / manual gain automation

Post by CRDM »

Mattias wrote:
Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:12 pm
I use that always

Same.


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