Studio Monitors....why?

fiziks · Post by **fiziks** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:44 pm

I was watching an interview with Mathew Jonson and he says he uses a pair of club monitors and a sub to produce all his tracks. Basically, his stance is that if your making club music why have these ultra responsive monitors that can pick up every little subtly if most people will never hear those subtleties.

I've never thought of it that way, but I think he has a valid point. The dude has a shitload of releases out(although I'm not really a fan of his) so he can obviously state that with some confidence. Just wondering what some people's opinion is on that.

shredexx · Post by **shredexx** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:48 pm

its often the little subtleties that make songs amazing... also... its not like every club system is the same.. you have to think... if you were to sit there producing on a funktion1, and you take your tunes to some shitty club with a budget sound system... they are gonna sound horrible.

Producing on monitors allows you to hear more of the spectrum more clearly... thats it... and they usually sound fucking awesome as well...

caeraphym · Post by **caeraphym** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:48 pm

What club monitors is he using though?

Because some of the new FK1/TurboSound/Void stuff is pretty f*cking good kit

I'd be genuinely '

' if he was using a smashed up pair of plastic shelled Belmringer/Soundlad/Peavey monitors, probably lol quite a bit too.

dj vision · Post by **dj vision** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:50 pm

but the majority of it isnt just listened to on club systems

dubstep has just as much "listening music" as it does dance and club music

legend4ry · Post by **legend4ry** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:55 pm

Way I look at it......I'd rather produce on speakers than headphones so I can walk around and listen to the track I would use hi-fi speakers if I had some but I only have monitors so. if I liked sitting in the same place for a few hours working away i'd use headphones.. as long as everything sitting right in the mix.. and not peaking way to high so a ME can't do anything to it, then its alright, isn't it? Breakage said in that Q&A we did.. that he doesn't touch his mix, just makes sure everything is sitting right and let the ME do the rest.

jsilver · Post by **jsilver** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:11 am

decklyn wrote:

Let us say you are writing a song on speakers that accentuate 10khz by 2 db, and cut 100hz by 2 db. You have wrote your tune and now you are trying to make your track sound really really good - grandma shit herself good. when you mix down, you will be trying to get the sound to sound good on your speakers. Because your speakers accentuate 10khz by 2db, you will tend to find the sound harsher here or too loud so you may cut these frequencies with eq. Likewise, when you are mixing the bass frequencies, you will be trying to get the kick to make grandma shit without boom. But because the speakers cut the sound at 100 hz, you will tend to incease the ammount of frequency at 100hz.

When you then take that song in your car and drive around with grandma, the extra 2db of 100hz that you added to your mix to account for the lack of 100hz in your speakers at home will be noticable in your car. It will make your track sound 'boomy'. You won't know why - it sounded so good at home. Grandma no shit because of boom. Likewise there will be a big gap in the upper frequencies so granma can't make out the lyrics - she turn up her hearing aid and keep turning over to you going 'huh? huh?' because she can't figure out what is the music and what is her own farting and what is your voice.

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=32371

I think your tunes should have as much detail in them as possible. I actually think that he's wrong to say that people aren't going to notice. Why take tips from dance music producers you don't even like? I produce on Sennheiser 425 headphones and then mix down on M-Audio AV20s because I don't want the neighbors to hear every little detail while I'm working. Headphones are fine but don't mixdown with them (unless you have some really expensive ones that are uber accurate/) To get professional quality tightness in your mixes you're going to want studio monitors.

abZ · Post by **abZ** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:21 am

jsilver wrote:
decklyn wrote:

Let us say you are writing a song on speakers that accentuate 10khz by 2 db, and cut 100hz by 2 db. You have wrote your tune and now you are trying to make your track sound really really good - grandma shit herself good. when you mix down, you will be trying to get the sound to sound good on your speakers. Because your speakers accentuate 10khz by 2db, you will tend to find the sound harsher here or too loud so you may cut these frequencies with eq. Likewise, when you are mixing the bass frequencies, you will be trying to get the kick to make grandma shit without boom. But because the speakers cut the sound at 100 hz, you will tend to incease the ammount of frequency at 100hz.

When you then take that song in your car and drive around with grandma, the extra 2db of 100hz that you added to your mix to account for the lack of 100hz in your speakers at home will be noticable in your car. It will make your track sound 'boomy'. You won't know why - it sounded so good at home. Grandma no shit because of boom. Likewise there will be a big gap in the upper frequencies so granma can't make out the lyrics - she turn up her hearing aid and keep turning over to you going 'huh? huh?' because she can't figure out what is the music and what is her own farting and what is your voice.
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=32371

I think your tunes should have as much detail in them as possible. I actually think that he's wrong to say that people aren't going to notice. Why take tips from dance music producers you don't even like? I produce on Sennheiser 425 headphones and then mix down on M-Audio AV20s because I don't want the neighbors to hear every little detail while I'm working. Headphones are fine but don't mixdown with them (unless you have some really expensive ones that are uber accurate/) To get professional quality tightness in your mixes you're going to want studio monitors.

My headphones are pretty fucking accurate. AKG k702 and vintage Sextetts but I still use monitors. At this point I am getting my detail and accuracy from the cans and even though my monitors are shit I have been using them for years so they have synergy with my ears. If I get it right with that stuff it will sound good live. I help run a weekly I can go down any or every wednesday about 9:30 and test my tunes out there if I want to. I highly recommend monitors of at least decent quality. It is not a coincidence that this thread was started by someone that doesn't use monitors. They are pretty easy to dismiss when you don't have a pair.

20twelve · Post by **20twelve** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:29 am

shredexx wrote:its often the little subtleties that make songs amazing... also... its not like every club system is the same.. you have to think... if you were to sit there producing on a funktion1, and you take your tunes to some shitty club with a budget sound system... they are gonna sound horrible.

Producing on monitors allows you to hear more of the spectrum more clearly... thats it... and they usually sound fucking awesome as well...

Totally agree!

theedman · Post by **theedman** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:49 am

Personally, i've got a labtec pair of 2.1's and i had a tune played in fabric and it sounded tight as, but then again i'm not an expert so maybe it sounded poo lol, but from the perpective of monitors i'd love a pair when i've got some spare cash, but for me at the mo its all about how stuff sounds in my room because i make music for me, to be listened to by me in my enviroments so thats how i mix it to sound best in

faun2500 · Post by **faun2500** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:06 pm

Best studio monitors I can afford because, people will be listen to my tracks on ipods, headphones, car radios cd players, club sound systems, studio monitors, personal cd walkman with little speakers, computer speakers, laptop speakers, Hi fi systems etc.. etc.. etc...

So, I think studio monitorsare a better choice.

faun2500 · Post by **faun2500** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:07 pm

Also, alot of club sound systems dont actually sound good so why make music on/for them?

reference · Post by **reference** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:13 pm

i use a shitty old hifi and my tunes still sound fine on my ipod.

didyouchattotheguy? · Post by **didyouchattotheguy?** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:30 pm

Seems strange that he only mixes on a pair of club monitors. But maybe his tunes are only ever played in a club...

if your music is successful, people will listen to it in the car, on boom boxes, on their walkman, on mum's kitchen radio with the 3 inch speaker, in living rooms with surround systems, in listening booths, a cd store, on TV, and every once in a while, maybe 1 out of every 100 listens, someone will hear it on good speakers, and maybe, if you are lucky 1 out of 1000 on studio monitors. The real truth is in the understanding of how your mix on your monitors translates to other listening conditions. That is, you have to really "know" your monitors. The main thing is to get a set you are comfortable with, that you can listen to all day. Your ears will actually "learn" the monitor. As you check you mix on other systems, you will learn about your systems deficiencies and compensate. The truth is not a quality of the object, but a quality of ear, mind and experience. "It's in your head".

It would be interesting to see what his tunes sound like on anything other than club monitors. All bass I bet...

circusofmind · Post by **circusofmind** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:16 pm

Good monitors are to have a flat response so you can understand the details in the entire frequency spectrum. They are not meant to sound "good" in a hifi way as you are mixing but more to sound accurate. Hifi speakers emphasize the highs and lows with a sort of smiley eq.

The reason you really want good monitors is so your mixes translate to a variety of listening environments. If you mix on a set of 5k watt powered mackies then they will sound good on those mackies but probably bad in the car, or on an ipod, etc.

I think monitors are one of the most important parts of production. Everyone serious about production should get the best monitors they can affort. It is our window into our art.

BTW, If you mix in headphones, your stereo imaging will be messed up.

spencertron · Post by **spencertron** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:48 pm

abZ wrote:They are pretty easy to dismiss when you don't have a pair.

totally agree...i was all 'im fine with my hi-fi speakers' until i borrowed some monitors off a friend...the difference in doing mixdowns was almost biblical..i.e. good.

not saying they are necessary but monitors just made working on music loads better

abZ · Post by **abZ** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:33 am

Reference wrote:i use a shitty old hifi and my tunes still sound fine on my ipod.

That is just fucking awesome especially considering you handle

... I don't know I thought it was funny

Studio Monitors....why?

Studio Monitors....why?

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