Random Production Tips Thread™

[non_typical]

Absolutely - finish the gadammm tune!

Similar thing - a mate of mine has been making AMAZING tunes for about 7 years, all of which are about 70% finished. Seriously. WTF?




Also, in all seriousness one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard is that if a computer/machine isn't working, hit the bastard. It works

[darkmatteruk]

resample and split freqencies. each time you resample a bass line do a small but different ammount of proceesing to the last time, helped me no end did that

[shig]

resample and split freqencies. each time you resample a bass line do a small but different ammount of proceesing to the last time, helped me no end did that

would you say this works to better effect than simply creating your patch, then using, say, distortion, reverb, delay, in a row?

[caunterstrike]

if it sounds good do it!

[daft cunt]

taking a tune beyond the 16 bar loop or 2 minute sketch stage is a skill in itself which needs practise: you have to get into the habit of adding the detail and tweaking the arrangement to make it a good interesting track, and also of following a tune through to its conclusion (which can sometimes be a complete ballache). this needs practise just like any other aspect of production....

THIS

I'm just getting to this stage, and a ballache is an understatement. I'd take a swift kick in the nuts to get this track I'm working on tricked out, arranged, and mixed. I hate all of that shit. Building a track that has energy, and drive and momentum - Shit is a skill. A skill, I've never really practiced.

seconded. my mates has been making awesome loops for years but cannot finish a single tune.

Keep telling him to do it, doesnt even matter if it comes out shit, you NEED to learn to make a proper track.

This will be my assignements for the next 6 years - or whatever it takes.
Thanks guys!

+1 for the sub volume thread for it really helped recently but tbh so far almost everything in this thread seems essential to me. Adding a link to the bible.

[tech_smack]

build up a collection of good samples, including lots u make yourself.

organise them in one place, rather than scattered across 3 different hardrives.


pick a synth you like and stick with it for a while . start tunes by making the synth first then add the rest, mix up your work pattern.

aslo save any fat synth sounds u make as presets and also save them as wavs to tweak further in samplers

[darkmatteruk]

resample and split freqencies. each time you resample a bass line do a small but different ammount of proceesing to the last time, helped me no end did that

would you say this works to better effect than simply creating your patch, then using, say, distortion, reverb, delay, in a row?

erm, well i dont think theres any hard fast rules when it comes to resampling

personally, the sound im trying to create i dont think i can acheive straight from the synth

so its more a case of getting a good patch on the go then lots of trial and error trying to craft the desired sound

exporting, importing, doing a few bits, then do it all over again etc

hope that helps

[monotic]

Really great thread, guys.

Here's my contribution:

Know yourself. We're all good at some things bad at others, we all have our blind spots. If you know what you need to work on or work against you're half way there.

Mix your tracks with the best tunes in the same genre. Do they stand up? Would you play them out? If not, why not?

Listen to your best track and write down everything that you like about it. Or compare your latest track to something you made a year ago. In other words, give yourself some props from time to time. Confidence helps a lot, provided it's based in reality.

Find a few people who have similar taste in music to you and convince them that you want honest feedback. Encourage them to be brutal. Would they buy your tunes? Would they tell all their mates about them?

And lastly, if you really want to make music, don't give up (although taking a break can be beneficial). Just focus on the process rather than the goal.

[feral witchchild]

Listen to lots of different tracks on acid and compare them to your own, it's a real eye opener

Ahaha so true.

[mr ads]

what instantly springs to mind

- know your frequencies and where every elements place in it is, Ive recently started adding each sounds main frequency range to each channel name where possible, its also helping me learn the frequency range at the same time.

- hi pass as everyone has been saying

- lowering attack times / sidechaining to gain headroom

[paradigm_x]

RE: finihsing a tune

best advice ive seen relating to this is to set a marker at the start of a tune, then a marker at 5/6minutes ish - then you know where youre tune will end. well hard to finish anything with an infinite blank canvas in front of you - this way you can see your end point, and suddenly far less space to fill.

You can always move the end/forget this once youve got a basic arrangement together, but really helps turning a 16 bar loop into a full tune.

Copy and paste you loop out to 6 mins ish then just start roughly deleting bits.

Psycologically help hugely IMO.

works for me !

[s & m]

RE: finihsing a tune

best advice ive seen relating to this is to set a marker at the start of a tune, then a marker at 5/6minutes ish - then you know where youre tune will end. well hard to finish anything with an infinite blank canvas in front of you - this way you can see your end point, and suddenly far less space to fill.

You can always move the end/forget this once youve got a basic arrangement together, but really helps turning a 16 bar loop into a full tune.

Copy and paste you loop out to 6 mins ish then just start roughly deleting bits.

Psycologically help hugely IMO.

works for me !

great tip man I do something similar but putting a rough end marker I have not tried. Sometimes I get lost in my tunes and its like 8 mins or I cant get 2 mins of different stuff going on

[dj hhe]

"if you can steal it, steal it"- picasso

[megaladon]

All good stuff on here, I definitely have problems actually finishing tracks off. I think the best bits of advice I've had are from this thread so can't really offer anything.

Just to ask without getting too in depth on production, how does lowering attack times increase headroom? I've never even heard of that tactic before.

[kxp]

Dont listen to TOO much music before makin a beat, or youll just end up naturally makin a sound influenced from another song

and its a bit annoyin when you listen back like.. ARGH FUCK THAT SOUNDS LIKE NIGHT VISION

or something stupid like that lol

[chewie]

Watch out for reverb getting proper brought in your master. It may sound big on the snare etc. Once it's bumped up that shit is going to be loud as a mofo keep it subtle and it'll still works nicely

[grooki]

In terms of work flow, one thing I can say is:

LEARN THE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

=

PRODUCTION NINJA

[kapital]

In terms of work flow, one thing I can say is:

LEARN THE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

=

PRODUCTION NINJA

Man I'm so used to mousing around that I definitely don't tke advantage of this.

Even general computing - I only learned last year you can select a bunch of shit at once by holding down shift and clicking the last point....sad