DSF Q&A 21: Objekt

[glottis5]

A lot of times when I get my tunes mastered, they end up sounding worse (in my opinion). What should I know when I send a tune out for mastering? Or is there a chance that I've just gotten a couple of bad engineers?

I live in a small town in Canada so to keep up with interesting electronic music I have to use the internet. Do you think it's important to be part of a local music scene to keep yourself artistically inspired/challenged?

Thanks!

[glottis5]

also, what's your favourite pokemon? i like charizard

[staticcast]

for the 1000th time, thanks for doing this, I don't think I've ever been as pleasantly surprised to drop into the Production forum as I was when I logged in today.

Hoping I'm not too late

1 -

almost everything is dead centre. there's quite a lot of stereo content, but this is usually through layering an instrument and panning the layers left and right (e.g. a 606 hat with an 808 hat). sometimes i will automate the pan for creative purposes, but in a more functional mixdown sense i prefer to think in terms of "mid-sides" than "left-right".

Would panning on hat elements be real soft-pan? Or virtually all the way hard-panning?
Does it differ in pursuit of particular effects? What would you say the effect(s) may be?

i don't often hard-pan and find it a bit extreme... but never say never etc. lots of that in old acid recordings, although cutting to vinyl narrows the stereo image in the end.

generally i'll center everything and pan only for effect, e.g. to bring out certain notes, to emphasise a call-and-response, etc. it often drives me nuts when shit is panned all over the place for no good reason. mono drums provide a good focal point in a mixdown.

2 -

also, see my answer above - in the end i found that working on one track at a time is generally very bad for creative blocks

Care to elaborate? - This isn't really important, I'd just like to know more about your productive ethic, so to speak, like a fly on the wall of your apartment.

well, if you spend 2 months listening to only one track then you're gonna grow to hate it much faster than if you've got a few things on your plate. it's nice to be able to take a step back and work on something else for a while.

3 -

good mixdown practice is good mixdown practice. the only specific vinyl no-no i can think of is heavy "side" content in the bass, since vinyl is cut in such a way that the mono content makes the needle oscillate laterally (left-right) and the stereo content makes the needle oscillate vertically, so lots of stereo content in the low end can make the needle jump out of the groove or the cutting stylus "bottom out" into the aluminium base of the master lacquer. but this is actually not bad advice for digital mixdowns either, since club soundsystems are often limited by the power of their subs, and making sure your low end is mono-only can maximise the amount of low end power you get out of a crappy system (think about it like this - if you pan something hard left then you have to boost it by 6dB to get the same volume out of it, and that might trigger the limiter earlier than if it were in mono). same applies to a heavily limited radio mix (if your track is destined for the radio).

I've personally always gone mono from 200hz downwards. This may be a slightly sappy question, but is that good? Would it be better to go lower?
I'm pretty ignorant with regard to sound control/manipulation.

i prefer to fix the problem at the source, e.g. make sure my sub and kick are mono, than fix the mastering bus with a "mono under 100hz" plugin or whatever. a mastering engineer is only gonna do that for you anyway if the track really needs it.

it's not an absolute rule. you CAN have stereo content in the low end, but it's a tradeoff - the more stereo content, the more up-down motion of the needle. the lower the frequency, the more motion of the needle generally. the more motion of the needle, the quieter you gotta cut the record. etc etc. you'll be fine if you wanna put a bit of reverb on your kick, just don't, like, hard-pan your sub or something.

5 - I'd like to ask about the Objekt#1 & 2, 1 in particular I suppose. I understand from interviews that you arranged distribution (for some reason, I believe it was at the distributor's expense? correct me if I'm wrong of course). Did you do any further promo of it? Was it just sending to the right people at the right radio stations from here? I caught on to you fairly late so I didn't really witness your asent.

yes, i had a P&D deal, so the distributor paid for the costs, which isn't that common these days. they also did all of the promo, which is even less common these days, but the "promo" basically amounted to jackmaster sending it to a bunch of his mates on AIM and making sure boomkat got it first. frankly that worked better than any press release i've ever read.

On a related point, did you have any releases before hand? As static cast or TJ perhaps? (I understood that you taking on the name Objekt was accidental).
Did you 'know' #1 would become what it was when you were originally approached with the idea to release? How did it feel (obviously good, did you feel pressured about that all eyes on you kind of thing?)

objekt #1 was my first release.

actually i was pretty reluctant to release it at all because i didn't think it was anything special. i only agreed because i was offered a deal in which i had no financial responsibility and didn't have to put in any more work than organising the mastering and physical pressing, and figured i had nothing to lose.

6 - I think I read somewhere that the goose started as an attempt to make some kind of pop tune? Would it be completely outrageous to request some audio of the first project file?

"pop tune" was a facetious way of putting it in an interview, but it was originally 3 minutes long, yeah. it was for the DSF samplepack competition. i think it's still on soundcloud somewhere on the competition page, along with the samplepack. otherwise email me and i'll send it over.

7 - I obviously wouldn't ask for specifics (names etc), but have you been working collaboratively with other musicians in the scene? Even a remote prospect of something coming out? Who would you be interested in working with, why?

i've been working on some stuff with a friend, yeah. nothing finished yet though. i wouldn't really want to say any more for now.

8 - Do you find yourself consistently satisfied with your productions? Are you more of a self-critical type? How long do you think it took for you to develop some consistency with your productions?

i'm the most self-critical person i know. objekt #1 was the first track i was satisfied enough with to release (and only after some persuasion) and that took me about 5 years of learning how to make electronic music, not counting several years of learning how to use a DAW and do a mixdown before that.

A lot of times when I get my tunes mastered, they end up sounding worse (in my opinion). What should I know when I send a tune out for mastering? Or is there a chance that I've just gotten a couple of bad engineers?

where were they mastered? what was wrong with them?

I live in a small town in Canada so to keep up with interesting electronic music I have to use the internet. Do you think it's important to be part of a local music scene to keep yourself artistically inspired/challenged?

for me yes, to a degree. for others not (or completely). it's a personal thing!

[antipode]

Last vinyl purchase! (?)

Also, what's with the general engineering questions, we have mac for those. this is an objekt q&a

[Naan_Bread]

Thanks very much for doing this firstly.

What are your thoughts on originality in music? You've mentioned that your process of building tracks is very natural and organic but do you ever stop and think, "shit, this sounds to much like X producer"?

Do you consider your music as art or as functional dance music? Do you make a distinction between the two?

Can we get a top 5 albums and/or eps?

Are you collaborating with Helix?

[Frank86]

Just a thanks for doing this! Got a lot of time for you TJ!

[Minzo]

Very interesting Q&A, big ups Objekt!

I got one question though. I'm a bit new to producing music and I would like to know, do you make your own samples or what sample pack(s) you guys would reccomend to use?

[krytikal]

i wanna get signed to fucktard alliance

[zerbaman]

Minz
Don't think it would hurt to read through the thread.

[staticcast]

hey guys, sorry for the wait

Last vinyl purchase! (?)

1 54690 8.00 Artless 2197 / D Labels 12"
Artless 2197 – Parallel 9: Technique EP

1 66161 10.00 Sonic Groove 1255 / US Labels 12"
Sonic Groove 1255 – Realmz: Left To My Devices

1 66453 8.00 Sex Tags Mania 024 / Euro Labels 12"
Sex Tags Mania 024 – Frak: Börft EP

1 66458 21.00 Mego Editions 145 / Euro Labels Do LP
Mego Editions 145 – Nick Edwards: Plekzationz

1 66481 21.00 Mego Editions 143 / Euro Labels Do LP
Mego Editions 143 – Mark Fell: Sentielle Objectif
Actualité

1 66487 12.00 Fondation Sonore 01 / D Labels EP
Fondation Sonore 01 – Ancient Methods vs. Kareem:
Exstinctio Conscientia

1 66512 10.00 Wild Oats EVIL 01 / US Labels 12"
Wild Oats EVIL 01 – Kyle Hall & FunkinEven: Funkinevil

1 66568 8.50 Hidden Hawaii Sub 001 / D Labels 12"
Hidden Hawaii Sub 001 – Delete Everything: Untitled

Thanks very much for doing this firstly.

np! hope it's been of help

What are your thoughts on originality in music? You've mentioned that your process of building tracks is very natural and organic but do you ever stop and think, "shit, this sounds to much like X producer"?

totally. i think there is room in any genre for fairly generic fodder, and that such generic fodder isn't necessarily a bad thing to make; "someone" needs to make it after all (lengthy rants about shit tech-house notwithstanding). but to actually make stuff that sounds exactly like a specific producer is, to me, kind of pointless. emulation is one thing - you will usually still sound like yourself - cloning is another. occasionally i'll set out to make a track that sounds like 'x' producer, and end up doing exactly that, only to discard the track because i'd look silly releasing it.

Do you consider your music as art or as functional dance music? Do you make a distinction between the two?

i would say both. the two don't have to mutually exclusive. all music is arguably art anyway. there's plenty of shit art about.

Can we get a top 5 albums and/or eps?

ummm. i'm really bad at questions like this, but here's five rather obvious picks from the list i gave RBMA earlier this year. these obviously take into account nostalgia etc...

Radiohead - Kid A
Autolux - Future Perfect
Shed - Shedding The Past
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works

Are you collaborating with Helix?

i tried to but he spent the whole time tweeting

I got one question though. I'm a bit new to producing music and I would like to know, do you make your own samples or what sample pack(s) you guys would reccomend to use?

what zerbaman said

[Nite Life]

Its really cool that you can still talk with forum peons like myself even after success! XD
I was wondering if you a default template for starting new tunes. Like you, I work a day job and when I get home I only have 2-3 good hours to get the creative juices flowing. I tend to start with drums, but creating drum kits I actually like, eq-ing, compressing, etc all take lots of time...And sometimes I finally get a loop going only to have it sound like shit - back at square one. I figure a template may help, but I don't want to spend hours making one only to have it limit creativity even more. Thoughts?

[staticcast]

Its really cool that you can still talk with forum peons like myself even after success! XD
I was wondering if you a default template for starting new tunes. Like you, I work a day job and when I get home I only have 2-3 good hours to get the creative juices flowing. I tend to start with drums, but creating drum kits I actually like, eq-ing, compressing, etc all take lots of time...And sometimes I finally get a loop going only to have it sound like shit - back at square one. I figure a template may help, but I don't want to spend hours making one only to have it limit creativity even more. Thoughts?

i don't have a template for the DAW itself, but i make sure i save my most commonly used settings as the default preset for all the FX i use regularly... saves a lot of time with compressors and delays for example if i only have to move one parameter instead of seven. i've also got a few of my commonly used channel strips saved and ready to go - pre-compressed and EQed 606 hats, monosynths, kits, sidechain trigger, etc. basically, any time you notice yourself re-using a certain basic patch, save it.

[Steve_French]

what is preffered method of sidechaining? anychance you upload the instrument rack? (providing you're only using Abletons stock plugins)

for any ableton users;
here are some links to a couple of devices i've made recently.
A mid/side eq/ analyser
http://www.mediafire.com/?occ2gh98g29q8rh

and a channel spitter (for isolating left channel and right channel)

http://www.mediafire.com/?wv9fz2hjfzr14rv

[helix]

Are you collaborating with Helix?

i tried to but he spent the whole time tweeting

dude I just had nothing to contribute at all, you're so much better than me

[staticcast]

what is preffered method of sidechaining? anychance you upload the instrument rack? (providing you're only using Abletons stock plugins)

for any ableton users;
here are some links to a couple of devices i've made recently.
A mid/side eq/ analyser
http://www.mediafire.com/?occ2gh98g29q8rh

and a channel spitter (for isolating left channel and right channel)

http://www.mediafire.com/?wv9fz2hjfzr14rv

uh... i don't follow. i just load up a compressor and set the sidechain input to whatever i want?

sometimes i'll use the HP filter in the sidechain if i want a faster decay than the source (e.g. kick) allows.

Are you collaborating with Helix?

i tried to but he spent the whole time tweeting

dude I just had nothing to contribute at all, you're so much better than me

pfffff. you can make tool techno, which is more than i ever managed

[travis_baker]

i just want to say thanks for doing the q & a, clk recovery arrived in the post today.. bothe sides are awsome.

[Steve_French]

uh... i don't follow. i just load up a compressor and set the sidechain input to whatever i want?

in a previous post u mentioned you have devices you use a lot including a sidechain trigger. i wasn't sure if you were using another way of sidechaining, as opposed to the standard way of doin it

[staticcast]

uh... i don't follow. i just load up a compressor and set the sidechain input to whatever i want?

in a previous post u mentioned you have devices you use a lot including a sidechain trigger. i wasn't sure if you were using another way of sidechaining, as opposed to the standard way of doin it

oh, that - i mentioned that in a previous post. someone asked for a "random production tip" and i explained how to set up a sidechain trigger channel that follows the kick. it's a few pages back i think.

[Steve_French]

yeah i gotcha. u can also use the Autopan with the inverted saw wave, but u have no real control over the attack or release

[zerbaman]

Don't think this was asked and I suppose anybody who's abelton proficient could answer this,
Does abelton have an invert delay? Not ping pong, just something that delays with an inverted stereo out... if that makes sense?

Does anyone use any freeware ones?