The Musician's Gig Room Chat V1 - Songwriting and Sound Design for all!

[Ott]

[QUOTE=Octopod;52741225]In addition to what Skeeter said, panning your instruments to the left or right also helps. I tried slightly moving my kicks to the left and snares to the right and it makes both of them sound louder and actually clearer IMO.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/frozen-coffee[/media]

General feedback is always appreciated, but if anyone can tell me, I'm trying to learn more about the lo-fi aesthetic and I've been trying to find out how other people make lo-fi tracks that sound "old". I think it has to do with how I'm EQ'ing my songs but all I've been doing was screwing around with the curve.[/QUOTE]

Add some wow and flutter with a tape plugin. Also I fucking love this track.

[♠️♥️♦️♣️]

Here's a thing I made on guitar (looped x 4)

[media]https://soundcloud.com/mobon/badnews3am[/media]

Then turned into a thing I made with preset ableton sounds (also very loud i apologize)

[media]https://soundcloud.com/mobon/slooger[/media]

I'd like to make it a song and make the instrumentation a better but I've never worked with any DAW in general nor written complete songs beyond the initial idea so we'll see what happens

[octopod]

[QUOTE=Mobon1;52744714]Adding a bit of brown noise and lowering the high and lower frequencies generally helps makes that sound from what I understand, like so:

[URL]https://clyp.it/xqpxy3hl[/URL]

i.e. emphasize your mid balance so it sounds like it's coming through a shitty speaker[/QUOTE]

Is this followed by a bass boost? I also thought weak highs and lows would nail the effect, but at the same time I hear a lot of lo-fi tracks where the bass is fairly strong.

[editline]3rd October 2017[/editline]

[QUOTE=Mobon1;52744767]
Then turned into a thing I made with preset ableton sounds (also very loud i apologize)

[URL="https://facepunch.com/"]Listen to Soundcloud recording[/URL]

[URL]https://soundcloud.com/mobon/slooger[/URL]

I'd like to make it a song and make the instrumentation a better but I've never worked with any DAW in general nor written complete songs beyond the initial idea so we'll see what happens[/QUOTE]

I don't know if it's just me, or one of the notes in your melody sound very dissonant with the rest of the song. But in general, I thought it was pretty good. I for one cannot get any track to sound that loud for some reason, probably because I suck at mastering.

If anyone wants to C&C another track of mine here's one of my older tracks that I think fits with the style I'm trying to go for:

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/walk-alone?in=tvoctopod/sets/journey-of-trash[/media]

[Ott]

[vid]https://my.mixtape.moe/nngsjk.mp4[/vid]

Am I wide enough yet?

[Adeptus]

[QUOTE=Ott;52744850][vid]https://my.mixtape.moe/nngsjk.mp4[/vid]

Am I wide enough yet?[/QUOTE]

what the fucking fuck is that

[nonhuman]

[media]https://soundcloud.com/dayum-nonhuman-2/jungle-brazy[/media]
boi.

[octopod]

[QUOTE=nonhuman;52772705][media]https://soundcloud.com/dayum-nonhuman-2/jungle-brazy[/media]
boi.[/QUOTE]

this beat is so incredibly dirty that i don't know what to say

...but anyway don't take my word for it but usually i don't like having any amount of absolute silence in my tracks because that breaks my ears especially if i'm maxing the volume. other than that i actually don't know what to say on this kind of music other than "it's great".

here's a pretty standard lofi track that i just finished today. i don't think i tried anything very experimental since i was mostly focusing on mastering it to sound old. i used the previous advice and lowered the lows and highs instead of the mids.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/sundown-stroll[/media]

[Deals]

[QUOTE=Octopod;52774867]this beat is so incredibly dirty that i don't know what to say

...but anyway don't take my word for it but usually i don't like having any amount of absolute silence in my tracks because that breaks my ears especially if i'm maxing the volume. other than that i actually don't know what to say on this kind of music other than "it's great".

here's a pretty standard lofi track that i just finished today. i don't think i tried anything very experimental since i was mostly focusing on mastering it to sound old. i used the previous advice and lowered the lows and highs instead of the mids.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/sundown-stroll[/media][/QUOTE]

I like this a lot, great mix, very clear and soft. I won't go into to much detail with the composition since it was mostly an experiment in mixing but I will say that I'm not too big on the off-beat kick at the end of the third beat of every two bars. Other than that I like it. Frozen Coffee is in my likes btw. Following you on Soundcloud so I can stalk you.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/stephenbose/a-crow-looked-at-me?in=stephenbose[/media]

[media]https://soundcloud.com/stephenbose/if-you-had?in=stephenbose[/media]

Working on a Jazz Rap EP and need collabs with people. Got some features lined up already but need some people to fill out the spaces because I can't do vocals because it's very hard to get takes where I live.

Most of all, I need bodies who can do raps or whatever on A Crow Looked at Me, and If You Had. I don't know what else to say atm but I'm running late for college so I'll check back in with my boys here so I can find out if any of you guys are down.

Will take singers as well so long as you have a s.exe voice!

[autodesknoob]

[media]https://youtu.be/KdXnqOAoUNA[/media]

[sp]now this was fun sampling![/sp]

[MrJazzy]

Does anyone have a good enough ear to be able to tell me anything about the general mix/master of this? Is there a compressor or limiter on top of of it all? How do you achieve so much seemingly going on without messing up the sound dynamics? I can't tell
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQggvJx_kFA[/url]

[Skeeter]

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;52782471]Does anyone have a good enough ear to be able to tell me anything about the general mix/master of this? Is there a compressor or limiter on top of of it all? How do you achieve so much seemingly going on without messing up the sound dynamics? I can't tell
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQggvJx_kFA[/url][/QUOTE]

Really good use of reverb, excellent EQing with all of the instruments having their own spot in the frequency spectrum and the use of the autopanning instrument (the highpitched plinking synth) lets the higher frequencies breathe without taking too much space.
Most definietly a compressor on top of it all, the drums have compression on them at least.

[MrJazzy]

[QUOTE=Skeeter;52782963]Really good use of reverb, excellent EQing with all of the instruments having their own spot in the frequency spectrum and the use of the autopanning instrument (the highpitched plinking synth) lets the higher frequencies breathe without taking too much space.
Most definietly a compressor on top of it all, the drums have compression on them at least.[/QUOTE]

Thank you. There's compression on all the drums together you mean? I kinda mix as I make stuff, but I still feel like I have no idea how to use compression and it feels like there's something missing whenever I do somethin.

[Skeeter]

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;52782970]Thank you. There's compression on all the drums together you mean? I kinda mix as I make stuff, but I still feel like I have no idea how to use compression and it feels like there's something missing whenever I do somethin.[/QUOTE]

Compression will help you get a sort of smack on the drums if you don't overdo it, it'll make the kick seem thicker and more punchy and the same with the snare. Beware though, because it kills dynamics since it cuts down the headroom for them.
I think they might lay compression on the snare and kick separately, it could be on the same channel though since both kick and snare isn't hitting at the same time, allowing the compressor to breathe between hits.

Ok so sound is just waves rippling through the air. A compressor and a limiter works in similar ways but the way the achieve the effect is wildly different.
Imagine said sound as a sausage.

A limiter will trim the upper edges (depending on how 'strong' you set the limiter to be) whereas a compressor will, as the name suggests, compress the sound.

This means that a limiter will make things quieter just by taking away the upper headroom. A limiter set at say, -3dB will make the whole song -3dB quieter since it takes away EVERYTHING that reaches -2,9dB or louder.

A compressor will react once it reaches a certain threshhold, we can for simplicitys sake take -3dB once again.
Whenever a soundsource reaches -3dB it will attack the sound, pushing it down. Depending on certain parameters (in this case, attack and release) it will work within a few milliseconds.
That means, a soundsource will hit the -3dB mark, and the compressor will after a few milliseconds (this is where the attack comes in) punch down the sound, depending on another parameter you can pick ; the ratio.

The ratio will then, depending on how big of a ratio you've set, duck the volume.
The release will then decay, allowing the track to regain the previous sound volume.

The best way to understand a compressor is to use it and fiddle around with it. Depending on the source of sound (i.e, an instrument) it will work in many ways.
Highly dynamic instruments can benefit from a compressor to make it more even, raising the lower parts while keeping the higher (lower and higher as in volume) parts a bit quieter. This evens it out, while still maintaining a bit of dynamics.
A limiter in this case, would just cut down the overall volume, whereas a compressor will smooth it out.

[octopod]

IMO after I learned that limiters are technically compressors with a inf:1 ratio (meaning absolutely nothing gets past the threshold), it made a lot more sense to me.

I use limiters mainly so I don't clip, but for anything else I use compressors to make instruements less harsh sounding.

[TinsoldierV2]

[QUOTE=nonhuman;52772705][media]https://soundcloud.com/dayum-nonhuman-2/jungle-brazy[/media]
boi.[/QUOTE]

this is crazy as fuck, those percs are intense

[Skeeter]

[QUOTE=Octopod;52783994]IMO after I learned that limiters are technically compressors with a inf:1 ratio (meaning absolutely nothing gets past the threshold), it made a lot more sense to me.

I use limiters mainly so I don't clip, but for anything else I use compressors to make instruements less harsh sounding.[/QUOTE]

This is actually a much more concise and good way of saying what a limiter is instead of my convuluted way of saying the same thing that could've been said in 140 characters or less.
Thank you!

And yes, I do this too, although I think placing a compressor before the limiter is always a good idea since it allows the sound to cut some of the roughness from it (because of how the compressor works) before the limiter sets in.

[Skeeter]

Alright, how's it going for y'all? :) With the collab album (or life in general, I'm eager to hear either!)

[octopod]

Here's a WIP of a remake of one of my first tracks (the original was very garbage):

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/rising-wip[/media]

I'll probably end up doing something more jazzy afterwards.

[Deals]

[QUOTE=Skeeter;52789926]Alright, how's it going for y'all? :) With the collab album (or life in general, I'm eager to hear either!)[/QUOTE]

No progress on collabs at the moment but working on finishing it off. Just slowed down one of the tracks and made something beautiful. Have an outro now.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/stephenbose/downward-spiral-outro[/media]

And Octopod;

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/rising-wip[/media]

Very atmospheric, like smoking a cigarette on a balcony looking at the sun. Don't hear anything that I don't like to be honest. Just very good mood music. Sounds very yellow/orange. Dunno what that means but whatever haha.

[Hakita]

[QUOTE=Skeeter;52789926]Alright, how's it going for y'all? :) With the collab album (or life in general, I'm eager to hear either!)[/QUOTE]
i'm making very slow progress on a post-rock track, it'll be around 20 minutes when it's done but since there's no limit to song length that should be fine

[Skeeter]

[QUOTE=Hakita;52792243]i'm making very slow progress on a post-rock track, it'll be around 20 minutes when it's done but since there's no limit to song length that should be fine[/QUOTE]

It wouldn't be Hakita either if it wasn't at least 15 minutes long... :D <3

[Skeeter]

[QUOTE=Octopod;52791733]Here's a WIP of a remake of one of my first tracks (the original was very garbage):

[media]https://soundcloud.com/tvoctopod/rising-wip[/media]

I'll probably end up doing something more jazzy afterwards.[/QUOTE]

I love going back to old songs, because most of the time the production value is garbage and the performance might be total shit, but the song itself could be really, really solid and all you have to do is just reimagine it and bring a more matured, more developed emotion to it for it to truly shine.
Sort of like this, I obviously don't know how it used to sound but the subtle nuances found within the main groove is just mesmerizing.

The foundation is good, a solid beat keeps pushing it forward with the... guitar? The very gloomy sound of it combined with a deep rumbling bass really makes the layers of synths beneath it so much juicier.
If this track was food, it would be a really nice steak that's been marinated for a very long time and then grilled to perfection where it slowly falls apart in your mouth.

Very nice mate!

[Adeptus]

Today I've discovered Serum as a VST.
Suffice to say, my world has changed.

[Cpt.Hubba]

[QUOTE=Adeptus;52794503]Today I've discovered Serum as a VST.
Suffice to say, my world has changed.[/QUOTE]

Serum is aight. I'm not a fan of some of the PADS causing CPU spiking for no apparent reason. Also I ran out of memory making a song completely in Serum. I had like 20 channels of Serum running and had to export as a wav to finish the project lol...

I recommend Sylenth and Z3ta+, also obtain (legally) a copy of Kontact and get the Exhale library for it.

[url]https://output.com/products/exhale[/url] (Also memory intensive)
[url]https://www.cakewalk.com/products/z3ta/[/url]
[url]https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/[/url]

[Adeptus]

I use sylenth, z3ta+, spire and serum now. the fact I can literally create my own oscillator waves is amazing
it's a memory/cpu hogger, but who cares a fuck

[Cpt.Hubba]

[QUOTE=Adeptus;52796542]I use sylenth, z3ta+, spire and serum now. the fact I can literally create my own oscillator waves is amazing
it's a memory/cpu hogger, but who cares a fuck[/QUOTE]

Yo same plugins! Let's collab

[Adeptus]

[QUOTE=Cpt.Hubba;52796555]Yo same plugins! Let's collab[/QUOTE]

it'd be nice indeed, which DAW are you using?

[editline]19th October 2017[/editline]

you/re chronic synths on sc?

[RoboChimp]

I'm trying to edit a convention video, but the copyright free music I've listened to isn't that great, do you guys have cool upbeat party dance music you'd be willing to give me?

[Ott]

[QUOTE=RoboChimp;52804995]I'm trying to edit a convention video, but the copyright free music I've listened to isn't that great, do you guys have cool upbeat party dance music you'd be willing to give me?[/QUOTE]

I've [url=https://soundcloud.com/ottworks/the-walk]got[/url] [url=https://soundcloud.com/ottworks/spinal-crack]a[/url] [url=https://soundcloud.com/ottworks/a-little-tenderness]few[/url] that fit that description. PM me if you want high quality downloads.

[MrJazzy]

Man no matter what I do I always come back to blues, I just have real difficulting finding my way there sometimes