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

You can also look for tom samples and tweak a bit and use for snare.

[QUOTE=iTeen;48380451] Here's something I came up with recently: [video]https://soundcloud.com/i-am-tino/zugzwang-instrumental[/video][/QUOTE] Loving the piano that plays throughout the song, all the melodic stuff is really well balanced. I'd say the drum EQ needs to be tweaked a bit, a little less treble on the ride and a little more bass on the kick to give the percussion just a tad more umph. Speaking of iffy EQ, here's this thing: [media]https://soundcloud.com/drfacedoctor/apolitics[/media]

[QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;48387232]Loving the piano that plays throughout the song, all the melodic stuff is really well balanced. I'd say the drum EQ needs to be tweaked a bit, a little less treble on the ride and a little more bass on the kick to give the percussion just a tad more umph. Speaking of iffy EQ, here's this thing: [media]https://soundcloud.com/drfacedoctor/apolitics[/media][/QUOTE] Now that's nice. It sounds almost like an end credits song, almost nostalgic. The main synth has a nice vibrato to it. The EQ sounds fine to me, but it might be because I'm wearing earphones and not my nice computer headphones. Pretty nice! --- Speaking of end credits, I'm making an edit of a song called End Credits by EDEN. I saw it on my stream on Soundcloud and I knew I had to do something with it. It's currently a WIP so it's only a short snippet [video]http://soundcloud.com/relaxedcreeper/should-i-finish-this[/video] Here's the amazing original [video]http://soundcloud.com/eden-mcmxcv/end-credits[/video]

Been helping my friends out who are making some folk/rock songs and recording stuff, cause they don't know how to mix so I've been doing that for them and they also asked me to put some synths in some of their songs so I did a bit of that. I've never worked with acoustic music from a mixing/producing perspective, so I'm learning a ton and the fact that they want me to add synths to add an electronic vibe is so much fun.

I've mixed some folk/rock music before so I'd love to give it a stab too if you don't mind? :)

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;48392694]Been helping my friends out who are making some folk/rock songs and recording stuff, cause they don't know how to mix so I've been doing that for them and they also asked me to put some synths in some of their songs so I did a bit of that. I've never worked with acoustic music from a mixing/producing perspective, so I'm learning a ton and the fact that they want me to add synths to add an electronic vibe is so much fun.[/QUOTE] Thats awesome! I keep accidentally making things sound like parts of In the Air Tonight. Its somewhat distressing. And I'm utterly stuck on "Transmissions" from a sound design point of view so I've just been trying to watch lessons on that and play with making synths. Made a really neat bass sound thats a square wave, a super saw, and a harmonic bowed thingy to tie together the really low end. But it doesn't work in that song :v

[QUOTE=Skeeter;48392767]I've mixed some folk/rock music before so I'd love to give it a stab too if you don't mind? :)[/QUOTE] Hey I'd let you but I don't have the files or recordings or anything, we've got a little room at a place where we have all our equipment and stuff and they're mostly just coming up with the songs and recording them at the same time so I'm not mixing a finished product or anything. [editline]6th August 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=paindoc;48392768]Thats awesome! I keep accidentally making things sound like parts of In the Air Tonight. Its somewhat distressing. And I'm utterly stuck on "Transmissions" from a sound design point of view so I've just been trying to watch lessons on that and play with making synths. Made a really neat bass sound thats a square wave, a super saw, and a harmonic bowed thingy to tie together the really low end. But it doesn't work in that song :v[/QUOTE] Making awesome bases that don't go well with the song you're working on is so annoying, happens to me all the time.

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;48392791]Hey I'd let you but I don't have the files or recordings or anything, we've got a little room at a place where we have all our equipment and stuff and they're mostly just coming up with the songs and recording them at the same time so I'm not mixing a finished product or anything. [editline]6th August 2015[/editline] Making awesome bases that don't go well with the song you're working on is so annoying, happens to me all the time.[/QUOTE] I usually end up saving the end product, but it feels a bit like wasted time. But good sound design/instrument design from is so rare. Just really want to finish a song since I have only finished one song in the past three months [editline]6th August 2015[/editline] And then after listening to [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43qB9FpfCR8"]this[/URL] (relevant) and [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM2obQj-25M"] this[/URL] I end up on nu disco when I'm trying to finish my downtempo track. Even Halofreak liked that second link though, shows the funk is too strong so be careful people [editline]6th August 2015[/editline] I found [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imYJpr09IgQ"]more[/URL] [I]oh god[/I][B] [I]help[/I][/B]

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;48392791]Hey I'd let you but I don't have the files or recordings or anything, we've got a little room at a place where we have all our equipment and stuff and they're mostly just coming up with the songs and recording them at the same time so I'm not mixing a finished product or anything. [/QUOTE] [shamelessplug] If you ever do end up needing someone to mix/master your stuff, hit me up. I'm starting to do it semi-professionally now and the studio I work out of is using some of the best audio plugs the market has. I'd love to help you guys sound great! [/shamelessplug] That goes for literally anyone here who has some recordings but can't do solid mixes of their own.

Posted that track that I linked in here the other day, finished. Just linking in case you guys wanted to hear the finished product. I took the acapella out cause there's a copyright scare going around on SC right now. [media]https://soundcloud.com/26carat/millions-w-snbi[/media]

[QUOTE=MonkeyFun;48395891]Posted that track that I linked in here the other day, finished. Just linking in case you guys wanted to hear the finished product. I took the acapella out cause there's a copyright scare going around on SC right now. [media]https://soundcloud.com/26carat/millions-w-snbi[/media][/QUOTE] Apparently if you make it creative commons its safe, but thats hearsay. I already got one strike for a mix I put up like three months ago (and it was actually doing fairly well, msot of mylistens came from it)

[QUOTE=paindoc;48395928]Apparently if you make it creative commons its safe, but thats hearsay. I already got one strike for a mix I put up like three months ago (and it was actually doing fairly well, msot of mylistens came from it)[/QUOTE] My tracks are monetized on soundcloud so it's a no-go either way for me I would think.

[QUOTE=MonkeyFun;48395945]My tracks are monetized on soundcloud so it's a no-go either way for me I would think.[/QUOTE] Oh, yeah that would do it then. Damn. Also, yay new avatar

[QUOTE=iTeen;48380451]I'm really diggin this thread, such a variety of style. I really like that soft synth that oscillates left and right. What plugin did you use for it (and perhaps can upload the sound)? However I didn't really care for the bass synth nor the snare drum, they both sound too thin for my ears. Here's something I came up with recently: [video]https://soundcloud.com/i-am-tino/zugzwang-instrumental[/video][/QUOTE] Has a really nice trance feel to it overall. Piano might have come in a bit early though, also the intro feels like it's building up to something bigger than just that kind of dubsteppy bit. I also really like the part that starts at 1:15. It also sounds like it's a buildup to something though, it was a bit disappointing to hear the song just slowly end from there instead of moving into another chorus or something like that. Tried making another drum and bass song in the style of Unreal Tournament [media]https://soundcloud.com/grandmamax/can-you-hurry-up[/media]

does anyone know of any software that either a) you give it a sample, then it searches through a given library to find close matches, or b) allows you to load samples and play them side by side for comparison the flp for a track i wrote saved badly, its 1kb and contains no data whatsoever, all i have is an mp3 render of it, im trying to re make it, but i have a fair few samples, and i cant remember which ones i used

[QUOTE=iTeen;48380451] Here's something I came up with recently: [video]https://soundcloud.com/i-am-tino/zugzwang-instrumental[/video][/QUOTE] It's nice, but I feel the drums should cut through more. It sounds a bit distant. I don't know how you would fix this though (louder? other stuff quieter? ) , I have the same problem :v: The things the drums play are very nice though, are they random samples or some VST? ---------------------------- Speaking of which, I am so goddamn terrible at making drums. I also don't [I]like[/I] making drums, mainly because I'm bad at it, I want to make music not design sounds. All I use are VEC1-3 and VEH and I'm not sure if they are a benefit. Does anyone perhaps have a drums tutorial (sound design, effects, ...) they think are absolutely something any producer should know? Is it better to take drum samples from existing songs? [media]https://soundcloud.com/patronbernard/help-me-fix-my-drums-pls[/media]

[QUOTE=despair3173;48399213]does anyone know of any software that either a) you give it a sample, then it searches through a given library to find close matches, or b) allows you to load samples and play them side by side for comparison the flp for a track i wrote saved badly, its 1kb and contains no data whatsoever, all i have is an mp3 render of it, im trying to re make it, but i have a fair few samples, and i cant remember which ones i used[/QUOTE] Pro Tools does this via the workstation. But I doubt you'd want to spend that much money. It lets you search all the possible candidates and alt+click each sample to preview it

[QUOTE=Number-41;48399713]It's nice, but I feel the drums should cut through more. It sounds a bit distant. I don't know how you would fix this though (louder? other stuff quieter? ) , I have the same problem :v: The things the drums play are very nice though, are they random samples or some VST? ---------------------------- Speaking of which, I am so goddamn terrible at making drums. I also don't [I]like[/I] making drums, mainly because I'm bad at it, I want to make music not design sounds. All I use are VEC1-3 and VEH and I'm not sure if they are a benefit. Does anyone perhaps have a drums tutorial (sound design, effects, ...) they think are absolutely something any producer should know? Is it better to take drum samples from existing songs? [media]https://soundcloud.com/patronbernard/help-me-fix-my-drums-pls[/media][/QUOTE] Personally I prefer samples over making my own drums, acoustic drums always sound a lot more lively and can add some nice organic edge to an electronic melody. I still make my own drum tracks when necessary but lately I've gotten into chopping up drum samples and making my own beats with them, to varying degrees of success. The drums on your track seem fine though, all I'd do is add some variation to the hihat velocity/volume, maybe a little reverb on 'em too. [QUOTE=halofreak472;48398366] Tried making another drum and bass song in the style of Unreal Tournament [media]https://soundcloud.com/grandmamax/can-you-hurry-up[/media][/QUOTE] Seems kinda busy, like there's too many higher pitched synths competing with each other instead of settling into a groove. Really well mastered though, despite the business it never felt like an overload of noise, there's just moments where some of the synths get distracting. ----------- I'm not actually sure if I posted this before but oh well: [media]https://soundcloud.com/drfacedoctor/fixer[/media]

[QUOTE=despair3173;48399213]does anyone know of any software that either a) you give it a sample, then it searches through a given library to find close matches, or b) allows you to load samples and play them side by side for comparison the flp for a track i wrote saved badly, its 1kb and contains no data whatsoever, all i have is an mp3 render of it, im trying to re make it, but i have a fair few samples, and i cant remember which ones i used[/QUOTE] Aural Probe was a thing recently posted on /r/wearethemusicmakers that makes it really easy to sort through huge sample libraries and audition them. [editline]7th August 2015[/editline] Bleh, still having a hard time actually finishing tracks. I get too into a track that I start with a good idea (like transmissions) and then get mad when I can't do the idea I have justice or make it "good enough". I don't want to move on to a new track, but part of me wants to do that and just return to it later and make it better. But I already did that with my synthwave track that I just quit out on. So not sure if I should buckle down and finish the ambient/downtempo thingy or start a new project. And it doesn't help that I want to finish this major series of bassgorilla music composition lessons before doing that.

[QUOTE=paindoc;48402823]Aural Probe was a thing recently posted on /r/wearethemusicmakers that makes it really easy to sort through huge sample libraries and audition them. [editline]7th August 2015[/editline] Bleh, still having a hard time actually finishing tracks. I get too into a track that I start with a good idea (like transmissions) and then get mad when I can't do the idea I have justice or make it "good enough". I don't want to move on to a new track, but part of me wants to do that and just return to it later and make it better. But I already did that with my synthwave track that I just quit out on. So not sure if I should buckle down and finish the ambient/downtempo thingy or start a new project. And it doesn't help that I want to finish this major series of bassgorilla music composition lessons before doing that.[/QUOTE] thanks man ill check it out if you cant finish a track, just leave it for a bit and come back to it later, sometimes time can give you a fresh perspective on your tracks. it might be the sdame thing with starting a new projecty, ive been writting chipmusic for like 2 years, this summer ive started writting new shit, doing sort of hiphop stuff as well as more electronic sample based things, and its been a breath of fucking fresh air, because im not just doing the same shit ive been doing for years, ive been able to experiment, and without sounding too cheesy, ive definately evolved as a musician bc some of the shit ive wanted to do has required learning a lot of useful skills [editline]7th August 2015[/editline] >install program >click load [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/RCBew4m.png[/IMG] kill me

[QUOTE=paindoc;48402823]Aural Probe was a thing recently posted on /r/wearethemusicmakers that makes it really easy to sort through huge sample libraries and audition them. [editline]7th August 2015[/editline] Bleh, still having a hard time actually finishing tracks. I get too into a track that I start with a good idea (like transmissions) and then get mad when I can't do the idea I have justice or make it "good enough". I don't want to move on to a new track, but part of me wants to do that and just return to it later and make it better. But I already did that with my synthwave track that I just quit out on. So not sure if I should buckle down and finish the ambient/downtempo thingy or start a new project. And it doesn't help that I want to finish this major series of bassgorilla music composition lessons before doing that.[/QUOTE] I know that feeling all too well. Just save the incomplete ones for later and you might end up reviving and expanding a few of them.

[QUOTE]I'm not actually sure if I posted this before but oh well: [media]https://soundcloud.com/drfacedoctor/fixer[/media][/QUOTE] Dude I like what you have going. Try messing with the drums cus that kick needs more punch on the low end. I like the compostion too really catchy and dope. [media]https://soundcloud.com/corn-mouth/sik-az-fuk-gabba[/media] This is a gabber-ish track by me and my friend. I went ham at 1:50

[QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;48387232]Loving the piano that plays throughout the song, all the melodic stuff is really well balanced. I'd say the drum EQ needs to be tweaked a bit, a little less treble on the ride and a little more bass on the kick to give the percussion just a tad more umph.[/QUOTE] I've always been horrible at EQ volume and compression. Anyone know of any guides for such things? Or do y'all just have good ears :shock:

[QUOTE=iTeen;48410053]I've always been horrible at EQ volume and compression. Anyone know of any guides for such things? Or do y'all just have good ears :shock:[/QUOTE] I'm not good at it either but I understand the basic philosophy, which is that you must achieve two goals: Don't let the song become so overloaded that it hurts your ears. Prioritize your instruments so that the more important ones (depends on the song/genre of course, ie trance would prioritize the melodies, dnb would of course prioritize the bassy elements) are louder and more "present" than others. And my personal preference is to never let the percussion get lost in the background, most of the time you want them to have at least a little kick to them no matter what genre. I've heard a lot of really bland music that could have used a little more crunch but instead just had some mushy, quiet drum track that added very little to the song. Of course doesn't apply to every genre but a good, punchy percussion track is the beating heart of your music, don't overdo it but don't neglect it.

[QUOTE=iTeen;48380451]Here's something I came up with recently: [video]https://soundcloud.com/i-am-tino/zugzwang-instrumental[/video][/QUOTE] Pretty cool, I like the synth choices. I think that some more electronic sounding drums could have complimented the synthesized sounds the melody is giving on top of the piano. The pads that come in at 1:17 are freaking awesome btw. [QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;48401212] I'm not actually sure if I posted this before but oh well: [media]https://soundcloud.com/drfacedoctor/fixer[/media][/QUOTE] I dig the melodies, but I think that distorted (bass?) going on is a little too loud compared to everything else, the rest of the instruments don't cut through quite as much. Overall it's dope, loved how it progressed. [QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;48387232] Speaking of iffy EQ, here's this thing: [media]https://soundcloud.com/drfacedoctor/apolitics[/media][/QUOTE] Pretty cool track, the pitch bends at the beginning of the phrase are really interesting. I think it needs some more bass, it kind of has a hollow sound in the lows. Maybe something more sine-wavey. Almost done with this one, let me know what you guys think. [url]https://soundcloud.com/26carat/cruisin-1/s-nkh5n[/url]

[QUOTE=iTeen;48410053]I've always been horrible at EQ volume and compression. Anyone know of any guides for such things? Or do y'all just have good ears :shock:[/QUOTE] Being good at using the EQ comes with a LOT of practice and knowing where every instrument should be in the mix. Using subtractive EQ is also a whole lot better than boosting frequencies. Lets say you have a song with the following instruments: Two synths (one lead, one rhythm) Vocals Bass guitar Drums (bass drum, snare and hihats + crash) Now the first thing you should do is make a mental picture in your mind. If this was playing live, where would all the instruments be? Which instrument is the most important one? What role does the vocals have, the bass, the drums? Once you've decided how the song looks like you can start using the EQ. Some instruments occupy the same frequency spectrum so you're going to have to decide which part of the spectrum they're going to be in. For instance, with this particular band you have two synths that are most likely going to be within the same register. Lets say it is a female singer who has a high-pitched voice. This means you're probably not going to find much in the bass or the lower mid but a lot of her in the high mid to treble. You also have a synth that is going to play some cool chords, they're probably not going to have much in the bass either but the lower mid and high mid. You can probably cut off almost all the bass from the vocals without harming the quality of the singing, same with the rhytm synth. That leaves the high mid. Here's where the EQ really shines because it is the instrument you as a mixer uses to make the song truly shine. Both instruments probably sound really good at say 2khz but you can't have both take that spot, they'll overlap and just sound too much. So you decide that vocals will have that frequency, so you cut 2khz on the synth and go on.

I usually put one a bit left and the other right. So my fictional band would be a huge band with just the drummer in the middle and all the rest squished to the sides :v: I can't help but feel it does help with reducing "the load". I got this from classical jazz band recordings (i.e. your typical quintet), where each instrument usually dominates either channel except the drums. This doesn't work universally (if it works at all), but I usually only have like 5 tracks at the same time.

[QUOTE=Number-41;48410344]I usually put one a bit left and the other right. So my fictional band would be a huge band with just the drummer in the middle and all the rest squished to the sides :v: I can't help but feel it does help with reducing "the load". I got this from classical jazz band recordings (i.e. your typical quintet), where each instrument usually dominates either channel except the drums. This doesn't work universally (if it works at all), but I usually only have like 5 tracks at the same time.[/QUOTE] i try to keep myself to 2-3 voices (things playing different melodies, including vocals) spread across 5-6 tracks (including drum track) to prevent clusterfuck syndrome

Mix your stuff in mono, If things sound good in mono it is going to sound good in stereo. It forces you to really focus on good useage of The EQ as well :)

[QUOTE=Skeeter;48412297]Mix your stuff in mono, If things sound good in mono it is going to sound good in stereo. It forces you to really focus on good useage of The EQ as well :)[/QUOTE] I would mix in stereo but reference in mono somewhat regularly. If you do the whole mix in mono you aren't going to get it sounding quite as good because stereo image does impact the mixing process. If I had two synths that fill a similar area in the frequency spectrum, panning them slightly opposite each other would be a viable way to make them more distinguishable, but you can't get that if you're mixing in mono.