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

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=Ms. Gyroscope;49500547]However I want and whatever I want. If I like it Ill fuck with it.[/QUOTE]

That's what I figured :D

That's part of the fun of digital music making- if I like something, I'm gonna borrow. I've been getting really liberal with that lately, after watching "Everything is a remix" (if you haven't seen this [B]WATCH IT[/B]). Its too much fun taking elements from my favorite songs and adding my own structure around them, feels like additive creativity and is so much better than I thought it would be (based on the general attitude around this).

and ye splenda I want to take vocal lessons at some point (money permitting), but its still going to be harder for me to get the voice I want. I have a fairly gravelly voice, and the only songs i've managed to vaguely sing along too are terribly country country songs by keith whitely and those older blokes. I know Koda sings in a lot of his own stuff and has a voice closer to mine, and I like that sound, and Wolfgun has a different voice too but leverages it great for his D&B-esque style.

It'll work out.

[editline]10th January 2016[/editline]

Here are two good videos about Flux Pavilion as he produces- I have a lot more respect for this guy now. He's awesome to watch cause he just works so well and lays stuff out so nicely, and seems pretty humble. Also lol at the amount of saws he uses

[video=youtube;2rM_q9Vof4Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rM_q9Vof4Y[/video]
[video=youtube;lLBPLyOzN_I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLBPLyOzN_I[/video]

[editline]10th January 2016[/editline]

Does anyone else have the problem of making everything too complex? I get too intricate with my chord and melody progressions now, but when I listen to songs in the genres I love they're all fairly simple. I'm guessing it comes down to practice and learning to apply the theory knowledge I've gained lately, but it feels a bit silly that I can write harmonies that work with just the piano, but once used as a part of the larger whole its just too busy

[splenda]

[QUOTE=paindoc;49500882]That's what I figured :D

That's part of the fun of digital music making- if I like something, I'm gonna borrow. I've been getting really liberal with that lately, after watching "Everything is a remix" (if you haven't seen this [B]WATCH IT[/B]). Its too much fun taking elements from my favorite songs and adding my own structure around them, feels like additive creativity and is so much better than I thought it would be (based on the general attitude around this).
[/QUOTE]

A serious word of legal caution around this: while sampling can be fun, you are still putting yourself in a serious grey area, where at any time any of the people who you sampled can get enough lawyers to show that you did not do any meaningful changes to their sample, and that would ruin you, or anyone. The best thing you can do is ask the artist if you can use their material in your song. I have asked a few people when I do covers of their songs and they are always super receptive to it, but I guess I have been asking really little bands so the dynamic is a bit different. Like most likely nothing is going to happen, but if by some weird chance a song that you made with samples from big artists becomes big, you will be faced with millions of dollars worth of lawsuits.

These legal struggles really are a drain in the composing/producing world, but unless copyright laws change tomorrow, they are things we all need to deal with.

[editline]10th January 2016[/editline]

[QUOTE=paindoc;49500882]That's what I figured :D
Does anyone else have the problem of making everything too complex? I get too intricate with my chord and melody progressions now, but when I listen to songs in the genres I love they're all fairly simple. I'm guessing it comes down to practice and learning to apply the theory knowledge I've gained lately, but it feels a bit silly that I can write harmonies that work with just the piano, but once used as a part of the larger whole its just too busy[/QUOTE]

It seems like you are stuck in the problem I call "NAMM preset syndrome" where you make patterns/sounds that sounds huge/full/melodically interesting on their own, but they are too unwieldy to sit in a mix. This is a lot more common in sound design, especially for those who are still beginners in terms of they know how to craft their own sounds, but they only do it while the sound is soloed. This leads to super harmonically rich and full sounds, with the downside that they clash with literally everything else in your song.

This can all be boiled down to the phrase "less is more."

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=splenda;49500947]A serious word of legal caution around this: while sampling can be fun, you are still putting yourself in a serious grey area, where at any time any of the people who you sampled can get enough lawyers to show that you did not do any meaningful changes to their sample, and that would ruin you, or anyone. The best thing you can do is ask the artist if you can use their material in your song. I have asked a few people when I do covers of their songs and they are always super receptive to it, but I guess I have been asking really little bands so the dynamic is a bit different. Like most likely nothing is going to happen, but if by some weird chance a song that you made with samples from big artists becomes big, you will be faced with millions of dollars worth of lawsuits.

These legal struggles really are a drain in the composing/producing world, but unless copyright laws change tomorrow, they are things we all need to deal with.

[editline]10th January 2016[/editline]

It seems like you are stuck in the problem I call "NAMM preset syndrome" where you make patterns/sounds that sounds huge/full/melodically interesting on their own, but they are too unwieldy to sit in a mix. This is a lot more common in sound design, especially for those who are still beginners in terms of they know how to craft their own sounds, but they only do it while the sound is soloed. This leads to super harmonically rich and full sounds, with the downside that they clash with literally everything else in your song.

This can all be boiled down to the phrase "less is more."[/QUOTE]

I haven't sampled any big artists, or really torn anything too directly. Most I've done is tear a ton from Monody by The Fat Rat, but he released the stems for that and it was already completely open source and uncopyrighted. I'm not entirely dumb :v: (and the whole blurred lines case is an example of this and how fucked this all is)

And I figured it was just less is more stuff. Like in that video I posted- Flux Pavilion literally just starts with a default saw, and some mild FX and layering later he's got the harmonic meat of his song. I've been trying to step it back lately, but figure it'll get better the more I work. I was already at the point of being able to think of a sound and design it fairly well, but had trouble with theory. Now I've got both so I'm working to unite them and I'm feeling myself make larger steps every time I sit down and work for a while, even if I haven't finished a song in a while.

[splenda]

[QUOTE=paindoc;49501018]I haven't sampled any big artists, or really torn anything too directly. Most I've done is tear a ton from Monody by The Fat Rat, but he released the stems for that and it was already completely open source and uncopyrighted. I'm not entirely dumb :v: (and the whole blurred lines case is an example of this and how fucked this all is)

And I figured it was just less is more stuff. Like in that video I posted- Flux Pavilion literally just starts with a default saw, and some mild FX and layering later he's got the harmonic meat of his song. I've been trying to step it back lately, but figure it'll get better the more I work. I was already at the point of being able to think of a sound and design it fairly well, but had trouble with theory. Now I've got both so I'm working to unite them and I'm feeling myself make larger steps every time I sit down and work for a while, even if I haven't finished a song in a while.[/QUOTE]

I was doing a jam last night with some people and everyone's favorite part of my role was literally just a saw wave with an lfo on the filter and some delay. While it was basically the most bland sound you can possibly get, it sat in the mix really well. At the same time though, don't be scared to make intricate sounds. One guy somehow got his moog mother to sound like a sample of a girl singing, and we all agreed that the sound should just be in front because it was so interesting.

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=splenda;49501056]I was doing a jam last night with some people and everyone's favorite part of my role was literally just a saw wave with an lfo on the filter and some delay. While it was basically the most bland sound you can possibly get, it sat in the mix really well. At the same time though, don't be scared to make intricate sounds. One guy somehow got his moog mother to sound like a sample of a girl singing, and we all agreed that the sound should just be in front because it was so interesting.[/QUOTE]

Well, recently I had fallen into the trap of feeling I needed that complexity. So I wrote these overly dense chord progressions and really complicated synth patches layered in FX and modulation and all that fun stuff, but then I watched the videos I posted and realized that instead of worrying about any of this shit, since it was all making it hard to actually make music, I should just make some goddamn music and use what feels right and sounds good haha. It was actually watching SeamlessR and the tutorial he produced for Bassgorilla that started to solidify this (since the only complex element is the bassline), and the complexity there was an artifact of the genre and Seamless's style

And jamming is one of my favorite things. Now that I've gotten so much better at scales, I've been really trying to "memorize" scales by playing them and understanding their chordal structure so I can just think of the sound or chord I want and play it out, and I've even been able to record a few chord progressions I've played live. I'm still not quite good enough to play the melodic part and the chord part at the same time, but I'm getting there. Jamming and playing with synths is way too much fun though.

[KmartSqrl]

[QUOTE=paindoc;49496207]NEVER FUCKING COMPRESS AFTER REVERB[/QUOTE]

I don't like these types of rules. I've put things through a huge reverb and squashed them afterwards and it sounded great. Do what sounds right.

[Legion Varus]

[QUOTE=Ms. Gyroscope;49497040][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEq6fUYQHxM[/media]

man this song is ripe for sampling! Plunderphonics time!

those chords[/QUOTE]

A lot of my music is inspired by Max Ritcher.

[splenda]

[QUOTE=paindoc;49501095]Well, recently I had fallen into the trap of feeling I needed that complexity. So I wrote these overly dense chord progressions and really complicated synth patches layered in FX and modulation and all that fun stuff, but then I watched the videos I posted and realized that instead of worrying about any of this shit, since it was all making it hard to actually make music, I should just make some goddamn music and use what feels right and sounds good haha. It was actually watching SeamlessR and the tutorial he produced for Bassgorilla that started to solidify this (since the only complex element is the bassline), and the complexity there was an artifact of the genre and Seamless's style

And jamming is one of my favorite things. Now that I've gotten so much better at scales, I've been really trying to "memorize" scales by playing them and understanding their chordal structure so I can just think of the sound or chord I want and play it out, and I've even been able to record a few chord progressions I've played live. I'm still not quite good enough to play the melodic part and the chord part at the same time, but I'm getting there. Jamming and playing with synths is way too much fun though.[/QUOTE]

One of my favorite jams was at a synth meetup and some company, I forget who, was showing off a new synth. They had 4 of them on a table, so 3 strangers and I decided to jam with them. The layout of the synths was really weird, and the knobs were not labeled, so we were all just winging it. We all got some pretty gnarly sounds, and at one point the company started to film the jam to use in a promotional video or something.

Also in terms of being too complex, just don't be this guy and you will be good to go.
[video]https://youtu.be/kYMQ6xY2Rwo?t[/video]
(parts I'm talking about start at around 0:57.)

[editline]10th January 2016[/editline]

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;49501103]I don't like these types of rules. I've put things through a huge reverb and squashed them afterwards and it sounded great. Do what sounds right.[/QUOTE]

This. Everyone always likes to try to make "DO EVERY TIME RULES NO MATTER WHAT" but seriously breaking the rules will lead to new sounds, so don't be afraid to not high pass all sounds at 30Hz or to compress after delay/reverb or whatever. Do what feels right, "break da rulez," etc.

[paindoc]

I mean the reverb thing is more just a general rule, that I try to avoid breaking. It pushes your dry sounds down towards the underlying reverb, and can end up bringing the reverb up (relatively) and washing the signal out. Its a thing I've heard more than a few people do and get sorta mystified by- but in the end music is intensely personal. The best way to learn the most about it is to expose yourself to as much material and learning as you can and just fool around, but I've been using lots of hard work on technical rigor and stuff to catch up a bit to so many people who figured it out by just experimenting for years

in the end people who experiment seem to do far better, but I'm doing what I like to do.

[Ms. Gyroscope]

I just make everything really loud and eq cutting. #1 rule is dont clip

although you shouldnt be taking advice from me since my stuff is kinda "out there"

[url]https://soundcloud.com/corn-mouth/funny-break/s-8AKhf[/url]

But if this sounds alright to you then well im doing something correct.

[SentientToilet]

[QUOTE=PelPix123;49500524]Simple but really effective IMO

I fixed up my Avatar thing. The last chord wasn't right to how I heard it in my head:

[media]https://soundcloud.com/kaybeccab/avatarstudy6[/media]

The whole mix probably won't ever be right.

This is a WIP half-mixed track from a new soundtrack I'm making for Meridian 59,

[media]https://soundcloud.com/kaybeccab/towntrl[/media][/QUOTE]

You have such a good sense of spacing. Wish I knew how to use reverb and stereo like that :P
Though I feel like there's something going on with the highs, maybe they need to be toned down a notch.
Anyway, this is what I was rambling about when I posted about not being able to sing or grab a vocalist. My track feels so empty and I basically have no ideas on how to continue:
[url]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71300804/music/frag_wip_4.mp3[/url]

[KmartSqrl]

[QUOTE=paindoc;49501330]I mean the reverb thing is more just a general rule, that I try to avoid breaking. It pushes your dry sounds down towards the underlying reverb, and can end up bringing the reverb up (relatively) and washing the signal out. Its a thing I've heard more than a few people do and get sorta mystified by- but in the end music is intensely personal.[/QUOTE]

This seems more like a place for a "make sure you take the time to really learn and understand what the effects you're using do to the signal" rule than anything :P

Try throwing some short room verb on some drums and doing a bit of parallel compression afterwards. That can sound really cool and gel drums really well :)

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;49502266]This seems more like a place for a "make sure you take the time to really learn and understand what the effects you're using do to the signal" rule than anything :P

Try throwing some short room verb on some drums and doing a bit of parallel compression afterwards. That can sound really cool and gel drums really well :)[/QUOTE]

Hahaha speaking of which, yeah I had been doing just that - using a reverb and multiband comp in that order. Tsar 1R is really good for this, I've found, since it's character really brings out the sharpness of the hats and the drum transients in general. Fed into a multiband comp and the drums grt as punchy as they can be, it feels, since everything is nice and smushed together and all the transients are shown off

So yeah, I agree. Understanding the way your plugins affect the signal is wise, and I need to think about that more, especially when it comes to writing my articles and the like

[Nitro836]

I hope that, when I have the money to buy FL Studio Producer edition, I will learn to use the extra settings all the different plugins have to offer.

[skylox]

I made a glitch hop inspired thing, however I have some kind of brain problem that doesn't let me make a song in just one style, so there's some rock influence, and an emotional piano and "epic" shit. Here's what came out:

[media]http://soundcloud.com/batistella/believe-in-nothing[/media]

I hope this sounds like a single song for you.

------

About the "breaking rules thing":
For me, what makes producing music so versatile and fun is that you can try new stuff and hear the result instantly.
It's so easy to break a rule, but it's also so easy to undo stuff if it sounds bad. So I think we should try to experiment as much as possible.

[QUOTE=Nitro836;49502476]I hope that, when I have the money to buy FL Studio Producer edition, I will learn to use the extra settings all the different plugins have to offer.[/QUOTE]

Don't worry too much about it. Pick a plugin you like and start experimenting. It's hard and may be frustrating at first because you won't know what each function can make to your sound.
But in time you'll get a "sense" and know what knob to move and change the synth to sound the way you want.

FEEDBACK:

[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;49502054]You have such a good sense of spacing. Wish I knew how to use reverb and stereo like that :P
Though I feel like there's something going on with the highs, maybe they need to be toned down a notch.
Anyway, this is what I was rambling about when I posted about not being able to sing or grab a vocalist. My track feels so empty and I basically have no ideas on how to continue:
[url]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71300804/music/frag_wip_4.mp3[/url][/QUOTE]

In my opinion this doesn't sound empty at all. Sounds nice and easy. Try adding more percussion if you want. Something in the high end, hats maybe.
You can also try adding new instruments, on other octaves, playing the same notes on top of the old ones, so you can cover more frequencies, make the song feel "full" and not get overly complex.

[QUOTE=Ms. Gyroscope;49501483]I just make everything really loud and eq cutting. #1 rule is dont clip

although you shouldnt be taking advice from me since my stuff is kinda "out there"

[url]https://soundcloud.com/corn-mouth/funny-break/s-8AKhf[/url]

But if this sounds alright to you then well im doing something correct.[/QUOTE]

The drums sound alright, however I think you could make the kick a little less louder.
And the chord sound (?) makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe it's playing notes out of tune? But if that's the style you're going for, then keep it that way. Also it sounds a bit too quiet in comparison to the drums.
You could try adding some bass synth. Can sound good, if it doesn't interfere with the kick too much!

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=skylox;49504772]I made a glitch hop inspired thing, however I have some kind of brain problem that doesn't let me make a song in just one style, so there's some rock influence, and an emotional piano and "epic" shit. Here's what came out:

[media]http://soundcloud.com/batistella/believe-in-nothing[/media]

I hope this sounds like a single song for you.

------

About the "breaking rules thing":
For me, what makes producing music so versatile and fun is that you can try new stuff and hear the result instantly.
It's so easy to break a rule, but it's also so easy to undo stuff if it sounds bad. So I think we should try to experiment as much as possible.

Don't worry too much about it. Pick a plugin you like and start experimenting. It's hard and may be frustrating at first because you won't know what each function can make to your sound.
But in time you'll get a "sense" and know what knob to move and change the synth to sound the way you want.

FEEDBACK:

In my opinion this doesn't sound empty at all. Sounds nice and easy. Try adding more percussion if you want. Something in the high end, hats maybe.
You can also try adding new instruments, on other octaves, playing the same notes on top of the old ones, so you can cover more frequencies, make the song feel "full" and not get overly complex.

The drums sound alright, however I think you could make the kick a little less louder.
And the chord sound (?) makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe it's playing notes out of tune? But if that's the style you're going for, then keep it that way. Also it sounds a bit too quiet in comparison to the drums.
You could try adding some bass synth. Can sound good, if it doesn't interfere with the kick too much![/QUOTE]

Your track is an excellent example of tons of "rule" breaking and stuff done for a fun manner- Love the amount of bass jumps and cuts you threw in here. That's one of my weakest skills, making basses work together and jump around, and despite loving dubstep and glitch hop it makes it hard to pull those genres off lol

Your track did sound a little squished in terms of stereo range, but there were a few elements that poked out. Tons of neat variety and rhythmic sounds that pop in and out- big fan of the saw stabs and the timing of that. So thx for bringing them in more later :D

The variety in this track was really just a lot of fun (admittedly writing this as I listen now getting weird thinking about tenses lol). From glitch hop, to something prog house, to that sorta unsettling prog house track with bitcrushed percussion and warm piano notes. Then emotional. Fuck, man stop being so neat! The guitar had a very nice battle-metal feeling, but there's some sort of clicking there and the plucky chords didn't fit here imo (but rest of choices are spot-on).

Then that second drop was back to glitch hop style with nice neat fade out

I wish I had more to crit, but overall not a terrible amount. Outro was a good way to close it all out, only a few small mixing things I noticed (maybe a bit more compression on the drum bus to even it out just a touch), couple odd audio artifacts that may be export related (strugglin with weird clicks myself atm), and some sorta weird stereo stuff mixed with excellent stereo stuff. I did like your track though! It was a fun listen and was interesting the whole way through.

So I'm just posting a few quick snippets. Idk if any of these are really worth pressing more. I'm not happy with anything I've made lately, and only one of these sounds vaguely okay to me. I really hate the D&B one.

I'm just completely stymied. I think its all mental, maybe I'm raising my standards too high

[url]https://soundcloud.com/nofuchsgiven/melodictryn-teenhundred/s-5Y64x[/url]
(same as above but included 12 string guitar recorded from jv1080)
[url]https://soundcloud.com/nofuchsgiven/seamlessbutnot/s-kkRxC[/url]

and last one, one I've made most actual progress on. I just keep adding bits (that are needed) and so far most of hte composition is done I just cna't find a bass sound I like in this song, and the arps (not present here) don't feel right.

[url]https://soundcloud.com/nofuchsgiven/nthdraft/s-CHHMY[/url]

Also just a fair warning and unfortunate news item: David Bowie has passed away. I'm listening to Space Oddity in his honor :c

[MadPro119]

[QUOTE=skylox;49504772]I made a glitch hop inspired thing, however I have some kind of brain problem that doesn't let me make a song in just one style, so there's some rock influence, and an emotional piano and "epic" shit. Here's what came out:

[media]http://soundcloud.com/batistella/believe-in-nothing[/media]

I hope this sounds like a single song for you.

[/QUOTE]

I really liked that, really got epic after 4:30. The second drop or transition felt a little jarring to me but other wise it was pretty beautiful. Much more than I expected at the start.

[editline]11th January 2016[/editline]

[QUOTE=PaperBurrito;49498121]just gonna drop this here

[URL="https://clyp.it/1uhlolzv"](i'm so bad at guitar tablature eugh)[/URL][/QUOTE]

Pretty cool, the start was really messy but that neat melody pulled me in. Fun little music.

[SentientToilet]

[QUOTE=PelPix123;49506190]I was noodling around and I ended up doing a single take of improv on top of it

[media]https://soundcloud.com/kaybeccab/frag-wip-4-violin[/media][/QUOTE]

Oh man, I'm flattered.

[Skeeter]

The best way to evolve as a producer, artist and any other creative line of work is to learn the rules, break the rules, and by breaking the rules start to understand why those rules are there in the first place.

As for the [B]Facepunch Collaborative - What number are we on?[/B]

It's time for another facepunch collaborative album, this time we'll have the deadline in just one month, or to be more precise [B]February 11th[/B]

The rules are as always:
[B]Submit what you're proud of[/B], if you're not sure how people are going to react, or wondering if it is good enough, then maybe it isn't the right track for this album. If you however feel that you're track is a killer then it should obviously be on the album!

[B]No samples unless you have the rights to use them[/B], samples can be a legal gray area but if you know you don't have the rights for them or in any way got yourself covered, don't use samples. This album rarely gets much coverage so generally you would be in the clear, but it can also be a huuuge hassle if samples are used without the necessary precautions.

[B]Master the track to 0dB[/B], this is just so that all the tracks are somewhat in the same ballpark when it comes to how loud it is percieved.

All monetary gains will be given to charity, so this is purely non-profit.

[B]Who wants to make the album cover?[/B]

[elasticity]

did someone say album cover?

hit me up with your ideas, i'll have my best crack at it

I could take it upon myself to mock up some album covers but I figured it'd work out best if it's in community agreement before I submit anything

if it's not good enough, i'm fine with someone else taking over, just wanted to put my hand up first and all that

[Unkle Dada]

[QUOTE=Skeeter;49507047]The best way to evolve as a producer, artist and any other creative line of work is to learn the rules, break the rules, and by breaking the rules start to understand why those rules are there in the first place.

As for the [B]Facepunch Collaborative - What number are we on?[/B]

It's time for another facepunch collaborative album, this time we'll have the deadline in just one month, or to be more precise [B]February 11th[/B]

The rules are as always:
[B]Submit what you're proud of[/B], if you're not sure how people are going to react, or wondering if it is good enough, then maybe it isn't the right track for this album. If you however feel that you're track is a killer then it should obviously be on the album!

[B]No samples unless you have the rights to use them[/B], samples can be a legal gray area but if you know you don't have the rights for them or in any way got yourself covered, don't use samples. This album rarely gets much coverage so generally you would be in the clear, but it can also be a huuuge hassle if samples are used without the necessary precautions.

[B]Master the track to 0dB[/B], this is just so that all the tracks are somewhat in the same ballpark when it comes to how loud it is percieved.

All monetary gains will be given to charity, so this is purely non-profit.

[B]Who wants to make the album cover?[/B][/QUOTE]

I think we're on 13, but I can't find 12 anywhere even though I remember it.
Anyway, I'm in. I've got plenty of half-finished projects so I should be able to finish at least one of them before February.

[Hakita]

yeah the latest album was XII, though the album cover of it says VII

[Skeeter]

That's because the lower V on the X is silent and totally not because I made a mistake

[Hakita]

[QUOTE=Skeeter;49507198]That's because the lower V on the X is silent and totally not because I made a mistake[/QUOTE]
maybe your track should've been silent too with how awful it was haha wow epic zinger #shotsfired man i'm good

[Skeeter]

Haha daaamn my face is now leaking and I'm not crying no you shut up mom

[notgeogzm]

i really fucking hate writer's block

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=geogzm;49507696]i really fucking hate writer's block[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I feel this. And I know some of the other shit you're putting up with too. Music is a relief, and just playing piano is still therapy, but making music just makes me feel worse

Also no comments on what I have going so far? :c

Probably just nuke em tbfh

[editline]11th January 2016[/editline]

Also, nearly all my favorite artists listed numerous times like this during their careers. And they just kept trying and pushing until they broke through better than ever.

So I'm going to keep trying and trying and trying, music has helped me with so much of my mental shit and is my personal epic of fighting the legacy of my past so like hell I'm quitting

So keep going geogzm I'm here with ya

[splenda]

[QUOTE=Skeeter;49507047] Master the track to 0dB.[/QUOTE]

The problem with this step is while mastering to 0 is totally fine in the loseless uncompressed world, once it is squashed to .mp3 it will distort a bit due to a "feature" of this compression. It is best to master between -0.3dB to -1.5dB to compensate for the added peaks .mp3 or whatever other lossy format adds.

[editline]11th January 2016[/editline]

If any of you have Ozone advanced, it's kind of worth it if you can get a discount but if you own any other "vintage" compressors or EQs, plugins or hardware, it's worth starts to fade, you can test this for yourself with their codec preview mode.

[editline]11th January 2016[/editline]

[QUOTE=geogzm;49507696]i really fucking hate writer's block[/QUOTE]

The main topic between me and my irl musician friends is how much music we don't make, we never talk about the stuff we actually do make. :v: My best strategy to combat this is to change up your workspace somehow. The least expensive way being move your gear to a different room or different part of your room and most expensive being to buy new gear. My personal favorite way is to get a friend to come and be apart of the music making process as well. Other people bring fresh ideas to the table, and generally add more fun to what can be a menial task sometimes.

[Hakita]

-3dB is a good standard in my opinion, that's what most of the facepunch collabs used at least
also the suite i'm thinking of submitting currently (might change though if i get another song i like more done by february 11th) has a creative commons/attribution license so it's fine to use it as long as the original creator is credited and the source linked, would this be fine?

[splenda]

[QUOTE=Hakita;49508420]-3dB is a good standard in my opinion, that's what most of the facepunch collabs used at least
also the suite i'm thinking of submitting currently (might change though if i get another song i like more done by february 11th) has a creative commons/attribution license so it's fine to use it as long as the original creator is credited and the source linked, would this be fine?[/QUOTE]

As long as you are not making money off of it, which you will not be, then it should be ok. To be sure though you might want to ask the artist if you have a way of doing it.

[editline]11th January 2016[/editline]

And -3dB sounds good to me!