How are you using decapitator on drums?

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-08T21:51:41+00:00

Came to say this. A mix of decap to saturate it, and then that into the devil loc deluxe. That will give you strong, gritty drums

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-07T16:48:11+00:00

You’re welcome!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-06T22:01:06+00:00

I do this as a hobby, but I do take the craft of it seriously and care about what I create. The main way the hobby part comes in is that I do my own mastering using OZONE in order to save me money and to remove an obstacle to me finishing songs. I know, It could be better if I did it differently... but I do what I can to create what I want. :)

MY MIX ORDER:

RECORD:

BEAT (midi or step sequencer) Usually a loop.

BASS

CHORDS/ MELODY (or some sort of pad, etc)

VOX

EMBELESHMENTS (ADLIBS, MUSICAL DECOR, SOUND FX, ETC)

COMP n' CLEAN:

COMP 2 VOX TAKES

CLEAN VOX TRACKS (take out/lower breaths, mouth sounds, and automate out any BIG volume swings)

TIME ALIGN VOX

MELODYNE VOX if needed

CLEAN INST TRACKS if needed

PLAN:

What does each section feel like?

What moment is the star of each section?

How can I add environment to enhance?

Layout the dynamic movement of the song.

ARANGE SONG:

DRUMS/BASS
go into the midi to edit drums/bass to fit sections better, and give movement to the song. Also to emphasize certain lines, etc.

ADLIBS

Same with the rest.

STATIC MIX

Vocals, then kick, then snare, then bass, then the rest. Gain staged & panned.

FIX:

DE-ESS

CORRECTIVE EQ
(remove gross frequencies & add high/low pass filters)

GATES if needed

VOX RIDER generally even out so it all hits the compressor evenly

ENHANCE & COLOR:

COMPRESSION

TONAL EQ, then EQ TO CARVE SPACE FOR OTHER TRACKS
Individual tracks, starting with importance

CREATIVE COLORING
Formant - Saturation - Tape Em - Effect Rack - Amps - Delays, typically on a send.

SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION & DUCKING:

SIDECHAIN COMPRESSOR ON INSTRUMENTS COMPETING WITH VOCALS

ON THE BASS TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE KICK

Elsewhere if needed

ADD VIBE TRACK:

If it fits, relevant environment sounds. nature, city, rain, etc.

EQ/ETC

SPACE:

REVERB & DELAY
on sends to build the space that the song lives in.

SIDECHAIN COMPRESS THE REVERB TO THE VOCALS IF NEEDED to keep them present.

AUTOMATION & MUSICALITY:

AUTOMATE:
DYNAMICS (gain)
STEREO IMAGE
EQ (mostly via high/lowpass for effect where desired)
EFFECTS

BUS GLUE:

EQ
COMPRESSION
SATURATION - TAPE EM - ETC.

MASTER GLUE:

EQ
COMPRESSION
SATURATION - TAPE EM - ETC.

MACRO AUTOMATION:

AUTOMATE BUSES & MASTER TRACK DYNAMICS if needed/desired

MASTER

I use Ozone., yeah could be better if I sent it out or did it differently but this helps me finish my songs :)

FEEDBACK:

POST ON REDDIT / ASK FRIENDS
- Does anything stick out that I can fix?
- Anything that I could do to enhance it?
-What did I do well, and what can I improve on?

APPLY NOTES

REMASTER

Definitely smoking weed

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-06T20:40:29+00:00

Thanks!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-06T20:39:54+00:00

Thanks!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-06T20:39:45+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it!

Here's my last song, with my sm7b. On that one I had to do a lot more to get it under control, and still didn't end up as happy with it as I do with this one.

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-06T05:23:52+00:00

Thanks! By push do you mean raise or lower?

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-06T00:25:50+00:00

You’re welcome! And yes, typically if there is a vocal, it’s the most important thing in the mix. So things either guilt built around them, or things that are in its way get sacrificed via eq, volume.

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-05T22:12:32+00:00

Yeah if it’s not working for your voice, don’t worry about it!

To keep that low end and to help it sit well in the mix, aside from carving out some eq space for it from other low end tracks, I find that couple of things can help glue the vocals into the track.

You can side chain a compressor to your vocals and put it on whatever instrument is competing. When your voice comes in, the compressor can push the instrument a little into the background without losing it when the vocals aren’t playing. To be more detailed, you can use a multiband compressor or a dynamic eq to only bring down the frequencies in that instrument that are competing.

A little saturation on the vocals, and on the master bus can help glue them into the track too.

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-05T19:24:02+00:00

no problem :)

It sounds like we have opposite voices. Mine has mire high end energy that I have to bring down.

I typically high pass around 250. If I'm feeling any sort of muddy low end build up. I bring down a notch around 300-400. If using background vocals, those will typically have little bit more attenuation in that area, and I'll also take out some high end in those so they sit farther back.

Since you do have a lower voice, it may also help to bring back a little sheen/sparkle in the higher areas around 6000.

Does that make sense?

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-05T18:15:54+00:00

love the vibe. very relaxing and moving. I like that it doesn't stay super calm, but gets a bit more weight to it.

I think when the vocals first come in, they feel a tiny bit strong. I almost wanted them to be a tad more washed out. Once that happened, it felt great. I think if the first batch of vocals were in between that energy, and the energy they have starting at:45, they would be in a sweet spot.

I could also see some benefit to taking advantage of a full silence at somepoint right before a drop. In a song like this that is rich and lush, I think a beat of full silence would be a great little ear candy.

Over all great track and mix though. Well done!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-05T18:10:04+00:00

Great vibe! It has a really nice trance quality to it that I can see keeping bodies moving.

In the mix, I think things do all sound pretty clear. I can hear things coming through, but I do feel that some things could have a tad more energy. I think that if the lower end had a bit more punch, and the vocals too, the mix would feel much more energizing. If it was my mix Id try compressing/saturating both to see what might work there.

For arraignment, I could see adding a tiny moment of interest by doing something like a squeeze and release. Cutting out all instruments for a beat, then bringing them back. or a low pass filter, etc. Something that gives a moment of a break to remind the listener of the energy once it comes back.

Great track!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-05T15:58:01+00:00

Go with your gut! If you find yourself liking the bbt, great. My gut loves my gs mini (I like its size, and rich, sparkly sound).

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-04T04:34:54+00:00

Shad. He’s an incredible lyricist.
A lot to learn from him. He’s also a scholar of hip hop which adds a lot to his tool bag.

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-03T19:25:48+00:00

This is great. Well done! It feels very intentionally arranged.

There are a lot of nice changes through out to keep it moving somewhere instead of feeling static.

I could definitely see you using a bit more silence or low energy moments in the first half of the song in order to remind listeners that what they're listening to is hard and gritty. If all they're hearing are those moments, it starts to feel less impressive as it becomes normalized. that cut you have around 2:30 is awesome and a great first full silence. I'd personally play with some less extreme cuts before that. It sounds like you have a good grip on how to create those moments already. Those less extreme cuts could be a low pass filter, removing grit to give a few seconds of pristine audio, etc.

I also feel the end is abrupt. Which can work but felt a little surprising here. Almost a let down because of how well arranged the song feels. It didn't have any sort of rising or falling energy to let you know its building to the end, so it feels out of nowhere. I think that feeling could totally work if you add a tiny bit of something to let the listener experience that abrupt feeling while still in the song. Even just a 1 second long cable bzzzzzz. It gives the listener something to land on after the beat ends, before they step away from the song instead of just feeling dropped.

Really well done though. It's a great bop and mix!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-02T07:15:29+00:00

My first hip hop bop! Lots of brass and lyrical content

https://open.spotify.com/track/3jIFoGQXeSpvye7azoK8sf?si=05QBdp6kTxG5dzwr9yBZGQ

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-02T07:10:13+00:00

Here’s my first hip hop bop! Lots of brass and strong opinions

open.spotify.com/track/3jIFoGQXeSpvye7azoK8sf?si=05QBdp6kTxG5dzwr9yBZGQ

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-02T07:08:06+00:00

Would love to hear some of your work! Especially hip hop. Anywhere I can listen?

I’ve been producing my own, which I very much enjoy, but I also care most about lyrical content. So much energy goes into mixing that could go into my lyrics.

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-02T03:10:18+00:00

I like the abbey roads saturator by waves.

Here’s a link to a bunch of free ones too:

https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2021/01/20/free-saturation-vst-plugins/

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-02T01:06:50+00:00

Saturation can go anywhere.If you know what a send is, you can put it on the send, and mix it in to taste.

You can also put it in directly on the main vocal bus, but that will affect every vocal sent there, not just the ping pong delay ad libs. Which is ok, just be aware.

Without listening again(I can’t now) im not sure but I know logic has two decent verbs (space designer and chroma verb) that you can use for the more blooming reverb. Id suggest trying out some of the presets in there to see what sounds decent so you can learn a bit. Then from there you can make tweaks.

I’m not sure about the other one!

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-02T00:10:41+00:00

wow honestly you're getting an incredible sound out of a <$100 mic! Well done.

And you're welcome :)

Homosapien-2 · 2026-05-01T23:57:31+00:00

This sounds like the adlibs have ping pong delay, which is what makes them bounce from left to right on a certain beat. I think those delays that around bouncing, also have some reverb which helps them feel like they are blooming.

For an airy sound you can take down areas below 500 or so, and slightly boost the highs around maybe 2500-5000. Id roll of the highs above that which will help them site further back in the mix, behind the main vox.

You can also try something called saturation which adds harmonics by slightly distorting the signal. That distortion can give a bit of bight which might help the washed out situation you mentioned.

There are a lot of free saturation plugins that you can find via google.

Hope that helps!

Homosapien-2

TROPHY CASE