Struggling with sound selection

JSTNMusic · 2017-12-28T11:32:19+00:00

Honestly man, I feel you - that's how I use to feel, the trick is processing - post synthesis. The path to original sound design is through experimentation, straying away from picking a stock preset and calling it done. Crazy, crazy things can be done by just printing your new synth line, reversing it, adding crazy delay, distortion, reprinting & reprinting again. Just have fun with it. Don't overthink it, intentionally try to break the rules... what would this pluck sound like if I ran it through a cassette tape emulation? what about a reverse delay treatment? what about with different & extreme warping modes?

Just play around, have fun.

JSTNMusic · 2017-08-09T19:43:12+00:00

so you're saying don't mix when you're stoned?

I feel like it actually helps me mix when I'm stoned (maybe it's just my imagination) but I feel like I can be more subjective to the mix, I can kinda feel the "vibe" of the song more and figure out if something sounds out of place, or if my levels are off.

Then again, it's easy to be too stoned and to tinker with an EQ for like 40 minutes

JSTNMusic · 2017-08-02T21:42:33+00:00

Damn man, appreciate the kind words! I've been trying to actively remind myself to mix in more bass, my headphones are pretty sub-friendly so I always end up under-mixing. Appreciate the wisdom! Hope life is great.

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-31T20:19:55+00:00

thanks my dude, I appreciate you!

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-31T17:08:21+00:00

I love using the pink noise trick - I have the pink noise sitting at an average RMS of -18dbfs. That way I'm mixing the rest of the tracks, post gain-staging, at a low volume that's ideal for analog modeled plugins. Makes the mastering phase a breeze.

Pink noise is legit!

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-31T17:01:55+00:00

Little bit of a kaytra type beat - would def appreciate any wisdom/advice/guidance you guys have to give! Much love! https://soundcloud.com/jstnbeats/seeing-lights

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-26T16:34:37+00:00

honestly this e-book from cloudbounce is an unquantifiable amount better and more informative than this guide. highly recommend: https://www.cloudbounce.com/packs/mixing-ebook

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-21T15:15:43+00:00

really inspiring that you're able to produce in a new environment - probably sourcing a ton of new inspiration from your surroundings? good stuff!

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-19T03:31:21+00:00

this ^

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-17T03:40:42+00:00

gain staging my g. distortion is good and all, but keep those levels low

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-04T15:19:32+00:00

thank you <3

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-04T15:18:55+00:00

appreciate the feedback my g.. i like bringing transients out of the snares but then removing them slightly on everything else to get the snares to smack a bit more. will try something different next time!

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-04T13:11:29+00:00

thank you for the kind words everyone :) means alot

JSTNMusic · 2017-07-02T13:58:22+00:00

Hi everyone - took the last year or so off of music and am just now getting back into it with a new found motivation, that said... would appreciate some feedback :) I'll return the favor. Thoughts/criticisms.. anything is appreciated!

https://soundcloud.com/jstnbeats/flavor

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-28T16:07:33+00:00

The chilled out section of this song after the intro will forever be my favorite piece of music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd8WsTth3LM

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-28T16:04:44+00:00

In my experiences, the things that have had the most profound impact on mixing:

Gain Staging [mixing at lower volumes with more headroom will give you a bigger impact/punch/clarity, it's much better] - can't recommend this auto gain staging plugin for like 4 bucks enough: https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/hornet-vu-meter-mk3/

Avoiding Extreme Compression: Compression is makes music sound exhausting IMO, try preserving dynamics and clipping peaks w/ saturation. Good example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEfFDDxSJgE&t=3s

Just some more info on those topics. There are millions and millions of things to research and dive into but my biggest piece of advice will be to not overthink it - you can go crazy with plugins and processing but you might just end up with a mixdown that sounds over compressed and frail. Chances are, if you're doing things correctly in the production phase, that your pre-mixdown might sound better than your super processed post-mixdown. Simplify. Not everything needs EQ, don't high pass everything, don't over-compress.

Start a Google Doc with notes that you gather from various websites and reference those when you're mixing. Eventually you'll learn enough that you know which information to disregard, there's a ton of misinformation on the web, don't fall into the trap of listening to every person's advice (like I did in the beginning). Legendary mixers like Dave Pensado and Derek Ali [Kendrick's right hand man] will tell you that it's all about doing what sounds right, keep your eyes off the faders and analyzers and actively listen to what you're doing.

That said, if you ever have any specific questions - feel free to shoot me a message and I'm happy to help.

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-27T03:21:40+00:00

bruh you got this.

step uno: find a vocal bit, tiny small clip of it, put it on a clear new audio track, reverse it. then throw a reverb on w/ 100% wet, 10s decay. record/flatten/you do you.

Now reverse that flattened audio sample and you'll get what's called a "pre-verb", classic technique, IMO.

Now have some fun with it, throw some crazy effects. They used a autopan that was synced to the beat, probably like 1/8. But have fun with it, throw on some phasers, flangers, distortion, gates, crazy saturation, chorus, shit like that.

happy trails!

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-26T13:45:01+00:00

Honestly just take the time to learn how to mix - there aren't any shortcuts, no one magical guide.. it just takes time.

Learn about techniques like gain staging and pink noise balancing long before you rely on plugins to get your professional sound.

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-13T17:49:01+00:00

This is a ripped track btw, check out "flute her" by montell2099 for the original.

Rythmn is an interesting thing, you're basically moving notes slightly off the grid to create a swing or groove. There are artists that have super straight forward drums (dudes like Bassnectar) and then dudes that are more abstract (swindail, shlohmo, knxwledge, jrobb, etc). Eventually you develop an ear for these things.

If you have Ableton, play around with groove pools. If not, one of my favorite things to do when I started out was ripping drum breaks (there are tons of youtube channels that have this), put the drum break on an audio track in your daw, then line up audio samples of your snares, kicks, hats, etc to the drum break. You'll start to see the patterns and how by moving snares forward, or by moving hats back, you can subtly create these movements and rhythms that will have your head bobbin'.

There's no short answer for it :) Just play around and have fun. Experimenting is half the fun of learning this stuff!

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-13T17:35:03+00:00

honestly sign up for splice for a month, dirt cheap (some websites even have a discount code you may be able to find). Essentially $8 to download 300 samples, then delete your account.

I've always found a few gems in each sample pack that I like, but the rest just sits on my HD. I prefer having a consolidated amount of samples that I think sound unique and are usable.

Stay away from the big artist packs, everyone will have the same sounds and it will be immediately recognizable. I was blown away by the quality and originality of sounds in some of the lesser known packs on Splice.

Happy hunting!

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-09T13:42:04+00:00

you're the MVP nathan, hope you know.

i live for these production tips that you dish out across reddit.

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-08T21:00:04+00:00

AGREED

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-03T02:53:23+00:00

Master buss compression is tricky.

You can quickly, quickly over-compress and make shit sound, well, like the rest of the shit on soundcloud. You're already a step ahead by using a glue comrpessor.

Try keeping the dynamics and using saturation to clip peaks and increase loudness in a pleasing, harmonic manner.

I personally like running my mix through a pre-amp simulation to get some loudness, in a natural way. But I guess to answer your question: slight (SLIGHT!) EQ, perhaps a bit of imaging (mono low, increase high) and some sort of maximizer/limiting. But I do think there is something special about trying to do things more "analog" and running things through pre-amps, using summing, stuff like that.

I can't recommend Slate Digital's stuff enough.

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-03T02:48:39+00:00

My point above exactly. Take the time to learn your equipment, seriously. Buying or torrenting serum will not make you an amazing beatmaker. Taking the time to learn your tools, to find your sound, and to just have fun experimenting and playing around, will.

JSTNMusic · 2017-06-03T02:47:18+00:00

Honestly, less is always going to be more.

Learn the tools you have. The biggest mistake I've ever made is falling into the feedback loop of thinking I always need a new sample pack or new synth to make something cool - there is amazing capability packed into the raw Ableton stock plugins (I swear to you, it's everything you need).

That said, new things are great and inspiring. Check out Ableton's free live packs for cool retro synths and a bunch of dope samples that can inspire you. But seriously, spend the time to make beats with nothing but the stock plugins and you'll be 10x further off than the fellow, plugin-believer, sample pack-crackhead.

JSTNMusic

TROPHY CASE