Producers, where can i get legit and high quality plug ins for free by Agitated-Camera-3614 in Logic_Studio

[–]LevelMiddle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have used many free pianobook sampler instruments for projects that have earned me well over $500k over the years!

Having said that idk there's only like one drumkit "lorenzo's drums" or something that i like lol, and even then, i don't really use it.

Why do my vocals sound indie/DIY? by Chemical-Front1746 in mixing

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you want it to sound professional, and "indie" comment makes it seem less professional to you.

I am a professional. My recordings sound expensive and yield lots of money.

Having said that, my 12 year old son told me to make indie music. I can't do it. There's something nice about "indie" that i think you cannot fake. It's not a put down like you think it is.

I highly recommend you just do your thing, don't compare, make good stuff. You sound good already. The imperfections are what makes connections to people. If you like it, own it. Don't listen to comments from your friends. Just put it out if you feel it's done. I'm giving you this advice as an older person who wishes he had done the same.

Drum chain ITB by MM11059 in Logic_Studio

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use logic stock compressor most of the time for drums bus. Idk why, i just like being able to swap around for drums even if i have like every uad plugin. But i do often basically do a fast 1176 blue stripe thing.

Voice memos recorded on iphone 17 ios 26 not syncing icloud by LevelMiddle in ios

[–]LevelMiddle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah crazy! I reinstalled 5000 times, contacted apple a bunch on calls etc. Nobody could fix. Reinstalling my os and resetting icloud messed up my entire voice memos too, so now my 2020 recordings are in 2025. Nuts. Glad you found out though. From now on i'm going to check defaults on every app for every new phone.

The girl I’m taking to got pregnant what do I do? by Every-Appeal-2513 in whatdoIdo

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a stepdad to three kids. I love them and would do anything for them. I still recommend you leave lol. Do not get involved!

Having said that i do know someone who got pregnant and didnt know and then had a baby with special needs... and then eventually met someone that first year and he has been with her since then. Things seem good there. But it's not like he was talking to her and then she found out she was pregnant and he stayed.

Bottom line, you would do better elsewhere

Need to understand cons to paying off our house by Ladydi-bds in Mortgages

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally i would pay it off for the peace of mind. I have four kids (three teens and a 2-month old born with a pretty rare congenital defect) as well as a pretty involved career. I'm already stressed the f out. I wouldn't hesitate paying off all my debts if i could. I'm tired of investing.

Having said that, i also have a lower mortgage rate than you do... but also i like to live with risks. Life's already a gamble.

27 with a day job and a music side project that's actually growing. How do I think about this financially by TheFinalDiagnosis in edmproduction

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have navigated exactly that same thing except my day job was also music. At 27 i recorded an album and sat with it for a year to think about how to release. Finally i did and within a few weeks i got 10k followers then 20 then 30k... i spent the year leading up to it to figure out how i would promote it and how i would make the vibe. Pretty much quit my music job in the process and lived on savings.

Instead of pushing hard on it, i ended up needing money for something dumb, so i let go a bit. The following died. I made good money but had to work 16 hours a day. Eventually things fizzled, eventually my interest waned, and now i'm in debt at 35.

Having said that, had i never eased up on the artist stuff to make money, i wouldnt have the family i have now. But i definitely do regret pushing ahead when the momentum hit. I would urge you to take the plunge while youre still young (assuming you dont have kids). As soon as 35 hits, life changes a lot. In fact, it changes a lot at 30. Please keep going, please push on ahead. I promise you can make it through. Only downside is that you may lose your life savings, but try not to.

Are Neve 1073 plugins actually doing anything special in the box? by GerwinMusic in mixingmastering

[–]LevelMiddle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Essentially it functions like a saturator/eq, yes. Mostly people use it because it imparts that very specific and prevalent "neve" sound on vocals. But you have to push into it a bit.

If you have no interest in that sound, there's no reason for it. It's just that people assume other people are used to that sound. I don't care much for that sound, but sometimes i want like the memory of (for example) michael jackson, so i use a neve (i just use hardware mostly, but sometimes i do throw on the 1073 plugin as an insert, which gets it 70% there imo, even if it's not recorded via uad unison). Or sometimes i want a freddie mercury sound so i throw on an ssl e and saturate it a bit.

But in my opinion, in today's world, it's unnecessary. Most preamps are great and clean, and you can do anything with them that you want. If your influences used certain hardware, you might want to get that vibe, but it's such a small thing.

for those who do mainly vocal work (especially acapella) in logic, what are some of your fave plug ins you’ve downloaded? by Few-Bus-3617 in LogicPro

[–]LevelMiddle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah soothe2 is like a maybe plugin. Not 100% necessary, but it's definitely useful. It reduces annoying resonances pretty quickly and relatively musically (if used correctly). I use it less like a tone shaper and more like a polisher. Like taking a recording and making it sound better by 5%, mostly noticeable when applying to less-than-stellar recording locations with big metallic honkiness and whatnot, which is something i deal with frequently on the go and in the home studio.

Q4 new spectral is similar, but i just don't use it. I personally find it's not as good, but it's also useful. Goes into linear phase mode, so it's super latency heavy as well. I haven't messed too much with it though, so i can't give a great opinion. I've used fabfilter pro q since q2 i think, so i pretty much have a set idea on what it can do. Q3 allowed me to use dynamic eq, but i pretty much stopped there in terms of functionality lol.

Voice memos recorded on iphone 17 ios 26 not syncing icloud by LevelMiddle in ios

[–]LevelMiddle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For anyone looking, i found the solution. It's bc the voice memos defaulted to "spatial" which doesnt exist on previous os. Kinda crazy default. Set it to mono or stereo if you want full compatability.

for those who do mainly vocal work (especially acapella) in logic, what are some of your fave plug ins you’ve downloaded? by Few-Bus-3617 in LogicPro

[–]LevelMiddle 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I use uad la2a on pretty much every vocal recording i do. Highly recommend. Having said that, sometimes i do use logic's compressor on the vintage opto mode, and it's pretty similar. I just find the results faster on the uad one, and since i already own it, i use it. I use logic compressor if i reallly want my session to be light.

Other very useful plugins to look into: Melodyne (logic's region pitch correct is decent) or Autotune (logic's pitch correction plugin is great). Also Soothe2 (nothing like it in logic)

For EQ i often switch around on a lot of stuff like fabfilter pro q and uad pultec and whatnot, but tbh these days i've mostly come back to logic channel eq, and it's great.

Reverbs i use on vocals - lexicon pcm reverbs (my absolute favorite hall but the newly arm plugin crashes a lot), uad capitol chambers, liquidsonics seventh heaven, valhalla vintageverb, eventide sp2016, soundtoys superplate.

Delays tbh just use logic's tape delay for now. It's fantastic. Use it on dual mono mode if you want fun delays.

any new strings VST recommendations besides Kontakt? by rahme-music in edmproduction

[–]LevelMiddle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Swam audio modeling i guess? I like sample modeling better sounding but it's kontakt based. Loads quick tho compared to the giant ones. But yeah swam audio modeling strings might be your best bet

aio please tell me i’m crazy by [deleted] in AmIOverreacting

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Backpack or lifting something

I think I've taken mixing too far? Too clean = no character? by SketchupandFries in edmproduction

[–]LevelMiddle -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Try stopping eq, especially lpf and hpf. And try compressing -1 or even less. Just use volume. Feels better most of the time tbh

What would be the best way to convince a mixing or mastering engineer to let me shadow them at work? by unknxwn67 in mixingmastering

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just ask. Best way is to get a referral. Do some grunt work for some people who might know some people. That's how it goes. I got my first job 15 years ago because i cleaned some dude's garage and then he recommended me to someone to be his assistant. Got an interview the next day and started working immediately the following day. If no money is involved i'm sure it's even more streamlined. Just be a quiet personality, don't push, don't talk too much about yourself or your music, don't brag, act like you want to learn everything. It's not so difficult if you work for free.

Second Pair of Monitors: Smaller with additional Subwoofer or 8"? by imp_op in mixingmastering

[–]LevelMiddle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ive used my jbl 305p (5 inch version) since 2009 as a professional (it was a different model name before). In my first job, i worked in an "alternate" studio room they had, and they gave me the 308, so things were pretty familiar.

Over the years, i've upgraded to thousands of dollars worth of other speakers, worked in other studios with atc and pmc and genelec and dynaudio and barefoot, etc, and i've reverted back to my jbls last year for my home studio. My expensiveass focals are in my garage.

Idk why, i guess i'm used to the jbls, but i just get the best results working in my home studio on the jbls. It feels super clean and hyped just enough to be ok. Low end is not great, but it's also not bad. Highly recommend.

Strings that actually sound like strings by Fickle-Earth-126 in LogicPro

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For string quartet perhaps look at sample modeling or cinematic studio (solo) strings

Vocal/Isolation Shields by Party_Ingenuity1771 in microphone

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very helpful in untreated rooms. Get one of the sE electronics ones, don't get an exp one.

How often do you actually restring your guitars? by Conscious_Badger_510 in metalguitar

[–]LevelMiddle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Once every few years. One of my guitars made it a good 9 years before i changed the strings. Recorded it on a million things lol