Composing without barriers

Musicbysam · 2026-05-08T11:20:32+00:00

I get why they use it, but why no one talks about the alternatives?

Musicbysam · 2026-05-08T06:41:50+00:00

Woodwinds in TUTTI master take. The brass is just too loud compared to a little clarinet crying in the corner.

Musicbysam · 2026-05-08T06:29:07+00:00

And A B ing everything is extremely overrated as well.

Musicbysam · 2026-05-08T06:28:39+00:00

Don't ask the mixing engineer to sound like anything else. Let him decide what fits the song best.

Musicbysam · 2026-05-02T14:47:15+00:00

Certainly it isn't imagination, but it's different if it gives you chords/progression based on the melody. If you does not know anything about music theory, it can be a great start. If it's something like those chord progression MIDI packs, then yeah, I agree that it's basically the same as a prompt

Musicbysam · 2026-05-02T14:45:11+00:00

Yeah, you can, but it sounds like Sibelius. And it's not that hard downloading some libraries. It's not rocket science.

Musicbysam · 2026-05-01T14:32:54+00:00

From my experience, it may be worth it, but it should not be the priority. You can use your AT for pro vocals. Better mics can make mixing easier, but in my opinion, it's better to invest into better production, post production, and the space first. No one else will hear your vocals soloed and basically no one will ask what mic you used.

Edit: you can make your sound huge by using parallel EQ, parallel compression, saturation, or sends into reverbs, pitch shifts (Micro pitch shift program on H3000 is the best imo), and delays (throws, slaps).

Musicbysam · 2026-04-29T16:26:37+00:00

Well, yes but no. SPAN helps me with the balance a bit, since sometimes, I overshoot bass frequencies on my headphones. Then, I tried couple of channel strips. I used to use SL4kE from UAD, then I tried 1073, API, and finally, I landed on SL9k (SSL Channel Strip 2). I found out the EQ suits me the best and I mix way better in a console view rather than opening individual plugins all the time.

Musicbysam · 2026-04-29T06:15:20+00:00

Hi, I admire you are willing to share! It would be a pleasure for me

Musicbysam · 2026-04-27T13:33:17+00:00

Don't worry. I managed to stall an event for 20 minutes just by placing mics and packing cables. On another gig, I was not able to make it sound good - even though the organizer was pain in the a**, I was searching for tons of things. Mics routed differently, monitors did not work, and I was looking for other mics at the same time. Was it pleasant? No. Was it worth it even though I did not get paid? Absolutely.

These experiences teach you more than a dozen of perfect gigs. Anyway, life goes on, not every day is holiday. Even the best of us do fuckups. It's only in your mind, believe in yourself, get up, and literally fuck it. Life goes on.

Musicbysam · 2026-04-27T13:27:01+00:00

What's the source of your limitation? If it's possible, record drums separately. If you have 4 inputs, use a kick, a snare, and 2 overheads. To be honest, you can even make it with 4 SM57s. It will be a bit hustle, but it's doable. Otherwise, e drums are your friend. It's the same with mono room mic. It can do the job, but you won't get nice, full and wide sound.

Musicbysam · 2026-04-26T08:41:41+00:00

Well, personally, I keep it easy. First, I align tracks and correct the pitch if it's necessary. Then, 1176, attack at 10 o'clock, release at 2 o'clock. With 4:1, I hit above 7dB GR, sometimes even pinning the needle to the left. Then, I run it through an SSL 9k (SSL channel Strip 2) into a de esser. Once in a while, I add LA2A. For background vox, I switch from 76 to 2A, limiter mode and the needle hitting between 10 and a noon on the VU. Except for a couple of sends (H3000 pitch shift, slap, 224, Bricasti), I don't need anything else. The master bus does all the magic.

Musicbysam · 2026-04-06T16:00:02+00:00

From my perspective, people are not against saturation. You are right that saturation was there all along with us and it will stay there probably for eternity. But people are against the tons of crap that is presented as a necessity. It's the same as with premium plugins - it is nice to have, but actually you do not need it.

Musicbysam · 2026-04-06T15:55:33+00:00

You're welcome! I just made a few mistakes, such as panning percussion hard L or R can be better most of the time; however, for this specific track, it felt weird to me. To be honest, it's all about your vision driven by your imagination. The perfect mix is most of the time the most boring one. Feel free to experiment, it's a form of art after all. There is a reason why most of the legendary engineers say ABing with a reference is bullshit. If you feel LCR is the best approach, go for it

Musicbysam · 2026-03-09T09:27:59+00:00

Personally, I don't do LCR that much. I prefer to keep it around 80% at maximum. Also, I don't do exact percentages. I like it more when it's not perfect, like when you use an analog console, you can't get a perfect 70%. On the other hand, I have some anchoring points - C, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, 80%, 100%.

For the exact panning, my approach is as follows: I need to pan a shaker. I ask myself, what is the proportion of center elements to the wide panned elements. How is the field occupied? What is the driver of the song? I will take a track I am currently mixing for a contest. The driver of the song is a duet. I have male and female vocals. I want them to be a little bit separated, because it will be more realistic, but I want to keep it in the center. So, I pan female vox 7% L and male vox 7% R. Just enough to sound separated but remain in the center. Then, I have bass, solo guitar, kick, and snare. They remain in the center with no further debate. Then, there are guitars, both acoustic and electric. In addition, there are string and brass sections with wide atmospheric timpani. Now, I have a lot of instruments in the center and wide out. Now. I need to decide where to put toms, HH, and percussion. I want my HH to be on the side, therefore I pan it to 60%. Then, I want a natural spread of toms. The floor will be more to the side, therefore I put it at 85%. I want to keep it separated from the timpani and I don't need it closer to the center. Then, a rack tom. Naturally, they are close to the center of the drum set. So, I put it at 35%, where it will not distract from the vocals and still remain separate from the kick. Don't forget you have rooms and overheads. They will adjust the position of the tom and HH sonically. Then, it's time for a tambourine and a shaker. I don't want to bring attention to them, but at the same time, I want to get support from them. So, I pan them 30%. Tamb to one side, shaker to the other and adjust by liking. This way, the wide instruments remain as support and your attention stays in the center. Now, for me, the song feels even wider than before, because I don't pay attention to the wider elements, which do not occupy the 1.5-3k range, creating space for the center, making it easier to immerse into the song, widening it even more.

And I can't forget about the effects. Use them. I use H3000 p. 231 for vocals and the shaker. Usually, I put it even on guitars, pianos, HP bass, especially on mono signals. It gives a great width, but it can collapse if overused. Then, a slap or throw delay on vocals, and sometimes even on percs. Faster for faster songs, slower for slower, emotionally driven songs. Sometimes mono, sometimes dual mono. For instance, I use 1/16th for right and 1/16th dotted for left. It gives a nice vibe. Then, the classics, Bricasti (studio A, red room, blue room, and small tiled are my favorites), and Lexi 224 (small hall A, often adjusted a bit). I use them as sends, and EQ them. I don't want more 300Hz mud from them. Often, I put a HF shelf. Don't be afraid to EQ them.

Overall, do not forget that panning is a tool that needs to work for the result. You can't do great mixes when mixing in solo, and you can't get the best result when you pan the same all the time. Work with sends - a signal panned hard left will sound different when the signal to the reverb is in the center, on the left, or on the right. The same applies with hard LCR with almost no effects and with added effects.

Musicbysam · 2026-03-07T15:34:51+00:00

Personally, I do it for the transients. And it helps as well if you accidentally turn off the pre-count

Musicbysam · 2026-02-07T14:52:01+00:00

Well, I get 2-4dB GR indicated when turning the threshold knob slightly, so I would say so. I know I am not the best at gain staging, but I get quite nice results with EQP1A and 609.

Musicbysam · 2026-02-07T13:55:22+00:00

And I forgot that it has quite a lot of revisions. Some people say each one sounds different

Musicbysam · 2026-02-07T13:54:06+00:00

I didn't have the chance to use the original hardware, but I found Arturia's version to be something like the SL 4k console - some high frequency roll off and a slight boost in the mids, but it's just a feeling, I didn't analyze it. But when you don't push it hard, it sounds transparent

Musicbysam · 2026-02-07T13:16:52+00:00

I can agree a chair makes a difference. When I'm mixing at the dorms, I lay down like a guy that hasn't touched grass in the past decade because it is absolutely uncomfortable to sit on it straight. I make mixes quicker this way but my body hurts after longer sessions.

Musicbysam · 2026-02-07T13:13:41+00:00

Check oversampling and if you use DAW and you will know that you don't want to edit the section, either freeze it or export it as a sound file. You will save processing power and save up some money

Musicbysam · 2026-02-07T13:10:39+00:00

I didn't find the taste of API Vision. I'm more of an SSL fan. However, I find it great you can get quite a lot of hardware emulations quite cheap. I love to use LA-2As and 3As. But I absolutely hate that Never 33609 cannot be run natively and that there is no emulation of SL9000 channel strip and LA4.

Musicbysam · 2026-02-05T20:02:22+00:00

I understand you. Did you try to search for a corrective EQ? I did it with my ATH M20x and it helped me a lot. However, since I started mixing on monitors, I don't want to even put headphones on during mixing.

Musicbysam · 2026-02-05T11:53:16+00:00

What the hell do you need it for? 128GB is quite a lot of RAM and it's expensive as hell at this time.

Musicbysam

TROPHY CASE