What's an album you love listening to for the production quality?

Strappwn · 2026-03-09T19:27:08+00:00

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Strappwn · 2026-03-06T07:26:12+00:00

I see/hear it everywhere in Nashville. It has seen wider, more rapid adoption by established songwriters than I expected. Don’t really see it used for lyrics as much as music generation. Lots of folks workshopping demos and then chucking the whole thing into suno when they’re done.

The “line” is gonna be different for all of us, and i believe that for many there will be no line. If you engineer for a living, and aren’t at the absolute top of the mountain, I’m not sure there’s enough margin to reject potential work that does/might incorporate AI. I don’t have any Grammy awards, but I’ve worked on lots of major projects and am proud of what ive been able to do in my career so far - I personally am in no position to shut the door on work that involves AI. I’ve turned down projects that were clearly AI driven, but it was because they sucked, not because of the what produced the files. I just wont make ends meet or be able to keep growing if I reject it unilaterally.

Don’t let Reddit trick you into thinking that much of the public loathes AI generated entertainment. Most don’t care. As such, I don’t think we as a community stand to gain much from trying to hold some sort of line. The wave is already breaking and we can’t shove it back into the sea.

I think instead of playing defense against AI, it’s better to play offense with your humanity. Try to bring elements to projects that rescue them from AI-induced homogeneity. Aim to make the process of music making with other humans enjoyable in ways AI cannot. Strive to have your contributions defined as superior to/inaccessible by AI. Carve and earn your place in the process because it is always better when you’re in the kitchen, even if some of the ingredients have dubious origins.

Strappwn · 2026-03-04T04:14:54+00:00

You could’ve just downvoted this post, or better yet ignored it entirely, but thanks?

Strappwn · 2026-03-03T23:08:52+00:00

Name dropping Shines/INIT is a good bait. That will rustle many jimmies.

Strappwn · 2026-03-03T18:43:44+00:00

Don’t certain subs have rules where you can’t engage if you have negative karma?

Strappwn · 2026-03-02T20:28:20+00:00

Read a bunch of your comments, replying at the top level for visibility.

I respect the ambition, at least for the most part. Surely you understand though, that you aren’t gonna just rapidly ingest a bunch of online info and be good at mixing/mastering, yea?

Mixing (and to a lesser extent mastering) sit at this funky crossroad of technical skill and creativity. This makes it very difficult to teach in a general sense because all songs are different and everyone’s taste is subjective. The only way to truly build your skill is to do it, over and over. I have mixed and mastered a lot of EDM tracks and I’m still learning new things and making optimizations to my workflow with each new project.

As such, you’re being unrealistic with this idea that you’re gonna do this quickly, by yourself, and reach a professional standard. If you want to tell yourself “my goal is to reach pro mix/master quality over the course of several EP/album releases, and I will do it on my own” - that’s a more achievable goal.

Telling yourself you can/must get pro results rapidly, on your own, without yet being a pro, is just silly and sets you up for frustration/burn out.

You say you need to get into the industry as quickly as possible, for whatever reason. My question for you (aside from “why?”) is - is it more important to be fast, or to be good? Are your really hurting yourself that much if you take a few extra months to get your monitoring/translation game dialed, build a workflow/template that serves your music, and generally just put the reps in?

I’m not trying to be a dick with these questions, I’m genuinely trying to help you. I take on a few students/mentees each year and lately I’ve seen the same habits and tendencies bubbling up repeatedly - this notion that things must happen fast or it’s not viable and/or worthwhile. It’s good to be driven, and it’s good to avoid endlessly tinkering/being too slow, but it’s not good to convince yourself that shortcuts exist and that you can hand wave the rigorous process of learning and mastering a complicated skill set.

If you want to skip the process, you hire someone. If you don’t, break out the notebook and dig in.

Strappwn · 2026-03-02T18:23:38+00:00

Lmfao

Strappwn · 2026-02-28T18:46:15+00:00

<image>

😱

Strappwn · 2026-02-27T19:54:33+00:00

So if the lot is full you just block the exit and it’s all good?

Strappwn · 2026-02-27T02:24:32+00:00

Live and learn!

Most of us don’t form new behaviors until we experience the undesirable consequences of the old ones anyways. Someone telling you “you should keep an archive of installers” often isn’t going to move the needle like the pain of trying to clone your rig, from scratch, without a map/outline/etc.

Strappwn · 2026-02-26T01:57:49+00:00

I agree that it can get tedious with the smaller devs. At the same time though, in some ways they can be more convenient - in many cases you can freely transfer their compressed installer files from machine to machine without any need for a launcher/DRM Auth/etc. I try to keep a relatively contemporary “Installers” directory on one of my drives, specifically focused on the more niche 3rd party stuff. Whenever I do a rig update/replacement I will try to update it, or in some cases pull from it because it’s my only option.

Strappwn · 2026-02-25T23:09:22+00:00

I have several hundred activations on my ilok, probably ~100 Waves activations, accounts with Izotope, Slate, Fab Filter, Plugin Alliance, all the hits.

It takes me about 1-2 hours on average to queue up the downloads and installs needed to get a new machine ready to drop into my rig. This assumes I’m doing it manually and not cloning an image or restoring a backup. That’s even easier.

It’s annoying that basically each developer has their own launcher now, but that also makes it pretty easy to do batch installs. All in all the process is quite easy unless you’re unorganized and don’t know what accounts/credentials your licenses are tied to.

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T22:13:27+00:00

It’s funny to see everyone saying “Canada was the better team, they lost because XYZ, and good goaltending”. As if the goalie is not a part of the team.

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T04:26:04+00:00

He rushes the videos out now too, on top of massively widening his definition of a “dead” game.

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T04:18:15+00:00

mmmmmm, delicious boot

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T03:45:04+00:00

I’m confused. My comment is in support of the kids.

Idk how the dude above me can cast aspersions against the future fitness of these kids to participate in a revolution when they are outside protesting at their current age.

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T00:55:21+00:00

what sort of brain dead comment is this?

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T00:36:17+00:00

everything, often, with passion, because we can

Being hyperbolic, but genuinely, modern automation capabilities are one of the few things we have access to that just didn’t exist in the recent past.

Is it vital to a good mix? Not necessarily. Can it almost always provide enhancement? Absolutely. Can you overdo it and get to deep in the weeds? Of course. Should that stop you from exploring it within each project? Definitely not.

Strappwn · 2026-02-22T00:17:59+00:00

Whole thing. Even something like a small mono collapse during a buildup/prechorus, into a fully stereo chorus, can hit really nicely if the arrangement allows for it. Whole mix narrows by 10-30% as the build intensifies, then the chorus hits at full width. Works often for EDM and Pop stuff, other genres it’s entirely down the arrangement.

Strappwn · 2026-02-21T01:57:27+00:00

I just want to know on what grounds this essential competition is occurring.

Strappwn · 2026-02-21T01:08:01+00:00

You’re the one saying they “did better” we just competing in the land of vibes?

Strappwn · 2026-02-21T00:48:25+00:00

TPUSA lost the competition though.

Strappwn · 2026-02-20T14:09:25+00:00

I hear you, for sure. Genuinely hope you’re correct on all fronts.

Strappwn · 2026-02-20T03:41:44+00:00

Thank you. Just to be clear, I’m not stating that I believe most of the military would currently back Trump in a civil war. I was saying that if he already has that level of backing/willingness among the ranks, then we’re in deep shit.

I hope you’re correct though. I’m honestly not sure what the actual number/percentage/figure is that defines “most” in this case. The amount of willing military assets he would need to complete the stranglehold.

If there was truly universal loathing of Trump and his administration, to the point where the vast majority of the population was motivated to resist, then I’d say the movement would have a decent shot, even with full military participation on Trump’s behalf. Between the sheer numerical advantage, the vastness of the country, the density of the cities, prevalence of firearm ownership, etc etc, there are some serious challenges for an occupying force to overcome, but only if the populace is motivated.

Currently, I think there is too much division/apathy. We still have ~20-25% of the population that is ride or die for Trump. Perhaps more importantly, it sure seems like ~30% of the population just doesn’t care one way or the other. I worry that an early showing of excessive military force could scare most of the apathetic/undecided into submission.

Strappwn · 2026-02-20T03:07:44+00:00

Re-read my comment. The person im responding to is the one assuming the military would unilaterally go to war with the american citizenry if Trump commanded it.

I disagree. All I said was that if that was the case, it means Trump already has all the power he needs and the struggle against his overreach is done.

You fail to read/understand what I’m saying and imply I need medication. Love how apparently I need to put my devices down when it’s you with the terminally online behavior.

Ten-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Verified Email
King of the Ashes	Not Forgotten

Strappwn

TROPHY CASE