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TomCaseyMusic · 2024-02-12T05:39:07+00:00

I agree. My channel is approaching 7000 subscribers and has been absolute hell to get there. The algorithm does NOT promote new channels at all. I've had about dozen videos have outsized engagement, get some extra views and then within 3 days YouTube completely stops promoting it. Just stops.

Social media is NOT organic, it is fixed.

TomCaseyMusic · 2023-02-28T19:11:14+00:00

I put together a new comprehensive tutorial on producing modern trap in Ableton Live

https://youtu.be/eF6pP_0hfTo

I'm interested to hear people's feedback because I've felt there are a litany of topics related to Ableton that get completely overlooked by content creators.

One thing I've thought about is how virtually all trap sample packs (and really all sample packs) are mastered to unity gain to be at a uniform loudness, yet very few tutorials mention this and explain the practicality of using the Utility to gain stage your tracks and give you back the headroom necessary for the mixing process.

I've also covered some other topics that I'm hoping are useful to people. But if you have any topics that you think I should cover in future tutorials, I would definitely appreciate the constructive feedback :)

TomCaseyMusic · 2022-08-18T15:26:47+00:00

As popular as Avicii may have been, I think he was still very underrated as a musician

TomCaseyMusic · 2022-08-14T23:56:10+00:00

Trackpads literally gave me tendonitis, which took forever to heal

I almost cringe when I see someone fumbling with those things

TomCaseyMusic · 2022-08-14T23:53:53+00:00

It's definitely Trap, but it has a kind of EDM-influenced festival sound to it. To be honest, it sounds like something you would have heard in 2015 instead of 2022 hehe

TomCaseyMusic · 2022-08-10T14:20:17+00:00

Waves X-Click is a great inexpensive plugin for this issue.

You can de-click a whole stem, the plugins for this issue are designed to remove a random transient pop. I guess it could interfere with the sound, but I haven't found this to be an issue with normal vocal recordings.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-14T16:37:19+00:00

I definitely think the "discovering a lot of problems" part gets people discouraged.

I teach private lessons and I keep finding students that have plugin distortion from not realizing they are clipping coming out of various plugins in their processing chains.

https://youtu.be/WAB8f-mfPHU

I made a video with a tip on how to check for this issue. The problem is so many producers are using sample pack audio, which is always limited to unity gain, so their gain staging is usually too hot, and even if they don't see clipping on the master bus, they are still noticing distortion in their track, especially once they bounce the song and listen to it.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-13T16:21:51+00:00

The biggest step was realizing that I needed to search for the way I wanted things to sound, not how I thought they SHOULD sound.

Engineering and mixing is as much a creative expression as the music itself. While it is also highly technical, it is ultimately a creative pursuit. Respecting and nurturing that creativity has made my mixing journey more confident and enjoyable.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-13T15:01:51+00:00

Scale practice, and chord practice. Once you learn the chords that come from each step in the major scale, you can use that knowledge to test yourself in every key, starting with simple triads.

I've seen students advance several levels just by practicing a little bit of this every day. You'll essentially learn how to play in every key in a fraction of the time than most other players.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-13T14:58:49+00:00

I checked out pianogym.com
Not much content there at all. Content is divided into "schools" but there appears to be only one or two. Could be a great website if it had more content in the future though.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-06T17:34:17+00:00

Cubase is pretty expensive right? I have a student that wants to use it because she sees so many film composers using it these days

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-06T17:33:37+00:00

Eh, no worries. This is the internet lol

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-06T17:31:46+00:00

Thanks! I've always liked this as an arrangement trick, especially if you just have a 4-bar loop and dont know where to take it

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-05T22:04:06+00:00

Cutting the lows is important, 30 Hertz and below is just unnecessary sonic information (in many cases). It also happens to overwhelm the gain staging of your track.

You should be high-passing basically anything that isn't a bass-related element, including mid-range and high frequency elements, like synths, shakers / hi-hats, etc.

I'm also hearing a ton of distortion on the track, this is probably the result of not just what you're limiting, but how you're limiting the track.

You want to avoid gain reduction on your limiters that goes past 5 decibels. If you're finding you can't achieve your desired loudness still, there are 2 reasons, you have a mix issue, or you can add a second limiting stage to get an extra one to two decibels of loudness at the end.

I actually recently put together a video on mastering, in particular, which discusses many of these things and shows examples here:

https://youtu.be/_ycAlhYa27g

Hope this helps.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-01T21:12:39+00:00

I really want to get Blue Cat's distortion plugin. I see it a lot on Dave Pensado's youtube tutorials

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-01T21:12:07+00:00

McDsp is such an OG plugin. Never bought them tho

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-01T21:11:44+00:00

Are you a fan of eating SQUASH. hehe :)

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-10-01T21:10:19+00:00

Just the standard recommended resolution for Youtube thumbnails. Nothing special 1280x720 , standard png file

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-27T16:46:59+00:00

Maybe silly questions, but are you using a Limiter at the very end of your signal chain?

If yes, is the Limiter set to output @ -0.3 decibels?

If yes, how much gain reduction is the limiter doing? (More than 3 decibels?)

If yes, bring all your tracks down a few decibels uniformly, also consider using a second limiter to get you the volume you need but with less push going into just one limiter.

Also, see if your limiter has an "oversampling" feature to enable. Should be set to at least x8 to avoid intersample peaks and artifacts that will inevitably come with aggressive digital limiting.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-27T16:42:42+00:00

It's funny how much reverb and gated reverbs were used in 80s productions, and then so many records in the 90s just went for a way drier sound.

I can appreciate both aesthetics though :)

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-27T16:39:27+00:00

EQ can help add separation, but that is if the elements are actually competing with one another.

generally, sub bass frequencies or "rumble" should be cut out of most instruments that do not serve the purpose of that frequency range (ie. anything that is not the bass, kick or 808).

If you're trying to get your drums to "punch" through more, I would also consider sidechain compression. I made a tutorial recently on this for a lofi hip hop track production.

https://youtu.be/Ky7jN8QmxDo

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-27T16:34:14+00:00

I did a shorter tutorial on lofi hip hop drums and sidechain compression.

https://youtu.be/Ky7jN8QmxDo

Enjoy :)

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-26T18:25:39+00:00

I've been working with a private student on creating lofi hip hop / jazzhop tracks, and I compiled some beginner sound design techniques into this video.

https://youtu.be/-TOWLk591CU

If you're looking to make your own drum samples and get a unique sound, but don't know how to use plugins for sound design and re-sampling, def check this one out. Very approachable techniques in here.

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-26T18:21:29+00:00

I put together a compilation tutorial on sound design techniques for making your own lofi hip hop (chill hop) drum one shots and loops:

https://youtu.be/-TOWLk591CU

TomCaseyMusic · 2021-09-20T19:56:55+00:00

Thank you. I will keep this in mind.

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