KVR Audio

sloworm · Post by **sloworm** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:29 am

hello, song,,,laid back story type dealy..
check it...comments. I love you!

glurgle · Post by **glurgle** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:55 am

nice and chilled out, really liked this. Your singer has a very beautiful voice. Personally I don't usually like when lead vocals are filtered through a whole track, but it does work in the mix, wouldn't mind hearing a version without though.

sloworm · Post by **sloworm** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:13 pm

thanks...i might be doing a remix album as well.

djdorian · Post by **djdorian** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:42 pm

This is a noobish question... I know:

Everything I make has either a "garage band"-sounding mix or a "computer geek's first attempt at midi"-sounding mix.

How'd you get such a commercial sounding mix? What's your secret?

sloworm · Post by **sloworm** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:14 am

djdorian wrote:This is a noobish question... I know:

Everything I make has either a "garage band"-sounding mix or a "computer geek's first attempt at midi"-sounding mix.

How'd you get such a commercial sounding mix? What's your secret?

Well thanks for the compliment.

No secret really, just a certain standardization of workflow and content. You really have to have the sounds you record the cleanest as possible. The samples you use have to be rocking from the start. So, when you make a beat, make sure it is sonically pleasing and exciting. Also, a general direction of how you want the mix to sound. That gives you a better head start in knowing what sound efx, and other elements to use. The quicker you have the song laid out, the fresher the overall inspiration sticks with you to complete your masterpiece. Also, set a high bar of quality and stick by it. Don't give up on the bar, just make it happen.

djdorian · Post by **djdorian** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:21 pm

So in that particular piece, which instruments were recordings of human performances, and which were one-hit samples or loops?

sloworm · Post by **sloworm** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:30 pm

djdorian wrote:So in that particular piece, which instruments were recordings of human performances, and which were one-hit samples or loops?

no loops.

Rhodes were recorded via a keyboard, bassline was recorded. Vocals recorded, including the operatic singing in the middle. Little sound efx's recorded via microphone from a therimin knockoff. Beat made in Reason.

djdorian · Post by **djdorian** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:37 pm

sloworm wrote:
djdorian wrote:So in that particular piece, which instruments were recordings of human performances, and which were one-hit samples or loops?
no loops.

Rhodes were recorded via a keyboard, bassline was recorded. Vocals recorded, including the operatic singing in the middle. Little sound efx's recorded via microphone from a therimin knockoff. Beat made in Reason.

Thx. BTW, hate to bother you again, but your drum tracks have a very commercial in-your-faceness, which is a good thing in this instance. Just curious:

Did you make your beats with one-time hits?
And did you trigger them with a keyboard?
If so, was the "performance" done live and then quantized, or was it step-editted?

sloworm · Post by **sloworm** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:08 am

djdorian wrote:
sloworm wrote:
djdorian wrote:So in that particular piece, which instruments were recordings of human performances, and which were one-hit samples or loops?
no loops.

Rhodes were recorded via a keyboard, bassline was recorded. Vocals recorded, including the operatic singing in the middle. Little sound efx's recorded via microphone from a therimin knockoff. Beat made in Reason.
Thx. BTW, hate to bother you again, but your drum tracks have a very commercial in-your-faceness, which is a good thing in this instance. Just curious:

Did you make your beats with one-time hits?
And did you trigger them with a keyboard?
If so, was the "performance" done live and then quantized, or was it step-editted?

Every musical piece is slightly different. Sometimes I will find a beat from vinyl, or from the web. Throw it in recycle and isolate hits. Go into reason and work with single hits in Redrum, some step edited and some played by hand(keyboard), i will sometimes quantize and sometimes leave it be if it is slightly(64th or 128th) off so it gives a live somewhat feel. Then i might layer some of the rexed beat to give it some fatness and sonic charm. It really varies though, but that is a common type way. Other times it will be completly one hits. I like one hits but understand and respect the power of chopping breaks sometimes. The sonic charm is unbeatable(no pun intended), and makes your beats less sterile.

djdorian · Post by **djdorian** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:51 am

Indeed. Chopped breaks have a "non-midi" "vinyl-ish" "old-skool" sort of feel. I dunno if it's the result of incidental noises, post-processing, or what. But using chopped breaks often sounds better than an identical pattern of regular ol' midi GM or sampler/soundfont one-hits (even super-hi-fi ones!)