getting started, things you wish you knew?

[joetaff]

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Hey there, I'm new here. I'm on my phone in class so I'm gonna write this shorthand

Background: spent about 300 hours in reaper, learned as I went. Only really use synth 1.. Seriously use it for everything haha. I enjoy making electronic tracks and remixing, dabble in tons of genres.

Basically I want to know things you wish you knew about producing, mixing, mastering, using synths, tips and tricks when you were just getting started!

Any must see tutorials or things you think I should have a good understanding of?

Thanks in advance everyone!

Here are some of my recent mixes if you're interested in hearing where I'm at currently.

Trap attempt: http://m.soundcloud.com/aldous_x/hells- ... -origional (http://m.soundcloud.com/aldous_x/hells-bells-aldous_x-origional)

Electro house attempt: http://m.soundcloud.com/aldous_x/syn-co ... 2-aldous-x (http://m.soundcloud.com/aldous_x/syn-cole-miami-82-aldous-x)

[Halma]

ITB gainstaging. Changed everything for me. The only thing I would not do: start a discussion about it with people who don´t see a use for that "because mixing & producing ITB already has a really good SNR and channel clipping is not a problem because you can lower the master fader for that". I have other reasons in using that concept.

But I would not care that much. Sooner or later everything makes sense. You are already on a good way because apperantly you are using "only stuff where you know the ins and outs like Reaper & Synth1" then "using everything everywhere but without a clue".

Instead learn to understand the signalflow of each unit.

And most importantly: have fun. Don´t loose it. Try everything. Even the wierdest things. It is not about "what works" but "what works not" so you don´t do the same stupid things over and over again. That´s not fun. And it is all about fun, isn`t it?

Regards
Sebastian

[joetaff]

Thanks Sebastian !

gainstaging is a term I am not even familiar with. Goes to show how out of the loop I am on basic concepts and terminology. Thank you, I will send some time learning the ins and outs !

[Sendy]

No matter how much you learn, never let the inner child die - the child that doesn't hear "paralell bandpass filters feeding choruses of different rates" but instead hears "magical god radio". My joy in creating music doubled when I learned to switch off the analytical, technical part of my brain when listening.

[Keith99]

+1 for gain staging, turned around my mixing when I got that right. Other things would be the arrangement itself - has a huge impact on the mixing stage i.e. not too many instruments playing at once and not overlapping frequency wise too much. Also I guess never using something if you cannot hear what it is doing. I used to put compressors on without really understanding the result because I felt I was supposed to.

[ontol]

[cron]

Great topic!

I'd say gain staging again. Not as a sound quality thing: more as a workflow thing. I had a really bad habit of 'trying not to clip'. I'd mix mega hot and find myself juggling elements to stay below the red. "If I turn that bass down, I might be able to turn the kick up a little" etc...

Since I'm completely in-the-box bar the odd microphone recording, what I should have been doing was mixing quietly enough to never have to worry about clipping. That way I'd have been making all my mixing decisions by listening to the sound, not looking at the meters. Mix low, turn the completed mix up at the end.

[manducator]

I wish I had seen this video a lot earlier. It looks corny, I know but I learned a lot about mixing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEjOdqZFvhY

[Halma]

And because other people obviously see some use in gainstaging too: here is why I do it beside the clipping thingy.

Imagine your drum bus is peaking at -6dbFS and RMS sits approx. -18dBFS. The first cool thing: no clipping and 6dB of headroom BUT...

..as soon as you start to use a eg compressor you will hopefully see the benefits.

Most of the compressor come with a threshold setting. Now that we know that our PEAKS are peaking at -6dBFS we could assume that our compressor starts working as soon as our threshold hits -6db. That´s basically called "peak limiting". If you only use low threshold settings like -8dB - - 10dB you can work with pretty high ratios like 6:1. The cool thing is that your threshold values now have "a proper meaning" because they translate pretty well with your gainstaged material. A threshold of eg -18dB on your comp is more or less the same on your track channel with -18dBFS.

That means eg. with a ratio of 6:1 and a threshold of -10dB while our Peaks are going into the compressor with approx. -6dBFS we have "4dB"difference in amplitude where for every 6dB that goes into the unit we get only 1dB out of it (6:1 ratio for everything above the threshold). That means that a signal needs to be 6 times as loud as before to get only 1dB out of it. Or in other words: if we use a threshold of -10dB with our -6dBFS signal and a ratio of 6:1 our signal now more or less peaks at -9dBFS. Don´t forget to adjust make up gain afterwards for proper A/B. Btw the RMS of your signal stays more or less the same. We only reduced the dynamics a tad (3dB).

I hope that makes sense to you and hopefully "my math" and concept of compression in this case is not that bad.

And I guess you already know which threshold settings to use if you wanna compress not only peaks but RMS.

Regards
Sebastian

[robogone]

Most of my wish I knew when I started things are around working in an analog studio in the early 80s. I wish I knew how important it is to do the best job possible of recording something in the first place and to not cut any corners on getting the best recording possible.

Moving to digital some years later, I wish I knew how different the two were so that I could have not tried to record in the same way I learned to record to multitrack tape.

[V0RT3X]

I can ramble on about this due to personal experience but I'll keep it real simple.


1. Never SELL anything you buy that is software. Back it up on a jumpdrive if you don't use it and store it away. When you sell software you get f**k all for it back. If you don't have the money for a new product then go work for it, don't finance it with the selling of your pre-existing tools. Trust me you will have regrets because i know I do..


2. Only sell your hardware if you are replacing it with a superior product or if you really can't find a place to store it.


3. Learn, Learn, Learn and be patient you can't learn how to do modular synthesis or be a mastering engineer in a day. Keep a learning journal and write stuff down if it helps you remember.


4. Lots of people jump into music making with very little idea of music theory. I would honestly say learn your chord progressions, rhythm structures, timing, different tuning and how to play a piano on a very basic level. It will help you out a ton before you even get into the production side of things.

5. Be creative and carve your own sound and style. Sure it's nice to copy others for learning purposes but really take the time to bring something unique to the world that will stand out amongst the billions of copycats.


6. Explore other genres! If you are just a EDM fan then seriously go out of your comfort zone and critically listen to other styles. Don't stick to music from your era either make sure you check out plenty of older styles. Music is music and you can get ideas even from the 50s.

7. Play live music with other musicians. IMPORTANT because it can help build your musical skills alot! Plus it's fun.

8. Every time you feel like you suck and won't be *Insert famous producer etc here* stop and realize that everyone started out making shitty music in the beginning. No you won't get famous in a year or two and you might not ever achieve fame outside of your town but don't let that stop you. If your in it for the money or fame you are in it for the wrong reasons.


9. Work hard and create a workaholic attitude when it comes to learning and creating. Sometimes it helps to make yourself create a track a day no matter how shitty it is. Not everyone has the time to do this of course but if you can definitely go for it. Also make sure you have a good high positive energy because it can attract other people into working with you in the future!


10. Be humble don't act like a snob when collaborating and make sure you are considerate in general to the rest of the music community. Don't turn into one of those rude producers who think they are gods gift to music.

11. Learn your tools. I guess this is the most obvious but seriously instead of relying on presets make yourself learn how the presets were made. This might require some knowledge of the tool so dive into the manual. Lots of guy don't understand that soft synthesizers are not romplers and don't bother learning.

12. DAW Automation is a powerful tool, learn how to master it.


13. Loudness is not always better, sometimes it will work against you. http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2014/02/ ... dness-war/


14. IF you do hit a place in your life where you think you can maybe make a living off your music, then be seriously sure about it before stopping your day job.


15. Don't get drunk or let drunk people near your hardware or computer. Actually my advice is keep party hard friends, djs etc nowhere near your studio.


16. Lock up your studio and if you can get insurance in case you get robbed. It does happen and it isn't pretty.


17. DONT share software that is licenced to you. DONT use warez or cracks because if you do end up going professional it will come back to bite you in the ass. Legally you can find yourself down shitcreek too. Yes starting out might be slow and it might be tempting to borrow that friends DVD who has all those warez but just don't. Chances are that guys system will crash later because of a virus or worse.


18. Take a break from music occasionally and pick at least one non music hobby so you can unwind because sometimes music making feels like a job. Photography or cinematography can tie into your music really well because you can provide visuals.


19. Your going to come across people who have a PHD in music and tell you that your music is amateurish or what not and try to drag you down. Don't let it bother you, most professional musicians who are serious will help you instead of trying to hinder your progress.


20. Have fun!

[V0RT3X]

I wonder if the OP will return to this post or not.

[wesleyt]

Everything Vortex said above is brilliant. I have one addendum to #1 above: check the marketplace here before you buy. You may find a great deal and help out a fellow musician at the same time.

Also: don't be a plugin pack rat and buy everything you think you want. Wait a day before buying. Do lots of research and try to buy the best in each plugin category, and then learn that plugin inside out.

[wesleyt]

I wonder if the OP will return to this post or not.

It's no matter either way; I'm sure this will help out many others nonetheless.

Cheers!

[dsan@mail.com]

First; Welcome joestaff I hope you enjoy your stay here!

Second, I'm mainly posting to be able to reference this thread. There is and will be a whole lot of valuable information. I will want to come back later I am sure.

Third, after what VORT3X has provided there's not much left to say. Great job VORT3X! I particulary like item #20!

wesleyt has given good advice too - WAIT a day before you buy. This policy has saved me a lot of dollars over the years.

Yep, saved 'em till the next day I did

Robojams advice of "Do it right the first time" is classic and so true. Do it right or just don't bother.

Good luck joestaff. Everyone in has given some VERY good advice!

Now, go make some music!

Happy Musiking!
dsan