Subtlety

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So how do you guys create subtlety in your tracks? By this I mean those little hyperreal details which make the sound field dynamic and active

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You seem to know what you're looking for. I'd suggest examining some tracks that you like and determine what makes them work for you.
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If everything is the same, nothing is subtle and nothing is dynamic. To that end, take the limiter off the master bus. Don't use loops slavishly. Don't use autotune, quantize, or any of that stuff without careful consideration of what's going on. Go listen to music which isn't designed for kids to dance to. Repetition and perfection are almost required these days, but that doesn't mean you have to create sonic oatmeal.

And watch out for the rogues... don't let their dps beat your bpm!
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It's just trial and error. I know where the track needs a little bit of detail in the background. Usually I just browse presets until find something close enough, then tweak it to sit better in the mix. Need to repeat it many time,s some sounds turn out unsuitable and get replaced by others. SOmetimes many of them are good, but cause conflicts. It's all experience.

As trance producer, I always add subtle effects at the end to keep interest. They are either to focus listener on main part or just as a counterbalance to otherwise repeatable sound.
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Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)

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I heard I think one of Tom waits tracks on the double album with the "Lucinda" track. Some really subtle piano in the backround you can heardly hear unless you play it really Fu**in loud

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I often use mutliple layers to make sounds, and one easy way of introducing a sense of subtle shifting and detail is to push and pull the dominance on the different layers.

Works especially well when a very quiet part of the whole is suddenly pulled up in relation to the other layers. Sometimes just pulling it up enough to be consciously noticed is enough, rather than creating a big swell with the sound. Depends on the application.
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If you imagine your entire track as being played by people with unlimited ability, then pinpoint exactly what they need to do and when in order to set up the automation getting the tiniest details absolutely perfect.

Ludicrous and unnecessary maybe, but if you program every MIDI note to convey precise and complete information to control your exceptionally programmed patch, then you've done it.

Short of releasing one song per lifetime, the best way to add the subtle touches is by changing things on a just noticeable difference level or JND. I might make one note 12cents higher than the last, close the filter that little bit more, modulate the phase of a saw by 2-3 degrees, or try and pull back the reverb by 3dB just as examples.

Unless you want random subtlety, it starts like every other professional venture. Knowing exactly what you want/need to do, and how to go about it.

If you can be more specific in what subtle hyperreal differences you're talking about, I think we can offer more help.
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I really love the responses guys thanks. I agree with everything that's been said. I've found that having a background layer is pretty useful too. It's such a simple proposition and everyone is already aware of it I imagine but ive heard so many tracks where everything is in the foreground and there are no quiet bits. At the moment im trying to put shakers and splash cymbals etc in the background and it really gives the impression of depth. There's no reverb on them either so they cut right through. The key is to make the sounds rhythmic too so that the mind perceives them as being more than just random bleeps clicks and shakes

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Yin/Yang

It's All About Balance

Dark/Light

Loud/Quiet

Full On/Subtle

Clean/Full Of Brain Melting Wibbly Sounds

And all in the same track. Ear candy for the consciousness. :)

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dewgong wrote:So how do you guys create subtlety in your tracks? By this I mean those little hyperreal details which make the sound field dynamic and active
I create them by focusing on the source itself.

If we're talking about live recording, then mics are the ones to focus on.
If you produce using MIDI then the plugin itself / synth are the ones to focus on, aka sound design.

The source sound is the 80% of the final sound.

Everything added later (EQs, Compressors and stuff) are considered to be post-process
which are added in order to fix mistakes that had been created on the recording/sound design stage.

Now...

What makes a good sound you may ask.. Since good and bad can be quite different for every person, let's assume that the "right" sound is the commercial/recording label/radio ready sound.

In order to improve you can use a mix-ready stem and put in inside in your DAW and use it as a reference.

That's one way of practicing and making sure you're improving to the right direction. And the right direction is to make a sound as close as good to the commercial level.

Try the tip i gave you above it works I promise :)

cheers!

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