KVR Audio

SampleScience · Post by **SampleScience** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:55 pm

It's all in the title.

Personally, I tend to struggle with mixing and mastering, but I'm getting there thanks to the recording revolution YouTube channel.

What are the challenges you're facing when producing and how do you overcome them?

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:08 pm

Usually, sitting down to actually do it.

TBH I never really thinking about traditional mixing as a phase, just as part of sound design and composition (which themselves are not necessarily separate phases); it's all kind of in the "creative stack" so I just do it without worry. If I were working with more traditional sound I guess it might be a concern.

Mastering though, is a separate thing. I get to the "end" of the project and realize everything's quiet and I've just turned my volume up to compensate. So there's a separate stage of making it sound reasonably loud, and maybe a bit better, without sounding worse.

I'm getting better at it but it's still kind of a different technical challenge each time.

cdverson · Post by **cdverson** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:15 pm

So I produce and mix all of my bands music, and the band consists of me and a bassist. I am having some trouble with the person that I work with. He comes across as a sensitive guy, which isn't the problem, but when I sculpt his parts sometimes I cut different notes and change things. He HATES it. I'm not picking on him or trying to cut him out in any way. I'm just going with what the song needs and not what sounds cool. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

SampleScience · Post by **SampleScience** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 9:19 pm

cdverson wrote:So I produce and mix all of my bands music, and the band consists of me and a bassist. I am having some trouble with the person that I work with. He comes across as a sensitive guy, which isn't the problem, but when I sculpt his parts sometimes I cut different notes and change things. He HATES it. I'm not picking on him or trying to cut him out in any way. I'm just going with what the song needs and not what sounds cool. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Making music in a band can be tricky, but I don't think it's anyone's fault if sometimes there isn't enough chemistry between members. Which seems to be your case judging by what you've wrote.

SampleScience · Post by **SampleScience** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 9:21 pm

foosnark wrote: Mastering though, is a separate thing. I get to the "end" of the project and realize everything's quiet and I've just turned my volume up to compensate. So there's a separate stage of making it sound reasonably loud, and maybe a bit better, without sounding worse. I'm getting better at it but it's still kind of a different technical challenge each time.

I have the problem of by music being too quiet too, especially if I compare it with fully produced professional tracks by Warp records artists. I find it really though and like you've said, I think by practicing you eventually get better with time.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 11:07 pm

Finding the time and energy is my biggest challenge overall. For the music I do finish, I always have this problem getting the low mids just right, whether it's at the mixing or mastering/finalizing stage. My room just sucks up all those low-mid frequencies and I can never hear them right, so I either end up with mixes that either sound muddy or lack punch on other systems. Seems like I spend 75% of my time going through iterations of mixdowns/listening in my car and other systems, just to get the low mids right. Sometimes, I wish I could just mix from my car.

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:05 pm

Just finding enough time.

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:39 pm

Finishing the last 5-10% of my 95-90% finished tracks.

Mastering (if I'm doing it by myself, but I'm lazy and I prefer making new stuff instead of listening to old stuff over and over again).

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:02 pm

Having consintent composition from beginning to end. The difficulty is that I use more than one motiff for each track and want them to blend together.

For instance right now I have build-up of track I'm perfectly satisfied with, but have no idea where to go from there. I should have done some breakdown with nice chord progression and finish the track, but nothing comes to my mind.

podo83 · Post by **podo83** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 4:20 pm

The biggest nightmare is actually finishing things I've started, I have tunes sitting on my HD which are 4 years old, still not finished. I have no idea how to deal with this problem, I am lazy or just careless. I feel ashamed.

https://soundcloud.com/paul-underwood/t ... or-me-demo

Googly Smythe · Post by **Googly Smythe** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 6:46 pm

SampleScience wrote:It's all in the title.

Personally, I tend to struggle with mixing and mastering, but I'm getting there thanks to the recording revolution YouTube channel.

What are the challenges you're facing when producing and how do you overcome them?

The biggest challenge I face, (and it's all the time), is trying to do something original or that I have never done before. I don't often succeed...

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 7:04 pm

I have no problem with self-motivation... Or sitting down to work on something.

I probably am my own worst critic, so I constantly start from scratch over and over again. And have an abundance of unfinished tunes - Like everyone else I guess.

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 11:26 pm

Too much free time on my hands.

AsPeeXXXVIII · Post by **AsPeeXXXVIII** » Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:54 am

Getting the mix to a point where it sounds half-professional.

What are the challenges you're facing when producing?