I wanna learn how to mix!

[ImKeN]

A quick update on my journey to learning music production(mixing & mastering):

• I have decided to focus on one production style, only: Electronic Music.
• I've begun investing in some 3rd party plugins including some really good freebies, as well.
• I'm also investing in cheap online courses to better my compositional and sound design skills.
• I'm following reference songs, using them as guidelines and inspiration for my own music(less writer's block since I started doing this).
• I'm starting to realize that learning music production really has no end. lol

 

Now, for some good news: 

This happened right after New Years, but I didn't want to say anything 'till all the paperwork was done. One of my pop instrumentals was signed to an exclusive music library and is now being pitched to TV shows. I'm hoping to get more tracks signed this year.

 

Thank you guys for all the help! 👍

 

Ken

[Richard Tracey]

1 hour ago, ImKeN said:

One of my pop instrumentals was signed to an exclusive music library and is now being pitched to TV shows. I'm hoping to get more tracks signed this year.

 

Ken, that’s great news. Congrats.

 

And good luck with continuing to learn music production. It is a minefield.

[ImKeN]

3 hours ago, Richard Tracey said:

Ken, that’s great news. Congrats.

And good luck with continuing to learn music production. It is a minefield.

 

Thanks, Richard. Songstuff is the place to be.

 

All the best with your music projects this year! 

 

[TPistilli]

On 8/28/2017 at 5:50 PM, symphonious7 said:

Well good production is all about clarity and vibe, I'd imagine it doesn't really matter too much the genre, if you know how to separate sounds and create movement that's gonna carry over to most any genre isn't it?  I'd love to learn to produce like 70's artists were produced, I know a lot of that would have to do with room and mics used and analog gear etc, but at  the same time I feel like it has a lot to do with approach as well.  Things seem less compressed, less squashed back then, and whereas nowadays I feel like most instruments get the same level of attention, in the 70's you'd get a lot more dynamics in the mix, sometimes parts would seem to jump out over the top of everything else or swirl around your head.  I feel like I still do hear productions of this nature, but they're rare.  

Agree with this.

[Capo3tanya]

I just wanted to note that this thread is profoundly helpful!!!!   I have hope!!!  Thanks everyone 😍 Taking serious notes.  Also the breakdowns in the recording section, equalizaton/reverb settings/compression/frequency ranges are so valuable, thank you soooo much Song Stuff 💘

[starise]

Well I confess to rambling a bit off base here. My apologies. Coming back to an old post is sometimes very telling. I need to keep things more on point.

[Capo3tanya]

30 minutes ago, starise said:

Well I confess to rambling a bit off base here. My apologies. Coming back to an old post is sometimes very telling. I need to keep things more on point.

Haha! I loved the whooole thing i got quite a lot out of it ❤ making progress on what im recording, soon will be brave enough to present my first fingerpainting to the class! 😀

 

[Roymega]

The EQ and Compression Formula by Nathan Nyquist was extremely helpful to me, he lays it out in such a way that's very understandable no matter what knowledge level you're at.

[Capo3tanya]

Thanks Roymega! I guess i took over Ken's thread but he doesn't need it anymore lol. I will definitely check that out!

[MikeRobinson]

What HoboSage said about "listening critically" is – well – critical.  Just as a photographer, digital or film, needs to understand the technical parameters of film, printing, digital image-capture and publication/projection, you need to know the technical parameters of what your recording needs to achieve when it finally hits the listener's  ... (yuck!) earbuds.  In both cases, you need to know how to measure them with the tools available in your DAW. Your ears will deceive you.  The measuring device will not.

 

At one workshop I attended, the presenter played tunes and showed the oscilloscope-display.  Then he showed other displays including "histogram" and what he referred-to as "the Rorschach crawl" which recorded as varying-sized blots the history of the histogram above it.  "There are," he said, "two dimensions of interest:  horizontal, and vertical."  Frequency (and what contributes to what's in those frequencies), and Volume.  "That's it."  Hmmmm....

 

One other take-away that I see circled in my notes from that session is that "there are almost no absolute volumes:  the relative levels of what's being played together at the same time are the key thing the listener hears.."  Hmmmm....

[Capo3tanya]

Thanks @MikeRobinson I am so unfamiliar with all this, zero intuition. Right now I'm trying to learn what everything does. Examining the crayons in my box. Expanders, limiters, high pass/low pass filters, the side chain. Apparently Pro EQ in studio one is pretty awesome, but I am like a monkey dinking with it. Moving the little markers around hehe! How to set up automation. How to use mix bus. 

 

I do have a fair question if anyone can spare a moment....

 

Ok. So the music in my head, is complex. Complex rhythms, dynamics, sounds. Thanks to SONGSTUFF (❤ ❤ ❤)  I have progressed this far and finally shed my fear that I'm an idiot and unable to learn how to create it myself.  I'm sure many of you guys can relate to being frustrated by lack of knowledge and comprehension. I know now, that I absolutely CAN do this it'll just take time. 

 

Not sure how to phrase my question. I want it ALL I will not be content with recording just a couple guitar tracks and a couple vocal tracks. This is definitely a go big or go home situation. But is it best to just START with a couple guitar and vocal tracks? Like work as if that is all the song will be, mix it that way? I am getting soooo swept away by the sheer potentiality of what you can create with this thing. I know I need a midi keyboard, that's next. 

 

Aaaargh sorry, I'm just not asking what I mean to ask. 😕

[MikeRobinson]

"Capo, just start."  Seriously.  Take whatever software and hardware and instruments you have and start."  You can't go wrong ... unless you don't go.  😀

 

Spend some time exploring those crayons.  What does each crayon actually do, and in what situation might you decide to use it?  Grab an existing recording that you know well and shove it into the input side of your DAW/software, then start applying each crayon, one at a time, listening to what it does.  Go ahead.  Go crazy.  Twist 'em all.  Listen.

 

Then, spend equal time exploring your song.  Put down a guitar.  Put down vocals.  Now (why not?) start playing with those crayons ... what can you do to that guitar?  To those vocals?  Listen carefully, then push a button or twist a knob.  Listen.

 

To start moving "what's now in your DAW" to "what's in your head," take an existing song that you really like and listen to it critically.  What instruments are playing?  What "tiny bit of spice" did you just now notice for the very first time?  Chord progressions?  Counter-melodies?  Harmonies?  All of the magician's bag of tricks is right there in front of you!  If you play that guitar part and compare it to the guitar part that you hear ... now that you know what various "crayons" sound like ... what "crayons" do you think you hear?  Listen.

 

Now, your song – believe it or not, they started with guitar and vocals (maybe).  They added music, rhythm, and eventually crayons.  They had lots of versions, only one of which you hear.  They had committee meetings. Maybe they had fights.  No matter what, they made artistic and technical decisions.  But, at the end of the day, they strove to conceal all that "process" from you, so that all you heard was magic.  So, set out to make the next "rough draft" that they were maybe careful to make sure you never heard. Listen. 

 

So – try a mix.  When you're ready to let other people listen, share it (here).  Try another.  

 

After enough time has passed you'll be able to go back and "listen critically" to your own work.  Do that.

 

"Critique" is simply – "customer feedback concerning a product."  Never take it personally.  The critique is about a product, which happens to be a song, and which happens to be your most-recent  version.  Always room for one more.  (Or, not. "Who cares what that bozo thinks about my latest product?")

 

Important:  As you explore each project, create versions, and keep each and every one of them.  ("Aww, I screwed this up, this is junk, this is ... this is ... version (n-1) !!")  Disk space is cheap, and external hard-drives (available at any office-supply store these days) are even cheaper.  Do .. not .. destroy .. anything.  ... Ever.

 

An angel is never going to appear out of a cloud, accompanied by seraphic singing, and proclaim to you that "you did it!"  And neither did such an angel appear for the musicians and technicians(!) who produced your very-favorite song.

 

"The art of making art ... is putting it together ... bit by bit, part by part ..."

[Capo3tanya]

2 hours ago, MikeRobinson said:

"Capo, just start."  Seriously.  Take whatever software and hardware and instruments you have and start."  You can't go wrong ... unless you don't go.  😀

 

Spend some time exploring those crayons.  What does each crayon actually do, and in what situation might you decide to use it?  Grab an existing recording that you know well and shove it into the input side of your DAW/software, then start applying each crayon, one at a time, listening to what it does.  Go ahead.  Go crazy.  Twist 'em all.  Listen.

 

Then, spend equal time exploring your song.  Put down a guitar.  Put down vocals.  Now (why not?) start playing with those crayons ... what can you do to that guitar?  To those vocals?  Listen carefully, then push a button or twist a knob.  Listen.

 

This is exactly what ive been doing so I guess that's good lol. Oh I've been playing with it 😀

 

Thanks Mike, great post ❤

[Capo3tanya]

I think I can maybe articulate my question better now, after reading Mike's post.  Because what he said to do is what I've been doing.  But what I hear is SO NOT just acoustic, I'm not aiming toward that end. And it would be much simpler to put together my songs as acoustic songs, which is all they are in reality at the moment. 

 

So that is my question!  SHOULD I be concentrating on putting together my songs as acoustic pieces, since that is simpler?  Am I biting off more than I can chew by working toward the big picture, from the very beginning? 

 

Even putting my stuff together in it's simplest form is difficult for me because I'm brand new at this.  To blend the tracks, make everything sit right, sound cohesive. Is that what I should be focusing on? Because it sounds incomplete to me. 

[starise]

Hook up a mic. Put it in front of  you and your guitar. Record stuff. Gotta start somewhere. I would begin basic like with a simple vocal/guitar thing. You already did that didn't you? You're doing the same thing now with different stuff. 

 

Am I oversimplifying it? Not really. This is the first step in learning to get decent takes into the computer from the guitar.

[starise]

We posted at the same time and I missed your last post. 

 

There are different ways to do it. You certainly can build an arrangement around an existing guitar track. In fact I've done just that, but the mix isn't quite ready yet. When I get it completed I'll post it here as an example of that. 

 

I think the main consideration with this approach is you need to prethink what you intentions will be later in terms of timing etc. If adding drums you'll need to play tight to a metronome. 

[Capo3tanya]

Thanks Starise, lol yes I have done this, I've got 2 good guitar tracks and one good vocal track for my Spirit Dancer song.  I have been playing with them, adding to them.  What I've added isn't right, but is definitely the right idea (getting closer) lol. Plus it needs percussion and good synths but trying to program that without a keyboard is a nightmare, does anyone do that? Lol.  

 

6 minutes ago, starise said:

We posted at the same time and I missed your last post. 

 

There are different ways to do it. You certainly can build an arrangement around an existing guitar track. In fact I've done just that, but the mix isn't quite ready yet. When I get it completed I'll post it here as an example of that. 

 

I think the main consideration with this approach is you need to prethink what you intentions will be later in terms of timing etc. If adding drums you'll need to play tight to a metronome. 

 

That's exactly right, I AM prethinking what my intentions are, and it's boogering up creating something simple and sweet that I can post here to share with the class lol.  Oh I've metronomed myself to death, I took great pains with my tracks they are good. I don't know, maybe I should just post what I have and be like "yo this isn't complete".  

 

Another thing I've run into is troubling.  My "It Is Time" song?  I recorded it and I hate it.  Because it's not what I want at all.  I hate the strumming, I hate the acoustic guitar I don't even think I want acoustic guitar in it.  I cleaned it up too, went for a very clean, down stroke only, minimalist approach.  Still hated it, although the guitar sounded much cleaner.  But that approach opened my eyes to what it is that I want, the STYLE I want, the sound I want.  

 

Thanks for listening hehe 💖

[starise]

I think I know the song you mean. At least I've listened to one of yours and I thought is was well done. Sometimes the sparse approach is the best approach.

 

I'm not sure what a "typical" way is to do it and what "typical" emotions accompany any writer. There probably isn't a typical. I can relate to the ups and downs of both playing and mixing. I have this love/hate relationship with a bunch of my stuff. I'll redo a track and swear it's half decent only to listen later on and discover it still needs work. That part of it can be frustrating for me. Sometimes you just have to let go of it or it'll drive you mad.

 

Here's an example of that. Even though I put it on SC for the whole world to hear I'm not happy with it. Still some issues I hear in it but I don't know if I have the time to dig into the mix this week.

 

It IS an example though of a tune built up from an acoustic bouzouki part. I'll at least give it that.

 

[Capo3tanya]

I saw your bouzouki pictures, that's awesome!  I think this is very nice, there is this pub downtown where I live called the Celtic Ray it's so quaint!  Nice atmosphere and they only hire Irish musicians or at least authentic Irish music.  You could definitely play there!

 

21 hours ago, starise said:

I'm not sure what a "typical" way is to do it and what "typical" emotions accompany any writer. There probably isn't a typical. I can relate to the ups and downs of both playing and mixing. I have this love/hate relationship with a bunch of my stuff. I'll redo a track and swear it's half decent only to listen later on and discover it still needs work. That part of it can be frustrating for me. Sometimes you just have to let go of it or it'll drive you mad.

 

I think my problem is that all my songs are written and played on the acoustic guitar.  Because that's what I have and know how to play! I have a piano also but have never written anything on it, I use it as a writing tool (melodies and harmonies).

 

The it is time song isn't an issue of mixing.  The acoustic guitar doesn't belong in it at all, except maybe on the F Gm Dm C sequence. Thanks so much for talking with me I soooo appreciate it!!!! I guess I am trying to find my sound.  I have it in my head, it sounds GREAT hehehehe.  A little Rush, a little Yes, a little Moby, a lotta me. Patience patience patience, not my middle name. 

 

Thank you!!! 

 

 

[starise]

Just a suggestion- If you're strictly working on the guitar to compose and want to make the arrangement bigger, one way to do that would be to use the low E and D strings for the bass part on another track using another instrument. Then you'll have the bass down. If you want drums, you could add them to that bass line.

 

To begin though I would look for the melody which can usually be picked out as a single tune in mono. Once you have that basic idea you can build around it. If your voice is the melody, then build around that.