Production Tips
Conscious use of space: just like any good graphic designer will
tell you, space is important. In design, space comes in the form of
white space, which is one of the most important elements in
creating aesthetic compositions. The same thing applies for
music. Allow your listeners to breathe, so to speak. You give them
space and they will appreciate it.
Conscious use of effects: One of my favorite things to add to any
synth is a series of effects and processors that polish the sound
and make it pop out of the track. Delays are great for filling in
empty space that you’ve created between elements in the track.
Try adding a 3/16th delay to any sound and then adjust the
feedback to your liking. This will create a sound that repeats
every third sixteenth note, and will gradually fade out. But do not
overdo it! If you have a lot of feedback, only play a note every so
often so that you can still retain that space that is so important.
Also, if you’re going to add effects such as phasers, flangers,
distortion, etc., make sure that not all of the instruments in your
track are layered with these kinds of effects. The purpose should
be to make a particular sound stand out from the rest to create
contrast.
Automation: To keep me interested as a listener, you need to
develop movement in your song. Movement requires changes
along time. The best way to achieve this is to automate knobs
and sliders in your software sequencer. When you’re tweaking
knobs on a synth or sampler and you find that turning a certain
knob sounds cool, hit record and then record those knob
movements in real time. Go back over the song and repeat the
process as necessary to create a multi-faceted track with lots of
movement.
tell you, space is important. In design, space comes in the form of
white space, which is one of the most important elements in
creating aesthetic compositions. The same thing applies for
music. Allow your listeners to breathe, so to speak. You give them
space and they will appreciate it.
Conscious use of effects: One of my favorite things to add to any
synth is a series of effects and processors that polish the sound
and make it pop out of the track. Delays are great for filling in
empty space that you’ve created between elements in the track.
Try adding a 3/16th delay to any sound and then adjust the
feedback to your liking. This will create a sound that repeats
every third sixteenth note, and will gradually fade out. But do not
overdo it! If you have a lot of feedback, only play a note every so
often so that you can still retain that space that is so important.
Also, if you’re going to add effects such as phasers, flangers,
distortion, etc., make sure that not all of the instruments in your
track are layered with these kinds of effects. The purpose should
be to make a particular sound stand out from the rest to create
contrast.
Automation: To keep me interested as a listener, you need to
develop movement in your song. Movement requires changes
along time. The best way to achieve this is to automate knobs
and sliders in your software sequencer. When you’re tweaking
knobs on a synth or sampler and you find that turning a certain
knob sounds cool, hit record and then record those knob
movements in real time. Go back over the song and repeat the
process as necessary to create a multi-faceted track with lots of
movement.
First, what’s wrong with my song?
It’s not loud enough. It sounds wimpy next to other CDs. Turning it
up or mixing down at a higher level doesn’t solve the problem. It
sounds louder, but not, well LOUDER.
It sounds dull. Other CDs have a sparkle that cuts through with
excitement. You try boosting the EQ at high frequencies, but now
your song just sounds harsh and noisy.
The instruments and vocals sound thin. Commercial songs have a
fullness that you know comes from some sort of compression. So
you patch in a compressor and turn some controls. Now the whole
mix sounds squashed. The vocal might sound fuller, but the
cymbals have no dynamics.
The bass doesn’t have punch. You boost it with some low-end
EQ, but that just sounds louder and muddier. Not punchier.
You can hear all the instruments in your mix, and they all seem to
have their own “place” in the stereo image, but the overall image
sounds wrong. Your other CDs have width and image that you can’
t seem to get from panning the individual tracks.
You had reverb on the individual tracks, but it just sounds like a
bunch of instruments in a bunch of different spaces. Your other
CDs have a sort of cohesive space that brings all the parts
together. Not like rooms within a room, but a “sheen” that works
across the entire mix.
Don’t worry. It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong. There are
just some things you still need to do to get that “sound”. You just
need the right tools and an understanding of how to use them.
You won’t become Bob Ludwig overnight (or probably ever) but
you can make dramatic improvements in your master recordings
with a little work.
It’s not loud enough. It sounds wimpy next to other CDs. Turning it
up or mixing down at a higher level doesn’t solve the problem. It
sounds louder, but not, well LOUDER.
It sounds dull. Other CDs have a sparkle that cuts through with
excitement. You try boosting the EQ at high frequencies, but now
your song just sounds harsh and noisy.
The instruments and vocals sound thin. Commercial songs have a
fullness that you know comes from some sort of compression. So
you patch in a compressor and turn some controls. Now the whole
mix sounds squashed. The vocal might sound fuller, but the
cymbals have no dynamics.
The bass doesn’t have punch. You boost it with some low-end
EQ, but that just sounds louder and muddier. Not punchier.
You can hear all the instruments in your mix, and they all seem to
have their own “place” in the stereo image, but the overall image
sounds wrong. Your other CDs have width and image that you can’
t seem to get from panning the individual tracks.
You had reverb on the individual tracks, but it just sounds like a
bunch of instruments in a bunch of different spaces. Your other
CDs have a sort of cohesive space that brings all the parts
together. Not like rooms within a room, but a “sheen” that works
across the entire mix.
Don’t worry. It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong. There are
just some things you still need to do to get that “sound”. You just
need the right tools and an understanding of how to use them.
You won’t become Bob Ludwig overnight (or probably ever) but
you can make dramatic improvements in your master recordings
with a little work.
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| Sr. Engineer Robert Quiroz E-Mail: Robertq101@yahoo.com (805)308-4060 Ass.Engineer Noel Ochoa E-Mail: Himo93033@yahoo.com |