Deep Studio Experiences....

[MARKEG]

I thought it would be a good idea to be a little bit less techy and a little deeper the way we all speak about making a track. Instead of the usual stroky chin stuff. Hehehe. So here goes.

For me kick and bass is the most important thing. Once you have the kick and bass sitting, then the whole track just falls in place. I'm noticing this more and more recently.

So OK. This is what I do. It works for me, not all the time but it does work if you're in the right frame of mind. Bear in mind I'm talking here about sub bass and a kick. and of course i'm a dj so i'm bound to find this easier :)

Get your kick and bassline working nicely in the context of the uncompleted track (ie the 4 bars if you're in cubase sx). You've built up everything and you're ready to do your arrangement.

Have a coffee!

Now get your headphones (good quality ones ie sehnheiser hd25's are the ones i use). Play a track you like that's in a similar vien to the track you're percieving you'll make. Close your eyes. Listen purely to the kick drum and the bass. Really home in on the frequencies they both take up.

Now switch to your track, put an eq plugin on your kick channel and then the same on your bass. play all your loops but just home in on kick and bass - nothing else. now make the energy/feel sound the same as what you've just heard using nothing but your eq plugins and volume levels.

you really have to be fast on this because if you take too long, you're in trouble cause your ears play tricks on you.

now leave the studio. have a coffee :)

when you come back play the track. but fit everything around the kick and bass you made. take stuff out, make it simpler etc etc. until you're jumping around the studio thinking you've made the best track you've ever made :)

NOW DO YOUR ARRANGEMENT!!!

It's so much easier. Sure you probably will still spend 600000 hours on the rest of it, but your focus is on the track and not the track that it could be if you see what i mean.

Hope this helps :)

If anyone else has any good tips then hope you can share them ;)

[jake]

lol mark eg's real secret... COFFEE!!!! ;)

[DJZeMig_L]

2 me it's a good synth sound or some funky vocals... I also like everynow and then 2 make a nice phat'n'funky bed of toms 909 Chi-town style!!

:)

No real secrets!! Ok maybe being on a really goood or reallllly bad mood! lol


Z

[Evil G]

for me, writing in a bad mood has resulted in some of my most beautiful work. my more in-your-face stuff i make when i'm in a good mood. go figure?

[dirty_bass]

It`s easier to create out of a negative emotion than a positive. Tjis is the nature of the term "tragic artsist", but I think it is true. A track made out of love or joy, is very hard to not sound twee.
But hate, anger and pain, are strong creative catalysts.

I generally go for a strong mood, either way, the kick and bass move the most air, and can have the most physical effect on you, so I generally start here too. Alhtough I guess I write from a Rig engineers perspective, so I go for certain frequencies that generally are hot spots on a system.
Sometimes I will start without the kick altogether, as when you get a really good percussion loop going, when you bung in a kick it just locks in nice.

[audioinjection]

I think I take too many breaks when I'm working on a track, but then maybe thats a good thing, my ears won't get too tired and I can last longer. Listening to the same loop over and over can get annoying haha.

But using headphones is a great thing for me as well, you can hear more little things up closer and make small detailed changes.

[Evil G]

i almost never use headphones since getting good near field monitors. the only time i use them anymore is when i'm tweaking my reverbs and when my girlfriend is trying to sleep.

result = my mixes are translating to other systems far better now.

[Mattias Fridell (emb)]

I always start with the bassdrum & the subbase, and i always drink alot of coffee to ;)
I start off by taking a coffee, then i putting out the bassdrum & the bass, i put them in a subchannel and then i compress it. Actually i like to use the L2 Ultramaximizer for this.
Sometimes I just take a loop that i have done the day before (a loop without bass & kick of course) and put it together with the bassdrum & the bass just to get a "ground loop" to stand on. Then, i drink coffee, later i program the rest.
I often use self-made loops just so that i can keep on going with the track.
Often i take them away later on.

And Mark; it seems to me that we love the same gear! Haha.
Sehnheiser hd25 s & Mackie mixing console. If i remember correctly, dont you have the 1604 Vlz? That would be the difference then, cause i´ve got a 24:4 istead.

[djvartan]

Now get your headphones (good quality ones ie sehnheiser hd25's are the ones i use). Play a track you like that's in a similar vien to the track you're percieving you'll make. Close your eyes. Listen purely to the kick drum and the bass. Really home in on the frequencies they both take up.

i cant listen to music with my eyes closed

[DJZeMig_L]

U guys should try the sony MDR7506 they r good for these purposes.

Z

[djvartan]

U guys should try the sony MDR7506 they r good for these purposes.

Z

thats what i use ;)

[eyes without a face]

i tend to usually start with a nice hook or vocal as Ze said, then i usually tend to apply the bass then the kick afterwards. I find that if u can get a track to make u wanna move before uve even added the kick, then ur onto a winner! the kick can then slot in and get it pumped up even more

i hardly ever use headphones either. luv the Seinheissers but i always prefer to produce thru the monitors