simple studio tricks!

Never heard the term "worldizing" although sending audio in and out of spaces/outboards/speakers/anything is an obvious step to getting individual timbres. I don't understand why people don't do it more. And yes, I wish Plaid would do something with their recent sound. The last two albums are fantastic but they do lack that something soundwise.

innit.

Just never heard that particular phrase.

Stick an omni mic inside of a floor tom near the head, patch an extra output to a powered monitor, point it at the floor tom, and use it as a send effect (speaker on an aux send, with the mic as the return). Tune the tom to the key of your track (or not). Try putting some BBs or sand or something on the head. Try using a kick drum instead. Try using the biggest metal trash can you can find and pretend you're Steve Albini. Tape a piece of ferrous metal (maybe a steel washer) somewhere on the head and find a way to mount a guitar pickup a millimeter or so away from it instead of using a microphone. Mess with the distance between the speaker and mic to get different comb filtering effects when it's blended in with the original track. Invert the phase. record it to a new track and then send that track out through the whole thing again. Use two of everything for stereo. Push on different parts of the head with your finger (quietly) to bend the pitch or bring out different overtones.

EDIT: do all of this with your tracks running at double speed/pitch, then return it to normal so the drum reverb gets slowed/pitched down.

Not really a trick, but if you're the kind of person who makes tracks in 1 or 2 hours, I'd spend more time doing it. It's better to make 10 tracks that are at your best, than 40 that are not at your 'best'.

Okay, I'll give away my favorite trick. If you have a super cheap mixer (I have a Behringer 8-channel jobbie from several years ago) and you want to make a particular channel sound HYPE:

1. Turn every band of EQ (my cheap mixer has 3) on the channel ALL THE WAY DOWN
2. The traq will now sound way too quiet
3. Turn the channel volume WAY BACK UP to compensate
4. Now, the magic: decide what freq in the traq you want to emphasize. Turn that band back up JUST A TINY BIT. Like, the smallest possible amount you can move the knob

If your mixer is anything like mine, that channel will now sound AMAZING. It's like built-in BBE Sonic Maximizer in your mixer. APPLY WITH CAUTION. If you're like me, you will now feel compelled to way overdo this. But don't because eventually you'll hurt yourself.

  On 5/22/2015 at 3:39 PM, Ascdi said:

Okay, I'll give away my favorite trick. If you have a super cheap mixer (I have a Behringer 8-channel jobbie from several years ago) and you want to make a particular channel sound HYPE:

 

1. Turn every band of EQ (my cheap mixer has 3) on the channel ALL THE WAY DOWN
2. The traq will now sound way too quiet
3. Turn the channel volume WAY BACK UP to compensate
4. Now, the magic: decide what freq in the traq you want to emphasize. Turn that band back up JUST A TINY BIT. Like, the smallest possible amount you can move the knob

If your mixer is anything like mine, that channel will now sound AMAZING. It's like built-in BBE Sonic Maximizer in your mixer. APPLY WITH CAUTION. If you're like me, you will now feel compelled to way overdo this. But don't because eventually you'll hurt yourself.

Cool-- that's like an analog-esque version of the tip I started this thread with. Since I don't have a mixer anymore, I'm gonna try this in the box and see waddup. Maybe turning up a freq-reduced version of a track will bring out extra resolutionz from the ether, and then even more magic comes out when I add a boost to one of the EQ curves.

  On 5/22/2015 at 3:39 PM, Ascdi said:

Okay, I'll give away my favorite trick. If you have a super cheap mixer (I have a Behringer 8-channel jobbie from several years ago) and you want to make a particular channel sound HYPE:

 

• Turn every band of EQ (my cheap mixer has 3) on the channel ALL THE WAY DOWN
• The traq will now sound way too quiet
• Turn the channel volume WAY BACK UP to compensate
• Now, the magic: decide what freq in the traq you want to emphasize. Turn that band back up JUST A TINY BIT. Like, the smallest possible amount you can move the knob

If your mixer is anything like mine, that channel will now sound AMAZING. It's like built-in BBE Sonic Maximizer in your mixer. APPLY WITH CAUTION. If you're like me, you will now feel compelled to way overdo this. But don't because eventually you'll hurt yourself.

For those who haven't experimented with MIDI delays, it can be quite different to the way we are used to thinking about audio delays. Maybe the term delay is not really appropriate as it's more like an arpeggiator (but it's not like an arppegiator either when you have a bank of non-chromatic samples). Basically you can create strange nestled shuffles with micro-delays upon micro-delays.

Also, I know the tech heads rubbish MIDI timing but I've been exploring the aesthetic qualities of MIDI jitter (see link below) and in certain contexts it can sound better IMO when events fight for space.

http://forum.watmm.com/topic/88179-clown-chops-what-are-these-micro-mashups/

You've got my attention

Coul you describe a specific musical application of midi delay?

Like, I'm assuming you're talking about non-intuitive uses of it...?

  On 7/16/2015 at 10:15 PM, LimpyLoo said:

Coul you describe a specific musical application of midi delay?

Like, I'm assuming you're talking about non-intuitive uses of it...?

On the sequencer I'm using the parameters available are:

division (or delay time),

delay level

number of repeats

and then there are parameters pertaining to each time it repeats:

+/- velocity

+/- pitch (so with samples, this really means up or down a spot in the sample bank)

+/- gate length

+/- position (like shuffle but in extreme settings these become more like beat divisions)

I like controlling a bank of samples which are not well organised to find happy accidents. It gets interesting with a high number of repeats on a monophonic mode sequence. In addition to manipulating the delay parameters I will change the root note, gate time and beat divisions (half time, double time, etc) of the sequence itself. So in monophonic mode, it is quite different to an audio delay since small changes in gate length or position will suddenly let a flurry of notes through a gap which otherwise would be completely silent/off.

  On 7/16/2015 at 4:36 PM, webby said:

Also, I know the tech heads rubbish MIDI timing but I've been exploring the aesthetic qualities of MIDI jitter (see link below) and in certain contexts it can sound better IMO when events fight for space.

hmm yeah this is something I've thought about trying.. mostly because my setup from a couple of years ago used a cheap USB MIDI cable that would drop notes every now and then. I figured if I try to just max it out with black MIDI style sequencing I could get something interesting out of my hardware synths. I should try that again. I wonder how the monomachine would cope with thousands of notes running through it :D

  On 5/22/2015 at 12:34 AM, RSP said:

Stick an omni mic inside of a floor tom near the head, patch an extra output to a powered monitor, point it at the floor tom, and use it as a send effect (speaker on an aux send, with the mic as the return). Tune the tom to the key of your track (or not). Try putting some BBs or sand or something on the head. Try using a kick drum instead. Try using the biggest metal trash can you can find and pretend you're Steve Albini. Tape a piece of ferrous metal (maybe a steel washer) somewhere on the head and find a way to mount a guitar pickup a millimeter or so away from it instead of using a microphone. Mess with the distance between the speaker and mic to get different comb filtering effects when it's blended in with the original track. Invert the phase. record it to a new track and then send that track out through the whole thing again. Use two of everything for stereo. Push on different parts of the head with your finger (quietly) to bend the pitch or bring out different overtones.

 

EDIT: do all of this with your tracks running at double speed/pitch, then return it to normal so the drum reverb gets slowed/pitched down.

ohhh shit somehow I never thought of this. Definitely gonna try it with my new gameboy compositions; I've been recording snippits of them on instagram using my phone near my speakers and they sound pretty nice with room reverb so maybe mixing in a bit of the signal going through a guitar amp in a closet would sound interesting..

  On 7/17/2015 at 1:56 AM, modey said:

 

  On 7/16/2015 at 4:36 PM, webby said:

Also, I know the tech heads rubbish MIDI timing but I've been exploring the aesthetic qualities of MIDI jitter (see link below) and in certain contexts it can sound better IMO when events fight for space.

hmm yeah this is something I've thought about trying.. mostly because my setup from a couple of years ago used a cheap USB MIDI cable that would drop notes every now and then. I figured if I try to just max it out with black MIDI style sequencing I could get something interesting out of my hardware synths. I should try that again. I wonder how the monomachine would cope with thousands of notes running through it :D

 

The weird thing with my sequencer is that the jitter becomes noticable when I have the the MIDI sequence it is playing bouncing back to it thru another machine, even though this is not being recorded or is not manipulating anything. If I don't like it, I just pull the cable out, if I like it, I leave it in. The Monomachine is probably too well engineered for this.

  On 7/17/2015 at 1:43 AM, webby said:

 

  On 7/16/2015 at 10:15 PM, LimpyLoo said:

Coul you describe a specific musical application of midi delay?

Like, I'm assuming you're talking about non-intuitive uses of it...?

 

On the sequencer I'm using the parameters available are:

division (or delay time),

delay level

number of repeats

 

and then there are parameters pertaining to each time it repeats:

+/- velocity

+/- pitch (so with samples, this really means up or down a spot in the sample bank)

+/- gate length

+/- position (like shuffle but in extreme settings these become more like beat divisions)

 

I like controlling a bank of samples which are not well organised to find happy accidents. It gets interesting with a high number of repeats on a monophonic mode sequence. In addition to manipulating the delay parameters I will change the root note, gate time and beat divisions (half time, double time, etc) of the sequence itself. So in monophonic mode, it is quite different to an audio delay since small changes in gate length or position will suddenly let a flurry of notes through a gap which otherwise would be completely silent/off.

 

interesting

if you have any examples i'd love to hear 'em

  On 7/17/2015 at 1:56 AM, modey said:

 

  On 7/16/2015 at 4:36 PM, webby said:

Also, I know the tech heads rubbish MIDI timing but I've been exploring the aesthetic qualities of MIDI jitter (see link below) and in certain contexts it can sound better IMO when events fight for space.

hmm yeah this is something I've thought about trying.. mostly because my setup from a couple of years ago used a cheap USB MIDI cable that would drop notes every now and then. I figured if I try to just max it out with black MIDI style sequencing I could get something interesting out of my hardware synths. I should try that again. I wonder how the monomachine would cope with thousands of notes running through it :D

 

one of my friends is so OCD about MIDI timing that he practically stopped making music altogether because of it

i think the healthier attitude to have about that sorta stuff is just "eh, this is the best i've got...so what if it's not perfect"

looking back at the things that prevented me from being productive--stuff like gear-related limitations--

i decided that i'd henceforth ignore any hang-ups that, in 5 years, would seem silly or petty looking back

  On 7/17/2015 at 2:17 AM, LimpyLoo said:

interesting

if you have any examples i'd love to hear 'em

My favorite trick lately has been reamping certain parts of my tracks that need more body/width and mic'ing up the room (usually two condensors, several feet away from my monitors on either side of the room). Then experiment with how much delay there is between the direct sound and the room mics. Sometimes I'll push the room sound a 16th note away in certain parts to create a reverb-delay effect. Reversing the room sound in some parts can be fun too. I usually have to EQ the room sound quite a bit in order to de-muddy it.

  On 7/17/2015 at 2:32 AM, webby said:

 

  On 7/17/2015 at 2:17 AM, LimpyLoo said:

interesting

if you have any examples i'd love to hear 'em

I'm using lots of this technique in the EP in my sig.

 

sweet, i'll check it out tonight

  On 7/17/2015 at 2:35 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

My favorite trick lately has been reamping certain parts of my tracks that need more body/width and mic'ing up the room (usually two condensors, several feet away from my monitors on either side of the room). Then experiment with how much delay there is between the direct sound and the room mics. Sometimes I'll push the room sound a 16th note away in certain parts to create a reverb-delay effect. Reversing the room sound in some parts can be fun too. I usually have to EQ the room sound quite a bit in order to de-muddy it.

Nice! I've done it on entire mixes before but never single elements. Gotta give it a try!

Do it! I treat it the same way I would a reverb send. There may be a couple aspects of the mix that call for a thorough saturating, and many more that would benefit from just a touch.

Also, I need to get those stems to you... sorry for a the looooong delay on that. I always remember at times when I'm not at the studio. Tomorrow I'll make a note of it!

ctrl + s to save your shit

  On 7/18/2015 at 7:34 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

Do it! I treat it the same way I would a reverb send. There may be a couple aspects of the mix that call for a thorough saturating, and many more that would benefit from just a touch.

 

Also, I need to get those stems to you... sorry for a the looooong delay on that. I always remember at times when I'm not at the studio. Tomorrow I'll make a note of it!

Alright, I shall get you to bust out renoise soon, I promise! (though today's looking like a no-studio day...)

My studio trick for today is: adjust the automatic tiny fade that Ableton (or whatever program) adds to your drum samples so that you're not losing too much attack! I didn't even realize this was an issue until listening back to a track recently and noticing a couple kicks were way sharper than the others. The reason they were sharper was because the soft fade at the start or each was slightly smaller (we're talking milliseconds). I figure it's because at some point Ableton undid those couple fades (they often get removed when two samples are touching), so i readded them myself, but inadvertently made the fades slightly smaller. My problem with the mix at the time was that the kicks weren't punchy enough, so I was trying every trick in the book to fix that. Turns out adjusting that tiny fade made all the difference! Applying it to every single kick was a bit of a bitch, but luckily there was a good deal of looping going on with that particular kick pattern, so ctrl c/v did a lot of the work for me. Anyway, it seriously fixed the kicks-not-being-punchy-enough problem I had (and these were some pretty big sounding kicks to begin with). Of course, now that I know this is an issue that comes up in Ableton I'm going to have to go back and see if past mixes are losing that extra sharpness on the percussion. It has always been my assumption that those automatic fades were just big enough to prevent unwanted ticks, no bigger. Not so!

Moral of the story: always check your automatic fades.

  On 7/18/2015 at 11:00 PM, Zephyr_Nova said:

Alright, I shall get you to bust out renoise soon, I promise! (though today's looking like a no-studio day...)

 

My studio trick for today is: adjust the automatic tiny fade that Ableton (or whatever program) adds to your drum samples so that you're not losing too much attack! I didn't even realize this was an issue until listening back to a track recently and noticing a couple kicks were way sharper than the others. The reason they were sharper was because the soft fade at the start or each was slightly smaller (we're talking milliseconds). I figure it's because at some point Ableton undid those couple fades (they often get removed when two samples are touching), so i readded them myself, but inadvertently made the fades slightly smaller. My problem with the mix at the time was that the kicks weren't punchy enough, so I was trying every trick in the book to fix that. Turns out adjusting that tiny fade made all the difference! Applying it to every single kick was a bit of a bitch, but luckily there was a good deal of looping going on with that particular kick pattern, so ctrl c/v did a lot of the work for me. Anyway, it seriously fixed the kicks-not-being-punchy-enough problem I had (and these were some pretty big sounding kicks to begin with). Of course, now that I know this is an issue that comes up in Ableton I'm going to have to go back and see if past mixes are losing that extra sharpness on the percussion. It has always been my assumption that those automatic fades were just big enough to prevent unwanted ticks, no bigger. Not so!

 

Moral of the story: always check your automatic fades.

Fuck yeah! This is velocity envelope on Redrum instrument in Reason. This knowledge bumped up a lot of drums recently