Regarding the title of this post - no, I haven't discovered a new synth which is geared entirely towards our trance pluck needs.
Which is probably a good thing - if we all started using the "ultimate pluck synth", we may quickly tire of those sounds appearing in many of the songs we hear.
No, today's post is about taking any of the synths we currently have in our studio and automatically turning every preset into a pluck. Or a bass. Or a pad. Or whatever.
A number of you have probably worked this out before now (and potentially there are some synths out there which make this process easy).
The way it's done is by using automation to "lock in" certain aspects of the sound. The parameters which are locked in are totally open to personal preference, though typically if the general "shape" of the sound should be retained, then the following parameters should be locked in:
Amplitude: Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release
Filter: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Type, Cutoff Frequency and Resonance
Any other desired aspects of the sound (whether it should have delay/reverb applied, or unison, or whether the oscillator shapes should be retained, etc etc) can be locked in.
It takes a bit of time to set up all the automation - I use MIDI for my hardware synths, and set it to toggle slightly on the first 64th note of each bar - for example, from value 88 to value 89 - simply enough to trigger the parameter change.
Once the slightly tedious task of setting up is done, however, the synth opens up many more choices to us. We can enter (or copy/paste) in the notes and hit the play button, and any sound we turn to will take on our desired characteristics (at the start of each bar). These will be mixed with a wide range of other characteristics to create exotic new combinations, many of them ideally suited for our needs.
A great thing about this process is that these sounds are "original" (I don't want to get into a discussion about where originality begins and ends here...). Many of us (myself included) use presets and tweak them slightly, but don't deviate greatly from the original sound. Some of us (myself included) try to program our own sounds and get frustrated when they don't sound too good - sure, they're original, but so what? I could write an original atonal song with a random melody - originality for it's own sake is pointless. The process mentioned here allows us to become instant sound designers - using sonically pleasing aspects of sounds designed by talented sound designers, and combining them with many other combinations, to create sounds whose origins nobody will recognize.
I save all the MIDI clips in a single project so I can open it along with a new project and drag the desired clips across. Of course, another way would be to save each separate clip into a designated folder and import it into the project from there. I name them according to the synth and the original sound.
This process will probably work just as well with soft synths - in some ways, even better, since the parameters will likely be named (rather than referring to the manual for which of the 127 MIDI CC numbers control the desired parameter!) I haven't actually tried this with a soft synth however - it may not be as easy to drag the "automation clip" to a new project. It would depend on the DAW being used.
Well, that's all for this blog post. I hope it helps some of you who may have been getting tired of the sounds in a particular synth - this should inject it with some new life!
All the best,
Fabian
Showing posts with label Trance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trance. Show all posts
Monday, July 4, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Hearing what a compressor does
Some effects are easier to hear than others. Run a synth lead through a big hall reverb and we'll notice the massive space around it. Grab an EQ and boost 5 kHz and we'll hear the high end definition (or shrillness, depending on the original sound) coming through.
Compression, however, can initially seem like a black box. We know it's supposed to "pump up" our sounds, make them bigger, stronger, louder, better. But how? And what are all those controls and why do some of them do nothing, even though we turn them all the way from one end to the other?
Well, let's start with the basics. A compressor turns the volume down when the incoming signal goes over the threshold we've set. That's all a compressor actually does - it turns the volume down. In practice though, there's a bit more to it - how quickly it turns the volume down, how long it should leave the volume down when the incoming signal drops back below the threshold. How much gain can be added to the overall output signal now that the loudest parts have been turned down.
There is a way to hear what a compressor is doing to the signal, and to set the compressor so it does what we want it to do, in an appealing musical way. This is preferable to choosing minimum attack and release, and maximum ratio, which will make the signal hotter, but may not make our song sound better. It's usually better if the compressor works in the same groove as the music.
First, set the threshold so that the compressor is being triggered with every note/ beat that comes through it. This means we'll be able to clearly hear how the compressor operates on the sound.
Next, set the ratio to maximum. Yes, I just spoke against "maximum-ratio-itis", but here it's just an initial setting, which will allow us to clearly hear the timing of the attack and release parameters.
Next, set the attack and release to minimum. Once again, it's not likely they'll end up there, but these starting positions will allow us to hear clearly what the compressor is doing to our sound.
If the compressor has a "hold" parameter, set it to zero. The makeup gain/ auto makeup isn't important at this point - the final output level can be set when we have the compressor working on the sound the way we want it to.
Okay - the compressor should be heavily compressing the sound as it's playing.
The first parameter we'll adjust is the attack parameter. My main consideration here is whether the sound has an attack transient, and whether I care about the transient. If it's a percussive loop, or a kick drum, I'll almost always slow the attack down so that the attack transient comes through cleanly. If we leave the attack at minimum, the front end of the sound will dull considerably - rather than a sharp, clear front end of the sound which cuts through a mix, we'll be left with something which sounds much more like it's being hit with cardboard. The body of the sound will be fine, but the clear attack transient will disappear. How slow the attack should be is totally dependent on the sound and how we want the attack transient to sound. For myself, with some lead sounds I'm happy to lose the attack entirely. For pads, which often have a very slow attack phase, I'm happy to leave the compressor's attack at minimum.
Now that we have the attack where we want it, our focus can turn to the release parameter. My main consideration here is whether the sound is rhythmic and needs to fit into the groove of the song. Pads aren't rhythmic - the release can be left as fast as possible. Drum loops are very rhythmic, and will very likely work against the song's groove if the release is at minimum. We want the compressor to move up and down in volume in time with the song, rather than in some arbitrary way independent of the song's natural groove. So when setting the release parameter, start bobbing your head in time with the song, or get up and dance, or whatever, and see where the release parameter best enhances the groove. This is important - this is the difference between whether or not people feel like moving their bodies to our song!
Right, so we have the compressor working on the part of the sound we want it to work on, and the level rising back up in time with our song. Now it's time to adjust how much compression we want to apply. The last two controls work in tandem - a very low threshold, where the compressor is working on the full range of the sound, combined with quite a low ratio (say 1.20:1) will give us a large reduction in dynamic range. So will a much higher threshold which only catches the loudest parts of the sound, combined with a much higher ratio (say 8:1). As with so many things, it comes down to personal choice - we're artists, after all! We may want to even out the instrument and make it stronger and steadier in the mix, but to still retain enough dynamic range to allow the instrument to play more quietly (say, during a trance breakdown) for contrast. We may want to slam it hard for a very "in your face" sound. Do we want to compress just the spikes, or the full range of the sound? I'm not going to attempt to answer these questions, since we're all going to answer them differently.
I know some people like to deal in approximate settings, so here are some typical starting settings I use for sounds in trance. Where they end up is totally dependent on the sound and the song:
Kick - I generally don't compress kicks. The samples I use are loud and punchy enough for me. If anything, I use a transient designer to heighten the attack portion of the sound.
Low/ Main Bass - I often use a vintage emulation compressor on my main bass, though my bass is usually very solid in the mix without it. I use this compressor more for the tone than the compression it imparts. More often, I'll run the bass through a sidechain compressor to briefly push it out of the way of the kick. This pushes the bass down quite heavily on each kick, with the bass rushing back up as fast as sounds good, musically.
Mid/High Basses - again, these usually receive a sidechain compression treatment similar to the low/ main bass. When I do compress them with standard compression, I use reasonably fast attack (say 10-20ms), reasonably fast release (20-40ms) and aim for 3-6 dBs of gain reduction. It depends how "weighty" I want the sound to be in relation to the other sounds around it. This is a big change to my early days, when my thoughts were "everything needs to be ultra loud and in your face". Now I understand that the more in-your-face one sound is, the less in-your-face all the other sounds become.
Pads - If the pads feature a fair bit of modulation and drift in and out a bit much for my liking, I'll compress them in a similar way to the synth group (see below) - in short - very low threshold and ratio, minimum attack and release.
Synths - I often compress these twice, firstly on their own, and secondly via a sidechain compressor. The settings I use for the first compressor operating on the synth group are as follows: a very low threshold, so the compressor is always operating on the sound. Then quite a low ratio (say 1.50:1), which over the range of operation still amounts to a decent amount of gain reduction, just spread over a large dynamic range. The attack and release parameters are set to minimum. Since the compressor is operating non-stop, I assume that having these set as fast as possible means the compressor makes adjustments as fast as possible. This treatment brings the entire dynamic range of the synths together smoothly, without any non-linear points where the compression is coming in and out.
Drums - I generally don't compress Hi Hats and Claps/Snares.
Percussive Loops - As for other elements, these are sometimes compressed using a sidechain compressor, using a release setting which makes the loop groove nicely around the kick drum.
Sound Effects - I generally don't compress these. If I do, it's generally via a sidechain compressor to add the pumping effect to up- and down-lifter effects.
Overall mix - As for the pads/ synth group, a very low threshold and extremely low ratio - lower than for individual groups - usually only 1.10:1, so hardly noticeable. However, it does mean I don't need to work the master limiter quite as hard.
So that's my approach to compression in a nutshell. I hope you've found it useful!
Fabian
Compression, however, can initially seem like a black box. We know it's supposed to "pump up" our sounds, make them bigger, stronger, louder, better. But how? And what are all those controls and why do some of them do nothing, even though we turn them all the way from one end to the other?
Well, let's start with the basics. A compressor turns the volume down when the incoming signal goes over the threshold we've set. That's all a compressor actually does - it turns the volume down. In practice though, there's a bit more to it - how quickly it turns the volume down, how long it should leave the volume down when the incoming signal drops back below the threshold. How much gain can be added to the overall output signal now that the loudest parts have been turned down.
There is a way to hear what a compressor is doing to the signal, and to set the compressor so it does what we want it to do, in an appealing musical way. This is preferable to choosing minimum attack and release, and maximum ratio, which will make the signal hotter, but may not make our song sound better. It's usually better if the compressor works in the same groove as the music.
First, set the threshold so that the compressor is being triggered with every note/ beat that comes through it. This means we'll be able to clearly hear how the compressor operates on the sound.
Next, set the ratio to maximum. Yes, I just spoke against "maximum-ratio-itis", but here it's just an initial setting, which will allow us to clearly hear the timing of the attack and release parameters.
Next, set the attack and release to minimum. Once again, it's not likely they'll end up there, but these starting positions will allow us to hear clearly what the compressor is doing to our sound.
If the compressor has a "hold" parameter, set it to zero. The makeup gain/ auto makeup isn't important at this point - the final output level can be set when we have the compressor working on the sound the way we want it to.
Okay - the compressor should be heavily compressing the sound as it's playing.
The first parameter we'll adjust is the attack parameter. My main consideration here is whether the sound has an attack transient, and whether I care about the transient. If it's a percussive loop, or a kick drum, I'll almost always slow the attack down so that the attack transient comes through cleanly. If we leave the attack at minimum, the front end of the sound will dull considerably - rather than a sharp, clear front end of the sound which cuts through a mix, we'll be left with something which sounds much more like it's being hit with cardboard. The body of the sound will be fine, but the clear attack transient will disappear. How slow the attack should be is totally dependent on the sound and how we want the attack transient to sound. For myself, with some lead sounds I'm happy to lose the attack entirely. For pads, which often have a very slow attack phase, I'm happy to leave the compressor's attack at minimum.
Now that we have the attack where we want it, our focus can turn to the release parameter. My main consideration here is whether the sound is rhythmic and needs to fit into the groove of the song. Pads aren't rhythmic - the release can be left as fast as possible. Drum loops are very rhythmic, and will very likely work against the song's groove if the release is at minimum. We want the compressor to move up and down in volume in time with the song, rather than in some arbitrary way independent of the song's natural groove. So when setting the release parameter, start bobbing your head in time with the song, or get up and dance, or whatever, and see where the release parameter best enhances the groove. This is important - this is the difference between whether or not people feel like moving their bodies to our song!
Right, so we have the compressor working on the part of the sound we want it to work on, and the level rising back up in time with our song. Now it's time to adjust how much compression we want to apply. The last two controls work in tandem - a very low threshold, where the compressor is working on the full range of the sound, combined with quite a low ratio (say 1.20:1) will give us a large reduction in dynamic range. So will a much higher threshold which only catches the loudest parts of the sound, combined with a much higher ratio (say 8:1). As with so many things, it comes down to personal choice - we're artists, after all! We may want to even out the instrument and make it stronger and steadier in the mix, but to still retain enough dynamic range to allow the instrument to play more quietly (say, during a trance breakdown) for contrast. We may want to slam it hard for a very "in your face" sound. Do we want to compress just the spikes, or the full range of the sound? I'm not going to attempt to answer these questions, since we're all going to answer them differently.
I know some people like to deal in approximate settings, so here are some typical starting settings I use for sounds in trance. Where they end up is totally dependent on the sound and the song:
Kick - I generally don't compress kicks. The samples I use are loud and punchy enough for me. If anything, I use a transient designer to heighten the attack portion of the sound.
Low/ Main Bass - I often use a vintage emulation compressor on my main bass, though my bass is usually very solid in the mix without it. I use this compressor more for the tone than the compression it imparts. More often, I'll run the bass through a sidechain compressor to briefly push it out of the way of the kick. This pushes the bass down quite heavily on each kick, with the bass rushing back up as fast as sounds good, musically.
Mid/High Basses - again, these usually receive a sidechain compression treatment similar to the low/ main bass. When I do compress them with standard compression, I use reasonably fast attack (say 10-20ms), reasonably fast release (20-40ms) and aim for 3-6 dBs of gain reduction. It depends how "weighty" I want the sound to be in relation to the other sounds around it. This is a big change to my early days, when my thoughts were "everything needs to be ultra loud and in your face". Now I understand that the more in-your-face one sound is, the less in-your-face all the other sounds become.
Pads - If the pads feature a fair bit of modulation and drift in and out a bit much for my liking, I'll compress them in a similar way to the synth group (see below) - in short - very low threshold and ratio, minimum attack and release.
Synths - I often compress these twice, firstly on their own, and secondly via a sidechain compressor. The settings I use for the first compressor operating on the synth group are as follows: a very low threshold, so the compressor is always operating on the sound. Then quite a low ratio (say 1.50:1), which over the range of operation still amounts to a decent amount of gain reduction, just spread over a large dynamic range. The attack and release parameters are set to minimum. Since the compressor is operating non-stop, I assume that having these set as fast as possible means the compressor makes adjustments as fast as possible. This treatment brings the entire dynamic range of the synths together smoothly, without any non-linear points where the compression is coming in and out.
Drums - I generally don't compress Hi Hats and Claps/Snares.
Percussive Loops - As for other elements, these are sometimes compressed using a sidechain compressor, using a release setting which makes the loop groove nicely around the kick drum.
Sound Effects - I generally don't compress these. If I do, it's generally via a sidechain compressor to add the pumping effect to up- and down-lifter effects.
Overall mix - As for the pads/ synth group, a very low threshold and extremely low ratio - lower than for individual groups - usually only 1.10:1, so hardly noticeable. However, it does mean I don't need to work the master limiter quite as hard.
So that's my approach to compression in a nutshell. I hope you've found it useful!
Fabian
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sound Selection in Trance
After composition, the choice of sounds that go into a song is the next most important factor in achieving an excellent end result. A good set of sounds playing a good composition should sound very listenable, before any additional processing (e.g EQ, delay, reverb or mastering) is applied. These processes can enhance the sound, but they won't fix poor composition or sound choices.
When I started mixing/producing, I focused on the "showpiece" sounds and took other sounds - such as the kick and drum sounds - more lightly. My attitude was "it's a kick - it sounds big and full. Easy, done". Then I wondered why my "showpiece" sounds didn't sound so good. In truth, every sound in a song affects how other sounds are perceived by the listener.
Today I'll outline the thoughts that go through my head as I choose each sound that goes into one of my songs. There are many different approaches to the art of music production – your method may vary!
I often start with the lead sound. I already have a melody ready from a composition session, so now I look for a sound, or combination of sounds, which sound great with that melody. Sometimes I have a sound in mind, and go straight to it, but usually this involves flipping through presets. I choose a synth I think will sound great for the melody, and see if any sound jumps out at me.
From there I tweak the sound – I make adjustments to the amplitude envelope settings, or the filter. I often turn off the reverb or delay if the patch has these. I generally prefer to add these during the mixdown, where I have much more control over them.
Once I have my main sound, I usually layer it with a complementary sound. If my main lead sound is quite centered and defined, I often combine it with a lush, wide sound.
Whenever I add sounds which have significant stereo processing applied, I check their mono compatibility straight away. There's no point in waiting until the song is almost finished to discover that the lead will disappear in some listening situations. I have a plugin on the master channel I can turn on to hear the song quietly in mono. If there are stereo issues, I either look to adjust the stereo treatment (if the sound is otherwise fantastic) or I choose a different sound. Adjusting the stereo treatment usually involves adjusting the timing of the stereo effect by a few milliseconds, whether it's a delay, chorus or any other stereo effect.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A LEAD: "strong enough to play by itself", "expressive", "distinctive" and "just as clear in mono".
Once the lead is in place, I add the next most important element to the overall mix. This is usually the kick, but could also be the main bass sound. For this example I'll go with the kick.
I generally have a sense of the type of kick that will fit with the lead, but am still open to serendipity - I have the lead looping while I browse through a library of kick samples. I don't listen to the kick in isolation (or any of the subsequent sounds) - sounds only have meaning within the context of the mix. I note down all the samples which sound decent in relation to the lead, to narrow the selection to a small number – maybe five to ten.
When I started making trance, I was more inclined to go with the "coolest, most hard-hitting" kick sample, without regard for whether it was appropriate for the lead and the overall song. Now, this can work for producers who have a very defined sound – in this case, the kick (and maybe the bass) would already be in place when selecting lead sounds, so it'd be fine - leads would be chosen which fit with the kick and bass.
Nowadays my main thoughts are "what does the kick do to the lead"? A kick can make a lead feel closed in, or open it up, make it seem bright or dull.
From this narrowed-down selection it's usually a fairly quick process to narrow it down to one. I find it helpful to turn on my “quiet-mono” plugin at times during this process too - If things sound good under these conditions, they'll generally sound good under most conditions. I do the "quiet-mono" thing for subsequent elements as well.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A KICK: "fits with/ enhances the lead", "oomph", "enough definition to cut through the mix" and "tight".
Once the kick is in place, I turn my attention to the main bass pattern and sound. In general terms, if the melody is busy, I make the bass pattern simple. Vice versa, a simple, sparse melody will usually go well with a busier, more driving bassline. The sound of the bass needs to fit with both the kick and the lead. In broad terms, I like to match the presence/hardness of the kick - a smooth, bassy kick will usually go well with a similar bass.
The relationship between the kick and bass is crucial to establishing a solid foundation for the mix. I like both elements to carry considerable weight – I want to feel the impact of both hitting me in the chest, rather than a clicky kick and subby bass. In terms of stereo placement, I usually have both the kick and main bass in the center - either as mono channels, or as stereo channels with the vast majority of the content up the middle. If I do choose a wider main bass I'll use a plugin (OtiumFX BassLane) to keep the low frequencies (below around 200 Hz) in the middle.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A BASS: "fullness", "drive" and "solid".
From here I turn to the Hi Hat and Clap/Snare samples. Once again, these involve browsing through sample libraries while the other sounds are playing. I narrow down the selections, I do the “quiet-mono” thing, I turn off the bass and lead to hear how the samples will sound in the intro and outro. All these factors play a part in the choice of sounds.
I look for sounds which fit into the space well – they have an appropriate stereo placement/spread, they aren't too dry/wet relative to the other sounds (although dry sounds can have reverb/ delays applied to them later on). I listen to the weight of the sounds – they shouldn't be too heavy or thin. I also pay attention to the length of the sounds and how these affect the groove. It's harder to pinpoint what I'm looking for in these sounds – a long gated clap could work well with a given kick and bass, as could a very short snare.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A HI HAT/ CLAP/ SNARE: “original/fresh”, "come through clearly in a full mix" and “good sense of space”.
Sometimes I add percussive elements at this point – I'm happy to create my own from one-shots, or use loops. Both methods are fine by me. To those who are fiercely anti-loop because it's not being original, I say that to create something truly original, first we would need to create the universe. The argument goes all the way down - why is using someone else's one-shot samples okay? If we create all our own one-shots, why is okay to use a drum which someone else has made?
Can we still respect ourselves, can we still sleep at night if we haven't created the universe? I can. It's up to each of us to make that choice.
The percussion is chosen/ created in a similar manner to the Hi Hat and Clap/Snare, though I do also focus on the way the timing of the rhythm interacts with the bass and lead patterns. I look for sounds which fit in around the Kick, Hi Hat and Clap/Snare – anything too similar in timbre to those will obscure the existing sound. I'm not overly concerned with the stereo space of the loop, since I often (though not always) spread the loop out to the sides anyway.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING PERCUSSION: "drive", "enhanced space around other drum elements", "not too heavy or piercing".
At this point I add in any additional bass layers, if I feel they would fit well. These sounds need to fit well in the overall context (naturally), but also need to lock in well with the kick and main bass. My main bass will usually be quite centered, while I use the higher bass sounds to fill out the stereo field with lush ear candy.
Again, I choose a synth and run through patches. The “quiet-mono” test tells me if the sound will get lost in a full mix. The pattern(s) played by the higher bass sounds will complement the main bass and lead patterns. When a sound is chosen, I usually apply a highpass filter to remove the portion of the low end which sits in the same region as the kick and main bass – enough to clear out space for these sounds down low, but not enough to make the high bass too thin. I often route the high bass sound to a send channel with a left-right delay, which has delays timed so the notes fall in between the notes of the high bass pattern.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING HIGHER BASS LAYERS: "expensive", "full and wide", "movement/modulation", "bass progression clearly audible even at very low volumes".
At this point I mute the lead sound and export the mix of drum and bass elements. I run this through a frequency analysis process which compares it to a library of other drum and bass sections from great sounding trance songs. This allows me to quickly see where the mix is at, relative to the average and the extremes. If I've turned my kick up a bit too high, this quickly points out that 65 Hz is extremely high and that I should turn the kick (or the main bass, or both) down. It lets me know if a Hi Hat sample has a piercing resonant spike at 16 kHz, in which case I first try turning down the Hi Hat, then taming that frequency if that doesn't work.
Right – so now I have a very decent sounding foundation of drums and bass sounds to slot the other sounds on top of. I unmute the lead and listen to it in relation to the newly balanced foundation. Often the low frequencies of the lead muddy up the bass sounds, so I set a highpass filter to an appropriate frequency to rectify this.
The last main element I slot in is the pad, whether it's a single sound or a combination. The pad sits between the basses and the leads. I look for a sound which doesn't have too much going on in frequency ranges which conflict with those sounds. I often spread the pad out wide to the sides of the stereo field to provide a large, lush backdrop to the other sounds. I do the quiet-mono thing here too, though even the most perfect pad won't come through amazingly well under these conditions – nor should it, it would mean the pad is probably turned up way too loud! I also listen to the pad with just the lead sounds playing, to hear how they could interact during the breakdown. As an aside, I rarely add reverb to my pad sounds, whether directly or via a send channel. I used to, but I've found it really cleans things up when I don't do it, and pad sounds are generally lush/ sustained enough that they don't require any additional treatment to lengthen/ fatten them.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A PAD: "deep background", "filling the gaps with lushness", "warmth".
Beyond the main sounds, additional sounds fit in the gaps and are always auditioned quiet-mono, since at this stage many sounds will disappear in the full mix. I always listen to both the way the new sound comes through, and whether it obscures any of the existing sounds. The second part is a little more difficult - once we've heard a sound looping for a while, it's easy to take it for granted. That's why the "next morning quiet listening test" is so important - if anything is too quiet or loud or odd it'll jump out.
So there's my approach. It has changed a lot from when I started, when my thoughts were more like "grab all the coolest sounds and put them together". It will probably (hopefully!) keep changing as I have new mixing experiences.
I hope you've found this useful!
Fabian
When I started mixing/producing, I focused on the "showpiece" sounds and took other sounds - such as the kick and drum sounds - more lightly. My attitude was "it's a kick - it sounds big and full. Easy, done". Then I wondered why my "showpiece" sounds didn't sound so good. In truth, every sound in a song affects how other sounds are perceived by the listener.
Today I'll outline the thoughts that go through my head as I choose each sound that goes into one of my songs. There are many different approaches to the art of music production – your method may vary!
I often start with the lead sound. I already have a melody ready from a composition session, so now I look for a sound, or combination of sounds, which sound great with that melody. Sometimes I have a sound in mind, and go straight to it, but usually this involves flipping through presets. I choose a synth I think will sound great for the melody, and see if any sound jumps out at me.
From there I tweak the sound – I make adjustments to the amplitude envelope settings, or the filter. I often turn off the reverb or delay if the patch has these. I generally prefer to add these during the mixdown, where I have much more control over them.
Once I have my main sound, I usually layer it with a complementary sound. If my main lead sound is quite centered and defined, I often combine it with a lush, wide sound.
Whenever I add sounds which have significant stereo processing applied, I check their mono compatibility straight away. There's no point in waiting until the song is almost finished to discover that the lead will disappear in some listening situations. I have a plugin on the master channel I can turn on to hear the song quietly in mono. If there are stereo issues, I either look to adjust the stereo treatment (if the sound is otherwise fantastic) or I choose a different sound. Adjusting the stereo treatment usually involves adjusting the timing of the stereo effect by a few milliseconds, whether it's a delay, chorus or any other stereo effect.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A LEAD: "strong enough to play by itself", "expressive", "distinctive" and "just as clear in mono".
Once the lead is in place, I add the next most important element to the overall mix. This is usually the kick, but could also be the main bass sound. For this example I'll go with the kick.
I generally have a sense of the type of kick that will fit with the lead, but am still open to serendipity - I have the lead looping while I browse through a library of kick samples. I don't listen to the kick in isolation (or any of the subsequent sounds) - sounds only have meaning within the context of the mix. I note down all the samples which sound decent in relation to the lead, to narrow the selection to a small number – maybe five to ten.
When I started making trance, I was more inclined to go with the "coolest, most hard-hitting" kick sample, without regard for whether it was appropriate for the lead and the overall song. Now, this can work for producers who have a very defined sound – in this case, the kick (and maybe the bass) would already be in place when selecting lead sounds, so it'd be fine - leads would be chosen which fit with the kick and bass.
Nowadays my main thoughts are "what does the kick do to the lead"? A kick can make a lead feel closed in, or open it up, make it seem bright or dull.
From this narrowed-down selection it's usually a fairly quick process to narrow it down to one. I find it helpful to turn on my “quiet-mono” plugin at times during this process too - If things sound good under these conditions, they'll generally sound good under most conditions. I do the "quiet-mono" thing for subsequent elements as well.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A KICK: "fits with/ enhances the lead", "oomph", "enough definition to cut through the mix" and "tight".
Once the kick is in place, I turn my attention to the main bass pattern and sound. In general terms, if the melody is busy, I make the bass pattern simple. Vice versa, a simple, sparse melody will usually go well with a busier, more driving bassline. The sound of the bass needs to fit with both the kick and the lead. In broad terms, I like to match the presence/hardness of the kick - a smooth, bassy kick will usually go well with a similar bass.
The relationship between the kick and bass is crucial to establishing a solid foundation for the mix. I like both elements to carry considerable weight – I want to feel the impact of both hitting me in the chest, rather than a clicky kick and subby bass. In terms of stereo placement, I usually have both the kick and main bass in the center - either as mono channels, or as stereo channels with the vast majority of the content up the middle. If I do choose a wider main bass I'll use a plugin (OtiumFX BassLane) to keep the low frequencies (below around 200 Hz) in the middle.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A BASS: "fullness", "drive" and "solid".
From here I turn to the Hi Hat and Clap/Snare samples. Once again, these involve browsing through sample libraries while the other sounds are playing. I narrow down the selections, I do the “quiet-mono” thing, I turn off the bass and lead to hear how the samples will sound in the intro and outro. All these factors play a part in the choice of sounds.
I look for sounds which fit into the space well – they have an appropriate stereo placement/spread, they aren't too dry/wet relative to the other sounds (although dry sounds can have reverb/ delays applied to them later on). I listen to the weight of the sounds – they shouldn't be too heavy or thin. I also pay attention to the length of the sounds and how these affect the groove. It's harder to pinpoint what I'm looking for in these sounds – a long gated clap could work well with a given kick and bass, as could a very short snare.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A HI HAT/ CLAP/ SNARE: “original/fresh”, "come through clearly in a full mix" and “good sense of space”.
Sometimes I add percussive elements at this point – I'm happy to create my own from one-shots, or use loops. Both methods are fine by me. To those who are fiercely anti-loop because it's not being original, I say that to create something truly original, first we would need to create the universe. The argument goes all the way down - why is using someone else's one-shot samples okay? If we create all our own one-shots, why is okay to use a drum which someone else has made?
Can we still respect ourselves, can we still sleep at night if we haven't created the universe? I can. It's up to each of us to make that choice.
The percussion is chosen/ created in a similar manner to the Hi Hat and Clap/Snare, though I do also focus on the way the timing of the rhythm interacts with the bass and lead patterns. I look for sounds which fit in around the Kick, Hi Hat and Clap/Snare – anything too similar in timbre to those will obscure the existing sound. I'm not overly concerned with the stereo space of the loop, since I often (though not always) spread the loop out to the sides anyway.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING PERCUSSION: "drive", "enhanced space around other drum elements", "not too heavy or piercing".
At this point I add in any additional bass layers, if I feel they would fit well. These sounds need to fit well in the overall context (naturally), but also need to lock in well with the kick and main bass. My main bass will usually be quite centered, while I use the higher bass sounds to fill out the stereo field with lush ear candy.
Again, I choose a synth and run through patches. The “quiet-mono” test tells me if the sound will get lost in a full mix. The pattern(s) played by the higher bass sounds will complement the main bass and lead patterns. When a sound is chosen, I usually apply a highpass filter to remove the portion of the low end which sits in the same region as the kick and main bass – enough to clear out space for these sounds down low, but not enough to make the high bass too thin. I often route the high bass sound to a send channel with a left-right delay, which has delays timed so the notes fall in between the notes of the high bass pattern.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING HIGHER BASS LAYERS: "expensive", "full and wide", "movement/modulation", "bass progression clearly audible even at very low volumes".
At this point I mute the lead sound and export the mix of drum and bass elements. I run this through a frequency analysis process which compares it to a library of other drum and bass sections from great sounding trance songs. This allows me to quickly see where the mix is at, relative to the average and the extremes. If I've turned my kick up a bit too high, this quickly points out that 65 Hz is extremely high and that I should turn the kick (or the main bass, or both) down. It lets me know if a Hi Hat sample has a piercing resonant spike at 16 kHz, in which case I first try turning down the Hi Hat, then taming that frequency if that doesn't work.
Right – so now I have a very decent sounding foundation of drums and bass sounds to slot the other sounds on top of. I unmute the lead and listen to it in relation to the newly balanced foundation. Often the low frequencies of the lead muddy up the bass sounds, so I set a highpass filter to an appropriate frequency to rectify this.
The last main element I slot in is the pad, whether it's a single sound or a combination. The pad sits between the basses and the leads. I look for a sound which doesn't have too much going on in frequency ranges which conflict with those sounds. I often spread the pad out wide to the sides of the stereo field to provide a large, lush backdrop to the other sounds. I do the quiet-mono thing here too, though even the most perfect pad won't come through amazingly well under these conditions – nor should it, it would mean the pad is probably turned up way too loud! I also listen to the pad with just the lead sounds playing, to hear how they could interact during the breakdown. As an aside, I rarely add reverb to my pad sounds, whether directly or via a send channel. I used to, but I've found it really cleans things up when I don't do it, and pad sounds are generally lush/ sustained enough that they don't require any additional treatment to lengthen/ fatten them.
MY MAIN THOUGHTS IN CHOOSING A PAD: "deep background", "filling the gaps with lushness", "warmth".
Beyond the main sounds, additional sounds fit in the gaps and are always auditioned quiet-mono, since at this stage many sounds will disappear in the full mix. I always listen to both the way the new sound comes through, and whether it obscures any of the existing sounds. The second part is a little more difficult - once we've heard a sound looping for a while, it's easy to take it for granted. That's why the "next morning quiet listening test" is so important - if anything is too quiet or loud or odd it'll jump out.
So there's my approach. It has changed a lot from when I started, when my thoughts were more like "grab all the coolest sounds and put them together". It will probably (hopefully!) keep changing as I have new mixing experiences.
I hope you've found this useful!
Fabian
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Striving for Perfection
Those of us who are suitably obsessive aim high. We try to create songs where both the music and the mix will knock our listener's socks off. Songs where we've held nothing back, where every decision we made improved the song and led to perfection.
As long as we have a good relationship with “perfection”, this mindset is very desirable and helpful. We want our listeners (as well as ourselves) to enjoy our music as much as possible.
However, when our relationship with perfection causes us to never share our music, to feel bad when we fail to meet our high expectations, it stops being useful and can ultimately lead to us withdrawing from creating music.
The thing is, perfection can't be measured. We can listen to a song and appreciate how beautiful the music is, and recognize how great the production is. But there's nothing in the song which we can point to and say “that's perfect”. Or, to look at it another way, there are many things we can point to as examples of perfection, but none of them couldn't be replaced by something else which is just as, or even more, “perfect”.
Perfection is a direction, not an endpoint. When I create music, I do it to the best of my ability, then I let it go. Could I come back a year later, with more experience under my belt, and adjust the reverb on my lead, or nudge the kick drum up slightly and end up with something which sounds better? Absolutely. I doubt there's a song in the world which can't be improved upon in some way. We can listen to a song with a great mix of sounds and see it as something set in stone – which it is, by the time it reaches us as listeners. However, the stone could have been set quite differently and we'd be none the wiser. Perfection has many forms (or none!)
What's true for the song is true for individual instruments or sounds. When I started mixing I obsessed about finding “perfect sounds” - I wanted to have the “perfect kick”, the “perfect bass”, and so on. Maybe I thought that once I'd found all these sounds, I'd simply slot them together and have “the perfect song”. I never ended up finding them all, and in any case, this line of thinking is nonsense. Finding “the best” sounds in isolation practically guarantees an impressive mess when we try to somehow mash them together into a song.
Sounds in a mix only have meaning in relation to each other. An instrument is loud because other instruments are quiet. A sound is hard because other sounds are soft. An arbitrarily unexciting kick drum can sound fantastic in the right context. A snare which stands out can sound great, as can a snare which blends in. Basses with clear, defined high end can work well, as can basses which occupy only the bottom end. I've sometimes been surprised to discover that two very different sounding kicks in two of my songs are in fact the same sample. Because of the other sounds, one comes across in a more defined, hard-hitting way, the other in a smoother way which blends into the mix more. Sounds only have meaning in relation to each other.
Perfection is a great motivating force. It feels exhilarating to put in the effort and end up with a great sounding song. As long as we allow ourselves to do our best, as long as we don't second guess our decisions and always hold our options open because we feel “the perfect lead sound is just around the corner”, striving for perfection will keep us improving every day.
Keep making great music!
Fabian
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