ASK US ANYTHING! Mixing,Mastering,Production !!!

Hi guys, I love what your doing here. My questions... 1. I can't DJ at all my beat matching is terrible is there still a place for me and my tracks in the dance music scene ? 2. If you wished you'd made one track that someone else made which one would it be ? 3. Can I too get the info on how you get so many SC comments ?
 
Atlas was good at the time but tbh the Mastering was kind of lacking. That was our 3rd single and at the time we were just happy to be on Beatport. It did help us get booked though which is where the $ is.

ANd yes we always try to put out only our best stuff. SInce we formed the group every single we set out to make has gotten signed and released. If its not up to par we don't ever show it to anyone. (But some artists put out everything) just preference i guess.



acetheface954 said:
1. What's your name my man?

2. Does it discourage you to put out something and it not get the push it should've got like the bigger brand producers? Because your track atlas should've been a hit on bestport's top 10 overall tracks.

3. Do you always set out to put out top charting music or is it like a "if it happens, it happens" sort of thing?
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---------- Post added at 02:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 AM ----------

Alot of DJ's mixing is shi*t They lay out there there sets before and kind of just hit play and twist some filters. WE mix live always but no one knows the difference except Vinyl purists that are gonna bust your balls regardless.

moogerfooger said:
Hi guys, I love what your doing here. My questions... 1. I can't DJ at all my beat matching is terrible is there still a place for me and my tracks in the dance music scene ? 2. If you wished you'd made one track that someone else made which one would it be ? 3. Can I too get the info on how you get so many SC comments ?
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LAProDuctions said:
Atlas was good at the time but tbh the Mastering was kind of lacking. That was our 3rd single and at the time we were just happy to be on Beatport. It did help us get booked though which is where the $ is.

ANd yes we always try to put out only our best stuff. SInce we formed the group every single we set out to make has gotten signed and released. If its not up to par we don't ever show it to anyone. (But some artists put out everything) just preference i guess.
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man i am so glad you are honest enough to say that because i to have said my latest are mixed and mastered better than what I previously released. Its like learning a new skill set that enhances your repetoire. I always did say atlas should've been brighter and bass heavy regardless of its awesomeness. Thanks so much for sharing.

I have also seen DJs do the same thing over and over again where they'll release "better" versions of what they were testing on the crowds and later remade a whole new song out of it like steve angello's different versions of yeah.



 
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Wow a lot of information here. I'll cut right to the chase:
1. is it ABSOLUTELY necessary to have an external compressor box and amp? or is it more preferential? (Whats the difference between having a 'MIC> PreAmp>Compressor>audio interface' and having a 'MIC>audio intercace') (my current setup is 'AT4040>Yamaha Audiogram3 USB Audio Interface')
2. I have a great mic indeed, and yet still im not getting great vocals. my room that im recording in is a little loud (you can definitely hear my computer running when the mic is turned up, and when the wind is blowing hard outside you can hear it) but for the most part i am getting a very loud buzzing noise from the mic. i heard this could be because my computer is not grounded into the wall (which im working on fixing) so if thats partly why, then ignore that. my question i guess would be, is it my effects settings or it is my physical setup in the "booth"?
3. What are the "typical" effects used on single track vocals to make them still stand out and have it sound like there is a "chorus" effect on the mixer track? (if you understand what i mean... basically, i use a chorus effect to widen the vocals up a bit when i only record 1 track and i think it adds a bit of an alien or roboty sound to it)

some of my music (yes newish) you can listen to, to get an understanding of my vocals can be found here reverbnation . com/3ill
 
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Our Video Is Up !



---------- Post added at 01:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------

1/2.) A good Pre-Amp will drive you mic to the fullest potential. This should help alleviate the need to have the gain at a level where it is picking up things like computer fan noise and possibly causing (or def exaggerating) the buzz you describe. Also check your cables- if one is shot or running over something that may cause feedback ie. a television cable wire.

3.) I would try using a tasful delay instead of a chorus effect or record backing vox and pan them wide. Most chorus effects will indeed add an unpleasant amount of detune/ give the vocals a weird "phasy" sound which can sound very alien like. Even a try an imager/mono-stereo reverb or delay instead of the chorus for widening.



musicflu said:
Wow a lot of information here. I'll cut right to the chase:
1. is it ABSOLUTELY necessary to have an external compressor box and amp? or is it more preferential? (Whats the difference between having a 'MIC> PreAmp>Compressor>audio interface' and having a 'MIC>audio intercace') (my current setup is 'AT4040>Yamaha Audiogram3 USB Audio Interface')
2. I have a great mic indeed, and yet still im not getting great vocals. my room that im recording in is a little loud (you can definitely hear my computer running when the mic is turned up, and when the wind is blowing hard outside you can hear it) but for the most part i am getting a very loud buzzing noise from the mic. i heard this could be because my computer is not grounded into the wall (which im working on fixing) so if thats partly why, then ignore that. my question i guess would be, is it my effects settings or it is my physical setup in the "booth"?
3. What are the "typical" effects used on single track vocals to make them still stand out and have it sound like there is a "chorus" effect on the mixer track? (if you understand what i mean... basically, i use a chorus effect to widen the vocals up a bit when i only record 1 track and i think it adds a bit of an alien or roboty sound to it)

some of my music (yes newish) you can listen to, to get an understanding of my vocals can be found here reverbnation . com/3ill
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Time for a different recording studio?

My question to you guys: Should I dump the recording studio I use and go to another one?

The situation - I made a house beat (reason 5) and I rap on top of it. I did a test-record with my $100 mic at home and the mix came out very good and was ready to hit a professional studio for the first time. I found a studio near me in LA (won't give the name) that has a nice website, many clients listed and such, very professional place, nice people. I booked 2 hours recording time in their more expensive room which is $75 an hour including engineer. I tracked out my beat, all effects dry, 24-bit .wav files and took it to the studio, in hopes of their software (pro tools HD) having better quality reverb, eq and such compared to the reverb and EQ in Reason. Engineer was a very cool, young guy around my age which apparently was good with house/hip hop beats. He was pro tools savvy and knew what he was doing judging by the speed of his work. The recording came out perfect with their custom $1k mic. After recording, I sat with the engineer and let him do his work. He gave his input on the track and did a couple of creative things. In the studio, the recording sounded great, they gave me only the final .mp3 and I left happy. However, I took it to my car and played the song via USB plugged into my car stereo. It sounded like shit, and the recording I did at home sounded 100% better than the one the engineer gave me. Bass was extremely muddy and loud, synth chords had no EQ or reverb, there was almost no reverb and eq done to ANYTHING including other synth sounds, chimes, snare, leads etc. My voice wasn't even EQd and it clearly had too much low end in it. It basically sounded horrible and very amateur. I tested it on my monitors, and my ATH-M50s and within 3 seconds of listening it is obvious that it is no-where near completion. I was extremely upset and unsatisfied. I called the owner the next day and he apologized and said he would take care of it. I booked another 2 hours a week later, this time bounced out all my tracks WET with EQ, revereb, light compression ect and took it to the studio with the same engineer. This time I worked with him on working with levels and took a list of notes in order to make my mix sound good. Got my voice eq'd and was satisfied, however still not $75/hr satisfied because I had to come back a second time and tell the engineer what to do. After listening with fresh ears for a couple of days on different stereos including my monitor, ATH-M50s, different car stereos, headphones, decent computer stereo speakers etc, I still feel the bass is muddy due to the effects they put on it. Their cheaper studio is being rented out for a couple of months so recording there is out of the question. Can mastering fix the muddy bass? Should I go to a studio that charges $35 an hour with engineer with a decent Neumann mic? Thanks, this has been bothering me for 2 weeks now.
 
sleeper187 said:
My question to you guys: Should I dump the recording studio I use and go to another one?

The situation - I made a house beat (reason 5) and I rap on top of it. I did a test-record with my $100 mic at home and the mix came out very good and was ready to hit a professional studio for the first times. I found a studio near me in LA (won't give the name) that has a nice website, many clients listed and such, very professional place, nice people. I booked 2 hours recording time in their more expensive room which is $75 an hour including engineer. I tracked out my beat, all effects dry, 24-bit .wav files and took it to the studio, in hopes of their software (pro tools HD) having better quality reverb, eq and such compared to the reverb and EQ in Reason. Engineer was a very cool, young guy around my age which apparently was good with house/hip hop beats. He was pro tools savvy and knew what he was doing judging by the speed of his work. The recording came out perfect with their custom $1k mic. After recording, I sat with the engineer and let him do his work. He gave his input on the track and did a couple of creative things. In the studio, the recording sounded great, they gave me only the final .mp3 and I left happy. However, I took it to my car and played the song via USB plugged into my car stereo. It sounded like shit, and the recording I did at home sounded 100% better than the one the engineer gave me. Bass was extremely muddy and loud, synth chords had no EQ or reverb, there was almost no reverb and eq....
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Wow man. Can you post your mix and the two mixes they gave you?
 
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sleeper187 said:


It starts with their original mix, then back to the final version, and on for the first verse up to the chorus.
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To be honest with you I couldn't follow the queues you gave me. The whole mix needs to be rewritten. I would say your main problems lie in the production, recording, mixing, and arrangement stages though. I make different variations of house music and truthfully this record needs to be redone. Nevermind the mastering for now because there isn't too much they could do to make this sound excellent. Excellence always starts out during the recording and producing stages. Everything from the singer down to the proper bass drum. But ask around for another opinion man. All here to learn and grow.

http://presskit.to/arthurd
 
acetheface954 said:
To be honest with you I couldn't follow the queues you gave me. The whole mix needs to be rewritten. I would say your main problems lie in the production, recording, mixing, and arrangement stages though. I make different variations of house music and truthfully this record needs to be redone. Nevermind the mastering for now because there isn't too much they could do to make this sound excellent. Excellence always starts out during the recording and producing stages. Everything from the singer down to the proper bass drum. But ask around for another opinion man. All here to learn and grow.


http://presskit.to/arthurd
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That track I posted had the first version (the really bad one) and the second version (when I imported the tracks with effects from my house) in one file just to show comparison. The one that sounds muddy and dry is the first one they gave me which was "completed". I appreciate your input man, so what you're saying is the mix is bad and not worth $75/hr? Haha. I know it can be way better.
 
sleeper187 said:
That track I posted had the first version (the really bad one) and the second version (when I imported the tracks with effects from my house) in one file just to show comparison. The one that sounds muddy and dry is the first one they gave me which was "completed". I appreciate your input man, so what you're saying is the mix is bad and not worth $75/hr? Haha. I know it can be way better.
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Lol no what I'm saying is I can't say it was their fault your mix didn't turn out great because whoever recorded, produced, and mixed your record didn't make it correctly which resulted in your final project not to come out right. You have to remix your mix and then try to get it mastered again.
 
acetheface954 said:
Lol no what I'm saying is I can't say it was their fault your mix didn't turn out great because whoever recorded, produced, and mixed your record didn't make it correctly which resulted in your final project not to come out right. You have to remix your mix and then try to get it mastered again.
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I feel ya, I like getting input from people who make music. All the feedback I get are from friends, friends' friends etc. They all gave me good feedback but in the back of my mind I know it could be a lot better. I think during my next track (if I go there again), i'll have them track out everything and maybe take it somewhere else. Nice music by the way!!!
 
sleeper187 said:
I feel ya, I like getting input from people who make music. All the feedback I get are from friends, friends' friends etc. They all gave me good feedback but in the back of my mind I know it could be a lot better. I think during my next track (if I go there again), i'll have them track out everything and maybe take it somewhere else. Nice music by the way!!!
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lol never ask friends or family how your music sounds. they're all yes men and protect you by not hurting your feelings. i only ask them if i know for sure that they make really good sounding music. so always seek out the ugly truth by asking people who go hard with theirs. it'll enhance your game 100x over.

 
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It's funny cause all my friends are super critical and the opposite of yes men haha

acetheface954 said:
lol never ask friends or family how your music sounds. they're all yes men and protect you by not hurting your feelings. i only ask them if i know for sure that they make really good sounding music. so always seek out the ugly truth by asking people who go hard with theirs. it'll enhance your game 100x over.

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LAProDuctions said:
It's funny cause all my friends are super critical and the opposite of yes men haha
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Ha! You're friends are an exception. Had this one friend who wanted feedback but didn't want us to be harsh. :-/ ...He was sooo hurt when we told him the bad news. Some people rather you tell them beautiful lies versus the ugly truth.

EDIT: I can't help but to notice you guys aren't really promoting your song on youtube. Didn't even see an add. Are you working on promoting?
 
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Watch this guys so we can perform at Electric Forest. Thanx!
 
Whats good my mans. I know its prolly somewhere on here scattered around, But i was wondering if you could give me a rough explanation of where a bass frequency would lay in a sample ( or your own composition) snare..kick..horns included..

What would i thro on my mixer to bring these sounds out..... Noob to mixing and fx's

Thanks
 
Spaceman_Ant said:
Whats good my mans. I know its prolly somewhere on here scattered around, But i was wondering if you could give me a rough explanation of where a bass frequency would lay in a sample ( or your own composition) snare..kick..horns included..

What would i thro on my mixer to bring these sounds out..... Noob to mixing and fx's

Thanks
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Charts such as this one helped me alot when i got started. That in mind every individual "sample" has its own sweet spots but this shouls give you a good starting point.

EQ Frequency Chart For Electronic Music | How To Make Electronic Music
 
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