10 Studio Tips You Probably Haven't Tried Before - Beatport News PDF

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2013
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10 studio tips you probably haven't tried before (http://news.beatport.com/blog/2013/06/06/10-studio-tips-you-probablyhavent-tried-before/)

By Sagar Vashishta
(http://news.beatport.com
/blog/2013/06/06/10-studio-tips-you-probably-havent-tried-before/)
Lets face it: There really are no rules when it comes to making music. Its very easy these days for modern music makers to get caught up in the
technical expectations of what they perceive as the correct way to do things, but following those guidelines can really compromise originality and
the creative process in general. Additionally, for those who went to audio engineering school, it can be an extreme challenge to suddenly ignore all
the fundamentals. Music production is all about practice and application, more so than following theory verbatim. As such, whether or not youre
doing it right ultimately boils down to one golden question: Does it sound good? In this article we round up some of the less-talked-about yet highly
effective tips that weve picked up over the years to share with you.
1. Mix with your eyes closed
This may sound counterproductive at first, but think about it for a minute: You spend all day staring at waveforms. Music is about feeling and
emotion. Instead of focusing on what dB your levels are hitting, try going with what feels right to you instead. You may find your mix sounds a lot
better than it would have if you were too busy concerning yourself with your meters. When doing this, remember to trust your ears. For example,
getting a vocal to sit right in the mix can be as simple as closing your eyes, turning your monitor volume down really low, and then adjusting the
vocal fader accordingly. Your ears will let you know when your vocal is sitting at the right place, not your eyes.
2. Embrace imperfection
Human beings arent perfect, and as such, the music we make shouldnt be either (unless you are a robot like Daft Punk). Try adding some subtle
noise, pops, or crackles into your track. A vocal can even sound a little more authentic if it is not 100% crystal clear-sounding. Sometimes
low-quality distortion and noise can add an extra human element to your music. Similarly, dont be fooled into thinking that the highest-resolution
music will always sound the best. Stairway to Heaven was originally recorded in mono, and is still largely regarded as one of the greatest songs
of all time.
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3. Try some reverb on your master output

Reverb, or any dynamic processor for that matter, can be used in very out-of-the-ordinary ways to achieve some amazing results. As an example,
one trick we like to employ is to use Logics SpaceDesigner on our master channel. Most people would call this an extremely strange thing to do.
However, SpaceDesigner is not only designed to be a reverb. In this case, we can use SpaceDesigner to act as an analog-console-emulator
impulse response, which provides a little extra gain without distorting the entire channel. As such, the wet/dry effectively acts as a gain control
while still maintaining overall balances and we end up with an added subtle warmth to our mix.
4. Context is meaningless
One of the most creatively inspiring things you can do is to use a plugin completely out of the context for which it was designed. Throw a guitar
amp on your vocals. Use a vocal compressor on your drums. The possibilities are endless. Just because a plugin is designed for one particular
purpose doesnt mean it cant have hundreds of other applications to make your music better. One of the go-to examples that we use a lot is to
throw the Waves CLA Vocals on a basic Piano sound. Although the plugin is clearly designed to treat vocals, it adds a huge amount of warmth and
realness to a piano.
5. Maximize your automation

Most of the sessions we look at dont automate anymore than two parameters: channel gain and filter cut-off. Your DAW has the ability to
automate absolutely every parameter you could possibly imagine and you should use that to your advantage. Even slight automation can
sometimes create a drastic effect. Try automating everything from wet/dry send signals to LFOs to oscillators to the Q parameter on your
equalizer. You can even use automation to bypass plugins entirely during certain portions of a track. If you want a little more impact on your drop,
try automating your master gain to -2 dB during the breakdown, then bring it back to unity just before the drop, this will create a bigger impact once
your track comes back in full swing.
6. Make your kick drums monstrous
A great dance music record can be made or broken by a good kick drum. It seems almost every day producers are pushing the limits of what is
considered to be a huge kick drum. The trick to achieve these kicks is to go beyond simply layering two or even three kicks. Instead, try layering
a sine wave sub-bass layer underneath your kick drum to create maximum impact in the low end. You should proceed with caution, however, as
you may find yourself getting into some nasty phasing issues (to avoid them, you may need to invert the phase 180 degrees on the sine wave).
Youll also want to make sure the sub-bass is in key with your song, as it will most likely have a fundamental root note.
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7. Side-chain creatively
Side-chaining is synonymous with dance music. Naturally, its most common use is to duck elements out of the way of the kick drum, but it doesnt
need to stop there. Another trick you can try is to side-chain your reverbs and delay effects by using your melody or chord progression as the
trigger instead of the kick. Why not use an arpeggio to trigger the side-chain of a pad? We recently even discovered that Dutch heavy-hitter
Laidback Luke uses a side-chain on his master to boost the kick drum. The possibilities are really endless.
8. Make use of the trash bin
One of the most important things for a producer, aside from actually completing tracks, is knowing when to toss them out. Sometimes ideas just
arent working out and its time to start with a fresh mind. This is dangerous, however, because on the other end of the spectrum its extremely
difficult to get caught up in the cycle of scrapping everything you work on. The best way to get past this is to take breaks every few hours and
listen with fresh ears to determine if what youve worked on is worth continuing. If it isnt, you dont even need to delete the session entirely; just
throw it on a hard drive somewhere and come back to it at a later time.
9. Sell most of your gear
You probably have too much equipment. We dont even know what you own, but chances are it is still too much. Invest the time in learning one or
two synths inside out and stick to a handful of dynamic processors. You really dont need more than that to produce a great record. Having a wall
full of analog hardware in your studio might feel great, but it most likely isnt doing anything to improve your music.
10. Listen to Superman
Drop the Vengeance sample libraries for a while and go find some new sample sources. Liam Howlett of The Prodigy suggests Superman albums:
You know, big theme tunes from films. You get a horn section playing a chord and just sample a short section of that. If I hear a chord I like, I
sample it. Electronic music was built on the foundation of sampling but these days its easy to get caught up in the masses of dance music
sample packs that all sound very similar. Better yet, try walking around with with a field recorder for a day and sample everything you hear, from
conversations to sound effects. Then use those in your productions. The feeling of knowing that nobody will ever be able to use the same sample
(unless, of course, they sample it from you) is a nice additional bonus.
Photo via Pyramind (http://www.pyramind.com/)
Filed under: Music News (http://news.beatport.com/blog/category/news/), Power of Ten (http://news.beatport.com/blog/category/news/power-of-ten/),
Production Tips (http://news.beatport.com/blog/category/news/production-tips/), Tools of the Trade (http://news.beatport.com/blog/category/news/toolsof-the-trade/)
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About the Author

Sagar Vashishta - Aloha! I'm a music producer (http://www.facebook.com/invalyd), record label owner, and software engineer for Beatport. When
I'm not holed up in the studio or building out cool new features for our users, I can usually be found exploring San Francisco's dive bars and
nightlife scene.
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14 comments
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News
Alex Alonso Brooklyn,
New York
Umm, don't sell(/)
your gear
Reply
7 Like Follow Post 32 minutes ago

Andrew de la Vega Works at Greater Dallas Orthopaedics
lol thats what i said!! because it may be vintage in 50 years
Reply Like 30 minutes ago
Jesse Brede
Follow
Top Commenter Chief awesomer at Gravitas Recordings
Nice article.
Reply
Bernardo Novaes
Dez dicas bacanas para quem produz msica eletrnica. Vale a pena o confere!
Reply
B-Boy Dario Works at KORG

Mixing with the eyes closed... it was and will always be probably my favourite part of
the session :)
Reply
Esteban Beltran Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

great info! thx!
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10 studio tips you probably haven't tried before (http://news.beatport.com/blog/2013/06/06/10-studio-tips-you-probablyhavent-tried-before/)

3. Try some reverb on your master output

5. Maximize your automation

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