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Background Sounds?

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jeffijoe jeffijoe is a male

xSky

Registration Date: 15-06-2009
Posts: 241

Heyall!

I have been listening to alot of choons lately, and I discovered (lol), that none of the choons has got just 1 seccond, where you can only hear the drums, because there is some sound in the background. What do you call the "background noise", which makes the song sound more, youknow, glued together, or.. I dont know how to put it.

I use Massive's "Scanning" preset for my current project, but I don't want to use that for everything..

Post Examples? Why bother, since pretty much every DnB song's got what I am talking about.

I really hope you understand what I mean here. Smile

Thanks guys ^^

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Jeffijoe - Distance EP [CrossBase]

15-01-2010 18:58

Zugzwang Zugzwang is a male

Doin' it for the love

Registration Date: 13-05-2009
Posts: 206

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Most songs have pads, ambiance, synths, FX going on that fill the track out so that its not literally just drums and bass.. Keeps it from sounding minimal or empty.

15-01-2010 19:23

GeeZZ
Cool Producer

Registration Date: 31-03-2007
Posts: 163

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i think what u want here is hi end sound so it doesnt cloud your sub/bass/kik/snare/midbass and midd sounds, white nosie based sounds or sounds with white noise in ,
try like a reverse basline. in other styles of music were the base line is not the main element it is the base notes of the melody, iam not very skooled on thoery but if you hav a melody in our case a base line u play woteve key its in, that note and a few more.
or take u melody/bassline delete the 'inbetween' notes try an keep the main notes and extend them, them take them up an octive or two.
use a pad sound eq out all the low end maybee (just a guide) hi pass @800/2.5k u dont want anythin too loud between theese two cos it sounds harsh.
filter sweeps can add movment say on the build up to a change or breakdown.
you can do the same with fx samples add reveb,delay to lenghth the sounds and keep them evoveing. cos its the hi end you move the panning around and get a wider stero image.
the thing behind these 'background nosie' is the need to fill the spectrum. dnb all bout the low end off the spectrum so you need to 'pad' out the rest
good eg. shy fx power ra gr8 tune @ the time real simple nice bass couple mid bass sound drums and the hi end was filled out with crowd nosie! not very musical but sounded great.

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by GeeZZ: 15-01-2010 20:50.

15-01-2010 20:46

BattleDrone BattleDrone is a male

2161... the future.

Registration Date: 30-12-2005
Posts: 6,413

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Most pro sounds have a simple but solid "main path" compared to the average tune that gets uploaded on here. Dance music is mostly pretty simple and it works best that way. The art of it all is to have a nice structure to keep the audience interested and then dress the main path up with some little this 'n thats .... if you listen to minimal stuff with this in mind you'll notice that although it is very "empty" at first you'll notice that a lot of FX stuff is used to fill it all up and give you the feeling that the tune is a huge composition.

Listen to the tunes from Alix Perez and Spectrasoul. All in all those are pretty simple tunes, but it's the stuff in the back that makes them more "rich" and entertaining.

Listening to tunes like this is a very very good idea because you can learn from your favourite producers how a good tune should sound without doing tons of melodies and other crap which makes it all sound like fucking nintendo.
I see a lot of beginning producers who upload tunes that really sound like game soundtracks, probably because they grew up on that.

Search for some FX packs, timestretch some hihats and percussion make pitching loops, ... keep it in the hi-mids or even the hi-end.

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15-01-2010 21:17

GeeZZ
Cool Producer

Registration Date: 31-03-2007
Posts: 163

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yer thats a good piont you dont wana over do it, think of it as decoration to the main driving part of your tune

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by GeeZZ: 15-01-2010 21:31.

15-01-2010 21:30

BattleDrone BattleDrone is a male

2161... the future.

Registration Date: 30-12-2005
Posts: 6,413

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The good decoration goes unnoticed for the masses.
Only some producer nerd ( Big Grin

) who concentrates on every detail will really notice all of it.

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15-01-2010 22:36

jeffijoe jeffijoe is a male

xSky

Registration Date: 15-06-2009
Posts: 241

Uh, yeah, and again, I am not up on all those 800@/blablabla stuff or whatever it was, right? xD Damn, where do you learn all that? xD

Thanks, I think I got most of it Big Grin

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--- My Soundcloud ---
Jeffijoe - Distance EP [CrossBase]

16-01-2010 13:33

BattleDrone BattleDrone is a male

2161... the future.

Registration Date: 30-12-2005
Posts: 6,413

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It's learning by doing mostly....
Listen to a tune you like, listen like 20 times in a row and every time you'lll be concentrating on a different element. The kicks, the ghost elements, the snares, the breaks, the drum variations, the basses, the synths, the stabs, the pads, the vocals, the structure... and then you notice there is some stuiff that doens't fit in anywhere, it's just decoration, but without the decoration the tune would seem lifeless, robotic and empty.

You just need to think, eat, sleep, breath, drink, piss, shit, fuck, dance and compose DrumnBass to figure it all out Big Grin

(some good advise from Nick ZZ)

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16-01-2010 15:51

jeffijoe jeffijoe is a male

xSky

Registration Date: 15-06-2009
Posts: 241

quote:

Originally posted by BattleDrone
It's learning by doing mostly....
Listen to a tune you like, listen like 20 times in a row and every time you'lll be concentrating on a different element. The kicks, the ghost elements, the snares, the breaks, the drum variations, the basses, the synths, the stabs, the pads, the vocals, the structure... and then you notice there is some stuiff that doens't fit in anywhere, it's just decoration, but without the decoration the tune would seem lifeless, robotic and empty.

You just need to think, eat, sleep, breath, drink, piss, shit, fuck, dance and compose DrumnBass to figure it all out Big Grin

(some good advise from Nick ZZ)

Alright, the eat, sleep, breath part is done. I had 5 shots in a row today, so thats covered, too. Piss.. Ah, I gotta go now. Shit.. Ah, fuckoff! Fuck, not there yet tho. Compose, I suck at it.

Lol. xD

Yeah, I get the point. Everytime I listen to DnB, I always analyse the various elements.

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--- My Soundcloud ---
Jeffijoe - Distance EP [CrossBase]

16-01-2010 16:41

Muad'Dib Muad'Dib is a male

Andrejnalin

Registration Date: 02-12-2003
Posts: 4,197

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Inexperienced listeners cannot and don't consciously notice the background elements (this was confirmed in a study, I'll try to find a link), but they do notice them subconsciously and take those characteristics like "fullness" or "clarity" of a track.

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16-01-2010 17:00

jeffijoe jeffijoe is a male

xSky

Registration Date: 15-06-2009
Posts: 241

quote:

Originally posted by Muad'Dib
Inexperienced listeners cannot and don't consciously notice the background elements (this was confirmed in a study, I'll try to find a link), but they do notice them subconsciously and take those characteristics like "fullness" or "clarity" of a track.

Well, I just listen, and see if I can figure out maybe which VST was used, and stuffs.

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--- My Soundcloud ---
Jeffijoe - Distance EP [CrossBase]

16-01-2010 22:46

Vectrex Vectrex is a male

Benzin

Registration Date: 05-02-2008
Posts: 118

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You might be interested in this:

http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/prod...ient-backdrops/

Pretty cool tutorial.

Greets,
Vectrex

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17-01-2010 14:30

c_ctrl c_ctrl is a male

Wicked Producer

Registration Date: 02-06-2008
Posts: 307

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quote:

Originally posted by jeffijoe

quote:

Well, I just listen, and see if I can figure out maybe which VST was used, and stuffs.

Hey man, I'd say don't necessarily try and work out what VSTs were used (unless you find it really really helpful to your own productions that is) because to be honest it could be anything and you could be completely wrong! Instead try and work out what space it occupies in the general mix. If you "don't do 800/2.5k" then just think in terms of is it more of a thick sound ie a reese or is it a thin sound ie a filtered pad or effect noise. Find noises which work with the main body of your tune (drums n bass Big Grin

) and then maybe filter them to take out the bottom end, reverb them to put them in their own space or whack a delay on them to roll them over a bar or two. They don't necessarily have to be at a prominent volume or be a main element, but get them at a place in the mix where they aint noticeable unless you're listening for them.. and don't let them muddy your mix!

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18-01-2010 19:02

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