Please check out my new track 'Trance Step' and post your comments here!
This Track is nearly complete. have deleted it from youtube now due to a faulty master. Im hoping ive got it right now but thought id upload it on here to get a proper verdict on the mastering.
Produced using flstudio 9 + Reason 4 rewire. Mastered using reaper. Converted using Audacity.
It's well-made and it has potentiial but at this point it's just boring, in the sense that, well, nothing happens... the melody stays the same for 4 whole minutes, it just goes on and on and on... I'd try making an alternate melody and a big climax
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.:::CIVILISATIONS DIE:::.
.:::THE BLiNK OF AN EYE:::.
.:::IN GALACTIC TIME:::.
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by doolhoofd: 08-06-2011 19:48.
For trance it's good I guess. I don't mean that offensively I just don't know much at all about trance. The melody does get repetitive but the overall production is great.
Sounds superb to me man, Have you used Ozone? How does reaper compare? Anyone? WHen you say Converted, what do you mean? I just normally export stereo then run it through ozone and thats it? Am I doing something wrong?
Originally posted by SKINLEY
Sounds superb to me man, Have you used Ozone? How does reaper compare? Anyone? WHen you say Converted, what do you mean? I just normally export stereo then run it through ozone and thats it? Am I doing something wrong?
No, i think using a plugin to do your mastering is a little too cheap and nasty for me, especially since the instrument frequencies i tend to use are not always conventional.
Reaper is good if youre using audio but im a midi man (audio as in sound samples and midi as in piano roll/synthesisers etc) and the midi on reaper i find is very complicated and not user friendly.
My method:
Master on fruity loops/reason (rewire or whatever you use) by simply using a spectrum analyser to make sure no frequencies on the instruments/samples are clashing. This is important but can possibly be fixed later on.
note: on fruity loops my sounds tend to have good spread on both stereo and 5.1 systems. on reason some sound card settings and extra wiring is required to create this effect. a mistake i have only recently learned i was doing.
Export all individual instruments to the highest quality WAV possible.
Wait two hours minimum so i have "fresh ears"
Import all the WAVs to reaper and do some more eq adjustments if needed
Adjust all the levels so nothing stands out too much in the mix (some call this "mixing down" i think) and this is why fresh ears are required
note: effects such as reverbs can be done at this stage but i tend to do all of mine at stage one
Export the entire file as a high quality WAV
Export into audacity and do some final eq adjustments and compression. This part can be done in reaper but this is just my method
Export as whatever file you like
(When i said converted i leterally meant from WAV to mp3)
Ozone may work for you, so if it does then use it, but dont rely on it. It doesnt give you as much control over the results as doing it manually by doing things such as sidechaining, basic equing, compression, multiband compression etc. Learn what each of these things actually do to your sounds. May sound boring and tedious to learn the theory but it always helps and you'll start to see why these things are so important.
Originally posted by SKINLEY
Sounds superb to me man, Have you used Ozone? How does reaper compare? Anyone? WHen you say Converted, what do you mean? I just normally export stereo then run it through ozone and thats it? Am I doing something wrong?
If you're referring to the stage one techniques ive used heres another list of tips and things i do. I apologise in advance if im teaching you to suck eggs.
First and foremost is NO CLIPPING. I try to keep my tracks at least -2db digital. When its over 0, this is when your volume/output meter hits red. This causes unwanted distortion which is aplified at higher volumes.
I make sure no frequencies are clashing. In order to achieve this i usually use a temporary band pass filter so i can listen to just a few frequencies at a time and start at the low end of the spectrum (low frequencies) and either eq my kick above the sub or sidechain them so the sub drops when the kick hits. i then gradually make my way up the frequencies, making sure no two instruments are too close together or clashing.
I like to remove the mud frequencies (around 200Hz) from my tracks these days however a lot of dnb and dubstep snares are reliant on this frequency to achieve thier impact so sometimes i have to leave it in. i still remove the mud from everything else tho.
compression can be used to help a kick or snare achieve some impact if the attack is left a little late, and i also use compression with no attack and high release to keep the overall level of the track stable if i can. you can play with these settings tho.
multiband compressors do the same thing as compressors but you can set them so that each band of compression only effects a certain band of frequency.
I cut all frequencies above 16.5kHz as these frequncies can either be painful, ear damaging or simply outside of human hearing range
Compare your work to clean commercial mixes and think about the frequencies they are using for each sound rather than the synths and samples themselves.
As tempting as it is with dnb and dubstep dont use too many hats, this can make tracks really hissy. im sure youve heard some dnb mixes with extremes of this. This is usually because the DJ boosts the treble on his mixer which is usually because he is losing his hearing. When you start going deaf the high end goes first. Sometimes to contro my hats i put all the ADSR values down and adjust the decay till it sounds just right.
Regularly take breaks so you can return to a track with fresh ears for the eq and also to make sure you still actually like that bass youve created that sounded so filthy just a few minutes ago.
I like to add shine to a mix by boosting a tiny bit at 15kHz but thats just my personal taste. I try to make sure my hats are not too hissy as i already explained.
To try and get my bass and treble levels right i usually use a spectrum analyser and try to get the curve as flat as possible. This can be hard but to actually get flat and sometimes is not practical with the stuff youve used. Essentially, your ears are the best tool for this, but a visual aid is always handy.
Thats all i can think of atm off the top of my head. Hope that helps.
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This post has been edited 3 time(s), it was last edited by Subkinetik: 17-06-2011 03:57.
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