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NEOGAF's Official Music Production Thread: calling all producers

H

Hamst3r

Member
Master Milk said:
so for someone with no experience making music the best thing is to just jump in with one of the free daws?
Click to expand...

Pretty much! I don't think it really matters where you start, as long as you stick with it and really figure it all out. There are also free trials of paid DAWs, like the Reaper demo which never expires. That + some free VSTs from KVRAudio and you're good to go.
 
T

thezerofire

Banned
I'm way more creative from like 7-10 in the morning than I am after work. Wish I could work from like 12-8 so I could produce in the mornings
 
F

FloatingDivider

Member
I'm way more musically creative when I'm suffering from insomnia and am up at 5am but my mixing is mindblowingly awful instead of just awful then so I think it evens out. But musically it's like my sweet spot, I can essentially freestyle an entire song in my head and it's usually better than anything I do early in the morning. Early in the morning I'm liable to get all ADD and will essentially jump around my daw/gaf/reddit while accomplishing nothing for several hours.

Oh also, free plugin from iZotope: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mix/neutrino.html

I tried it, and it definitely does something but whatever it does seems to be really, really subtle even with the knobs maxed. It sounds sort of like some very gentle multi-band compression and maybe a bit of subtractive eq'ing. So maybe reign in the hype levels before you try it.
 
V

Voidguts

Member
hey guys! I FINALLY got an audio interface and I'm kinda pulling my hair out over here trying to figure out how to get my rig properly connected to it.. if anyone could help me out I'd REALLY, REALLY appreciate it - I know next to nothing about cables/etc.

my monitors; (my monitor actually doesn't have the bass switch, so I'm running HPF adapters) - sub+monitors sound like dookie without 'em.
eEbDNEN.jpg
Click to expand...
my sub;
1UNe8YB.jpg
Click to expand...
my interface;
yU8TLqR.jpg
Click to expand...

so I'd like to get the sub running into the monitors and the monitors running into the interface, which are 1/4 jacks. 'til then I guess I'm gonna use the headphone port?

again, if anyone can help me out with what cables are needed/how to go about hooking them up into the interface properly, please hit me up or post here. thank you!
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
Voidguts said:
hey guys! I FINALLY got an audio interface and I'm kinda pulling my hair out over here trying to figure out how to get my rig properly connected to it.. if anyone could help me out I'd REALLY, REALLY appreciate it - I know next to nothing about cables/etc.

my monitors; (my monitor actually doesn't have the bass switch, so I'm running HPF adapters) - sub+monitors sound like dookie without 'em.

my sub;

my interface;


so I'd like to get the sub running into the monitors and the monitors running into the interface, which are 1/4 jacks. 'til then I guess I'm gonna use the headphone port?

again, if anyone can help me out with what cables are needed/how to go about hooking them up into the interface properly, please hit me up or post here. thank you!
Click to expand...

You should get 1/4" Balanced TRS cables to connect your speakers to your Audio Interface. I don't have a subwoofer, so I can't help you there. Don't buy Monster cables, they're overpriced. Guitar Center should have cheap TRS cables but I'd call before heading out if you prefer to buy in person.
 
V

Voidguts

Member
Kwansu Dudes said:
You should get 1/4" Balanced TRS cables to connect your speakers to your Audio Interface. I don't have a subwoofer, so I can't help you there. Don't buy Monster cables, they're overpriced. Guitar Center should have cheap TRS cables but I'd call before heading out if you prefer to buy in person.
Click to expand...

thank you! I'll grab some off Amazon, haha - didn't even know what to call them. thanks again! sucks that I'm gonna lose the sub, I might try using a RCA>1/4th cable to put in the phones jack.
 
T

The Kree

Banned
It says TRS right on the back of the monitor picture you posted. Here's an explanation of what that means: http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/whats-the-difference-between-ts-and-trs-cables/

Use speaker wire to connect the monitors to the subwoofer. If the ones you buy aren't red and black, just know that red is positive, and black is negative. They should be labeled accordingly either way.

Make sure your volume is all the way down when you turn it on in case you've screwed up and connected things incorrectly.
 
L

lazygecko

Member
Can't be arsed buying a new actual mic so I've decided to just use my Zoom H4N recorder as a stationary mic. I'll need a desktop stand for it though which I have no experience with. Will anything automatically work with the adapter that comes bundled with the Zoom?
 
S

shagia

Member
thezerofire said:
I think Bitwig has a free trial with no limit but it doesn't let you save anything :\
Click to expand...

something you can do using the Bitwig trial (or Bitwig in general) is do whatever you wanna do, and before you exit bitwig, group your entire project into one big group, go to the "clips" area in the browser, and drag your group's big clip into the clips area in the browser, and you'll get this

Qwb.png


save the devices in the clip and drag out next time you use bitwig and you should be able to continue your project
 
T

thezerofire

Banned
shagia said:
something you can do using the Bitwig trial (or Bitwig in general) is do whatever you wanna do, and before you exit bitwig, group your entire project into one big group, go to the "clips" area in the browser, and drag your group's big clip into the clips area in the browser, and you'll get this

Qwb.png


save the devices in the clip and drag out next time you use bitwig and you should be able to continue your project
Click to expand...
nice! maybe I'll give bitwig another shot
 
T

The Kree

Banned
DesertEater said:
A track I just uploaded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4458G0z4vU

I get enough praise from my friends, so i'm looking for pointers on where I'm messing up in mixing, or song structure. Still, hope you guys and gals like it.
Click to expand...

Since the song is so sparse, I'd have the delays and reverb more upfront and consistent throughout the track to fill it up a bit, and add some riser sound effects or something at the major transition points in the arrangement (0:41, 2:23, 3:48). The sleigh bell is too upfront for my taste. Nice stuff though.
 
D

DesertEater

Member
The Kree said:
Since the song is so sparse, I'd have the delays and reverb more upfront and consistent throughout the track to fill it up a bit, and add some riser sound effects or something at the major transition points in the arrangement (0:41, 2:23, 3:48). The sleigh bell is too upfront for my taste. Nice stuff though.
Click to expand...

Much appreciated :)

I do agree with you. I think at one point I was considering add a bit more reverb on the lead synth, but was afraid of the track having too much reverb. I should go with my guts more often.

Yeah, something to highlight transitions would have been nice too. Reading that now it sounds like an obvious thing I should have done haha.

Thanks a bunch!
 
S

Sadsic

Member
what is the best way to try and send your material to bigger labels? i feel like ive been in the minor leagues forever

ive been slowly making this album based around serious shit in my life, and i believe its really good, where can i send it to? what is the protocol for this type of stuff in 2016 even
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"what is the best way to try and send your material to bigger labels? i feel like ive been in the minor leagues forever

ive been slowly making this album based around serious shit in my life, and i believe its really good, where can i send it to? what is the protocol for this type of stuff in 2016 even"


From what I've heard from people who do A&R:

1) They usually have a dropbox or email account for you to send tracks
2) Send 1, *MAYBE* 2 tracks of your absolute strongest material.
3) Don't send tracks that you've already had available for free download
4) Should go without saying, but send your tracks to labels that actually release music in your style. Don't send House tracks to a DnB label, etc.
 
E

ekim

Member
New original song from me: (80s inspired electro/wave/pop)
https://soundcloud.com/mcinski/motor-original-mix

Abletons Analog Synth is really really great.

Intheflorsh said:
New song: https://soundcloud.com/florsh-558501827

I've been fiddling around with compression on this track for ages, I'm wondering if it sounds OK in that regard.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't overthink it. If you think it sounds cohesive, leave it at that. Otherwise you could hand the material to someone else to mix it.
I don't think the compressions sounds any bad. :)
 
E

ElectricThunder

Member
Heh, closest thing Aly James has had to competition since....I guess ever roughly? It does look nifty and the few sample tracks the same.

Would be nice if they got into a bit of spirited back and forth on the matter just to better each option for it, though he had already been working on stuff as he does amidst his many projects so whatever works.
 
B

Borboleta Amarela

Member
Hey guys, I'm new to the producing side of music and I've come across a chance to get an Akai MPC 2000XL for free. An acquaintance will give it to me if I want to.

I'm thinking about trying it out and have some fun but apparently you can't connect it to pc via USB? Just through ZIP or CF drives? Is this correct?

How can I make some music if I don't have a ZIP/CF drive? Is it worthless in this case?

As for equipment for producing I have none. Just a Macbook Pro from 2014. What would I need to get something out of the MPC 2000XL?

Thanks to anyone who can reply!
 
T

The Kree

Banned
Borboleta Amarela said:
Hey guys, I'm new to the producing side of music and I've come across a chance to get an Akai MPC 2000XL for free. An acquaintance will give it to me if I want to.

I'm thinking about trying it out and have some fun but apparently you can't connect it to pc via USB? Just through ZIP or CF drives? Is this correct?

How can I make some music if I don't have a ZIP/CF drive? Is it worthless in this case?

As for equipment for producing I have none. Just a Macbook Pro from 2014. What would I need to get something out of the MPC 2000XL?

Thanks to anyone who can reply!
Click to expand...

Did USB even exist when the MPC came out?

I've owned one of these, it's how I got started. The 2000XL is a sampler and sequencer, so you'll need a ZIP or compact flash drive to save your work if you're working with samples. If you're only working with midi and not doing any sampling in it, the built-in floppy drive would be enough to just save midi sequences, but you'll need to stockpile a lot of them. I'm not sure if floppy disks are even still sold anywhere.

Alternatively, if you want to create music in software, you could buy a midi interface and use the MPC as a controller for a DAW like Logic or Ableton.
 
T

thezerofire

Banned
The Kree said:
Did USB even exist when the MPC came out?

I've owned one of these, it's how I got started. The 2000XL is a sampler and sequencer, so you'll need a ZIP or compact flash drive to save your work if you're working with samples. If you're only working with midi and not doing any sampling in it, the built-in floppy drive would be enough to just save midi sequences, but you'll need to stockpile a lot of them. I'm not sure if floppy disks are even still sold anywhere.

Alternatively, if you want to create music in software, you could buy a midi interface and use the MPC as a controller for a DAW like Logic or Ableton.
Click to expand...
Also, maybe consider not using it for software initially. It can be good to learn how to use a sampler/sequencer in general before diving into the gigantic ocean that is DAW work. Personally I wish I had started with something more limited to get basic music writing better before having millions of choices of things to do right off the bat. YMMV though
 
T

The Kree

Banned
Yeah, maybe. I definitely had to get creative with that thing because it was so limited. Maxed out it only had 32MB of sampling memory, so once in a while I had to do shit like sample at double speed to save space, and then pitch it back down to normal later, and other stuff like converting bass sounds to mono because stereo samples take twice the space. It only has a low pass filter, so you can isolate bass frequencies well enough, otherwise you need to high pass it on the way in.

The sequencer is rock solid, but copying and pasting stuff is incredibly cumbersome compared to working in a DAW. If the editing capabilities were more advanced I might still use it once in a blue. It's also incredibly slow, so zone slicing samples or converting to 12 bit takes ages with longer samples. I'd recommend using it with a DAW just for the tactile experience, because that's the only real advantage it has over anything else.

I definitely don't miss tracking out into software for mixing either.
 
B

Borboleta Amarela

Member
Thanks for the replies.

Seems it's an outdated product with a lot of annoyances behind it. As I said, I know nothing about producing music and just wanted to start sampling some stuff and have fun.

Ideally, I would just hook this up to the PC and use it with a DAW. Just drag and drop stuff on it.
 
T

The Kree

Banned
Borboleta Amarela said:
Thanks for the replies.

Seems it's an outdated product with a lot of annoyances behind it. As I said, I know nothing about producing music and just wanted to start sampling some stuff and have fun.

Ideally, I would just hook this up to the PC and use it with a DAW. Just drag and drop stuff on it.
Click to expand...

I would keep it just because it's an antique and still fetches a nice resale value if it's in good condition. If you want a similar tactile experience that you can just plug and play with in a DAW, check some of the Akai pad controllers. They're pretty affordable. Sampling in software these days is way more fun and flexible anyway.
 
F

FloatingDivider

Member
Hey bromandudes, I'm looking for some feedback on a (wip) remix of MØ - Final Song I made today. Is this crap? Is it good? I don't know anymore lmao.I think it's cool but I'm an insular asshole who hasn't shared anything he's made in months. Who knows what it actually is, it might be fucking terrible if so I'm sorry. I'm still trying to chase that professional sound whatever the fuck that means but I don't think I'll ever get it because I can't even describe what it is. Click the link below and please let me know what you think, don't be afraid to be honest I hold no grudges.

https://soundcloud.com/yesplznothx/final-song/s-4338V
 
T

The Kree

Banned
FloatingDivider said:
Hey bromandudes, I'm looking for some feedback on a (wip) remix of MØ - Final Song I made today. Is this crap? Is it good? I don't know anymore lmao.I think it's cool but I'm an insular asshole who hasn't shared anything he's made in months. Who knows what it actually is, it might be fucking terrible if so I'm sorry. I'm still trying to chase that professional sound whatever the fuck that means but I don't think I'll ever get it because I can't even describe what it is. Click the link below and please let me know what you think, don't be afraid to be honest I hold no grudges.

https://soundcloud.com/yesplznothx/final-song/s-4338V
Click to expand...

Sounds nice. It could be a little brighter in the 3-5k range, but that's about it.
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
FloatingDivider said:
Hey bromandudes, I'm looking for some feedback on a (wip) remix of MØ - Final Song I made today. Is this crap? Is it good? I don't know anymore lmao.I think it's cool but I'm an insular asshole who hasn't shared anything he's made in months. Who knows what it actually is, it might be fucking terrible if so I'm sorry. I'm still trying to chase that professional sound whatever the fuck that means but I don't think I'll ever get it because I can't even describe what it is. Click the link below and please let me know what you think, don't be afraid to be honest I hold no grudges.

https://soundcloud.com/yesplznothx/final-song/s-4338V
Click to expand...

Disclaimer: I don't really listen to future bass/future pop so I'm only comparing it to the few tracks I've heard from Haywyre and the tracks of the lesser known guys I follow. They have a nice "professional" sound and really punchy drums, transitions, etc.

Did you just describe me? Anyway...

I think the drums sound a bit too dry, or maybe it's the spacial mix.

The percussion bass that comes in around :50 sounds a bit dry and "small". Usually, these types of basses are louder and wider.

The clap around 1:36 sounds a bit too loud and the snare is a bit too quiet (and dry...).

I think the chorus synth is fine and the piano sounds nice.
 
F

FloatingDivider

Member
The Kree said:
Sounds nice. It could be a little brighter in the 3-5k range, but that's about it.
Click to expand...
I thought that too but was afraid to push it up in that range on tired ears because I figured it might just be tired ears and I didn't want to make it shrill.

Kwansu Dudes said:
Disclaimer: I don't really listen to future bass/future pop so I'm only comparing it to the few tracks I've heard from Haywyre and the tracks of the lesser known guys I follow. They have a nice "professional" sound and really punchy drums, transitions, etc.

Did you just describe me? Anyway...

I think the drums sound a bit too dry, or maybe it's the spacial mix.

The percussion bass that comes in around :50 sounds a bit dry and "small". Usually, these types of basses are louder and wider.

The clap around 1:36 sounds a bit too loud and the snare is a bit too quiet (and dry...).

I think the chorus synth is fine and the piano sounds nice.
Click to expand...
I was trying to describe you. Did I nail it? j/k lol.

I tried making the drums wider/wetter but the synth is essentially swallowing all of the wideness, there's already a pretty big valhallaroom reverb most of the drums are getting bussed to but I can't get it to pop out of the rest of the mix so I gave up lmao. Good catch though.

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely try to use it if I ever return to mix that song better (I prolly won't lmao, it'll be private on sc for life).

I'll return the favour if you've got something you want an opinion on, I'm okay with listening to everything except for hard screamo metal.
 
N

neos

Member
Can anyone suggest a good usb soundcard with an optical fiber input in the 150-200€ range?

I've got my pc and ps4 connected via HDMI to the Tv, and an optical cable running from the tv to a Logitech 5.1 device.
So i'd like to have a sound card to run the same optical cable information to the studio monitors. in this way whenever i want to go from stereo monitors to 5.1 for games and movies i just need to switch the optical cable from the Logitech controller to the soundcard.
Is this a good idea?
 
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