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NEOGAF's Official Music Production Thread: calling all producers

K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
FloatingDivider said:
I
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.
Click to expand...

If I knew the secret sauce to excellent mixes, I would try and help but I also have the same troubles of getting delays and reverbs to be audible (mixing in general, really). I'm glad you responded though. I've been meaning to try to provide decent feedback on songs here.

I have nothing to show. Maybe in a year or so hah

Also, thanks for posting that hamst3r

Edit 2:

Hamst3r said:
8DIO's yearly contest is in progress: https://8dio.com/2016/09/26/8dio-stand-contest-2016/ - the only real criteria being that you need to use at least one of their libraries, which includes the freebies.
Click to expand...

Late, but congrats on winning that contest!
 
F

FloatingDivider

Member
Sadsic said:
part of a thing ive been slowly working on

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40086894/Last Night Clipp.mp3

took it another way:

https://soundcloud.com/sadsic/the-day-that-i-die
Click to expand...

I like the snare sample in Last Night Clipp a lot, not a huge fan of the bass synth when it's on it's own it sounds sorta cheap to me. It does work well in the overall mix in the end with the piano playing on top of it. The cloudy chopped vocal sample is cool and I really like it when the piano kicks in but I'm a sucker for harmony. The glitchy kick is cool too and I wouldn't be upset if it glitched out even more. Cool stuff overall.

I think the day that I die flip is cool too. Still not feeling that bassline personally but the ambient breakdown is amazing shit. Definitely some dark melancholic ambient stuff. The delayed washed out risers are nice (is that a drum loop with some sort of grain delay and filter automation?). Oh that guitar outro is sweet as hell too.

I like music that has that deathly feel to it but I'm always afraid to finish the tracks I'm working on with that feel because I don't want to temp fate or whatever. We did that sample compo a while back and I never entered my track because I was too afraid to finish it. I also cheated by using some vsts because I couldn't get all of the sounds I wanted out of the pack. It's technically a hip hop beat and I wrote and recorded a verse to it to try it out but what I wrote scares me even more. If any of y'all want to check it out:
https://soundcloud.com/yesplznothx/time-renames-all-artifacts/s-uL0Uk
 
N

neos

Member
neos said:
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?
Click to expand...

Quoting because last post of the last page and i'd really like to have an opinion on this, i did some searches and can't find nothing useful, maybe there's some technical problem i'm not aware of
 
F

FloatingDivider

Member
neos said:
Quoting because last post of the last page and i'd really like to have an opinion on this, i did some searches and can't find nothing useful, maybe there's some technical problem i'm not aware of
Click to expand...

That's not the most musical of questions but I'll take a stab at it lol.


I don't think you'll find many soundcards, if any, with toslink in. I mean they might exist but they'll probably be pretty rare. I do know the focusrite 18i8 has a toslink in but I think that's mostly meant for connecting extra mic pres, so you might have to monitor that specific input for it to work. I also doubt it'd output a 5.1 signal to a 2.1 system correctly.

I think what you're looking for is essentially an A/V receiver with a stereo output and an optical passthrough. You could keep the optical plugged into your logitech speakers and could feed the stereo output to whatever you've got your monitors hooked up to. You'd also be able to switch between outputs using a remote which seems like it'd be easier to do. The A/V receiver would also take care of decoding the 5.1 into 2.1 so you're not just listening to the side channels or whatever. Can't tell you which one to buy though, you can probably find one that'd do that though.


As a final ghetto ass possible solution, I think most logitech speakers sets come with 3.5mm headphone ports. You could just use that since every pc and soundcard under the sun will accept a 3.5mm input. I'm fairly sure they automute the output of the speakers too. So if you're willing to get up and plug a cable in that'd be the cheapest solution?

If all of this is wrong, I'm sorry but it's a bit outside of my wheelhouse lmao.
 
N

neos

Member
FloatingDivider said:
That's not the most musical of questions but I'll take a stab at it lol.


I don't think you'll find many soundcards, if any, with toslink in. I mean they might exist but they'll probably be pretty rare. I do know the focusrite 18i8 has a toslink in but I think that's mostly meant for connecting extra mic pres, so you might have to monitor that specific input for it to work. I also doubt it'd output a 5.1 signal to a 2.1 system correctly.

I think what you're looking for is essentially an A/V receiver with a stereo output and an optical passthrough. You could keep the optical plugged into your logitech speakers and could feed the stereo output to whatever you've got your monitors hooked up to. You'd also be able to switch between outputs using a remote which seems like it'd be easier to do. The A/V receiver would also take care of decoding the 5.1 into 2.1 so you're not just listening to the side channels or whatever. Can't tell you which one to buy though, you can probably find one that'd do that though.


As a final ghetto ass possible solution, I think most logitech speakers sets come with 3.5mm headphone ports. You could just use that since every pc and soundcard under the sun will accept a 3.5mm input. I'm fairly sure they automute the output of the speakers too. So if you're willing to get up and plug a cable in that'd be the cheapest solution?

If all of this is wrong, I'm sorry but it's a bit outside of my wheelhouse lmao.
Click to expand...
How could i not think at this simple solution an looked instead for the most complicated way possible? damn
Thank you, i'm feeling dumb:D
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
Hamst3r said:
Thanks! Hopefully a good idea will click in my brain soon so I can participate in this 8DIO one, haha. Emphasis on good, not the garbage I've come up with so far.
Click to expand...

Best of luck and looking forward to it.

Does anyone own a drum pad controller and have recommendations? I mainly use the step sequencer in FL Studio but I think having an external controller would spice up the creativity and be more fun than filling in blocks.

I already have a MIDI keyboard I rarely use with a bunch of useless knobs so I'm just looking for a pad only.
 
T

tanuki

Member
Kwansu Dudes said:
This thread died but with Black Friday coming soon, anyone have any VST/sample pack recommendations/things to look out for?
Click to expand...

It's pretty much the time to pick up whatever you've been desiring, almost every company will have sales! Last year I picked up Waves Gold for $199 and Soundtoys for $299, amazing. I was lusting after soundtoys for years.

This year I have my eye on the Izotope Neutron + Ozone bundle... debating whether I actually need them or not. Neutron looks amazing though, with its EQ masking feature.

I recommend buying plugins from audiodeluxe, since they give you extra discount after you add your items to the cart. Sometimes they might take a day or two to send you your licenses, especially around Black Friday season.
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
tanuki said:
It's pretty much the time to pick up whatever you've been desiring, almost every company will have sales! Last year I picked up Waves Gold for $199 and Soundtoys for $299, amazing. I was lusting after soundtoys for years.

This year I have my eye on the Izotope Neutron + Ozone bundle... debating whether I actually need them or not. Neutron looks amazing though, with its EQ masking feature.

I recommend buying plugins from audiodeluxe, since they give you extra discount after you add your items to the cart. Sometimes they might take a day or two to send you your licenses, especially around Black Friday season.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the site recommendation. I might grab the Slate Platinum Drums but the demos I've heard so far make it sound amateurish.

edit: also a free plugin from Waves:

http://www.waves.com/lpn/black-friday-2016/free-plugin-signup
 
D

Drakken

Member
If there's anybody else in the market for new studio monitors like I was, Presonus is having a buy one, get one free sale on their Eris line this weekend. The E66 in particular seems like a great deal - $350 for a pair (normally $350 each / $700 for a pair). Pretty well-reviewed.

It's a manufacturer's sale, so that price is available pretty much everywhere:

Amazon
Sweetwater
Musician's Friend

My Rokit 6's crapped out early in the year, and I've just been using headphones since then, so it'll be great to have proper speakers again. Will provide some much-needed motivation to get back into composing. :)

Any other BF deals people have been getting in on?
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
Drakken said:
Any other BF deals people have been getting in on?
Click to expand...

There are a ton of deals on mixing software (izotope, Waves, etc) but I don't know how to mix, ha. Currently eyeing the Mixtrack Pro 3 on Amazon and the Pioneer DDJ-SB2 so I can become an EDM DJ Superstar.

Prime Loops also has some very nice sounding packs on sale, but I'm sticking with Splice for now.

Falk said:
Black Friday/Cyber Monday destroys me every time.

It's worse than Steam sales at this point.
Click to expand...

Hey Falk, for the guitars in your tracks, are you playing them or using samples? If the latter, what sample packs would you recommend?

And anyone else lurking this thread, what do you recommend?
 
T

The Kree

Banned
I use the stock Kontakt guitar libraries and they're pretty good, but I don't think the sample library matters as much as the sound design and processing. If you've got Guitar Rig and know how to pitch bend, you can do a lot. I worry less about guitars sounding real and more about sounding cool and unique.
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
The Kree said:
I use the stock Kontakt guitar libraries and they're pretty good, but I don't think the sample library matters as much as the sound design and processing. If you've got Guitar Rig and know how to pitch bend, you can do a lot. I worry less about guitars sounding real and more about sounding cool and unique.
Click to expand...

I have the Kontakt 5 Players bundle and it does sound nice/better than what I've heard years ago. I think, by itself, it just sounds too "fake" though that's due to my lack of knowledge and skill. I really like that Japanese-lead-guitar-dynasty-warriors sound and S.S.H.'s stuff.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
I've:

- sampled myself playing guitars pretty much note by note and splicing it together (lol)
- sequenced guitars
- gotten someone in my list of contacts to record

Generally that's been in chronological order and nowadays it's just faster for me to get someone to track than it is to slave away at CC for 8 hours. Even if that leaves the same sense of accomplishment as putting a jigsaw or model aircraft together.

In terms of sample libraries, the most convincing I've come across for lead stuff would be Prominy V-Metal, although I've heard people say a lot of good things about Shreddage.

Honestly though with how complex performances with guitars can get and how malleable it is compared to, say, woodwind or string sample libraries, you're going to end up tweaking the shit out of everything for hours on end and still feel there's more you can do. Guitars are also one of the easiest instruments to track an actual players barring something like someone recording keyboard parts on a keyboard and sending you MIDI, so explore that option with collaborators if you can.
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
Falk said:
I've:

- sampled myself playing guitars pretty much note by note and splicing it together (lol)
- sequenced guitars
- gotten someone in my list of contacts to record

Generally that's been in chronological order and nowadays it's just faster for me to get someone to track than it is to slave away at CC for 8 hours. Even if that leaves the same sense of accomplishment as putting a jigsaw or model aircraft together.

In terms of sample libraries, the most convincing I've come across for lead stuff would be Prominy V-Metal, although I've heard people say a lot of good things about Shreddage.

Honestly though with how complex performances with guitars can get and how malleable it is compared to, say, woodwind or string sample libraries, you're going to end up tweaking the shit out of everything for hours on end and still feel there's more you can do. Guitars are also one of the easiest instruments to track an actual players barring something like someone recording keyboard parts on a keyboard and sending you MIDI, so explore that option with collaborators if you can.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the in-depth answer!

I forgot to ask, but what drum samples are you using on those remixes?
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Addictive Drums on the first two, FP2 was an electric kit into (I believe, I got bounced audio) Steven Slate drums
 
S

Sadsic

Member
Hey just wanted to let you guys know -- I started a podcast, and I'm looking to put a different song at the end of each episode. If anyone wants some free advertising, i'll show off whatever you guys got! I don't have any filters on what you submit, just PM me a lossless file and I'll put like a minute of the song at the end of my podcast.
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
Falk said:
Addictive Drums on the first two, FP2 was an electric kit into (I believe, I got bounced audio) Steven Slate drums
Click to expand...

Thanks again, I'll check them out (they're on sale too).

Sadsic said:
Hey just wanted to let you guys know -- I started a podcast, and I'm looking to put a different song at the end of each episode. If anyone wants some free advertising, i'll show off whatever you guys got! I don't have any filters on what you submit, just PM me a lossless file and I'll put like a minute of the song at the end of my podcast.
Click to expand...

This is really cool, hope people'll take advantage of it.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Hey guys.

I´m a professional composer and used ProTools and Logic my entire life.

I´m about to drop 8K on an new Mac, but just realized that I´m sort of fed up with Apple.

I could build a PC for 2K that would blow an 8K mac out of the water.

SO I MIGHT JUST DO THAT!

Platform switch would also mean DAW switch - scary, especially when your job depends on it.

What are my options, and have any of you made this switch?


EDIT: Checking out the Demo of Studio One right now and I can´t get a part to loop.

Scary.
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
GlamFM said:
Hey guys.

I´m a professional composer and used ProTools and Logic my entire life.

I´m about to drop 8K on an new Mac, but just realized that I´m sort of fed up with Apple.

I could build a PC for 2K that would blow an 8K mac out of the water.

SO I MIGHT JUST DO THAT!

Platform switch would also mean DAW switch - scary, especially when your job depends on it.

What are my options, and have any of you made this switch?


EDIT: Checking out the Demo of Studio One right now and I can´t get a part to loop.

Scary.
Click to expand...

You should try the VI-Control Forums as that site is specifically for composers and you'll probably get more mileage there than here.

I think I've seen a few people mention Cubase (Daniel James, Jason Graves?)
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
GlamFM said:
I´ve stepped away from the composer communities 10 years ago.

Just too annoying. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, I hope you enjoy a semi-dead community!
(hopefully you'll get useful input here).

I think most people here are amateur/hobbyist level (myself included) but there are a few professionals/people that work in audio for a living that post from time to time, so hopefully they can chime in.

I do, however, recommend you check out Cubase as I believe it has scoring tools/notation devices and I'm not sure the other popular DAWs (Ableton, FL Studio) have them. I think I've seen Alex Pfeiffer use Propellerhead's Reason on one of his older tracks too.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Kwansu Dudes said:
Well, I hope you enjoy a semi-dead community!
(hopefully you'll get useful input here).

I think most people here are amateur/hobbyist level (myself included) but there are a few professionals/people that work in audio for a living that post from time to time, so hopefully they can chime in.

I do, however, recommend you check out Cubase as I believe it has scoring tools/notation devices and I'm not sure the other popular DAWs (Ableton, FL Studio) have them. I think I've seen Alex Pfeiffer use Propellerhead's Reason on one of his older tracks too.
Click to expand...

That´s cool. From my experience amateur/hobby musicians are way more into new tech/software/plug-ins and what not than old ass composers who are happy enough when their stuff works.

I´m still using Logic Pro 9 for example...
 
K

Kwansu Dudes

Member
GlamFM said:
That´s cool. From my experience amateur/hobby musicians are way more into new tech/software/plug-ins and what not than old ass composers who are happy enough when their stuff works.

I´m still using Logic Pro 9 for example...
Click to expand...

Ha, fair enough. My DAW of choice is Image-Line's FL Studio and from my extremely limited time with Logic (this was an hour or two of use back in 2012-2013), they felt similar in terms of workflow. The developers are very active on the Image-Line Forums too.

If you don't mind me asking, could you post a link to your works or a PM? I don't think there are any composers here (mostly electronic-focused stuff) and it'd be nice to hear.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Kwansu Dudes said:
Ha, fair enough. My DAW of choice is Image-Line's FL Studio and from my extremely limited time with Logic (this was an hour or two of use back in 2012-2013), they felt similar in terms of workflow. The developers are very active on the Image-Line Forums too.

If you don't mind me asking, could you post a link to your works or a PM? I don't think there are any composers here (mostly electronic-focused stuff) and it'd be nice to hear.
Click to expand...

I work in Advertising, so most of my work is super, suuuuper boring.

However, here is some stuff I liked working on recently:

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1-nDZao98&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXCO0OQlHS4

EDIT: Bonus https://vimeo.com/172872936
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
GlamFM said:
Platform switch would also mean DAW switch - scary, especially when your job depends on it.

What are my options, and have any of you made this switch?
Click to expand...
I can deeply recommend Ableton Live for DAW. It's fast, easy to use, has a great interface and if you want to do some not too difficult programming there's Max for Live.

A trial is available: https://www.ableton.com/en/trial/
 
T

tanuki

Member
GlamFM said:
Platform switch would also mean DAW switch - scary, especially when your job depends on it.

What are my options, and have any of you made this switch?
Click to expand...

Cubase, I would say it has the most similar workflow to Logic (I use both).

Having said that, Logic Pro X is massive leap over 9. I'm a big fan of X.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
tanuki said:
Cubase, I would say it has the most similar workflow to Logic (I use both).

Having said that, Logic Pro X is massive leap over 9. I'm a big fan of X.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Checked out Presonus Studio One yesterday and thought it was OKish...

Biggest plus was the integration of Melodyne.

Hope VariAudio is just as good.

Downloading the Cubase Demo right now.
 
T

tanuki

Member
GlamFM said:
Thanks. Checked out Presonus Studio One yesterday and thought it was OKish...

Biggest plus was the integration of Melodyne.

Hope VariAudio is just as good.

Downloading the Cubase Demo right now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd love Melodyne to have native integration with all DAWs, I find myself just resorting to Logic or Cubase's built-in pitch correction because the workflow is faster. I would say VariAudio and Logic's Flex Pitch are about as good as each other, but don't quite sound as 'natural' as Melodyne.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
tanuki said:
Yeah, I'd love Melodyne to have native integration with all DAWs, I find myself just resorting to Logic or Cubase's built-in pitch correction because the workflow is faster. I would say VariAudio and Logic's Flex Pitch are about as good as each other, but don't quite sound as 'natural' as Melodyne.
Click to expand...

Never made the switch from 9 to PRO X, so I never used Flex Pitch.

PRO X was just different enough to ruin my workflow. Used it for once 2min Car Commercial and regretted it deeply.
 
V

v1oz

Member
GlamFM said:
Never made the switch from 9 to PRO X, so I never used Flex Pitch.

PRO X was just different enough to ruin my workflow. Used it for once 2min Car Commercial and regretted it deeply.
Click to expand...
Pro X is excellent and very stable now. Every DAW on the market has changed workflow at some point in time in order to improve things. We all have to embrace change. You should take the time to learn it.

As for building your new PC. You can still run Logic on it by making your build a Hackingtosh. There are several good guides to building hacktintoshs on the net.
 
C

csquared587

Member
I started off trying to make something more laid back and chill with the 7th chords and epiano sound, but I ended up recording a more aggressive drum track and bassline that I anticipated. I kind of liked the juxtaposition and kept it.

Any thoughts on this? From a musical or mix perspective? Hip hop instrumental btw. Also, first track completely done on my new Push 2, which is fantastic.

https://soundcloud.com/fivehandsmusic/new-city-dreams-1
 
clem84

clem84

Member
I've inquired about this elsewhere without much luck so I thought I'd ask here.

Any of you know a thing or two about e-drums? I have a small problem with a Roland PD-85 I just bought on Ebay. I bought two to be exact, and one of them isn't as responsive as it should be.

When I bought them, just by visually inspecting them, it was obvious that one of them hadn't gotten much use and was still in almost like new condition, while the other had considerably more millage. It's probably a few years older.

I just wanted to get opinions on this. Do you think the problem is the foam cone trigger? (I'm not even sure what that thing is called) Since that thing is made of foam, it might become a little stiff in time. Or do you think it might be the sensor itself? After seeing a few youtube videos, I'm leaning more toward this being the foam cone but I wanted to get opinions before I start searching for them.

I made a short video to illustrate the problem. The snare I've had for years. Works flawlessly. The two toms are the ones I received. The sound is kinda low in my video. You might need to raise the volume.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9jEnCIVCt8
 
T

The Kree

Banned
I've had similar issues with MPCs in the past where the pads weren't always making contact with the sensors beneath them unless they were hit hard. The default design was such that there's a very thin space between the pad and sensor. The solution to the problem was to place a thin slice of foam or cork between them so that the pad would trigger the sensor with even the slightest touch.

This might be your problem if the sensor itself isn't defective. Open it up, inspect it, try triggering the sensor without the foam cover on top of it.
 
G

Grokbu

Member
I am considering getting a DAW and making some music.

If I were to use some sample libraries and plugins, ones that I've bought and also free ones, to make songs; Are there any potential legal issues that could arise if I were to upload these songs for free? And what if I were to sell these songs?
 
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