Every once in a while I like to post over here,enjoy the opportunity to get feedback from the regulars whose help over the last few months has been iinvaluable and the sense of.being part of a larger community of people focused on the same things I'm developing an approach to...makes the often-overwhelming process of figuring out how to do things a lot less confusing and more about getting the results I'm after.....
Recently I've been using the "search" function to access the vast database of knowledge this site actually contains..typing in some of the aspects of the overall recording/production process I'm interested in knowing more about and reading threads going back 10-15 yrs where people have asked about the same things I'm dealing with and getting a chance to see what the replies were-amazing how much info is over here ..found some really good itips about.panning/stereo field approach/.
compression/kick drum sound etc...
After about 6 months of focusing intensively on making tracks I'm starting to see
my efforts pay off and think things are gradually sounding more like I want them to and less like
"beginner efforts"w/strong aspects combined w/things that make them subject to redoing instead of being marketable,viable tracks ...
Initially despite my intentions I kept getting the end result of a track that had 90% of what I was looking for and 10% of something that I'd done and couldn't fix without dismantling the whole thing and starting over...(which I actually did with one of them..)
What I eventually realized and set up as a rule of thumb is my approach to the following which invariably occurs-
Something like-
the sound of a given instrument or the sync between the drum track anf the other instrumental parts
which "still isn't what I want" but-
"I've spent a lot of time on it already and don't want to deal with it anymore"/"want to get to the next step"/"finish this track and get to the next"/that's enough of hearing it over and over"/"I have too much material to record"etc etc...
.
and
"maybe I can fix it later or compensate for it by adding something"
are all the kind of faulty thinking processes behind ending up getting to the mastering stage with the situation of a track that has this kind of "built-in glitch" negating it's overall musicality-
when just retracking it/taking the time to figure out what's needed to get the given situation resolved would have eliminated the problem at the outset....
Coming from a background in instrumental performance /being an improvising soloist,I've had to widen my internal skill set to make the transition to being a recording engineer/home studio musician producing complete tracks, which meant that the kind of "practice a lot then just go and play" (without having to deal w/all the things involved in my current focus)internalized concept had to be reset to get the results intended..
Things like getting a specific kind of groove for a given track which originally was established by live recording of great studio players in the 60's/70's like "The Wrecking Crew"/TSOP/The Funk Brothers-Motown/Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section etc using synthetic means isn't easy and requires the inner mindset of focusing on getting the track to sound like it should as a priority instead of other factors being prioritized( as described above..)....although I keep telling myself "I can play this kind of rhythmic feel,why am I going through so many changes trying to get it right"I have to remember that I'm working w/elements of " cold inhuman" technology instead of playing it live and while I can use my developed sense of whether it sounds like it should or not to gauge the results I'm getting simultaneously I have to have the pateince needed to work with things until they're not just" good enough" but exactly right timewise...
What I've found works and is a big part of getting things to have the kind of rhythmic impact and effect
heard in the reference tracks I use instead of sounding mechanical,out of sync and "off" is to combine analytical-listening-reactive correcting of locations where individual elements are slightly out of sync leading to a negation of the overall "dancability"as well as editing the kick drum part which I have a tendency to use a lot more than is heard in the material I listen to..
.I set up the beat tracks for the basic riffs I used to make these tracks before developing them with additional rhythmic parts and invariably the kick drum is playing the same hits as another instrument in the rhythmic structure....by editing the kick down to a more sparse usage where just accents are played, as well as eliminating one of the 2 kick tracks so things that are secondary are at a lower volume.I've found the track as a whole "can breathe better",doesn't sound like things are "being stepped on",much like where you move some of the wood on top of a campfire that's starting so the air can get to it instead of it being suffocated...
In the beginning stages I spent lot of time focused on EQ'ng things across the board -drum kit components/percussion as well as different keyboards/pad and bass sounds,along w/developing an approach h to using compression....fortunately now I have a bunch of go-to settings written down and compiled in a notebook I can quickly access and tweak to get a given sound for each situation-so the overall process of putting a track together is much more streamlined and less time consuming/patience trying....meaning I can focus on the musical elements of things more than getting bogged down in minute technical details...
As a way of countering the fallout from overfocus on one song/repeated listening leading to a reactive aversion to hearing it again instead of being able to be actively into working on it from start to finish, I 've instituted things like working on a putting together a few different kinds of songs at the same time.so I can switch focus when necessary....as well as getting away from the whole recording process and just working on things at the keyboard-technical stuff or other things I'm practicing as part of the instrumental focus needed to keep up a decent level of "chops"so I can lay down these tracks successfully.....another thing I do is- once a song is finally mixed down the way I want,I put it aside to come back to and master at a later date...
The juxtaposition of being a perfectionist w/an invested ego tied to the results I get along w/being someone who hasn't been involved in recording long enough to be able to get things right without a lot of effort/time/study means I have to both give myself a break when things get difficult,step back and work on something else for a minute,as well as.continue pushing forward to get these songs to be the kind of material that is marketable instead of what you submit to people who you pay to tell you why they're not...
Again thx to everyone over here that goes out of their way to give the kind of expert advice/tips people like myself have really benefitted from...
Recently I've been using the "search" function to access the vast database of knowledge this site actually contains..typing in some of the aspects of the overall recording/production process I'm interested in knowing more about and reading threads going back 10-15 yrs where people have asked about the same things I'm dealing with and getting a chance to see what the replies were-amazing how much info is over here ..found some really good itips about.panning/stereo field approach/.
compression/kick drum sound etc...
After about 6 months of focusing intensively on making tracks I'm starting to see
my efforts pay off and think things are gradually sounding more like I want them to and less like
"beginner efforts"w/strong aspects combined w/things that make them subject to redoing instead of being marketable,viable tracks ...
Initially despite my intentions I kept getting the end result of a track that had 90% of what I was looking for and 10% of something that I'd done and couldn't fix without dismantling the whole thing and starting over...(which I actually did with one of them..)
What I eventually realized and set up as a rule of thumb is my approach to the following which invariably occurs-
Something like-
the sound of a given instrument or the sync between the drum track anf the other instrumental parts
which "still isn't what I want" but-
"I've spent a lot of time on it already and don't want to deal with it anymore"/"want to get to the next step"/"finish this track and get to the next"/that's enough of hearing it over and over"/"I have too much material to record"etc etc...
.
and
"maybe I can fix it later or compensate for it by adding something"
are all the kind of faulty thinking processes behind ending up getting to the mastering stage with the situation of a track that has this kind of "built-in glitch" negating it's overall musicality-
when just retracking it/taking the time to figure out what's needed to get the given situation resolved would have eliminated the problem at the outset....
Coming from a background in instrumental performance /being an improvising soloist,I've had to widen my internal skill set to make the transition to being a recording engineer/home studio musician producing complete tracks, which meant that the kind of "practice a lot then just go and play" (without having to deal w/all the things involved in my current focus)internalized concept had to be reset to get the results intended..
Things like getting a specific kind of groove for a given track which originally was established by live recording of great studio players in the 60's/70's like "The Wrecking Crew"/TSOP/The Funk Brothers-Motown/Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section etc using synthetic means isn't easy and requires the inner mindset of focusing on getting the track to sound like it should as a priority instead of other factors being prioritized( as described above..)....although I keep telling myself "I can play this kind of rhythmic feel,why am I going through so many changes trying to get it right"I have to remember that I'm working w/elements of " cold inhuman" technology instead of playing it live and while I can use my developed sense of whether it sounds like it should or not to gauge the results I'm getting simultaneously I have to have the pateince needed to work with things until they're not just" good enough" but exactly right timewise...
What I've found works and is a big part of getting things to have the kind of rhythmic impact and effect
heard in the reference tracks I use instead of sounding mechanical,out of sync and "off" is to combine analytical-listening-reactive correcting of locations where individual elements are slightly out of sync leading to a negation of the overall "dancability"as well as editing the kick drum part which I have a tendency to use a lot more than is heard in the material I listen to..
.I set up the beat tracks for the basic riffs I used to make these tracks before developing them with additional rhythmic parts and invariably the kick drum is playing the same hits as another instrument in the rhythmic structure....by editing the kick down to a more sparse usage where just accents are played, as well as eliminating one of the 2 kick tracks so things that are secondary are at a lower volume.I've found the track as a whole "can breathe better",doesn't sound like things are "being stepped on",much like where you move some of the wood on top of a campfire that's starting so the air can get to it instead of it being suffocated...
In the beginning stages I spent lot of time focused on EQ'ng things across the board -drum kit components/percussion as well as different keyboards/pad and bass sounds,along w/developing an approach h to using compression....fortunately now I have a bunch of go-to settings written down and compiled in a notebook I can quickly access and tweak to get a given sound for each situation-so the overall process of putting a track together is much more streamlined and less time consuming/patience trying....meaning I can focus on the musical elements of things more than getting bogged down in minute technical details...
As a way of countering the fallout from overfocus on one song/repeated listening leading to a reactive aversion to hearing it again instead of being able to be actively into working on it from start to finish, I 've instituted things like working on a putting together a few different kinds of songs at the same time.so I can switch focus when necessary....as well as getting away from the whole recording process and just working on things at the keyboard-technical stuff or other things I'm practicing as part of the instrumental focus needed to keep up a decent level of "chops"so I can lay down these tracks successfully.....another thing I do is- once a song is finally mixed down the way I want,I put it aside to come back to and master at a later date...
The juxtaposition of being a perfectionist w/an invested ego tied to the results I get along w/being someone who hasn't been involved in recording long enough to be able to get things right without a lot of effort/time/study means I have to both give myself a break when things get difficult,step back and work on something else for a minute,as well as.continue pushing forward to get these songs to be the kind of material that is marketable instead of what you submit to people who you pay to tell you why they're not...
Again thx to everyone over here that goes out of their way to give the kind of expert advice/tips people like myself have really benefitted from...
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