Post your favorite production tricks!

  • Thread starter Thread starter rpc9943
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Kevin DeSchwazi said:
What's a binaural head? (sorry, if I don't ask I stay stupid)

Thanks

i'm pretty sure its like a continuum transfunctioner :]
 
A binaural head is a device designed to mimic the human head and ears in its pickup pattern. Typically they have a more-or-less "head" shaped piece that has mics in the ear canals. Supposed to be the cat's appendix for headphone listeners.
 
lpdeluxe said:
A binaural head is a device designed to mimic the human head and ears in its pickup pattern. Typically they have a more-or-less "head" shaped piece that has mics in the ear canals. Supposed to be the cat's appendix for headphone listeners.

:eek: That means we're (gulp!) ALL binaural heads!* Now if I could just get my SPDIF/brain interface working!



*except those with hearing loss in one or more ears, of course. Other exclusions apply.
 
I have drum programming tips galore here.

Couple others...

With vocals, lots of people like to double or triple track. I like to do this in a big pop chorus, but then do the following to the additional tracks:
1. remove plosives and other consonants that might flam
2. line up all the syllables
3. eq most of the high end out
4. Squash the crap out of them
5. put a nice quarter, dotted quarter, or half note delay mixed in subtly.
6. If I have more than one double, pan each one equally a little bit right and left.

Sometimes I might get a nice rich string sound and double the vocal in unison, up or down an octave, or some combination of those, then vocode the string patch with the lead vocal. Mix it in subtly. Makes a HUGE vocal sound for those anthem-style pop choruses.

And when it comes time to mix, HPF's are your friends. If it's not a bass or a kick, it gets one.

Of course, you may want to listen to my mediocre mixes before taking too much of my advice ;)
 
John, I'll take this opportunity to thank you for the useful information posted elsewhere concerning error-free CDRs. I just installed my Plexor Premium (with the trick software that allows me to see just how shabby my Nero'd CDRs are) and I'm waiting on CD Architect. Thanks for sharing the wisdom.

John
 
lpdeluxe said:
John, I'll take this opportunity to thank you for the useful information posted elsewhere concerning error-free CDRs. I just installed my Plexor Premium (with the trick software that allows me to see just how shabby my Nero'd CDRs are) and I'm waiting on CD Architect. Thanks for sharing the wisdom.

No problemo, dude. Once I got that stuff installed and got the hang of it, it was a no-brainer. As far as I can tell, every other CD-R drive on the market should be thrown into a pile and burned. :eek:
 
** record acoustic guitar under distorted guitar (not obscure by any means).
** using tamborine on snare hits and bury it low in the mix (pretty common)
** I've got a telephone booth in my basement/studio, I put a 4050 in the phone booth and 2 rooms away I beat the hell out of a Firgidaire Food Freezer with a Tamborine and threw a bunch of verb on it, then tracked it again for stereo....
** I've been naughty and have been tracking alot of doubled bass (both panned at 12 Oclock)....kinda sounds like a fretless to me with the phase issues. Shame on me.
 
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lpdeluxe said:
John, I'll take this opportunity to thank you for the useful information posted elsewhere concerning error-free CDRs. I just installed my Plexor Premium (with the trick software that allows me to see just how shabby my Nero'd CDRs are) and I'm waiting on CD Architect. Thanks for sharing the wisdom.

John

Would you kindly share where the information is posted so I can be better informed also.

Thank You

http://www.massivemastering.com/html/disc_errors.html
 
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Phosphene said:
**
** I've got a telephone booth in my basement/studio, I put a 4050 in the phone booth and 2 rooms away I beat the hell out of a Firgidaire Food Freezer with a Tamborine and threw a bunch of verb on it, then tracked it again for stereo....


What??

OK...I put my MXLv67 in a shoebox in my bathroom and locked the door. And then I walked a few houses down and blasted an air horn then shot myself in the head with a 9mm. Talk about a dope track

-Ben
 
OK...I put my MXLv67 in a shoebox in my bathroom and locked the door. And then I walked a few houses down and blasted an air horn then shot myself in the head with a 9mm. Talk about a dope track

I only did it twice, so it's really not a trick, just a lucky mutation....I'll be sad when I move...I'll sure miss that booth.

How did your song make out? What pre did you use? I bet you had the gain really cranked.
 
As a learner, If I had to name one thing which has significantly improved the resuts i get personaly over the past year or so, it would have to be routinely doubling up on the guitar parts. I love it. really seems to bring things to life when they're double tracked and panned.

After that, it would be compression, but I'm still learning on that front.
 
Iv'e been tracking my guitar parts with an old pair of headphones plugged into the headphone jack on my little 20w Marshall valvestate amp with an sm58, ball shoved into the earcup and duct taped in. Amp is cranked :D
 
rpc9943 said:
Reverse ghost effect. A typical effect used in bands such as Tool (I don't personally like them). Simply done by reversing a wav, then adding reverb or echo effects, then reversing the wav back. I find this tool can be used in many different areas.

Stupid question... What does adding reverb to a reversed wav do that would be different than applying reverb to the original wav? Can you site any specific parts of a Tool song as an example of this technique?

Thanks,
Mumbus
 
Mumbus said:
Stupid question... What does adding reverb to a reversed wav do that would be different than applying reverb to the original wav? Can you site any specific parts of a Tool song as an example of this technique?

Thanks,
Mumbus

I haven't actually heard the effect, but what would happen is when the wav is un-reversed, the reverb or whatever would occur before the sound instead of after it. Sounds interesting.
 
Doubling effect for synthesizers:

Clone a MIDI track, and play back both tracks.

This is very simple, and creates a much different sound than if you record the synthesizer as an audio track, and apply doubling effects.

I recently used it on my Roland XP-60 for the piccolo track (yes, I used a piccolo sound), and it made some very interesting harmonics, and even changed the dominant harmonic on some passages, changing the octave in a similar sounding way as real wind instruments.
 
If your using soundfonts or synths in the mix, clean them up with EQ. You'd be surprised at things lurking below 250Hz that you just don't need from cymbals, toms, whatever. They just cloud a mix and make the low end indistinct.
 
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