Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
SoundOracle.net
You know the sound! Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Gunna, Migos, they all have that gorgeous reverb that splashes the track every time they say an adlib.
It's actually a pretty easy sound to achieve too!
Just set a long decay time & set your pre-delay to be a 16th note.
We recommend syncing these two parameters to the BPM of your beat too!
If your reverb doesn't have tempo locking features built-in, it's just a simple math equation away!
Take 7,500 & divide it by the BPM of your song; this will give you a 32nd note.
For your pre-delay - time that number by 2 to get a 16th note.
For your decay time - time that number by 4 to get an 8th note.
You'll notice your adlibs instantly have that awesome splash that trap adlibs have become popular for!
We have lots of free tutorial videos about reverb on our YouTube channel too! Just go to SoundOracle's YouTube page & search for reverb in the "search" bar of our channel. You'll find tons of videos!
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SoundOracle.net
Beat block is an issue that lots of producers end up facing at some point. Luckily there are a few really great ways to beat it pretty fast!
1. Collaboration - This is our favorite way to conquer beat block & possibly one of the most effective ways with curing it for the long haul. If you collaborate with another producer, a singer, a rapper, or musician, you can feed off of their energy & it can spark new ideas almost instantly. This technique is almost fail-proof! It's great for creating new sounds that you may have not thought of before!
2. Loops from SoundOracle.net - Another great way to overcome beat block is using loops. Melodies & samples are good ways to get the creative mind flowing & most of our melody loop packs come with the MIDI information as well, so you can change patches & come up with your own sounds & arrangements instantly!
3. Listen to new genres or artists - Sometimes you just need a change of pace & new sonics. Checking out different genres can be a very tactful way to think of new melodies & rhythms. Plus, blending genres is such a dope way to come up with a new sound!
4. Make a folder of your own pre-made chords & melodies - This is one that you will need to do ahead of time when you're feeling extra creative one day, but all you have to do is make some 2-4 bar loops of your own. Usually, a chord progression & a melody line with some cool patches is more than enough & then you can move on to the next loop. On a day that you're struggling with beat block, all you have to do it pull up your own loop folder & you'll have tons of ideas that you already made! This technique is also very effective because you won't have to spend lots of time arranging & layering when you're making the loops. You'll be able to move on to the next idea pretty quickly!
5. Take a break - Believe it or not, stepping away for a little bit can make a big difference. Maybe you only need a 20-minute break with some fresh air or get your heart rate up, or maybe you need a full evening off with a good night's sleep. Either way, freeing your mind can be a healthy way to think of new ideas!
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Soundoracle.net
A common question a lot of engineers & producers have is whether they should normalize or not upon exporting?
The short answer is no.
The reason why we suggest avoiding normalizing is that you lose all of your headroom when you do this.
What normalizing is doing is it's taking the highest peak of your audio file & raising it to 0dB. It's also raising everything else by the same amount.
It does make the track louder; however, it can bring issues.
One big issue it can bring is if you're sending a stereo mix to a mastering engineer, normalizing it will take away all of the headroom. Mastering engineers need headroom to work.
Another issue is if you're sending track outs to your mix engineer. If you choose to normalize, each track's highest peak will be brought to 0dB & they won't have any headroom on any of the tracks. They can turn it down on their end, but it's just creating unnecessary work for everyone & it affects the quality too!
This brings us to our last reason to avoid normalizing your tracks. A lot of times raising your highest peak to 0dB with normalizing can cause quality issues such as clipping, crackling, distortion, & unwanted artifacts. Usually, tracks that have been normalized sound pretty bad.
If you're looking to raise the overall loudness of your track, we suggest using a limiter instead!
One reason why you may normalize though is if you need to raise the overall gain of a particular sample or stem. Especially when you're inside of a sampler or drum machine, but usually there are better ways to go about it.
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SoundOracle.net
Delays are always a great way to fill space, add emphasis, create bounce, or just add a cool vibe to your track!
So let's break down what some of the common parameters found on delays are!
Wet/Dry - This blends the processed signal with the dry signal. Basically, the delayed signal is blended with the non-delayed signal. If you're using your delay on an AUX track as a send & return, you will want to set this knob to 100%. In most cases, you will want to put your delay on an AUX track. That way you're not affecting your original signal & you can blend your delays in much better!
Time - This sets the value of time that it will take for your audio source to repeat. Most of the time you will want to set your delay to be in sync with the BPM of your song & you would just choose a note value. You can also set the time to the BPM with a simple math equation. Just take 7,500 & divide it by the BPM of your track. That will give you a 32nd note. Divide that number to get faster notes & time that number to get slower notes.
Tempo Lock - This parameter impacts the timing of your delay. It's pretty simple to use & most delays have this setting already engaged to lock in with your tempo. You will want this engaged when choosing a note value for your delay.
Feedback - This sets the number of times the echo will repeat. When set to 0, your audio source will only repeat once. The more you increase this knob, the more your audio will repeat. Be very CAREFUL with this knob though! Once you start to crank it too much, it can become very dangerous. You can create a feedback loop that can damage your speakers & your ears permanently!
Filters - This section will cut out the low & high frequencies of your audio track. This is another reason why it's best to use your delays on an AUX track. If it's on an AUX track, the filters won't affect the original audio signal & it will only be applied to the delayed signal. Filtering your delays can really help with fitting your delays into your mix better & avoiding clashing with your original source. They're also great for creating space & depth.
Mode - Another option you may run into inside of your delay plugin is a "mode" type. This is an area that will tell your delay what to do in the stereo field. The regular mode is telling your delay to stay down the middle. Ping Pong will bounce the delay back & forth between the left & right speakers.
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SoundOracle.net
Has this ever happened to you??
Odds are is when you layered the two kick drums, some phase cancelation happened a few times in your life.
This occurs when two waveforms are stacked on top of each other & the waves are exact opposites of each other.
What happens is the waves start to weaken each other's signal & if it's perfectly out of phase, the result will be silence.
It's a quick fix though! If you find your layer is not quite as strong as you thought it would be, just flip the phase on one of the samples & there is a good chance your layer will sound stronger!
Most EQ & utility plugins have a phase invert switch on them, so you will be able to do this in any DAW with most stock or 3rd party plugins.
Just locate the phase symbol that looks like this: ø
If you do a lot of layering or mix professionally, we recommend grabbing a phase alignment plugin sometime in the future. Our favorite is one by Sound Radix called "Auto-Align"
Most of the stock plugins will only allow you to flip the phase by 180º - the exact opposite of what it was.
This would work great if the phase was always off by 180º, but oftentimes that's rarely the case.
You will find that some layers may only be off by 40º or maybe by as much as 220º.
Phase alignment plugins will detect exactly how much the drum layer wave is out of phase from the other drum layer wave & change the phasing, so you're perfectly in phase.
The result: HUGE sounding layers!
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SoundOracle.net
Most modern vocals use some form of compression.
When mixing genres like Hip-Hop, Trap, Pop, & R&B, you will almost certainly be using a compressor on your vocals. Even if you adjust the clip gain throughout a given track (like we personally like to do)
When you ask an engineer or expert what settings they use to compress, the answer is usually "It depends on the track"🧐
Now, we do agree with this, but hey! There are some general guidelines & starting points that can be offered & helpful.
So these settings may not work in every mix, & you will usually find yourself making some adjustments to the settings, but this is definitely a great starting point & you won't be far off with them!
🎛️ 3:1 Ratio - This will reduce the gain coming out of the compressor by 3:1. So for every 3dB that goes in, it will be compressed down to 1dB.
🎛️ Fast Attack Time - This determines how fast the compressor starts to reduce the gain. Fast attack times work great for modern vocals because it keeps them locked in & tight.
🎛️ Fast Release Time - This determines how quickly the compressor will end the gain reduction. Fast attack times work well for modern vocals because it doesn't cause a "swelling" sound when the compression ends.
🎛️ Threshold - This setting will depend heavily on how loud the gain is on your track coming in, so because of that, it won't always be the same number you can set it at. BUT what you can do is adjust the threshold until you're seeing an average of 4-5dB in reduction on your meter.
🎛️ Makeup Gain - Adjust accordingly to bring back the gain you lost through compression.
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SoundOracle.net
So what is a write-off & how does it work? Is it money I get back like a 9-5 job does??
Write-offs are things like services, bills, & really any legit items you need to pay for in order to properly run your business.
At the end of each quarter & year, you will have to figure out how much you made for your business & how much you had to spend to run your business.
Usually, you will subtract how much you spent from how much you made & you will owe a percentage of tax of the remaining amount.
What the percentage is totaled is based on your state guidelines & the tax bracket you fall in. For a lot of people though it's 15.3%.
It's not free money you will get back exactly though. It doesn't work quite like tax season with a 9-5 job, because oftentimes when doing work-for-hire & self-employment gigs, taxes, SSI, & medicare are not being taken out of the money that is put into your methods you accept payment from.
Because of this, you will have to pay taxes directly to the IRS at the end of each quarter. If you were working a 9-5 job, your employer has been handling all of this in the background & you don't have to worry much about it. That's part of the trade-off when working for someone else business & brand; you get a certain sense of financial security & everything you owe to the government is taken care of for you for the most part.
Sometimes you may receive cash back though, but that's if you had a bunch of write-offs that exceed how much you made. Be careful though. If you set your write-off ups so the IRS is giving you money back each year, eventually they will audit you.
The write-offs you have for your business will drastically help lower what you owe each quarter. You may even find some quarters you owe little to nothing.
If you made more than $600 from a signal source in a given year, you will have to report that income.
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Compression is a great tool, but there are a few things to consider or watch out for.
1. Attack time is too fast on bus sum. For channels like drum sums & the master, fast attack times destroy transients.
2. The gain of the input signal is too low or too loud. Adjust the gain on your original track to get better results.
3. Too much gain reduction. If you compress your track too aggressively you will squash the life out of it.
4. Your makeup gain is too loud. Too much makeup gain can cause distortion. Adjust your channel volume too.
5. The track doesn’t call for any compression. Sometimes certain tracks are better off left alone!
Another compression gem is knowing when to compress versus when to automate the volume instead. Sometimes riding the channel fader is the best form of compression to use.
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Making templates & preset chains can save time & just make your overall workflow so much easier.
In Ableton, you can save a setting on any plugin to pull up as your default every time you load it up!
All you have to do is right-click the title bar of the plugin & select "save as default preset"
Some examples of things you may want to pull up as a default:
-A slight high pass filter on your EQ
-EQ set to M/S.
-For a glue compressor that you use on sums & master channels, setting a slow attack, medium release, & low ratio.
-Maschine or drum sampler plugin set with the channel/pad outputs lowered to avoid clipping & give your session headroom.
The possibilities are endless & choose the presets that you will use most often.
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Compressors & limiters have a lot in common, but also have big differences & are used in different situations.
The biggest difference comes down to the threshold.
On a compressor, the threshold determines the level at which the gain reduction will begin. When you set the threshold, any time your audio signal passes that threshold, the compressor will react & reduce the gain of the signal.
A limiter won't let the sound get any louder than the set threshold. This is how you can turn up the overall gain & avoid clipping & distorting. If you set the threshold to -1.00dB, the limiter will not allow the sound to go past -1.00dB no matter what you put into the limiter. This can cause things to be squashed, so be careful pumping too much into a limiter.
The ratio also has some differences between the two as well.
A compressor has a low ratio that turns down SOME of the volume when it goes above the threshold. A limiter has a huge ratio that turns down ALL of the volume that goes above the threshold.
When to use the two:
Compressor - is great to use when you're trying to control the dynamics of a track. A limiter would be too powerful for this situation & would squash the sound. Compressors can also be used to tame transients or "glue" the sound of tracks summed together.
Limiter - is great to use on a mix bus or master channel when you're trying to turn up the overall gain of a track without distorting it. A compressor would not be ideal for this because the makeup gain could cause clipping & distortion to the overall track.
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Be Different. Be Dope. Producer | Sound Designer for Timbaland and Polow Da Don
Credits: Jay Z, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Gucci Mane, Migos, Ne-yo, 50 Cent, Mario, Christina Aguilera, & more!
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