We Make It Sound Distinct!
Today we discuss my thought process on plugin order. While there is no right or wrong way to organize the order of your plugins I typically follow a workflow that some may consider standard. I wanted to give some insight into my though process behind the order I typically follow when using plugins or processing.
Do you use audio normalization? If so, you might be making some small mistakes or not realizing what is actually happening. I personally hardly ever use audio normalization. Now there might be times when it can be handy. Although I work on music production, maybe if you’re in broadcast or other areas in the music space it can be a handy tool.
But for what I do, it’s not necessary. If you want to learn more be sure to check out the video on audio normalization.
Continue reading “Should You Normalize Audio Before Mixing? – Compression Versus Normalization”
What’s wrong with this waveform for mastering? This is a common music mastering problem that I see. Even though I give clients instructions I commonly find clients trying to send me MP3s, and or files with blown up waveforms. The problem with these files is there is no dynamics left and no headroom for me to work on your project.
I made this video to share what your waveform should look like before sending off to a mastering engineer.
Continue reading “Music Mastering Problems – What’s Wrong With This Waveform for Mastering?”
Today we discuss how to finish more music! This is often a problem for artists that get stuck in the motion of making loops and general ideas but never actually finish complete songs or have a hard time getting there. Some of these tips will help speed up your workflow, make things efficient and get you to the finish line faster so you do not have to waste time trying to do repetitive tasks and it will hopefully speed up your production process.
If you’re a new producer or an experienced producer looking for more workflow tips then be sure to check this video out!
Ever ask yourself is mastering necessary? Are you releasing tracks without professional mastering? Likely you won’t be getting the best results. For example, your tracks are likely not competing with other professional tracks on the market. Another example, your tracks might not be getting the polish and sheen they need to sound like a quality production. Check this video out for a quick look at what mastering can do for you!
In this video, I share a plug-in I use in every single one of my productions, the Fabfilter Simplon. It’s an easy intuitive filter plug-in that just gets the job done! I share the features of the plugin and a cool trick where I use dual filtering at the same time. If you need an easy plugin for filtering you need to check this plug-in out.
Continue reading “My Favorite Filter Plugin – Fabfilter Simplon”
In this video, we discuss the Universal Audio LA-2A compressor plug in collection. I go over all of the various units UA has to offer in the bundle and give some examples of what they sound like and their differences.
The LA-2A is on of my favorite compressors and I use it in almost every music production. They are fast, easy to use and intuitive. Although you don’t get much control like a normal compressor they have a distinct color and character t0 them that cannot be replaced.
Continue reading “UAD LA-2A Compressor Plug In Collection Explained”
Please do not send me MP3’s and learn why they are not good for mastering. I often get MP3s sent by clients for free samples and I decided to create this video to share why I will not master MP3s.
MP3s are heavily degraded in quality. First I quickly explain what an MP3 is with a Wikipedia definition. Then I go into what files are acceptable to send to me as an MP3. Lastly, I share how what happens when you convert to an MP3 with phase cancellation.
This is a perfect example of what happens every time you convert to an MP3 so imagine converting multiple times. You only want to convert to an MP3 once after the mastering stage. Check out the video to learn more.
In this video, I’m going to show you how I recently did a radio show for Pitch the Tempo using Ableton Live. The mix was planned out and completely mixed in Ableton Live mimicking elements of how I would DJ the music. By doing the show this way I was able to save a ton of time and make the project efficient, while still giving me a high-quality result.
Some might knock this stating it’s not live or its cheating. I’ve done all of it, multi-tracked mixtapes, live mixtapes and this just makes it easier. If you can’t do the mix live then it could be considered cheating. But these days with my busy schedule deadlines need to be met when projects are due. Anything that can help me speed up and make things more efficient is a handy time-saver, so if you’re curious, check out how I used Ableton Live to create this radio show and mimic my DJ playing.
I used to make a ton of DJ edits for club play. I would shorten songs up, re-arrange them and make them better suited for DJs to play and get in and out of songs quickly once the digital DJ era became a big thing. I was already a Pro Tools wizard so it was easy for me to use.
Today I share how you can use some of the amazing editing tools inside Pro Tools to create your own edits. I use a trick that I came up with for this edit as well that I have never done before so check out this video! Learning how to make your own DJ edits has never been so easy.