Thought we could Benefit from a post centered around Sharin tricks of the Trade so here goes... I know this fits MTM criteria but since the CHOPS been Lessonbound for a solid coupla yrs it makes sense to me! Feel free to share advice, anecdotes, secrets etc.. To quote my fellow beatheads, steel sharpens steel!!!
I layer A LOT. From LOTS of different sources within the same beat! Now, as my source collection grows bigger, I find myself Wastin plenty time on revisitin samples I already used, sometimes abandonin beats cause I cant find that one sound to complete a piece... Miracle cure was right there all along tho - Ive recently started dedicatin whole sessions to choppin up 100s of records, savin Them to instrumentthemed sketches for me to pull up ina separate window when I need JUST THAT PIANO lol! Works wonders...
2. "keep it simple" In response to Reply # 0 Fri Sep-02-16 12:26 AM by liveguy
even just a few years ago, I was guilty of the over-do....
- Adding too much distracting shit (guilty) - over-effecting the hell out of elements within the beat (guilty) - doing un-needed changeups because some say a solid 4 to 8 bar seq is too repetitive (guilty) - gear lust...wasting time (learning new gear) and money (guilty)
So many more I could name....
So my "tips" 1. Don't overthink 2. Know when to stop 3. The drums are the foundation to your house (beat) 4. The mix is the deed to said house 5. Master the gear you have and ONLY upgrade when it will improve your workflow __
Last thing...and this has helped me a lot...I had to start forcing myself to do it...
Slow down....be patient and LISTEN to the whole song, DO NOT do the skip skip skip....
You sat down to hear a good clip to flip, might as well do yourself a favor and take the OPTIMAL piece(s).
^^this is lowkey HELLA important.
All I got.
We see through all that boo boo like it's ghost shit... (c) Quelle Chris
I need to start buildin my drums as the base, cause Them shits can never stand on they own two! Bugs me out everytime I wanna do a raw drum breakdown, and I start mutin tracks, everything falls apart...
5. "don't over-organize and don't amass too many bells n whistles" In response to Reply # 0
for a long time, i was guilty of just collecting garboons of my own samples and other assets that i might one day use, and organizing them all into an array of special folders etc
and also i was a junkie for collecting all kinds of software, vsts, effects, etc, etc
and then being super organized with the workflow
i find the more OCD i got, and the more hoarder-like i got, the more clogged up and stiff my actual creative process became. Same went for graphic design.
I now firmly believe its better to keep a small arsenal and go digging for anything else on the spot, because the chances are you won't even go to your old stash because you'll be inspired by some other shit you just heard or thought of anyway
Keep your process as fluid and simple as possible so you can focus on just being in the moment and actually breathing something genuine
Simplicity is also key in the final product. 9 times out of 10, we all tend to gravitate toward the simple dope beat vs the beat with a thousand effects, layers, tricks, etc. There are always exception to this.
Nah, I see what youre sayin in terms of overorganizin, could totally ruin the "spark", the in the moment creativity! For me, organizin is a conscious choice to remove myself of the thousands of beats and tens of thousands random samples scattered across multiple HDs... To start from scratch, BUT w the concentrates n essentials gathered in one place, to prevent me from gettin lost in my own vaults again LOL... It does hinder me tho, Havent taken time to let that creativity Breathe for a good month, but Im confident itll just return stronger when Im ready...
11. "lol...well and to your point, " In response to Reply # 7
every chef needs to have some herbs on hand and know what cabinet they're in. Having to go out to the store or the garden every time you realize you want some rosemary or whatever is also going to kill the ability to just flow and let the creativity run.
So SOME basic organization is definitely a good thing, so you have an arsenal when its time to get down...its all about finding that balance and not getting trapped in it.
6. "keep a bunch of drums :)" In response to Reply # 0
(1) have a nice palette of drums ready
(2) 50 hz tone trick - insert a 50hz tone on a track and gate it. bus your break (or other drum) to the track and have it open the gate. play with the gate settings and levels... voila instant (808 ish) thump but still the acoustic feel of a break
(3) arrangement arrangement arrangement... i try to keep all my sounds separate. i dont like taking loops that have a piano, vibraphone, bass, horn and drums in it... i wanna find all those sounds separately. also dont have your bass fighting the kick... the piano and an organ in the same register etc
(4) remember ultimately there are no rules...just guidelines
when i'm starting to mix... i insert a noise generator and pull up pink noise and set it around -8db
then i go thru the tracks one by one (only one track at a time and then mute) and level them so i can just hear the track poking over the pink noise...
do it separately to all your tracks... mute the pink noise and unmute the tracks = INSTANT BALANCE
pink noise is noise across the spectrum but it is curved basically the same way our hearing is...
so if u can hear your track (just hear it) and all based on the same standard it will be balanced
of course u will still move faders to taste but... its a great starting point... not to mention if u get a session with dozens of tracks
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