Think of any of your favourite techno tracks. What is the key to making them work so well? If you listen carefully, you will realize that the key elements are the kick and the bass. So a kick drum in a 4×4 pattern and a bass line. We keep it for 10 minutes and add …
We all know that feeling when we’ve created a great beat .. so we play it for a while and refine it over the next few days and somehow the power of it just ebbs away, somehow it feels like the magic spark has died. The track has slipped through your fingers and it’s lost …
Before the advent of the DAW musicians recorded rough “Demo” versions of their songs using a cassette or four-track machine. A musician would record many different rough versions of each song and then pick out the best parts from all of them to re-record in a professional recording studio. The Demo was a staple of …
Today the legendary drum machine turns 37! If you ever wondered about its origins, in this article we will tell you about them. We’ll also show you how to create a simple rhythmic pattern of the style of techno that made it most popular: the Detroit Techno. Being as well known as the TR-909 …
One of the most difficult stages of music production is doing a correct mix. However, a lot of problems come from overlooking one crucial step in the mixing process. One step that, at simple sight, may seem too simple and easy to do in order to remove it from your to-do list. We are talking …
Most synthesizers have envelopes with four sections or stages, called attack, decay, sustain, and release. You’ll often see these abbreviated as ADSR. You don’t hear the envelope directly — the synth uses the envelope’s shape to determine how one or more other aspects of the sound change over time. The envelope then modifies different parameters …
Sidechain compression is a topic most producers know: for example sidechaining a kick against a bass. However, you can sidechain for other effects too. How about an inline side-chained distortion on a kick’s reverb? These sidechain secrets help you create amazing unusual sounds. Get weird deep evolving sounds, kick drums, and self-sidechaining snares. Check it …
In part I we saw the most common types of waveforms an oscillator can have and now we are going to be giving some guidance on the type of waveforms to be chosen when creating a new synth instrument. CREATING INSTRUMENTS Before going into the particularities of using some waveforms or others when …
INTRODUCTION The other day, one of our Aulart students asked us a very interesting question: What wavesound should be used when creating different synth instruments? (leads, pads, basses, atmospheric sounds, plucks, etc) We are sure that many of us would love to have a clear guidance on what kind of waveform to start with …
In this article we are going to have a look at the role of compression in the process of mastering. We will do so from the perspective of well-known and experienced mastering engineer Robert Babicz, and will discover why and how he uses it. In order to learn more about this and other aspects on …
