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-- What are some tips youve learned over the years that you still use daily?
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Don't keep a track just because it sounds good. If it doesn't fit the theme or context of the overall arrangement, it needs to go.

We make trance; reverb is our friend.

Also it's always the least noticeable parts of my tracks that make them stand out the most (usually atmospheric pads)

Bassline and percussion are the key to any dance track.

Higher/lower bpm doesn't mean faster/slower. I have made songs at 130 that have more drive than songs at 136.

Having s specific sound for your music is good; as long as you keep it fresh.

Using different arrangement styles on the regular is great; if not necessary.

Mute the whole song; bring up to 0db; then unmute and take off .5 db at a time until you hear what you want. It allows you to hear the dynamics you're allowing to breathe as you take the track away from 0db. It's not always about being as loud as possible without losing dynamics. Sometimes you'll go a step or two lower or higher because the song just sounds better that way.

quote:

Originally posted by mfitterer1 Higher/lower bpm doesn't mean faster/slower. I have made songs at 130 that have more drive than songs at 136.

This reminded me of something I do from time to time. If your drum line seems like it needs a bit more drive or is dragging at all, try pushing the snare just a tiny bit ahead of the rest of the beat. Just push it forward a very small amount, like 1/64, 1/128 or even 1/192. This can help to give the illusion of the track constantly pushing the tempo forward and can help to make a slower BPM seem a little faster.

mix at low volumes.
dont force anything into a track.
Believe in yourself.
timing is everything.
Always think of the listener AND the dancefloor when composing melodies, mixing, devloping arrangements.

quote:

Originally posted by derail Yes, there's no rule on minimum or maximum length of time. And it varies for a given producer, as well. Maybe they can get a song together in a day, do the finishing/polishing the next day, and it's done. Maybe next time they'll start a tune, and come back to it every now and then and let it slowly take shape. Fantastic songs have been made in a day or two. Fantastic songs have been made in a year or two. There are probably examples of fantastic songs being made in a decade or two, though we'd be talking about a different genre of music...

Its just for me personally, any track thats gone over a couple of days was never any good in the end :-/

quote:

Originally posted by Morvan Never forget the "question - answer" concept of music. (Simple example would be a verse ending before the new beat begins with a short guitar lick at the end) Most Trance just keeps stacking stuff up without considering this.

Sry I know I'm off when it comes to guitars and guitar playing, but whats a guitar lick?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox You know about as much about me as I know about your mother. And under that rationale I can call your mom a whore and be as right about her as you are about me. Yeh I made a thread about how to make a proper bassline. Thats what this forum is for you clown. And yes AGAIN I made a thread cause I couldn't install FL, because AGAIN dipshit, thats what this forum is for. ASKING QUESTIONS. The only question you won't see me asking, is why losers like you come into constructive threads like these to shit negativity everywhere. When a group of people walks into a party and some time passes there is always one person who can not have fun or be positive no matter how hard they try. And you will always hear something negative come out of their mouth like "this party sucks" or "this is boring" when in FACT, the truth is, they suck, and THEY are boring. The same way you came into this thread saying my advice sucks because in reality, YOU SUCK. Because if I went into one of your threads, and didn't like you, I wouldn't feel tempted to tell you your advice sucked unless I FIRST felt inferior to you in someway.

You speak the truth.

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 Its just for me personally, any track thats gone over a couple of days was never any good in the end :-/

In an interview steve lawler said the same, if after a few days its not working then leave it and start over.

As derail also said its preference to evereyone how long you take. I find I can get lots done in a day or so. Other times longer, much longer. But I do find it hard to start over after a few days, i usually keep going. most times that isnt always friutful.

Think I'm gonna take evo8's 2-3 day trick and see how it works out.

Don't get caught up on a track and then get frustrated when you can't get the mix right, can't get the sound you want, can't seem to finish it, etc. If you're struggling with and something isn't right just let it go and start something new. Before you know it you'll be wrapped up in the new track you won't even remember the old one, however you will remember the important things you did at least subconciously and use that in future tracks.

best tip I ever heard was from a magazine:

"Don't ever take your music making too seriously. Even in the slim chance you make it big, avoid getting too big for your own boots or you'll end up failing and/or looking absolutely ridiculous!"

quote:

Originally posted by music2dance2 In an interview steve lawler said the same, if after a few days its not working then leave it and start over.

That might help to explain why Steve Lawler's tracks are always so damn repetitive and boring.

But assuming you quoted him directly or at least reasonably accurately, there's a difference between "not working" and "not finished."

Leaving yourself a 2-3 day window or even a 2-hour window and throwing away whatever is done afterward is something I recommended a long time ago; it's a great way to practice and teaches a lot of important skills (specifically, focusing on getting things done instead of tweaking everything to subjective perfection, and not getting too emotionally attached to your own material). But you then apply these skills, not the time limit itself, to production tracks.

If you've been banging away on some project for a week and it still sounds awful and you're running out of ideas then yes, throw it away. But if during one of your 3-hour practice sessions you decide that you've got a perfect booty-shaker, then throwing it away after a few days because it's not done is just stupid.

You want to cut a lot in the early stages, and not demotivate yourself by forcing yourself to work on a project that's going nowhere, but once you've separated the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, you have to actually make the bread, finish the job. That part takes time.

dont be afraid to delete

after you've made a bassline, try shifting the whole thing left or right by a beat, 1/2 beat, what have you.
changes the feel and might be better than your original idea!

Heres a valuable tip I learned:

Make music that pleases, expresses, and relates to yourself instead of trying to please other people or record labels because there's always gonna be some who will dislike it and there will always be some who absoultey love it.

my 2cents.

Things I have learned recently

1) Mixing into a pre prepared mastering chain can give the benefit of knowing how it will sound as you create. (some dont like this and tbh i only just started) This allows you to pick sounds and set levels based on how it would sound compressed and exited etc

2) Apply low cuts to reverbs this has massively improved my sound but dont be too harsh. for example my label asked me to put some of the mud back in to my mix on my last track!

3) Get creative in your FX if you use pre-sets i do most of the time then think how can you change the sound. Would it be interesting with glitch set to reverse every 3rd beat of your plucks I like it?

4) Layer things got a slow piano? layer the melody with a bit crushed delayed distorted synth adds to the overall mood

5) Apply a cut of everything below 50hz we cant really hear it anyway and it removes some of the high energy speaker moving frequencies that cause mud. just try this go to your project and apply that cut on your master bus notice how your levels shoot up? thats because your song has more room.

6) Got nothing to do? go round to peoples myspace and offer remixes to people free of charge. I dont do this but i know a guy that built his reputation doing this and now he charges for remixes

7) I use this to make melodies play/write a little pattern into your seq based on a chord say A minor. Quantize it as you want it then copy it to the next bar and just change 1 or 2 notes up or down 1 or 2 semitones/tones remembering to keep it in key and do this 4 times. you now have a 4/8 bar melody

well thats a few tips i picked up last few weeks

when mixing,

you should have a reason for every decision. Listen , learn to pinpoint why the mix isn't working then take a course of action to solve the problem. Aimlessly tweaking is not a very successful approach unless i suppose you are starting out.

spend time listening to music. Take notes, listen actively.
Don't multi task. Do one thing at a time and do it properly.

Almighty, this thread FTW.

My workflow has improved recently from distinct separation of Producing&recording&sequencing / Mixing / Mastering. producing and sequencing into a "Static Mix" i.e. Everything fits musically, all breakdowns and pruduction related automations are in place, all the "ideas" are complete but everything sounds bunched together and muddy before you set one panner, eq, even compressor. Mixing so easily gets smashed in with production the way DAW's are today, it takes discipline to separtate the 2. mastering, if doing it yourself should be even further spearated, and avoided if possible.

I forgot another key thing I ALWAYS do. You should always work on 2 projects simultaneously. I'm sure you could do more but two is perfect for me.

The benefits of this should be plainly obvious.

what are the benefits ?
It doesn't seem obvious to me

quote:

Originally posted by mfitterer1 I forgot another key thing I ALWAYS do. You should always work on 2 projects simultaneously. I'm sure you could do more but two is perfect for me. The benefits of this should be plainly obvious.

Yeah I always work on many projects simultaneously, especially in the later stages as its important to get quick and fresh perspectives.

Send the instrument genres to separate busses, and soft-clip them all just a tiny bit. Then, REMOVE THAT MAXIMIZER PLUG-IN FROM YOUR MASTER CHANNEL. IT MAKES YOUR TRACK SOUND RIDICULOUSLY LOUD.

Sorry for the caps, had to let it go.

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo Send the instrument genres to separate busses, and soft-clip them all just a tiny bit. Then, REMOVE THAT MAXIMIZER PLUG-IN FROM YOUR MASTER CHANNEL. IT MAKES YOUR TRACK SOUND RIDICULOUSLY LOUD.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Simplify, simplify, simplify. And, ask yourself at every step, is this part or effect really contributing positively to my song? It's so easy to fall into the trap of doing certain things just for the sake of doing what you always do, without stopping to think about whether it's necessary or if something else would work better. Well, that's the case for me at least.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox You know about as much about me as I know about your mother. And under that rationale I can call your mom a whore and be as right about her as you are about me. Yeh I made a thread about how to make a proper bassline. Thats what this forum is for you clown. And yes AGAIN I made a thread cause I couldn't install FL, because AGAIN dipshit, thats what this forum is for. ASKING QUESTIONS. The only question you won't see me asking, is why losers like you come into constructive threads like these to shit negativity everywhere. When a group of people walks into a party and some time passes there is always one person who can not have fun or be positive no matter how hard they try. And you will always hear something negative come out of their mouth like "this pary sucks" or "this is boring" when in FACT, the truth is, they suck, and THEY are boring. The same way you came into this thread saying my advice sucks because in reality, YOU SUCK. Because if I went into one of your threads, and didn't like you, I wouldn't feel tempted to tell you your advice sucked unless I FIRST felt inferior to you in someway. Its that feeling of inferiority you felt when you read my thread, that made you feel THE NEED TO PROVE SOMETHING to me in the first place. You came into my thread to tell me you would never take my advice. But you did it because I somehow threaten you, and we've never spoke before. So that makes you 2 things. 1) a pussy 2) very insecure Now please, go eat a dick and have a nice day.

HAHA

The word "addition" is NOT a synonym of the word "tension"!

This is one mistake I make at least everyday.
Trance music follows an energetic flow of tension and release.

And a lot times when I'm trying to build an intro I will ADD new patterns to ADD tension because its the first thing my intuition always tells me to do.
Dropping patterns OUT of a mix to build tension is counterintuitive.

But it works equally and just as well as dropping patterns in. I also notice, it helps to break the boring traditional "add hat, add clap, add bass" concept of trance. And imo adds a nice competetive edge to a track.

But the idea is if you have a simple hat groove bringing the kick for the first 9 bars, instead of dropping a mid hat, or ADDING MORE SOUND, try changing the original hat pattern. Or throw the hat through some fxs, or even clone the hat and have one pan left as the other pans right and have them loop back and forth.

If you need to exercise the ability to do this, simply start REVERSING the way you do intros.
Start a track off with all the elements you would normally add in steps, and for each pattern change, drop out an element and change a pattern thats still playing so it builds tension. See if you can continue adding tension by actually reducing the sum total of notes played per bar.

If you start to incorporate this idea in your everyday studio time, you will begin noticing that your tracks just sound more original, because you're forcing yourself to think outside of tradition.

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