Even though I would usually never add effects, and would generally advise against it, to be fair to the people who gave so-called bad advice, the OP posted a very general question. I, and many others posted general answers. That doesn't necessarily mean the advice given is bad.

Many samples from dance cd samples are already heavily processed, I personally do not find a reason to EQ or compress. I do compress/eq or do both to tame a hot frequency, but sometimes your ears might be fooling you, and sometimes it's the sample itself that is the problem. Sometimes the said sample just isn't right for the arrangement as a whole. I might add stereo enhancing effects to some percussions, but you really have to know what you are doing and what your plug-in does or you might end up with phasing problems. I do edit my samples, usually the ADSR volume envelopes for them. I usually pan my hats, and I adjust the overall volume to all my percussions and I base it around my kick's overall volume. And like others said, pick the right samples, i think there is a general consensus amongst producers about this.

And you also shouldn't think of parts of your songs as parts, just think of them as part of a whole. You'll come into a case where the percussions are good but do not mesh well with the other parts of the song so the percs don't sound pro in that context.

Last edited by -FSP- on Jun-12-2010 at 19:51

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux If that's where your own advice has taken you, I wouldn't take it.

but its the correct advice

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quote:

Originally posted by evo8 but its the correct advice

+1. not sure why people are trying to say in this thread to "do this, this, and that to get good percussion." it really all depends on your ears and what fits in the track as well as your own creativity. Everyone does things differently, find out which way works for you.

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quote:

Originally posted by meriter Your primary focus should be making good music. That's all. No one gives a shit how you do it. And the people that do are fags.

quote:

Originally posted by Nightshift +1. not sure why people are trying to say in this thread to "do this, this, and that to get good percussion." it really all depends on your ears and what fits in the track as well as your own creativity. Everyone does things differently, find out which way works for you.

"Everyone does things differently"

..really? Why does 95% of trance sound the same then?

You ever been trained by a golf trainer? He'll show you how to hold the club right, to keep your head down, and other more sensitive things that can take time to understand.

But HE STILL GIVES YOU a general direction.

Kit basically said, "pick the right sound", I'm sorry but I still stick to that being horrible advice.
Imagine if a golf trainer told you to "pick the right ball" I'd think he was half way retarded.

Now explain to me how thats different from music. Because its some exotic and creative art that can't be explained? Kit basically explained nothing, and insulted comments that weren't quite as bad as his.
Give me a fucking break we have half of most threads in this forum polluted with nonsensical random banter. He could have gave his advice and kept his mouth shut about the quality of other peoples posts.

That only shows the true quality of his character imo. And who the fuck is he, or anyone else on this forum who thinks they can judge other people when they have no sense of self awareness themselves. Thats all I'm saying. Later.

Robby I dont know about you but I've sat in studio or bedroom or whatever with many producers and also have collaborated with many producers and watched enough displays of how "pro" producers make their tracks, and yes everyone does things differently, even if by slightly. You'd be suprised by the vast amount of methods there are to achieve similar results.

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quote:

Originally posted by meriter Your primary focus should be making good music. That's all. No one gives a shit how you do it. And the people that do are fags.

quote:

Originally posted by Nightshift Robby I dont know about you but I've sat in studio or bedroom or whatever with many producers and also have collaborated with many producers and watched enough displays of how "pro" producers make their tracks, and yes everyone does things differently, even if by slightly. You'd be suprised by the vast amount of methods there are to achieve similar results.

They are still doing the same things differently. They might be using a different synth or fx but they're still using primarily saws for mids and sines for subs. Hi pass and low pass sweeps. Fast hitting percussion. Noise sweeps and lfos. They might be tweaking a certain frequency a db less, or have a special technique or two that noone knows about, but the end results are still sounding predictable.

kick percussion > build > drop bass > build > break > drop synths & or pad > etc > etc > etc > crashes > snares > blah blah blah

I realize aspects will be different but trance is still the same effect. Take a bunch of sounds and repeat them over and over into massive breaks and scorching synth lines and than bring the beat back.

If you focus on trance from an atomic level, than yeh you might see some more variations analyzing every parameter involved. But if you focus on the more general fundamentals like what makes a good mix, most people are trying to find out the same things.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox They are still doing the same things differently. They might be using a different synth or fx

This is exactly my point. So telling someone to use so-and-so plugin or use so-and-so method to get "good sounding" percussion is almost pointless because it might not even be the sound they want. So that comes back to what kit and multiple people said in this thread about choosing the right sounds, and choosing the right sounds depends on your ear's development, and your ear's development depends more or less on your experience, to some it may come more naturally. OTOH, making percussion interesting and tasteful is all on you and your own creativity.

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quote:

Originally posted by meriter Your primary focus should be making good music. That's all. No one gives a shit how you do it. And the people that do are fags.

You heard the rest now hear it from the best! (and i don't even use FL)
Download some free Roland TR-808, TR-909 and TR-606 drum kits and your set!

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Originally posted by Pagan-za Fighting online is like winning the special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded.

+1 on 808 and 909 samples. it covers alot really.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox They are still doing the same things differently. They might be using a different synth or fx but they're still using primarily saws for mids and sines for subs. Hi pass and low pass sweeps. Fast hitting percussion. Noise sweeps and lfos. They might be tweaking a certain frequency a db less, or have a special technique or two that noone knows about, but the end results are still sounding predictable. kick percussion > build > drop bass > build > break > drop synths & or pad > etc > etc > etc > crashes > snares > blah blah blah I realize aspects will be different but trance is still the same effect. Take a bunch of sounds and repeat them over and over into massive breaks and scorching synth lines and than bring the beat back. If you focus on trance from an atomic level, than yeh you might see some more variations analyzing every parameter involved. But if you focus on the more general fundamentals like what makes a good mix, most people are trying to find out the same things.

This certainly applies if you're listening to music that all sounds the same like.... trance for example.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox "Everyone does things differently" ..really? Why does 95% of trance sound the same then? You ever been trained by a golf trainer? He'll show you how to hold the club right, to keep your head down, and other more sensitive things that can take time to understand. But HE STILL GIVES YOU a general direction. Kit basically said, "pick the right sound", I'm sorry but I still stick to that being horrible advice. Imagine if a golf trainer told you to "pick the right ball" I'd think he was half way retarded. Now explain to me how thats different from music. Because its some exotic and creative art that can't be explained? Kit basically explained nothing, and insulted comments that weren't quite as bad as his. Give me a fucking break we have half of most threads in this forum polluted with nonsensical random banter. He could have gave his advice and kept his mouth shut about the quality of other peoples posts. That only shows the true quality of his character imo. And who the fuck is he, or anyone else on this forum who thinks they can judge other people when they have no sense of self awareness themselves. Thats all I'm saying. Later.

No advice I could ever give would be as bad as "strap on a limiter and lower the cieling than pump the gain as high as you can go". My advice wasn't bad, it just required you to do a bit of thinking for yourself. Obviously you're not very good at that.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux If that's where your own advice has taken you, I wouldn't take it.

We'll see where my advice takes me. I'm actually pretty happy with a lot of my tracks at the moment. I noticed that you didn't really offer any advice yourself, and don't generally contribute that much at all. Feel free to offer someone some help on occasion. And also feel free to show some guts and actually post your stuff. Or is it so shit that you're only happy to insult other people's work?

There are honestly so many fuckwits on this forum. As much as I find RichieV pretty despicable for the way he's gone on, I can see why he keeps leaving. Of course, he also keeps coming back, probably because this entire forum has become a sort of trainwreck where you can't look away. Between the arrogant (Richie) the bigoted (robby) the ignorant (too many to list) and the boring, I think this forum offers less and less every day.

I think I need to produce more and talk less. Producing good tracks and getting releases on labels is what counts, not debating pointless shit with etards on the interwebs.

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Last edited by kitphillips on Jun-13-2010 at 13:00

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips We'll see where my advice takes me. I'm actually pretty happy with a lot of my tracks at the moment. I noticed that you didn't really offer any advice yourself, and don't generally contribute that much at all. Feel free to offer someone some help on occasion. And also feel free to show some guts and actually post your stuff. Or is it so shit that you're only happy to insult other people's work? There are honestly so many fuckwits on this forum. As much as I find RichieV pretty despicable for the way he's gone on, I can see why he keeps leaving. Of course, he also keeps coming back, probably because this entire forum has become a sort of trainwreck where you can't look away. Between the arrogant (Richie) the bigoted (robby) the ignorant (too many to list) and the boring, I think this forum offers less and less every day. I think I need to produce more and talk less. Producing good tracks and getting releases on labels is what counts, not debating pointless shit with etards on the interwebs.

WTF do you care what I think if you're happy?

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.