I add reverb and delay to add some space, compression to make it sound more solid without super high transients (unless i want super high transients), saturation to add extra harmonics, chorus/flanger/bit reduction/distortion/panner/ depends on what I want
then i almost all the time add extra layers to make sounds more epic, bigger with almost with the same chain of processing and then i group them and to some more processing on the group channel, like EQ, compression - to glue everything so they will sound like one sound, filters to control freq with automations and compressor to sidechain.
But I end up having several overprocessed synths rather than one big synth.
It not about leads only

The problem is not that I don`t know how to use plug-ins or what they do, the problem is that I don`t know does this particular sound need this processing and if yes, how much, apart from roll off the lows.
When I watch some tutorials on youtube guys are like: let`s take a kick. sounds bad (first of all, why this kick sounds bad, how to tell that this is bad kick, this is good one? Its a question not to you, but to myself, but I have no answer), let`s add some compression and he adds it with some subtle settings, like 1.3:1 ratio and -5 threshold and I hear no difference at all, but the guy says something like: yeaah, now it sounds very good. Or boosting around 2k on EQ about 0.3 db and says yeah, now it sounds better, but I hear no difference, thats why my EQs usually are extreme because this is how I hear the difference.
For example if I boost for 5 dB I hear the difference but it sounds bad, this freqs sound too loud if its lower than 5 dB then there is no difference and I don`t get the sound which I want.
I hope you understand what I wanted to say

 

You see... commitment and patience are 2 very hard things to cope with in a complex process of creating/achieving something, especially musical.

But if you really want to take things to the next level and to turn this into a living someday, you have to combine commitment + patience + tenacity + persistence. That's the "shake" of skills which sets apart the actual established artists from the "sidelines" crowd and amateurs.

Don't you ever say "this is not for me" in your head until you milk out the combination of all those things mentioned above. Push through that feeling, stop from time to time when you feel you're going in a wrong/pointless direction and sip a big mouthful of oxygen and recap and go back to the initial idea you had in your head, try to re-imagine it as a "remembering" attempt, form that clear image of the end result in your head and somehow you'll find a way to get that piece to a finished destination.

 

making music like making a dinner, do not stop just cut some carrot, do what you can and ask someone for help, you dont need to do everything by yourself.

 

Ask anyone musician that has LP's or CD's to their credit the same question.
"If you were to do them now, would you do it differently?"

The answer will vary slightly, but we each can only do what we think is right for the time and no matter what anyone says, we will always be our own worst critics. There will always be something we could have added or subtracted, written in, played better, played faster, slower or tidier..... so on and so forth.
This is growth and part of the learning on each of our unique journeys.

So where do you draw the line? That answer is different for everyone but one thing is for sure, there has to be a point where you can ask yourself: "If I heard this in ten or twenty years time, could I say it was good for its time?"
If the answer is yes, then it is done.

P.S - If there is nothing on it that makes you want to shrink to the size of an ant every time you hear it then it's probably good enough. There would be no "REMASTERED" versions of anything if the possibility to improve sound was not there. It is technically, never finished, something can always be done differently or better.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 10, 2018

My 2c...

In this digital age, we suffer from a problem of "too much"... We have thousands of Kick, Snare and Hi Hat samples... and can spend hours and hours just sifting through what we have to reach at the "right" kick... It is the same with FX plugins... we literally have millions of permutations that could possibly work for the track we are making. This leads to far more time spent in "Sound design" rather than making real music.

Just 2 decades ago some awesome music was being produced with only 4 guys playing 1 instrument each... much less choice and much more music ... and so much brilliant music.

So, as a work around, what you could do is approach the music making process with a very constrained set of tools... Before you begin, set yourself these boundaries -

1. Only X number of tracks in the song.I suggest a number less than 12 to begin with.
2. Only use samples from a particular set or pool. Don't go sample surfing on your HDD.
3. Only 3 or 4 FX plugins... choose the most commonly used ones and stick to those.
4. While composing do not worry about sound/fx/etc. Let the composition process be dirty and unruly... you can clean it up later.
5. If you play a musical instrument, try to come up with some kind of structure/ melody/ phrases without relying on your computer.

And finally, I'd like to add... the music making game takes years of practice to get good at... never ever give up...never let frustration get the better of you ... and share your music here so others like us can hear it and give you educated opinions and words of encouragement.

Happy musicing!!!

 

When the Label stops your budget.

 

I sympathize with you. These guys seem to have the abilities of a bat!! .... or they're just pulling our leg.

 

It is a good thing, especially in the arts, to aim to become a professional. On your journey you will "learn" either by training or making your own mistakes. If you have a standard to aim for, your journey will be easier.

1. The work of the artist is never finished. You eventually realise that all you have to do is get the work up the point of "good enough".
2. The problem with professionals is that they all realise that all they have to do is get their work up to the point of "good enough"

 

​

This is one of my posts in another thread and it relates exactly to what get frustrating in your case (see the bold highlighted part):

Also when I say “It sounded like I was sitting inside a Phaser plug-in right in the middle of it’s 100% wet value lol. I swear they all sounded so bad that I ended the “demoing” in less than 3 minutes.”

In case you’re wondering about how I could tell about the phasing smearing and poor sound quality in that audio store demo room? Well, as soon as you treat your own studio room really thoroughly and wisely, you’ll notice the tremendously improved clarity and seamless sound that reveals everything that’s gonna tell you when a kick sounds good even at a 0.5db boost in its mids. As soon as you visit a pro audio store with a studio monitors demo room that is small and has no treatment, you feel like you just want to turn it off and run back home, that’s how important room acoustics are.

Do not believe that an untreated room all it does is making the response feel more reverb-ish. It also nulls out details and the fidelity that the speaker is meant to deliver in order to tell you what’s good sounding and what’s wrong sounding.

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018

I think you are insecure, discouraged and anxious, because you fear that someone will judge your music badly, therefore mocking or hurting you. You are always in search of the perfect melody, the perfect sound, the perfect mix to please everyone. You have set yourself that threshold so high that you can't get over it with your existing abilities.
Now you have a creative block because for you it's all crap what you produce (which in fact may not be true) and you throw it away.
I would advise you to have a break from your DAW and take a step back. Consider your music-making in the larger context of your entire life. Become aware of what role it should play and try to formulate an overall goal that you try to achieve step by step.
And never give up!

--- Sorry if I talk to you like a psychiatrist (I'm not!), but maybe I could help you a little with that ---

 

A psychiatrist would not say what you did so that's correct. They would also message the person privately and not say something like that, even if they thought it, because it is the opposite of character building.
Perhaps if you look at what you wrote and honestly ask yourself how you would feel if someone said that to you. How you would feel if you were asking for help, no matter how helpless or lacking in self-esteem the appeal might appear?

You really could have handled that better if this is what you truly believe and more sensitively if caring is your true motive.
Just my take on it.

 

Maybe it would help to setup some more guidelines foryourself to keep your self on the path as much as possible. dividing each "task" up into smaller stages. where you put on a different "a hat". to help you focus your mindset on whats important.

Im going be vauge and somewhat precious at the same time.

1 creative stage (your idea/song, sounds colours, textures and rythems, chords, melodi, harmony etc.)
2 arragment stage ( making sence of it all, and telling your story thru a Arch)
3 refinement stage ( refine and improve what you have so far. repeat this step more than 1 time if needed)
4 mixing stage/finnishing it ( mixing and finnnishing. it should be said in the same breath to remind you of the goal of mixing. creating balance between all the sounds/tracks in the arragment and make them sound the best they can "as one living thing")

maybe you could decide that for 1 month, you will only create songs and not do any "Mixing"
then switch it up and take 1 month and focus only on "mixing".
you should have material to mix from the previous month, if not scout the net for some songs thats downloadable in mutitrack format and work on mixing those.

 

You stop when you can't improve the track any further..........the hard bit is knowing if that last edit is taking it in the right direction

For me the main thing is to enjoy the process, whatever it may be

Also if I have a deadline the problem magically disappears

 

BaSsDuDe, sometimes it is most helpful to get an honest opinion, even if it is not flattering and comfortable.
My opinion about Elnur is as valuable as yours about me.

I am in favor of the addressee saying for himself whether it is helpful to him or not.
If HE feels insulted, I am willing to apologize.

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018

When you can play a copy to a friend without making excuses for it, it is finished.

 

I think most people underestimate the importance of listening what others made,
people like music when it's somewhat similar (in any way you can imagine, be it sound, feel, tempo, hook, beat, key etc..) but usually appreciate some pinch of uniqueness,
therefore you should pick a fairly big pile of music references you like, and when you make something, tell yourself if you like certain particular aspect of your creation more than what's referenced,

your taste and "hearing of brain" continuously changes overtime, so if you're healthy, it should never happen to you that you listen some of your old tracks and won't imagine doing something better there and there....

apart from this all, it's been proven people don't care much about sound IF the idea is catchy, so my personal recommendation is to spend more time arranging - making good harmonics, interesting twists, memorable tunes, positive beats.... - and less time mixing, eq'ing and all that bullsh!t needed to fix sh!tty-made songs and sounds

 

hello my friend,
If you are not hearing those kinds of changes, this is most likely means you are not using studio monitors with enough detail in them to accurately play the music back as it really exists. (speakers always change the sound from original into a blur, but cheap ones which are not high fidelity in transients image and frequency response very much give you a undefined sound.)
you should have studio monitors where adding 3 db on a eq gives drastic change or adding 3"1 compression gives drastic change.
I offer up to you the cheapest with high resolution detail monitors i know of please get them.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Equator-Au...500124?hash=item4b3fb6ed5c:g:SxsAAOSw6ctaxlU3



you want + /- 3 db monitors with full range frequency response high detail, and full soundstage.

this coaxial dsp design gives perfect transients with no smearing.

here is another option also

https://www.genelec.com/studio-monitors/sam-coaxial-studio-monitors/8341-sam-studio-monitor

https://www.gearank.com/guides/best-studio-monitors

https://www.amazon.com/Avantone-Aud...=UTF8&qid=1523353995&sr=1-3&keywords=Avantone

https://www.amazon.com/PreSonus-Sceptre-S6-CoActual-Monitor/dp/B00BFOZJCY/ref=sr_1_34?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1523354122&sr=1-34&keywords=studio+monitors&refinements=p_72:1248939011,p_36:40000-99999999


https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Audio-F5-Powered-Monitor/dp/B00BZ9OL3M/ref=sr_1_13?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1523354042&sr=1-13&keywords=studio+monitors&refinements=p_72:1248939011,p_36:40000-99999999

here is cheap headphones with clear sound to hear with mixing to alternate with your new studio monitors that you will buy
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...9hZayKHIkPx_qu3gpcI1wKrWjGMSlm9hoC7zAQAvD_BwE

https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/best-recording-studio-headphones/

you want to have good headphones to alternate with to compensate for room problems that still exist EVEN WITH great studio monitors.
this alternating along with having a spectrum analyzer on your master fader like Fabfilter pro Q2

will give you all the tools needed to develop razor sharp hearing.

here is material to develop your hearing in low register

Here is material to develop ears for musical depth (3d)

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018

Pagurida your opinion is equally valid as mine no argument at all.
I thought it was strange that you did seem to care but it seemed like a very unusual way of showing it.
That's honourable of you to offer to apologise to him if he is offended which tells me what I thought, that you did care. To reiterate I just thought it was a very strange way to show it. We are all different and express ourselves with the same intent differently I notice.

 

They call it "fuck-around-itis", it's a disease that causes you to exhaust yourself while getting nothing done.

The problem is working toward the wrong goal. Instead of working toward vague ideals like "perfection, the best lead ever to lead, using every awesome plugin I have, this lead right here is my future Grammy nomination so get it right", be really modest and try to work as quickly as you can toward "good enough for the spot it's occupying in this mix", render it to audio and move right on. Don't let yourself backtrack as a matter of principle, if you messed something up then work around the mess. This "oldskool" way of working has the added helpful side effect of sometimes forcing you discover new creative directions, techniques etc.

Think of building the track as a river. You don't know what the path of the river is, you're just the water flowing through it and hitting obstacles, enjoyably enveloping them, and carrying on. Carrying on is the most important function of the water, it's what you want to get good at. Trying to intellectually control 100% of the parameters leads to fuckarounditis and dams the river's flow so it all spills overboard and turns into a damned swamp.

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018

This is so true!

Give yourself a deadline... no matter what happens you just HAVE to finish your track! This is easier said than done... specially while producing your own tracks... when its for a client, everything seems to magically fall in place...

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018