DEMF - Movement 2009 - Detroit Electronic Music Festival

On May 31, 2009 in Video, music

Check out this Brief compilation of our experience at DEMF The Detroit Electronic Music Festival!

How to Mix Basics : Lesson 2 Parallel Compression

On May 16, 2009 in Mixing, Mixing Fundamentals, Tutorials

http://www.vimeo.com/4677832

Many have been asking for it and tanks to @MoTray it is finally here! Lesson 2 demonstrates parallel compression on a snare drum and touches on the topic in regards to other instruments.

Part 3 Coming sooner than later!

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VINATGE FUNK SAMPLES BY AMP FIDDLER NOW AVAILABLE IN SAMPLE STORE!

On May 06, 2009 in Samples

I just posted some new sample compositions created by Amp Fiddler and myself. Amp Fiddler is a world renowned solo artist and was a member or Parlaiment funkadelic. He has played keys with many great artists as well. The samples are a combination of loops and chopped samples that are all original compositions. They are stacked with instrument combinations such as REAL farfisas, Hammond B3s, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzers along with some Mellotron sounds and amps signature nord lead for extra flavor. Click on the samplestore link and scroll down to preview these! Why sample Pfunk records and worry about getting sued when you can sample these ? I stand behind these and all the samples posted as being the best available for purchase on the net.

Peace

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My favorite tools: Part 2 - Monitors

On April 03, 2009 in Favorite Tools, Mixing

What you listen to your productions through are just as important as your sounds. Without the correct listening environment / monitors you will not correctly hear what you are producing. A skewed perception of sound may cause you to make incorrect eq and general mixing choices, as well as may cause you to pick sounds that do not fit. I use a few sets of monitors to give me a balanced perception. A lot of times it simply is not possible to always be in the most optimum recording or mixing environment. Most people do it guerrilla style in a bedroom or basement these days. So the trick to a balanced mix and production is listening thru many speakers in several environments, making notes and tweaking until it sounds best in the environment that you are most familiar with. I usually begin mixing on my most hi fi monitors which are Adam S3a’s. These monitors are very nice on the high end and very smooth because of its ribbon tweeter. once i have my general sounds and balances, i will then listen inside my Ultrasone HIFI 770 Headphones. I find that i can set levels and panning perfectly in these headphones. After that i will go back to my Adam monitors to finish the mix. When i feel i am satisfied i will then begin to listen on the old standby Yamaha NS10M’s. I will make any adjustments revealed to me on the NS10’s and then monitor through a Harmon and Kardon IPOD boom box. this little 350$ boom box does a very good job in letting me know if i have too much energy in the sub range. It also lets me know if i need to turn up the vocal a little. I find that i usually will do some minor readjustments in the boombox phase every time. Next i go to my car, come back and make any changes. Go to my car once more and sometimes to Allure Sound. to Listen through their massive mains with dual 18″ sub woofers. At that point we are pretty much at perfection, and then i print.

It seems like a lot to go through, but it is the best way to make your mix translate on all systems.

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Favorite Tools Part 1: The Brainworx BX Digital MS Equalizer

On April 02, 2009 in Favorite Tools, Mixing

One of my favorite plugin tools these days is the Brainworx BX Digital EQ. This is an M/S (Mid-Sides) style mastering EQ. What this means is that you have the ability to Equalize the signal in the center seperately from the signal coming out in Stereo. I have used this successfully on many stereo tracks such as synths, basses, and even vocal sub groups. This is my go to EQ for processing the master. It has a very cool function called “mono maker” which allows you to make all frequencies between 20hz and 400hz mono. This is especially helpful because it centers your low frequency energy which isn’t translated well in stereo.

Here are a couple cool applications of MS processing. One is if you want to add brightness to your song. Many times adding more than 1 or 2 dB of high end on an overall mix will throw your mix off balance, or just make it sound irritating. You can successfully add brightness by adding gain to the high frequencies with a shelving EQ on the Sides of the the track and not the Mid. This will usually give your mix a little bit of shine without affecting important tracks that are panned in the middle such as vocals or snare drum.

Another great application is on a full range synth sound with a lot of low end. You can use the mono maker plugin to leave the mid and high frequency content in stereo while leaving the sub frequencies below 100 HZ panned in the center. Leave instruments with alot of sub frequencies panned center gives you mix more power and more clarity.

I also use the de-esser on the brainworx to dynamically control high frequency content. Processing the mid and sides separately is again very helpful.

Don’t sleep on this one. Technology is getting better and better.

BRAINWORX WEBSITE

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