Audiotuts+

Critique: Green’s the Color of Winter

Patty Way — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:13:33 +0000

Here in the United States, this song would fall under the category of Americana/folk and it fits well into the category. It is the kind of song that lends itself to a simple and acoustic production. I enjoyed the evocative and wintery feeling of the piece. My opinions are based on countless meetings with music publishers, A and R people, co-writing experiences, and just a lot of years writing professionally in Nashville.

Download audio file (GreenstheColorofWinter.mp3)

This is a critique of “Green’s the Color of Winter” by Aron Blue. You can check out the original workshop here.

Form

Coming off of the four bar intro, I had a little trouble with the placement of the initial downbeat at the top of the verse. The two extra beats that had been added felt a little awkward to my ear. I really tried to hear it differently but couldn’t.

Because the song is quite repetitive in a good way, I would have preferred to hear a bridge in lieu of a third verse section. My ear was ready for a melody and phrasing change at this point. I would reconstruct the lyric to accommodate a new section that is different and provides release from the previous two verses. Strive for a less intricate feel here, I think. Contrast between sections is a great tool in songwriting.

In the first verse, I would use a shorter word like BARE to replace DESOLATE and continue straight into the second line without pause. Coming off the intro on a four count, hit the syllable JAN on the one and keep to that tighter phrasing. I would also shorten the pause between lines three and four to accentuate the near rhymes of GOLD and HOME and to create greater memorability. The song has a rambling nature and would flow better with a more predictable count. Don’t get me wrong; I love syncopation and musical pushes as much as the next guy, but sometimes it just feels irregular for the sake of irregular.

Image by Shan213

The second verse needs to flow much more like the first verse in terms of syllables and phrasing. It has basically three lines unlike the first verse with four. The song will be so much more hooky if these match better. The ear likes to adapt and feel like it can follow along by this point in the song. Match the rhyme scheme as well. This will take quite a bit of rewriting. For example, “My uncle never loved the Hudson like our little river…” (downbeat on UNC), would parallel well with:

“The January streets are bare and purged of all desire.”

Continue to parallel the two verses as much as possible without being rigid or forcing odd accents on words.

Also, the hook is long and not easy to phrase well. I would try to melodically underline and accentuate it better by changing the phrasing and melody if need be. I would also simply call the song THE COLOR OF WINTER. There should be no doubt as to what is the hook in most songs. Note how the hook or titles of most songs are musically underlined, if you know what I mean. It gives them emphasis by calling attention to them. All the right syllables are stressed to hammer it home. It should take center stage.

Your third verse lyric, which I am proposing as the new bridge, is very tight and being that it becomes philosophical and poses a question for the listener, it is dead on for this point in the song. Well done! It provides a content change and a needed departure. Unfortunately it would be best if it did not phrase just like the verses when it becomes a bridge. Play with it and maybe it can stand as is with a new melody, chords, and phrasing. Don’t be married to it if it needs to change a bit.

Content

Image By CarlMilner

The lyrical content is lovely and poetic which is suitable for this type of song. Where a different genre might call for something more conversational, this style of writing is just right for a cerebral folky piece. I found it very moody and thought provoking.

I had some question about the use of the word GREEN. I love the contrast because winter in the north is typically lacking in color, but I think the hook needs to be at least somewhat substantiated. Is it an abstract adjective in this case or a description of a mild climate? I found myself wanting to know what you meant. You aroused my curiosity and that is a very good thing.

The line about the river running dry is a nice one but did not seem to have much to do with the content of this verse. Tie it in, omit it or relocate it.

I very much like the line about having to move away from one river to write about the other, but it needs some phrasing work in order to sync up with the first verse phrasing better. Once the second verse is tightened up, you’ll need an additional line to set up the hook as in the first verse. The addition of the tag line, “That January green” doesn’t bother me and sets up a different bridge melody effectively.

Originality

I found this idea to be fresh and anybody can relate to it. The fact that many do not think of winter as green, adds to the fact that this is a unique and personal experience. I would still like to see at least one line that sheds a little light on the theme of green and gives it credence. Give the listener a clue as to what you mean. There are traits of everyone’s hometown that an outsider might not notice or understand. Guide us a bit more. Take us with you in your thought process. I believe this song will feel much more original with some added melodic meat in the bridge.

Commerciality

Folk music, by its very nature is not all that commercial. I am a fan of the style and wish more of it were mainstream. It can be wonderful in the soundtracks of certain films where no other type of music would do. Nature walks hand in hand with folk music. Period pieces often call for it too. Production can swing it more in the commercial direction but sometimes it is at the expense of the artistry of the piece. It is what it is.

Memorability

The song is somewhat rambling and irregular to my ear as is. To me this can be greatly improved by matching up your verses better and by following an even count right out of the intro. Being a slave to form can feel like a sellout, but it really can enhance a song’s presence and make it linger in the mind. Establish regularity and then stray from it where it enhances the song.

Image By whologwhy

Melody

You might consider a different chord at the end of the third verse because the same 6 minor occurs at the end of every line. There is a nice drone in doing that but a change is worth considering at that point in the verse.
If you do take my suggestion and turn the third verse into a bridge section, consider the use of some major chords. Songs that remain minor all the way through get a little dirge-like. You can add a lot of dimension to this song by giving it a slight feel- change in this way.

Demo

This kind of song translates fine with a simple acoustic demo. The addition of some sparse fiddle or even cello in the second verse would add a nice silky fullness without getting very complicated. Rise to a build and come back down near the song’s end. A simple one part higher or lower harmony would be nice too as long as it is sparse and comes in a ways into the song.

Final Notes

I think this writer shows a great deal of lyrical flare and talent. The lyric is intelligent, artistic, clever, and thought provoking. The vocal was pleasantly understated. Though parts of the melody shone, I feel the most work is needed there. When I first began writing in a professional setting, I learned a lot by taking long walks in the woods and listening to the songs are great writers in my earphones. I took the songs apart and analyzed every part of them to see how the writers achieved what they achieved. A stellar writer once told me that a great exercise to improve one’s songwriting is this:

Find a successful song that you greatly admire. Write a new lyric to it that follows the same form, rhyme, chords, and phrasing. Then go back and create a completely new melody. Make a few chord adjustments as well if you wish. It really does help a person to achieve good form. Try it out. It’s fun!
Good luck with your writing! It was my pleasure listening to it!

Patty Way

Spicing Up Synth Lines With Simple Edits

Mo Volans — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:05:04 +0000

In my last tutorial I looked at a few ways to add life to drum parts by using simple edits and multiple tracks. Let’s take a look at how you could use similar techniques when working with melodic synth lines.

We’re not going to be producing intense glitch based effects here (that’s for another tutorial), instead we’ll be concentrating on organic.

I’m using Logic here and pre-programmed loops and samples to demonstrate the technique but you really can use any DAW or similar plug-ins here. Of course it should also go without saying that this technique can be used in conjunction with any style of electronic music.

Step 1 – Our Untreated Loop

Ok, so first things first. Let’s take a look at the collection of sounds we’ll be working with here. I’ve got a bounced melodic synth loop that contains some really nice qualities. It’s ethereal and quite epic in nature.

Our un-edited melodic synth loop

Download audio file (1.mp3)
The synth loop with no edits

The part is coupled with a drum loop and an saturated effect. It’s a good start but before any more parts or added the synth melody needs a little work. Now if this was a MIDI part you could just dive right in and edit it but in this case we are going to manipulate the audio directly to add a little character to the part.

The original untreated parts together

Download audio file (1b.mp3)
The synth with other parts

At this point the effect you can hear are actually imprinted and part of the audio. In some cases this can be a nuisance but here it might help us create a few cool effects.

Step 2 – Split, Duplicate And Separate

When performing audio edits in any DAW it’s generally a good idea to create multiple tracks. We are going to cut to the loop into several sections and you really need somewhere to put the edits. You can go ahead and create 3 or 4 new tracks. Any tracks you don’t need can be deleted at the end of the process.

With your new audio tracks in place you can start to cut out key parts of your melody. I do this using a balance of auditioning and visual feedback. Generally the useful parts are obviously displayed as distinct transient events.

With the part cut up you can now begin placing these micro edits on the separate tracks you have created. I tend to put similar or duplicate parts on their own tracks and parts that I intend to treat with similar processes on the same track as well. Don’t worry too much about how you distribute the edited audio as this can be tweaked as you go.

Some initial edits are made and parts are placed on new tracks

You can see from the screenshot below that I have split my parts up over three tracks so far. I am now ready to start applying some further editing to these new parts and then processing can be added.

Step 3 – Adding Some Reverse Sections

We looked at using reverse audio edits in my previous tutorial about processing drums. I find that using this technique not only creates a new groove but also adds a little flair to your parts. A feeling of pace and energy is often imparted when adding short reverse sections between key sections.

I took some of the longer edits and reverse them at equal intervals. This guides you into a specific note or progression and can add a good deal of accent. In this case the changes were really subtle and organic. They actually sound as if they were there in the first place, just what I was after.

A few simple reverses are put in place

Download audio file (3.mp3)
The reverse sections are added

With the reverse sections in place I wanted to concentrate on some of the smaller edits and see if I could alter the actual musical sequence in some way.

Step 4 – Distortions, Filters And Musical Movement

The other tracks contained some smaller edits. I felt that if these were moved around and placed carefully they could alter the melody to some degree. I also thought this may introduce an interesting new groove.

By moving duplicate parts around by half a bar, a 16th or even a whole bar, you can create interesting cross rhythms. The effect is similar to a simple digital delay line but as the part is on an independent track you have much more control over the final sound.

The only real issue with working on exact duplicates is the fact that they may clash with the originals. A way around this is to use high pass filtering and saturation to create a contrast between the edit and original audio. Combine this with the alternative placement and you should find the parts don’t fight for space.

You can hear my parts in the clip below. I also fa dec the start and end of each section to avoid clicks and pops.

Fades are introduced for smooth playback

Download audio file (4.mp3)
The new smaller edits are added to the mix

Step 5 – Automation and Effects

The final tweaks I added were some simple automation and extra effects processing to a few choice parts. All the parts were in place but these tweaks were really just to put the icing on the cake so to speak.

I used some pan automation to make the longer reverse sections move across the stereo field. This was applied to every long reverse in the sequence. I then applied some fast synced Tremolo to a few of the other edits.

Tremolo and automation is added to some of the new edits

Download audio file (5.mp3)
The synth line with effects and automation

Now that all that was left to do was mix all the new edits with the original parts.

Step 6 – Mix and Master

With my new edits in place the whole thing just needed to be mixed. It’s worth taking your time here as you may of added 3 or 4 new tracks with parts that have delay, reverb and automation applied. If you have any wayward transients popping out of your mix you could use a compressed group, in this case it wasn’t needed.

All the parts are in place

The whole mix was then treated with some based limiting to make sure that there were no overs and that I was achieving the best volume possible.

The whole mix plays back

Download audio file (6.mp3)
The final mix

Try this technique with your own instruments and follow my previous tutorial to use similar organic editing techniques on drums. These small cuts and tweaks can make all the difference to your parts without twisting them beyond recognition!

How to Take a Home Rock Recording to the Next Level

Adrian Try — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:00:41 +0000

In this week’s Audio Premium content, Björgvin Benediktsson teaches you some techniques to vastly improve the sound of your home-recorded rock mix.

To learn more about what you get as part of Tuts+ Premium, read this. To take a peek inside this tutorial, hit the jump!

Many of you readers here at Tuts+ Premium are struggling to make your home recordings as good as possible. Although you might not achieve the big boy sounds you hear on the radio, you can actually get pretty darned close. The mixing phase plays a big part in making your records sound professional, but the production and recording phase obviously plays a big part of it.

In the following Premium tutorial I’m going to take you on a troubleshooting journey on how to make the most of your rock recording. I’ll show you how to make a simple drum recording sound punchy and powerful, how to make the guitars and bass play nice, how to create an automatic fluidity between distorted guitars and the vocals and finally, how to make that terrible closet-sounding vocal sound a little better.

Get the Full Tutorial!

Didn’t hear about Audio Premium? It’s an additional, in-depth tutorial, published each week just for our Premium subscribers (on top of all our regular free content!)

Tuts+ Premium gives you access to your very own library of courses, tutorials and eBooks, available whenever you need them. Join a community of over 15,000 members and start getting better at the skills you care about.

Join Today!

View the tutorial on the Tuts+ Premium site.
Non-members see a generous preview.

Join Premium and Expand Your Audio Knowledge!

For those unfamiliar, the family of Tuts+ sites runs a premium membership service. For $9 per month, you gain access to exclusive premium tutorials, screencasts, and freebies from Nettuts+, Psdtuts+, Cgtuts+,Activetuts+, Phototuts+, Aetuts+, and Vectortuts+! For the price of a pizza, you’ll learn from some of the best minds in the business.

Become a Premium member and have full access to this tutorial today!

What Do You Want to See on Premium?

Is there a specific technical aspect of audio production that you really want to learn more about? How about a very advanced technique that you could never quite grasp fully?

We really want to make our Premium content as relevant and useful to you as possible, so do send through your comments and requests to audio@tutsplus.com. Let us know what you want to see, and we’ll commission top-notch audio experts to teach you!

Audiotuts+ Quiz: Know Your Soft Synths

Adrian Try — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:35:54 +0000

How well do you know your soft synths? Test your knowledge with this quiz that focuses on synths that come with popular DAWs.

Workshop #234: Manic for Mixdown by Atash

Adrian Try — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:07:01 +0000

This track has been submitted for your friendly, constructive criticism. What useful feedback can you give the artist? The floor is yours to talk about the track and how they can fix problems in and improve upon the mix and the song.

Download audio file (ManicForMixdown.mp3)

Description of the track:

I’m trying to merge two of my loves: melodic trance and distorted choppy electro à la Porter Robinson / Wolfgang Gartner. I feel okay with my arrangement, but need a lot of help on the mixdown. It doesn’t have that defined clarity and space. Please help in any way you can.

Have a listen to the track and offer your constructive criticism for this Workshop in the comments section. Feel free to offer any type of advice – arrangement, mix, lyrics, performance. And remember to play nice – be constructive!

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.

Which Computer Should a Beginner Use for Audio Production

Adrian Try — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:39:46 +0000

If you want to get into audio production, then you’ll almost definitely want to use a computer-based digital audio workstation. What does a beginner need to know when purchasing a computer for audio? There’s no one answer, and this article will help you think the issue through.

This post has been put together with a lot of help. At the beginning of the year I asked the Audiotuts+ readers in an Open Mic post, “What advice would you give a beginner about computers?” This article is based largely on the answers given to that post.

But it doesn’t have to end there. Please feel free to add your own advice and experiences in the comments. Or if you are a beginner with a question that we don’t give an answer for, please ask!

The choice of a computer and computer software are among the first important questions a new audio producer will need to answer. We’ve already answered the software part. If you haven’t read it yet, make sure you check out our article, What Is the Best DAW for Beginners?

And now to the task of choosing your computer hardware…

Start With What You Have

It’s extremely likely that the computer you already own is good enough to get started with. That’s good to know. It will give you some time to decide whether music production is really what you want to spend your time and money on. It will also give you time to save some money, and do some thinking about the hardware and software you want to spend your money on.

If you own a Mac, it’s extremely likely that it came with GarageBand, which is arguably the best software to get started on. If you are running Windows, there are some free or cheap audio programs that you can get started on.

Here are some articles you should check out when deciding which app to install on your computer:

Are you strongly considering starting with the computer you already own? Here are some reader comments that may help you decide:

Remember that it’s not the computer that makes music! It’s you! (Pedro)
While it’s great to max out the spec of your machine as far as your budget will allow, it’s worth remembering that it’s perfectly possible to get started on a machine which, by current standards, is relatively low spec. I’m running Logic 9 on a 2.16 GHz Dual Core iMac, with 3 GB of RAM, and it’s served me very well. (Glynn)

Check the System Requirements of Your DAW Software

When you get down to it, your computer is there to run your audio software. What type of computer does that software need in order to run effectively?

Does it run on a Mac, or Windows? Or either? How much hard drive space will it use? And make sure you have plenty of space left over. Does it run best with a faster processor? How much RAM does it need to run without lag? Don’t forget to allow for extra RAM for any plugins you install. And if you’re planning on using more than 4 GB of RAM, make sure you’re running a 64-bit operating system, and that your DAW is also 64-bit.

In short you’ll want to buy the best machine you can afford. As a minimum, get something with at least 4 GB of RAM, a few hundred gigs of hard drive space, and 2-3 GHz of processor speed.

Here are some system requirement tips left by our readers:

Depending on the DAW, check what the computer system requirements are. This is a no brainer!
…but beginners tend to forget. (dan)
For beginners, 4 GB of RAM should be good enough when starting out. (dan)
Choose a fast processor! Software Instruments are getting more and more demanding in terms of CPU power. (Phil)
Max out the memory of your machine. RAM prices have hit rock bottom, so go for at least 8GB, better yet 16GB! (Phil)
Minimum system for today I would say: 2 GHz CPU Dual Core, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB Graphics Memory
I try to afford myself the latest and best system. Maybe I don’t need the power everyday, but when I need it I am happy to have it.

4 GB RAM is minimum/fine
8 GB RAM is very good – my current and quad core cpu with 2 GHz
16 GB RAM is great – could be my next (kenibu)
Once you have your PC, make sure it has enough RAM to do what you want it to do. If you’re recording, you’re going to want 2 harddrives (this is a good idea regardless), but a huge amount of RAM isn’t necessarily a top priority. If you’re doing sample or effects heavy work, then more RAM is going to be vital.
A good processor is needed for effects processing, multicore is pretty much standard these days, and for good reason. (Fleb)
I would say that the more CPU Hz you can get, the better. The RAM isn’t as much of a concern to me. If you’re recording a lot I could see RAM being an issue but if you’re using mostly synths then CPU is what’s going to be important. (Sean Duncan)
Hi there, I would suggest there is merit in getting a machine built for the job if you are a using a PC. It can be rewarding to build your own PC but it can also be a complete headache as well. The people who build them professionally know about details, often obscure, annoying details that can put a kink in your day if you do not know what you are doing. I also recommend physically cloning system (C) drives with the Integral SATA copy station, a low costs bullet proof way of getting your system running very quickly if (read : when) your system hard drive breaks. (online mastering)

Desktop or Laptop?

Desktop or laptop? Big or small? Portable or not? Important questions. When you get down to it, desktops tend to be more upgradable, and laptops more portable. And it’s no longer the case that a laptop need cost you a lot more.

One important consideration is the size of your screen. A big monitor is a very good thing to have when dealing with lots of audio tracks. Two big monitors is even better.

If you need a mobile setup, then choose a laptop. If you’ll mainly be recording in your studio, then either is fine. But if you choose a laptop, I strongly recommend a big external monitor.

Would an iPad or other tablet make a reasonable alternative? That’s not a question for this article, but if you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Here’s one reader’s take on the desktop/laptop question:

Also worth pointing out that you get a lot more bang for your buck with a desktop than a laptop, and they’re easier to upgrade…I use a laptop for non-studio based stuff and keep my desktop exclusively for studio use. (Nick)

Windows or Mac?

This is a big question with strong feelings on both sides. And if you have strong feelings, you’ve already answered the question!

In short, either is acceptable. There are two things to consider: Are you more comfortable with one operating system or the other? Does the DAW you’re planning to use only work on one or the other.

In a recent Open Mic we asked our readers whether they use Mac or Windows. Here are the results (505 people voted):

Apple’s OS X – 57.43%
Microsoft Windows – 40.00%
Linux – 2.18%
Other – 0.4%

So we have more Mac readers than Windows readers, but not by a huge margin.

We had more responses on this issue than any other. Here are the comments left by those who prefer Macs:

While cost of entry for those who want to go the Mac route may look high, usability and reliability are much better in my experience. Also, check out the used market, and Apple’s own refurbished products store: there’s no need for a beginner to buy the very latest, top spec machines, and you can save a lot of money by avoiding that temptation. Ideally, though, buy something with a little room to upgrade when you’re ready. (Glynn)
I thought myself that mac’s are too expensive, but I saw that it comes with many software programs which windows doesn’t. For example garage band and the word like program. (kenibu)
I used a Mac mini for years but found as soon as I started pushing Logic to any extent it just ran out of CPU and fell over.
Go for an Imac if you can and at least 4GB of RAM – Towers don’t give you as much value for you $ as the Imac currently. I also bought non-apple RAM fairly cheaply and installed it myself for about 1/3 the cost.

My upgrade was to a Core I7 with 16GB RAM and Logic hasn’t batted an eyelid! (Niggles)
In general I would recommend a Mac, but that is really a personal preference. But in going that route I would suggest going to eBay for a used option. You don’t necessarily need a powerhouse. My son and I spend a lot time running Reason on a 2006 model Mac mini with 2GB of RAM that ran about $300. It’s easy for him to learn, and the machine handles well enough. (Ken)
Personally I’d also recommend Macs. They are expensive but worth of price if you are thinking of making music professionally. Mac’s tend to get the reputation of being more stable than PC’s. Why? Because they are built on the same components. If you decide to buy a PC, I suggest checking out this link. These units are specially designed for making music and what’s very important they’re super quiet. My loud PC completely ruined many of my recordings. (TTR2)
get a mac! (yon)
Here is the advice I would give to beginners:
Putting everything aside, after more than eleven years of being involved with audio (and graphics) if you hear nothing else, hear this:

Get. A. Mac.

Mac “Fanboys”, the whole “PC vs. Mac” thing, all that aside, I can not tell you how much easier life is since I went to Mac computers. I used to use PCs, I used to build them, I can still build them, I can still tech them, but your musical experience is going to be so much easier, headache free, and just plain more fun with a Mac. Why? Because the stupid things work. I don’t care how good your PC is, how spec’ed out it is; it is going to slow down.

Yes they cost more for the “same specs” compared to PCs. I wonder why that is? Fact of life, you get what you pay for. They work. Period.

The last thing you want is for your computer to be butting heads with you when your trying to become a music based musician or producer. You have enough as is trying to learn about the music and software, the last thing you need to have happen is it be a coin toss every time you start you computer if it is going to even turn on.

Macs get the computer out of the way so you can focus on making music.

I’m not talking out of arrogance or ignorance, I’m talking out of experience. Nine years of teeth grinding, hair pulling experience. (Robert Anthony)

Here are the comments left by someone who prefers Windows:

For PCs try to get yourself one that is the most recent and most powerful you can afford. I say that because I saw that a 2.2 GHz Intel core i3 was faster than a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor. Then your ram: 4 GB or higher would be good. And also recent computers have faster hard disk drives most now come with a 7200 rpm drive. The faster your hard disk spins the faster it exchanges with ram and better your PC will perform. (Arsene)

And many commenters have found that either option is an acceptable solution:

If you can afford a Mac, get one. If not, that’s fine! PC’s are just as good…and most of the time cheaper! (dan)
Mac or PC makes no difference any more. Both systems are stable, and many DAWs are running on both systems (recently, MOTU published its Digital Performer 8 DAW for Windows too). (Phil)
There is actually no difference between getting a Mac, Sony, HP, Dell or any other kind of PC, other than the fact that Mac is supremely more expensive and has OSX.
If you like windows, get any brand of PC other than Mac, if you like OSX, get any brand of PC and either hackintosh or get an authentic Mac. There is literally no difference as far as music production is concerned other than the minor differences between the operating systems. Personal preference and all that. (Fleb)

Get a Dedicated Production Machine if Possible

If you’re serious about music production, then you’ll want to consider having a separate machine dedicated to just music production. You’ll have more system resources available for audio, and your hard drive won’t get bogged down by all the other rubbish that finds its way onto computers.

We asked this question on an Open Mic almost three years ago, and received some brilliant and detailed answers. If you’re considering going down this track, you really should check out the comments left there as part of your decision-making process.

In the meantime, here’s one comment left by an Audiotuts+ reader:

If you can afford it, keep one machine exclusively for music production. Don’t use your everyday system. (Phil)

Well, that’s my advice about buying an audio computer. Feel free to use yours in the comments!

3D Mixing Part 7: Mastering, The Final Chapter (Part 2)

Will Walker — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:53:37 +0000

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series 3D Mixing

In the final installment of the series, we are going to look at the final effects on the signal chain (Master EQ, Master Reverb, Master Limiter), and discuss the various final print options.

Master EQ

For EQ on the master bus, ‘gentle’ is the word of the day. By the time you are ready to even begin thinking about mastering, your frequency control should be almost, if not completely solid (one of the reasons I went back and did a bit of remixing in the previous chapter). The master bus EQ is meant to be a gentle and wide band EQ which balances overall frequency bands as opposed to individual sounds and instruments. It is a bit of a mental shift from mixing, but a necessary one all the same and a good one to practice.

In chronological order of how I came upon these settings (obviously do what works best for you), I first used a low shelving band to boost the bass a bit, then went and boosted the highs with a shelving band as well. I then boosted the main area of the melody (400-ish). I then realized the highs were too high (embracing trial and error, if you hadn’t noticed, is essential) and switched the high shelving boost to a high shelving cut and moved it to effect just the very top of the spectrum. I then added a steep low cut to knock out the flabby sub-bass the low shelving boost had accentuated.

Download audio file (EQ Before.mp3)

The loop before EQ-ing.

Download audio file (EQ After.mp3)

You can definitely hear how these minor changes have livened up the sound.

Reverb

One of my favorite tricks in mixing as well as mastering is slapping a reverb on a bus to give subtle and wide depth information to either the group or, in this case, the entire track. This helps to place all sounds in a similar virtual space and widens the overall stereo field to produce a more robust and full sound. The thing to remember about reverb, again, is subtlety. Unless you are going for a special effect, reverb should be used sparingly so as to not overshadow the original sound.

Here I have simply put on Logic’s Space Designer IR reverb with 100% dry and about 5% wet and set to a 1/4 note decay (500 ms in this case-good idea is to set your reverb to musical settings and so it decays before the next hit).

The amplitude envelope of the reverb.

I then went into the EQ section and rolled off both the top and bottom end. I have rolled off the bottom end substantially to keep the bass clear and not introduce too much level. I rolled off the top end moderately to increase the sense of depth (remember from the Reverb Tutorial that far away sounds lose high frequency content the further from the listener), and I also notched out some mid lows to keep things a bit more clear in that area.

The EQ section of the reverb.

Download audio file (Reverb Before.mp3)

The loop prior to bus reverb.

Download audio file (Reverb After.mp3)

The track after bus reverb; thicker and deeper.

LOUD!

The final effect to put on the channel is the limiter. The limiter captures all transient information and allows you to compress the signal for absolute loudness. The limiter can also be used on various mix elements (the kick is often treated with limiting to help it punch through the mix), but it is always (in this day and age, anyway) placed on the master bus to maximize loudness and keep peaks at a consistent level. This is the stage where we can begin to think about peak vs. RMS levels within the overall track.

Logic’s Adaptive Limiter has three main sections to be aware of. The input meter on the left tells us the amplitude of the incoming signal in real time. The middle section allows us to scale the input signal (used to greatly increase or decrease the input), increase gain and set the output ceiling. Finally, the output meter to the right shows us the output amplitude in real time.

Here we can see our input is peaking with 1.5 dB of headroom, therefore I do not need to use the scaling knob at all. I then set the output ceiling to -0.1 dB as that is the absolute loudest I want the track to reach (0 dB is theoretically the loudest I want it to go, but some room for error is usually a good idea). I then increase the gain by over the 1.5 input ceiling to get the limiter working and increase it slowly. Once things begin to sound obnoxious, I decrease slowly and only slightly to find a happy medium between loudness and musicality. Here I have settled on a moderate 4.6 dB.

The AdLimiter with the extended parameters showing. I increased the lookahead slightly from the default setting to get a more accurate response.

Download audio file (ADB.mp3)

Before.

Download audio file (ADA.mp3)

After.

Multimeter Part 2

Finally, we want to put on another multimeter in order to look at our output to make sure we are not somehow missing something crucial. We can see from the second multimeter that we have a wide frequency range, have a good ovular stereo/phase image and have a difference of about 12 dB between the peak and RMS levels (anywhere from 6-15 dBs of difference is usually pretty good).

The frequency response curve and peak/RMS detector (on the right).

The goniometer showing stereo/phase information.

Final Print

So, if you can remember way back, you’ll no doubt recall that we are working with a 48K sample rate @ 24 bits. As such, we have to convert our final print to 44.1K and 16 bits which is CD standard and in doing so we are going to have to apply dither.

Dither is a complex algorithm which is applied to the audio file during bounce/print to minimize the quantization artifacts that sample and bit rate conversions impart. Without going too in depth (I may do so in a future article) what that means is that dither will add subtle amounts of noise to the file to hide the imperfections that the conversion process creates.

A good basic analogy to make sense of this process is to think about it in terms of the resolution of a photograph. If you convert a 300 dpi image to a 100 dpi image, it is going to look grainy due to the decreased resolution. If we were to subtly blur (add noise to) the 100 dpi image to hide the sharp corners of the grain this would decrease our ability to see the grain pattern and give a better final result than otherwise.

Logic comes with four different dither options, POWr #1, POWr #2, POWr #3 and UV22HR. They each come with a rather vague description in the manual and are summed up by this statement:

‘The dithering mode that sounds best to you is primarily dependent on the audio material, and your personal taste. Audition the audio material with each of the dithering modes to determine the right setting. In some cases, you may find that the best results are achieved by using no dithering at all.’

So, all said and done, we are going to have to try all of them.

You can see the different dither options Logic offers on the right.

Download audio file (none.mp3)

No Dither

Download audio file (1.mp3)

Option 1

Download audio file (2.mp3)

Option 2

Download audio file (3.mp3)

Oprion 3

Download audio file (UV.mp3)

The UV option

They all sound about the same (and are made even more uniform during the necessary conversion to MP3 for internet publication) so picking a ‘best’ one in this instance is a fairly arbitrary decision. For some reason I am somewhat drawn to the UV dither option. From where I’m sitting it just sounds a bit more defined than the others, but obviously it is really up to personal taste and has even more to do with your personal listening environment.

Download audio file (Start.mp3)

Where we started

Download audio file (UV.mp3)

The final product

So there you have it, our final product. Although this final step is fairly subjective, there are a few rather sceintific guidelines to follow throughout your project in terms of bit depth and sample rate to ensure a better final product:

Record in the highest bit depth and sample rate as possible.
Mix in the same bit depth and sample rate as you recorded in.
Convert your project to standard only once, and at only the final step. If you are sending to a mastering studio, let them do it.
If you are doing it yourself, audition each option available, if you are sending it out, make sure they give you different dither options to choose from.

That is about it for now, I may go back and get into more of the nuts and bolts of some of the topics I touched on earlier…Until then, thanks for sticking with me through this series and happy mixing!

The Essentials to Pro Tools 10 Part 1: Interface and Setup – Tuts+ Premium

Jonah Guelzo — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:14:28 +0000

In this week’s Audio Premium content, Jonah Guelzo begins a new series teaching you the essentials of Pro Tools 10. In this first installment you meet the interface and learn how to do an initial setup.

To learn more about what you get as part of Tuts+ Premium, read this. To take a peek inside this tutorial, hit the jump!

Get the Full Tutorial!

Didn’t hear about Audio Premium? It’s an additional, in-depth tutorial, published each week just for our Premium subscribers (on top of all our regular free content!)

Join Today!

View the tutorial on the Tuts+ Premium site.
Non-members see a generous preview.

Join Premium and Expand Your Audio Knowledge!

Become a Premium member and have full access to this tutorial today!

What Do You Want to See on Premium?

Is there a specific technical aspect of audio production that you really want to learn more about? How about a very advanced technique that you could never quite grasp fully?

Workshop #233: Mr Feathers by kmoto

Adrian Try — Sun, 13 May 2012 06:55:42 +0000

Download audio file (MrFeathers.mp3)

Description of the track:

Indie/folk/alternative country. Raw, atmospheric acoustic guitar and vocals.

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.

Quick Song Editing in Logic Pro

David Bergman — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:54:19 +0000

In this screencast David Bergman shows you how to do some quick song editing in Logic Pro, including fades.

Audiotuts+

Critique: Green’s the Color of Winter

Form

Content

Originality

Commerciality

Memorability

Melody

Demo

Final Notes

Spicing Up Synth Lines With Simple Edits

Step 1 – Our Untreated Loop

Step 2 – Split, Duplicate And Separate

Step 3 – Adding Some Reverse Sections

Step 4 – Distortions, Filters And Musical Movement

Step 5 – Automation and Effects

Step 6 – Mix and Master

How to Take a Home Rock Recording to the Next Level

Get the Full Tutorial!

View the tutorial on the Tuts+ Premium site. Non-members see a generous preview.

Join Premium and Expand Your Audio Knowledge!

What Do You Want to See on Premium?

Audiotuts+ Quiz: Know Your Soft Synths

Workshop #234: Manic for Mixdown by Atash

Which Computer Should a Beginner Use for Audio Production

Start With What You Have

Check the System Requirements of Your DAW Software

Desktop or Laptop?

Windows or Mac?

Get a Dedicated Production Machine if Possible

3D Mixing Part 7: Mastering, The Final Chapter (Part 2)

Master EQ

Reverb

LOUD!

Multimeter Part 2

Final Print

The Essentials to Pro Tools 10 Part 1: Interface and Setup – Tuts+ Premium

Get the Full Tutorial!

View the tutorial on the Tuts+ Premium site. Non-members see a generous preview.

Join Premium and Expand Your Audio Knowledge!

What Do You Want to See on Premium?

Workshop #233: Mr Feathers by kmoto

Quick Song Editing in Logic Pro

View the tutorial on the Tuts+ Premium site.
Non-members see a generous preview.

View the tutorial on the Tuts+ Premium site.
Non-members see a generous preview.