Ok... as promised, my notes from the Jaytech seminar for quick reference. ============================================ Elite Session with JayTech (AnjunaBeats) pyramind/training/2013/03/23/elite-session-with-jaytech- anjunabeats-video-recap/ ============================================ AIMS :: Expand process, Audit your music, Go into more detail - Attention is the new commodity of music - Production quality getting worse on average APPROACH TO COMPOSITION MAXIMISING THE USE OF TOOLS WE HAVE SIMPLICITY AND UNIQUE CHARACTER OF OUR MUSIC AWARENESS OF OUR LIMITATIONS ATTRACT GOOD ATTENTION Part 1 : Clarify---------------- THEMES - For a project to become a meaningful track, its parts need purpose - Establishing track themes using adjectives and identifiable elements: Im gonna write (eg) dark, atmospheric track with (eg) chug. Themes are a roadmap PLAN OF ATTACK - Order of construction, hierarchy of focus determined by order parts created (in example:Melodic track) Drums: kick, hat, clap;Incidental Fx/Structure;Little melodies/vox snippets / atmosphere;Main melodies & Chords;Bass (in example:Ambient track) Pad/Atmosphere;Little Melodies;Bass;Drums STEMS Kick, Drums, Basses, Chords/Riffs, Pads/Strings, Melody/Vocal, FX - Try not to have elements in grey areas. Dont cloud or steal attention - Even if your track is genius, it wont get recognised unless its presented in a manner people can understand. There is good and bad complexity Part 2.1 : Simplify---------------- ARTISTIC COMPLEXITY VS BAD COMPLEXITY NECESSITY OF HOOKS IN FOREGROUND MUSIC FEWER STEMS = MORE SPACE MULTIPLE PARTS CAN FUSE TOGETHER USING EFFECTS SPARINGLY - Let an element be the boss and let parts supplement and support. - When putting a track together, it should be simple to start off with - Rick Snoman Dance Music Manual: Dont use EQ for the majority of your track Part 2.2 : Arrangement---------------- PLACEHOLDER STRUCTURE BREAKDOWNS AVOID SECTIONS DRAGGING ON INTRO AND OUTTRO IMPORTANCE - For those stuck in a loop, think about how long an average track goes for - Your intro has to hold peoples attention - The best thing people can hear in your music is you Part 3 : Add character---------------- SAMPLE THE REAL WORLD. AVOID PRESET SYNTHFEST INCIDENTAL EFFECTS & INCIDENTAL MELODIES BRINGING UNIQUENESS TO REPETITION WITH FILLS OSTINATO AND MOVEMENT PAD FOR DEVELOPMENT FUSING ELEMENTS MELODICALLY - Bind real world sounds to synth atmospheres using sidechain or other rhythmic modulation - Adding LFO filters and other effects to real world sounds creates better textures than white noise or synths, when creating effects - Copying and pasting effects from one designed sound to the others such as flange, lfos etc can make them feel like one whole - Add some incidental effects at regular intervals, add others to signify the start of a new section, some to signify a build into a new section - Only do bass and treble cuts in early stage of project. No bell or shelf EQ - Check your newly introduced elements with older ones in similar frequency range do they add confusion or enhance? If confusion, remove weaker element or choose to have one for some sections and one for the rest - Long pad with rising filter to control urgency of track and fullness of sound space - Fusing elements melodically. Use a duplicated part playing in-sync with another (a similar pattern) - Music is even better when it sounds sweet to your ears Part 4 : Sonic Treatment---------------- TURN DOWN TO TURN UP STEREO FIELD CONSIDERATIONS COMPRESSION SETTINGS, WHEN AND WHERE BASS TREATMENT AND LAYERING PICKING DECENT DRUM SOUNDS SYNTH TWEAKS BASS CUTS COMBING TRACKS FOR FREQUENCIES GETTING CREATIVE WITH BUSSES PARALLEL COMPRESSION: CLEAN & NASTY - Eq left and right channels differently for stereo interest and separation. You can use this in conjunction with the haas effect to reduce haas phazing issues too. - Mute out attention taking elements when focusing on other parts - Make bass treatment buss, send a little bass to it, add a low pass, add bitcrush, compressor, this makes bassline let midrangey and stick out more - Build a collection of sounds that you trust. Categorise by stem categories. Especially Kicks - Grouping your stem parts can be useful for putting them in the same sound space (eg hi passing the group) - EQ combing the mix for elements that cause confusion and cutting them for clarity - Trust your ears first, then your spectrum analyser - Have a super long reverb buss with some crazy effects - Also use busses with effectrix or glitch on so you can send occasional sounds - Use a buss with a super hard limiter to push intensity of risers/fallers and bring out loudness of elements when necessary Part 5 : Mixdown and Comparison---------------- AVOID CERTAIN STEMS DOMINATING THE MIX ESTABLISHING FOCUS OF PARTS VOLUME AUTOMATE PARTS IN SOME SECTIONS ALLOW FOR AMPLIFICATION AT MASTER STAGE SPECTRUM ANALYSIS - Throw the focus back and forth using volume automation - Play your work alongside other projects to reveal - Have a few types of people you send stuff to : Noobs to give you a broad look, Pros to get feedback on technical stuff, Non-fans to give you another view Part 6 : Auditing and Improving / Detail---------------- COMPLEMENTING MINI ELEMENTS REMOVING ELEMENTS THAT DONT ADD VALUE GETTING RID OF SPIKES FOR A SMOOTHER MIX AUTOMATION AND ADVANCED ARRANGEMENT EDITS GIVING THE BREAKDOWN AND DROP 110% Part 7.1 : Getting your music out there---------------- ZERO EFFORT PITCH (SPEAKS FOR ITSELF) FOSTERING AN ONLINE PRESENCE BRAND & IMAGE DEVELOPMENT:RELEVANCE SOCIAL MEDIA AS TOOLS RATHER THAN BASIS FOR EVERYTHING OTHER VENTURES ALONGSIDE THE MUSIC - Biggest clout: have other people in-the-know supporting your music - Build your brand online as you go - Keep putting your podcasts and mixes out there regularly - Having a website as a central hub for news, new tracks, blog etc is good make it zero effort for people to find all the info they could want on you Part 7.2 : Cool things to do with your skillz---------------- SYNC TO VIDEO UNIQUE PROJECTS TO BROADEN YOUR ABILITY MAKE YOUR OWN PARTY CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN SAMPLES AND LOOPS COLLABORATE AND TRY DIFFERENT SETUPS Part 7.3 : Backup and Organisation---------------- USING GOBBLER TO BACKUP AND ORGANISE GO THROUGH PROJECTS AND RENDER PREVIEWS LISTEN TO YOUR POOL ON A REGULAR BASIS TURN HALF BAKED PROJECTS INTO COLLABORATIONS Part 7.4 : The industry / scene---------------- FOLLOW OTHERS FOR INSPIRATION BE PATIENT AND FIND YOUR OWN RHYTHM SEEK ADVISERS AND SPECIALISTS NOT ALWAYS EASY DONT BE INTIMIDATED BY OTHERS HAVE FUN - Its much better to be inspired by others than compare yourself to others - Other artists cant stop you from being yourself and bringing unique things to the world - Find as much knowledge as you can, experiment and find new ways to do things and ultimately, just have fun. Part 8 : Q&A from Audience---------------- If im stuck on a project how do I decide whether to try to save it with a collaboration? - If theres nothing in it worth salvaging, trash it - Chances are there will be good stems and bad - Strip it down to the best parts and take it somewhere new, or strip it and send it on to someone, especially if its someone similarly skilled or that complements you skills wise so they can fill the gaps When you work with vocals, how do you keep the integrity of the vocalists sound and integrate it with your work at the same time? - Its easier to lay the vocal down first then build the track around it - You need compression, surgical EQ and automation and having space in the mix. Turn the rest of the mix down and make it sound effortless. Do several takes of each line and have versions at different intensity. Do doubletracking and shift it so that its in sync to add power. Whats it like when you hear your tracks for the first time on a big sound system. - The first thing to listen for is bass resonance. Its easy to have a kick that rumbles too hard. - Playing a track for the first time is scary as you get to hear what needs to be changed, but its also the best you can feel when it succeeds What have you learned in the last couple of years that you wish you could tell your young self? - The stem analogy and not having elements float in-between stems - Embrace simplicity. Keep elements in sync and following a hierarchy You use a lot of ping-pong delay. How do you keep it from washing things out - Keep it in the high frequencies. - Have parts working in unison Typical Kick processing? - Compress the high end in multiband sometimes to make it more rounded - Generally stay away from multiband compression as theres a lot of margin for error - If you have to do too much kick surgery, choose another kick What do you do to make your kick and bass heavy and not compete - Sidechaining - Have a bass pattern that doesnt have notes on the kick - Use sidechain on other elements if kick needs to come through - Use a high frequency layer on the bass for clarity
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:33:31 +0000
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