Low cut.
To increase headroom in your dubstep tracks, and get rid of ineffective and unwanted subsonic frequencies, apply a low cut around 20-30hz, if you don't have monitors that go that low then maybe leave it - you would not want to remove something you cant hear properly as you might take away something that you might want to have in.
Subtle shelfs.
Try to apply a gentle shelf EQ to get the smoothest boosts, another way is to use a wide parametric EQ. This will provide the most musical and dubstep like EQ boosts.
Killer dubstep tip: Multi band compression.
Aside from EQ you may want to experiment with multi-band compression for changing the timbre of you mix. For example you could compress the low end more to bring up its relative presence in the mix. This can have a cleaner result and means you could use less process, further enhancing your final output.
Boost it wide, cut it slim.
Generally speaking a smooth wide boost, coupled with surgical narrow cuts on problem frequencies will give the best overall result.
Go easy.
If you find your self adding more than around 5DB of EQ you will probably be better off to go back to the original dubstep mix and find the problem there. As a rule you should not need to be adding more than 4/5DB for your first 50 attempts. Only when you have a lot of experience should you consider using such a drastic measure.
Treble.
One common misconception is that the high end of a track is all above 12khz, however its actually much lower at around 2khz. One good power tip when learning about frequency ranges is to run a commercial finished dubstep track through a high pass filter, turn up your speakers and slowly move the fader down, letting through more low frequencies. This will show you were you start to hear the punch, knock, bass etc and build a easy picture in your head of what applies to what dubstep frequency range.
Careful with using multi band compression.
Although multi band compression can have a amazing and dramatic effect on a poorly balanced dubstep mix, it can also wreak havoc with a good dubstep mix. If you feel your final mix is well balanced then a single band mastering compressor is likely to have a better result.
Check out this dubstep site for tips and tricks. They also have a dubstep forum
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simmon_Power
Showing posts with label reaper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reaper. Show all posts
Monday, 7 December 2009
Sunday, 6 December 2009
How to mix dubstep. Part 2 of 5
Never go past 0 DB.
Carefully monitor every process to ensure the levels never creeps past 0DB, this tends to happen more when using heavy limiting in dubstep, but can also happen with aggressive EQ.
A/B Properly.
An easy mistake to make is to make poor judgments by A/B testing to quickly. For example, when applying compression the better setting might not sound so good initially because its not as loud. However once normalized its would be the superior setting. Also A/B test by quickly switching between two or three of your favorite dubstep tracks to see how those producers do things.
Get your dubstep studio as quiet as possible.
Although good dubstep monitoring equipment is essential, it can be wasted money if your room is not set up properly. Some quick and easy tips are to get silent fans in your computer, and invest in some acoustic tiles to dampen pre-delay and early reflections. Essentially your room will be acting like a reverb plug-in unless you add some kind of sound dampening. This can result in over, or under use of EQ.
Test, Test, Test against other dubstep tracks.
A good idea is to listen to your efforts on as many systems and spaces as possible and pay close attention to the results. Over time this will teach you how your mix translates over multiple systems, although to perfect can take more than a lifetime. This is why a mastering engineer is worth his weight in gold. Or printer ink (as thats more expensive than gold!).
Learn the frequencies.
This might sound obvious, but building a mental picture of the dubstep frequency range in your head will pay dividends in all areas of dubstep production. In my view it maybe the most important thing in getting you mix and mastering efforts right. Try and attach words to each area, like warmth (220-320), muddiness (340), knock (600-1k), clarity (4k-7.5k) etc.
Cut it out.
When mixing / mastering dubstep (forget sonic sculpting) its nearly always better to make a frequency cut, rather than a boost. This is because the human brain will deem a sound more natural sounding by using a cut because that is what happens in the real world, sounds are absorbed by different materials (like wood, and concrete) resulting in certain frequencies being removed. Therefore when boosting EQ the brain will not be as used to it as a frequency cut. A good trick if you do want to boost a frequency is to cut all the other frequencies apart from the one you want to boost and then turn the whole volume up. As a rule a 1DB boost is equivalent to a 3DB cut.
Carefully monitor every process to ensure the levels never creeps past 0DB, this tends to happen more when using heavy limiting in dubstep, but can also happen with aggressive EQ.
A/B Properly.
An easy mistake to make is to make poor judgments by A/B testing to quickly. For example, when applying compression the better setting might not sound so good initially because its not as loud. However once normalized its would be the superior setting. Also A/B test by quickly switching between two or three of your favorite dubstep tracks to see how those producers do things.
Get your dubstep studio as quiet as possible.
Although good dubstep monitoring equipment is essential, it can be wasted money if your room is not set up properly. Some quick and easy tips are to get silent fans in your computer, and invest in some acoustic tiles to dampen pre-delay and early reflections. Essentially your room will be acting like a reverb plug-in unless you add some kind of sound dampening. This can result in over, or under use of EQ.
Test, Test, Test against other dubstep tracks.
A good idea is to listen to your efforts on as many systems and spaces as possible and pay close attention to the results. Over time this will teach you how your mix translates over multiple systems, although to perfect can take more than a lifetime. This is why a mastering engineer is worth his weight in gold. Or printer ink (as thats more expensive than gold!).
Learn the frequencies.
This might sound obvious, but building a mental picture of the dubstep frequency range in your head will pay dividends in all areas of dubstep production. In my view it maybe the most important thing in getting you mix and mastering efforts right. Try and attach words to each area, like warmth (220-320), muddiness (340), knock (600-1k), clarity (4k-7.5k) etc.
Cut it out.
When mixing / mastering dubstep (forget sonic sculpting) its nearly always better to make a frequency cut, rather than a boost. This is because the human brain will deem a sound more natural sounding by using a cut because that is what happens in the real world, sounds are absorbed by different materials (like wood, and concrete) resulting in certain frequencies being removed. Therefore when boosting EQ the brain will not be as used to it as a frequency cut. A good trick if you do want to boost a frequency is to cut all the other frequencies apart from the one you want to boost and then turn the whole volume up. As a rule a 1DB boost is equivalent to a 3DB cut.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
How to make a good dubstep wobble, DJ, make music.
OK, so you want to make some big bad bass wobble for you next dubstep track. Ill be going over a few different ways to get that shake down sound, and let me tell you its not all about the LFO as you might think.
So the LFO is one way of getting a nice dubstep wobble bass but you can get a very similar and more stable effect by using the filter envelopes on your synth. How this works is simple, you get your starting sound (probably a 2 oscillator square wave, slightly detuned, low pass filter etc). Then you set one of your envelopes to trigger the filter cut off, setting the attack in time with the music. This means when you play a note it will start with the filter cut off in a low position and then quickly open the filter exactly like how an LFO would would work but you just get the first open 'woooow' sound rather than a repeating 'wooowoooowoooow' sound like with a LFO. When this method is played with a quick note pattern (short often notes) it sound very similar to an LFO.
The LFO. This control is probably the main source you will turn to when you want to get your speakers wobbling like a true dubstep champion. You have the following controls:
Rate: This sets how fast or slow the wobble will be. You can either opt for a synchronized setting or free settings were you set the timings by hand. There are many arguments for each, but ultimately its up to you. The most common rate for dubstep is the ¼ or 1/8 settings. A good way to get a wicked variation is to have 2 synths one with a ¼ setting and one with a 1/8 setting and having different rates played per key, so first and second note would be ¼ and the 3rd note a 1/8 setting. This just ruffles things up a bit and keep the track fresh.
Amp: This effectively sets the amount of LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) used, a low setting will mean the cut off will travel less further up to fully open, and a max amp will mean the filter opens up all the way, and then all the way back to the initial position. The automation of this setting can bring plenty of nastiness and joy to a track.
Delay: The delay effect is the time before the LFO kicks in after the note is pressed. Can be used to create very interesting sounds combined with other effects.
Sync to note on: Essential this means the LFO will reset on every key press, if it's off then playing a different note will make the LFO continue oscillating at its current rate and the note change.
Advancing, you can combine the 2 effects having a filter envelope for the first part of the sound and then having the LFO triggered half a second later using the 'delay' setting on the LFO (if you have one). This gives a kind of stuttered leap in to each note, done right its sound very very rude indeed especially for dubstep production.
The main thing to remember when programming synths is subtle movements of each slider works 100% better than drastic switches from left to right. All the advanced subtleness of extreme sound creation lies in the finding of the sweet spots of each control. These are very rarely at either end so be gentle with the synth and you will be rewarded with unique and pleasing (or dis-pleasing if that's your preference) sounds and patches.
The kind of sounds that typically works best for a dubstep wobble are, square waves with distortion, triangle waves and saw tooth waves for nastier sounds. Sine waves can be used but often are not the main preference for dubstep productions.
So the LFO is one way of getting a nice dubstep wobble bass but you can get a very similar and more stable effect by using the filter envelopes on your synth. How this works is simple, you get your starting sound (probably a 2 oscillator square wave, slightly detuned, low pass filter etc). Then you set one of your envelopes to trigger the filter cut off, setting the attack in time with the music. This means when you play a note it will start with the filter cut off in a low position and then quickly open the filter exactly like how an LFO would would work but you just get the first open 'woooow' sound rather than a repeating 'wooowoooowoooow' sound like with a LFO. When this method is played with a quick note pattern (short often notes) it sound very similar to an LFO.
The LFO. This control is probably the main source you will turn to when you want to get your speakers wobbling like a true dubstep champion. You have the following controls:
Rate: This sets how fast or slow the wobble will be. You can either opt for a synchronized setting or free settings were you set the timings by hand. There are many arguments for each, but ultimately its up to you. The most common rate for dubstep is the ¼ or 1/8 settings. A good way to get a wicked variation is to have 2 synths one with a ¼ setting and one with a 1/8 setting and having different rates played per key, so first and second note would be ¼ and the 3rd note a 1/8 setting. This just ruffles things up a bit and keep the track fresh.
Amp: This effectively sets the amount of LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) used, a low setting will mean the cut off will travel less further up to fully open, and a max amp will mean the filter opens up all the way, and then all the way back to the initial position. The automation of this setting can bring plenty of nastiness and joy to a track.
Delay: The delay effect is the time before the LFO kicks in after the note is pressed. Can be used to create very interesting sounds combined with other effects.
Sync to note on: Essential this means the LFO will reset on every key press, if it's off then playing a different note will make the LFO continue oscillating at its current rate and the note change.
Advancing, you can combine the 2 effects having a filter envelope for the first part of the sound and then having the LFO triggered half a second later using the 'delay' setting on the LFO (if you have one). This gives a kind of stuttered leap in to each note, done right its sound very very rude indeed especially for dubstep production.
The main thing to remember when programming synths is subtle movements of each slider works 100% better than drastic switches from left to right. All the advanced subtleness of extreme sound creation lies in the finding of the sweet spots of each control. These are very rarely at either end so be gentle with the synth and you will be rewarded with unique and pleasing (or dis-pleasing if that's your preference) sounds and patches.
The kind of sounds that typically works best for a dubstep wobble are, square waves with distortion, triangle waves and saw tooth waves for nastier sounds. Sine waves can be used but often are not the main preference for dubstep productions.
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