Top 6 Halloween Synth Sounds
Happy Halloween!
In this free guide, I show you 6 ways to add more spooky sounds into your productions!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
Most new producers struggle with sound design and feel bad relying on presets. Whilst presets are great - and you shouldn’t feel guilty using them - it is good to understand what is happening and how to tweak them. Check out my guide below!
In the video we take a look at
Pitch Drift
Using Piano sounds
Using found sounds
Free but unusual 1980’s synth plug ins
and more!
Want to learn music production in a more in depth way?
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
How to Mix Indie Vocals
Who here struggles mixing vocals?
ME: Slowly raises hand
Since I’ve mainly worked in electronica & techno the last while, I’ve not been mixing vocals much.
But it’s something I have a huge interest in, because of a new indie-dance project I am working on.
SO, I was browsing around looking for tips and found this video by Marcus Lapp at the Indie Music Lab.
It’s an amazingly put together tutorial, that flies through some awesome tips in only 20 mins, so I wanted to share it with you!
Enjoy and happy music making!
Also, MY FREE GIFT TO YOU!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
Most new producers struggle with sound design and feel bad relying on presets. Whilst presets are great and you shouldn’t feel guilty using them, it is good to understand what is happening and how to tweak them. Check out my guide below!
In the video, Marcus breaks down the following:
How to use a preamp style plug in to add warmth
How to use a DS-er to remove annoying sounds
How to EQ a vocal - and looks at removing honky sounds often found around 200Hz-350Hz and problems around 2000Hz
How to use 3 layers of compression to control the sound, pump the sound, and add character to the sound
How to use a harmonic exciter to make a vocal pop in the mix
How to use time based FX like reverb and slap back delay
How to automate things to add professional details
And more!
I am super grateful Marcus took the time to share this, and I hope you find it useful too!
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
Is the “perfect mix” a LIE?
Slanj Va!
Hello and welcome!
You’ve just found your whisky fuelled music production life coach
In today’s blog, we are going to look and see if the “Perfect Mix” is a lie or not.
This is important because I believe in struggling to achieve the “perfect mix” is something that could actually be holding back a lot of music producers
So, we are going to look at 3 reasons why the “Perfect Mix” could be a lie, and use some quotes from famous artists and musicians to help us along the way…
Before we start, I just wanted to offer you a free gift!
Most new producers really struggle with Sound Design, and would love to be able to create the sounds in their head more easily - rather than only using presets.
So, to help you out I’ve written this free, Ultimate Guide to Synths eBook.
It has 27 pages of information, tutorials, and lessons you can follow along to improve your sound design skills.
Register below to receive it!
1) PERFECTION IS A LIE
“Perfection is a lie. It's an idea without an example, an unreachable goal” - Forbes Magazine
This is something that is very important to learn in general, and especially when it comes to creating art and music.
Think of a track you think is “perfect”. I can easily think of a few. However, if you were to ask the creator of that track - or find an interview where they talk about it - I am sure they will STILL mention things they think could have been better about it.
Within us is our own harshest critic & perfectionist who we must learn to ignore if we ever want to finish anything.
In fact, many artists have said it is the imperfections that actually make a work great.
Paul Epworth - a famous producer of Indie artists & even Adele - said in Music Tech Magazine:
“You can spend ages trying to make your track sound perfect, but sometimes you’ve just got to give it some fucking teeth.”
And went on to how he oversaturated every channel on one mix to achieve this!
A personal favourite artist of mine - James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem - has also explained at length on how he thinks it is actually the imperfections in his favourite music that make it so good. (Curious Creatures Podcast, linked below)
And a great quote that leads me to my next point comes from Salvador Dali:
“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it”
2) PERFECT IS THE ENEMY OF DONE
Quite often, the endless tweaking of parameters to get a mix “perfect” is actually fear & self doubt rearing their ugly heads!
The fear of releasing something to the world you’ve worked hard on, which could then be criticised.
And the self doubt from not trusting your initial, instinctive mix (which you’ve maybe now ruined with all the tweaking!)
So, as Dali says, do not have fear, don’t even aim for perfection. Shed your fear and trust your ears and gut reaction!
You are good enough!
One thing that can help with this, is rather than aiming for “perfect”, have a vision of how you want it to sound.
Is it a glossy pop production?
Is it a dirty, lo-fi dreamy track?
Is it a modern metal behemoth?
Once you have that vision, you can then find good reference tracks, and then aim towards this.
There are also some ways you can always keep improving too…
3) WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THE BEST MIXES YOU CAN THEN?
Here are some tips to help you continually improve your mixes, and the main thing I want to emphasise is continuous learning.
Never stop educating yourself in music production. There is so much to learn, and the thing that makes “the best” artists “the best” is that they are always open to learning new things, trying out new tricks, and building upon what they already know.
This can take patience and time, but if you start enjoying the journey rather than always chasing the destination, you’ll be much happier!
BUT it does help to have a map, so here are some things I think you should focus on learning over the next few weeks & months:
Setting levels
Panning & the Stereo Image
EQ - for controlling and colouring the sound
Compression - also learn about how it can control the sound and colour the sound
Time based FX like reverb, delay and chorus
A/B testing of FX
Checking your adjustments work in the whole mix - not just when a track is solo’d
Using Return tracks
How to group tracks and process the groups
Surgical EQ
Using reference tracks
Processing the master bus carefully
CONCLUSION
I hope you enjoyed this free guide!
The big takeaway I want you to have is although perfection does not exist, it is always good to continually try and improve your work, and enjoy learning new techniques and skills.
But don’t let perfectionism and fear hold you back!
Remember, you can still sign up for my free gift!
Most new producers really struggle with Sound Design, and would love to be able to create the sounds in their head more easily - rather than only using presets.
So, to help you out I’ve written this free, Ultimate Guide to Synths eBook.
It has 27 pages of information, tutorials, and lessons you can follow along to improve your sound design skills.
Register above to receive it!
SOURCES
Forbes Magazine & Dali Quote
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessicahagy/2016/10/20/imperfect-is-everything/?sh=116229995eaa
James Murphy Interview
Paul Epworth
https://musictech.com/features/interviews/paul-epworth-psychedelic-debut-voyager/
Is it OK to produce in other genres?
Is it OK to produce in other genres?
This is a question I often get asked - and have asked myself loads over the years!
As a music producer, with all the amazing tools at our disposal, the possibilities are almost endless of what we could create. And when one is starting out, it is exciting to try out all the different sounds & instruments.
This is totally normal, and one of the best things about being a music producer in the 2020’s!
However, when we look at our favourite artists, a lot of them have a strong sonic and visual identity that they don’t often veer from.
Even experimental artists like Bjork are almost instantly recognisable.
So, is it OK to produce in different genres?
The answer is YES!
Read on below for practical advice in this….
Register below to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook
Here are some reasons why it is totally OK:
You can learn lots of techniques you’d never have known about - which you can then take back to your “main” genre
It reflects the different emotions and feelings you have, and you should always be in tune with these as an artist.
You’ll create tracks that might not fit in with any singles you want to release, but the material could be amazing as album or EP tracks.
It also reflects your diverse listening habits.
It might happen In electronic music less - but in the rock & band world, quite often mixing songs of different styles, tempos and feelings into one set is common
So yes, for these reasons and more, it is totally OK to produce in different genres, and you should never beat yourself up for this.
Here are some other points to think about when you get to the stage of releasing music:
Artists with their own sonic & visual identity usually have spent years experimenting and developing this sound. You should allow yourself time to grow too.
You don’t have to release everything you make - feel free to show your friends and family; but when it comes to releasing material it is good to consider what works together and develop your sonic identity
Large acts do this, EG Boards of Canada have talked about making tracks in completely different genres, like 60’s rock. Often, they will re-sample it and work it into material that fits their sound more.
If you really do want to release completely different styles of music, consider using a different artist name and visual identity for each project. It is a bit like when people in a band have a side project.
If you have any questions or want to chat about this further, give me an email!
My favourite YouTube Music Production Tutorial
When I was starting out, this video was and still is my favourite overview of an artist making a track using a mixture of Ableton, Midi controllers, and hardware.
Legowelt is also one of my favourite artists and personalities in the electronic music world - he is always so inventive, has a good sense of humour, and isn’t afraid to stand out!
Enjoy and happy music making!
Also, MY FREE GIFT TO YOU!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
Register below to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook
Album Re-Release Interview
For my brother James and I, It’s been a wild ride re-releasing our 15 year old album “21”, under the duo name Kinetic Friends.
One exciting part has been recounting those times in an interview with our friend & host Freddie.
In this we chat about things that might help your own music making like:
Getting other producers to remix your work
Planning your next releases
New ideas that can come about by thinking back to your old writing stye
Enjoy and happy music making!
Also, MY FREE GIFT TO YOU!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
Register below to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook
Why Music Producers Need to Take Action
In this week's Blog I wanted to mention an important thing for music producers to be doing as much as possible... Taking Action! But what does that mean?
Put Simply, taking action means taking real life steps towards doing what you want, for example:
Want to improve your mix, but find yourself lost watching tutorials? Learn some tricks, but then put more hours practicing as much as possible.
Want to play a gig but aren't motivated to rehearse? Go book yourself a gig and then you'll have a deadline to rehearse for!
Want to be released on Vinyl? Start sending out your demo to as many labels as possible. Let's say 50 labels. You can send 50 emails right? Maybe one person will get back to you. Acknowledging beforehand that it's likely not a lot will reply should reduce your fears of rejection. They're not rejecting you, they are just too busy with their own life and current artist roster! But at least you took action and got a reply!
So you can see how rather than researching skills, plug ins, or gear, this is more important. We learn by doing. We achieve things by doing them.
Research and tutorials are great, but remember if that is not balanced with taking the steps you need to, you are wasting time.
It is not worth just keeping it all in your head but never using that knowledge!
Also, MY FREE GIFT TO YOU!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
The idea to write about this came to me after recording an interview with my brother James and our host Freddie about our album re-release.
In the interview I tell the story about booking our first gig we were self organising. And how scared I felt to do it. But then how easy it was!
And I felt like "WOW DOING STUFF IS ACTUALLY EASY
Ha ha which isn't always true...
But doing stuff I.E taking action will definitely move you forward faster on your journey as a music producer.
You can watch the whole interview above
All the best and Happy Music Making,
David
Register below to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook
Writer’s Block Cure: Looking Back In Time
Writer’s block can effect us at any moment as a music producer and creative, so it is good to know a few strategies to deal with it!
One tool is looking back in time for inspiration. This can be old family photos, videos from the early days on Facebook, chatting with friends you went to school with, or any other way you can think of to travel back in time!
Some examples are:
Browsing old family photos
Videos from your old, grainy digital camera - you'll have the SD card somewhere!
Chatting with friends you went to school with
Asking you parents/ Guardians/ Family to tell stories from the past
Trying an activity you used to love but have stopped doing (eg, skateboarding, cycling, swimming etc)
Cooking or baking a meal or treat you haven't in years
You’ll find memories, emotions and nostalgia bubbling to the surface, and quite often this can spark new ideas!
Recently, I’ve been doing this with my brother James. We are re-releasing our very first album, which we made FIFTEEN YEARS ago! It has made me reflect on my attitudes to music making back then, how I’ve changed, and how I should fit some of my old music making process into my modern day skill set.
Below is a video from the album, filmed in Oban, Scotland, Circa 2006. Enjoy!
Also, MY FREE GIFT TO YOU!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
Register below to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook
If You Listen to One Podcast This Summer, Make it THIS…
If you are a music producer that doesn’t listen to podcasts that’s OK.
But here is one you have to hear!
In this interview, the sassy, straight talking, no BS New Yorker artist James Victore breaks down all conventions and barriers that could be stopping you from releasing your true potential as a music producer and artist.
In a funny way, he deals with things like your fear of failure, of rejection
He talks about overcoming procrastination, and not being afraid to use your own unique voice.
I recommend this very highly and I will be upset if you don’t give it a listen lol
Also, MY FREE GIFT TO YOU!
Register below, to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook!
My course combines the skill of being a producer, as well as advocating for a positive mindset and the well being aspects of music production. I am sure you’d love it!
Register below to get your FREE “Ultimate Guide to Synths” eBook