kshmr production techniques & advice

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KSHMR PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES & ADVICE Mid-Side EQ "Not a lot of people, including myself, knows their way around mid-side EQing. It's supposed to be a great trick to get a full & wide sound. Have you used this technique? If so, what do you think of it? And would you be able to explain it any further? Thanks!" -Rachel McGrath Sure I'll talk about this. I'm new to it, but basics: 1) You don't need wide audio in your low end. so take a high pass, set it to sides, and drag up the frequency spectrum until you can hear it affecting the song. 2) A lot of synths presets are very wide these days, so in the final stages of mixing you can use the side EQ to pin point frequencies where synths are rubbing with more precision. You typically won't be affecting the drums — which is great — because those are generally centered.

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  • 4/20/2015 KSHMR:ProductionTechniques&Advice

    http://welcometokshmr.com/ 1/8

    KSHMRPRODUCTIONTECHNIQUES&ADVICE

    Mid-SideEQ

    "Not a lot of people, including myself, knows their wayaroundmid-sideEQing.It'ssupposedtobeagreattricktogeta full&widesound.Haveyouused this technique? Ifso, what do you think of it? And would you be able toexplainitanyfurther?Thanks!"-RachelMcGrath

    SureI'lltalkaboutthis.I'mnewtoit,butbasics:

    1) Youdon't needwideaudio in your lowend. so takeahigh pass, set it to sides, and drag up the frequencyspectrumuntilyoucanhearitaffectingthesong.

    2)Alotofsynthspresetsareverywidethesedays,sointhefinalstagesofmixingyoucanusethesideEQtopinpointfrequencieswheresynthsarerubbingwithmoreprecision.Youtypicallywon'tbeaffectingthedrumswhichisgreatbecausethosearegenerallycentered.

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    3) Similarly, if you do want to color your drums inmastering,usingthemidEQtoboostyourkickworkswellwithoutaddingmesstothesideinformationinthatrange.

    Lastly:

    What's most important is that you've got power in themiddleaswellas thesides. It'seasy to losepower in thecenter. Making a wide synth mono doesn't work. If youwant awide synth topunch in the center, butwhen youcheckitinmonoitsoundsbad,youhavetwooptions:

    a)Experimentwithadjustingtheoscillatorsofthesynthsothattheydonotphase(checktheirdetuneandvoices.)

    b) Try using Center by WAVES. It allows you to easilyremove the side information, and solo what power thesynthhasdrivingdownthemiddle(ifany.)

    Hopethathelps.

    -KSHMR

    HowToTellWhenADropIsFull

    "Whendoyouknowwhenyouhavecreatedandlayeredasoundwellenoughtouseforadroporleadmelody?"

    -MichaelLiedtke

    Ithinkwithexperienceyoueventuallygetfamiliarwiththepointatwhich things soundand it'sbestnot toaddanymore.Mybestadvicewouldbethis:

    -Decideonamainsynththatcatchesyourearandbuildaroundthat.

    -Adjustyourmainsynthandlowerthevolumeorremoveanything that doesn't sound good. For instance,sometimestherewillbeawhitenoiseOSCthatgetsugly

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    afteryouapplydistortion,multibandcompression,etc.tothesynthasawhole.

    - Add layers to yourmain synth that fill up themidsandmakeitwarmer.UseanEQ,adinfinitum,tocarveoutanypartsofthesupportingsynththatarecompetingwithyourmainsynth.

    -Addlayerstobrightenyourmainsynth.Ideally,onlyonesynthwillbeaddingwhitenoise inyourdrop.Andbetteryet, if none of your synths are noisy, you can be in fullcontrolofwhatyourwhitenoiseisdoingbyhavingitonaseparatesynthoraudiotrack.

    - Ideally yourmainsynthsoundsgood inmono.Youcanthen use the higher-frequency supporting synths toachievegreaterwideness.

    -Generallyspeaking,forallyoursynths,removethereverbanddelaytheycomewith.It'susuallybettertohavetheseeffects on a bus, and for all of your synths to have thesamereverb,delay,etc.

    Kashmir-StyleRollingBass

    "HowtomakethatrollingbassinsongslikeKashmirorLetMeFeelbyVicetoneandNickyRomero?"

    -BaberParweez

    Todothis,layerasubwithafewbasssynths.EQanylowend out of the bass synthswhichmay interferewith thesub.

    Theyshouldallbeplayingtherootofeachchord inyourchord progression. For instance, in Kashmir the chordprogressiononthedropis:

    F minor -> C# major -> D# major -> F minor, with eachchordplayingonebareach.

    Sothebasssynthsareplaying:

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    F->C#->D#->F,alsoonebareach.

    OnKashmir,allthebasssynthspitchbenddown(try-5or-12) on the last beat of every bar, creating the effect ofslidingintothenextnote.

    Note that although every bass synth is playing the samenotes, each synth can be playing the notes at differentoctaves.Forinstance,theymightbelikethis:

    Sub:F1->C#2->D#1->F1Bass1:F2->C#2->D#2->F2Bass2:F2->C#2->D#3->F3

    Andsoforth.

    Sidechain is really important here as well. The imagebelow is roughly the sidechain I would apply to the subusing LFOTool.Other bass synths shouldbe sidechainedthesame,butwithslightlylessoverallreductionifyouseefit.

    Kicks&Low-End

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    "Howdo you get such a full low end in yourmixdowns?Whatdo you do tomake kicks so loud and such a tightbass?ThanksKSHMR!"

    -MorganCarmont

    HerearesomeofthetechniquesIuseforkicksandbass.Hopetheyhelp.

    GeneralLow-EndandKicks

    -UsingthenotesbetweenD#andG#willinevitablysoundthemostpowerfulinyoursubandbasssynths.

    -Transientdesignerscanbringmorefocustoyourkickbutbecarefulyoudon'tlosethemid/lowend.

    - Use the high-pass on your EQ to cut asmuch low endfromyourleadsasyoucanwithoutsacrificingtheirpower.Dothesamefortheirreverbifonaseparatechannel.

    - Kicks and sub should be mono. There is a plug-in byBrainworxcalledControl thatcanhelp.CenterbyWAVESalso.

    -Mixesusuallyendupwithalotofwideinformation:audiothat is not exactly centered and mono. This is a goodthing,but itshouldn'tbehappening inyour lowendandplug-inslikePro-QcandothisforyouifyouturnontheirMid-Sidefeature.

    BigRoomLow-EndandKicks

    - For Big Room, there are a lot of packs available withgreat, huge kicks for every key (e.g. Cr2 and Sounds ToSample).Irecommendstartingwiththose.

    - Try using an EQ to make 3 or 4 dips where the kickdoesn'tseemtobemakingadifferencehelpingyourmixwhenplayedalltogether.

    - Often times I'll take the first few milliseconds from ashort,punchykickandquicklyfadeitintoabigtonalkick.Itcanhelpyourkickstick throughthemixandyouavoid

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    the potential phase cancellation of simply layering twokicks.

    - Themelody of your leadwill determine your sidechainsettingbutgenerallyIkeepitquickforbigroom,allowingalittleattackforthetransientoftheleadtocomethrough.

    ProgressiveLow-EndandKicks

    -Useapunchykick,preferablyinkeywiththerootofyoursong

    - The sub bass should be low-passed, cutting off abouttwo-thirdsofthespectrum,sothatcertainfrequenciesdonot interferewith your leads and other bass synths. Thesubbassshouldbecoveringonlythelowestpartsofyourspectrum.

    -The subbass shouldbe sidechained such that it duckscompletelywhenthekickplays, then fillsupthe lowendas the kick fades. Essentially, their waveforms should betheinverseofoneanother.LFOTooliswhatIuseforthis.

    - Printing yourbass to audioandusing fades toduck itsvolumewhenthekickplaysisanotheroption.

    - Lower-mid bass: I usually include one or two morebasseswith"fuzz"thatcreatesabuzzsawtypeeffect.Theshould be sidechained like the sub, but slightly lessextreme.

    -Lower-midbass shouldhavesaturation,OTT,widening,whateveritneedsappliedsothatitbuzzesnicely.

    - Generally speaking, try not to make your bass patterncomplicated. Simply playing the root of each chordwiththerightamountofsidechainoftenworksfine.IdidthisonmysongKashmir.

    - Recently I've been using an arp on the bass, triggering1/16thnoteslikeinmyremixforGalantis-Runaway.Thisalsoanoption.Itaddsalotofenergy.

    -Makingthebassstrong foreverynote is important.Thiscan be hard depending on the key. For instance, if youneedyoursub-bass toplayaC,you'll find ithard topickanoctave:thehighCwillfeelweak,thelowCwillfeellost.

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    Thisiswherelayeringyoursubwithmid-rangebasseswillhelp.Theywill fillout themoredifficultnotes,whereasasubalonecannot.InmytrackSecretswithTiesto,thefirstnoteofthebassonthedropisC.ThesubplaysthelowC,generallythoughtofastoolow,buttheotherbasssynthshelptofillitout.Thus,thelow-endsurvivedwithoutlosingpresence.

    - Your bass synths will inevitably play different notes atdifferent volumes. Try compression and limiting. Anotheroption is bouncing your bass to audio so you can seewhichnotesare toosoftor loudandadjust their volumeaccordingly.

    Makingmixessoundfull

    The best tomake things sound full, inmy opinion, is tokeep adding synths and figure out which ones are bestfillingeachareaofthespectrum

    Basics

    - Very high: should be white noise, or a synth that haswhitenoiselikeasupersaw

    -Uppermiddle:mainsynth

    - Middle: main synth and other synths that support themainsynthandgiveitbody

    - Lower middle: some kind of mid bass supporting themain synth (or in the case ofmelodic progressive housetracks, supporting thechords)withoutgetting in thewayofthesub

    -Low:thisareabelongstothekickandthesub,makesureyoueq the lowsoutof all of the synths I listedabove sothat theydonot interferewith thisarea.The relationshipbetween your kick and sub depends greatly on your

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    sidechainingsolearnthistechniquewell

    Misc

    -Thekickshouldhaveaniceattackonthetopendaswellas the low. Itmayhelp to adda clap (with the lowsandmidscutoutandafairamountofreverb)ontopofeverykick

    -Puttinggroupsof thesynthsonabus (e.g.mainsynths,bass synths, etc), or a simply grouping them as withableton, and then compressing and eq'ing that grouphelpsaswell

    - There are plug ins such as OTT and FabFilter's Pro Gwhichcanhelptomakesynthssoundbiggerusingupwardcompression

    Hopethathelps

    -KSHMR