The problem with inspecting mixes using Spectrum is how relatively similar everything can look. The trick is knowing what to look for. But even with some more knowlege, be aware that we’re definitely working in a realm of subtleties, and what you’re likely to get out of the process is a slow buildup of wisdom […]
MASTERING: SPECTRUM
The Spectrum device can really come in handy to help you learn more about the frequency content of an audio signal. Many engineers are quick to point out that meters are never a substitute for ears, and this is absolutely true. However, a good spectrum analyzer can be a great tool to help train your […]
THOUGHTS ON SELF-MASTERING
There are a wide variety of reasons it’s often considered a bad idea to master your own music. Sometimes the argument against self-mastering has the sound of a moral imperitave: you should not master your own music. It’s just wrong! What’s closer to the truth is that it’s just very difficult. There are a pile […]
EXCLUSIVE
A basic but important aspect of configuring Live is the Exclusive setting (located in the Record/Warp/Launch tab of the Preferences screen) and how it’s modified by the Command or Ctrl key. When turned on, this option prevents multiple tracks from being Soloed, or Armed for recording simultaneously. Beyond that basic fact, the important thing to […]
ABOUT FM
Ok, one more Operator tip, then we’ll move on from all this algorithm alphabet soup. This is a simple experiment to do if you haven’t fully wrapped your head around FM synthesis. I didn’t really understand the basics of FM for a long time, and going through this process really helped me. Bear in mind […]
ABOUT ALGORITHMS
In this tip, we’re going to take a look at two of the FM algorithms offered by Operator, and discuss the way in which they work differently and how that affects the subsequent tweaking. I’m going to pick up where I left off in the previous tip, where oscillator A was generating the main body […]
KICK DRUM WORKSHOP: FM IT
For the last several tips, we’ve been focusing on the main body of the kick. Now we’ll take a closer look at the attack. So far, all we’ve discussed is using Operator as a four oscillator subtractive synth: There’s nothing wrong with this – working with simple layering can be a great way to develop […]
KICK DRUM WORKSHOP: HIGH PASS FILTER
Ok – we’re almost done with this kick drum series! I didn’t realize quite how much there was to say on this topic… The high pass filter might seem like a counterintuitive element to incorporate into designing a kick drum sound, but it’s a very useful tool. This is because a resonant high pass filter […]
KICK DRUM WORKSHOP: WORKIN THE SWEET SPOT
So, it might seem like I’m taking a very long route to get to Kickdrum Ave, but it’s all for a reason. It always amazes me how many variables and subtleties there are with sound design. My hope is to share a workable process for managing those possibilities, rather than just presenting a recipe to […]
KICK DRUM WORKSHOP: THE SWEET SPOT
In the prior tip, I mentioned that you might not be getting the expected result out of cranking up the Decay of the volume envelope… Even though Decay is at almost two seconds, the kick still sounds like it’s fading out really quickly. This has to do with the pitch of the kick rather than […]
