Ask me anything!
Added 2024-11-01 21:16:40 +0000 UTCHey guys! Hope your October was great and your November is starting off strong. I want to be even more active on here and give more content and advice. I mentor numerous producers via zoom sessions and I want to distill some of the information I teach those students into advice for all of you.
So, I’m going to start doing a sort of Q&A - maybe once or twice a month. So let’s things it off! Feel free to ask me anything related to production, DJing, career advice, creativity…anything. I’ll do my best to answer everyone in the comments and maybe start doing videos answering these so I can do longer answers. Ask away!
Comments
For sure! The main ways I use to control it a bit more are the Mix knob (simply turning down the mix will help control the intensity (sometimes as little as like 5-10% can be enough to be noticeable in the mix) and then also the recycle knob. This one is sort of like a feedback knob in a traditional delay plugin. I also often do automations within the project to turn it up or down - you can automate the mix knob or put a utility after the crystallizer and then just automate the volume of that entire layer up and down so its more dynamic / interesting and not just constant.
Kevin Lang
2024-11-07 18:38:39 +0000 UTCAny tips on taming Crystallizer? When I try to use it, it becomes something I'm constantly trying to control/get out of the way because of the long feedback tail. I've had some success with printing it to audio...
Ken K
2024-11-07 05:29:38 +0000 UTCSome people will tell you that you don’t need nice equipment to get amazing mixes. I think that can be true but only for highly experienced people. So, I do think it’s worth investing in some decent headphones (assuming you can comfortably afford to do so.) I spent 5-6 years using the Audio Technica M50x headphones (around 130$.) Most of my music was mixed on those headphones. I switched to the Focal Clear headphones (around 1500$ but I can link a site selling them brand new for about 800$) and the difference in my mix / master quality is *dramatic.* I can hear details I was never able to notice before. There’s plenty of options inbetween those two as well!
Kevin Lang
2024-11-03 20:28:41 +0000 UTCThat’s a good question! I do a lot of my mixing and production work on headphones. I’d say unless you have great monitors and a very well treated studio room, you’re better off with decent headphones than you are with any monitors regardless of how expensive they are. Room Acoustics make an unbelievable difference when it comes to mixing and how we perceive sound in an untreated room. So, that being said, I think the main thing comes down to when you’re doing critical mix / master work. If you’re creating / writing, you could even just listen on your laptop speakers and be totally fine. When you’re really trying to judge the exact balance of elements such as during a mixing session, better listening tech makes a big difference. When doing the majority of work on headphones, just make sure to listen to your mix in other environments before deciding anything major like releasing a song. I always listen to my mixes on my headphones, on my monitors, on at least 2 different Bluetooth speakers, in my car, and on my iPhone speakers. That way, you may notice an issue that you missed while listening on studio headphones and can go back to correct it
Kevin Lang
2024-11-03 20:25:18 +0000 UTCAny advice or tips on mixing/mastering in headphones? The time I have to produce now is while my boys are taking naps so mostly in headphones now. Thanks!
twinblade
2024-11-03 20:15:59 +0000 UTCI think they both have their merits. I often am putting reverb directly on each individual track for a variety of reasons. The first being it allows me to really dial that layer in exactly how I want it. Having a variety of sounds with different reverb amounts and decays allows for a more nuanced mix since there’s a variety of sounds being placed at different depths within the stereo field due to a variety of reverb settings. And yes, it is also a nice sound design method. Since you can add more processing before / after the reverb signal, you can really shape sounds in a more interesting way than you could with sends + returns
Kevin Lang
2024-11-02 15:52:39 +0000 UTCI do always do my reverbs and delays using sends + returns when I’m doing vocals. I find that it allows for a much cleaner dry signal from my vocals which is really important to get them sounding as present and up front as possible. Plus I can process / EQ the reverb a bit easier since it’s on its own channel. Theoretically, parallel processing should be the same thing but I find it just doesn’t sound the same as sends + returns do when it comes to putting reverb on vocals
Kevin Lang
2024-11-02 15:52:18 +0000 UTCWhat's your take on putting reverb/delay on tracks vs. buses vs. sends? I noticed, in your Better World remix, you had a lot of reverbs very early (e.g. piano -> reverb -> OTT -> EQ). Is that more for sound design purposes? Using sends makes it easier to automate everything at once and puts everything in the same space. But for genres like melodic dubstep or trance I feel like I want finer grained control (e.g. wash out delay on vocals while cutting everything else). Any thoughts?
Ken K
2024-11-02 02:12:05 +0000 UTC
