Tuesday, May 11, 2010

NOTES FOR 5.12.2010


(Todays Session Above)

Ok....this track...is my god sent track. This is the one that will get played by everyone, and the one that will give me the break I was looking for. Thanks to my father last night....sending me the best word of advice. This is a remix of "You really got me" using the KINKS and VAN HALENs guitar parts....but last night...my dad reminded me of "Eruption", the guitar solo that is ranked as one of the best ever in the history of guitar solos (leading into Van Halens version). He said "Do you think you could throw that in the middle somewhere". At first I thought....no timing, kinda tough....but I said Id give it a shot. I tossed it in during a break down and build up (like I mentioned before, this track has almost endless buildups...like psytrance). Some how, as a gift from god...the timing matches up perfectly to when eddie van halen hits his last note in "Eruption", and then the kick rolls, and it launches into the hardest part of the song. I had no idea it was going to work so perfectly. It took my song to a WHOLE new level. I cant wait to release this one....it will be FREE...because I do not own the rights to it....and, its the one that everyone is gonna want (I think...lets hope).

Notes for today -

Getting your 1/16 note HHs to sound right involves a smidge of attack volume delay. They can be really sharp sometimes, but just a smidge within simpler cleans them up really well.

Today, I EQed the guitar part from the VAN HALEN guitar. Did some EQ cuts to make the snares sit nicely and very loud. I also used 3 snare tracks in this. The reason I did this, after reading that book "This is your brain on music", I learned that the brain has a syncopation part of it...and when things are not the same...but trying to BE the same...you brain has to compute this. Its the same part of the brain that creates dopamine and makes you like music. I subliminally changed the snares by a few milliseconds to attempt this.

Use a compressor after your snare reverbs to cut it nicely.

Its hard when you are using a build up sample that you made that already has a PAN in it, if you want to pan it a different way, so be careful when making build ups. Its better to leave them flat, then PAN them when they are in the song. However, when you are using multiple synths to make your buildups, sometimes you want to pan the one synth different than the other....so its hard to decide what to do. I should make 2 or 3 copies of each build up I make so I can alter it the way I want. You never know how you will want it once its within a track. When you pan an already panned sample, it just doesnt sound right. I used the utility to make it more mono, and then panned it...but something still didnt sound right about it.

Changing basslines within the same bass synth sometimes requires putting it into a new track and changing the side-chain parameters. I had to do that today.

Automating the EQ 8 when using the kinks vocal track (which is not a vocal track, just the regular track but EQed into the mids) can sometimes clear up sounds. I was using the middle of the EQ8 automated to cut the snare out. Since I used 3 snares sounds, I mostly masked the sound, but I could still hear it a bit. Its funny, because when you are watching the automation of your EQ, you can HEAR it working...but if you close your eyes, and listen, sometimes you cant tell. That is the ultimate test to if it sounds ok. Close your eyes, and use only your ears. After all, thats all that matters anyway.

Make sure the predelay of any crash reverbs is set to a higher parameter so it doesnt cut the attack sound. Its really important to get the reverb lengths of your crashes right.

Well thats it for today. This track is almost finished. I finished EQing it, so, tonight (or tomorrow morning) I will remix it...my final step in the process....but it almost sounds ok now, so I dont want to do too much to it. I just gotta wait for my ears to clear up. Recently, I have been making a track, and then waiting a WEEK to send it to my engineer. I dont listen to the track AT ALL for one week, then come back to it, and re-check everything. It really helps your ears hear it differently.

Peace!

FroBot


3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow!! Awesome. I've been a bit disappointed that you haven't released tracks so far actually. I'm guessing this is part of rigorous quality control? :)

FroBot said...

Yes Yes. Actually, 4 tracks got sent to mastering today...my engineer is out of the office until the 22nd (which is great because he comes back with fresh ears!!) He is already sitting on 2 other tracks, and I have one here finished already, plus one I havent sent (waiting for a friend to lay down a guitar track). So 8 tracks, all out soon...a few free too.

Anonymous said...

hey there,

i've been following your blog for about a month now, and i love it. your enthusiasm, and consistency is contagious. as soon as i read up on what you've been doing, i run back in the studio and finish up my tunes. after all, i can't let you have all the fun!

good to hear that you had one of those "miracle" moments in your writing process. those happen when you stay busy.

thanks again for inspiration

jeff

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