catandbeats

Self release statistics by Djogo!

"Hello everyone! My name is Djogo, dude from Rio de Janeiro but living in Amsterdam. It's been cool to be part of this community for the past few weeks. Having been silent so far, I am posting this video as Guido asked me to tell a bit more on how I am doing the promotions for my (and others) Spotify releases. So, there you go:  Let me know if you guys have questions. Cheers!"

Who won the mixing competition?

It was a real honor to listen to your submissions. Lots to learn from this and very cool creative ideas to come through. See you next round! This time with Analog Obsession.

For everybody that did not join in.. Only through practice do you become better so challenge yourself and join along with any of the other project files. These are not cookie cutter files, they are real world scenario's. Enjoy getting lost and finding yourself again at the end with lots of fresh knowledge. 

Hybrid reverb what is it good for?

It's for color and more color. Think to yourself, What do I need now? Low end top end? A bloop or bleep? Hybrid reverb is there to give you those choices. With the standard reverb it's more of a mix tool. 

Sam Gellaitry Bass remake

2 basses.

1. being a distorted 808 and an imager smacked to full wack

2. a slow attack envelope put to cuttoff filter played in mono. 

Both go through an amp

Label or self release

Couple of questions bring this to a simple answer of yes or no.  

1. Do I like looking at statistics, reaching out, making playlists and a bit of admin? (If yes go for your own label)
2. Does my significant other or group of friends listen to my music on repeat?  If yes and you said no to the question above try focussing on a label with lots of distribution channels. If no, it's ok to go to a smaller label or do a self release.

Most importantly though, release more an...

Bunch of questions in 1 video

Hey guys,

for the next few weeks I will slam a bunch of questions into one video due to time constraints  

New mixing series with Analog Obsession

Hey guys,

Looking for another project again to go up on YouTube. What do I need?

1. Finished song soundcloud link posted below

2. Send in before the 19th of May.

Side note, I don't care what the mix sounds like I do care what the overall song sounds like. Arrangement and sound design is way more important at this stage than the mix ;). 

Felipe, will it work in a club?

Yes, it will work perfectly fine. Just adjust the eq on the master and add a bit of verb to the top end of the drums. Also, quickly check if your song translates in mono. If it does not.. you need a bit more work

Seamus with Avicci as a reference

It's close but a few more tweaks are needed. Try out those tricks mentioned in the beginning and focus on getting the low end of the kick drum to punch through in the drops. 

La Giang's mix (not the one from YouTube)

It's perfectly fine the way it is but a few notes. How important is mono compatibility for you? If you do not care then don't take note. If you do, please consider panning vs wideners. 

Wouter's track feedback

A lot of little tips here but overall not a bad balance so you can be proud of yourself

Solution to vst's not showing up in Ableton 10 and 11

First put in this command line:
xcode-select --install

After run codesigner and open up the plugin that does not show up. 

How to compress for cuttoff filters

You will need an internal side chain on your compressor. The CLA2a is set up perfectly in one go for this or you can go with the ableton stock compressor if you need more control

Benjamin Feedback

Go for option 1 if Whebba does not play the artist otherwise go for option 2. If option 2 is the same as the intended reference song than you are a bit screwed. Production wise I would adjust atleast the key of option 1 and put in some more "dirty" stabs or maybe even just put in FM so it's not the exact same sound design as well. 

Mas BTP How to get the vocals to sit better?

A lot of little things can help your vocals sit better. 

1.EQ less extreme on the vocal
2. Clean up the reverb on the rest of the song (Less or via a send)
3. De ess/exiter like type a, aphex or fresh air (do this in parallel) That means use the mix knob
4. Vocal up about 1 db too loud mixing (India being about 3db too loud)
5. delete that chromatic note with the piano and bass (you are off one or two)

inf. Release like this and move on to the next track. The mor...

Compression again

About the video Darragh posted the threshold=the compression knob in his video. Now about the attack release timing.
Longer attack means more transients (10 to 100ms) Shorter means less transients (0 to 10ms). When do you use which? try both and see which works in your mix. 

Very fast release means distortion (0 to 5ms) Fast release means "breathing fast" (5 to 15ms). Slower means making your track breath slower (20 to 200). Breathing in this analysis is like t...

what's my favorite color eq?

I don;t have one. I suggest figuring out what the concept is behind an eq and using saturation for color. 

Focussing your production

Try to set a goal. A creative without a goal can end up anywhere. This way you stay in a constant void of mediocre productions. 

Stefan's radio edit

Great job, move on to the next song though and keep it up. 

Mixing with a limiter on the master?

Do what you need to do in your creative process. Be yourself as much as possible. However, two things are needed to be taken into consideration. Number 1, make rules for yourself and or a goal otherwise you end up never finishing anything and generally relying on excuses for why your track just does not work. Number 2, if you end up with stuff on the master understand what they are doing and what you like about them. 

(a limiter will turn down the track you turn up so keep that in ...

What to do to fix a mix??

You have two stages, number one would be to write down your problems and make a to do list and fix from there. If you find that it "sucks overall" use sends and push into distortion, parallel compression or maybe overall reverb. The overall suckiness needs to be defined as much as possible.  Always, bounce a before and after so that you can quickly double check your versions and always check with your reference.

Second, how do you keep yourself focussed or have a roadmap? Use color...

Satinka

A few little things to fix but you should be good to go after that

MGMT Kids sound design

Well, this one truly made me think. It's a 90's "crap" gear mixing which is a mix between digital and analogue boxes. The mix definitely makes the sound and not the other way around. But what exactly was used and abused is a mystery. That is why I want to reverse engineer this entire song as it's just too obscure and that is annoying me. 

Overall it's a clean sound going into a pre amp - eq - amp - eq. After it's an overall mix bus with a very  fast attack and release. That eq...

Sampler vs Dragging and dropping sound. Is there a difference?

Oddly enough there is a difference. I think it's do to the fact that sampler is a "sampler" as there is a slight pitch difference. 

Is this difference enough to make or break a song? No, not in the slightest. Work with whatever is comfortable for you and either way you will be fine. 

Mixing and Mastering La Giang competition

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The mixing competition is here. 

The rules

1. Due date May 1st

2. Ableton Live 11 stock plugins only (1 or 2 free plugins allowed)

3. Support La Giang for being awesome https://biglink.to/lagiang

4. Please understand you need to m...

Mas BTP

The arrangement works, the song idea works but we need to up the ante. Please work with a vocalist and let the vocalist come in and do her thing in the. "drops" so that your listeners can sing this song back as they dance into the sunset. (colorful eh).. But that is the power of a good arranged song so good job. 

The bad, fix the mix. Turn down the reverb piano a lot. Anywhere from 10 to 5db will do it a lot of good. It's hard to hear any of the song. People dance to groove and lik...

anatol's track

Some very good potential to push this track into a fun listening experience. Start from 2:38 and work out that pluck so that it can be a memorable lead 

UAD apollo or something else?

It all depends on what you need to record. If you don't record and just mix get just a volume knob. (I have the Kii controller and that's it). If you do record think of what you record, instruments (DI), synthesizers (line in), headphone outs for your band members etc.. apollo is a very expensive option for what it ends up actually being. I would personally never do that and opt for audiogridder. Long story short, think what you need and if you mix analogue, record or are just like me. <...

Goa and Merengue

It's a hard one for me to comment on as it could be seen as "art" due to the space the music lives in. The space being the reverb and floaty bleeps and bloops. If it is for an art installation or you want the listener to feel like they are in a wormhole or confusing place it's brilliant. If you want it to be dance ish or you imaging a different environment than it's just too much verb. I would than focus on the dance part (rhythm, bass, lead). Interesting work eitherway 

Top end tips for hars

Many options here.. But.. Your song does not sound like it has too many issues to be very honest. Most likely you are simply listening to loud :). Use the spl trick (download an app) where you put on a song (spotify) and just listen to it. The spl meter will spit out a number (let's say 65). Leave your phone with the spl meter on the table and check how loud you mix. If it's 85.. That is your answer, just return to listening level and you should be a ok