finding your channel has been like finding a Rolex in a dumpster. RUclips is rife with opportunists and not enough sincere educators. Your wry wit is reminding me that everytime I start to despise the internet, it redeems itself. CHEERS from across the pond.
I sat down yesterday to start a new track. The loop game was on. I had two reference tracks but slowly I began to slide into the creative zone and eventually got lost in it and forgot about the references. My loop was on fire! 🔥 Today I reopened the project and compared it to the reference tracks. They were wide as hell and sounded really good. My stuff sounded horrible. Narrow and lifeless. I started to empty all my knowledge to widen my sounds but nothing happened. It still sounded like crap so I thought I needed to look at my sound design. After way to long I realized I had the mono switch on on the master channel 🤦🏻♂️😅
@Niles7787 I do, they are stereo. are you asking why I keep them narrow? It's because it's club music , some clubs still play in mono, sounds that are widened using stereo difference techniques are extremely weak in mono, I don't want my lead sounds or bass disappearing in certain clubs. and regarding panning I don't want anything groove essential in one speaker, as only half the crowd will hear it! Also most common playback devices are near mono such as phones, sound bars, TVs. Etc. most systems apart from proper hi-fi set ups and headphones don't benefit from stereo. And even then headphones aren't stereo! (They're binaural)
@@Bthelick This is the most accurate explanation I've seen in awhile! There's lots of fun to be had with binaural and ambisonics but unfortunately it doesn't translate well in clubs (assuming most clubs don't have ambisonic surround sound systems) {maybe the sphere in vegas does it would be the perfect opportunity to have ambisonic sound given the emersion it is aiming for}.
Man these tutorials are some kind of god send, no pretence, no nonsense, no milking information out. Just down the line honest helpful content! thank you man!
you're spot on man, all fantastic info, no bs, very calming voice to listen to as well. appreciate you passing down your wisdom in this field for free.
The start early tip may have just changed my life. I've always avoided using reference tracks for fear of feeling dejected when my stufd doesn't match up. This will help me get around that mental block.
Best thing I ever did in production was find a reference track I want to sound like and then putting it on a channel in FL and swapping between it regularly. Same key and BPM so I can arrange round it and match the volumes like you said and it's removes that area of failure leaving me free to make plenty of other mistakes.
Me and good friend of mine have been in the studio many of times together, we both watched this video when it came out and today got back in the studio and remembered the advice from this video. We progressed so much faster and found the session much more enjoyable. Thank you for your advice, your videos have really helped.
Can’t believe this channel. Been binging your channel and making tech house music since I got home from work a week ago. I’ve been making music for years but I have improved SO much this week thanks to you
I use my own professionally mastered tracks as a reference and that’s really helped improve the quality of my new songs. Keeps me from wandering too far off the path.
I would love a video of you sound designing everything in a piano house track like high strings, string stabs, ambient noise, ear candy etc. Taking a couple of minutes per sound then moving on. I could learn a lot from that, anyway keep up the great work !
Top video. One way I reference is using the Span VST2 version which allows easy setup of sidechaining. This overlays your track and the reference to give visual indicators and has helped massively. Metric AB is a also helpful plug-in which regularly goes on sale for around £30. Get well soon mate.👍
Refreshing this, I love it when I find a video that offers a different perspective on compression etc, I know referencing is important, but I will put more emphasis on this in future. Great channel this, well done Mr Bthelick.
What I do is I'll make a groove, then send it to myself and blast it in my car in the morning when I go to work to see what I missed when mixing in my room.
@@Bthelick That's true. Another technique I use is changing headphones/earbuds. I have a couple that have pretty terrible frequencyresponses and they really magnify the tiniest of issues. I should use more reference tracks tho.
Great tip mate! The three most important things a manager does: One is get the money. Two is always remember to get the money. Three is never forget to always remember to get the money. Shep Gordon - supermensch documentary
I'm actually testing a new one, there's a new free one by reflex which focuses on bass accuracy. Span can do bass but you have to swap to higher bands and the frame rate takes a dive.
That's mad, you said wakey wakey just as I was nodding off 😂😂 not because i think your tutorials are boring by any means but simply because I've been drinking wine all night and I'm watching this in bed 😂 great video again btheclick 👌time to reference i think 🎉
Fantastic 🎉 listening loud and clear 👂 Interestingly, when I started using in ear monitoring to play live with 4 others, I would often begin with a bad mix… after 3 or 4 songs I would forget about it… I guess the normalisation concept explains this somewhat.
LOVE IT!!! Ive been referencing other tracks for so long I can't remember and it is the way to go,.. so many benefits,.. I use Reference by mastering the mix sometimes and I also use XLN XO so when I saw it pop up on your screen I was thinking hell yes,.... such a powerful drum sequencer! I usually bounce the tracks to audio though because I just work that way 70-80% of the time in my productions,.... you forgot the 4th R though,.... It's REFEEEERENCEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! 😉
sorry ben for all the comments lately. your channel is everything to me in terms of my production. So when referencing I should try to match the kick and bass first before adding anything, then the clap and tops and then vocals ?
Great video Ben. I really liked, and totally agree with, what you said about taking inspiration from different reference tracks for different elements of the track you're making. It definitely helps with creativity and also getting out of the dreaded stuck-in-the-loop mindset. I'd thoroughly recommend having a reference track with a strong drum mix to build a good foundation for your track, as well as a couple more with strong hooks for creative inspiration. That said, it depends on the genre you’re creating. Anyhoo......keep up the fantastic work & great to see your subs near the 20k mark and rising 😁
Good day Bthelick. i think that its might be a good idea to make a video about setting instrument levels by relative volumes concept. matching volumes by a reference is great idea, however it needs something to compliment it,mainly to set the levels of small effect and such(to improve workflow).
I don't have any methods for setting levels. You set levels where you want them! Other than making sure the kick dominates in dance music , and making sure the vocals are clear in pop tracks, there are no methods. How is setting levels to the reference not useful? If you don't yet have 10,000 hours of ear training and a great treated room, that's the only way you're going to be able to judge it! Unless you mean something else by "setting levels" ? Are you looking for relative fader dB numbers?
@@Bthelick setting the instrument to a reference is extremely useful and important. i find it very good for setting the core instruments,like kick bass and leads. instruments i prefer to set them as u mentioned, by listening to the kick level as a audio encore to compare to. i think i mentioned it because i did an amateur mistake by setting the levels just where it felt good to me, without mixing in relation to the kick(in our case). i used to do that in the past but neglected this simple practice. the results ended poorly as i my last published mix(i should have compare old vs new mix). maybe some newcomers and more experienced will benefit of a reminder in a form of video in your channel, that's the reason for the comment. personally i prefer to always use reference tracks and listen to then every 20 min or so and ido have a somewhat treated room and sonarworks+a few years of experience. patience and dedication.
You totally nailed this video and I had so much fun with your 3 R's 🤟🏼😂 they took it to the point 🔥 thank you very much I feel growth on me after watching this 🚀
I think the best tracks ive made have come from using reference tracks and i feel like theyre at a level were i want to show people. With that said i guess time will be a factor but i cant get my drums to slap like say D.O.D which is the style i like. What i tend to do it run the D.O.D track on one channel and mine on all the other channels while im making it and say like its the first drop i play both one after another the kick from a professional some times makes me want to turn off but i guess its a long road. practise makes perfect and all that 😇
Depends what was playing through them. I used to be able to spot an mp3 a mile away but I can't always identify a well encoded one these days. The tech has got better for sure.
Btw, I was thinking about referencing and I probably need a backwards guide. Often, I have a musical idea that I'd like to finish but struggling to find a matching reference to it :D
Ah ok in that case we're getting in somewhere already! D.A.W. is Digital Audio Workstation. It's the general term for the type of main software program used to record and make music like the one you see on screen in my videos.
@@markksantos gotcha. I'd love to but the music & videos ARE my time right now. if I took on any 121 then the 12many has to stop! To start you don't need anything other than a daw and a computer to run it on. that's all. I use a daw called Ableton Live but tbh any daw is absolutely fine, they all work in a similar way. Live is not that cheap, but it is very easy to use. There are free daws available though like Waveform Free which is fantastic. Grab yourself a daw an have a poke around!
I’ve seen you use the XO plugin to reference drum samples and I’d like to try that technique. Have you tried the “similar sounds” feature in Ableton 12? I’m wondering whether the plug in or the Ableton feature is better, and I’d love your take before I buy one of the two. Thank you for all of your videos and all of your teaching!
Yeah xo is handy but mostly in the sense of a 'blind' sample selector since Ableton's search got much worse after v8. xo's tone isn't great, it just appears to be taking a single overall tonal snapshot, I noticed it simply puts shorter samples at the top, long samples at the bottom, Brighter samples on the right and bass-ier samples on the left there's not much more to it than that. Ironically I make so much music and the video takes so long that I still haven't had time to test Ableton 12 properly! I will be making a quick video on this feature though this workflow is paramount to my job.
i watch this so many times i love it. thank you again.. do you have a tutorial on how to set up the reference track. channel so you can by pass it , have the volumes correct so its not mastered twice etc (pardon bad terminology)
Yes simple, I don't have anything on my master channel! (Except metering). I leave the references at 0 so I can match my track to them. Then by the time I'm done matching sounds to the reference, my track doesn't need mastering and i release it just like that. I barely even have to mix too because the sound selection is usually so close! "The best mixes don't need mastering" - Bob Katz. Having said that, it must be said it takes a lot of ear training and experience to be able to work like that so if you want to work with things in your master you can direct the references to go straight to the sound card output and not through master channel. Just look in your routing options.
@@Bthelick Thank you so much for this response, knowledge, and your time =) I am grateful. I am learning so much from your videos. You are awesome. I am seeing the last decade + of me trying to teach myself flash back to me in moments now as in like "oh ok well thats why i kept having that issue, etc "the every 20 mins change your reference thing was the biggest aha moment. I cant thank you enough. Do you have a tutorial showing how you would go about setting up a reference track or a few? I am searching for a gain staging one now too and maybe another one or combo video where you explain how to have the kick maybe start at -6b or -10 i forget and then mix the snare for example to it , bass etc. Then how to check ( a/b) the refference track ( do we check the reference with our ears ( not solo_ as well as maybe look at a spectrum analyzer so we can also check( pardon possible bad terminology or explanation here) the shape of the kick ( as well as the frequency.. ( in my head im picturing/ thinking i prob should not just be trying to match the SPIKE eq ( where it says the root nore etc etc) but the whole 80-120 curve of the eq ..i overthink things can you tell. thank you for your time. ( no worries if you are busy and dont have a holiday set aside to read all this. nevermind respond. im just really happy i found your work. i feel leaps and bounds ahead of where i was for years now once i started watching your content. (ps im a artist. id love to make you some of my woodworking art as a thank you for all you have given to me (with your teachings/videos.) i usually make someones logo , fave word/ phrase or symbol out of wood and add led lights to it ( looks great in studios / offices etc) jlmk.. i can send you my IG if u would like one.. so you can see my work ..( ty again)
yep you are definitely over thinking it! don't be looking at numbers use your ears. Put the reference track at the top of session and swap to it as you search for kicks in your library and try to match the level and tone. you can't have rules like all kicks stay at -6 or whatever, because that's not how sound works! -6 at 50hz? -6 at 150hz? -6 RMS, at peak or LUFS??? what does -6 mean? does it equate to what your ears hear ? no. most measurements on saw channel faders are digital peak meters which tell you absolutely nothing about sound. a -6 peak sound can sound half the volume of a -12 peak sound depending on density so don't rely on any meters just match it to the reference by ear as best you can. You can use meters to find problems (like checking sub levels that your speakers can't recreate etc) but not for overall judgement. Your audience won't be listening to your tracks with meters! 👊
Hi Ben, matching the volume to the reference volume so no need to master - yep I'll try it ! But assume mp3 from RUclips isn't loud enough? Do I need to buy high quality .wav from Beatport etc? Some sort of lossless file type? Many thanks
RUclips rips vary. RUclips's level compensation is usually performed after the file not to it. Depends on how the file is obtained whether you get the original or not. You'll see if the file is reaching near zero or not it should be obvious. Bare in mind any mp3 has to be 'converted' to be played back so lossy formats will clip and go over zero somewhat.
finding your channel has been like finding a Rolex in a dumpster. RUclips is rife with opportunists and not enough sincere educators. Your wry wit is reminding me that everytime I start to despise the internet, it redeems itself. CHEERS from across the pond.
OK I HAVE MY HAND UP MAN JESUS
I sat down yesterday to start a new track. The loop game was on. I had two reference tracks but slowly I began to slide into the creative zone and eventually got lost in it and forgot about the references. My loop was on fire! 🔥 Today I reopened the project and compared it to the reference tracks. They were wide as hell and sounded really good. My stuff sounded horrible. Narrow and lifeless. I started to empty all my knowledge to widen my sounds but nothing happened. It still sounded like crap so I thought I needed to look at my sound design. After way to long I realized I had the mono switch on on the master channel 🤦🏻♂️😅
Then mono moses widened the red sea and let your frequencies flow.
Ahhh yeah that's happened before now alright! My stuff is practically mono anyway so it's hard to tell sometimes haha
@@Bthelick how come you don’t use stereo in your tracks?
@Niles7787 I do, they are stereo. are you asking why I keep them narrow?
It's because it's club music , some clubs still play in mono, sounds that are widened using stereo difference techniques are extremely weak in mono, I don't want my lead sounds or bass disappearing in certain clubs. and regarding panning I don't want anything groove essential in one speaker, as only half the crowd will hear it! Also most common playback devices are near mono such as phones, sound bars, TVs. Etc. most systems apart from proper hi-fi set ups and headphones don't benefit from stereo. And even then headphones aren't stereo! (They're binaural)
@@Bthelick This is the most accurate explanation I've seen in awhile! There's lots of fun to be had with binaural and ambisonics but unfortunately it doesn't translate well in clubs (assuming most clubs don't have ambisonic surround sound systems) {maybe the sphere in vegas does it would be the perfect opportunity to have ambisonic sound given the emersion it is aiming for}.
I swear this channel is gold.
Get well soon btw, I am dealing with a pint inflicted condition too right now so I feel your pain lol
Really digging your channel, love how zero bs it is.
Man these tutorials are some kind of god send, no pretence, no nonsense, no milking information out. Just down the line honest helpful content! thank you man!
you're spot on man, all fantastic info, no bs, very calming voice to listen to as well. appreciate you passing down your wisdom in this field for free.
You're like a better, calmer Dan Worrall.
This is peak production content, I absolutely love your delivery!
Mind blown! This channel has made my mixes better already. This will be an interesting experiment in the coming days. Get well soon brother!
The start early tip may have just changed my life. I've always avoided using reference tracks for fear of feeling dejected when my stufd doesn't match up. This will help me get around that mental block.
Your videos encouraged me to start producing again and I will do it! I like the general concepts you do and the philosophies behind it
Best thing I ever did in production was find a reference track I want to sound like and then putting it on a channel in FL and swapping between it regularly. Same key and BPM so I can arrange round it and match the volumes like you said and it's removes that area of failure leaving me free to make plenty of other mistakes.
2:49 so you're telling me if i have a 20min track then everyone will think its a good mix? jokes, good words man
🤣
Very helpful. I'm finding the more I learn, the less I actually have to produce my tracks. No other RUclipsrs really discuss this stuff, many thanks
Me and good friend of mine have been in the studio many of times together, we both watched this video when it came out and today got back in the studio and remembered the advice from this video.
We progressed so much faster and found the session much more enjoyable.
Thank you for your advice, your videos have really helped.
Referencing is a must. Lovely video. Funny af
This channel is the best I’ve seen in years. Thank you dude!
I really like your insights. This is something else, I'm talking about this and your other videos. Thnx 🧡🔥
Aural compass! Great phrase. Also I appreciate the mention of the 20 minute rule. Very useful video
Can’t believe this channel. Been binging your channel and making tech house music since I got home from work a week ago. I’ve been making music for years but I have improved SO much this week thanks to you
I use my own professionally mastered tracks as a reference and that’s really helped improve the quality of my new songs. Keeps me from wandering too far off the path.
Another priceless gem. This channel is pure GOLD.
I would love a video of you sound designing everything in a piano house track like high strings, string stabs, ambient noise, ear candy etc. Taking a couple of minutes per sound then moving on.
I could learn a lot from that, anyway keep up the great work !
Did you see the 2 Paul Woolford vids? Or my first live video?
I know I need to reference more so this video was quite helpful. Very well explained! Clear and to the point with a hint of charm. Thanks mate!
Top video. One way I reference is using the Span VST2 version which allows easy setup of sidechaining. This overlays your track and the reference to give visual indicators and has helped massively. Metric AB is a also helpful plug-in which regularly goes on sale for around £30. Get well soon mate.👍
Refreshing this, I love it when I find a video that offers a different perspective on compression etc, I know referencing is important, but I will put more emphasis on this in future. Great channel this, well done Mr Bthelick.
One of the reasons why my 1st track in my template is "Reference" - now I need to get to using it. LOL
The advice, the way you explain/share 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
What I do is I'll make a groove, then send it to myself and blast it in my car in the morning when I go to work to see what I missed when mixing in my room.
Yeah the car test is one way of resetting the ears, ideally you need others too and far more often.
@@Bthelick That's true.
Another technique I use is changing headphones/earbuds.
I have a couple that have pretty terrible frequencyresponses and they really magnify the tiniest of issues.
I should use more reference tracks tho.
Great tip mate!
The three most important things a manager does: One is get the money. Two is always remember to get the money. Three is never forget to always remember to get the money.
Shep Gordon - supermensch documentary
When hiring, human resources managers should always check the references.
span is a life changer
I'm actually testing a new one, there's a new free one by reflex which focuses on bass accuracy. Span can do bass but you have to swap to higher bands and the frame rate takes a dive.
@@Bthelick ohhhh I want to try that out too!!
Really appreciate all these videos B! The most helpful and well put together
I really like this info early on, makes complete sense. I will be putting these tips into practice
Best house music production channel, always recommend you!
That's mad, you said wakey wakey just as I was nodding off 😂😂 not because i think your tutorials are boring by any means but simply because I've been drinking wine all night and I'm watching this in bed 😂 great video again btheclick 👌time to reference i think 🎉
Fantastic 🎉 listening loud and clear 👂 Interestingly, when I started using in ear monitoring to play live with 4 others, I would often begin with a bad mix… after 3 or 4 songs I would forget about it… I guess the normalisation concept explains this somewhat.
Incredible. .thank you for this . Just looked back at the last 18 years like …ooohh
LOVE IT!!! Ive been referencing other tracks for so long I can't remember and it is the way to go,.. so many benefits,.. I use Reference by mastering the mix sometimes and I also use XLN XO so when I saw it pop up on your screen I was thinking hell yes,.... such a powerful drum sequencer! I usually bounce the tracks to audio though because I just work that way 70-80% of the time in my productions,.... you forgot the 4th R though,.... It's REFEEEERENCEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! 😉
Oh nooo get better soon! You need more views this was some helpful knowledge!
Speed up to 1.25 for the Mitsubishi version. Fwoar.
Great advice. You've made me realise how so very little I directly reference...
You are the man, man! :) love all of your content so far. Never disappoint. Cheers mate!
2:00 laughed and started dancing
I love the music timing of the 3 R's, nice touch.
Your are the best. I can listen to you for hours 😂
sorry ben for all the comments lately. your channel is everything to me in terms of my production. So when referencing I should try to match the kick and bass first before adding anything, then the clap and tops and then vocals ?
No worries. If that reference is your bottom end reference then yes I recommend use it first.
Hope you’re feeling better.
Great video Ben. I really liked, and totally agree with, what you said about taking inspiration from different reference tracks for different elements of the track you're making. It definitely helps with creativity and also getting out of the dreaded stuck-in-the-loop mindset. I'd thoroughly recommend having a reference track with a strong drum mix to build a good foundation for your track, as well as a couple more with strong hooks for creative inspiration. That said, it depends on the genre you’re creating. Anyhoo......keep up the fantastic work & great to see your subs near the 20k mark and rising 😁
Reference! 💎
Great video! You're right, we don't reference enough!
this channel is gold
Keep em' coming B, just keep em' coming 💯
love from Amman, you are rare man!
Hands up. Head down.
Good day Bthelick.
i think that its might be a good idea to make a video about setting instrument levels by relative volumes concept.
matching volumes by a reference is great idea, however it needs something to compliment it,mainly to set the levels of small effect and such(to improve workflow).
I don't have any methods for setting levels.
You set levels where you want them!
Other than making sure the kick dominates in dance music , and making sure the vocals are clear in pop tracks, there are no methods.
How is setting levels to the reference not useful? If you don't yet have 10,000 hours of ear training and a great treated room, that's the only way you're going to be able to judge it!
Unless you mean something else by "setting levels" ?
Are you looking for relative fader dB numbers?
@@Bthelick
setting the instrument to a reference is extremely useful and important.
i find it very good for setting the core instruments,like kick bass and leads.
instruments i prefer to set them as u mentioned, by listening to the kick level as a audio encore to compare to.
i think i mentioned it because i did an amateur mistake by setting the levels just where it felt good to me, without mixing in relation to the kick(in our case).
i used to do that in the past but neglected this simple practice. the results ended poorly as i my last published mix(i should have compare old vs new mix).
maybe some newcomers and more experienced will benefit of a reminder in a form of video in your channel, that's the reason for the comment.
personally i prefer to always use reference tracks and listen to then every 20 min or so and ido have a somewhat treated room and sonarworks+a few years of experience.
patience and dedication.
Massive tips!!
This was my coffee tut for the day…spot on, hugs 😎🖤🤗
Amazing stuff. Thanks for sharing
Fire 🔥
most underrated channel. ty sir
thx again
thanks really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
Awesome tutorial. Thank you. I too have always been an adherent of references, but now I'll def pay even more attention to this
Thank u
The track is dope
Great bass in the intro
🎉
You totally nailed this video and I had so much fun with your 3 R's 🤟🏼😂 they took it to the point 🔥 thank you very much I feel growth on me after watching this 🚀
when's the next livestream? As always, killer job on the video man. So happy to find this channel
Last Sunday of the month 6pm GMT 👊.
Thanks for the support
loved the tech house tune
Killer video 🔥 straight to the point and everything made sense
I think the best tracks ive made have come from using reference tracks and i feel like theyre at a level were i want to show people.
With that said i guess time will be a factor but i cant get my drums to slap like say D.O.D which is the style i like.
What i tend to do it run the D.O.D track on one channel and mine on all the other channels while im making it and say like its the first drop i play both one after another the kick from a professional some times makes me want to turn off but i guess its a long road.
practise makes perfect and all that 😇
Damn, good videos!
I remember when i first used Bluetooth headphones and noticed how bad they sound like low bitrate sounding, now I don't notice
Depends what was playing through them. I used to be able to spot an mp3 a mile away but I can't always identify a well encoded one these days. The tech has got better for sure.
Btw, I was thinking about referencing and I probably need a backwards guide. Often, I have a musical idea that I'd like to finish but struggling to find a matching reference to it :D
Absolutely gold
Love it, please share more about this topic. Some examples why we should not use VST meters to reference directly. Thank you :).
by all means use meters to help, just don't rely on them!
5:25 haha… wait till you see my studio
Nice half-life logo on the side screen :) and great video as always
Half life?? Where?
@@Bthelick5:25 on the laptop haha
@@Zer0Spinn oohhhhh yeah almost forgot that was my desktop good spot 👊
@@BuzzaB77 yeah it's easy to forget stuff that is always there, similar to hearing your mix over and over without reference x)
5:24 "You do not have this studio."
Me with a _very_ similar setup: 🤓
Hope you feel better!
Top Man
Thanks for your effort in teaching quality stuff ❤
ur the goat m8
Golden info! Thanks
comment for the algorithm .
Thanks mate
Shipyard, good choice to be fair 😂 great video too
Thank you for sharing your knowledge
You rock.
An educated man with the spirit of freedom. What's not to love and respect. Skills.
Ok dude...black books. I can see we share a bit of spirit there. Good one, again ;)
Sage Advice. Thank you. 🙏
absolutely stupendous content
That fisrt background tune was banging
Just the first??? 🤣🙏
Btheclick is Dan Worral of the music production
Hey now, Dan has plenty of production chops!
Great stuff
The snack ar ok, but... a floppy disk in your table????
🤣🤣🤣
♥
Drinks coasters!
yes I still forget to reference enough and then after a few hours am afraid to check hahah
Haha 🙏
i love your content, please post a 101 beginners tutorial on how to start making music pleaseee
a proper course is planned at one point for sure. Let me know where you're at so I can gauge the level.
Do you have a daw yet?
@@Bthelick i dont even known what a daw is :(
Ah ok in that case we're getting in somewhere already!
D.A.W. is Digital Audio Workstation.
It's the general term for the type of main software program used to record and make music like the one you see on screen in my videos.
@@Bthelick Got it! Now you can tell I'm a complete noob 🤣
I'll pay for your time, please let's do a call!
@@markksantos gotcha.
I'd love to but the music & videos ARE my time right now.
if I took on any 121 then the 12many has to stop!
To start you don't need anything other than a daw and a computer to run it on. that's all.
I use a daw called Ableton Live but tbh any daw is absolutely fine, they all work in a similar way.
Live is not that cheap, but it is very easy to use. There are free daws available though like Waveform Free which is fantastic.
Grab yourself a daw an have a poke around!
I’ve seen you use the XO plugin to reference drum samples and I’d like to try that technique. Have you tried the “similar sounds” feature in Ableton 12? I’m wondering whether the plug in or the Ableton feature is better, and I’d love your take before I buy one of the two. Thank you for all of your videos and all of your teaching!
Yeah xo is handy but mostly in the sense of a 'blind' sample selector since Ableton's search got much worse after v8.
xo's tone isn't great, it just appears to be taking a single overall tonal snapshot, I noticed it simply puts shorter samples at the top, long samples at the bottom, Brighter samples on the right and bass-ier samples on the left there's not much more to it than that.
Ironically I make so much music and the video takes so long that I still haven't had time to test Ableton 12 properly!
I will be making a quick video on this feature though this workflow is paramount to my job.
i watch this so many times i love it. thank you again.. do you have a tutorial on how to set up the reference track. channel so you can by pass it , have the volumes correct so its not mastered twice etc (pardon bad terminology)
Yes simple, I don't have anything on my master channel! (Except metering). I leave the references at 0 so I can match my track to them.
Then by the time I'm done matching sounds to the reference, my track doesn't need mastering and i release it just like that. I barely even have to mix too because the sound selection is usually so close!
"The best mixes don't need mastering" - Bob Katz.
Having said that, it must be said it takes a lot of ear training and experience to be able to work like that so if you want to work with things in your master you can direct the references to go straight to the sound card output and not through master channel. Just look in your routing options.
@@Bthelick Thank you so much for this response, knowledge, and your time =) I am grateful. I am learning so much from your videos. You are awesome. I am seeing the last decade + of me trying to teach myself flash back to me in moments now as in like "oh ok well thats why i kept having that issue, etc "the every 20 mins change your reference thing was the biggest aha moment. I cant thank you enough. Do you have a tutorial showing how you would go about setting up a reference track or a few? I am searching for a gain staging one now too and maybe another one or combo video where you explain how to have the kick maybe start at -6b or -10 i forget and then mix the snare for example to it , bass etc. Then how to check ( a/b) the refference track ( do we check the reference with our ears ( not solo_ as well as maybe look at a spectrum analyzer so we can also check( pardon possible bad terminology or explanation here) the shape of the kick ( as well as the frequency.. ( in my head im picturing/ thinking i prob should not just be trying to match the SPIKE eq ( where it says the root nore etc etc) but the whole 80-120 curve of the eq ..i overthink things can you tell. thank you for your time. ( no worries if you are busy and dont have a holiday set aside to read all this. nevermind respond. im just really happy i found your work. i feel leaps and bounds ahead of where i was for years now once i started watching your content. (ps im a artist. id love to make you some of my woodworking art as a thank you for all you have given to me (with your teachings/videos.) i usually make someones logo , fave word/ phrase or symbol out of wood and add led lights to it ( looks great in studios / offices etc) jlmk.. i can send you my IG if u would like one.. so you can see my work ..( ty again)
yep you are definitely over thinking it!
don't be looking at numbers use your ears. Put the reference track at the top of session and swap to it as you search for kicks in your library and try to match the level and tone.
you can't have rules like all kicks stay at -6 or whatever, because that's not how sound works! -6 at 50hz? -6 at 150hz? -6 RMS, at peak or LUFS??? what does -6 mean? does it equate to what your ears hear ? no. most measurements on saw channel faders are digital peak meters which tell you absolutely nothing about sound. a -6 peak sound can sound half the volume of a -12 peak sound depending on density so don't rely on any meters just match it to the reference by ear as best you can.
You can use meters to find problems (like checking sub levels that your speakers can't recreate etc) but not for overall judgement. Your audience won't be listening to your tracks with meters! 👊
Hi Ben, matching the volume to the reference volume so no need to master - yep I'll try it ! But assume mp3 from RUclips isn't loud enough? Do I need to buy high quality .wav from Beatport etc? Some sort of lossless file type? Many thanks
RUclips rips vary. RUclips's level compensation is usually performed after the file not to it. Depends on how the file is obtained whether you get the original or not. You'll see if the file is reaching near zero or not it should be obvious.
Bare in mind any mp3 has to be 'converted' to be played back so lossy formats will clip and go over zero somewhat.
Brilliant stuff cheers. Should you be able to share what settings are you running on your SPAN?
No problem.
drive.google.com/file/d/1DiZ70Ni0SJJ1-loGuigUbUHs0rLbTz9b/view?usp=drivesdk
👊