DISCLAIMER - I don't mean to say you should compose all your music this way. This is just a demonstration of a fundamental concept. There are many ways to carve out space (thus making it easier to crank your music up) including EQ, saturation, panning, side chain dynamics, etc. Just consider this another tool on your tool belt.
The deeper I dive in to Ableton, the more Seed to Stage shows up with easy to understand and simple concepts that get your mind going. Am I going to use them incorrectly since I'm a n00b. OF COURSE. But have i tried something new and I'm getting progress forward on every one of my new mixes? HELL YEAH.
We are enjoying watching the videos as well. Awesome stuff Anthony. The saturator video is probably one of the best ones out there across all RUclipsrs
Legendary! Thanks mate, this video really clarifies the theories I have had on getting a “loud” master without it sounding like trash. Very well put together 😎🌴🔊
I think this is a great way to demonstrate how seemingly minor compositional adjustments can change the feel of a track, but as you said in your comment, there are a million ways to increase loudness - I wouldn’t necessarily change a composition you’re happy with just to increase loudness. There are other ways of accomplishing that goal.
Mr. Bill also emphasizes this point very well. The saturator tip from a previous video also helped my mud mixes for sure. When it comes to separating the transients and stuff so it doesnt get too layered, what recommendations do you have for cinematic type space ambient like Carbon Based Lifeforms and the such, where there are many drones layered on each other and thick soundscapes filling the mids? I feel like that kind of music has much less room to "breathe" and so is harder to make loud vs a bumpin Tipper or Mr. Bill track with defined separate sounds.
If you watch at the end of the video I show how carving space out for sounds using eq is very effective. As for carbon based life forms, they are masters of this. Layering doesn't mean a lot of the same frequencies on top of each other, otherwise there wouldn't be a point in layering. Each layer, each sound, each track can occupy a unique area of frequency focus and the same objective is achieved: separation and thus, loudness
Rosetta Stoned which previous video? Can you list the title of the video that way I may search it in his video queue? (Not link but title preferably :)
Great as always! Creating compositions that are mix-friendly was one of the biggest things for me moving my mixes from Tier 1 to 2. For my tunes, which I tend to like less "call and response" like, I have noticed playing instruments in separate registers is huge (kind of a natural eq). This is especially true with lots of different synths. That Tipper impression was great as well haha. Maybe some beat-boxing in the live sets??
It is painful to hear you say bad composition. Our compositions (taste) are not based on other's engineering desires/specs or whatever. Your language is a problem but the concept you are conveying is solid. The 1st track can be mixed for loudness on a track and submit level instead of squashing the master fader and we would be able to keep our "bad composition" that has nuances colliding that we love.
@@MAATHOTEP exactly! Of course the second composition is easier to mix, there are no two instruments ever playing at the same time! There is, in fact, no mixing happening! And the track sucks because of it!
dude. this did REALLY REALLY help. Have a question though, towards the end of the vid, after walking through each step, you said it's almost passable. Is there anything else to be done in the mix, or is it just mastering from here for you?
Yes there is a lot more I would do such as panning, compression, saturation, etc. This was just an example of how much eq and composition can do for a mix.
Thanks a lot for sharing this...this is the first time am truly understanding how a better composition can get a louder mix...my question is this..how do you make this composition secret work for hip hop and trap where the kick has to hit together. Would using just an 808 with a sharp transient as both kick and bass (like the spinz 808) be better than using a kick and 808 with little to no transients in it?
I disagree. This method will cause a lot of people to limit their creativity because instead of letting their creativity flow and compose what they feel is right, they will be constantly worried if 2 things are going to hit on the same beat 😂
Good musicians, way before the "classic music", always "hear" in their minds first, so they can explore different frequency ranges using different instruments complementing each other, not layering too many notes between them. They knew it because that's the way we hear nature better. That's a natural process. But some that start to hit "record" on an MPC or a DAW and start to hit keys searching for a miracle, oh well, this situation usually brings a lot of issues... So, creativity needs to be for a good reason and demands a foundation. When you start to imagine a melody, you can "hear" some other notes around it in your mind. The other part is to understand that a flute should play notes that naturally are used to this instrument in its natural octaves range. So, if you try to put a piano, a bass guitar, and playing the same frequencies, that's not "creativity". Unless you believe that you can whistle and rap at the very same time and every single word will be very clear for everyone. 😄 P.S.: We can use some techniques like ducking, side-chaining, dynamic EQ. 😃👍
Yah, everyone go ahead and try to make tracks with only one instrument playing at a time and then say you did a good job "mixing" it. What did you mix exactly??
I understand the reason for doing the things you’re doing but, the two sound completely different now. The original scene has a more dark, ominous sound. The second scene has a more funky, groove sound. What if I wanted that dark scene one sound but, louder without having to change the feel of the scene? I probably should have watched to the end of the video before commenting, you probably covered this.
I agree with you, changing composition to increase loudness doesn’t make a lot of sense. There are a million ways to increase loudness... probably the lowest hanging fruits are to cut off frequencies you don’t need from certain instruments (chords don’t necessarily need bass in them, for example), and adjusting the individual levels of instruments so that the limiter is able to increase in volume more before it gets hit (if a kick drum is 3dB too loud, you won’t be able to push the limiter as hard as you should before you start to get distortion and “breathing” effects).
hmm this is more about general arranging/producing. totally different vibe of the track with the short bass blips... would never arrange for loudness, but arrange for how its good for the music. there's things to consider in arranging/producing, like filling time, space and frequencies, but changing a song just to get it loud seems odd to me. there's millions of tricks to get stuff loud, if that's what one needs, and the tools to get there get better every year. time, space and frequency is what you got, not much else, and yes, mastering and mixing will profit a lot from a well thought out production that takes these 3 dimensions into account.
Yeah, but it's a different composition. You cant write a song and say: "I can only have 1 transient at a time, COS LOUDNESS!". Imagine the music we'd have, before the 2 track, if people thought that way. Best to bring instruments in and out like modern pop. Or ducking
You also dont need to use a limiter to make your music "Loud" there are many other ways to make your music sound loud without slapping a limiter on your master.
To prevent it from blowing your head off when I turn it on / off ;) You are right, normally you'll want it between -1 and -.2 db depending on the application
That's a pretty major change to the piece. I don't like the idea that an artist has to change their composition that much, bc a downstream engineer doesn't know how to master it, and therefore blames it on the artist.
This is bullshit plain and simple after everything basic the real way to achieve louder mixes is choose good sounds and learn how to frequency duck aka multiband side chain compression that and limiting aka clipping is the way. There are no compositional errors when making music period
@@SeedtoStage agree 100%. If all mixing problems were actually composition problems, then there would be no such thing as a mixing engineer, we would just do a better job composing and make sure our composition only has one instrument playing at a time!
I think you are confusing a good sounding "mix" with a good sounding "song". Technically, mathmatically, on paper, it produces a better "mix" to not have any two instruments playing at the same time. However, this is less "mixing" and more "avoiding", as in you're avoiding doing any mixing by not having anything to mix, because no two instruments are playing at the same time. It almost takes no real talent or ability in the mixing realm to sabotage your composition such that your track is overly optimized for mixing/loudness with no regard to the overall song itself. The difference between your first and second composition is stark. The second one has no energy in it at all and frankly I don't want to listen to it, regardless of how "loud" it may be in your meter. It sounds like three musicians taking turns playing their instruments one at a time, and not like a band playing a single track together. The advice given in this video is abjectly horrible
Thanks a lot for sharing this...this is the first time am truly understanding how a better composition can get a louder mix...my question is this..how do you make this composition secret work for hip hop and trap where the kick has to hit together. Would using just an 808 with a sharp transient as both kick and bass (like the spinz 808) be better than using a kick and 808 with little to no transients in it?
DISCLAIMER - I don't mean to say you should compose all your music this way. This is just a demonstration of a fundamental concept. There are many ways to carve out space (thus making it easier to crank your music up) including EQ, saturation, panning, side chain dynamics, etc. Just consider this another tool on your tool belt.
What is the sound effect from Omnisphere(patch name)???
Bruh, That's some quality knowledge that no one is telling anywhere. Lots of love
The deeper I dive in to Ableton, the more Seed to Stage shows up with easy to understand and simple concepts that get your mind going. Am I going to use them incorrectly since I'm a n00b. OF COURSE. But have i tried something new and I'm getting progress forward on every one of my new mixes? HELL YEAH.
It’s amazing how much info in a simple groove like this has. The importance of frequency efficiency. Very good tutorial my man.
Thank you. This is a revolution in the order of thought of a modern producer.
Really insightful! This helped clarify many things I did not undertand entirely. Very well articulated
We are enjoying watching the videos as well. Awesome stuff Anthony. The saturator video is probably one of the best ones out there across all RUclipsrs
Compose for Loudness. Nice.
Legendary! Thanks mate, this video really clarifies the theories I have had on getting a “loud” master without it sounding like trash. Very well put together 😎🌴🔊
Thank you very much! Nicely explained, Clear cut simply helpful!
Thanks for another helpful tutorial video!
this is so great
Amazing! Thank you!
So much love for you and your videos man!
Fantastic will try this out
I think this is a great way to demonstrate how seemingly minor compositional adjustments can change the feel of a track, but as you said in your comment, there are a million ways to increase loudness - I wouldn’t necessarily change a composition you’re happy with just to increase loudness. There are other ways of accomplishing that goal.
But he goes over that too; he demonstrates how you can use EQ to carve out space for each instrument
Great stuff.. thankks
As a noob learnt lots from this 💥
this did really help
Mr. Bill also emphasizes this point very well. The saturator tip from a previous video also helped my mud mixes for sure. When it comes to separating the transients and stuff so it doesnt get too layered, what recommendations do you have for cinematic type space ambient like Carbon Based Lifeforms and the such, where there are many drones layered on each other and thick soundscapes filling the mids? I feel like that kind of music has much less room to "breathe" and so is harder to make loud vs a bumpin Tipper or Mr. Bill track with defined separate sounds.
If you watch at the end of the video I show how carving space out for sounds using eq is very effective. As for carbon based life forms, they are masters of this. Layering doesn't mean a lot of the same frequencies on top of each other, otherwise there wouldn't be a point in layering. Each layer, each sound, each track can occupy a unique area of frequency focus and the same objective is achieved: separation and thus, loudness
Rosetta Stoned which previous video? Can you list the title of the video that way I may search it in his video queue? (Not link but title preferably :)
Thank you very much!
I must say that I've spent much time looking for your mouse cursor... :-)))
man... but the first one sounds great :)
Thank you good sir. Great vid, you should def get more views. Cheers
so helpful!
🙏🙌
Great tutorial! I would really like to know more about this litle but global tricks! subscribed!
Great as always! Creating compositions that are mix-friendly was one of the biggest things for me moving my mixes from Tier 1 to 2. For my tunes, which I tend to like less "call and response" like, I have noticed playing instruments in separate registers is huge (kind of a natural eq). This is especially true with lots of different synths.
That Tipper impression was great as well haha. Maybe some beat-boxing in the live sets??
RUclips Search function is so broken. Searched the exact title and got nothing until I added your channel name.
It is painful to hear you say bad composition. Our compositions (taste) are not based on other's engineering desires/specs or whatever. Your language is a problem but the concept you are conveying is solid.
The 1st track can be mixed for loudness on a track and submit level instead of squashing the master fader and we would be able to keep our "bad composition" that has nuances colliding that we love.
Submit=submix
@@MAATHOTEP exactly! Of course the second composition is easier to mix, there are no two instruments ever playing at the same time! There is, in fact, no mixing happening! And the track sucks because of it!
Pretty helpful! Thanks for this one!
awesome video
dude. this did REALLY REALLY help. Have a question though, towards the end of the vid, after walking through each step, you said it's almost passable. Is there anything else to be done in the mix, or is it just mastering from here for you?
Yes there is a lot more I would do such as panning, compression, saturation, etc. This was just an example of how much eq and composition can do for a mix.
What headphones are you using? Thanks for answers!
Thanks a lot for sharing this...this is the first time am truly understanding how a better composition can get a louder mix...my question is this..how do you make this composition secret work for hip hop and trap where the kick has to hit together. Would using just an 808 with a sharp transient as both kick and bass (like the spinz 808) be better than using a kick and 808 with little to no transients in it?
I think you would have a lot of fun layering sounds to make a "unique to you" kick drum. 🥁
If you want to hear nice side chaining in electronic music, look up "taurine" by Dyzphoria
a bit overdone but yeah
I disagree. This method will cause a lot of people to limit their creativity because instead of letting their creativity flow and compose what they feel is right, they will be constantly worried if 2 things are going to hit on the same beat 😂
Your artistic flow and your mixing flow are two separate things - so you can do both.
Good musicians, way before the "classic music", always "hear" in their minds first, so they can explore different frequency ranges using different instruments complementing each other, not layering too many notes between them. They knew it because that's the way we hear nature better.
That's a natural process.
But some that start to hit "record" on an MPC or a DAW and start to hit keys searching for a miracle, oh well, this situation usually brings a lot of issues...
So, creativity needs to be for a good reason and demands a foundation.
When you start to imagine a melody, you can "hear" some other notes around it in your mind.
The other part is to understand that a flute should play notes that naturally are used to this instrument in its natural octaves range. So, if you try to put a piano, a bass guitar, and playing the same frequencies, that's not "creativity". Unless you believe that you can whistle and rap at the very same time and every single word will be very clear for everyone. 😄
P.S.: We can use some techniques like ducking, side-chaining, dynamic EQ. 😃👍
Yah, everyone go ahead and try to make tracks with only one instrument playing at a time and then say you did a good job "mixing" it. What did you mix exactly??
I understand the reason for doing the things you’re doing but, the two sound completely different now. The original scene has a more dark, ominous sound. The second scene has a more funky, groove sound. What if I wanted that dark scene one sound but, louder without having to change the feel of the scene? I probably should have watched to the end of the video before commenting, you probably covered this.
I agree with you, changing composition to increase loudness doesn’t make a lot of sense.
There are a million ways to increase loudness... probably the lowest hanging fruits are to cut off frequencies you don’t need from certain instruments (chords don’t necessarily need bass in them, for example), and adjusting the individual levels of instruments so that the limiter is able to increase in volume more before it gets hit (if a kick drum is 3dB too loud, you won’t be able to push the limiter as hard as you should before you start to get distortion and “breathing” effects).
Dope
hmm this is more about general arranging/producing. totally different vibe of the track with the short bass blips... would never arrange for loudness, but arrange for how its good for the music. there's things to consider in arranging/producing, like filling time, space and frequencies, but changing a song just to get it loud seems odd to me. there's millions of tricks to get stuff loud, if that's what one needs, and the tools to get there get better every year. time, space and frequency is what you got, not much else, and yes, mastering and mixing will profit a lot from a well thought out production that takes these 3 dimensions into account.
my dude, you are mixing the track, not stripping it down
Yeah, but it's a different composition. You cant write a song and say: "I can only have 1 transient at a time, COS LOUDNESS!".
Imagine the music we'd have, before the 2 track, if people thought that way.
Best to bring instruments in and out like modern pop. Or ducking
You also dont need to use a limiter to make your music "Loud" there are many other ways to make your music sound loud without slapping a limiter on your master.
having the limiter ceiling at - 6db is that standard, I thought normally people make it - 0.3db
To prevent it from blowing your head off when I turn it on / off ;) You are right, normally you'll want it between -1 and -.2 db depending on the application
That's a pretty major change to the piece. I don't like the idea that an artist has to change their composition that much, bc a downstream engineer doesn't know how to master it, and therefore blames it on the artist.
he sound so pissed off!
I'm not a noob xD
This is bullshit plain and simple after everything basic the real way to achieve louder mixes is choose good sounds and learn how to frequency duck aka multiband side chain compression that and limiting aka clipping is the way. There are no compositional errors when making music period
See the diclaimer
@@SeedtoStage agree 100%. If all mixing problems were actually composition problems, then there would be no such thing as a mixing engineer, we would just do a better job composing and make sure our composition only has one instrument playing at a time!
do yourself a favor and atleast stick around to the 9:10 point...
I think you are confusing a good sounding "mix" with a good sounding "song". Technically, mathmatically, on paper, it produces a better "mix" to not have any two instruments playing at the same time. However, this is less "mixing" and more "avoiding", as in you're avoiding doing any mixing by not having anything to mix, because no two instruments are playing at the same time. It almost takes no real talent or ability in the mixing realm to sabotage your composition such that your track is overly optimized for mixing/loudness with no regard to the overall song itself. The difference between your first and second composition is stark. The second one has no energy in it at all and frankly I don't want to listen to it, regardless of how "loud" it may be in your meter. It sounds like three musicians taking turns playing their instruments one at a time, and not like a band playing a single track together. The advice given in this video is abjectly horrible
7 minutes in... still didn't get to the point!! what's the point? pfff
Yeah who needs context anyway! Just give me free things that I don’t deserve internet!
go to school again child
Thanks a lot for sharing this...this is the first time am truly understanding how a better composition can get a louder mix...my question is this..how do you make this composition secret work for hip hop and trap where the kick has to hit together. Would using just an 808 with a sharp transient as both kick and bass (like the spinz 808) be better than using a kick and 808 with little to no transients in it?