You’re Doing Too Much: Common Mix Mistakes
You’re Doing Too Much: Common Mix Mistakes We are currently in the middle of two weeks of advanced mixing techniques in our most advanced class here at Beat Lab, and it’s amazing how the more we learn about the process the more we keep coming back to the basics. The simplicity of the concepts of proper EQ, compression, and balance can make these tasks appear to be easy and we often feel we have grasped their importance before we really have. We have all been there and every part of this process of creating records from songwriting, to production, to mixing, and mastering is all it’s own endless rabbit hole so don’t be discouraged. If you feel your mixes still aren’t where you want them to be it’s possible all that is missing is the strongest possible foundation. From there there is often little work left to do. More advanced concepts will definitely …
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10 Ableton Live Packs Now Available for Lite Users
10 Ableton Live Packs Now Available for Intro Users For our beginners out there this is huge news. With Ableton Intro, users now have access to thousands of samples, sounds, and effects; all of which can provide inspiration for all types of music making – from searching for synths, to writing a film score, or exploring genre specific styles. These Ableton packs deliver some really high-quality material to work with and were previously only available with Standard and Suite. Below we’ll give a quick overview of each pack. Even if you’ve had access to these packs before but haven’t used them check this out. You might find some inspiration. 1. Urban Cookbook 1 by Goldbaby We love Goldbaby (their drums in particular). Their loops, samples, and racks are sounds we always consider for our tracks. With Urban Cookbook you get 3000+ kits, hits, chords, bass and more production tools …
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PreSonus Quantum: Their Fastest and Best Sounding Audio/MIDI Interface
PreSonus Quantum: Their Fastest and Best Sounding Audio/MIDI Interface PreSonus recently unveiled Quantum, the new audio interface they’re calling “our fastest and best sounding audio/MIDI interface” to date. Early reviews from Superbooth have been positive, and the specs for the machine are incredibly impressive. This has potential to really be their “fastest and best”, so let’s take a closer look. PreSonus wants the Quantum to be the central hub of your recording studio. Offering 26 inputs X 32 outputs with a high-speed Thunderbolt 2 bus, and a direct-to-DAW signal path with no DSP creates extremely low latency. Incredible 24-bit, 192 kHz converters with 120 dB of dynamic range and PreSonus’ recallable XMAX microphone preamps combine to create superb audio-quality. If you need more I/O channels than the already 26X32 Quantum offers, simply stack up to 4 Quantum interfaces via Thunderbolt to create a 96X96 system. For studio use, two main …
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Novation’s Next Level Analog Synth and Sequencer: Circuit Mono Station
Novation’s Next Level Synth and Sequencer: Circuit Mono Station For weeks now, we’ve been hearing rumblings of Novation’s latest, the Circuit Mono Station, so with its unveiling at last week’s Superbooth trade fair in Berlin, we thought we’d check it out. Our first impression is this synth/sequencer has a lot of really cool, applicable features, and it looks like a lot of fun. This could be a great tool to add some new flavor to your productions or give a new avenue for songwriting. For anyone familiar with Novation products, the Circuit Mono Station is a cross between the Circuit, Peak, and Bass Station II – taking the layout of knobs from the Peak, combining with the workflow of the Circuit, and mixing those features with the sound engine of the Bass Station II (we have a Bass Station II here and love its ability to produce fat, dirty or …
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TC Electronic’s Incredible Mixing and Mastering Tool
TC Electronic’s Incredible Mixing and Mastering Tool A common theme in music production is “ultimately, use your ears”. You’ve probably read that in more than a few of our blog posts, on everything from mixing to recording to sound design. However, as technology keeps advancing at an exponential rate it would be foolish not to use the tools available to our advantage. We recently came across TC Electronic’s Clarity M, a desktop mix and master audio meter with serious precision. From everything we’ve seen so far this piece of hardware is a great complimentary decision maker to your ears, and could save you time in those long sessions when you’ve heard a mix so much you really have no idea exactly what you’re listening to anymore. Out of the gate, the Clarity M comes with stereo and 5.1 audio metering for mixing, mastering, and post production in music …
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4 Digital DJ Applications to Bring Down the House
4 Digital DJ Applications to Bring Down the House Magix Digital DJ 2 Geared more towards beginner DJ’s but with capabilities for the more advanced, Magix Digital DJ 2 is an amazing piece of software. The application offers all of the standard mixing tools and effects to get more creative with your set, but what’s impressive about this is the capability to mix seamlessly and creatively without an external controller. Auto-beat matching is a standard function, coupled with the ability to click the cross-fade button that will then automatically fade into the next track. You then have your cursor free to mix frequency bands or add effects while your track seamlessly transitions into the next. You can even highlight specific frequency bands on both decks and they will automatically mix in and out smoothly with the flow of your cross-fade. Digital DJ 2 also allows users to create loops …
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