People's Production Techniques PT1

Ok... while I'm waitin for a video to download fully on Vimeo, I'll continue writing this..

Today I'll be looking at some production techniques you can use to jump start your creative mind in case you've been locked into certain ways in doing things. I actually just do one from the three, that we're going to go over. It's just because I have a certain way of working and I see it as somewhat an easier way but the other two can give you GREAT results that I can only imagine of doing but I'm too caught up in making music that I don't want to be bothered. And off we go.

Live Jam - This is one of the things I don't normally do especially since I work in Reason and I don't do direct recordings (yet). But this is one thing I'll share with you that you can do. Make a drum loop or a guide track that you can play while you let the whole sequence run. If you're working on a synth, just record the whole performance moving your knobs, sliders, adjusting lfo's and the like, so that after the whole recording, you can find a part where the tweak sounded great and find something you can use for your composition. This of course, is not limited with just a synth. You can be live tweaking a drum synth and still come up with great results from the selection you get in recording the whole performance.  

Sampling - This is one thing I'd like to do but I never get to. As I mentioned, I'm more of the here and now person so when I get inspiration, I'd rather strike while the iron is hot and sampling takes time. But still... A producer I saw was just recording bits of percussions as he went along writing his DnB tune. He used the sounds he sampled to replace other sounds or make it sound like something else. For example, he used a tambourine as a snare/cymbal effect. He even recorded himself ripping out gaffer tape and used the sound as a bass drum variation. There are a lot of things you can record to integrate into your pieces. Just make sure you have a nice mic.

Split your bass freqeuencies - This one I do. I sometimes can just end up using 2-3 synths for my bass doing the same thing but are split into the different frequencies' low, mid, and high. This way, you have a solid sounding bass that plays together but since they're in separate frequencies and tracks, you can further manipulate the sound of each. Like the low can stay as it is as a sub but then the mid or high can be filtered nicely or chopped or modulated and you still keep your low end intact. 

So that's it for now. Pretty short but I believe interesting ways to spice up your tune-making. 

Feel free to share what you come up with! Let me know!

God bless!!

Cy