Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.
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By es-k Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:44 pm
so here's an idea for something.. everyone posts a "tip" or "trick" related to making music.. it can be a mixing tip, a sampling tip, an MPC feature trick.. something about your process that you make music with.. etc

whatever you'd like to say..

just an idea for the boards.

i'll start with a somewhat small, and lame tip/trick from my book.

sometimes, when i am using a chopped drum break (and layer one shots over top of it) , i'll make the chop longer than what i want it to be.. so like if i just want the snare, i'll include the hats and kicks that follow for 1 or 2 beats.. then i'll make the program mono or do my mute groups and play out my pattern. this way, you have no space in between hits that doesnt have the vinyl hiss or "air" from the sample.. then i layer my one shots over it to make it really smack (with simult, or just using another pgm)

anyone else? this could become a really edjucational and inspiring thread
Last edited by es-k on Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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By Smoove03 Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:52 pm
if any of your chops begin with a kick, set Attack between 8-12 (depending on how loud the kick is)

if any of them begin with a snare, set attack between 8-10 (depending on how loud the snare is)

that way when you program your own drums over the chops, the original drums wont interfere as much! simple but it works great!

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if you find a drum break you like that may fit the sample you're using, try running the break through a lo cut filter and cut out the low freqs. this is going to get rid of the thump in the kick drum. you'll still be able to hear where the kicks are, but it wont THUMP. all that should be left is the nice rolling hats and snare drum (and hopefully the snare is faint!)

now you can program your OWN drums right over the break and possibly use those nice rolling hihats to spice up your own drums! then build from there!
Last edited by Smoove03 on Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By es-k Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:54 pm
yahhhh man thats a good tip.. i've definitely done that before. good shit.

then you can like have the real thick layered drums drop out and the filtered drums will play for a sec.. then the thick drums come in for a triumphant return.. yeah thats the shit
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By Smoove03 Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:02 pm
yes sir :)
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By Chulukinat Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:09 pm
if you wanna get that live drumfeel don't use full level on your kicks and hihats.
Only use Time Correction when nessicary and play with swing and shift timing till you can feel your drums really groove.
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By the shaman Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:10 pm
yo man! could you re-explain that technique because i haven't gotten around to messing with breaks. but the tips sounds pretty thorough. pardon me but i'm a newbie.

my tip:
this may sound pretty elementary but i make my own preset programs. call it lazy or call it what u want but i got to many drums to be looking thru so i made one of "real drum" kits & "processed" kits. my "real drum" kit is tweaked to perfection in all 64 slots (i.e. velocity & filter) and my "ready made, processed" kits are untouched. so i just loaded up and bang out. just my .02.
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By cluster Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:17 pm
if you usually bang out your drums with your right hand, try your left, it will feel like someone else is banging out the drums for ya...


I learned this secret when I was 13..


Other tips...

Double up Bpm.. Higher resolution...

Even if you don't have an sp.. Mess with the recording trick of sampling at a higher speed, and then pitching down... Adds artifacts dependant upon which sampler you are using..

If you chop, find time to reverse a sample and have reversed chops.. Just adds to the sound... and can also help with filling in gaps of sound...

IF you have a record player that plays backwards, listen to it that way, may find new samples, that you wouldn't hear otherwise...

Take the time to create your own Sound waves (in a program like Soundforge) Create your own Sines, Triangles, Squares, and what have you. You can use them to enchance anything really... From Basses to leads to making your own drumsynth sounding snares and percussion (white noise)...

After you construct your beat, wait a day to mix it. Give your ears a rest. Then after you mix it, wait two days to remix it... So on and so forth...

Take the time to learn how to play a real instrument (bass guitar, flute, corn pops). It's the best way to humanize your recordings. IE. Recording a real bass in with a tracked out beat, will give it life that swing or non-quantantizing will not do...

Don't laugh at kids toys and the like... Anything can add to the music making experience. Take a trip to toys r us and buy a kiddie piano.. Then record it... if it has a headphone jack, its just easier, if it has rca out then whammo... (IE my yamaha pss 270, a kid's fm synth)... Using an effects processor, it sounds deadly...
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By Jacpot Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:23 pm
in the 2kxl you can have the pads velocity change the pitch of a sample...
You can also do the same with the filter. How ever hard you hit the pad will change the filter or pitch settings...

Go under the programs param screen.. Open window on the tune field or filter field and adjust...

Not realy a trick but its definately over looked...

A tip I will say for the XL users is to Name each sound track and sequence so you know what your looking at down the line. Their is nothing worse than a sloppy beat. Not sloppy sounding but sloppy looking in the mpc. I like all my shyt to be named and numbered. Helps when your in the track mute screen and you want to mute certain tracks. You can just look at the name of the tracks and hit a pad to mute whatever. Very handy!
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By Jacpot Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:26 pm
when replaying chops add a couple of creative panning technics...

When u play your kicks You know like the

boom bap baboom boom bap.

Each time you double the kick on the baboom part I like to adjust the attack so it sounds like VABOOM instead of BABOOM.
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By Antonym Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:31 pm
if you usually bang out your drums with your right hand, try your left, it will feel like someone else is banging out the drums for ya...


sometimes i sit on my hand for like 20 minutes til it falls asleep and then play drums

i call it the stranger
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By cluster Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:41 pm
Antonym wrote:
if you usually bang out your drums with your right hand, try your left, it will feel like someone else is banging out the drums for ya...


sometimes i sit on my hand for like 20 minutes til it falls asleep and then play drums

i call it the stranger



hahahaha

By dequalsrxt Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:17 pm
in the 2kxl you can have the pads velocity change the pitch of a sample...
You can also do the same with the filter. How ever hard you hit the pad will change the filter or pitch settings...

You can also have the velocity affect the start point of the sample - open window in the EG. The softer you hit the pad - the further into the sample it starts. mmmm... you might be able to affect the attack and decay too... can't remember tho - at work and have looked in there for a while)
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By Antonym Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:31 pm
Even if you don't have an sp.. Mess with the recording trick of sampling at a higher speed, and then pitching down... Adds artifacts dependant upon which sampler you are using..

If you chop, find time to reverse a sample and have reversed chops.. Just adds to the sound... and can also help with filling in gaps of sound...


these are both great. sampling and then pitching down on the 1000 gives a brassier, warmer sound w/ less high end and a couple other things i don't know how to describe. esp on strings and vocal samples, it sounds sooo cool. run this through a 12 bit plug or sp lofi effect and goddamn it sound sexy.

the 2nd tip, on reversed chops, is great. whenever i make a pgm of a chopped sample (let's say i get 16 chops for example), i record it all in on full velocity. however, i have the reverse of every chop layered w/ the nonreversed samples. i set the reverse to play from 1-126 and the normal to play from 126-127. this way, when i have the Full Velocity on, i can play it normally. when i want to access the same sample in reverse, i just turn off full velocity and play it a little softer, then adjust the velocity so it's still loud, just under the point where it'd switch to the nonreversed sample.

kind of a **** to set up a program like this, but it sure beats using a separate pad bank when you're using grid edit. this way you don't have to switch between which pad bank you're viewing while creating your sample chop pattern.

reversed sample chops are the illest.

By jhs Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:22 pm
you can take that technique a step further by adding other variations of your drums to the layers. sometimes i've got a kick, patched phrase of a chop, the reversed kick & some other fx'd sample all within reach by using the qlink slider. this does take a while before you figure out what you're doing but its well worth the effort and easy once you learn it.

also, you can use the qlink sliders 'AFTER' button above the qlink slider to change the qlink value of recorded notes in realtime without actually changing what you recorded. this is real nice for havin fun on the spot.
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By RYBOOGIE Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:43 pm
good tips thrown up here. good job fellas.