between sound choice & mixing

once you guys get the melody and pattern locked in........how do you go about, or decided on the sounds? like "post" sound tweaking? like if you want a better snare?

Is it all trial and error? or do you have some rules of thumb? or do you usually involve this process with the engineer?

I understand alot of this has to do with mixing, but at what point do you decide mixing or mastering isnt gonna fix it?.....as soemtimes it isnt obvious immediately.

Ive got a few tracks where the pattern and melody (note arrangement) are good....but choosing sounds are difficult. Usually this happens with my bass tone, or kick and snare.....i mean, they work, but its not quite there yet.

im just tryin to get ideas as to inspire me to rework "type of sounds" used in some of my tracks that have been on hold because they dont hit like i want them to.

I ALWAYS WANT to leave it until the end......

try letting another ear listening to your tune(s) and have them help you pick the sounds. there is something called ear fatigue, your ears just tried of listening to Sh!t. there is nothing wrong getting a second opinion. they may hear your music differently than you and sometimes you could get some answer to "is this sound working?".

i agree with the above post, also trial and error, sometimes you have an idea of the sound you want, sometimes you jus know you don't want the present sound, for me the process changes from song to song, sometimes i like the first version, sounds and all, that's when i'm really happy

thanks you all.

good idea....sometimes the simplest answer is the best.

I do listen to my shit so much, i cant tell whether its bangin, until i see the reactions of my friends.

Im a perfectionist with my own music....and i anaylyze it to death.

you don't need your friends to help you pick drum sounds, when I ask my friends opionion its for the whole beat, most people are just fans and don't give a fukk about little invidual sounds like that, it's about the overall vibe u create, most rappers don't even care about that ish!!! What I do is I just don't listen to that particular beat for 1 or 2 days come back and say you don't have a snare crackin like it should just sit down and load up snares until you find the right one to tweak, your ear will tell you when its right, same with hats or kicks, you don't wanna settle 4 less cuz it will always be in the back of your head like damn, that beat would be this much tighter with the right kick, thats why it's important to have a large selection of sounds both drums and instruments

when i talk about have a friend listen to you tune(s), i mean another musician, producer or beat maker. i would not ask my friend who is a stockboy, garage man, etc but someone who make music themself. i understand what you are saying tho but i feel i could listen to your tune(s) and change the presets/sounds and your tune(s) will sound totally different from where the tune(s) started. how many producers work by themselfs? the answer is none. when i in the studio the number 1 question is "is that working for you?". the producer makes the final decision on what is working or not.

I change the sounds of the parts throughout the entire process of writing the song. Hell, sometimes a sound get's me triggered and I start writing, but in the end I scrap that sound altogether in favour of something else.

yeah ^^^ im feeling that.

just do everything how you want it, using your first instinct of whatever it is, lay it all out knowing its not finalized....do a bunch of tracks like that, then just store em away and dont even listen to em or try to add somethin. get enough for an album or cd comilation, or as many as u can put on a cd or cds (plural). then like a few weeks later, like mad early in the morning like 4 or 5 am just get mad irie... and listen to em...

cuz all throughout the time ur not listening to those tracks, u'll be playin em in ur head, but with added emotions of whatever ur feelin at that moment....ur brain will just spontaniuosly want to hear it like this or like that ...























































my style is diggable, so im fat like that

thats why its good to work with drum kits instead of just a bunch of one-shots (SOMETIMES). i like working with kits because all the drums sound right together. sometimes i still throw an extra snare in there or some more hihats behind the lead ones. but i like workin with kits. dont get me wrong i do throw a bunch of one shots in a pattern sometimes, but its good to work with kits.

i hope im not far off topic. i skimmed thru a little bit before i posted. sorry if i am.

digital_bastard wrote:I change the sounds of the parts throughout the entire process of writing the song. Hell, sometimes a sound get's me triggered and I start writing, but in the end I scrap that sound altogether in favour of something else.

absolutely right. me too