Pratical solutions to Bad Producer Habits aka. BPHs

ahahahah thats funny dawg, i really do name everything like dgjfdghj.seq ahaha, i really thought it was only me, but hell yea feels good to kno im not the only lazy ass fool.

i just LEAVE MY SEQUENCES AS I copy them in numerical order 1-10

but i only use at the most 10 sequences, where i get lazy is on the tracks naming the tracks cause i create a lot of tracks, in song mode thats the way i create my songs so it seem easy to me to use the sequences as i see them where they fit in .

2. Not knowing your record collection, if you need that string build to ice the top of your beat, but cant find, to bad. Spend a Saturday going through your vinyl making a note of all interesting sounds, and what I do now, all prominent instruments used on the record.

My biggest problem is when recording live instruments I record then continue to work on the track then I may want to change up the instrument sound and Ill have trouble getting everything just right from levels to mic placement and effect settings.

NEVER THINK YOUR DONE WITH AN INSTRUMENT ALWAYS NOTE THE SETTINGS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

What I usually do is save samples with a name that gives reference to the source material. Like Thelonius Monks' composition "Monk's Mood", I'd name the sample 'Monk'.

I name the sequences after the samples. For example, if I'm working on a Monk sample, I name the sequences Monk 1, Monk 2, etc.

When I'm done, I save everything as a 'APS' file, ie., 'Monk.APS'. When I turn on my set up, I load the APS and everything is loaded back in place, from the sounds and programs to the mixer settings.

Next all I have to do is load the sequences 'Monk 1, Monk 2, etc.

It made it easier for me to get back where I left off.

The fact that I can save bank files on my ASR-10 helps to. Even my DDX3216 saves the mixer settings.

My main problem is I don't archive stuff enough, I just lost a year and half worth of material on a zip disk that won't work properly.

ARCHIVE/BACKUP your $HIT!!!!

To help me remember where things are and their settings I use this.

Pad Details Attack Decay Freq Reson Mono Poly Note Off Velo/Envo Filter Attack Decay Amount Velo>Freq Velo
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Pad Parameters___________________Bank: A B C D




___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It looks alot different to that in the document I created but you get the idea.

damn yall get too technical wit naming son. I name a beat after the sample and I also name the sample whatever sample it is... If I did not sample than I just think of a cool name and give it that. Yall being mad extra wit everything or maybe u just tryin to sound mad smart. Its cool that yall know alot of technical terms but yall names be rediculous, maybe it just works best for u so let me bequiet. But it just seems strange naming a track like IL2syX or some bullshit. If the beat is original no samples Ill name it somthing like "New Piano ish" If I sample than Ill name the song Like... Bo Hanson, Magicians Hat. (By the way, That BoHanson record has some of the dopest samples I ever heard on it. ****** need to go dig for that one. I got mines for like 50 cents). Then Ill save my aps. and name it accordingly

1. On my 2kxl, I format my cf fat16, use less than 8 character names.
Keep the sample and PGM names unique. APS, ALL have the same name as the song folder they are placed in. I create a folder for EACH different song.

2. I fill up my pads and banks with sounds from everywhere. Pick and choose while I'm makin a beat. When I'm close to being satisfied I'll unassign sounds I haven't used and PURGE. From there I'll go to my samples folder on my pc and still browse through samples to see if there is something else I might want to add and I'll throw it on my cf in that same song's folder I'm working on.

3. I use CKrename ALOT.

4. I use mod q on my effects card ALOT. Some people complain about the cards effects but have yet to scratch the surface of the little eb16 card. Don't complain until you've checked out MANY of the combinations of effects and possiblities. A subtle combination of mod, delay and rev on let's say stringy piano-y type samples go a long way.

5. Learn to use the NV slider. It CAN sound like realtime pitching with 1-5 looped cycle samples w/ short zero or almost zero crossed sine's and saw's. W/ long samples retriggering it will not impress.

6. Layer them weak sounding drums. Use the MULTI, or realtime pad banging or whatever you have to do but layer them if you want them punchy, ie, weak sounding kick layered w/ low tom congo, short timpani.

Naming sh*t? Well I used to when I had my S6000, cuz u had to...

On the MPC2000xl, I usually give the first sample a name, like "what01" or somtething, and leave it at that. I save the .all and .aps in a folder that has a name, which is the name of the track.

If I decide to go back and re-work at a track, I have to load the .all and .aps, and I have to re-mix the whole thing; levels/eq/pan on the desk, compression, FX, etc.... but that's cool: if I do a track for a 2nd time, I really need to think about the whole mix again. I usually add some new samples and delete some stuff as well.

IMHO, it's easy to get carried away in this "I need total recall" ish... It's cool if it works for you, but if it cramps your workflow you really need to re-think what you're doing.