Not gonna lie to myself; sonically my beats sound terrible,

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By Tohtruck Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:49 am
Lampdog wrote:
Jacpot wrote:
jonathan morris wrote:thats why you're "BBBBAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!"
LOL
LOL


LOL

(Sorry, I just wanted to fit in) :(
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Re: Not gonna lie to myself; sonically my beats sound terrib

By motormind Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:07 am
MK25toLife wrote:I think I have some pretty good beats in my catalog, however, they just sound so low, dull and lifeless. Granted, I don't mix any of them and most of them are straight two-tracked, but still I feel like they should be hitting much harder, especially my drums. I use an MPC 1000 by the way. All in all, I feel like I need to step my game up sonically, b/c if I did that my beats would be a problem. I don't want to have to rely on someone mixing them on the back end to give them life. Can anyone give me some advice on how I can make my beats bang from the very jump?


Use your ears. The most important thing is not to fill every nook and cranny of your beat with sound. Leave space for it to "breathe".
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By Jacpot Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:17 pm
Tohtruck wrote:
Lampdog wrote:
Jacpot wrote:
jonathan morris wrote:thats why you're "BBBBAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!"
LOL
LOL


LOL

(Sorry, I just wanted to fit in) :(
Here we gooo!! :lol:
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By Smoove03 Wed Dec 13, 2006 8:09 pm
sleepersriddle wrote:imho,

picking sounds that co-operate well and don't clash frequencies is a big one...

getting and learning decent monitors is huge...

and learn to properly mix, eq, and a little compression..

its just the basics, really, but its harder than it seems.

also, dull and lifeless? maybe put in some more dynamics, with different velocities and some swing and subtle timing shifts.


perfect. i agree.


oh yea and Too Much Compression = NOT GOOD
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question related to this thread

By Cazillac Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:27 pm
I get most of my drums from vinyl. For example I sampled a kick and a snare from the Beatnuts "Off the Books" 12 inch. Sometimes I might mess with the 5 band eq I got on my dj mixer to get a different feel, but usually I just sample the snare or kick as is. Sonically speaking, wat are the advantages in tweaking a drum sound thats already bangin?
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By Dj Pound Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:45 pm
personally, i never really tweak the drum sounds. I'll EQ some of the turntable rumble out of the hi-hats, and sometimes kill some of the lows on the snare to put all emphasis on the BOOM coming from my Kicks.
When i do EQ kicks its usually just to add more punch.
Sometimes i say f*ck it an jack a gang of kicks off old too short records for that window shattering type bass kick.

But the more you EQ your drum kit, the better your other samples will fit in and just sound better.
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By Cazillac Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:38 am
fo sho good lookin out Pound, its all about how your ear is feeling the drum, if its bangin sample it, if needs something more try EQin it.
Old school Too short, damn nothings sacred no more, "Dope Fiend Beat" here I come.
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By sinister_keys Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:54 am
TheFirstJimBo wrote:
Dj Pound wrote:... compress the sh*t out your basslines and drums.


bad advice
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By Dj Pound Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:58 am
ha how is that bad advice??

Explain, because in most instances that technique works just fine.
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By jonathan morris Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:32 pm
you are overcompressing, so you are dulling a lot of the dynamic range. i know you've heard something that was overcompressed before, it's just got that squished sound.......it needs to be used with skill and technique, not just "compress the shyt out of it".
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By Dj Pound Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:47 pm
you see, jonathan i think thats the difference between me and you.
Im guessing your into that typical dusty boom bap sound, where distortion and low levels with lots of hiss and some filtering is your thing.
If your going for that effect fine do your thang, cuz in most instances if thats the sound your going for, compression really wouldnt be needed at all.
Me though, i use alot of old school 80's drum kits...kits that require good sound, i want my sounds to stand out in the mix, i want them to be clean, i want my kicks to thump and my basslines to shatter windows, ya dig?
I couldnt achieve that particular sound if i wasnt using compression.

and about the drums and samples becoming "squished", sometimes that isnt a bad thing!
Just use the compression liberally...maybe you misunderstood me when i said "compress the shit out of"...dunno peace
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