OK KANA » Music Theory & Production http://okkana.com <- Return to Concrete Espionage! Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:52:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://okkana.com http://okkana.com/files/images/favicon_KANA.ico OK KANA How to mix between Traktor and a CDJ or Turntable http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/how-to-mix-between-traktor-and-a-cdj-or-turntable/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/how-to-mix-between-traktor-and-a-cdj-or-turntable/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:44:51 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=568

… or How to Beatmatch with Traktor and a CDJ

So here it is, the first article for Kana 2010 and what better way to start than by helping you get your groove on with those pesky CDJ’s that people just dont want to give up! Don’t they know laptops are king these days? (Just kidding…hah, enjoy your own flavour I say!)

Apologies must first be made for the serious delay in responding to the initial request for this article, lets just say it’s better late than never, what do you say?

Right, so if you read the first piece on the dynamics of digital mixing which was about beat-matching Ableton Live to any number of CDJ’s, you will have the idea; what we clearly need to do is sort out how you are going to do this if you are a Traktor user and prefer to “sync” your tracks internally.

(Note: If you use software other than Traktor and want a tutorial for it, by all means post in the comment field and I’ll track down a copy to review for you.)

EDIT: For this setup you will need to be using Traktor’s internal master clock to sync your tracks to. I.E. All tracks will have “Sync” highlighted, instead of one track being chosen as the “Master” track, with the remainder syncing to it.

To pull this off I am going to assume you understand the basics of midi-mapping in Traktor, if you don’t then don’t stress I’ll be sure to post something on the subject soon enough but leave a comment if it’s not soon enough for you… or just go read the manual like a good student!

1) First we need to choose a fader on your midi controller on which to assign your virtual pitch slider

In Traktor, open Preferences:
  • Menu -> Midi Mappings
  • Click “Add” then from the new pop up menu select “Master Clock”, followed by “Master Tempo”
  • Now, click “Learn” and then move the slider on your midi controller which you want to be your virtual pitch slide.
  • Great, thats now assigned. If you were to close the preferences you would now see the tempo clock in the top left corner moving in response to your movements on the fader.
2) Now we need to adjust the settings of the assignment so it is closer to the “feel” we are going for, restrict the range a little bit if you will.
In that same window below where you clicked “Learn” you will want to set the “Controller Configuration” to:

  • Interaction Mode: Direct (this is default)
  • Type of Controller: Relative Fader / Knob (need to change to this)
  • Assignment: Global (this is default)
Below this you will now see some new configurations entitled “Rotary Encoder”:  here you will adjust the slider marked “Rotary Sensitivity” to change the range of the fader, or the maximum/minimum BPM that you can increase/decrease to.

A good place to start is 15% which gives you a range of approximately 6.46 BPM, and will move the BPM in increments of 0.04-0.05 (this is slightly varied for some reason).
If you want a finer level of control then bring the sensitivity right down to 11% which will give you a range of 3.42 BPM which moves in increments of 0.02-0.03.

The only draw back here is if you don’t get a tight “drop” and have your initial tempo close to begin with, then you will find it very hard (read: impossible) to catchup to a beat that you don’t have the range for.

3) Final suggestion is to assign the “TAP” button to a spare key on your laptop, or a free button on your controller (of which there should be NONE if you are seriously into this)
Note: TAP is default assigned to “Ctrl+Space”; by holding Control and tapping the space bar you can “tap” the tempo of the current track.  This is fine, but if you are anything like me having to hold one button whilst hitting another for a Single function should be avoided wherever possible.  (Granted this is unavoidable in some situations, however, dare I say that this may be a case when its worth avoiding?)
To assign to a single key on your keyboard:
  • Preferences Menu -> Keyboard Mapping
  • Click “Add” then from the new pop up menu select “Master Clock”, followed by “Master Tempo Beat Tap”
  • Now, click “Learn” then hit the key on your keyboard you wish to assign; unclick “Learn” once you’ve assigned so you don’t accidentally assign to something else.
  • I like to use the “\” key above my “Enter” key, but choose something that works for you.
4) Putting it into practice….
  • Move your new virtual Pitch Slider to the middle position (midi value 65)
  • Then, ‘Tap’ your tempo along with the current playing track from the previous DJ
  • Once you’ve seen the tempo reading steady out substantially you can be confident you have a fairly close BPM
    • Now you need to press “Play” in-time with the current song and get ready to ride the pitch into perfect tempo harmony.

Happy mixing!

Adam

]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/how-to-mix-between-traktor-and-a-cdj-or-turntable/feed/ 3 How to Beatmatch with Ableton and a CDJ http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/how-to-beatmatch-with-ableton-and-a-cdj/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/how-to-beatmatch-with-ableton-and-a-cdj/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:17:25 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=394
If you’ve jumped on the bandwagon and got yourself a copy of Ableton Live, taught yourself the basics, figured out how to DJ with it and are now ready to perform in public, the only question you might be left asking is:
“How do I beatmatch Live to the DJ before me?”

EDIT: If you prefer to use Traktor Pro to DJ with then check here instead

The same problem surfaces (naturally) when you play back-to-back with someone when one of you want to use CDJ’s (or turntables) and the other on a laptop with Live.
Never fear, Live 7 (&8) are here!
There are two ways you can go about this, one requires no extra hardware, the other requires a midi device with at least one slider available eg. Faderfox LV2, Evolution UC-33 or the Vestax VMC-600.

1) Basic (no controller):

To successfully operate a steady tempo device (Live) in partnership with a variable tempo device (CDJ’s etc) without the use of a a hardware controller you will need to get one thing clear first…
Ableton assumes Master Tempo and all other devices are matched to its tempo.
Once you’ve started the global play on Live you will not need to stop it.  From here the CDJ user can will need to beatmatch each new track to Live’s signal.  When its time to mix a tune in from Live, you will need to make any tempo adjustments to the CDJ not ableton.
Ways to do this are:
  • a) Beatmatch to a guide track from Live (which will be always playing but never heard)
    • Create a new audio channel in your Live project
    • Route it to a secondary output channel (one not used for your performance)
    • Patch that channel into an unused channel on your mixing desk
    • Add a standard percussion loop to this channel and have it playing always
      • This will be your mixing guide track,  make sure it has a clear Kick, Snare and Hats… or whatever you really want to beatmatch to
    • Make sure the channels volume is never turned up on the mixing desk
    • Now you can monitor/make any tempo adjustments on the CDJ’s even when no track is playing on Live.  This will allow you to refer to Live’s tempo at regular itervals to make sure you are not drifitng out of time
  • b) Stop/Start Live as close to the beat as you can then have the CDJ’s adjusted (carefully, subtley)

2) Advanced (controller required):

To control Live’s tempo like a CDJ (or turntable) all you need to do is have a midi-assignable slider connected to the laptop and assign it to the global tempo.  Then, the trick is to set your Min/Max values to a range of say 5-10bpm MAX…
The smaller the range, the finer the control.  So if your set is starting at 127bpm and ending at 130bpm, then make the range like 125-132 to give some room to push pull.  Experiment here as you can get away with settings like 127-130  and you’ll get a real fine adjustment curve :)
It is also worth assigning the two Nudge buttons (“<<” & “>>”) as these will be handy to give little ‘bumps’ during the mix.  I use a combination of both slider & nudge with fairly precise accuracy.

So, to assign your midi slider:

- Turn ON Midi Map mode
  • Ctrl-M (PC) / Apple-M (Mac)
- Click on the global bpm (the whole number section not the decimal part)
- Move the slider you want to assign – you will see the assignment appear in the midi list on the right of screen
-> change the min & Max values now to suit. E.g Min = 125; Max = 130

If you wish to assign the Nudge buttons, do so now:

- Click on the Nudge Left button (this will slow down your tempo as long as you hold it)

The arrow at top like this “<<“

- Tap the midi button you wish to assign
- Repeat for Nudge Right (speed up tempo whilst you hold it)

The arrow at top like this “>>“

- Turn Off Midi Map mode
  • Ctrl-M again (or Apple-M for Mac)
Note:  I often assign nudge to midi & qwerty keyboard buttons for quick access no matter what I’m doing.
To assign to keyboard:

- Turn ON Keyboard Map mode (everything should go orange)
  • Ctrl-K (PC) / Apple-K (Mac)
- Click the nudge left
- Tap the key you wish to assign to  (I use the square brackets “[" and "]” )
- Repeat for the other nudge button
- Turn OFF Keyboard Map mode
VOILA!  You are now ready to boogie :)
]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/how-to-beatmatch-with-ableton-and-a-cdj/feed/ 4 The secret to swing and why you can’t produce without it! http://okkana.com/musictheory/the-secret-to-swing-and-why-you-cant-produce-without-it/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/the-secret-to-swing-and-why-you-cant-produce-without-it/#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:54:30 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=346

How come my tracks don’t sound like a commercial release?

Part 2 – : Swing!

Swing? Isn’t that a style of music developed in America circa 1930? Well, yes it was. But the swing I’m referring to is the shuffle or groove of your track, that more ‘human’ groove that sounds realistic and ‘more pleasing’ to our ears.

Ever wondered why that rhythm you are trying to write sounds ‘robotic’ and ‘cold’? Its more than likely because every hit in your drum pattern or every note in your sequence has been quantized to a rigid grid. This quantization is unnatural since we are not robots and it is practically impossible to play a drum pattern live in perfect quantized periods.

The fact is, our hearing has evolved to ‘expect’ certain things. Yes thats right, our ear-brain connection has certain elements it looks for inorder to help process the audible information it receives, which means it expects things to be out of time (slightly)!

What swing do you mean:

So what does this all have to do with swing? Well, swing (shuffle, groove, humanization) or whatever name you wish to give it, is essentially a process by which you can ‘push’ a desired range of ‘hits’ out of this perfect, quantized alignment. In part, creating a more ‘human’ feel to the groove you were trying to create. Suddenly, things will sound less ’sterile’, have more ‘warmth’ and just ‘glue together in the mix’ much more effectively. Don’t take my word for it, read on and give it a try for yourself!

As usual, this article will focus on Kana’s DAW of choice, Ableton Live. At the end of the post you can find links to using swing in other DAW’s like Cubase or Logic etc.

Creating your own swing:

One of the best ways to achieve a more natural sounding, self-programmed, drum loop or musical sequence is to play the part manually (on a midi keyboard or drumpads) with the Global Quantize set to None.  This means all the notes will essentially land exactly where/when you hit them.
The big advantage to this being you have essentially applied your own personal level of swing to the notes by playing them yourself – instead of drawing the notes in with the mouse!  Getting it right the first time can be quite tough, so its a good idea t oset yourself up for a continuous recording session where you can make multiple takes and choose the best one at the end.
Setting up multiple takes in Live is quite simple, just set your loop region to the size and zone you wish to work in (this is the resizable bar at the top of the arrangement view).  Make sure overdub (OVR- at the top near the play button)  is turned on – this will allow any patterns to be layed down continuously until you hit stop.  Now, just continue to play again and again until you think you nailed the feel you want.   This way you can then expand (stretch out) the looped part to reveal all your attempts and choose the best version.

Once you have chosen your favourite groove, simply move the loop range to encompass only that section and play it over and over whilst you listen to each individual sound.  The chances are that at least a handful of hits will appear too early or too late, when you hear them zoom right down to the individual notes and adjust them to suit.
To move notes without ’snapping’ to the grid, click and hold the note, press and hold the ‘Apple’ key, then move the note to the exact place you want it, then drop the note & release the ‘Apple’ key.  You will notice the placement is no longer restricted to the quantize grid and you can make really small adjustments to just gently drag the note closer to the timing you really like.  Easy as that, Bam!

Adding swing to pre-recorded loops:

All decent DAW’s will allow you to impart some sort of swing or groove function onto your chosen pre-recorded loops or midi clips.  Some programs allow a very complex groove to be copied, including timing  and volume of each hit (velocity if dealing with midi notes), and then applied to any source imaginable.  This feature was implemented in Live 8 but first we will cover how to get simliar results in Live 7.

Swing in Live 7:

You can use the built in swing/groove setting to add a little more movement to an otherwise set pace.
In Live 7, you are restricted to using the more formulated quantized groove settings.  The “0″ between the metronome and the 4/4 notation at the top left of the project window is your global swing amount.  From 0-99, you can impart more or less swing to all clips that have their Clip Control groove setting to anything other than None –  options include 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32.   You can get some pretty nice subtle movement with a clip groove setting of 1/16 and a global groove setting of 40-50.
Have a play with it and go Extreme! By pushing things to the limits we learn how to tame the beast and achieve the sound and control we really want!

Almost perfect but not quite:

The only unfortunate oversight here is that a truly magic groove has not only sounds occuring slightly out of time, but also at varying volumes.  To do this you will have to put in the hard work by manually adjusting the volume of each sound in the Envelope Volume window.  Granted, this is not a precise science since dropping the volume of a hat after a snare will reduce the volume of the snares tail as well, but hopefully you will not be relying on a sampled audio drum loop as  the main focus of your track.  That way you can get away with little adjustments like this.

Live 8 and beyond:

Live 8 has really stepped up and taken this one major step further by incorporating a full groove library which also allows you to extract the groove from other songs/sample loops and apply it to your own parts.  Here is a tutorial video by Jesper at Airbasemusic.com which will run you through the process.

Some links to ways of imparting your desired groove in the other major players like Cubase, Logic Pro, Sonar, Fruity Loops.

Summary:

An often overlooked element of developing producers is the significance of real world performing. Digital is great, but it removes some of the human element, and its this human element that we have evolved with, hence what we perceive as pleasing.
Working with the swing of your individual parts will impart a finer glue to all your sounds, it will give room for other sound to be heard in the mix and suddenly get your booty shaking when you couldn’t explain why it wasn’t before.
If you got to the end of this article I truly hope you’ve found some value and managed to improve the sound/feel of your tracks.  After all that is what it was written for.
Have anything to add? Your comments are always welcome, just click the article heading if you are on the main page and scroll to the bottom to “Reply” to this post.
Good vibes & happy producing,
Adam & the Kana crew.

EDIT:

One fairly cruical element to swing which I some how forgot to mention is the use of Track Delays.  This little bad-boy makes some jobs a dream by just slightly moving a whole tracks’ audio forward or backwards by anything from 1 millisecond upwards.

You can find it on the right hand side of the arrangement screen if you select the small circled D on the far bottom right.

]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/the-secret-to-swing-and-why-you-cant-produce-without-it/feed/ 0 Best source of handy FREE mac applications http://okkana.com/news/best-source-of-handy-free-mac-applications/ http://okkana.com/news/best-source-of-handy-free-mac-applications/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:41:57 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=279 It is often a pain when re-installing your operating system to remember which apps you have backed up and which ones you still need to search for on the world wide web.

Here is a site which does it all for you, well sort of. All of the apps on this page are great and the best part, they are free. Gotta love OpenSource software!!

Hooray for Open Source Mac DOT ORG!!!

]]> http://okkana.com/news/best-source-of-handy-free-mac-applications/feed/ 0 Secret tips to improve your mix by avoiding Ear Fatigue http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-come-my-tracks-dont-sound-like-a-commercial-release-part-1-ear-fatigue/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-come-my-tracks-dont-sound-like-a-commercial-release-part-1-ear-fatigue/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:21:03 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=261

How come my tracks don’t sound like a commercial release?

Part 1: Ear Fatigue

News flash…Your ears fatigue Very quickly at high listening levels (yes, that means your ears do indeed get ‘tired’). When your ears are fatigued, your brains ability to register & seperate frequencies is dramstically reduced. Tha means your hearing becomes ‘muddy’!!

What is it about dance music that really drives us on? Why do we fell so empowered by it to move and shake?

Because the air being pushed by the massive (& extremely loud) speakers in your favourite club are quite literally pushing you around! The gravity effect of a kick and bass over a loud PA (public address) system is quite literally physics moving your body.

Don’t believe me? Next time you are in a club where the music is pounding your body (as well as your poor ears), try and move your self up and down (some call it dancing) in the opposite direction to the kick drum. i.e. move upwards when the kick strikes, and move downwards inbetween the kicks. I guarantee you it will feel awkward, uncomfortable and down right unnatural. Not to mention everyone around looking at you like your an alien! Get my point? Music is sound, and sound is physical.

So…. Why did I bother running you through that little episode and whats it got to do with Ear Fatigue? Well, quite simply, your ears are able to fatigue at levels much lower than that experienced in a club. And it is up to you to protect them from this fatigue to ensure you are making the most informed decisions possible about your music. If what I’ve said so far means nothing to you, perhaps skip the rest of this article and keep turning up your mixer to full. Good luck getting a decent sound, let alone being able to hear in 10 years.

Okay, thats all good and well, but what am I supposed to do about it and how do I know if my ears are ‘fatigued’?

The phenomenon known as TTS (Temporary Threshold Shift) basically means after prolonged exposure to loud listening levels, your ears’ ability to actually hear is reduced. You’re going temporarily Deaf! Don’t freak out, as the name suggests, this is temporary. But if you keep it up, can lead to permanent loss of hearing.

This handy site has provided a nice little chart with some real life decibel comparisons and even how long you can listen to certain levels before causing yourself damage. You’ll notice that increasing the volume from 90db to 95db (train whistle at 500 feet to a subway train at 200 feet) reduces the safe listening times from 8 hours to 4 hours! Don’t know what 90db is? Get yourself one of these valuable assets. A decent meter will only set you back about $100aud, and it will save you a lifetime of hearing if you use it… a wise investment if you ask me.

So, if you’re still wondering how loud you should be monitoring your productions, well that is a relative question. How long do you want to sit at the computer for? A good & safe place to start is: 8 hrs = 90db; 4 hrs = 95db; 2 hrs = 100db. Overall, if you stick to around 90db, you’ll protect your ears (you only have one pair!) and produce better music (since you won’t fatigue as quickly).

Now, if you thought I’d be finished, you’re wrong. Sound level is only one part of the ‘fatigue’ equation. Another very important area which often gets no attention, especially when you are feeling ‘in the zone’, is how long you spend listening to any one piece of audio. The longer you spend listening exclusively to one loop, one vocal part or one whole track, the quicker your ability to make objective mixing decisions fades.

Comparison is your best friend in this situation. The longer you listen to one piece of music, or one EQ setting, the quicker your ears adjust and get ‘comfortable’ with what they are hearing. This is a nasty trick your ears play on you and the only way to combat the adjustment is by making regular comparisons to other sounds.

If you are mixing your track, working on levels, panning, eq, compression etc, then by now you should have already chosen a commercial song from which to draw inspiration. Deciding which track is best suited to your needs is a personal choice but things to keep in mind are:

- Does it have the groove, energy, direction I want to achieve?

- Do I like the ’sound’ of the song?

i.e. Is the Kick/Bass prominent and punchy enough? Can I see myself going mental to this on the dance-floor (or not… if that’s your direction). Are the different elements of the song (snare, hats, melody, pads etc) clear and cohesive or are they muddy and jumbled?

Once you’ve chosen the right track from which to compare, you should do so regularly.

For simplicity and speed, load the track into your project on an empty audio track, mute it and drop the channel volume until it matches the master bus when your own song is playing. Now that its at the same level, you can easily hit the ‘Solo’ button for a quick reference to what should be considered a professionally mixed & mastered track. You can make things even faster and intuitive by assigning the reference tracks solo button to a Hot-Key on your keyboard.

Now when you are making important decisions about how much bass to have, how loud the snare should be, how far back the pads should sit etc, you have an accurate place to compare your own project to. Sure it will be very challenging if not impossible to achieve exactly the same sonic signature, but with a lot of practice and perseverance you will find your sound quality improving dramatically.

Make sure when you are working with these tools that you check sooner rather than later. Don’t leave it until you’ve been at it for an hour, or even 10 minutes. The ear will adapt within seconds to fine EQ adjustments, and within minutes to a whole song.

This same technique can be applied when making EQ adjustments. The trick here is to ‘bypass’ the EQ instead:

- You have decided a certain sound requires an EQ tweak

- Reach for the EQ and start affecting the areas you feel necessary

- Turn the EQ off (or bypass the zones you have changed) and listen to the sound as it was previously

- Turn the EQ back on and compare to what you were trying to achieve

- Repeat until you have the sound just as you need it without making it sound worse

If you leave too much time between swapping the EQ in & out, you run the risk of allowing your ears to get used to your newly EQ’d sound. This will greatly hinder your ability to make objective decisions regarding your music.

In summary, your ears are your best friend and should be treated with respect. These friends like variety, hate loud noise for long periods of time and only have one lifetime. Once they are damaged, they are gone for good.

Monitor your music at safe levels for the appropriate lengths of time and you will find your ears lasting a very long time. Make quick comparisons to music that you would consider very well made, to a professional standard, and you will find the decisions you make in regards to your own sound become much easier and yield better results.

If you have any questions about this article or want to get into further detail, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m able.

Good luck on your musical journey,

Adam

]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-come-my-tracks-dont-sound-like-a-commercial-release-part-1-ear-fatigue/feed/ 5 Quick & Easy CD track markers in your DJ mix http://okkana.com/musictheory/hardwarsoftwarereviews/quick-easy-track-markers-in-your-dj-mix/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/hardwarsoftwarereviews/quick-easy-track-markers-in-your-dj-mix/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:47:21 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=255

I often get asked the question: I bought Ableton, I’ve just recorded a sweet as mix and exported it to a WAV file, now how do I burn it to an Audio CD with track markers?

There are many paths you could take, considering the amount of software options available but the one I’ll share with you is FREE and Crossplatform so will work for everyone! How good is that!

Audacity is a nifty little freeware recording program that works on Mac, Windows, Linux and well pretty much anything. Its by no means the ‘best’ solution for your audio-editing needs, but its Free, its Easy, and it will work for anyone.

Once you’ve recorded and exported your mix, you will need to open the WAV file in Audacity (assuming you’ve already downloaded and installed the freeware). Once the mix has been loaded you can play or “scrub” through the mix, and, using the blue “pause” buttons, not the yellow “stop” button, you can hold the play marker at the exact place you want to set the next track at.

We are going to use “labels” to make our track markers. You can name each marker also and choose to export the tracks by label name or numbering consecutively.

First, set a label at the start of the mix by going to the menu option: “Project” > “Add Label at Selection” (Hotkey Windows: “CTRL + B” Mac: “APPLEKEY + B”)

Navigate to the next place you want a cd marker and repeat this process, all the way until you are at the last track in the mix. Once you’ve finished labelling each track, go to menu: “File” > “Export Multiple”.

Audacity will now export all your mix into the separate tracks, labels as you like, into the format and folder of your choosing. How easy was that!

The final stage requires putting the new tracks on a CD and setting it to play without little annoying gaps between each track.

To copy your music to an audio CD you are going to need software to ‘burn’ it with in the first place. iTunes will do it for you, as will Windows Media Player, both are free, but I prefer to use Toast (on Mac) and Nero (on windows). If you need to burn Red Book standard then I suggest using Toast on Mac, for Windows you can burn Red Book with Wavelab (which would negate the need for Audacity). There are other Red Book compliant burning softwares out there for PC but I’ll let you find what suits your needs.

For gapless playback, you need to import all your files into the burning software (by dragging them into the project window or importing from the menu), and change the default pause between each track from the standard 2 seconds to zero. The first track requires a mandatory 2 seconds but that will not affect the change from track 1 to 2. Each burning software does this differently so a little discovery might be inorder for you. After removing the 2 second gaps, you will want to choose the option to burn “Disc-At-Once” to prevent any subtle clicks in the playback.

That’s about it really. There is an alternative option in Audacity which requires exporting a “cue-sheet” for the lables you’ve made in the single file mix. You can read about it and the rest of this process in much finer detail on the Audacity site here.

Happy listening!

]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/hardwarsoftwarereviews/quick-easy-track-markers-in-your-dj-mix/feed/ 0 How come my tracks don’t sound like a commercial release? http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-come-my-tracks-dont-sound-like-a-commercial-release-intro/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-come-my-tracks-dont-sound-like-a-commercial-release-intro/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:47:05 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=235

Introducing a short series of tutorials

At the end of a long day working on your latest production in your bedroom/loungeroom (or as some like to call it “the Studio”), when you’ve finished that bumpin’ groove, tamed that thumping bassline and trimmed that sizzling snare, you might like to sit back and admire your handy work, no?

On first inspection it sounds killer! Off the hook! Capital Ph – Phat! Well of course it does, because you’ve just been nodding your head to it for the last 6+ hours haven’t you? You go for a walk to the shop, rest your ears a little you think, grab a beer maybe, have a smoke even (if you like the dirty habit!), come home watch some TV and just chill out. “Job well done”, you say.

Next day, after listening to some of your favourite commercial tracks on the ride home from work you’re thinking, “Hell yea, I totally nailed that beat last night, it sounds just like whats on my iPod!” But all is not the case is it! You come home, all fired up ready to push play and bask in the glory that should rightly be the next big hit, only to find that in comparison to everything you’ve been listening to on the ride home, you’re new baby seems (prepare for some buzz words), lack-luster, plain, lumpy, lifeless, busy, cluttered, muddy or just plain Whack!

Well…?? What the hell happened?

There’s about 10 topics I will cover which could have occured to rob you of your glory.  Be certain that this is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of the more common areas I find affecting people on the road to their own musical nirvana.

You could have been suffering from ‘ear fatigue’ last night, a bad listening environment or even mixing the track at a level that’s too high (or too low). 

You listened to your own project for too long and didn’t reference other material or you didn’t program your sounds appropriately (with regard to each and every other sound in the mix).  The sounds that you programmed so delicately weren’t placed in the mix properly or your little pet that’s always jumping up at you with beaming eyes wanting to be played with (your effects!) got the better of you! 

You had a little too much alcohol or drugs (contrary to how you feel at the time, you don’t do things better when drunk or high), or maybe you were acting like a kid in a candy store, adding sound after sound, trying to ever evolve that otherwise rockin’ beat.

I’ll probably repeat myself a few times throughout this mini-series, but there’s no harm in hearing things over & over till you got it, right?  Take what you need from these articles and, I promise there is no way in the world that you won’t improve your songs and how they sound next to a commercial release.

Happy reading and good luck on your musical journey!
Adam
]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-come-my-tracks-dont-sound-like-a-commercial-release-intro/feed/ 0 Boost your screen space with a USB powered 7″ Touch Screen http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/boost-your-screen-space-with-a-usb-powered-7-touch-screen/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/boost-your-screen-space-with-a-usb-powered-7-touch-screen/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:35:25 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=217

The time is fast approaching when open-source programmers and affordable hardware combine to make the ultimate customizable dj setup at a very affordable price. Until that day inevitably arrives (when we all have exactly what we want right at our finger tips for every performance) you can start yourself towards that dream with one (or many) of these babies.

Mimo have just released their very affordable 7″ Touch Screen for a meagre $199US. Hosting a resolution of 840×400 and powered by USB, not only is it super light at 600 grams but it has a rotatable screen so you could use it equally well for sequencing as for menu browsing!

I can think of several great uses for a light weight screen like this:

- Keep plugin windows open & out of the way for quick adjustment to non-assigned parameters & preset navigation

- Emulate a Kaoss pad type system for fancy effects

- Have a dedicated browser screen to free up your main screen for more important items

- Can’t afford a Lemur and think an iPod is tacky? Setup your own touch-screen midi controller with the MonoTouch software in style!! It’s only $29US, so thats under $230US for your own Lemur… Nice!

Of course, you can use this for many mroe purposes like triggering visual clips and multi-tasking at your day-job, but thats upto you to decide.

Think you’ve got some great alternative uses for a 7″ touch screen in a performance related environment, let us know by commenting at the bottom!

]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/djtips/boost-your-screen-space-with-a-usb-powered-7-touch-screen/feed/ 0 How to get your sounds as wide as possible in the mix http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-to-get-your-sounds-as-wide-as-possible-in-the-mix/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-to-get-your-sounds-as-wide-as-possible-in-the-mix/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:33:49 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=139

Somewhere along the way when you are composing your latest track you will start thinking about where the sounds appear on the sound stage.  A key principle to achieving a really nice mix is not just having the right balance of mono and stereo sounds but having those stereo sounds just where you want them.  

You may notice that on some tracks by the upper echelon of music producers, sounds can be placed so wide in the mix that you simply cannot get there by using any conventional stereo widerers like Cryosonics Sindo V2. ¬†While these tools are great for the usual task of ’sweetening up’ a sample with a boring stereo image, they won’t give you that extra ‘magic’ that you are looking for.

The key here is to employ a Double Tracking technique with the use of a basic delay like Ableton’s Simple Delay. ¬†You can easily replace the delay with any other effect in your arsenal, however delays usually get the best, most controllable results.¬†

I am going to explain the rest with focus on Ableton’s Live production software as this is my weapon of choice. ¬†The principles you will find translate to any DAW you choose as well as any hardware mixing solutions. ¬†

How to get that wide sound:

  • - Choose an audio source to double track (a synth line or vocal/percussion track/ or anything you want) and turn it¬†down at least 3db…it will get louder shortly.
  • - ¬†Duplicate the audio track
    • - Double tracking essentially means duplicating the audio source so you have two copies playing at exactly the same time. This technique is used to apply different processing to separate parts of the audio spectrum in a single audio source.
  • - Pan one channel Full-Left the other Full-Right
  • - Add a Simple Delay (or your delay/effect of choice) to one of the two channels.
  • - Feedback at 0%, Dry/Wet at 100% Wet
  • - Adjust a desired amount of short delay (2ms-20ms) or a very subtle amount of chorus or reverb.
    • To do this, click the SYNC buttons on the delay plugin which will take off the Quantization and allow you to apply small time-based settings.

You will immediately hear the sound become spread into that ’super’ wide zone you previously thought unreachable. ¬†Now we need to gain collective control over the sound again…

  • - Send both channels to a stereo Bus or Group channel
    • - To do this in Abelton Live create a new audio track
    • - Set the tracks Monitoring to IN (on the routing section’s I/O)
  • - Now you can control the two tracks as if they were one super wide source from that single Bus channel.

Good luck with your exploration,

Adam

]]> http://okkana.com/musictheory/how-to-get-your-sounds-as-wide-as-possible-in-the-mix/feed/ 2 What to expect from Kana’s music theory articles http://okkana.com/musictheory/what-to-expect-from-kanas-music-theory-articles/ http://okkana.com/musictheory/what-to-expect-from-kanas-music-theory-articles/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:28:55 +0000 Adamg http://okkana.com/?p=144

To those that are interested in music production or even those who have been developing their skills over the years, Kana will be presenting a series of articles on music production theory.  Some articles will be aimed at the advanced producer and others at the beginner.  

Overall, some knowledge about computers and music software will be required to comprehend these topics.  Since it would take a very long time to go through all of the basics, these topics are best left to other resources where the time has already been invested.  

You will most likely find information here that you can find elsewhere.  These articles are being shared with the sole purpose of giving value back to our readers and possibly shedding new light on a concept you perhaps are already very familiar with.  You will be able to bring up the articles any time by using the Tag Cloud to the right of this page or by using the Categories beneath it.

To quote¬†Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, a Zen priest who has been noted as one of the principle founder’s of Buddihsim in America. ¬†More information can be found on Suzuki here¬†http://sfzc.org/

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.

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