Tutorial51 » Audio

So You Think You’ve Finished Mixing? A Guide to Preparing Your Mix for Mastering

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:11:05 +0000

You know what it feels like to finish a mix. Having spent hours, possibly days, perfecting your track to the nth degree, it feels great to finally have a song to be proud of after all the hard work and effort.

But what if you took your mix just that little bit further. Before the crucial mastering stage, there are some very simple, and often overlooked, practices and techniques which can be applied to your mix in order to make sure your track stands out from the crowd and better yet, your final master is as good as it possibly can be.

Step 1: Check Your Levels

Once you’ve finished your mix the first place to start is to take a look at the levels on your master bus. (Technically, you should be monitoring this all throughout the mix but we’ll assume that hasn’t happened). All major DAWs contain a basic meter on the master bus channel. Reset your meter and do a whole pass of the track to check exactly where your song peaks (i.e., where the level reaches it’s highest point during the pass). Typical mastering engineers want roughly 3 dBs of headroom on the mix to give themselves the most flexibility – this is especially true if you are working in 16bit rather than 24bit.

If you find yourself with excessive levels on the master bus (or even clipping) there are a couple of options to try. If you have maintained respectable levels on each individual channel, lower the overall level by simply reducing the master fader a few dBs as appropriate, ensuring the integrity of your mix stays intact. However you may only be temporarily fixing problems that lie deeper in your mix session.

If you find that individual channel levels are to blame, it’s probably a better idea to reduce channel levels equally and individually so by the time the audio reaches the master bus there are no level issues – i.e., you’ve reached an acceptable master bus level completely naturally. Remember to maintain respect with any particular routing you have used – e.g., don’t reduce a bus as well as your respective channels as this will throw the balance out.

If the levels still look unusually active, delve a little deeper and check if any individual plugins are clipping. If a plugin has been set to force hot levels out to your DAW, there’s a good chance clipping will occur. (Some analogue clipping can sound great, but digital plugin clipping is the total opposite – you really don’t want this on your mix!) Most plugins have an input/output level trim so if a channel looks to be overworking itself, check the inserts for any clipping and adjust accordingly.

A channel may clip and affect your master bus level if an Insert is forced to process to an extreme. Above, the “In” meter shows the input channel level is acceptable, however when the EQ plugin kicks in you can clearly see the level clipping upon outputting.

To demonstrate just how easy it is to accidentally clip a channel, here is an example of a quiet synth part meant to “pad” out a song. This kind of part can easily get lost in a mix, as that’s the parts purpose:

Download audio file (synth.mp3)

As you can hear, it sounds totally fine. However, it’s very easy to accidentally clip something which is quiet in the mix, particularly if it’s been recorded hot. Here’s the same synth part, but with an inserted EQ plugin with a clipped output:

Download audio file (synthclipped.mp3)

Step 2: Check the Inserts on the Mix Bus

There is a lot of healthy debate over the dos and don’ts of inserting effects onto the mix bus. It’s quite easy to overload the bus to help the track shine (especially if you’re doing quick mixes to send to a band for approval, for example) but be very careful of wandering into the mastering engineer’s domain.

Some mixers feel they need to limit the creative control of the mastering engineer by overly processing the master bus (perhaps with mastering-style EQ or limiting) and this is sometimes for a perfectly rational reason, especially if a top-line reputation is involved.

Regardless, I would never recommend adding a limiter to your mix bus. Quite often, digital limiters don’t offer the same sonic finesse of analogue limiters used by most mastering engineers (particularly in the higher frequency spectrum) and you’ll be depriving a mastering engineer of an essential part of their job. Let them do what you’ve hired them to do.

That said, it’s very common to subtly process your master bus – generally this is to help “glue” your mix and add a little sparkle and consistency. One common approach is to gently process a mix through the classic SSL bus compressor to give your mix extra unity and to utilise its iconic individual “sound”.

By all means, experiment and have a play around with your master bus but make sure you use inserts with caution. Always question why you’re adding an insert to the bus – if you have any doubt, you probably shouldn’t do it!

Step 3: Don’t Dither!

I’ve already mentioned how careful you need to be when adding inserts onto the master bus – however if you do decide to add a little “fairy dust” to your mix then be aware that some plugins could apply a dither algorithm. The plugin should have an option to turn this off, so make sure that dither is always switched off unless you are reducing your bit rate on mix-down.

If you’ve recorded at 24bit I would recommend bouncing your mix at this bit depth ready for the mastering engineer and not to worry about the dithering process. Dithering is a vital part of mastering but let your mastering engineer apply this at the final hurdle and certainly don’t do it for him during the mix bounce.

Step 4: Check Your Mix in Mono

If there’s one process for you to try it’s this one. Checking your mix in mono is vital and truly under-valued – there are countless reasons why your mix may end up being heard in mono.

If your song is broadcast on the radio, often it will be in mono if the signal is particularly weak. Even advanced technology still utilises mono signals – most radio iPhone applications broadcast in mono, unbelievably! When listening in mono, your track could run into major phases issues when processing reverb or delay and sometimes the effect can be totally lost.

To demonstrate, here is a guitar part with a delay effect in stereo:

Download audio file (guitarstereo.mp3)

And here is the exact same part, heard now in mono:

Download audio file (guitarmono.mp3)

As you can hear, the delay effect has been completely destroyed on the second example. Would you be happy with the mono sonic representation? Obviously there will have to be a degree of compromise but this will naturally vary mix to mix, especially if the effect is essential to your “mix vision”.

The TT Dynamic Range Meter is a great free plugin which monitors the dynamic range of your master bus. In addition, it can process a mix in mono. Simply place the meter on your master bus and click the mono button. (You can download the TT Dynamic Range Meter for free at http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/downloadrequest).

Above all, it’s essential to make sure your mix translates throughout multiple scenarios so spend time making sure your mix works as best as possible in mono – you never know who could be listening!

The free TT Dynamic Range Meter is a great way to visually check the dynamic range of the mix and includes a handy mono button at the bottom.

Step 5: Check Your Imported Samples

Have you imported any samples into your project? Most DAWs can cope with audio files of multiple bit depths, as they will usually be converted during the import process. (If not, make sure they are!) However it’s useful to check the bit depths of your imported samples in advance. It is common practice to record and mix at 24bit but sometimes you may find you want to use samples at 16bit – however this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them.

It’s important to note that converting a 16bit sample to 24bit will not make the initial sample any better in quality, however it ensures that any processing or plugins you use on the 16bit sample are operating at 24bit, which will give a higher fidelity value to the sound, post-processing.

Above is an example of the Pro Tools “Import Audio” function. Here, a snare sample is at 16bit 44,100Hz whereas the project is operating at 24bit 48,000Hz. As a result, Pro Tools will convert the audio to match the project sample rate and apply all further processing to the snare sample at 24bit 48,000Hz.

Step 6: Don’t Get Caught Short!

Imagine this. You’ve secured your first major mix job with a major label. You’ve worked until the early hours for days on end polishing the mix. Eventually, it’s submitted, you’re paid, deadline achieved! Two weeks later you get a late night call from the label, “We need a new radio edit with a more upfront vocal. It needs to go to the radio plugger tomorrow.”

A good mix engineer is always aware a mix recall may need to happen – so make sure you’re not caught short and you’re well equipped to deal with the scenario. Print the audio of any plugins you’re thinking of uninstalling. Did you use any outboard gear? If so, get a print of it just in case. Perhaps take a picture of the settings. Upgrading your OS? Will your plugins still work?

Make sure you’ve got the means to cope with any recalls that need to happen. Generally though, once something is released you’ll not need to worry!

Step 7: Some Final Advice

Here are some quick tips that really can make all the difference:

Rest your ears! You will find that sleeping on a mix after a hard days work will often open your ears up and give you a fresh perspective. If possible, it’s always worth revisiting a mix the next day before you really do call it ‘finished’!
Check your export marker points! It seems obvious but it’s a common mistake. Don’t start the export the precise moment the song kicks in. Give the mastering engineer a few seconds to manoeuvre. The same applies to the ending. Unless it’s for creative reasons, make sure you export to the very end of your track – double check any overhanging effects!
Get to know your mastering engineer! It’s always great to get a working relationship going. Send them the song in advance and if possible, get their opinion on the mix. Any mastering engineer worth their salt will always hear your mix with the master in mind and may be able to point out where you could improve your mix in order to get the best out of the mastering session.

Conclusion

Reading this tutorial you’ll have noticed the emphasis placed on respecting the mastering process. It’s often overlooked in our ambition to make mixes sound as professional as possible from the offset.

If there is anything to take away from reading this tutorial it’s that you should always mix with the mastering engineer in mind. Remember, if you’re beginning to question any of the finishing touches you’re adding then you’re almost certainly in the mastering engineers territory. However, if you have a vision or direction for your mix then this must be incorporated at the mix stage; no matter how good a mastering engineer might be, he can’t fix your mix.

And as luck would have it, that’s our job!

So You Think You’ve Finished Mixing? A Guide to Preparing Your Mix for Mastering

Discover Pro Tools LE

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:00:15 +0000

We continue our series on Digital Audio Workstations, or DAWs, which allow musicians to record, edit and play back their music. This week we look at Digidesign’s Pro Tools.

This article was previously published on the AudioJungle blog, which has moved on to a new format in 2010. We’ll be bringing you an article from the AudioJungle archives each week.
If you’re thinking about getting into home recording, Pro Tools is worth considering as one of your alternatives. Besides having a long experience in audio software, and a large market share in the industry, Pro Tools is also available for both Windows and Mac OSX. It isn’t the cheapest option, costing from around $300USD (depending on which hardware options you choose), so if you’re on a tight budget, it may not be for you.

Pro Tools is actually a family of products ranging from software that suits the home hobbyist right up to full-scale commercial studios. Pro Tools LE is the product most suitable for home recording, and the one we will focus on in this article. Some of you may be using Pro Tools M-Powered, which is basically the same product adapted to M-Audio hardware.

History and Background

Pro Tools is made by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, a well-respected US company that create creative software, and particularly specialise in video and audio production. Avid Technology were created in 1987, and focused on pro video software. They acquired Digidesign in 1994 to add pro audio to their lineup.

Digidesign had got into digital recording software very early on, releasing Sound Tools for the Apple Mac in 1989. They called the program “the first tapeless recording studio”. In 1991 they released Pro Tools, an integrated software and hardware system. We will talk more about the hardware side of things soon.

This was a significantly better product and featured more voices, ProDECK and ProEDIT software, MIDI, and automation. Currently (twenty years later!) Pro Tools is at version 8.

Pro Tools Hardware

In last week’s article on DAWs we pointed out that a digital audio workstation is not just software, but also hardware. This is especially true of Pro Tools.

When you purchase Pro Tools, you are not buying just a software box. You buy hardware – an audio interface – that comes with the Pro Tools software. There are lots of hardware options, depending on your needs.

Hardware comes into the equation with Pro Tools in four main contexts:

HD Systems

Pro Tools HD is the high end program in Digidesign’s range, and relies very heavily on specialized digital sound processing hardware which takes the work away from the host computer and gives it to powerful chips on expansion PCI cards.

LE Systems

Pro Tools LE (the consumer product we are focusing on) relies on the host computer’s CPU to do all of the work, but requires the use of a specialized sound card for audio to digital conversion. Because Pro Tools LE does not work with a normal sound card, the Pro Tools audio interface also acts as a copy protection mechanism.

The cheaper range of interfaces are part of the Mbox 2 Family, and are external devices that connect to the host computer via USB2, though some models have Firewire options. The devices are quite portable, and there are four main models:

Mbox 2 Pro: a FireWire-powered audio/MIDI workstation that delivers high-definition sound, and 6×8 simultaneous channels of analog and digital I/O.

Mbox 2: a compact, USB-powered audio/MIDI workstation that provides 4×2 simultaneous channels of analog and digital I/O, high-quality sound, and zero-latency monitoring.

Mbox 2 Mini: a very compact, USB-powered audio workstation that delivers high-quality sound and 2×2 simultaneous channels of analog I/O.

Mbox 2 Micro: the most portable USB-powered system that provides editing, sequencing, and mixing, and a high-quality audio output (no audio inputs).

The Mbox 2 and Mbox 2 Pro also come with a large collection of professional-grade plug-ins. You can learn more about these devices on Digidesign’s Mbox 2 Family page.

The more professional range of interfaces are the 003 Family, and aim to attain the same quality as commercial studios. You can learn more about these devices on Digidesign’s 003 Family page.

M-Audio Products

Avid aquired M-Audio in 2004, and soon afterwards created Pro Tools M-Powered, which brought Pro Tools functionality to M-Audio audio interfaces. Compatible M-Audio products now include a copy of Pro Tools M-Powered.

Control Surfaces

Digidesign also create control surfaces to provide hands-on control of track volume, panning, plug-ins, playback, and other vital recording, mixing, and editing operations. The main options include an eight-fader control surface, and a large 24 channel mixing desk. Learn more from Digidesign’s Control Surfaces page.

Pro Tools 8 Features

The Pro Tools 8 Features page lists the main software features as follows:

A Well-Stocked Studio
Pro Tools 8 comes with over 70 virtual instruments, effects, and utility plug-ins, and over 8 GB of audio loops.

More Tracks Than Ever
Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered users now get three times more audio tracks (up to 48 simultaneous stereo or mono tracks) than previously to create larger, more complex mixes.

Score Your Music
The new Score Editor lets you view, edit, arrange, and print MIDI data as music notation, allowing you to compose music using the notation tools or transcribe MIDI data in real time.

Complete MIDI Sequencing and Production
The new MIDI Editor window includes a comprehensive array of new MIDI editing features, tools, and functionality that make it easier than ever to compose with virtual instruments and sound modules.

Stretch Your Pitch
Transpose a region to a different key or fix its pitch in real time with the new Elastic Pitch.

Comp Tracks to Perfection
With the new track compositing workflows, you can craft the perfect performance from multiple takes faster and easier.

Extended Hardware Control
Pro Tools 8 deepens its ICON console, control surface, and M-Audio peripheral integration, letting you map plug-ins directly to your controller and more.

User Comments

What do users of Pro Tools think of the product? Here are some comments by users and reviewers that I found around the Net. If you are a Pro Tools user, I’d love to hear from you in the comments too.

“For years, Digidesign have been doing almost exactly the opposite to most other companies in the music industry: namely, trying to turn an audio application into a sequencer. And while Pro Tools 7 and its point-one incremental successors finally got the company’s flagship product into a position where sequencing was a bit like cutting steak with a butter knife (you could do it, but it probably wouldn’t be much fun), Pro Tools 8 has a clear mission: to make Digidesign a serious contender in the music-creation market.” (Mark Wherry)

“I really like it so far, the included plugins are way more useful than older versions of PT. It is really really nice on the eyes too, very smooth looking. no problems so far!” (Brendan27)

“So, here’s my real opinion. Pro Tools 8 is amazing. It is a major leap forward for Digidesign, and a necessary jump to leapfrog Logic and DP, both in GUI looks and MIDI functionality. Literally, it looks a lot like Logic now (when you make the tracks dark grey) or like Digital Performer (when you make the tracks light grey). Gone are the familiar white background on the edit window and stale grey mix window. Say hello to color! Seriously, the interface looks much more modern, with 3D buttons and rounded corners. The Color Palette window gives you a lot of control over the intensity of the colors too… ranging anywhere from muted pastels to bright ‘bag of Skittles’ technicolor.” (David Franz)

“PT 8 has a spooky kind of dark halloween Logic rip off feel to it and I am not sure if I am liking the new look at all. PT 8 has got a beautiful new lick of paint but the selection of dark browns and greens just reminds me of logic 8… Here, like in Logic everything is crammed onto the page like an overproduced Timberland track. Taking a look at the positives it is very nice to see how much more power is now available to the PT user… I as an LE chap am very impressed with the higher track count. Secondly I can now run 10 plug ins simultaneously on my mono/stereo inserts should I need to be a fat greedy plug-in pig beast. The new midi editor is very sweet and allows midi manipulation to happen at a touch.” (Dav Nagle)

“Pro Tools is your choice, if you have the money and are allowed to spend it. Simply the most professional system you can get today, yet easy to learn and very straightforward to use.” (Music-Software-Reviews.com)

“In a nutshell Pro tools 8 is empowering and it’s more of a one stop shop than ever. Improved midi performance, state of the art design, a super plugin database, awesome virtual instruments. yep sold me. A definite thumbs up!” (Mike de Velta)

Discover Pro Tools LE

Workshop #82: The Challenge by Sigmund Dol

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:01 +0000

At Audiotuts+ we irregularly put up a reader track for workshopping and critique (find out how to submit a track). This is how it works: you upload your song, and every week or so we’ll publish one here and step away from the podium. The floor is yours to talk about the track and how the artist can fix problems in and improve upon the mix and the song.

This track has been submitted for your friendly, constructive criticism. They have put their track (and their heart and soul) in your hands to learn and get useful feedback.

Do you enjoy the song or track itself? Does it have potential?
Can the arrangement be improved?
How did you find the mix? What would you do differently?
What do you enjoy about the rhythm track? What can be done to improve it?
Is the choice of instruments relevant and effective for the style/song?
Are the lyrics (if any) effective? Does the style, arrangement and genre of the song suit them?
Can you suggest any specific techniques that might improve the track?
Do you have any other constructive feedback?

The Challenge by Sigmund Dol

Description of the track:

“The Challenge” is an short instrumental track, created to serve as a supporting background music for a film trailer. I would appreciate any comment on mixing, sound, general feeling. Thanks a lot.

Download audio file (TheChallenge.mp3)

Have a listen to the track and offer your constructive criticism for this Workshop in the comments section.

Submit Your Tracks for Workshopping

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them using this form.

Workshop #82: The Challenge by Sigmund Dol

How to Create Organic Ambient Instruments in Ableton Live

Mon, 24 May 2010 07:06:53 +0000

In this tutorial we are going to use Ableton Live’s “Sampler” and some of its built-in audio effects to produce wide, organic, ambient textures and pads, originating from a single one-note instrument sample. It’s a great way to create MIDI-playable ambient pads with a warm and evolving character, and most of all to be able to use our own original and custom ambient sounds, without having to scroll through hundreds of synth presets to find the right one, which usually leads to losing patience and inspiration.

Download audio file (ambpad1_fin.mp3)

This is what we’re going for in this tutorial.

Step 1: Choosing the Sample

The most suitable samples for this simple technique are probably mallet-type or plucked string-type instruments, such as piano, vibes, music box, glockenspiel, classical/acoustic guitar, etc. The tail of the sound will be our main source, but their fast attack will be quite useful in creating nice transitions and reversed-string sounds. During this tutorial we will be using a one note sample of a Guzheng (traditional Chinese instrument), but more examples have been included in the Ableton Live project available for download below.

Keep in mind that our sample needs to be on C3, or at least needs to be transposed suitably if the original tonality is different, since we’re going to be playing whole chords and melodies with the final Sampler instrument.

Download audio file (ambpad2_Guhzeng_one_note.mp3)

The original sample we chose, a sustained C3 note of a Guzheng instrument.

Step 2: Tweaking the Sample

Drag and drop the sample in the Sampler “Sample” section.

The sample is being dropped inside Sampler.

Enable the Reverse option, as well the Loop function on Sustain Mode. Edit the “Loop Start” and “Loop End” values suitably to avoid the silent parts of the sample, and focus on the tail of our sample. Remember, we have the Reverse function on, so the sample will start from where the Loop End value indicates. Increase the Crossfade value, to avoid clicks and pops while our sample loops. (It’s also needed for Step 5.).

Reversed and Looped sample.

Finally, let’s smoothen the attack a bit. Go over to “Filter/Global” and increase the Attack’s microseconds.

Smoothening the Attack.

It still doesn’t sound that interesting, but we’re getting closer.

Download audio file (ambpad3.mp3)

Step 3: Adding FX

As with most ambient sounds, we’ll obviously use some delay and reverb FX. Let’s begin by adding a PingPongDelay and a subtle Filter Delay. Try not to overdo it with the delays, or else your sound will probably end up a bit muddy.

PingPong Delay.

Notice the quite lowered values on the delayed signals.

What can also be handy is a GrainDelay, with heavy “Spray” and a +12.0 “Pitch” Value, keeping the Dry/Wet signal low though. You’ll notice some higher frequencies being added on top of our sound, making it more spacy.

Grain Delay.

A compressor is quite needed to even out the levels, especially after completing Step 5.

Compressor.

Last, but not least, the most obvious and probably most significant effect for this sound, a reverb with high Decay Time, and 60% Dry/Wet signal.

Reverb.

Download audio file (ambpad4.mp3)

Our sample, after the above effects have been applied.

Step 4: Return Channels

If we want more depth and ambience to our sound, we could use a return channel with some additional Reverb, 100% Wet, and a Utility plug-in to widen the sound a little.

Increase the “A Send” knob all the way. You can try more FX of course, multiple return channels, etc.

Step 5: Controlling Parameters Via MIDI

Different volume, panning, and sample offset values can keep a sound quite more interesting. What’s really handy in our situation is controlling the fast attacking “string” sound of the sample via modwheel or velocity. Live’s Sampler gives us that option. Click on the “MIDI” tab, and notice the several parameters that can be changed via different levels of velocity, mod wheel, pitch bend, and more. This makes our sound more alive, and more suitable to be played with a MIDI keyboard. In the following preview, to make the effect more obvious, the modwheel is being triggered during the second note.

Download audio file (ambpad5.mp3)

Even if you don’t have a keyboard and mod-wheel, you can just draw the automation in the MIDI clip.

Step 6: Controlling Parameters with Macro Controls

We can further control elements of the sound, such as space (reverb, delay) via Macro Controls. I grouped everything on the track together as an instrument rack (Shift-Click all the racks on the channel, then Ctrl-G), and connected some MapControls to the reverb’s Decay Time, the GrainDelay’s Frequency value and the Dry/Wet signal value.

You can map as many knobs you like to one Macro.

Another way to do that.

My final very simple Macro set-up.

Step 7: Trying Out More Samples

Here’s the same technique applied to different instruments’ one-note samples.

Download audio file (ambpad6_piano.mp3)

Piano.

Download audio file (ambpad6_vibes.mp3)

Vibes.

Download audio file (ambpad6_marimba.mp3)

Marimba.

Download audio file (ambpad6_mbox.mp3)

MusicBox.

Download audio file (ambpad6_acGuitar.mp3)

Acoustic Guitar.

We can also experiment with stacking up different sampler-instruments we’ve made. For example, here’s an instance of some of the above sounds put together in a new instrument rack. Later we can map different Macro Controls again. Our options are truly limitless.

Download audio file (ambpad7.mp3)

Instrument Rack.

And here’s an example of those sounds used in the intro of a track.

Download audio file (ambpad8_snip.mp3)

Conclusion

So there you have it. A quite simple but entertaining technique. Keep experimenting with more one-note samples and have some fun with it! All the non-Ableton folks out there could try this out with Kontakt or EXS24 of course. For any questions or suggestions/requests, don’t be afraid to drop a line in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

Download the Play Pack for this tutorial (2.3 MB)

Contents

Ableton Live Source Files

How to Create Organic Ambient Instruments in Ableton Live

Quick Tips: 3 Mixing Tips

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:16:16 +0000

Here are some of the best things I’ve learnt since I started mixing.

Tip 1: Rest Your Ears

If you’re mixing for a long amount of time you may be thinking your mix is going well when in reality it’s not. This can be a problem for people who refuse to stop until they are 100% happy with their results. I do this sometimes myself.

But your ears will eventually begin to get tired and you start hearing things that aren’t really there. That awesome guitar you’ve spent hours mixing will end up sound like crap the next morning when you listen back to it.

Your ears can neglect certain frequencies when your ears get tired and you pay too much attention to specific frequency ranges you lose sight of the bigger picture.

Tip 2: Mix At Lower Levels

This is very important. I think most of us know that loud music always sounds better because it allows the frequencies to spread out more.

Our ears are most sensitive to mid frequencies, but by playing music louder it evens everything out making high and low frequencies stand out more.

This is why loud music is more appealing. Why do you think venues play music so loud? It’s not always so everyone can hear. They sometimes keep the master volume down 5 dB until the last song then put it up, so the last song sounds better making the audience leave with a more positive opinion on the show.

So which is the best level to mix? You should usually check your mix in different levels to make sure it sounds fairly level-proof. A multi-band compressor on the master track can also help compensate for this. Usually mix at about conversation level – if you mix sounds well at a quiet level it should sound amazing at a high level.

Tip 3: Mono Listening

Checking a mix in mono is very important to make sure everything is sounding balanced. You may notice holes in a mono mix that you might not hear in stereo.

This may seem pointless as most things are now stereo but a lot of places still use mono. AM radio stations broadcast in mono. Cheap TV’s with 1 speaker and so on.

If you hear very little difference between switching from stereo and mono you might want to consider more panning.

Quick Tips: 3 Mixing Tips

…

All the Music Apps for Google’s Android You Could Need

Sun, 23 May 2010 08:00:45 +0000

The HTC Dream Android phone (elsewhere known as the G1) arrived in Australia recently, and I’ve had mine for about a month now. I have been an enthusiastic user of palmtops, organizers, PDAs and smartphones since the late 80s, and this one is very nice, though the battery could last a little longer, and it sometimes feels more sluggish than it should.

This article was previously published on the AudioJungle blog, which has moved on to a new format in 2010. We’ll be bringing you an article from the AudioJungle archives each week.

The iPhone broke exciting new ground in the smartphone space, and Android – an operating system developed by Google – follows strongly in that tradition. At this stage, in terms of both hardware and software, the iPhone unquestionably comes out on top. But it is Android’s philosophy of openness that interests me most, and could open up very interesting possibilities in the future.

Some time ago Joel Falconer reviewed six applications for musicians on the iPhone. How does Android compare as a gadget for musicians?

Media Players

For me, the best use of a device this size for a musician is as a media player. And this area clearly demonstrates the difference between the iPhone and Android philosophies.

The iPhone comes with iTunes preinstalled, and will not allow any other media player to be released for the iPhone. Android comes with a music player called “Music”, but quite a few alternatives are available in the Android Market.

iPhone fans may ask whether any of the alternatives are as good as iTunes. At this stage I think they make a good point. Apple really are at the top of the music game.

Music is Android’s native media player. It plays audio, but not video. You can select your music by artist, album, song or playlist, or just shuffle through your entire collection. As you would expect from Google, the search feature is fast, and quite good.

Once you are viewing a list of music, you can scroll through it by sliding your finger, similar to the iPhone. While listening to a song, you can set it as your phone’s ringtone from a simple menu entry. The player supports album art, but only if it’s inside the MP3s id3 tag.

I understand that in the United States that Music includes access to Amazon’s music store, but there is no sign of that on the Australian phone. If you’ve used it, please let us know how smooth and useful the experience was.

Scrobble Droid. I’m a big fan of the Last.fm social music site, and especially of “scrobbling” my music – having my media players automatically add the music I’m listening to to Last.fm’s database. Scrobble Droid adds that functionality to my Dream, but only when I play music through the preinstalled Music app. Another app, aLastFM Player gives me direct access to streaming music from Last.fm from my Android device, including radio stations for artists, friends and recommended songs, and my playlists.

TuneWiki is an alternative media player that displays the songs lyrics while it is playing. Within a few seconds, song lyrics and album art are automatically downloaded from the TuneWiki’s database in real time, and in most cases, the lyrics sync with the song, making it easy to sing along. Users can add lyrics to the database if the words to your favorite song are missing.

TuneWiki isn’t just a novelty program. Most of the features you need in a media player are present, and it could easily become my music player of choice.

Hang on a minute, I haven’t noticed this before. It looks like TuneWiki may be becoming ad-supported. Under the lyrics of the song I’m listening to was an ad in all caps letting me know I can “GET BABES NOW”. Now it’s advertising ring tones, and now it isn’t. Now it’s asking if I “Want2 flirt”. The ads seem to come and go, but they give me second thoughts about using this app too regularly.

Dog Catcher (Beta) is an excellent pod catcher for Android. I’m a fan of podcasts, and probably spend more time in this program than any other.

I love that I can set it only to download podcasts when the device is plugged in to power (to save battery life) and connected to wireless (to save money on data costs). The program keeps track of where I am up to with each podcast, so that if I stop listening to one podcast to listen to another, it continues on from where I was up to when I return.

Other useful media apps are the preinstalled YouTube app, vTap, which searches several video providers on the Web, LukLuk, which can play audio and video files either from your microSD card or their own online network, and Video Player, which does basically what it says.

Useful for both Android and iPhone is the Shazam music discovery engine, which can identify a song when it hears it, and tell you where you can hear or purchase the song online. MixZing is a different type of music discovery solution. It’s a full-featured MP3 player, and recommends songs from its database as you are listening to your music. It sounds similar to the service provided by Last.fm, though I assume Last.fm’s recommendations are more accurate due to its larger user base.

Audio Recording

I can’t imagine recording anything serious on my HTC Dream, but it is a useful device for listening back to a practice session, or capturing lyrics and arrangement ideas when I don’t have time to jot them down. Here are some useful recording apps for Android.

DroidRecord is about as simple as it gets. Run the app, and you have a list of previous recordings, and two big buttons: a red one labeled “Record”, and a green one labeled “Play”.

Livo Recorder describes itself as “a recorder or a Tivo-style ‘monitor’ to keep an audio history that is ready to capture or extend any time.” Unfortunately the demo had expired long before I started writing this article, and I only seem to be able to access the free apps in the Google Market at this time.

Rehearsal Assistant allows you to record your rehearsal, and then record your spoken thoughts and observations about it later. You can stop and start recording many times through the session. Once finished, you can email the session to others.

Note Everything is a handy notebook program. You can create three types of notes: text, paint and voice. Voice notes come with record, play and stop buttons.

Music Tools

Musical Lite contains a metronome, pitch pipe, scrolling three-octave piano, and two-octave full-screen keyboard. The quality of the app seems very high, although playback on the keyboards feels a little laggy (probably the fault of the device, not the app), and you can play only one note at a time. The full version of the app adds a tuner, 128 instrument sounds, and more. Unfortunately I am unable to test it at this time.

Guitar Chordz is a handy guitar chord program, and contains diagrams for major, minor, seventh, and major seventh chords. The “More shapes” button is useful, and shows alternate ways of playing the chord as you move up the neck.

The chord charts are color-coded, with the colors representing which finger to use. When you tap the chord diagram, the chord is played for you. The program also contains a simple guitar tuner, playing the tone for each note in standard guitar tuning.

RockOut is the most fun Android app to play music with. The application contains two guitars (one mellow and one distorted). You strum the strings with your finger, and hear a realistic guitar sound played. The screen is divided into three sections, one for each available chord. The app feels very responsive, and each chord is sampled twice so that you can play upstrokes and downstrokes. The pro app promises a lot more features, but I’m unable to try it at this time.

Hit It! Lite lets you play the drums on your Android device either by tapping the little pads for each drum (including kick, snares, toms and cymbals), or by shaking the device. The app is fun, but the timing is not particularly accurate, perhaps because the Dream needs a beefier processor.

HS Tempo and Tube Tempo BPM both measure tempo in beats per minute as you tap the Android device’s screen.

And that brings us to the review of the music apps available for Google Android devices. In summary, the third party application market for Android is still quite young and immature, and there is no doubt that these apps will improve, and more are on their way. But at this stage, the iPhone’s couterparts offer better value . . . assuming you own an iPhone!

All the Music Apps for Google’s Android You Could Need

Quick Tip: How to Use Cubase’s Quick Controls to Access Massive

Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:40 +0000

Massive comes with a host of parameters that you can control in real time with a MIDI controller or using an automation track within your DAW.

In this tutorial you will learn how to use Cubase’s Quick Controls to assign Massive parameters to your MIDI controller in an uncomplicated way. The advantage of learning to use the Quick Controls for automation is that you can also use them to control the parameters of any other plugin in Cubase.

Step 1

Open a new Cubase project, add an instrument track and load Massive onto it. Then choose a sound preset. For this demonstration we will use the Massive factory preset “Bad Brum”.

Step 2

Now we are going to set up the Quick Controls. Go to Devices>Device Setup under the main menu. Under the section “Remote Devices”, you can set up the Quick Controls.

We are going to assign an external MIDI controller fader to Quick Control 1. First move the fader on your external MIDI controller. Then select Quick Control 1 (the first line). Then click on the “Learn” button on the right hand side.

Now repeat the same process with a different MIDI controller fader for line 2 (Quick Control 2). Notice that Cubase automatically detects the MIDI Address of your faders. After doing this, click on “OK” and close the menu.

Step 3

Using your MIDI keyboard or Cubase’s key editor, record some musical MIDI data on the Massive track. The example is a simple slow phrase that we can use to showcase the changing parameters.

Download audio file (1.mp3)

Original phrase without automation.

Step 4

Go to your the track inspector for your Massive track and open the Quick Controls tab. If you click on one of the lines under this tab, a menu with a number of submenus appears. Under a submenu for Massive, you will see a long list of parameters to choose from.

Click on “FILTER1_CUT/PRM” for Quick Control 1 and “FILTER1_RES/PRM” for Quick Control 2. This will allow you to control the cut and resonance parameters of the first filter in Massive.

Step 5

Click W on the Quick Control tab to enable recording MIDI controller data. Then, using the two MIDI controller faders that you assigned to Quick Controls 1 and 2, record some automation for the phrase we’ve already got.

To play this data back, click R on the Quick Controls tab to enable reading during playback.

Download audio file (2.mp3)

Phrase with automated cut and resonance parameters.

That’s it! As we have seen, this way of using MIDI controller automation in Cubase is very convenient.

It enables you to quickly modify plugin parameters inside the DAW using your external MIDI controller, without having to learn to use each plugin’s different interface.

Quick Tip: How to Use Cubase’s Quick Controls to Access Massive

Formant Filtering with Fruity Love Philter

Thu, 13 May 2010 08:00:50 +0000

Formant filtering is a process that replicates the vowel sounds produced by the human voice. As a tremendous part of our speech, these vowel sounds are instantly recognizable and can sound quite eery and interesting when a sound other than the human voice produces them. Formants will sound neat with almost any source material, but are especially fun with growling basslines like those found in a lot of dubstep or drum and bass. The Fruity Love Philter boasts eight independent filters with an impressive array of modulation possibilities and can be put to use in series or in parallel. This makes it ideal for easily making morphing, evolving vowel sounds.

Download audio file (track snippet.mp3)

Step 1

Select an empty mixer channel and put a Fruity Love Philter into the first FX slot. It will load with a phasing low pass filter with a pattern controlling the cutoff frequency, but we want to start from scratch. From the top left dropdown arrow, mouse over the Presets menu and select the Default preset, at the top of the list.

Step 2

Route something with a lot of harmonic content into the mixer channel. We’ll be setting up three relatively thin parallel bandpass filters, and the effect won’t be very audible with a pure tone like a sine or triangle wave. detuned saw waves from a 3xOsc will work very nice.

Step 3

The Fruity Love Philter will use any notes played on a MIDI keyboard while it’s selected to change its patterns, so make a new pattern and program a little melody or single note in. This way, we’ll be able to hear the effect while we’re tweaking it.

Download audio file (3.mp3)

Step 4

Select the first filter and set the filter type to a bandpass filter by right clicking the box beneath the filter label and selecting Vanilla band pass. Set the cutoff frequency relatively low, somewhere near the fundamental frequency of the sound. In the end, we’ll be tweaking the cutoff of each filter to shape the sound, so don’t get too caught up getting it perfect.

Download audio file (4.mp3)

Step 5

Since the first filter will likely be handling the fundamental, it should be a little wider than the rest of the filters. The resonance knob controls how wide the band will be, around 25% should be good.

Download audio file (5.mp3)

Step 6

Select the second filter and enable it by clicking the On button on the left. Make it a bandpass filter and set the cutoff frequency a little higher than the first and the width narrower. If you move the cutoff frequency knob around a bit, you’ll begin to hear the vowel effect. When you’re done making “WooghhAuuughh” sounds, move on to the next filter.

Download audio file (6.mp3)

Step 7

Again, set the third filter to a narrow bandpass type with a frequency higher than the second. The relationship between the three frequency determines what kind of vowel sound is made and you can find charts of formant frequencies for various vowels on the internet, but experimenting will yeild a nice sound almost every time.

Download audio file (7.mp3)

Step 8

By now, it should sound like vowel, but a static vowel sound isn’t nearly as interesting as a morphing one. Go back to the first filter and click the Cut editor target box. Click the LFO box beneath and turn the LFO on by clicking the little circle next to the speed knob in the bottom right. Turn down the Env knob so that the LFO affects the cutoff frequency less and set the LFO’s speed to be pretty slow. Keep in mind that the LFO resets when the pattern mode loops, so you might need to make a longer pattern or put it in the playlist to hear the whole thing.Turn the cutoff frequency a little higher, if it needs it.

Download audio file (8.mp3)

Step 9

An LFO on the second filter’s cutoff frequency might be fun, but a pattern would be even more interesting. In the second filter, enable the pattern controlling the cutoff in the same way as the LFO in the previous step, and zoom out with the mousewheel.

Step 10

To make editing the pattern a little easier, enable the Snap button in the bottom right. Right-click to add points to the pattern and make a nice ryhthmic pattern two bars long. Adjust the Env knob so the pattern doesn’t move the cutoff frequency around too much. Right click the last point at the end of the second bar and select Sustain loop end. Right click the first point and select Sustain loop start, this way the pattern will loop over and over.

Download audio file (10.mp3)

Step 11

Click the menu button to the right of the Freeze button and click Copy state. We’ll be using the same pattern with the third filter, but edit it a bit to add some variation. Select the third filter and click Paste state from the same menu. Move some of the points around a bit and decrease the Env amount.

Download audio file (11.mp3)

Step 12

Add a bit of warble to the third filter’s cutoff frequency by enabling it’s LFO and setting the speed pretty fast. The LFO amount can follow a pattern as well, right click to add points and vary the amount within two bars. Right click the end and beginning points and set the loop points up, just like with the pattern. If the LFO is too extreme, adjust the points within the LFO pattern, as the Env control is already keeping the cutoff pattern in check.

Download audio file (12.mp3)

Step 13

Adjust each filter’s cutoff frequency, width and envelope amount until they sound good together. Add some distortion to really make it growl.

Download audio file (13.mp3)

Formant Filtering with Fruity Love Philter

New Tuts+ Site ‘Mobiletuts+’ Launched

Thu, 13 May 2010 07:42:25 +0000

We’ve been burning the midnight oil at Tuts+ HQ to bring you Mobiletuts+, the youngest member of the Tuts+ family. It’s all about quality tutorials for mobile developers – all mobile developers, regardless of preferred platform. Topics will include native development with the iPhone, Android, Windows and Blackberry platforms, cross-platform development with tools like Titanium and Phone Gap, and techniques for building mobile web apps and mobile accessible web sites with HTML 5. Visit Mobiletuts+ or read more after the jump.

Whether you want to create the next killer app or become a pioneer of the mobile frontier, we’ve got you covered! In addition to publishing top quality tutorials, articles, and Quick Tips, Mobiletuts+ will be the first Tuts+ site to offer regular multi-media updates on the hottest mobile industry news. We will also be publishing interviews with successful mobile developers to provide you with the most effective real-world development techniques and strategies.

“But I’ve never done mobile development before!”

No problem! Mobiletuts+ will grow with its users. Initially we’ll be publishing lots of content on the fundamentals, like our first tutorial: An Introduction to iPhone SDK Development. We’ll be hitting all the major mobile development platforms with our introductory content, then moving on to the more advanced stuff. If you’re a veteran mobile developer, stick with us! The advanced goodness is almost ready to rumble.

Meet the Editor, Mark Hammonds

Like all our Tuts+ sites, Mobiletuts+ is helmed by an expert. Mark Hammonds is a software engineer, author, and entrepreneur living in the D.C. / Baltimore area.

In addition to his work with OmniTI, where he develops high-performance web sites and mobile applications, he is also the co-founder and CTO of Somba Mobile and was among the first developers to publish applications in the iTunes App Store.

Contribute!

If you think you have the skills to create screencasts, written tutorials, articles or Quick Tips for Mobiletuts+ it’s easy to familiarize yourself with the guidelines and become a tutorial author. We’re hungry for user contributions and pay a negotiated USD rate for each tutorial, article or Quick Tip we publish. Submit your concept today!

New Tuts+ Site ‘Mobiletuts+’ Launched

29 Music-making Apps for Linux

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:56:23 +0000

Last week we looked at why Linux deserves some consideration when choosing an operating system for your digital recording studio. But even the worthiest operating system is useless without useable apps.

Fortunately, there is a long list of excellent music applications available for Linux. If you choose one of the Linux distributions recommended last week, many of them come preinstalled.

This article was previously published on the AudioJungle blog, which has moved on to a new format in 2010. We’ll be bringing you an article from the AudioJungle archives each week.

We’ll leave out the programs not directly about making music – programs like guitar tuners, streaming systems, notation software and guitar tab apps – but we will look at some of the plug-ins and effects systems that are available. And we’ll leave out the applications that have better alternatives. My original list had over 50 programs.

Most of the programs are available free of charge, and in general are of higher quality than many free audio apps for Windows. So without further ado, here are 29 music making applications for Linux.

1. Ardour

Ardour is “the new digital audio workstation”. It aims to be a professional DAW, and offers features like “multichannel recording, non-destructive editing with unlimited undo/redo, full automation support, a powerful mixer, unlimited tracks/busses/plugins, timecode synchronization, and hardware control from surfaces like the Mackie Control Universal.”

2. Jokosher

Jokosher is a simpler multi-track recorder, designed for guitarists, not engineers. It “provides a complete application for recording, editing, mixing and exporting audio, and has been specifically designed with usability in mind.” It’s perfect for musicians who want to record their music without spending all of their time learning how the program works.

3. Sweep

Sweep is an audio editor and live playback tool. It aims to be easy to use, support many codecs and audio formats, and support LADSPA effects plug-ins (see below).

4. ReZound

ReZound is a stable, graphical audio editor.

5. Traverso DAW

Traverso DAW is a multitrack recording suite that is cross-platform. Besides Linux, it also works on Windows and Mac OS X. It claims to have a unique interface, a unique approach, and cover all tasks from recording to mastering.

6. Amuc (The Amsterdam Music Composer)

Amuc is an application for composing and playing music. You enter tune fragments graphically, or import from MIDI files. The program includes 5 different built-in instruments, 6 mono synthesizers, and sampled instruments.

7. LMMS (Linux Multimedia Studio)

Similar to FL Studio, LMMS allows you to produce music with your computer. Features include “the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. You can have fun with your MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface.”

8. Audacity

Audacity is a well-known and much-loved cross-platform sound editor.

9. Rosegarden

Rosegarden is an easy-to-learn audio and MIDI sequencer, score editor, and general-purpose music composition and editing environment.

10. MusE

MusE is a MIDI/Audio sequencer with recording and editing capabilities. It aims to be a complete multitrack virtual studio with support for MIDI and audio sequencing with real-time effects.

11. Qtractor

Qtractor is an Audio/MIDI multi-track sequencer application aiming evolve as a fairly-featured Linux desktop audio workstation GUI, specially dedicated to the personal home-studio.

12. Seq24

Seq24 is a minimal loop based midi sequencer. It was created to provide a very simple interface for editing and playing midi ‘loops’, and excludes the bloated features of the large software sequencers, and includes a small subset of features that I have found usable in performing.

13. Renoise

Renoise has a unique bottom-up approach to music making. With its vertical timeline and streamlined interface, Renoise lets you have direct control over the composition. Features include automatic plug-in delay compensation, high resolution timing, fast interface, cross-platform (Linux, Mac OSX and Windows), plug-in support, and low-latency audio.

14. TiMidity++

TiMidity++ is a software synthesizer, playing MIDI files by converting them into PCM waveform data. It can also convert MIDI files into various audio formats.

15. amSynth

amSynth stands for Analogue Modeling SYNTHesizer. It provides virtual analogue synthesis in the style of the classic Moog Minimoog/Roland Junos. It offers an easy-to-use interface and synth engine, while still creating varied sounds.

16. Bristol Audio Synthesiser

Bristol Audio Synthesiser is an emulator for diverse keyboard instruments. Currently about 20 are implemented: various Moog, Sequencial Circuits, Oberheim, Yamaha, Roland, Hammond, Korg, ARP, and Vox algorithms. The application consists of an audio engine and an associated graphical user interface called Brighton which acts as a dedicated master keyboard for each emulation.

17. TerminatorX

terminatorX is a real-time audio synthesizer that allows you to “scratch” on digitally sampled audio data the way hip-hop DJs scratch on vinyl records. It features multiple turntables, real-time effects (built-in as well as LADSPA plugin effects), and a sequencer and MIDI interface.

18. Qsynth

Qsynth is a GUI front-end for FluidSynth. FluidSynth is a software synthesiser based on the Soundfont specification.

19. ZynAddSubFX

ZynAddSubFX is a open source software synthesizer capable of making a countless number of instruments.

20. LAoE (Layer Based Audio Editor)

LAoE stands for Layer-based Audio Editor, and it is a rich featured graphical audio sample-editor, based on multi-layers, floating-point samples, volume-masks, variable selection-intensity, and many plugins suitable to manipulate sound, such as filtering, retouching, resampling, graphical spectrogram editing by brushes and rectangles, sample-curve editing by freehand-pen and spline and other interpolation curves, effects like reverb, echo, compress, expand, pitch-shift, time-stretch, and much more.

21. LinuxSampler

The LinuxSampler project was founded with the goal to produce a free, streaming capable open source pure software audio sampler with professional grade features, comparable to both hardware and commercial Windows/Mac software samplers and to introduce new features not yet available by any other sampler in the world. It is very modular, and usually runs as its own process in the background of the computer.

22. SooperLooper

SooperLooper is a live looping sampler capable of immediate loop recording, overdubbing, multiplying, reversing and more. It allows for multiple simultaneous multi-channel loops limited only by your computer’s available memory. SooperLooper is also available for Mac OS X.

23. Cheese Tracker

CheeseTracker is a software sampler and step-based sequencer. It allows a musician to turn single-note samples into instruments capable of covering three or four octaves (by playing the samples at different speeds, resulting in different pitches). In addition, it is possible to take a collection of samples that are recorded at different octaves, and combine them into a single “instrument,” allowing for even more octaves without sampling artifacts.

24. Hydrogen

Hydrogen is an advanced drum machine for GNU/Linux. It’s main goal is to bring professional yet simple and intuitive pattern-based drum programming.

25. Breakage

Breakage is an intelligent drum machine designed to make it easy and fun to play complex, live breakbeat performances. A step-sequencer pattern editor and previewer, database, sample browser, neural network, pattern morphs, statistics and probabilistic pattern generator give you the tools to work with breaks. Breakage is also available for Mac OS X and Windows.

26. JAMin

JAMin is the JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK) Audio Mastering interface. JAMin is an open source application designed to perform professional audio mastering of stereo input streams. It uses LADSPA (see below) for digital signal processing (DSP). It features linear filters, 30 band graphic EQ, 1023 band hand drawn EQ with parametric controls, spectrum analyser, 3 band peak compressor, multiband stereo processing, and a loudness maximiser.

27. LADSPA effects and plug-ins

LADSPA is the Linux Audio Developer’s Simple Plugin API. It is a standard that allows software audio processors and effects to be plugged into a wide range of audio synthesis and recording packages.

Steve Harris lists quite a few LADSPA plug-ins on his website.

28. DSSI

DSSI (pronounced “dizzy”) is an API for audio processing plugins, particularly useful for software synthesis plugins with user interfaces. DSSI is an open and well-documented specification developed for use in Linux audio applications, although portable to other platforms. It may be thought of as LADSPA-for-instruments, or something comparable to VSTi.

29. LV2 Audio Plugin Standard

LV2 is a standard for plugins and matching host applications, mainly targeted at audio processing and generation. It is a successor of LADSPA, intended to address the limitations of LADSPA which many applications have outgrown.

This article was first published over a year ago on the AudioJungle blog. Has anything changed in Linux audio since then? Let us know in the comments.

29 Music-making Apps for Linux