Velcro City Records

1. Route your synthesizer to a channel strip on your mixer, we’ll call that “Bassline, Strip 1”
2. Route “Bassline, Strip 1” to two additional strip, and take it off of the master (so that it’s not routing to the master at all, but rather, the two new strips). We’ll call these two new strips “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”
3. Add an EQ to both strips, “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”
   1. The EQ on “Bassline – L” should be set to roll off (or cut) ALL frequencies above 150hz
      1. Decrease the stereo width to almost mono
      2. Set a limiter on with the threshold set to the lowest peak registering in the signal’s output
      3. (Optional) Add an overdrive plug-in to add a bit of warmth to the upper end of the 19 to 150hz, about 100 to 150
   2. The EQ on “Bassline – H” should be set to roll off (or cut) ALL frequencies below 150hz
      1. Increase the stereo width so that the sound ride between your widest high hats.
      2. Add a compressor to the channel set as follow
         1. Attack: 10ms
         2. Release: 150 to 200ms
         3. Ratio: 2:1
         4. Threshold: set the threshold to equal the lowest point of the signal’s output
         5. Post Gain: take notice of the actual number of db’s being affected by the setting, if for example the compressor is reading 6db, turn the post gain up 3db, that will bring the output level back up to what it was before the compressor was put in place (hence the 2:1 ratio setting, for every 2 db’s affected by the threshold the volume reduced by 1db)
      3. Add a limiter after the compressor in the chain (this is called serial compression), set the threshold and ceiling equal to one-another. The actual setting should be on the upper end of the average output of the signal. For example, after the compressor has done its thing, and your output is on average -3db, with the occasional peak greater than -3db, and the occasional dip below -3db, then set the threshold and the out ceiling to -3db. You’re basically just grabbing hold of the peaks.
      4. Add a little bit of reverb (to your liking o course), and a little bit of distortion (again to your liking, but keep in mind if you’ve opted to add over drive to the “bassline – L” strip, you may want to pay attention to the frequency range the distortion is actually distorting (too much in one range is bad)
4. Route both “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H” to a new mixer channel, call it “Bass Bus” (Make sure they are no longer routing out through the master, only the “Bass Bus” strip.
   1. Add a compressor to the channel set identically to the compressor on “Bassline – H”. The only difference is that you’ll have to adjust the threshold and post gain to compensate for the fact that there are actually two signals coming into the compressor (“Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”
   2. Add a limiter to the channel set identically to the limiter on “Bassline – H”, again you’ll have to adjust the threshold and ceiling to match the fact that there are two signals feeding the strip.

The end result is as follows.

1. You now have a far better control, via the volume of the individual channel strip volumes of both “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”. I recommend turn “Bassline – L” off while you set the volume of “Bassline – H” in your mix. Once you’ve got “Bassline – H” set in the mix to your liking, slowly increase the volume of “Bassline – L” to best fill out the low end in your mix. Then adjust the compressor and limiter on the “Bass Bus” strip to fit your levels
2. Because the low end frequencies of “Bassline – L” are set to match the width of your kick, you’ll gain much more control over your low end in the overall mix. AS well, because you’ve got the high end frequencies of separated from the low end, you’ll be able to place them in the overall mix much more effectively, to fill out the stereo spectrum as efficiently as possible. All of the effects placed on the two strips will carry the harmonics of the bassline from “center” to the extent of your stereo width.

If needs be, you can also side chain the “Bassline – L” strip around your kick to free up even more overhead, but careful with the amount of side chaining you use, you don’t want the warmth to disappear and reappear in the mix as a whole.

If needs be, you can also side chain the “Bassline – L” strip around your kick to free up even more overhead, but careful with the amount of side chaining you use, you don’t want the warmth to disappear and reappear in the mix as a whole.

John Mundt aka DJ Hero
Velcro City Records Chief Engineer

DJ Hero’s Guide to Starting and Finishing an Original Track

Have an idea.

It’s extremely important to have an idea when you sit down to write music. It doesn’t have to be some grand thought, but a simple melody, a groove, or a bassline pattern in your head is the best way I have found to get you started. That being said, when these ideas come to you, write them down, hum a bar into a recording device, collect any samples into a folder. Do something to keep that idea workable, because it’s amazing how quickly they will drift off.

Always make sure to keep in mind the genre of your idea as well. Think about is going to work best for you. We all have had some brilliant ideas for various tunes, sounds, and genres, but when it comes down to it, we have to be selfish. We have to ask ourselves “what is going to best serve me?” If you feel you’re best served by sticking to a genre, most likely the one you DJ (if you’re a DJ), then learn and apply every technique you can find that involves that genre. Explore how that genre works for you, and make those principles serve you. If you feel that you’re best served by writing everything based on a feeling, then explore those feelings, not the genres themselves. On the flip side, keep in mind the target audience you intend your music for.  Producing a wide range of sounds may discourage sales to a degree, as people will over look your name in the stores because they don’t know what to expect. Or if you focus too closely on one sound, you may find that your production may grow stale.

I like to encourage listening to and using as many genres as possible to pull ideas from, then applying those ideas to the genre you want to be your focus. Case in point, fidget house. Those basslines came from other genres, namely drum and bass, and breaks. Some clever individual applied the idea to a house beat and a whole new beast was created. 

Always explore, but never lose sight of your goal.

Lay out a structure.

The easiest way to slow down your production is to wander along with your idea. I have found over the years that the best way to stay on track is to create the structure immediately. Use a generic and very simple percussion bed to show where you want your intro beats, your break downs, your transitions, and your bridges to be. Once you see what you’ve got to work with you’ll be able to define how your ideas are going to work in the song you’ve set out to produce.

 A simple kick drum, snare, and high hat bed is the best way to sketch your structure. Put markers in the project and label them accordingly to give you visual cues as to what is happening at any given point in the song. Typically I start with the first marker labeled “start”, the next “intro”, “break 1”, “bassline 1”, “lead 1”, etc. Use terms that are going to mean something to you, but do your best to stick with industry terms incase other people’s eyes have to navigate through the project as well.

 The second aspect of your song’s structure is how it’s going to mix with other tunes. Your song is going to be mixed by some other DJ, so keep your structure fitting to the genre that DJ is playing. Each genre has a pretty general layout. The best way to learn about it is to take a few inspiration songs into your sequencer, and lay it out just as you have laid yours out. Place markers where the elements change just as you have done with your track (or are going to do). By doing so you’ll start to see how your music is going to mix with other people’s music. The structure is an extremely important aspect of a tune. It can keep a song sounding fresh or cause it to get old quickly. It can create the necessary anxiety that gets the dance floor hyped up, or it can instruct people to go find another room, or go to the bar. As a DJ, we become familiar with how a song flow by hearing it, as producers we have to change that process and get familiar with how a song flows by looking at it first.

Because there are no ideas in the song’s file when we begin, the slate is blank, and filling in the sketch first will give us the ability to hear the ideas flow more easily.

Stick to the genre.

 When you’re roughing out your music you have to stick to the design. If you’re going to make electro house, it is extremely important to build a library of percussion, instruments, and various sounds that are relevant to the genre. Hard house kick drums don’t work with tech house. Trance leads don’t fit in house. Aggressive doesn’t fit with melodic, etc. Go through the music you’ve purchased for your own mixing and pick out the drums you like, the sounds you like, and the various other elements you like, then write them down. Copy the specific files to a folder, for ease of access. When you’ve got the ability, go through those songs and sample them. Pull the sounds you like. Having clips of other people’s ideas will help you figure out how to be more “genre conscious.” Making use of percussion from those songs will give you a tremendous head start on your project.

Build upon the basics.

 Always start simple, a simple structure, a simple loop, a simple lead, etc. Once your ideas start to come together, build upon that simplicity. Once you’ve gotten your bassline in place, you’ll be able to hear how your percussion can be added to so you can really get the movement and full sound a well produced tune has. Once you’ve got melodies and various other layers, like your bassline in the mix, then you can enhance the simple structure, but intelligently placing the sounds in the song. From there you’ll be able to create effective fills to signify changes, build excitement, and add to the over all experience that the listener is going to take away from your work. The greater the perceived experience by a selected audience is, the greater the chances of a DJ playing the song, and likewise the greater the chances of the DJ will buy your song.

 Don’t set out tomake the next number one tune from the start. Wait until you’ve got an idea flushed out to swing for the fence. I recommend using three songs to keep your production moving in the right direction. Go find three songs that you would play in a set together. Put them in the order you would play them to achieve the biggest bang for the audiences listening buck. The next step is to remove the middle song from the miniature set. The goal then becomes to produce the song that sits in the middle.

Now you’ve got three songs to help build your structure, get sample ideas from, keep you in the selected genre, and melodies and loops to help inspire your own vision. Always refer back to these ideas to stay focused.

It’s extremely easy in the beginning to run and run in one direction. Before you know it, you’ve not actually ran in a straight line, you’ve made a mess of your idea and lost sight of how to achieve your goal. Over time you’ll find you won’t need to do this as much as you did when you first started, but despite our experiences, even the top producing around the world do it. Armin Van Buurin is quoted in the August issue of “Sound On Sound” magazine as expressing this idea exactly.

Find the end.

 As you add more and more elements to the song, including change ups, fills, effects, melodies, basslines, percussion, and everything in between; STOP!. From this point it is extremely important to listen with the DJ’s ear, not the producer’s ear. Give it to other people who can be honest and objective. Give it to fresh ears, both with similar education and experience, and with none. Every crowd has its fanatics, but most crowds are filled with people who are no where near capable of experiencing the song like you do. That being said, it is important to get their feedback too.

Once you’ve gotten the feedback, evaluate it carefully. Often it’s too easy to blow it off or let us get frustrated by criticism, but it is the criticism that makes us better. When we get better our music comes to life. Use the criticism to find the end of the current track. Go through each bit of advice and focus on how it applies to the song. Make sure to take your time, take lots of breaks and listen to other music. If you remain to0 closed to the mix while you’re adjusting it to fix the issues, you won’t be able to hear the issues, because you’ll think to yourself “it’s fine just the way it is.” In all reality, every song can be made better. It boils down to how patient you are, and how willing you are to go one more step. At that point, however, you’ll at least see the end.

Be done of it. When you’re done, be done. Don’t go back because you think something doesn’t sound exactly like it should. It’s not uncommon to adjust a mix down a few times to get it just right, but if you find yourself wanting to change elements, don’t. Save those changes for the next song. Or recommend them to the remixer(s) working on the release with you. You’ll beat yourself to death if you try to force ideas, so don’t. Make the most of them in the next one. That’s how we grow.

Though this material isn’t a full assessment of everything I hope you learn, it will get you started, and help you make progress every step of the way.

John Mundt aka DJ Hero
Chief Engineer
Velcro City Records

The Art and Science of Compression

In simple terms, a compressor is an automatic volume control. Loud sounds over a certain threshold are reduced in level while quiet sounds remain untreated. This is known as downward compression, while the less common upward compression involves making sounds below the threshold louder while the louder passages remain unchanged. In this way it reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal. This may be done for aesthetic reasons, to deal with technical limitations of audio equipment, or to improve audibility of audio. An audio engineer might use a compressor subtly in order to reduce the dynamic range of source, or they might use a compressor in order to deliberately change the character of an instrument being processed.

Compression reduces the level of the loud sounds, but not the quiet sounds; thus, the level can be raised to a point where the quiet sounds are more audible without the loud sounds being too loud. Contrast this with the complementary process of an expander, which performs almost the exact opposite function of a compressor, i.e., an expander increases the dynamic range of the audio signal.

A compressor reduces the gain of an audio signal if its amplitude exceeds a certain threshold. The amount of gain reduction is determined by a ratio. For example, with a ratio of 4:1, when the input level is 4 db over the threshold, the output signal level will be 1 db over the threshold. The gain has been reduced by 3 db. When the input level is 8 db above the threshold, the output level will be 2 db; a 6 db gain reduction.

A more specific example for a 4:1 ratio:

Threshold = −10 dB

Input = −6 dB (4 dB above the threshold)

Output = −9 dB (1 dB above the threshold)

The signal entering a compressor is split, with one copy sent to a variable-gain amplifier and the other to a path called the side-chain, where a control circuit calculates the required amount of gain reduction. The control-circuit outputs the requested gain-reduction amount to the amplifier. This type of design is known as feed-forward type and is used today on most compressors.

Engineers wishing to achieve dynamic range reduction with few obvious effects might choose a relatively high threshold and low compression ratio so that the source material is being compressed very slightly most of the time. To deliberately soften the attack of a snare drum, they might choose a fast attack time and a moderately fast release time combined with a higher threshold. To accentuate the attack of the snare, they might choose a slower attack time to avoid affecting the initial transient. It is easier to successfully apply these controls if the user has a basic knowledge of musical instrument acoustics.

It should be noted that compression can also be used to lift the soft passages of a selection, pulling the sound toward a compressed “middle”. Hence, loud sounds are pulled back and soft passages are boosted.

Compressor features

Threshold: Threshold is the level above which the signal is reduced. It is commonly set in db, where a lower threshold (e.g. -60 db) means a larger portion of the signal will be treated (compared to a higher threshold of -5 db).

Ratio: The ratio determines the input/output ratio for signals above the threshold. For example, a 4:1 ratio means that a signal overshooting the threshold by 4 db will leave the compressor 1 db above the threshold. The highest ratio of ∞:1 is commonly achieved using a ratio of 60:1, and effectively denotes that any signal above the threshold will be brought down to the threshold level (unless some attack is in force).

Attack and release: A compressor might provide a degree of control over how quickly it acts. The ‘attack phase’ is the period when the compressor is increasing gain reduction to reach the level that is determined by the ratio. The ‘release phase’ is the period when the compressor is decreasing gain reduction to the level determined by the ratio, or, to zero, once the level has fallen below the threshold. The length of each period is determined by the rate of change and the required change gain reduction. For more intuitive operation, a compressor’s attack and release controls are labeled as a unit of time (often milliseconds). This is the amount of time it will take for the gain to change a set amount of db, decided by the manufacturer, very often 10 db. For example, if the compressor’s time constants are referenced to 10 db, and the attack time is set to 1 ms, it will take 1 ms for the gain reduction to rise from 0 db to 10 db, and 2 ms to rise from 0 db

Soft and hard knees: Another control a compressor might offer is hard/soft knee. This controls whether the bend in the response curve is a sharp angle or has a rounded edge. A soft knee slowly increases the compression ratio as the level increases and eventually reaches the compression ratio set by the user. A soft knee reduces the audible change from uncompressed to compressed, especially for higher ratios where the changeover is more noticeable.

Make up gain: Because the compressor is reducing the gain (or level) of the signal, the ability to add a fixed amount of make-up gain at the output is provided so that an optimum level can be used.

Limiting

Compression and limiting are no different in process, just in degree and in the perceived effect. A limiter is a compressor with a higher ratio, and generally a fast attack time. Most engineers consider a ratio of 10:1 or more as limiting, although there are no set rules. Engineers sometimes refer to soft and hard limiting which are differences of degree. The “harder” a limiter, the higher its ratio and the faster its attack and release times.

Brick wall limiting has a very high ratio and a very fast attack time. Ideally, this ensures that an audio signal never exceeds the amplitude of the threshold. Ratios of 20:1 all the way up to ∞:1 are considered to be ‘brick wall’. The sonic results of more than momentary and infrequent hard/brick-wall limiting are usually characterized as harsh and unpleasant; thus it is more appropriate as a safety device in live sound and broadcast applications than as a sound-sculpting tool.

Side-chaining

Side-chaining uses the signal level of another input or an equalized version of the original input to control the compression level of the original signal. For sidechains that key off of external inputs, when the external signal is stronger, the compressor acts more strongly to reduce output gain. The compressor reduces the volume of the sound, a process called ducking. The sidechain of a compressor that has EQ controls can be used to reduce the volume of signals that have a strong spectral content within the frequency range of interest. Such a compressor can be used as a de-esser, reducing the level of annoying vocal sibilance in the range of 6-9 kHz. A frequency-specific compressor can be assembled from a standard compressor and an equalizer by feeding a 6-9 kHz-boosted copy of the original signal into the side-chain input of the compressor.

Multiband compression

Multiband compressors can act differently on different frequency bands. The advantage of multiband compression over full-bandwidth (full-band, or single-band) compression is that changing signal levels in one frequency band (such as from a sporadic low frequency kick drum) don’t cause unneeded audible gain changes or “pumping” in other frequency bands.

Multiband compressors work by first splitting the signal through some number of bandpass filters or crossover filters. The frequency ranges or crossover frequencies may be adjustable. Each split signal then passes through its own compressor and is independently adjustable for threshold, ratio, attack, and release. The signals are then recombined and an additional limiting circuit may be employed to ensure that the combined effects do not create unwanted peak levels.

Serial compression

Serial compression is a technique used in sound recording and mixing. Serial compression is achieved by using two fairly different compressors in a signal chain. One compressor will generally stabilize the dynamic range, while the other will more aggressively compress stronger peaks.

In my experience, compression is an invaluable tool which can be used to get a grip, so to speak, on wild sounds, warm up dull sounds, add a bit of punch to specific sounds in complicated mixes, and to message the peaks of both individual sounds and groups of sounds. Unfortunately compression, in my opinion, is more of a science than an art, but efficient and creative use of both compression and limiting will allow for more efficient use of the finite space we have to work in, as well as prevent wasting valuable overhead.

I definitely advise to pay close attention to where your compressor sit in the chain of effects as placing it before or after certain effects will change the results of how you’ve set it.

Hopefully everything I’ve explained thus far will give you some education, but I’d like to give you a few things to think about when setting compressors. The first thing is, the compressor placed on one particular sound should be set in reference to how that sound interacts with others. If you set a compressor with identical settings on a hand full of sounds, you’ve effective reduced the dynamic range of your production and accomplished nothing. Let’s say you have a kick, a snare, an open hat, a closed hat, and a splash type open hat. I would try setting the kick with a 10 millisecond attack and a release of 200 milliseconds (adjusted accordingly to the actual kick drum sound). The snare I would place with a faster attack time and release time. The function I use this for is to allow my kick to have more immediate presence when the two sounds trigger at the same time. As far as high hats go, your closed hat may need a bit more bite to cut through the mix. If that is the case a higher ration and fast attach time will add a bit of snap to the closed hat which will allow it to have more presence without simply being turned up. The same idea can be applied to the open hat, but since it, typically, is a longer sound, rather than having a 2 ms attack time like the closed hat might have, try 5 ms, setting the release relatively similar to the that of the closed hat. Lastly in this example, the splash is there for to create a certain effect in the loop. You may not need it to have as much bite, rather, you want the decay to have more presence. To achieve this try a faster release time, and a lower ratio.

Practical Compression

As I’ve described in my article “The Art of the Mixdown”, I set my kick drum and a constant in my mix at -7 db. The post gain of my compressor sets the level of my kick to -7 db, while I have a ‘brick wall’ limiter last in the chain of effects set with a threshold of -7 db and an out put ceiling of -7 db as well. From there, I leave it alone completely. As for the other drums in this example, after I’ve equalized them, compressed them, and set them in my stereo mix as per my tastes, I may route their individual buses to a separate insert and use a multiband compressor to get a grip on the loop as a whole. Or I may place a limiter on the channel just to prevent two different drums in the loop (i.e. the closed hat and the open hat) from increase the average peak of the loop. These types of ideas can be used for many purposes. You may find compressing your bassline with the kick drum helps even out the mix and preserve the punch of a bass heavy song (as I’ve learned with engineering dubstep). You may find the multiband compressor is a nice way to spruce up a lot of your high end sounds, such as your upper range melodies. Many simple melodies, or melodies that stay mainly in the high end frequencies can take on a lot of warmth with a properly used multiband compressor, allowing them to sound a lot more full in your over all mix.

What ever your use for these powerful tools, always remember that the compressor and limiter actually damage dynamic range. Be thoughtful in their use. In short use them only as much as needed. As always, slow down, and think the process though. Sometimes the solution to a problem area isn’t compression alone. Perhaps a little stereo placement or equalization can afford you the ability to use less compression. Remember, compression is only one of what I consider the three tools in properly mixing down your music.

John Mundt
Aka: DJ Hero

Solitude Studios
Kaleidoscope Music
Velcro City Records

The Art of the Mixdown
by DJ Hero

The art of the mixdown is definitely an art form specific to each individual song. Each song contains many unique properties that, when compared to other works from the same artist, producer, or engineer, must be looked at through a careful scope. At the same time much of the music in the dance industry, which this article is designed for, share many of the same properties as well. Because of each project’s uniqueness and likeness, I hope to give some broad ideas to keep in mind and think through as you prepare your own music for the next step.

I’ve always worked under the pretense that the earlier in the production process that a problem or difficult area can be fixed the better your end product is going to sound. It’s often a misconceived notion that mastering can solve problem areas as well as enhance the songs brilliance, warmth, and over all loudness, but simple answer is. It can’t. Luckily we have two previous stages of the songs design to tackle these issues, the engineer and production stage and the mixdown stage. In my professional opinion the mixdown stage is the single most important part of the production process. A proper mixdown can best place your individual sounds so that they efficiently fill out your mix, breathe the life into your track, and allow you to determine where you can add to your production so it can sound as full, warm, and as bright as possible.

From my experience I have determined that there are 3 crucial tools any engineer and producer has to maximize the quality of their mixdown; equalization, compression, and sound placement. Proper equalization will give you the ability to best sit frequencies along side one another. Take for example, a woodworker building a shelf. He starts with the raw materials, the wood, the fasteners, the brackets, glue, nails, etc. In order to create his shelf he’s got to cut the wood to fit. Equalization can be though of the same way. If each sound is represented by each piece of wood necessary to build the shelf, we have to cut the pieces so that they fit together as best as possible. Sometimes the cuts are large. Sometimes it’s more a matter of sanding down the edges for a smooth, flush fit. What ever the necessary equalization may be, we don’t want to cut too much or we lose the integrity of the design, as well as how the other pieces are going to fit with each sound. If you read my article on equalization you know I am an advocate of reducing frequencies over boosting frequencies, as many engineers are. If you have a specific frequencies range you’d like boosted, try reducing the frequencies around the focus frequency, then increase the volume of the sound all together. Shelf equalization can be helpful to clear up over head for the sounds in opposing frequency ranges, but you’ll have to be careful to remove only enough to allow the other sound to come through the mix. Cutting large ranges of frequencies tends to greatly reduce the dynamics of the sound, as well as how any effects you’ve placed on the sound may act, such as reverb, delays, and chorus. Notching equalization, I have found, is great for getting a grip on trouble frequencies with respect to how multiple sounds work with one another. If you find your snare is getting lost in your mix because of your bassline, notch out a little space for the snare by reducing some of the shared frequencies in the bassline. Always remember less is more. Start simple before you try the extreme. The art of equalization is to do as little damage to the dynamics of a sound while at the same time bringing as much life to how the sounds sits together in the overall mix.

The second tool we have at our disposal is compression and limiting. Compression is also one of those tools that actually damages or reduces the dynamics of a sound, so again as engineers we have to use it wisely and efficiently. The idea behind compression is to use the tool, be it hardware or software, to allow the desired sounds to punch through the mix while reducing the amount of space it does it in. In this article I am not going to cover individual compressor settings, but I am going to give some idea of what the compressor is capable of. A single band compressor, depending on its settings, can add a bit of snap to a sound. That snap will cut through a full mix giving the instrument a more perceived presence while saving you some overhead. With more complex sounds, the multiband compressor can give you control over ranges of frequencies. Large synthesizer melodies do well with the multiband compressor due to their complexity and range of frequencies. With the multiband compressor you’ve got the means to reduce or increase specific ranges to best fit your overall mix. Many multiband compressors offer equalization like aspects as well, in that you will be able to control the post gain of each frequency range. Limiting is a beast of a tool if you use it wisely. Essentially the limiter creates a decibel ceiling that your sound cannot pass. The harder the threshold pushes down on the natural peaks of the sound, the more the sound’s dynamic range is reduced. Like the normal compressor, the limiter damages dynamic range. This doesn’t always have to be thought of as a bad thing. Used creatively and intelligently, the limiter can keep your mix smooth and clean. If you’ve got sounds with a lot of movement that create drastic decibel ranges, the limiter can get a handle on those, better fitting the sound into the desired space in the overall mixdown. The limiter can also be used to add a desired amount of warmth to a sound. Let’s examine your effects chain for a moment. The effects chain is the order in which the effects are triggered. If the first is a chorus effect, and the second is the compressor, followed by a delay, the compressor is going to compress the signal after the chorus effects the signal. Like wise the delay will effect the compressed signal. Keeping that in mind, if we place a limiter first in the chain, followed by a normal compression setting, we can first make the sound thicker and warmer, then help it punch through the mix more neatly. Remember, compressors are actually reducing the natural dynamic range so be mindful when you use them, regardless the fashion.

The third tool is stereo placement. In a previous article I go into depth about my “V” theory, which discusses stereo width, panning, and stereo placement. While I’m not going into depth on the subject here I will explain its use during the mixdown process. Panning can add some dynamic life to your music. A tom, or high hat, drum fill, or any sound for that matter can take on some nice creativity when panning is used. As well, panning can create depth and texture to your mix as a whole. I don’t recommend using heavy panning on large sounds, but on smaller sounds, the placement can make the mixdown more unique and life like. Stereo width is another ball game all together. Imagine for a minute that your monitor speakers are a few feet in front of you and about 4 feet apart which is probably a pretty typical set up for near field monitor users. Visualize the space between the two speakers, you can probably imagine the center being somewhere in the middle of your video monitor. That distance represents your stereo range. From the edge of your left speaker to the edge of your right speaker there is a lot of space for you to place sounds. In the “V” theory I talk about a rule of thumb that has proven to work extremely well. The bottom of the “V” represents low end frequencies, and the top of the “V” represents high end frequencies. Visualize the space between your two speakers (left and right) and imagine that the distance between them represents the two top points of the “V” and the space between those two points. For years I’ve used this premise to place sounds according to stereo width. My bassline and kick are centered (bottom of the “V”), and as I work my way up the spectrum of frequencies to the high hats, getting wider and wider as I increase from low to high end frequencies, my high hats will be heard as if they were at the edges of the two monitor speakers, or the far left and far right of that space you’ve visualized earlier. Using this technique will give you two nice results. The first is that your song will sound really full, as you’ve utilized all of the space at your disposal. The second is that your individual sounds will require less overhead to maintain the same relative volume in the mix. The reason being is the sounds aren’t stacked on top of one another. You don’t necessarily have to go through one sound to get to the next.

Proper use of equalization, compression, and stereo placement will allow your individual layers, and the mixdown as a whole to be louder, cleaner, warmer, and make much more efficient use of space. All of those fine adjectives will come in handy once you’ve rendered or recorded your song to wave, and get ready to master it. Remember the mastering stage is not the time to correct any problems. Your mixdown stage holds the best chance of making everything sound the way you want to. A lot of young producers (by this I’m referring to time producing, not the actual age of the person) lose patience and try to correct dull frequency issues in the mastering stage, when in all reality the proper place to do it is in the mixdown stage, or if possible in the sound design stage. Always, always, always try to fix the problems as to close to the beginning of the process as possible. The final product will greatly benefit from it.

On top of the three aforementioned tools at our disposal, I’d like to mention a few things to keep in mind when going through the mixdown process. These are techniques that have held steadfast in my production over the years and have been proven to work.

First things first, like any mathematic equation, it is impossible to have a solution without at least one constant. I recommend choosing one sound in your song as your constant. By this I imply that you set the volume level to the desired level and leave it there. If as you produce the sound begins to get muddy or get lost in the mix correct everything else around it, but do not change the level of that sound. Typically, I would choose the most prevalent sound in the song. In our case, as dance music producers, one sound comes to mind.

Tell me if you’ve ever heard this before from people outside the dance music scene “It all sounds the same”?

What those people are hearing is the kick drum, and they are saying that because of the repetition of that instrument’s prevalence in the mix. The kick drum is the staple of the dance music industry. Because of this I urge you to make the kick drum your constant. Kick drums are large sounds that use a lot of space. By setting the levels of your kick drum and producing around it, correcting everything else when needed, you’ll successfully have a reference point every step of the way in your production. Over the years I have found that if I set my kick drum to -7 decibels (after compression) I have plenty of overhead to produce all of the other elements of the song. If along the way I get clipping, then I start looking for a solution rather than turning the project’s master volume down.

My typical kick drum insert has two effects on it. The first in the chain is the compressor, which I set to my liking based on the kick drum I am using. The second is a limiter. I set the compressor’s post gain to -7db after I’ve set the attack, release, ratio, and threshold, etc. Second in the chain is the limiter which I set with a threshold of -7db and an out ceiling of -7db. Some may say that’s overkill, but keep in mind, this process insures the perfect constant. Drums rolls may cause the kick to fluctuate, the limiter will push those minute fluctuations back down to -7db. If for some reason you experience major fluctuations analyze what is causing it. Perhaps you’ve accidentally doubled up the kick, hence it’s triggering twice at the same time. With that perfect constant you can begin to set all of the other sounds around it, using equalization, compression/limiting, and stereo placement to keep the entire mixdown within the maximum volume allotted to you, your decibel ceiling.

Once I’ve got the kick placed, I typically move onto the snare and closed and open high hat arrangements. I listen to them all together to make sure I can hear them all with the same relative ease, meaning none of them is more difficult to hear than the other in the mix. As I add more sounds, I am constantly going back to those basic elements to make sure that the latest sound I’ve added isn’t causing the relative volume or perception of the sound to degrade. If for some reason they start to go away in the mix (so to speak) it could be something fixed more efficiently with proper use of the three tools rather than turning the sound up. After I’ve placed the first basic parts I move on to my bassline. The reason I move on to the bassline next is because it is typically the next largest sound in the mix and it’s easier to place in the mix when the mix is still relatively free of clutter. When you’re placing your bassline pay attention to its relative loudness and how you hear it in comparison to the kick drum’s -7db volume level. Chances are the two sounds share a lot of the same frequencies so it will be important to set the two of them in similar decibel ranges. Typically if my kick drum is at -7db, then my bassline tends to sit around -10 to -8, depending on the range of frequencies that create it. Of course there are tricks around this if you want more punch, like side chaining, or compressing the kick and the bassline together, but the idea is that the kick drum and the bassline share the same relative loudness in the over all mix.

At this point in the game you should only have a few sounds playing, the kick, the bassline, the snare, and your high hats (closed and open). Next focus on the snare, pay attention to how it sounds when placed in the mix with the kick drum and bassline, it shouldn’t be so loud that the kick and bassline seem to be behind it, and it shouldn’t be so quiet that you have to listen for it in the mix, so to speak. If you’re having a little trouble setting it in there just right, turn to your EQ. Try removing a little low end in the snare to isolate it from the bassline and kick drum’s frequencies. Or on the other end, try removing a little of the midrange from your bassline to achieve the same type of isolation. When you manipulate the equalizer, start with small steps, it typically doesn’t take much to get the results you want.

Once the kick, bassline, and snare or clap, are placed in the mix we can move on to the high hats. I typically place these instruments so that they can be heard at the same relative level as the snare drum. Make sure as you fill out your percussion during the mixdown stage that you are constantly checking one instrument with respect to another and with respect to the kick, your constant. Each sound should be heard evenly and easily in the mix, and double checked that they are sitting in the desired place you’d like them to, as some percussion are designed more for rhythm than audible richness. In my opinion once you’ve got the percussive bed and bassline placed, all of the rest is a matter of sound clarity. Keep placing the individual sounds, using the three major tools, while referencing how each sound sits with the kick drum, bassline, snare, and high hats the entire time. If at some point you start to lose those four basic sounds, look to your three major tools for the solution to your problem. Remember at no point should you be touching the kick drum, it is your one true constant. If you add sounds and the kick starts to get lost in the mix, fix the other sounds, don’t turn up the kick drum.

As we continue through the mixdown stage, it is also a good idea to solo out sounds and compare them to one another. While a sound might sit nicely in the entire mix, it may be extremely out of place when playing with just one or two other sounds. This again is typically an equalization or compression issue and can be solved by slowing down, being patient, and paying attention to the details. Over the years I have found myself looking more and more at the peak meters and trying to keep them as stable as possible. Meaning I don’t like to see them bouncing all over the place because typically that means the rendered wave is going to look like someone with palsy colored all over the screen. The issue there is I will have wasted a ton of over head with spastic peaks and poorly placed layers.

If you’ve tried and tried and tried, but still can’t get certain sounds to sit together nicely, get clever. Once you’ve got similar sounds or frequencies equalized to your liking, send the bus they have been individually assigned to, to a new insert and compress them together, and maybe add a very light peak controlling limiter. Or try automating various aspects of the sound around the sounds they conflict with most. Anyone who has sat with me in the studio knows that I will automate the low end frequencies of a bassline around my kick drum. The logic is that the kick drum will play those frequencies so they won’t be lost, and the two layered together aren’t going to add to the peak level. To prevent wasted over head, I set up the bassline so that when the kick drum triggers the low end of the bassline (the shared frequencies of the kick and the bassline) are reduced or cut to prevent additional peaking. Now at first thought you might think the bassline will sound silly without the low end, but I promise if you’ve set the equalizer properly, the kick will perfectly fill in the gap. You’ll find there are a lot of similar tricks if you slow down and pay attention to the process. I’d like to add as well that producing is not a race, so slow down and pay attention to the detail straight from the beginning.

Electronic dance music can sound really rich, because our instruments have very few limits and our creativity is our sky. One draw back to electronic music when compared to live music, is it inherently sounds…electronic. Our percussion can easily sound dry and lame. The major contributor to this is that our drum arrangements are made of isolated pieces, where as when a drummer records the drum track, his drums are in a room and each drum’s microphone is picking up the a little bit of the drums around it. Though they may be individually mic’d, each mic will faintly pick up what the other microphones are doing. All of these worldly imperfection or nuances are the reason why live drummers seem more realistic. Before you roll your eyes and say “duh”, bare with me. In dance music we have to take the time to recreate every step of this. I’d first start by placing a reverb set to appropriately for drums. Many reverbs have a few presets to scroll through to help you with this. The next step is to route each of the buses your drums are set to, to free insert. Once each drum’s insert is routed to a separate insert, turn the send up on that insert. Presto! You’ve successfully created the drum room.

Now let’s take this a step further and create the effect of each drum’s microphone picking up the other drums around it. Going back to each drum’s individual insert and turn up the send you’ve got your percussion reverb on a little bit. You probably won’t hear much difference, but you’re going to create are some really subtle harmonics that will add to the realism of your “electronic” drum patterns. Depending on the complexity of your percussion (aside from the kick drum) you may want to try some side chaining, equalizer ducking, and other similar tricks to keep those percussion elements from coming out front of the kick or getting lost in the other sounds.

One of the beauties of the digital age is that we are no longer limited to one instrument, we can load as many plug-ins or instruments to our DAW as our CPU, Mother Board, and RAM will allow. Because of this, I feel we producers should take advantage of this power every chance we get. It because of reasons like these that we hear major differences between the music of ten years ago and the music of today. The music of today is much more complex. Technology has made it easier to use more tools at any one given time. The results are complex patterns and sounds. The more complicated the music’s production becomes, the more we have to pay attention to all of the details. We have to take advantage of the tools at our disposal to efficiently place each sound in the mix. Don’t be afraid to use equalization, compression, limiting, and stereo placement, but keep in mind that everything we do to alter the sound with these tools is for the most part damaging the dynamics of the sound, so we want to use them as little as possible and as efficiently as possible to create the best possible product. Before you render or record to wave listen to the whole song with a fresh set of ears. Once you’ve done that take a break, come back to it. Watch and listen the song with a fresh set of eyes and ears. If it gets muddy anywhere look for a solution. If it clips anywhere look for a solution. Keep in mind that you have one constant, your kick drum. If you’re using my -7db peak for that constant, you have 3 decibels of head room to make your entire song work for you. With today’s technology you have an almost limitless ability to accomplish the results you desire.

Before you get to the end of your production process, here are a few things to think about before taking the next step. First take a look at each insert and make sure the effects are placed in the chain intelligently and are creating the results you “intend” rather than arbitrarily making noise. Secondly, when you’re mixing down the project, start with the sounds that use the most head room and work your way up to the sounds that use the least. The entire time make “efficient” use of the three major tools at your disposal. Third and lastly, give a listen to the production in both stereo and mono to ensure that any panning, stereo effects, and stereo placement don’t disappear when you switch from stereo to mono. What may sound amazing in stereo may in all reality vanish in mono. I also recommend giving the production a listen on a few different systems before you send it off to the mastering suite let alone the stores for sale. Go for a drive, and have a listen. Play it on your Wal-Mart special boom box. Take it over to old man Dickenson’s house, and while he strokes his graying beard anxious to tell stories about the old days, play the production on his post civil war listening device. You get the point. Make sure that each of those systems provide a relatively even display of sound. Obviously they aren’t going to sound the same, but you don’t want extreme differences either. Oh and by the way, listen to old man Dickenson. He may have some useful information for you. The experienced techs don’t have universal answers, but their own experiences may provide you with enough insight to design your own techniques that create your own high quality sound.

Finally, I must take the time to add one final bit of advice. Slow down, be patient, and pay very close attention to all of the details, both as a whole and individually. Crescendos aren’t necessarily spikes in the production, so watch for the problem areas. Once you’ve found them, don’t ignore them thinking your mastering stage can correct them, because it simply cannot. Your finished product is only as good as its beginning pieces, so make sure you engineer the individual pieces to sound as good as they can from the very beginning. If you’re using samples, make sure each is clean, void of clips, hiss, and noise, unless they are for artistic reasons. Make sure if there’s any noise you can eliminate from your instruments do so, again, unless it’s a desired result brought on by creativity. Lastly make sure you’re riding every sounded as loud as it can be taken with respect to the sounds around it, and to the over all decibel peak in your DAW. You want the finished product to be as loud as possible before bringing it in to the mastering stage. Why you might ask? Simply put every system be it hardware or software has a noise floor and regardless of how quiet it is, once you’ve rendered or recorded to wave that noise floor is fixed relative to the volume the project was recorded at. If you normalize the wave and it increases in volume, you’ve also increased the noise floor’s volume level.

I hope this is all proves helpful in your production. I know what it feels like to achieve the results you want. I also know what it’s like to hear your music played along side some of your favorite tunes by other DJ’s and producers in various environments. If I can in anyway give you the tools to achieve those feelings, then I’ve accomplished my goal.

John Mundt

DJ Hero

Solitude Studios

Kaleidoscope Music

Velcro City Records

EQ

Ok, I seem to have gotten a few requests for a second installment to DJ Hero’s production tips, tricks, and advice. My first, “DJ Hero’s ‘V’ Theory” seem to go over pretty well, so I hope this second edition of useful production and engineering knowledge provides you with more ammunition in the studio.

The topic this time is EQ’ing, which is by far one of the more powerful tools any engineer has to creating a cohesive, clear, and punchy mix. Like the “V Theory”, EQ’ing is essential to making your song sounds rich, full, bright, and yet another slew of color words that mean…good.

A little history lesson behind the term “equalization”. It was original coined by the phone company somewhere around the time that the telephone was implemented as a household item. Signal equalization was used to compensate for long cable lengths with respect to where the copper wiring came from and how long it was by the time it came in to home.

The equalizer is nothing more than a series of filters designed to shape a sound, but let’s not get over technical. There are a few different types of equalizers, analog, digital, graphic, and parametric. Where the argument behind which is better, analog or digital will probably continue into the sunset, it’s pretty safe to say that today’s engineers opt for the parametric equalizer over a graphic equalizer any day of the week because of the massive amount of control and shaping ability it provides.

To get started I’ll refer back to the “V Theory” simply to remind you of the space you’re working in, low end at the bottom, high end at the top and all the space in between that your sounds (hopefully) sit. EQ’ing will maximize that space so you can achieve a much cleaner mixdown with the finite over head and space you have. You only have so much room to work with, and you want to be able to pack that space with as much sound as possible, without making the whole song sound muddy, cluttered, or lack luster. EQ’ing is one way to help you.

First, the EQ can provide you the means of shaping frequencies by means of shelfing, notching, or sculpting. The shelf creates a wall type shape if you’re looking at the EQ (graphically), essentially every frequency below (or above depending on if you’re using a low shelf or a high shelf), that “wall” will be cut away. That will cause the remaining frequencies to sound perceivably more noticeable. Note, those frequencies have not been turned up, the others have been eliminated. Notching allows the engineer to cut out certain frequencies in a sound, the notch’s width can be adjusted to be really narrow or quite vast, with the audible results being slight to great. Sculpting is another term I use, but it’s less on the technical end because it’s just a more subtle version of shelfing or notching.

As a simple example we can take three sound layers, one low, one mid, and one high. For sake of the example let’s assume that all three are relatively thick sounds given the range of frequencies they individually sit in, so much so that they each impede upon the adjacent frequency range. Individually all three sounds could very well sound terrific, but when placed together, can get lost or fight for the same space as the other sounds. Like the “V Theory” EQ’ing can reduce that “fight” for space, and cause a sound to use less space.

The EQ will help isolate the range the sound sit in. The easiest way to describe it would be that if the low end doesn’t need to ride in the higher end frequencies, then shave them off, if the high end doesn’t need to ride in the mid or low end ranges, then we shave them off, etc. Perhaps I mistakenly use the term “shave” however. My professional opinion is to never cut full frequency ranges, unless you plan on filling them. Cutting entire frequency ranges unnecessarily will leave your production sounding empty. Instead we reduce ranges only enough to create the room needed to allow the combating frequency ranges the ability to breathe.

One reason to avoid cutting entire frequency ranges is because any reverb that may be on those sounds will sound empty, and cease to be an effect and become simply noise in the mix. As well stereo delays will feel a little lacking as well. Imagine you were an amazing swimmer, and suddenly you had no legs, even though you are amazingly fit, and well trained, you’re still not going to be able to take a gold in the next Olympics (lest of course they are the special Olympics, but let’s not go there). “Waste not, want not” is key, don’t get rid of anything if there is no need to.

When EQ’ing the various layers of your song always, always, always do it while each sound is in the mix, what may sound good or bad while the sound is isolated may not be effective EQ’ing when the sounds all play together. Also, always, always, always REDUCE before you BOOST. Instead of boosting a specific frequency range, reduce the ranges around the one you naturally want to turn up, then simply turn the over all volume up to make up for the reduction in relative volume. Again that is my professional opinion and not a matter of fact, but you’ll find you save over head and avoid frequency phasing (unless you’re experienced enough to use it to you advantage).

A lot of vintage analog equalizers have some really wonderful voice phasing effects that occur when frequencies are boosted, and that’s a part of the argument between analog and digital. Rather than get into that argument, I’d rather try to teach some techniques that are going to be helpful regardless the skill level. So like I said, reduce the frequencies around the frequency range you desire to be more pronounced, then increase the over all volume of the sound, that will create the same effect without any ill side effects as boosting a particular frequency range.

Some ideas to keep in the front of your head are what is the sound’s function in the song? Is it a bass line designed to drive the song? If so, shaving the top end will save a lot of room for sounds that move and fill the up mid and high end ranges. The same applies to high ends frequencies. The high hats, typically rest mostly in the high end frequency ranges. That being the case, you’ll be able to reduce the low end quite a bit without over working and hence destroying the sound of the high hat. Keep in mind what I said earlier though, cutting too much will leave reverb on that high hat incapable of sounding rich and natural, so only take as much as needed.

Mid range frequencies are a bit tougher to EQ, for the simple fact that no sound JUST sits in the middle, usually they over lap into the low and high ends of the spectrum. If you shave those off, that pad in the middle will be sitting a little awkward. Again why I stress taking off only as much is as needed. I’m sure you don’t have to reach too far into your brain to agree with me that the one range of frequencies that get destroyed in the club is the mid range. Large PA’s often fall short in that department for several reasons, one the room and the sound system haven’t been set to work with each other. Another is because mid range tends to sit between highs and lows, and for most producers it’s tough to isolate and effectively bring those sounds out in a complicated mix. I won’t speak for the simple music that doesn’t have much going on, but in a song that is rich and full of sound, the mid range is the toughest range of frequencies to make stand out as a separate entity while maintaining a cohesive bond between the highs and lows.

The trick while EQ’ing is to make each sound as unique as possible in the mix, while not isolating it from the other sounds to the point where the song sounds like a it’s a series of Lego blocks stacked on top of each other, one blue, one red, and one yellow. Having the individual color is obviously awesome, but the transition should be smooth enough to keep the mix sounding rich and full. To round off the Lego analogy, the transition between the blue and red block should give you purple, and the space between the red and yellow block should give you orange. The amount of each however is up to your ears and what works for your mix.

Two things to keep in mind, your speakers will allow you as good a job as their own frequency response, so don’t think your PC’s stock speakers are going to provide you the ability to EQ effectively, neither will your headphones, though top end studio monitors like the Ultrasone 750’s will provide you with a better shot at it then your Pioneer DJ headphones. I don’t recommend using headphones to EQ anything. 99% of headphones are not designed to provide sound to your ear like your ear is designed to hear sound. Case in point, headphones blast sound directly to the ear drum and by pass the mechanics of your earlobe. The earlobe is designed to channel sound to your ear natural (take a minute to feel the shape of your ear before you try to argue), all those natural curves made from skin, hair, and cartilage actually are designed and grow for a reason.

The second thing to keep in mind is that transient frequencies will often seem dramatically different with stereo placement (such as described in my “V Theory”). A sound could easily sound muddy or empty centered in the mix, but when moved somewhere else can take on new characteristics, and visa versa so listen carefully.

Professional engineers with years of experience will all agree that EQ’ing when your ears are fresh is to your advantage. If you’ve been working on the song all day and are just trying to get it done, you will fail. Take a break, if you can afford to leave it for a day, then do so, but if for some ODD reason time just isn’t on your side, step outside, make some tea, pet the dog, do anything but sit in front of your studio.

Typical when I’ve gotten a song to that point where it’s time for that final mixdown where EQ’ing becomes vital, I will get a good nights sleep, shower in the morning (my morning), have some coffee, relax a bit, pet the dog, then go down into the studio. At that point I’m rested, my ears are rested, I’m awake, and ready to go. Be patient, listen carefully. Sometimes you may find it necessary to bring certain ranges to their extremes just to hear what the EQ is doing to them, perhaps as a means to give yourself a reference point. I will add though, avoiding the boosting side of that, and cut them first to provide a reference. Boosting frequency ranges to provide a reference point can be harsh, and take away from the fact that you’re supposed to be using rested ears.

In my next tips, trick, and techniques, am I going to fully cover the compressor/limiter. Between “DJ Hero’s ‘V’ Theory”, Equalization, and Compression/Limiting, I will have hopefully provided you the means to use the three most powerful tools in your engineering bag., the trifecta if you will, of audio engineering. The compressor can reduce the amount of EQ’ing needed, and the EQ can reduce the amount of compression needed. Stereo placement can be thrown in there as well. The main point of all three is to take away as little as possible while maintaining as much head room and sound clarity as possible. The result will be full, warm, bright, and punchy sounds that make up a wonderfully produced track regardless the style.