Become a Competent Music Producer in 365 Days

Cover
Half Title
Endorsements
Title
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 Balancing a mix
Day 1 – Welcome
Day 2 – Balancing a mix
Day 3 – Why is balancing a mix so overlooked?
Day 4 – SPL vs. perceived loudness
Day 5 – 24-bit
Day 6 – Reference tracks
Day 7 – What is gain staging?
Day 8 – Normalising region gain
Day 9 – Pre-fader metering
Day 10 – Phase cancellation
Day 11 – Bottom-up mixing
Day 12 – Top-down mixing
Day 13 – The clockface technique
Day 14 – Mono compatibility
Day 15 – The VU meter trick
Day 16 – Balancing vocals
Day 17 – The mixing hierarchy
Day 18 – A singular focal point
Day 19 – The rule of four
Day 20 – The pink noise technique
Day 21 – Loudest fi rst
Day 22 – Set a timer
Day 23 – Leave your busses
Day 24 – Watch your meters
Day 25 – Split them up
Day 26 – FFT metering
Day 27 – Metering checklist
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
Further reading
2 Panning a mix
Day 1 – Panning a mix
Day 2 – Know your pan pots
Day 3 – From whose perspective are you mixing?
Day 4 – Kick and snare
Day 5 – Overheads and rooms
Day 6 – Hi-hats
Day 7 – Toms
Day 8 – Bass
Day 9 – Guitars
Day 10 – Synths and keys
Day 11 – Horns, wind, and strings
Day 12 – Vocals
Day 13 – The LCR technique
Day 14 – Low-frequency panning
Day 15 – Double-tracked guitars
Day 16 – Complementary panning
Day 17 – Snare on- or off-centre?
Day 18 – Narrow verses, wide choruses
Day 19 – Automating movement
Day 20 – Checking mono compatibility
Day 21 – Consider the club
Day 22 – Crosstalk
Day 23 – Don’t overload one side
Day 24 – Recreating a vintage vibe
Day 25 – Less is more
Day 26 – Orchestral panning 1
Day 27 – Orchestral panning 2
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
Further reading
3 EQ
Day 1 – Applying EQ
Day 2 – Fundamentals and overtones
Day 3 – Defining frequency bands
Day 4 – Different types of equalisers
Day 5 – Anatomy of an EQ 1
Day 6 – Anatomy of an EQ 2
Day 7 – Subtractive/corrective EQ
Day 8 – Additive/creative EQ
Day 9 – EQ can’t fix a poor recording
Day 10 – Have intent
Day 11 – Learn the frequency spectrum
Day 12 – Use an EQ chart
Day 13 – The big four: Remove the gross stuff
Day 14 – The big four: Enhance the good stuff
Day 15 – The big four: Make things sound different
Day 16 – The big four: Create space
Day 17 – Don’t be fooled by volume
Day 18 – Small for natural, large for unnatural
Day 19 – Prioritise cuts
Day 20 – Don’t EQ in solo
Day 21 – Small changes add up
Day 22 – Subtle with stock, bold with analogue
Day 23 – Don’t obsess over plugin order
Day 24 – Remove the mud
Day 25 – EQ in mono
Day 26 – Dynamic EQ
Day 27 – How do you pick your EQ?
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
Further reading
4 Compression
Day 1 – What is compression?
Day 2 – Compressor anatomy: Ratio
Day 3 – Compressor anatomy: Threshold
Day 4 – Compressor anatomy: Attack and release
Day 5 – Compressor anatomy: Knee and make-up gain
Day 6 – The four analogue architectures: VCA
Day 7 – The four analogue architectures: Optical
Day 8 – The four analogue architectures: FET
Day 9 – The four analogue architectures: Variable Mu
Day 10 – Use one compressor to learn
Day 11 – What comes first: Compression or EQ?
Day 12 – Don’t compress just because you can
Day 13 – Parallel compression is the best of both
Day 14 – Matching input and output levels accurately
Day 15 – Avoid presets and solo
Day 16 – Stacking compressors
Day 17 – Compressing low end
Day 18 – The extreme-threshold technique
Day 19 – Don’t kill the transients
Day 20 – A little here, a little there
Day 21 – The right compressor for the job
Day 22 – Don’t be fooled by volume
Day 23 – Complementing compression with transient enhancement
Day 24 – Sidechain compression
Day 25 – Sidechain EQ
Day 26 – Colouring your sound
Day 27 – Multiband compression
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
Further reading
5 Reverb
Day 1 – What is reverb?
Day 2 – Why do you need reverb?
Day 3 – What does reverb do?
Day 4 – Different types of reverb: Hall
Day 5 – Different types of reverb: Chamber
Day 6 – Different types of reverb: Room
Day 7 – Different types of reverb: Plate
Day 8 – Different types of reverb: Spring
Day 9 – Different types of reverb: Convolution
Day 10 – Different types of reverb: Gated
Day 11 – Different types of reverb: Honourable mentions
Day 12 – Reverb parameters: Type, size, decay, and mix
Day 13 – Reverb parameters: Pre-delay, early refl ections, and diffusion
Day 14 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Aux send or insert slot?
Day 15 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Selecting reverb type
Day 16 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Set your size
Day 17 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Set your decay
Day 18 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Set your pre-delay
Day 19 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Set your early reflections
Day 20 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Set your diffusion level
Day 21 – Eight steps to perfect reverb: Adjust the dry/wet/send amount
Day 22 – Top tips: Less is more
Day 23 – Top tips: Mono, stereo, or panned?
Day 24 – Top tips: Pre- or post-fader?
Day 25 – Top tips: Treat reverb like an instrument
Day 26 – Top tips: How many reverbs should you use?
Day 27 – The formula
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
Further reading
6 Delay and modulation effects
Day 1 – What is delay in music-production?
Day 2 – Delay times
Day 3 – Primary delay types: Tape
Day 4 – Primary delay types: Analogue
Day 5 – Primary delay types: Digital
Day 6 – Delay subtypes: Slapback echo
Day 7 – Delay subtypes: Doubling echo
Day 8 – Delay subtypes: Looping
Day 9 – Delay subtypes: Multitap
Day 10 – Delay subtypes: Ping-pong
Day 11 – Delay subtypes: Dub
Day 12 – A reminder about phase
Day 13 – Modulated delay: Chorus
Day 14 – Modulated delay: Flanger
Day 15 – Modulated delay: Phaser
Day 16 – Top tips: Have an intention
Day 17 – Top tips: Be selective
Day 18 – Top tips: Work out your timing
Day 19 – Top tips: Leakage
Day 20 – Top tips: Processing delays
Day 21 – Top tips: Automation
Day 22 – Top tips: Create manual delays
Day 23 – Top tips: Flamming delays
Day 24 – Top tips: Panning delays
Day 25 – Top tips: Tempo-syncing
Day 26 – Top tips: Making sounds bigger/wider
Day 27 – Top tips: Enhance important things
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
7 Automation
Day 1 – What is automation?
Day 2 – Automation modes
Day 3 – Automation types: Fades and curves
Day 4 – Automation types: Binary, step, and spike
Day 5 – Have intent!
Day 6 – Bouncing automation
Day 7 – Three stages: Problem-solve
Day 8 – Three stages: Flow
Day 9 – Three stages: Create
Day 10 – When should you automate?
Day 11 – Use No. 1: Levels
Day 12 – Use No. 2: Stereo width
Day 13 – Use No. 3: More automation, less compression
Day 14 – Use No. 4: Fix plosives and sibilance
Day 15 – Use No. 5: Increase plugin control
Day 16 – Use No. 6: Aux sends
Day 17 – Animate your transitions
Day 18 – Automate synth parameter changes
Day 19 – Emphasise drum fills
Day 20 – Tidy up
Day 21 – Accentuate vocals
Day 22 – Automate panning for sound design
Day 23 – Automate EQ
Day 24 – Make e-drums sound more natural
Day 25 – Tempo-synced automation effects
Day 26 – Automate your master buss
Day 27 – Automate your tempo
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
8 Vocals
Day 1 – Vocals 101
Day 2 – Create space pockets
Day 3 – Open-back vs closed-back
Day 4 – Use a pop shield
Day 5 – Consider mike emulation
Day 6 – DSP-powered monitor effects
Day 7 – The proximity effect
Day 8 – Get your levels right
Day 9 – Get your mix right
Day 10 – Record everything!
Day 11 – Harmonies and layers
Day 12 – Gate post-recording
Day 13 – Loop and comp
Day 14 – Tuning and other modulation effects
Day 15 – Subtractive EQ
Day 16 – Consider the genre
Day 17 – Tone-shaping EQ
Day 18 – Compression
Day 19 – More compression
Day 20 – . . . and even more compression!
Day 21 – De-ess with care
Day 22 – Saturation and distortion
Day 23 – Don’t overdo reverb and delay
Day 24 – Pan backing vocals
Day 25 – Converting to MIDI
Day 26 – Vocal automation
Day 27 – Frequency allocation
Day 28 – Unit summary
Checklist
Further reading
9 Synthesis
Day 1 – Synthesis terrified me
Day 2 – What is a synthesiser?
Day 3 – Oscillators
Day 4 – Waveshapes
Day 5 – Combining oscillators
Day 6 – Tuning, unison, and voices
Day 7 – Filters
Day 8 – Amplifiers and envelopes
Day 9 – Modulation
Day 10 – LFOs
Day 11 – Other possible features
Day 12 – What makes a synth unique?
Day 13 – 1/10: Subtractive synthesis
Day 14 – 2/10: FM synthesis
Day 15 – 3/10: Sample-based synthesis
Day 16 – 4/10: Wavetable synthesis
Day 17 – 5/10: Vector synthesis
Day 18 – 6/10: Additive synthesis
Day 19 – 7/10: Spectral synthesis
Day 20 – 8/10: Physical modelling
Day 21 – 9/10: Granular synthesis
Day 22 – 10/10: West Coast synthesis
Day 23 – The main synth sounds
Day 24 – 20 top tips: 1–5
Day 25 – 20 top tips: 6–10
Day 26 – 20 top tips: 11–15
Day 27 – 20 top tips: 16–20
Day 28 – Unit summary
Further reading
10 Mastering
Day 1 – The dark art
Day 2 – Mixing vs mastering
Day 3 – A brief history
Day 4 – Preparing to master
Day 5 – Mix levels and compression
Day 6 – Loudness, the war, and penalties
Day 7 – The most important piece of gear is . . .
Day 8 – Don’t master your own tracks
Day 9 – Digital vs analogue
Day 10 – Optimising, not fixing
Day 11 – Good mastering preparation
Day 12 – The four stages of mastering: EQ
Day 13 – The four stages of mastering: Compression
Day 14 – The four stages of mastering: Limiting
Day 15 – The four stages of mastering: Metering
Day 16 – Using appropriate reference tracks
Day 17 – Trimming the start and end
Day 18 – Bouncing/rendering/exporting
Day 19 – Metadata
Day 20 – Beyond the essentials: Saturation
Day 21 – Beyond the essentials: Stereo enhancement
Day 22 – Beyond the essentials: Parallel processing
Day 23 – Beyond the essentials: Serial limiting
Day 24 – Adding reverb
Day 25 – Avoid ear fatigue
Day 26 – Stem mastering
Day 27 – Considering the medium and technical limitations
Day 28 – Unit summary
Further reading
Index