Once you’ve been making music for a few years, you’ll more than likely begin to notice your production process falling into some of the same patterns and procedures. Favourite plugins and effects chains will emerge, as well as particular chords that you like the feel of, and that thing you do with layering a bass on top of a sub will start to sound a bit less fresh than it did the first time you tried it out. If you make music in a style that is very repetitive also, like House or Techno, you’ll find your beat programming probably started to standardise even more quickly, both in terms of... more

It's time to tune in and turn off with the third part in my series on musical genres - because this time, I'm delving into the world of Ambient music production. Flying low under the radar of mainstream music tastes, Ambient is a style with a long history, rich with experimentation and subtlety. In this piece, I'm going to pick out five essential characteristics of Ambient, and show you how to perfect them in your own music! 1. Long Live Timbre! Tone and timbre are really important in Ambient music. These stylistic traits are arguably more important in this music than the typically salient... more

In this short tutorial, I’ll be outlining the basic building blocks and processes involved in creating ambient soundscapes. By implementing this technique, you can begin to make your own simple soundscapes immediately.Ambient soundscapes are called upon frequently by composers for film and video games due to their diverse applications. A well-designed soundscape can hold its own as a standalone texture or as an accompaniment to a more thematic section. While you can find a lot of quality atmospheric soundscapes in today’s sample libraries, learning how to create your own is an invaluable... more

Thinking of starting a label Here are 10 essential things to consider when setting up. 1. Choose The Music This may seem obvious but choosing the music you are going to sell is a pretty fundamental decision. It's often better for new labels to have a relatively narrow focus in what genres they are intending to sell. This also corresponds to the format s, take some time and really think about whether you are going to sell physical or just be a download label. Be realistic about physical products, they cost a lot to produce and you don't want to be left with rooms full of CD's and Vinyl's... more

How is Prog House laid out Strange title, i know but i just had this little question. Whenever i feel creative enough i sit down in FL and put a nice melody using FL keys and then use Nexus to get a better sound. But what comes after that The intro Beat? Pads? Leads? Here, I'll break this track of mine down for you mallive arona Intro Bars 1-8 Basic drums and intro pad Bars 9-16 Basic drums, intro pad, introduces pluck piano and arp Bars 17-24 No Kick, intro pad, more pluck piano Bars 25-32 Basic drums, intro pad, more pluck piano and FX Breakdown Build Bars 33-40 No kick, introduction of... more

When you're mixing music, it's easy to get started if you have a set idea of what you're trying to accomplish. However, going from one track to another can quickly create a chaotic mixing situation. You might start out doing levels, then switch to panning and then think about some distortion tips you want to try. Then all of a sudden you don't know where your mix is going. I like structure when working, so it's good for me to have a good workflow when mixing. If you've been following my emails, lately you know how the structure goes and you know how I like simplifying things to make the... more

Dark ambient is a genre that is still quite a mystery, even to many dedicated fans, though it’s been around for several decades. An important factor in the dark ambient scene is the minuscule number of followers, in comparison to many other genres, scattered over the entirety of the globe. From Argentina to Siberia, dark ambient listeners seek something unique, something that is wholly outside the lines of modern trends. During my own personal discovery of the genre, I waded through numerous interviews and live performances, trying to discern exactly what the hell is going on, how these... more

When you mix your music you can either elevate your original ideas to greatness... or destroy them. This is MusicTech's Essential Guide to mixing. Make sure your tunes take that upward journey, every time... This essential guide is about one of the most important aspects of music production, if not the most important. It's the part of music-making where all of your ideas come together so that they can stand up and be counted. Conversely, if you don't know what you're doing they could just as easily fall by the wayside in a crashing pile marked 'Oh, if only...'. We're talking about the mix... more

The drum sound is the backbone of any mix. The bass drum keeps the pulse going, the snare drives the rhythm forward, and the feel of the drum beat is what gives the song its groove. Knowing your way around the EQ is a very important aspect of getting a great drum mix going. The following post will give you the best principles for getting that great drum EQ. Every drum mix is different, and your preferences will vary depending on what kind of sound you are going for. That said, looking around in those frequency areas will give you a good starting point to that awesome drum sound. Kick Drum... more

When I write articles and make tutorials, I want to really focus on being process oriented. For me, mixing isn't about techniques and signal chains, but about a thought process. I decide what I want and then use techniques or experiments to get that result. My growth as an engineer doesn't come from building a catalogue of techniques, it comes from broadening my musical awareness and refining my sense of feel and emotion. In the ever-forward quest of getting folks to think about music, I'd like to re-exam parallel processing. Parallel processing on its most literal level means making a... more