So recently i've been getting a lot further in my productions than usual. I even finished my first ever track last week which is getting some great feedback! And what I have realised is I used to give up when my tracks sounded plain and robotic almost. Just a kick, hat, clap and simple bass line and I wasn't feeling it so gave up.
Recently I have been creating my atmospheres & textures first and it helps make my tracks/beats sound more natural and real. I've listed my workflow below for anyone who wants to try it;
- Download a few videos that include atmosphere i.e. busy streets/NYC, jungle atmospheres, the sound of skateboards etc. I literally typed in "NYC 2004" into youtube and found a great clip. I'm not sure why I chose 2004 but it just had to be random. I also like the sound of skateboarding which works well.
- Once you have your three tracks or so, find a half bar loop in each one. They don't all have to make a recognisable sound, one can just be background noise or static.
- Add reverb & delay to them all, at different levels, and for tracks that might make too much noise I use a gate effect ever so slightly to cancel some of it out.
- Group the tracks all together, and add a glue compressor to the group channel. Turn the threshold most of the way down until the dial starts flick every so slightly. Now add a compressor to the channel, and side-chain everything to the kick and again, turn the threshold down usually to around -32db.
Hope this helps even if it's just one person. When I realised what a difference it makes having atmos and textures, i've made sure they're one of the first things I do. They won't help you make a Beatport #1 but every little helps.
I noticed this sort of "Atmos" at the beginning of this track, if you listen closely, which inspired my idea/workflow
Submitted April 29, 2018 at 02:29PM by LewisSomerville https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/8fstao/if_i_had_to_give_one_useful_tip_its_create_your/?utm_source=ifttt