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SAURON - The DAW All Media Composers Must Learn???



I know Christian would normally post his videos on here anyway (though I notice this was a Spitfire one, rather than one from his personal channel) but this weeks it one of his best. I found his guide to orchestrating with midi and sample libraries incredibly useful and insightful. Learned more from those 22 minutes than from some courses!
 
The Overstayer Modular Channel 8755DS sounds great. I enjoyed your drum processing tips as well. Thanks for the video, Christian!

My preferred method of achieving parallel processing in software is to use Blue Cat's PatchWork. It's a plugins patchbay that allows you to create up to eight parallel chains that can be activated independently. It has the added benefit of hosting VST and AU plugins in Pro Tools.




Another great plugin for beefing up drums is Goodhertz Vulf Compressor. Here's a short demo:




Thanks for reminding me about Spitfire's Blue Devils Drumline library. I've been meaning to give it a try. Perhaps I'll pick that up this month. At $29, it's an easy choice.

Best,

Geoff
 
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Great tips, CH. Thanks for sharing as always.

I've created somewhere north of 1000 beats(!) and here's some things I do:

One of the best limiters I use is actually Logic's "Bit Crusher" plugin. Turn off all the "downgrade" options until you're getting a clean signal. Next, match the "clip level" to wherever your signal is peaking. Now, drag the "clip level" lower and watch the magic happen. It's surprising how much peak signal you can remove without audio artefacts. More headroom is always better. I use this plugin to get the peaks of the kick and snare to match each other if I'm in a hurry.

If you have a kick and bass line occupying the same frequency band, yet both are hitting at the same time, Logic's "Sample Delay" often works. Use this to move the bass line later by a few ms to avoid the "peak" of the kick. I like to ramp up the effect too far until I can hear a clear gap between the two parts, then slowly wind it back the other way until the gap is no longer there. This trick works more effectively if you're using a kick with a fast decay.

Finally, a quick way to get more punch on your kick is via Logic's enveloper plugin. Ramp up the attack gain for more punch. The tradeoff here is more peak signal - but see tip one. 😉

I'm sure there's more, but I've got another beat to mix..
 
Great tips, CH. Thanks for sharing as always.

I've created somewhere north of 1000 beats(!) and here's some things I do:

One of the best limiters I use is actually Logic's "Bit Crusher" plugin. Turn off all the "downgrade" options until you're getting a clean signal. Next, match the "clip level" to wherever your signal is peaking. Now, drag the "clip level" lower and watch the magic happen. It's surprising how much peak signal you can remove without audio artefacts. More headroom is always better. I use this plugin to get the peaks of the kick and snare to match each other if I'm in a hurry.

If you have a kick and bass line occupying the same frequency band, yet both are hitting at the same time, Logic's "Sample Delay" often works. Use this to move the bass line later by a few ms to avoid the "peak" of the kick. I like to ramp up the effect too far until I can hear a clear gap between the two parts, then slowly wind it back the other way until the gap is no longer there. This trick works more effectively if you're using a kick with a fast decay.

Finally, a quick way to get more punch on your kick is via Logic's enveloper plugin. Ramp up the attack gain for more punch. The tradeoff here is more peak signal - but see tip one. 😉

I'm sure there's more, but I've got another beat to mix..
Yeah clipping is standard practice in mastering to control short transients and gain a couple of dbs.

Here’s a long video talking about this:

 
Christian, your entry is by far the best of the 4.

But you lost me in the end. As much as I appreciated the process AND the approach, I think the final product is not as good as the separate tracks.
The search for that loudness / trailer sound killed all the subtle magic you were putting in the making.

See what happens when you commit yourself with the "Ableton geeks gang".
And you had your hair cut when you should have had your hair dyed. What a disgrace... ;)

I've really tried to follow Huang's channel but got tired by the shameless self-promotion and that super-loud super-lifeless sound that every "ooooh myyyy God" überkool producer seem to rave about.

As much as I love a lot the stuff you write, you lost me on this one, because of the final mix mostly.

That said your "Zeitgeist" remark on the 4th producer entry (which I called "arpeggiator trepenation") tells everything and had me laughing a lot. Thanks for this :)
 
I've been hammering away at this for nearly 14 years now, trying to get the ULTIMATE intimate piano sound. By using my trusty Schimmel, celeste pedal down 2 X M19s a KU100 and a duvet (high tog) , have a nailed it and could it be the best piano sound I've made since my LABS Soft Piano?

 
I've been hammering away at this for nearly 14 years now, trying to get the ULTIMATE intimate piano sound. By using my trusty Schimmel, celeste pedal down 2 X M19s a KU100 and a duvet (high tog) , have a nailed it and could it be the best piano sound I've made since my LABS Soft Piano?


Great video @christianhenson. Hard to believer that there are now 500 libraries on Pianobook, such a massive achievement and the quality still blows me away!
 
Super!

Great!

A lot of gold here. Techniques, future plans, and sweet sounds. Happy Birthday, for sure. Chills all over.
 
Finally, I'm about to try out the newest piano libraries from PB. I'm particularly intrigued by "Claustrophobic Piano", especially in comparison to the beloved LABS Soft Piano. There is just something about it that never ceases to inspire me. I'm hoping to contribute a few new pieces to PB in due time that would feature these new instruments.

P.S. Thanks to CH for featuring one of my tracks in the latest PB video!
 
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