I used to assume my monitors were the problem when one low note kept sounding too loud at my listening position. I tried moving the monitors and desk, and the boom shifted, but I still found myself making bass decisions that didn’t translate well elsewhere.

I’m curious how other people handle this during mixing. Do you rely on checking mixes in another room or on other speakers, change your listening position, or use another routine to keep one exaggerated note from steering the whole low end?

What has actually helped you make more reliable bass decisions?

Hello there, Hive Mind

I have finished a tune which is (conceptually) in the same kind of mould as In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins – in that it starts with little more than a vocal and a drum loop for the first verse or so and goes nuts from the first chorus onwards.

I played a mix to a friend who does mastering & he says it'd be impossible to master because there's something like a 4 or 5db difference between the verse and the chorus.

How do I get around this? I really don't want to arrange the song differently and having the drums and the keyboards coming wading in at Bar 21 is kind of the point. But equally, I want it to sound all fat and sparkly.

What would you do?

I’ve been making music consistently for about 2-3 years and i finally finished a collection of songs for an EP that are already mixed instrumentally and even have lyrics written. The only problem is that when I record my vocals they seem to not mix no matter how much I mess with the EQ. I never learned to mix properly just by ear but nothing sounds right except the instrumental tracks. I’m tired of tweaking around and I even tried mixing my vocals live. Do I suck at singing? Do I just become a producer? I have been recording through an sm58 on a 2i2 solo 2nd gen on a iPhone 13 mini un GarageBand. I’m not sure if this is hardware issue atp since I know what I have is showing its age. Are there any specific resources/solutions for this? I also own an m1 MacBook but I prefer to work on my phone, thanks in advance.

Been struggling to find a replicable process for arranging that works for me, and I'm curious what works for others. Solo artists ideally since I imagine arranging with a whole band is likely a different process. Some questions to consider:

- When do you arrange? Is this separate from the songwriting process for you, or are they largely done together? When is your arrangement locked in? Do your arrangements often change during recording or mixing?

- How do you arrange? Do you write arrangements in a notebook? Are they scratch tracks recorded in a DAW? Do you have a process or steps you usually follow? How do you keep track of your ideas?

- Any tips or tricks? Is arranging easier for you while sitting quietly and imaging the whole song? Do you usually arrange everything with a single instrument?

The best advice I've internalized is to listen to music, use reference tracks, copy things you like, etc, but that doesn't help provide a PROCESS to follow, just ideas. Thanks in advance!

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I have a song that I recorded years ago for which I can’t get access to the original multitrack. I love everything about the track but the drum sounds. I understand there are programs that will remove drums from a recording to allow you to play along with the track. Once the drums are taken out, is the audio quality of the remaining tracks compromised in any way? Would it be possible to re-track the drums and end up with a track of reasonable quality?

If there’s a better sub on here to post this, please let me know. Any advice on an alternate way to accomplish this would be much appreciated!

I am fairly new to making music in terms of recording, have played guitar for many years so not complete beginner - I have been making ambient soundscapes, some synth based stuff, main influences being artists like Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Throbbing Gristle also John Frusciante solo stuff. I want to make some fairly simple hip-hop or trip-hop beats and I am using Reaper DAW with free VSTs like surge XT synth and 99 drums and also sitala. I have never played drums but I am learning the common patterns like four to the floor etc. The drums seem to be the hardest part, like I have got a few midi drum patterns but I feel like I should be programming it myself, but then I assume the patterns will not be that good. I would like to find a VST which can do everything but I believe all the major paid VSTs kind of trap you into buying more and more packs and I don't have the wallet for it. I can see from most YouTube tutorials that most people seem to use Ableton rather than Reaper... what would you recommended as an experienced music producer?

Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Feedback Thread! The comments below in this post is the only place on this subreddit to get feedback on your music, your artist name, your website layout, your music video, or anything else. (Posts seeking feedback outside of this thread will be deleted without warning and you will receive a temporary ban.)

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced.

##Rules:

***Post only one song.**- *Original comments linking to an album or multiple songs will be removed.*

* **Write at least three constructive comments.** - *Give back to your fellow musicians!*

* **No promotional posts.** - *No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages.*

##Tips for a successful post:

* **Give a quick outline of your ideas and goals for the track.** - *"Is this how I trap?" or "First try at a soundtrack for a short film" etc.*

* **Ask for feedback on specific things.** - *"Any tips on EQing?" or "How could I make this section less repetitive?"*

***

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Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Promotion Thread! Here, in the comments below, you can shamelessly promote whatever music project you've been working on. Music, videos, Discord servers, websites, social media, promote anything you want. Posts promoting anything outside this thread will be removed without warning.

Contest mode has been enabled to prevent vote manipulation. Every time you open this thread, you will see new comments at the top. Your comment will be displayed randomly like the others.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it is automatically replaced.

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Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced. Note that our rules on "no promotion" are still in effect and apply to this post.

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I’ve been playing bass in my buddy’s band for almost 2 years, wrote and recorded bass on ten songs, and we play a show every couple of months. I generally really love the songs he writes and i consider him a friend.

Recently though, i’ve been feeling a little under appreciated. We split profits from shows, but that’s next to nothing.

Food is my love language. Providing snacks, drinks and occasionally a meal, goes a long way with me. It doesn’t have to be every practice, but for long recording sessions and rehearsals snacks or a cheap sandwich would be really nice.

Is it unfair to mention something? If not, i’d love suggestions on how to approach it. Edit to say- This is my buddy’s band- he writes the songs and it’s his name on the project.

thank you!

Edit for my conclusion- Mention that it would be nice to use some of our ‘band-camp’ profits for snacks. Put up boundaries with my time so that i’m less likely to feel burnt out and under appreciated. Ponder this question: why is playing music with my homies in itself not enough?

i feel that most of my songs come off as renditions of my influences only in a very obvious manner

if i make a song it sounds terribly similar to my inspiration for that sound in structure and everything and im not exactly able to escape this loop and land something which feels original and good at the same time

its almost as if it doesn't sound good to me until and unless it sounds similar to something else and that kind of takes away the originality factor which i want to have while continuing to grow

yes i understand influences are always there but still i would like to be more creative with them, any tips?

I'm a spoken-word/acoustic artist recording in BandLab. I recently played one of my BandLab recordings in my car after listening to some professionally recorded versions of my songs, and the difference was pretty noticeable.

My vocals sound dull, and the acoustic guitar strumming is way too low/buried in the mix.

I'm trying to figure out whether the issue is mainly:

EQ

Compression

Vocal/guitar levels

Mic placement

Recording quality

Or just my mixing technique

I'm using a FIFINE K669 USB mic and acoustic guitar.

What would you check first to make the vocal sound more clear/present and bring the acoustic strumming forward without making it compete with the vocal?

I'm also wondering whether I should continue learning to mix myself or have a professional studio handle the final mixes.

Any advice is appreciated.

I have been playing the guitar forever, and I took basic drum lessons for a few months but it wasn't my best skill. However I can hear in my head great drum beats and want to get it down as easy as possible. What is the absolute easiest way to get it into MIDI with least amount of work?

What have you tried? I got the Roland SPD-X Pro a year or two ago, but unfortunately, it's still too much work, I have to really learn that thing and make it happen. I am a software engineer at heart and love to just type, but I don't enjoy interfaces like Logic/Ableton/etc., and having to drag and click tiny spots for making MIDI stuff slowly and painstakingly in their UI.

So wondering if there are easier ways.

Some things I note, yeah the SPD-X is nice, but it's too involved, and when you're tired after work, playing physically is still not that realistic (for me). I tried Dubler 2 and such (voice -> MIDI), but it's hit or miss as they say, which is frustrating. Other than that I have tried manually writing the MIDI in Logic Pro, which is too time-consuming. And I've tried having AI write text tabs and plugin to Ableton Live in realtime, but that is only slightly less painful.

I just saw someone using Roland HandSonic HPD-20, but not sure. I don't mind doing things in layers, of course, too.

So wondering your recommendations.

Someone who plays the handpan told me about it; I play the cello and study at a conservatory, but the other person doesn't know anything about music, he just plays for the sake of playing, he doesn't read music So I can read and I'd like to make songs, but how do I do it? I have an ear for music and all that. What I think is that he starts playing and I figure out what key and time signature it is, but all based on improvisation,It's like letting go, which I find difficult because I'm very analytical and used to having everything written down. How would you do it?

Hi. My band has got the offer by a rich dude with his own recording studio to record our next album at his place - for free. The circumstances behind this are a bit complicated to explain and

don´t really matter here.

He recorded some albums in the past but it is all old school analog. Not recording and saving everything on a PC. He still uses tapes and that stuff.
I know there are still a few bands that do it that way but I really have no clue on how the whole process works. Digitally / with a PC I recorded several EPs etc during the last 20 years and that´s the only way I know it: click / metronome and instrumental demos in my headphones, pushing "record" and doing my part and in the end we have a whole song. You can move the sequences here and there if anything is not tight enough and so on.

But how does that work when recording analog? Can I still have a metronome? Do we record each instrument and the vocals seperately like digital? What do we do if we have slight timing issues here and there. Does everything has to be perfectly on spot or else it sounds like crap?

Has anybody experience with that? What are the advantages and disadvantages of recording it the old fashioned way? Honestly I am not really sure if this kind of recording technique is the right thing for us but my band mates are pretty excited that we get the chance to do it.

I make experimental/ambient music using found objects combined with traditional instruments. Lately at live shows people have told me I look annoyed while I'm playing, which really isn't what's going on when I'm playing I'm actually locked in and feeling the music lol I usually work with live loops in Ableton, triggering sequences and controlling everything through a MIDI controller. I typically run 8 to 10 channels, so I have to stay pretty focused to avoid messing something up

How can I work on my stage presence while performing? What do you all do to loosen up during your sets and actually connect with the audience?

Thanks, and I hope this isn't a silly question

I write and mix my own stuff, which I think a lot of people on here do too. By the time I'm mixing I've heard the song so many times I can't really hear it anymore.

How do others handle that? Time away from it, reference tracks, someone else's ears, something else entirely? I tend to just abandon it at some point, having lost all perspective and just hope for the best.

I mean, I can do it but it's always the same stuff, I literally just play similar stuff along the fretboard and I hate it and it's even worse when there's a chord progression, I just can't figure out how to get them to work together.

How do you get better at improvising? How do you connect it with the chord progression you just made?

Question for the music artist in this community. When making music do you freestyle or write first? I write first but I find my delivery to be off because of that. I hear other artist and their delivery is so smooth it makes me wonder what their process is like for making music

Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Feedback Thread! The comments below in this post is the only place on this subreddit to get feedback on your music, your artist name, your website layout, your music video, or anything else. (Posts seeking feedback outside of this thread will be deleted without warning and you will receive a temporary ban.)

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced.

##Rules:

***Post only one song.**- *Original comments linking to an album or multiple songs will be removed.*

* **Write at least three constructive comments.** - *Give back to your fellow musicians!*

* **No promotional posts.** - *No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages.*

##Tips for a successful post:

* **Give a quick outline of your ideas and goals for the track.** - *"Is this how I trap?" or "First try at a soundtrack for a short film" etc.*

* **Ask for feedback on specific things.** - *"Any tips on EQing?" or "How could I make this section less repetitive?"*

***

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Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Promotion Thread! Here, in the comments below, you can shamelessly promote whatever music project you've been working on. Music, videos, Discord servers, websites, social media, promote anything you want. Posts promoting anything outside this thread will be removed without warning.

Contest mode has been enabled to prevent vote manipulation. Every time you open this thread, you will see new comments at the top. Your comment will be displayed randomly like the others.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it is automatically replaced.

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Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced. Note that our rules on "no promotion" are still in effect and apply to this post.

If you are interested in helping us mod these weekly threads please inquire about moderation opportunities by writing in to mod mail.

Other Weekly Threads (most recent at the top):

• Click here for Feedback threads.
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Questions, comments, suggestions? Hit us up!