Hi guys and girls!br
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The Tech House 2014 tutorial series has just landed on Sonic Academy and I just thought I’ve pop my head into the forums to follow up and see if you guys had any questions!br
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Before I recorded the videos I had a look over the forums to see what you guys were after and I kept seeing messages about pre-prepared content and more insight into actually building tracks from scratch. So that’s what I did with this video series, I started from a completely blank Ableton project with no clear idea of what the track would be like and just built from there (maybe why it look a while ). I also wanted to start with resources you guys might have which included standard plugins, samples from Sonic Academy and the brilliant ANA synth. br
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Would love to hear what you thought of the videos and if you have any questions about any of the techniques I used, gear, ideas, samples or whatever, just post them below and I’m happy to answer them!br
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[quote]viktorj (11/12/2013)[hr]thanks for the tutorial mate, its great and easy to follow :)br
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Thanks! First time putting together a step-by-step so tried to make sure I covered everything!
Hi Richie, I’m up to the “More Drums” part of the tutorial at the mo, but I just had a couple of questions:br
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You’ve routed all your drum tracks to a separate audio channel in order to treat them together. Is this the same as when you use the group tracks option in Ableton or is it going to effect them differently?br
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Also, is there a reason you aren’t using the solo button when listening to single tracks? You seem to be disabling all the other tracks instead or is that just personal preference…? lol br
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Great vids so far tho mate, thanks for taking the time to do them!
Hi Richie, i was just wondering what sample packs you would recommend for loops?br
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I have bought about 3 or 4 sample packs in the past, and to be honest it’s been a bit of a mixed bag! A couple of them have been great and i’ve used them loads, the other couple i literally have never used, as when i went through the pack i found the quality was nowhere near as good as i was hoping, and the problem was that in the audio demo’s on the sample companies website, they made them sound much better than they actually are!br
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How would you recommend i go about finding sample packs that are going to be stables in my tracks, and that i’m going to use loads? The problem of course, is that you can’t demo every single sound/loop in each pack so you know exactly what you’re getting!
[quote]Roben (12/12/2013)[hr]Nice one mate, haven’t checked it out yet but will do. Liked the track you did with my best friend Amrick Channa.[/quote]br
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Thanks had good fun on that track with Amrick, he’s a great vocalist!
[quote]en1gma (12/12/2013)[hr]Hi Richie, I’m up to the “More Drums” part of the tutorial at the mo, but I just had a couple of questions:br
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You’ve routed all your drum tracks to a separate audio channel in order to treat them together. Is this the same as when you use the group tracks option in Ableton or is it going to effect them differently?br
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Also, is there a reason you aren’t using the solo button when listening to single tracks? You seem to be disabling all the other tracks instead or is that just personal preference…? lol br
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Great vids so far tho mate, thanks for taking the time to do them! :D[/quote]br
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I come from a Logic background so I’ve always been used to just running channels through buses. As far as I know, both methods work in exactly the same way and mine is probably less efficient but its just the way I learnt to do it. The beauty of learning software these days is that you can find your own way to accomplish any task, if it works for you then that’s all that counts. However, spending a day in the studio with someone else is also great as you learn tricks and tips that you might not have thought of!br
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I wish I could have used the soloing of the tracks, I always do that normally but it was purely because I had the microphone routed through Ableton when I was recording the videos so if I soloed you wouldn’t hear me talking. That was the only reason I didn’t use the solo br
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Hope you enjoy the videos!
[quote]davidmclean (12/12/2013)[hr]Hi Richie, i was just wondering what sample packs you would recommend for loops?br
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I have bought about 3 or 4 sample packs in the past, and to be honest it’s been a bit of a mixed bag! A couple of them have been great and i’ve used them loads, the other couple i literally have never used, as when i went through the pack i found the quality was nowhere near as good as i was hoping, and the problem was that in the audio demo’s on the sample companies website, they made them sound much better than they actually are!br
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How would you recommend i go about finding sample packs that are going to be stables in my tracks, and that i’m going to use loads? The problem of course, is that you can’t demo every single sound/loop in each pack so you know exactly what you’re getting![/quote]br
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Yes, buying sample packs is quite difficult. I have bought no end that have proved not to be worth it. The best tips I can say for that quite often they offer a free download of select loops from the pack. They usually reflect the quality of the pack so download them and try them out in your tracks. If they fit then chances are the rest of the pack will too. Also, don’t feel as though the samples are wasted because you haven’t used them in your current track. 6 months down the line you might just find that you might find that gem of a sample in that pack which just completes the track you’re working on.br
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Try different things with these loops too, try chopping them up or putting a high-pass filter over the top, you’ll see the loops take on a different characteristic and whilst not standing out in your mix, they just might add the extra bit of sound that your track is missing. Just don’t put them dry in your mix and expect them to just be the missing ingredient without any work.br
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As for suggestions for the best loops, I seem to never go wrong with Sample Magic. These guys put together great packs and if you’re buying ones that fit in the genre you produce, there’s usually a good amount of the loops there that will be useable. Also grab all the free loops you can, Sounds to Sample usually have a free sample with every sample pack on their website.
Thanks for the great answers to the questions Richie, it’s great to have someone who is getting so involved in the forums after doing a video tutorial.br
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I haven’t managed to watch all the videos you did yet, but i’ve seen a few and was really impressed with them mate. br
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Thanks for going such a good job with this.
Richie, I have a question mate…br
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When it comes to dunking biscuits in your tea, which do you prefer: Rich Tea or Hob Nobs?br
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:hehe:
[quote]davidmclean (13/12/2013)[hr]Thanks for the great answers to the questions Richie, it’s great to have someone who is getting so involved in the forums after doing a video tutorial.br
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I haven’t managed to watch all the videos you did yet, but i’ve seen a few and was really impressed with them mate. br
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Thanks for going such a good job with this.[/quote]br
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No problem, had fun doing them and hopefully will get chance to do some more
[quote]Roben (13/12/2013)[hr]Richie, I have a question mate…br
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When it comes to dunking biscuits in your tea, which do you prefer: Rich Tea or Hob Nobs?br
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:hehe:[/quote]br
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Finally… a serious question!br
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I’m more of a coffee and Oreos man
Just finished watching all of the videos! Great tutorials Richie and I love the fact that you stuck to the stock plugins within Ableton rather than using a load of 3rd party plugins.br
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It’s nice to know that you can get a professional sounding track from only the Ableton plugins (and X-Fer which is awesome BTW) ;)br
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Thanks again Richie, oh and its defo choccy digestives with a brew FTW :w00t:
[quote]DirtySecretz (13/12/2013)[hr][quote]Roben (13/12/2013)[hr]Richie, I have a question mate…br
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When it comes to dunking biscuits in your tea, which do you prefer: Rich Tea or Hob Nobs?br
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:hehe:[/quote]br
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Finally… a serious question!br
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I’m more of a coffee and Oreos man :)[/quote]br
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Trust you to go against the grain mate! :Dbr
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Anyways if you ever want some pro production tips, just let me know ;)br
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(joking btw!! )br
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Wicked videos mate, enjoyed that you used everything pretty much inside the box, it shows people (particularly new producers) that you don’t always need to download 100+ cracked plug ins to get professional sounding tracks.br
Every DAW these days comes with lots of quality plugins as standard, they spend a lot of time developing them and they’re often overlooked for 3rd party ones. It’s also good to strip back the amount of plugins you use so that you really concentrate on the music, if you restrict yourself like that you’ll find yourself being more creative in how you use the tools you got.br
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That’s not to say I use stock plugins all the time, synth of choice is usually Massive for me along with using Maschine for programming drums from scratch when it calls for it
I have to agree, mostly.br
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Although as an avid Ableton user, I used to always live by EQ Eight over the years, but actually since moving over to the Fabfilter Pro-Q a few months ago I haven’t looked back, it sounds much better and I have much better control.br
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Sometimes with a lot of these things, it’s about finding your ‘go to’ plug ins, everyone has preferences and favs, which can only really happen over time of using diff plugs and seeing what you gel best with, a bit like when trying diff DAWs actually. Diff people prefer diff ones, not that any of them are any better than the other.br
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I have to say, I am really impressed how you spent time in the forum to get a feel for what people were looking for and then you made yourself available for people. That is just really great.br
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good on you!br
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). I also wanted to start with resources you guys might have which included standard plugins, samples from Sonic Academy and the brilliant ANA synth. br
