How to become a better music producer? Sound & production tips

What should you look for in a reference track and how should you integrate the reference listening process into your workflow? We answer these questions below.

There are vast sample libraries out there that we can make use of, but despite the range of sounds available to us, there are good reasons for manipulating the samples that you use.

Our Sound Tips for this month are a little different. Instead of focussing on music production, we want to encourage you to think a little more deeply about song structures.

In this article, we will walk through three tips that will help you to record polished vocal parts.

If different instruments are playing in the same frequency range, the mix can become cluttered and ill-defined. Below are some tips on how to fix this problem.

There are various techniques that you can use to make sure that your studio time remains productive. in this article you can find some examples.

When you are using melodic samples or drum loops, you might want to consider modifying or reimagining them in order to make your music as unique as possible.

Noise gates (or simply, `gates`) were first developed to stop unwanted noise from creeping into a mix,but there are also many ways you can apply noise gates creatively to a mix, detail three of these below.

LFOs are often applied to the cut-off of a low-pass filter in order to create the infamous wobble bass sound. But there are also numerous other ways to creatively use LFOsa

In this article we detail several more ways than subtractive EQing can improve your mix quality.

Harmonies are an excellent way of adding color and interest to any track that contains vocals. We discuss various methods for adding harmonies into your productions.

The wonderful thing about field recordings is that they are totally unique – nobody else will have them in their sample library – so they can add some real individuality to a piece of music. We discuss three things to remember if you want to use field recordings in your work.

Sometimes we make the most satisfying discoveries by accident; if you are in full control of your workflow, you are never going to be surprised by any part of your production process.

Compression is one of the fundamental processes we use when mixing music. We will take for granted at this point that you know what each of a compressor`s controls does, and that you are comfortable setting a threshold level. But have you thought deeply about how tweaking some of a compressor`s other controls can change the sound you are processing?

If you`ve been using SoundGym, then the chances are that you realise ear training is important. But how does this training impact on how your music sounds?

Producers across an extremely wide range of genres can find themselves using drum samples; sometimes as loops, sometimes as one-shots, sometimes a combination of both. Below we highlight a few things that you should consider when working with drum samples in your productions.

There are many reasons to chase a vintage sound when mixing. Perhaps you are working in a genre such as soul or breakbeat where a vintage sound is often appropriated as a stylistic choice.

In the vast majority of productions that feature a vocal, it is one of the elements that will be front and centre of the mix. Adding spot FX to your vocals is a great way of holding listener attention, while also showing off your production chops!

Percussion is rarely the first thing you notice when listening to a track. But elements such as claps, tambourines, congas, and shakers can really elevate a piece of music.

our faders are powerful tools, and you should remember that many mix issues can be solved through balancing alone.

If your track features vocals, they will often be the element that attracts most scrutiny from your audience.

In this article, we're not going to give you tips that will improve your mixing, but we're going to share some tips that will hopefully save you from some major headaches.

We`ve written EQ tip articles before. In fact we`ve written them more than once, but this is such an important area of music production that we are back once again with some more EQ tips.

Drums are the backbone of most recordings, and the quality of the drum sound can make or break a track.

Stereo movement can be used to highlight certain musical parts and can be a great tool if a little more excitement is needed at certain points within a track

When used with skill, orchestral samples can be incredible. However, if used carelessly, even the best sample library can sound flat and unrealistic.

We`ve said it before and we`ll say it again – EQing is the most important skill that you need to master as a mix engineer. Unfortunately, it is also one of the hardest things to get right.

The quality of a lead vocal is absolutely fundamental to whether a track will succeed or fail. If your music features vocals in any way, you need to be able to mix this vital element with confidence.

It`s no secret that the hardest thing to get right when mixing in a home studio is the low-end. Many modern music genres rely on huge but tight bass sounds, but without professionally applied acoustic treatment and high-end monitoring, it can be hard to deliver this consistently.

Reverb is one of the effects that you are likely to find on pretty much any mix in almost any genre. It`s an interesting tool, because although it essentially just does one thing we can use it for a wide variety of mix tasks.

Guitars are absolutely central to mixes across a wide range of genres, but they are notoriously difficult to mix. Mixing is about creating individual space in the frequency spectrum for each musical element.

EQing is arguably the most important part of the mix process – and it`s also probably the hardest aspect of mixing to get right. Below, we highlight five different points that you should consider when reaching for that EQ.

Compression is one of the key audio production tools – it will be vital to almost all mixes you do, In this article, we discuss three advanced compression techniques that will help you take your mixes to the next level.

Mixing is all about creating space. As mix engineers, we need to create individual spaces for each mix element, and we do this through use of EQ, spatial effects and of course; panning.

Automation is a tool that is vital to most mixes, but are you using the technique to its full potential?

Every producer needs to learn a few tricks that will allow him or her to manipulate the stereo width of their different mix elements

we are going to look at how we can use reverb as a creative tool, to make various elements of our mix sound more interesting, exciting or dramatic

The word `distortion` can call to mind screaming guitars or bit-crushed drums, but there are also many more subtle ways we can use this tool to enhance our mixes.

Multiband Compressor is a powerful tool that has many uses you may not be aware of.

More tips about evaluating your mix. Follow these tips, and your mixes should start to improve straight away.

How can you evaluate the quality of your mix? What can indicate that your mixes are good and what can you do to improve it?

In this article we are going to look at ways you can use sends and returns to improve your mixing and your workflow.

Sidechain Compression is an incredibly powerful technique that can be used both to solve mix problems and for creative purposes. Many beginner rock producers seem to be unaware of this technique entirely – and may be surprised at how useful it proves to be.