Dissensus Raw Productions

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
I don't think I ever met a single person who didn't use cracked software at some point. Years ago I was a regular in an IRC chatroom for one of the big production forums and a few developers would hang out. One guy was head of a well respected company. Turned out he used to be in a major cracking group and that's how he eventually got into coding his own stuff.
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
I refuse to use anything other than trial versions and a complex workflow of bouncing, recording audio to Audacity and writing down which preset I used before rebooting.
 

chava

Well-known member
I don't think I ever met a single person who didn't use cracked software at some point. Years ago I was a regular in an IRC chatroom for one of the big production forums and a few developers would hang out. One guy was head of a well respected company. Turned out he used to be in a major cracking group and that's how he eventually got into coding his own stuff.
The smartest guys started in the cracker/demo groups for sure. But I guess that's kinda over by now
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
@wektor 2nd listen and noticed its nicely mixed. Solid. Trying to get my head around all that stuff at the mo. So much to learn. Tuning drums, tightening up the low mids. Multiband compressors. Endless YouTube tutorials. Certain things make perfect sense when you think about how a speaker works and having everything harmonically cohesive so the woofers aren't flapping about. Do you focus on that stuff much? Idk how true this is but I feel like people weren't half as anal about this back in the 90s. Not compared to how things have gotten now, which of course leads to sterility when pushed too far. There's a balance to be found somewhere between raw reckless abandon and MJ Cole/Photek. Which I love too ofc. Modern day hyper gloss is no bueno tho. Ear candy for sure but tiring after extended listening
 

wektor

Well-known member
@wektor 2nd listen and noticed its nicely mixed. Solid.
Wew thanks, my mixes are usually complete ass (if you peek through my previous post in this thread you'll be able to tell), I feel like this was an exception and I'm very glad it does make a difference to people after all!

After some basic EQing (highpassed synths, whatever else done to taste but tried my best not to dive into sound design once I had the sounds I was working with already) there's some multiband compression or gating on most of the tracks, just to make things pump/hit the right way.

fyi I'm almost completely clueless when it comes to compression so I just go for whatever preset sounds super punchy and overdone after random adjustments then play with dry/wet settings to use maybe 15% of that signal. Got to know about setting the tresholds in multiband compressors recently and it seems like yet another thing that you can spend 2h on doing. "Is it still too weak or does it sound like a noisia snare already?"

I think what usually does the trick is getting the levels of each track right (I usually start with adjusting the drums soloing out everything, then bass and so on) and A/B-ing with a well picked reference track, I think in this case reference was (its in that lovely grey area between dnb and electro, a different twist on neurofunk perhaps?)

I think he doesn't have that much stuff happening in the mid/highs as I do, hence I ended up with this funny (or perhaps old skool?) proportion of bass/everything else where everything is a little muddy but it still kicks.

Actually I lied. I didn't A/B it, I analysed the tune with izotope's tonal balance control and used it as a template to get the levels right.
Ih in my case seeing the spectrum and some proportion reference is very important as I'm usually deaf to that stuff (unless I mix tracks so A/B-ing results in something close to the same, maybe more intuitive actually).

Getting the levels right is half of the job done and you can really hear if they are right if you mix it with stuff. Makes me feel like I need some dj equipment at home.

I've just taken a look at my master channel in that project and there's only the live limiter there. Turned up to +13dB that's all. No mastering tips from me I suppose.
 

wektor

Well-known member
and to actually answer your question: I don't focus on that stuff much because usually I'd see myself drown in redoing the sound design after trying to eq a simple sound.
I don't like the engineering bit to be honest, I find it very boring and frustrating at times, most of the time I'm hoping that if I fit things together decently right away I won't have to spend the next few days polishing that shit up.

I think the keyboard and mouse warriors like Objekt or MESH do grasp the nuances of mixing/compression really fucking well but I don't think it's pure engineering.
It is tempting to go back and forth between mixin and sculpting sounds but I reckon it takes a massive amount of mental discipline to keep yourself sane if you decide to explore that area.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I've tidied up a tune I did about a year and a half ago, sounds much better now:


I need some new projects. Would be glad to get recommendations for hip-hop or female-vocal r'n'b tunes that I might be able to find as acappellas to make new tracks for. (Tracks you already know are available a cappella, on YT for example, are obviously ideal.)
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
It seems unlikely no one has thought of making techno in 3/4 time before. There's another reason no one does it which I will leave to the reader's imagination.
No-one has seized this opportunity with the same gusto, though.

The signal advantage is that as waltztek is the time-stamped product of solitary genius rather than scenius, I have overarching intellectual property rights to anyone else's ham-fistedly derivative effusions, which rights I am however willing to forego in exchange for a modest licensing fee.

Capitalism loves waltztek: not only will the market be flooded with new DJ software that can handle 3/4, but every single techno classic with yesteryear's outdated time signature will be overhauled and resold to a ravenous public, with licensing payments piling up accordingly.

It's by far the best idea I've had this morning.
 
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Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
What do you lot say about making a dissensus compilation? Maybe a month to get a track together with some kind of theme for cohesion?
I'd be up for that! What would we do once we had it, though?

Would the well-connected among us then use their 24-carat music biz connections to pimp the comp out to high-profile journalists, A&R people for top-flight and achingly cool record labels, that sort of thing? :D
 
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