The things I have done as a producer so far...
- Feb 26, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 12, 2020
Here are some of the productions I have done so far:
- This is the induction task that I did. It was fairly straight forward in its process - I recorded a group performing a cover song, did some live mixing on a deck, whilst they played (which i needed lots of help with and I am not very good at). I later mixed the recording. Generally my mixing is not anything major, as I struggle with Eq and Compression, I got help equalising/compressing the mix. But also added some effects - which Is something I am good at - I added reverb, however something I have been told that I need to work on is subtlety - I tend to go to the extremes in my music, often adding an excruciating amount of things to my mix - In this case it is reverb - however I also do it with very simple things like gain and volume - I needed help setting the volume of the instruments in this mix, since I tend to put everything at very high volume. It is important to be subtle when mixing because sometimes a slight difference is all a mix requires to sound good and any more will make it worse.
- The Big Break Project was similar to the induction project - I recorded Cordy's band playing their song called Deserve You, later I mixed it on Logic Pro X. Similarly to the induction project, my mixing was not the best, but it was better as I needed considerably less help, having gained a bit of a better understanding of EQ and Compression. I also used the classic effects that I always use - reverb and distortion - I used these in vast quantities, making the guitars sound electric and distorted, making the mix sound like a rock 'n' roll song. I have generally good skills with setting effects, like distortion, but I need to be more subtle about them.
I later took part in the live mixing of the gig in Paradise lounge - having much help with the mixing desk, as I lack confidence on it and need much much more practice. I also served as DI manager; connecting DI boxes to synthesizers and other instruments as and when required. I received slight guidance on connecting the DI, but otherwise found the job pretty easy, the hardest part being working under pressure - something that I am not very good at, as well as knowing when I am needed.
- Afterward, I did genre spotlight, where I found out about one of three genres from the nineties (Hip-hop, Brit Pop or EDM), I chose EDM and later had to make an EDM track on logic. This was pretty hard, as I have never done EDM before, and my mixing skills where still over the top, resulting in a very loud mix. I chose three songs by The Prodigy as my reference tracks and ended up sounding not very much like them, due to the loudness of my mixes, as well as my style of composing - having constant changes in rhythm and chords and riffs in my songs, rather than being monotonous, meaning it made it hard to make a melody over them, especially with the lyrics I have written, which where very long and lasted longer than the actual music, as well as were very intricate and not much with the genre, this meant that my mixes lacked vocals. This task was pretty hard, but also fun. Here is my Mix: https://soundcloud.com/simon-grabowiecki/edm-simon/s-6nkoV
Composition/ auxiliary stuff:
- Outside of college I composed some tracks, dubbed by myself as "Symphonic Thrash Metal". I did these on Garageband, due to not having logic, meaning slightly more limited resources to work with. The first major track I composed was called "The Black Dragon" - I also have written lyrics to match the track... The only thing I really need is a melody, which I always struggle doing - matching words and chords to melody. The track shows off my style - aggressive, fast paced, symphonic and intense. The mixing and EQ is not so good due to my poor mixing skills - meaning that it was a real challenge to get the track to sound decent, although I have received some guidance on mixing and mastering of the track, meaning it sounds better. I also learned that subtlety is very important on this track - i turned down the gain, which previously was very high, causing the guitars to be louder than most instruments, and also turned down the volume on all the instruments to make them audible - initially everything was very loud and and screaming over the top of each other. Finally I lowered the tone on the guitar which got rid of the shrieky hissing of the high end of the sound, which was too much and drowned out the sound of everything else. I also need to lower the bass on the other instruments using eq. I lowered the Bass on the guitars so that I make room for the Bass and the piano (according to cube theory, which is important so that the sounds layer on each other rather than get in each other's way), I also scooped the Mid range on the guitars, so to get the classic "thrash" sound. I also got told that I need to master and lower the bass on the entire mix as it is overly bassy. Here is the Mix:
- Another Hard Mix to pull off was Rival, I put my composition skills to the test as I decided that the main riff would be consisting of tremolos as well as 8th notes. It was hard because i didn't really know how to sequence a tremolo in a way that it would sound decent, and not like the engine of a modded car. I ended up finding out that using higher notes (E1 etc) rather than the really low stuff that I was using (I was in Drop A so i went at A0). I also struggled with lead guitar as I still can't make good melodies that match chords. I managed to make a very good sounding chord progression that sounds dark and evil to fit the theme of the song (although i haven't written any lyrics for it yet, I have a mental picture of what I want the song to be about)
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