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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/31/20 in all areas
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2 points
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Thanks and the great thing with psy trance in all its guises is it is a very rich music, technically and culturally and there is a lot to learn and enjoy, it is nice and a privilege to be involved with something that can be limitless.1 point
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great insightful stuff there mikro! Thanks for typing all that up, really valuable information.1 point
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Following on from the "you need to use an oscilloscope" if you want your music to sound good on a big system. There is an element of truth in this, it is a very useful visual aid...as I mentioned it will help avoid anomalies that can cause sub cancellation and get you in the ball park. (avoid strange psychoacoustic effects that sound "odd" to the ear) One thing to know about some of the best PA systems. They are wide bandwidth, they have lots of headroom, they have low distortion and very good driver integration, superb transient response and if you are really lucky they are outdoors : ) Infinite bass traps to the sky ! (so you hear the sound system and not PA system and skewed response of a room, arguably perfect sound) Anything you play though them will sound better than a sound system that is fundamentally poorly designed (or in a terrible acoustic space, dropping 120dB of sub bass into a big room), under powered, poor frequency response, limited bandwidth, relatively high distortion (old/worn drivers and amps) lower tech, lower quality drivers, crossovers and build quality (poor cabs/ bad bracing/resonant cabs).... or just worn out since 20 years of playing out. The high headroom and low distortion is important because when you listen to many big artists there is variation in their output.... tonally. Some are more subby, some brighter, some have a little thick sound some a little thinner, some more saturated, some cleaner. There are many ways to sound good. Some of this is taste driven.. but to judge it correctly you need accuracy in the monitoring from the start. So my opinion is you can sound good on a big PA even if your kick and bass line is not so rocking. I have have danced to music from a fairly unknown artist and been very happy and enjoyed the sound (very much melody driven but not Goa) and kbbb.... only to find when I got home and listened, I found them meh (actually not very good at all IMO and compared objectively to a big artist well versed in great kbbb).... so not so great kick and bass after all. (The complete opposite of the premise of "Do you listen at the party on great sound systems?" ) So how did this phenomena happen ? You see at the party you are happy, having a great time, the music is loud and your adrenaline and endorphins are flowing. So maybe your overall impression is actually better than a cold hard objective listen on headphones or speakers at home. Remember other than phase alignment of the kick tail and bass note 1 (and potential cancellation of sub) an oscilloscope tells you very little about the spectral content of a kick and bass... sub content, mids and transients. (HPF or low shelf cut choices, harmonic EQ choices minimum or linear phase EQ choices - well ok if non linear phase then this will show up as a phase shift on the scope) but it does not suggest much about how much sub/bass/mids and tops do you have in your kbbb. All of these aspects are also very important to sounding good on those big PA systems. Some tracks have PLENTY of sub and some much less and both can sound good and drive a track along. What may well influence this more is ... am I aiming my mix to be as loud as the big releases when mastered. (Disclosure...I am professional mastering engineer) So sub amount given a PA system we shall call "The Reference PA" - A hypothetical flat PA system from 30Hz-20kHz outdoor with infinite bass traps to the clouds can be different depending on taste/ perceived volume choices / mistakes in monitoring. It is not just "use an oscilloscope and you will be guaranteed to sound good on a big system". There will come a time when more than 50pct of the people on the dance floor will think... woah... too subby or, bass seems light .... too much top end or... upper mids are making my ears hurt I am off to sit this out for a while etc. etc. This is to be avoided and ideally at the mixing stage. (even though the suggestion is about broad tonality of a release.) Also a note about how much sub, how much bass in the kick and bass... well I can tell you at least one sound system for psy trance I have heard was tuned more like D&B sound system with COLOSSAL sub bass... I mean over kill subs. So to coin the term "on a big sound system" there is not always a standard, as in if you want to sound good on a big sound system... there is no standard sound system for a start. There are multiple parameters that need to be precisely hitting "The middle path" to satisfy more than 50pct of the listeners. (not just a scope alignment) This can avoid the subby track sounding like thunder is striking the party on a system tuned with too much sub and a bass light track sounding like "Thin fest" on a system where the extra sub reinforcement was left in the PA hire warehouse. And as mentioned some artists have a thicker deep sub than others, this also relates to your bass line root note. I am all for this mixing style variation, it is a form of artistic difference that can maybe make different artists stand out a little more over an above their musicality differences. (maybe not the most deep of artistic differences, compared with synthesis, instrumentation choices, style, melody or more effects based psy, sub genre choice, melodic or sound effects based psy etc.).. but a choice nonetheless, notwithstanding mistakes caused from sub optimal listening conditions. Food for thought.1 point
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From what I heard/know, our serbian musical pride - Talpa has worked so many years on table in living room on KRK 6 which he sold. And after he complained that he will buy another KRK because he is used and perfected on them. Only last year he managed to finish and move to studio, I think those are KRK 8 now: Last year I also 'made' my studio. All panels were DIY and thankfuly to Colin OOOD who gave me various tutorials on that, I was able to save loads of money, to make them look good and have good use! Lets say it costed me 60-70% less from finished product prices - I saved enough to buy monitors, lights and rest fancy stuff. Room is 4x3m, superchunk basstraps in all corners plus flat traps on first reflection points (above head too) and rest filled with pyramidal foam to collect more mids and higs. Luckily in this room i have wood paneling ceilings filled with glasswool which extra isolation. Hairy and heavy carpet which is also big plus. All in all, huge game changer for around 500-600 euro. 1/3 of room is completely isolated. It's very acoustic and in same way I can make music non stop full power without disturbing anyone in other rooms or outside house! Some photos before decoration and with: Now compare that sound/mixdown to Imba - Liberation which was made/mixed in this studio after. Or with any new releases in future1 point
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its good to read everyones thoughts on this, as difference of opinion is important - and very much a good thing. about vinyl vs cd; i meant it only as a reference to that we do love a little dirt on the signal path. I too prefer digital audio files; vinyl is just way too expensive; and cumbersome, and as you say Mikro; it degrades over time and thats just how it is.. But there is no denying that a record without scratch and dirt, on a properly set-up turntable with a decent amplfiication stage - sounds better than a CD can. I dont mean to sound like a purist or audiophile cause i really am not; but I also dont deny that the music sounds more alive on vinyl and more pleasant to the ears. I dont agree what is said about serum; that it is not good for Basslines; on the contrary i think its the perfect synth for basslines since the envelopes can be Exact; sloppy; snappy; slow, whatever you like - and the waveform can; too. So i dont see the logic behind that one, but agree to disagree. (For example you can set decay time of the envelope to be exactly 1/16 without first calculating it into ms, and you can draw your own custom envelope shapes. So in that regard it is really on top. And the ability to dirty-fy your waveforms via either FFT (select exactly what harmonics you want) or via whatever modulation you like - makes it extremely versatile too; specially creating "analog-like" sounds) also strongly disagree on Electric Universe I think his stuff has become borderline unlistenable over the years ^^1 point
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Have you heard such basslines on big and good soundsystems on parties and festivals? Or is it just home listening? In my opinion when you put so much effort in something it can't be soulless, nevermind if it's made for huge audience like Vini Vici or for normal psytrance events. You put so much time, effort and yourself into someting. You literally put soul into it. EU - Mad Tribe guys are killer, probably one of best Psy music today and stand out. So clean yet so dirty with loads of 90s sounds! New Burn in Noise album is amazing, he have some retro melodies combined with 2020's sound. To me he is more Goaish than most of Goa today lol: Imagine this with couple more melodies over the top. It would be super killer track for dancefloor and it is already. Here is one more of goaish psytrance example, loads of 303: You can have good, clean, precise and fat structure of track with dirty leads over. KBBBK pattern doesn't makes you fullon or psytrance, you can take best parts of every style you like and combine in your track. Triplets and gated shamanic voice doesn't make you progressive, it was done long before progressive. Here is your fullon bassline from 96: There should be good balance. Imagine you listen to 90mins set of only melodies or only triplets, it's painful. Imagine 7 days festival with same Goa scheme over and over. Or any style. I wouldn't go listening to that even if you pay me lol That's why I enjoyed Apsara, so much Goa for everyone's taste. Goa styles for every time of day, from smooth to euphoric, from agressive to dark over nights. Old and new, mixture of both... everything! You are listening to same genre but with so many variaties. There is what I call 'science' behind Psy/Goa trance production. There are things you make, and thinks you should make. Successful/big artist managed to learn that. There are some patterns that really works well, certain patterns of rhythm, or breaks, buildups, leads, fx, just name it. Certain patterns of how to do mixdown, what to push what to remove. Certain things must be done because certain drugs being used on festivals, certain things will put down crowd down if not done correctly. That's what is experience for. If you want your music to work always, you must balance between what you like and what works. Music is like marriage, if you want it to last and work, you must make some compromises, you must balance. I remember when I worked on first album 5 years ago and decided to make 9 minute track with only 1 break at 5th minute. Tension bulding up for minutes and minutes. I played that and after 2-3 mins people were like wtf where is the break, where is the mood change? Same happend on another event, with another crowd, and event after and after so I said ok this is not working lets change it. I kept idea but added very short breaks on every 90-120 secs and changed some melodies so there can be bigger difference in mood in different parts of track and yeah it worked pretty well. It still works on dancefloor. Later I was lucky to meet some top artists in scene and talk with them regarding production and it's tricks and they told me, 2 mins break, make a tension, build up and then put down, switch from full power to minimal power, or some smoother part then build up again but always keep evolving it. People need break. On festivals in summer dancefloor can have 40 degrees celsius, it's not always for jumping like crazy. People also like to stomp and gallop, people like to shake their asses smootly. There are so muuuuuuch things to consider and learn if you want to be successful and play often for tons of people and it takes years, maybe 5 maybe 15. It's a bit easier today with all these tutorials, presets and sample than it was back in 2008 when I started. Way too easier! Yet it takes lots of time. Or you simply just want to make it for yourself and don't care much, share it with friends, post it on Youtube and that is totally fine! I am always for to give best of yourself, your present knowledge and equipment. Push to the limits and don't think that just because you like it or it's up to your taste that can't be better - this way you can advance, whatever style you are making1 point