Hello all!

So when I was looking up how to make some passive side income / side hustle money I found many people discussing on here how to make some $$$! Like many of you, I work a 9-5 but I am doing electrical engineering. I would love to get into the world of pro-media software engineering, but I bet theres like maybe one job in my area (tulsa oklahoma) so Imma keep the day job hahaha!

So here is what I am working with... my brother and I (and my dad kinda) have a band. We are working on an album. It is all live with a few "non live" things like shakers, lead guitar, orchestra (kontakt vst). I play guitar and bass quite well, I am able to freestyle rap and sing and so can my brother. My brother can play live drums and make good beats, but not really "beats" but just recording live drums perse. We make music that is folksy and also RnB or Soul or Pop or Disco... Blues too... always falling to blues lol.

We are going to be putting out the album this year, and we have a good producer for the mixing that is a friend and he is charging 100 dollars per song and he has a FRICKEN UN-FAIR CHILD!!! Its sound is to DIE for man... But I would say our music has reached a pro-ish level and I would like to make some money off of these skills but I do not know where to start.

Looking around here on Reddit, I have learned a bit of the following about how to make some money: Royalty free music, "ghost production (for edm ppl?? (I dont make edm)), teaching guitar/bass, mixing, stock music... and maybe studio musician stuff? I play in church and my "mentor" is a gold record pianist for carman (the gospel artist). I have some connections, but I have never thought of anything beyond work my day job. Its good money at the day job, but I want more and have the energy. I figured before I tried to bartend or whatever that I would try my hand at trying to use my "particular set of skills" with mostly bass, guitar, and songwriting to see if I can make some money off of this but I am really confused as where to start...

If anyone would like to know what skill level I may be at, I would love to PM you and maybe shoot you some musiks and hear what you think I could do with these skills outside of simply trying to sell the album. Selling the album is a different story (aka I prob need to make another post on how to make some $$$s off of that album and so forth). The plan for the album is to post on spotify, make an instagram and a little like Sellfy website or something, but I want to try and make sure it hits as many people as possible if you know what I mean.

I was thinking of just going to guitar center or maybe a music school and being like "hey, I play guitar and have good rhythem and can teach people after work at like 4 (if I skip lunch) and I am really thinking this can be done but I need some guidance....

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
:D

Hello, I am starting to finish up a couple of my first home recording songs. We have live takes of guitar, drums, vocals, backup vocals, bass guitar, and keys. I have them quantized well enough to send out to get mixed. I am trying to decide if it is worth sending these out since it is expensive and I am worried about having less creative control over the end product.

My questions:

1- is it standard for audio engineers to take files to mix and only return a single wav file or mp3? Is it reasonable or logical to ask individual tracks to be returned?

2- should the files we send have effects, volume adjustments, etc in them already?

3- should I request specific effects, and effect changes on tracks if I want to have them? I.e maybe add a lot of reverb and delay to one specific vocal line

4- how much control over the above stuff am I giving up by having it mixed by an audio engineer?

5- how much work & research does it take to get a quality sounding mix done at home?

Outside of knowing someone in the industry, how does one land a gig composing for an Indie Game? Are there active forums? Did you get discovered through YouTube? Did you utilize Twitter/X or any other Social Media Platform? Did you "Cold Email" developers your portfolio?

Also how important is it to know software like WWise or FMOD as the composer? I have heard conflicting reports on this. Some people say the game developer can implement everything on their end, and others have noted that the composer has to implement everything.

Lastly, when did you KNOW you were ready to compose for your first game?

Hi everyone,

I’m an artist currently working on a new track, and I need some advice from experienced artists or mix engineers. I have a bit of a dilemma and could really use your insights.

I bought an instrumental on BeatStars in WAV format and stems, and I have my vocals recorded and ready. I’m wondering what would be more interesting or preferable for mix engineers:

1. Mixing my vocals directly onto the instrumental (which is a high-quality WAV file).
2. Mixing the stems of the instrumental, even though the previous engineer didn’t mix them well.

To give a bit more context, the instrumental stems weren’t mixed properly by the previous engineer, and I’m concerned that this might affect the final quality of the track. On the other hand, using the single WAV file of the instrumental might limit the mixing possibilities.

Which option would you recommend for achieving the best possible mix ? It’s my first song, Is it okay to mix directly with the .wav ?

Any advice or experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Not sure if the title fully encapsulates what I’m talking about, but I’m of the belief that any small factor in your environment could subtly translate itself into your playing.

Lately, I’ve liked to put on nature documentaries in the background of my band’s jam sesh. It’s hard to say if it’s had any effect, but I like to think it does.

I wanna hear y’all’s weird rituals to conjure up some creativity.

This is what the booth looks like: https://imgur.com/a/SWVPKtj (important)

I am borrowing a studio today. This is what their booth looks like. I have a few general questions, as I would like to focus on my voice, so I can record and not test all day. If you have some general advice, I would really appreciate it.

Which way should I point the mic? Like towards or away from the cloth (the door), to the left/right side or opposite the cloth. Which way should I sing/rap to get the best sound?

And should I use that extra shield they have around the mic or not? I'm not looking for that dark, radio/podcast sound, but a more bright sound. Am I better off without it? Or is it useful? How should I use it?

If it is useful should, where should the mic be place within it the shield? Further ahead or further into the shield?

That's it. I hope my question are okay and make sense. If you got any kind of tips/advice, again, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

I’m getting back into writing after a long time away. And I’m learning more and more about the nuances of my own personal process.

So, what’s yours? Maybe I’ll tty a few and see what comes of it

Hey. I have been trying to get into some more sophisticated music and attempting to write a song in the bossa nova style. Ive been able to find some interesting chord substitution for the major chords in the chorus but nothing seems to work well for the verse which is a repeated pattern of Am to Em. Any thoughts on good chord substitutions for those two minor chords?

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Quick Questions Thread! If you have general questions (e.g. How do I make this specfic sound?), questions with a Yes/No answer, questions that have only one correct answer (e.g. "What kind of cable connects this mic to this interface?") or very open-ended questions (e.g. "Someone tell me what item I want.") then this is the place!

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced.

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hello i want to connect my clavinova clp -745 to my scarlet 2i2 and record through Ableton i wonder what is the best way to do that, just connect it with 1 TRS -TRS cable or is it possible to connect it with Male-XLR cable to TRS ? will be any difference in quality?

Hey guys

I have this upcoming gig with only an electric guitar and drums. I wonder what tips you might have other than using a looper!

Maybe an octaver pedal to fill the low end frequencies or something?

Thanks!

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Hi yall, so sorry if this has been asked before because I really can not find an answer on this.

How do I match levels to mix in Ableton while referencing on Spotify while using a Focusrite 2i2 4th Gen?

For reference:> Ive been making music for a bit over a year. I put out on short EP and it was okay but I knew the mixing could've been better. At the time I was using my PS5 DualSense controller as my interface lol. Id have all my audio come out through the headphone jack of the controller and all was dandy. I bought a 2i2 and a pair of DT770s and from the moment I plugged it into my project I went "woah this made my mix really loud! I should turn down my master fader from -13db to -45db to match my usual Spotify tracks! Now I have so much headroom, great!"

Well fast forward to today I want to export my track to listen to it in the car. Its so low...so i did some digging...turns out the ASIO drivers make the Ableton audio bypass the Windows volume and straight into the interface/headphones. Right? So this whole time I've had my Windows Volume Mixer at 20% and Spotify at 100%. That gives me a comfortable loudness and it keeps the meter on the 2i2 right at 12 oclock under the output knob, nice and green, all while keeping my headphone volume knob at 100%. And my Ableton mix at -45db because any loud would be louder than my Windows/Spotify references' volume

So how do I mix while referencing my tracks like before? I feel really stumped. When I switch my driver type, in Ableton audio preferences, from ASIO to DirectX the REAL volume of my track comes through...well mixing in ASIO should be miles better right? So how do I mix and reference with ASIO? How do I match the full volume of my Windows mixer/Spotify to the full volume of my Ableton session if both of these levels are dependent on the headphones volume knob?

Thanks in advance!

I am recording a song for a friend. It's going to be used during their proposal, so it's an amateur endeavour but I want to try get the best results I can with what I already have. I can only record with two mics simultaneously and the mics I have are:

1x SM57 1× SM58 2X Sennheiser e935 1x Neumann TLM 103

Any suggestions on which to use and how to place them would be greatly appreciated. From my own bit of googling it would seem that two condensers around the piano or a hypercardiod underneath the keys with the panel removed are best options, but I don't have the right mics for either.

I’m going to be performing in my school’s Battle of the Bands in two weeks. We’re doing The Lovecats by the Cure, and I’m on bass and lead vocals. I’ve never really performed in front of anymore before (talk about throwing myself in the deep end), and I was just wondering if there’s anything I should know beforehand? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :D

Thanks in advance!

What the Title says, I’ve just started gigging and I think I need to have a lineup of solid cover songs that I not only know I can do well, but also people will vibe with and sing along to. Im a solo artist so a few songs I like are Stick Season by Noah Kahan for audiences 16-30 and other songs like Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band for my more country audiences and 3005 by Childish Gambino for hopefully everyone.

What’s the best route in becoming a session drummer? Whether that’s on an album/ep/single or playing gigs for various artists. Are there better company’s or managers to look into? Thanks in advanced.

Hello! Forgive me if this is not quite the right place to discuss this topic--but figure this is very relevant subject to music as a whole that could lead to some good discussion and help others.

My band have been writing and recording music for almost a year now and we are looking at putting a show together and playing out. We have a website, comprehensive EPK, a stage plot and input list, and relevant media for promotions, etc. Overall I think we're in a pretty good spot to start making some progress in the world of performing live...we're just having a time figuring out how to approach venues, bands and promoters to start.

Anyone have some advice or articles for newer artists for making hold dates, having good email etiquette for venues/promoters, or finding community/niche to be a part of?

This sound https://www.reddit.com/r/guitars/comments/1d5x58m/amplitube_and_asio4all_users_what_could_be/

I have no idea of what causes it. No setup seems to work.

I have a laptop with windows 11 and I am using amplitube5 with the Asio4all driver.

If I change the settings on the Asio4all, it goes alway for a while only to come back a few minutes later. It is not something immediate. It seems as if the speaker get "tired" and start cracking again. It never happens when I use my headphones though. I searched and I could not find any answers. Some say its the drivers, others say its the energy setup, other say its a capacitor problem.

I need someone to mix and master my tracks, but I really need just light edits.

basically, one instrument was too close to the vocal mic at the show, and it is way too loud in the regular recordings. I just want mainly that one instrument brought down in volume throughout the tracks. maybe a few other pretty light changes.

I wasn't as sure how to specify this, vs a more full mixing and mastering job

youth by Hundredth has this massive sound for the riff, and the riff alone is single notes and isn’t backed by the bass so I’m thinking that it’s probably double tracked, or some production method to make it sound that way; however I’m no good with production/pedals so I’m thinking it might be a really good reverb/delay setting, maybe muff? they play it live here and it doesn’t sound quite as full, but I just wanted to see if someone who knows their stuff could help me out!

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Feedback Thread! The comments below in this post is the only place on this subreddit to get feedback on your music, your artist name, your website layout, your music video, or anything else. (Posts seeking feedback outside of this thread will be deleted without warning and you will receive a temporary ban.)

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Hey all! My band recently made some practice recordings but when I went to master them, all the bass was in the mid-ranged frequencies and when I boosted the lows only the kick drum was boosted. I saw all that just to ask if any of you others could help me find a way to EQ my bass and amp and if I necessarily need an EQ pedal after my fuzz. I've been using an Ibanez BTB (but I sometimes use a Jazz Bass) through a fender rumble amp (but when I play the Jazz Bass I use a different amp because of different locations) and I've been using a big muff green russian for the fuzz. I really just want a good sound that still sounds of a big muff and it needs to be bass heavy and almost synthy kinda. Anything helps!

Edit: forgot to mention this is for mastering live and practice recordings so its not multitrack. just wanted a way for the bass to sound bass- y.. i guess

I’m a Gen Z musician, so I don’t fully realize how it was before the Internet. Now, with Spotify and YouTube (among other things), we basically have access to all the music in the world. We also have plenty of tutorials on how to write a song, how to produce, how to write melodies… the Internet has changed a lot of things and younger musicians have access to a lot more ressources

Does that mean writing interesting music is more accessible today than it was back before the 2000s?

I don't know what sub to ask this in, I assume here?
Anyways, cut to the chase. Lets just say I might want to sort of transcribe this piece of music, despite it probably being digital and all that. I want to transcribe these sounds just as though they were normal 'ol percussion instruments. I mean, they don't sound like they have a pitch (besides that super high pitched one).
There's these wind effects and like sorta electronic like little things.
Here's the music I'm talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XneukMwAGL8
Oh god it's anime oh no!!!!!!

Anyways, tl;dr: If I were to write these little sfx into sheet music, what instrument and little text above said part would I put?
Also, I do want to know if these effects have names. I'm more on the music theory side of music making, so I don't know a lot about all these synth things which seem super cool to me.

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Hey r/WeAreTheMusicMakers  - I've scoured the Googles and I'm dumbfounded to see this combo hasn't been mentioned very often but I'll try to be as concise as possible here. I just purchased the Focusrite Octopre 8 channel mic preamp and hooked it up via ADAT optical into my PreSonus 1824c audio interface via a MacBookPro going into the Studio One 6 DAW.

I'm tracking drums, so I'm using 8 channels from the Octopre and 2 channels from the 1824c. My IEM are connected to the PreSonus 1824c 1/4" headphone jack.

I've set the Octopre's clock to "Internal" at 44khz, set the PreSonus 1824c to 44khz via Universal Control, and have set the Mac Audio Midi Setup to 44khz with both Input and Output. (Side note, when I attempt to do all of these at 48khz, Mac's Audit Midi Setup auto-switches this back to 44khz for some reason.))

My problem here is that, when I start up Studio One and play back audio that I've recorded, it sounds like those super old NES game audio. I can get this to go away by closing Studio One entirely, then reopening - which temporarily it stops. (However, there still exists some unwanted audio artifacts.)

The best case scenario here is that when the 1824c monitoring volume is about at 12 o'clock I hear this faint hissing in the background, the recorded audio sounds fair.

Worst case scenario is that the both the straight monitoring of the mics (via drum hits) sounds like blown out speakers for each drum hit. And then during playback it sounds like super old NES music.

I'm at a loss here. When I was using the 1824c by itself, it was totally fine. No hissing when the monitor volume was up, no weird NES sounds from the mics etc. everything was totally solid.

Since I've hooked up the Octopre it's been a nightmare and I don't know what to do.

Last thing I'll say and then I'll shut up is that... It's FRIDAY and I just want to make some music and I'm in fetal position crying because everything sounds like garbage, and both Focusrite and PreSonus support isn't open until Monday.

PLEASE HELP (and hopefully this helps any future travelers!)

Edit: found a couple of helpful docs if anyone comes across this post in the future. https://blog.presonus.com/2021/09/03/add-inputs-audio-interface/

Edit 2: another thread where I asked the same question for more details: https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/s/lWBT578BmY

im new with this stuff and struggle BADLY with making my music not sound empty or have any interesting melodies. how do i work on this? i find i can only make short, simple melodies that sound like shit. its hard to come up with any sounds that isnt just the same midi loop ive made with a different instrument. any tips? im an artist so i can doodle ideas but when its music i have no idea how too

I can't figure out what is happening. I know it might be badly intonated and everything but it sounds bad even when I play a single note by itself. I recorded (badly but still you can hear it) https://www.reddit.com/r/guitars/comments/1d59i5h/why_does_my_lead_tone_sound_so_bad_it_seems_like/ It seems to have some kind of wave frequency that makes each note sound floppy and out of tune. I don't know how to fix it. I see poeple playing with the cheapest guitars known to men and they still sound better than mine. I even saw a guy playing without a guitar and still sounded better than me.

And no. Its not my playing. I know I am bad but again, even single notes sound awful. I don't know what else to do. I play on amplitube btw.