/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers

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WATMM is a place for music makers to discuss the process of making music.

WeAreTheMusicMakers (WatMM) is a subreddit for hobbyists, professional musicians, and enthusiasts to discuss making music. Welcome and enjoy the community!


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This subreddit has weekly threads for various things like Promotion, Feedback, Collaboration, etc. Each thread lasts for 1 week. If you post a new thread for promotion, feedback, or collaboration, you will be banned without warning. You must place these posts in the relevant recurring thread only.

/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers

3,486,166 Subscribers

1

Purchased a beat and had a question

I make music and recently purchased a mp3 beat online. However, when I upload (through distrokid) it only allows me to do WAV. I didn't purchase the WAV version but if I export as a WAV through my software after recording the beat is still mp3 right? I just want to make sure I don't rip off the seller

2 Comments
2024/11/01
03:11 UTC

1

Updating Mac OS questions

I despise updating my Mac OS. I’m using a year and a half old Mac Studio. I’m currently on Monterey. I run Logic Pro x, NI, Arturia, universal audio. Among many other plugins.

I need to update to logic 10.8 to get a feature I want and to do that I have to upgrade to Mac OS Ventura 13.5.

Anyone have any recommendations on which Mac OS to update to at this point. I definitely don’t want to go all the way to the newest Mac OS. I’m afraid as soon as I update my projects will all be screwed up. That’s why I figured if just go up to Ventura.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks all

7 Comments
2024/11/01
01:34 UTC

2

Should I get an all in one Controller (like one with a Keyboard, Drumpads, mixers, synthesizers etc.) or get them separately or something.

I don’t know if it is better to get them together or seprately since I’ve never gotten a midi controller before. What would you guys recommend me getting?

6 Comments
2024/11/01
00:05 UTC

0

Which goes better with electric piano, electric bass or acoustic bass?

I think the sound of an upright bass goes perfectly with piano. I'm not such a fan of electric bass and piano although it can sound good too, I just don't think it would sound as good if it was just those two instruments playing, I think electric bass and piano works if there's drums and possibly other instruments involved too.

But, purely in terms of sound, if you forget about genre and other considerations, which do you think goes better with just the pure sound of an electric piano? (eg rhodes, wurlitzer)

a fretless bass?
upright bass?
just a typical electric bass? which type? or even amp etc
synth bass?
just the bass notes of the electric piano itself?
something else?

16 Comments
2024/10/31
23:14 UTC

1

Breaking into a scene

My band has been trying for the past year to break into the scene in a new city where we’ve both lived for about four years. We’ve played two shows that fell into our laps via vague connections but otherwise we’re struggling to penetrate the scene, get shows, and find a genuine community.

I appreciate the advice of “go to shows and make friends with other bands”, and we’ve definitely tried reaching out to local bands in our niche to either no response, or the ol’ “lets definitely do something together!” followed by radio silence. The thing I’m struggling with is how to build genuine connections without appearing opportunistic. The reality is I wouldn’t be talking to a lot of these people if I didn’t think they could help us get stage time.

Right now we’re at the bottom of the totem pole just playing open mics trying to get better live. But even that feels like a dead end because either no one shows up or the only performers are doing acoustic covers of classic rock songs.

Sorry for the negativity, just feeling discouraged lately. I started a band thinking it would be low stakes fun, but I’m finding it to be an enormous amount of fruitless networking for the mere POSSIBILITY of playing live.

TL;DR: I just want to play shows but feel like I’m running into the same thing that’s in every industry of how do you gain experience when no one gives you the opportunity to get it?

2 Comments
2024/10/31
22:58 UTC

0

Problem

There is a band with the exact same name as me. I don’t want to change my name though. I quite like my name.

The band has about 0 monthly listeners and 1 album; they also didn’t release an album in 2 years. Should I still use my name? what should I do?

7 Comments
2024/10/31
22:53 UTC

2

Smartwatch people. What's your HRV (or 'stress') when you're making tunes?

I've had Long COVID (or CFS) for a while. I got a smartwatch to help me figure it out, and I've noticed my 'stress' levels are higher when I try to make music.

I sit in the same chair, at the same desk, all day for my office job, and my stress doesn't go up. But if I have the energy to write music in the evening, I turn up the speakers a little, start vibing along, and.... woosh! Stress levels way up! Body battery crashing! I don't know whether it's the concentration, or the 'fun' factor, or what...

So I'm just wondering... healthy people, do you get the same?

3 Comments
2024/10/31
22:21 UTC

1

Need Tips on Mixing “Detailed Vocals”

I have been producing, mixing and mastering my own music for around a year and a half now and I can get my vocals and overall mixes sounding pretty solid. By no means professional, but serviceable for what I want do to.

However, I cant seem to get my vocals sounding as detailed as I want. For context, I am recording fast and aggressive rap vocals.

My usual go to setup for my vocal chain is a de-esser into an eq, then serial compression, and after that I use other effects if necessary (saturation, exciters, reverb sends etc).

After this process I usually can no longer hear the subtle nuances of my voice. They always seem to be washed out and flattened by something im doing, and I am not sure what that is.

Also so everyone is aware of my setup for recording vocals, I use an Apollo Solo into a TLM-102 if that helps with any advice you would want to give. Thank you!

11 Comments
2024/10/31
20:31 UTC

14

What’s a production/mixing mistake you once kept in your song that really made no sense but gave the song life like a gross tone or poorly recorded instruments?

I recorded this bass that ended up sounding like a fart and bad on its own but sounds much better within the mix compared to the re-recorded proper sounding bass. Anyone else have a story/experience like this?

29 Comments
2024/10/31
19:18 UTC

0

/r/WATMM Weekly Gear Thread

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Gear Thread! This is the place to ask what item, program, or service you should buy or use. It is also a great place to get help using your equipment if you are confused about something you found in the manual or in an online tutorial. This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it is automatically replaced.

Rules:

  • No feedback requests - use the feedback thread.
  • No promotional posts - No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages. Use the promotion thread.
  • Keep "help requests" higher effort - If you need help, you'll attract the most eyes if it is clear you've already tried to answer the question yourself through the manual or online help files. If you are confused on where to start, our quick questions thread may be a better place for your question!

___

#Other Weekly Threads (most recent at the top):

* [Click here for Feedback threads.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/search?q=author%3A%22automoderator%22+title%3A%22feedback%22&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all)

* [Click here for Quick Questions threads.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/search?q=author%3A%22automoderator%22+title%3A%22Questions%22&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all)

* [Click here for Collaboration threads.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/search?q=author%3A%22automoderator%22+title%3A%22collaboration%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)

* [Click here for Promotion threads.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/search?q=author%3A%22automoderator%22+title%3A%22promotion%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)

* [Click here for Gear threads.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/search?q=author%3A%22automoderator%22+title%3A%22Gear%22&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all)

[Questions, comments, suggestions? Hit us up!](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWeAreTheMusicMakers)

2 Comments
2024/10/31
15:00 UTC

3

Has anyone tried using traditional music notation for creating electronic music?

For context I have training in traditional music composition, and enjoy writing scores in that way. The music notation software I use has the ability to bounce tracks as midi, that I could then plug into logic. I’ve been experimenting with many electronic genres, mostly EDM and Synthwave type stuff.

While I understand the theory and understanding of structure and rhythm transfers over. I was just wondering if anyone has any experience in using the format of standard notation for electronic music? If there’s any merit to combining them? And if it’s been tried does anyone have any advice or tips of stuff they picked up along the way?

Thanks!

Edit: Thank you all so much for your insights and and advice. I think my primary motivation was in seeing if it would be smoother for me to introduce a work flow that I’m substantially more familiar with and see if it helps smooth some of the edges on the workflow I’m discovering for myself on the DAW side of things. Ultimately I think I’m going to try it and see how it feels, but based on some of your comments that may cause more headache or just in general not fit in helping me create the end product I want. Again, thank you so much for your kindness and willingness to share what you know!

29 Comments
2024/10/31
14:09 UTC

0

Need your help producer friend. What is happening ??

Hello everyone, I hope you can help me, I feel very frustrated since I have been producing for several years, about 3.4 and the same problems continue to happen to me, they make me think that I am not making progress.. One of them is that I never know what is missing from my tracks, (melodic techno in this case) when I think that the groove is good that nothing is missing, that if I add more elements I will saturate the idea and break with the minimal for so to speak (in my head I think less is more), several give me feedback that perhaps it is a bit empty and the track remains in “loop” mode at times and they suggest adding a set of stabs/synths in question and answer mode. I do what they suggest and it turns out perfect. When I feel that it is empty, perhaps they give me feedback saying that it has too many elements and is overwhelming to the ear or the idea is incomprehensible. Another big problem I have is that, (always speaking in terms of the melodic techno genre...) maybe I make a good melody, with one or several elements and I never know where to place it, whether in the break or in the drop or just in appearance. , I can't use it in the entire track because it's tiring and maybe exciting, I waste it. I hope you can help me, basically my problem is not knowing when it is “complete” in terms of elements, and if perhaps I make a good melody, where to place it so as not to spam it. Thank you and I hope you can help me

6 Comments
2024/10/31
12:32 UTC

2

How do you guys deal with placement of keyboard / mouse alongside your midi controller?

Really struggling to find a proper setup here...

Like, do you just use your smallish laptop on top of your keyboard with a swivel arm or laptop stand?

I get both eye and neck strain from this because I always have to lean forward to work with it / read the more smallish text in Cubase.

Do you use a 76+ keys midi controller on your desk along with a proper multi monitor setup?

I really don't know where to put my mouse then... At the sides of the midi controller it's too far away, so I currently use a touchpad and place both (touchpad AND computer keyboard) ON TOP of the black keys of my Launchkey 88, since I can neither put them at the sides (too far away) nor can I put them BEHIND or IN FRONT OF the launchkey, since there's either no space (they'd float mid-air in front of the table) or they're to far away (if I place them on a book staple behind the launchkey).

Idk, I've seen pictures of home studios where people work with computer keyboards placed after or before the midi controller in which the monitor would be like 1 ½ meters away from your eyes... But I don't think I could work like this, unless I use some kind of television sized screen lol

Do you guys all just use 25 key midi controllers if you have to switch between computer keyboard and midi controller frequently?

Because that's like... the only option that feels feasible to me.

13 Comments
2024/10/31
07:15 UTC

0

Techniques for editing a note that I cannot reach?

Hi. I am a self taught music producer and vocalist. I am recording a cover of a song that I very much like but there are two notes in this song that I cannot reach for the life of me, They're simply too low for my vocal range and even if the rest of the song I am able to sing perfectly, those two notes are bugging me a lot.

I'm using FL Studio and so far I've tried correcting the pitch with NewTone but also with Melodyne. However, the results are not all that great. I've tried recording a separate take of that part of the song, singing it with a note that I'm comfortable with and then pitching it down, but the results are not amazing with this technique either.

To experienced producers out here: What tricks and/or techniques are you using when dealing with vocalists not being able to reach certain notes?

Cheers!

TLDR: I cannot reach a low note. how to mix it so that it's not noticeable? What techniques are you using to record/mix such notes.

14 Comments
2024/10/31
06:26 UTC

0

Fresh Air and audio distortion

I went a little too hard with Fresh Air on one of my mixes and ended up with a compressed, almost lo-fi quality on the high end. It did sound “cleaner,” but not without this consequence. Does anyone know why this happens?

I’m thinking it might be better to bring out the high end and take out muddy mids primarily with EQ, and use Fresh Air only as a small supplement at the end if I really need it. What has everyone else’s experience been with this? which instruments do yall most use it on?

6 Comments
2024/10/30
22:43 UTC

0

Compressed drums

Is it common practice to compress the drums as a whole after treating each part individually with EQ, and then, after achieving balance between the different parts, to turn down the volume of the entire drum kit? As to maintaining the compression as it was without playing with the input gain — or is doing exactly that more common to keep the group itself at 0db fader level?

Thank you.

11 Comments
2024/10/30
17:15 UTC

0

How to performance with a MIDI controller??

Hello! I am a keyboard player who is now starting in a group/band. The keyboard I use is a Yamaha P225, and it gives me pretty good performance, I'm very happy with it.
However, a few days ago I bought a MIDI controller, Arturia Keylab Essential MK3 61, with the aim of serving as a second keyboard connected to a DAW, Ableton Live, running in a 32 GB RAM laptop, MSI Modern 15. All this to play live.

I would like to know how to reduce the latency, if possible, how it would affect the use of an audio interface. I have tried touching the size of the input and output buffers, but I still have about 15 ms of latency. Would a sound card reduce it?

With a good audio interface, would latency be reduced even further? Do you know of any model that is economical and that could work?

11 Comments
2024/10/30
11:32 UTC

7

Seeking Advice for Our Alternative Rock Power Duo

Hey everyone!

I’m a 24-year-old former drummer turned bassist, and my friend guitarist and I are excited about forming a power duo to create some alternative groove rock! We both plan to sing, which adds an exciting dynamic.

We’re part of a music club that offers live performances twice a year, which gives us a solid starting point. However, we're uncertain about the best approach for drums. Should we:

  • Use a backing track?
  • Hire a drummer?
  • Ask a friend to play live?

We’d love any tips you have on making this work in general, whether it’s about song creation, performance strategies, or anything else. Thanks in advance!

17 Comments
2024/10/30
10:27 UTC

0

Weekly Quick Questions Thread

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.

###Do not post links to promote music in this thread. You can promote your music in the weekly Promotion thread, and you can get feedback in the weekly Feedback thread. Music can only be posted in this thread if you have a question or response about/containing a particular example in someone else's song.


#Other Weekly Threads (most recent at the top):

Questions, comments, suggestions? Hit us up!

3 Comments
2024/10/30
08:00 UTC

0

Mastering this waveform help needed

Hi,

I’m mixing and mastering a song. The first picture shows the waveform after I’ve mixed it, and the second picture shows the waveform of the demo, which has already been mastered by someone else. I’d like to make my waveform as dense and loud as the demo without losing its dynamic range.

When I apply a hard clipper or limiter, it flattens the waveform too much, removing dynamics. In the demo, you can still see some dynamic variation between the verse and chorus, which I want to preserve.

I’ve also tried different compressors, but they tend to reduce the impact of the chorus, and I haven’t found settings that work. My best result so far has been with a soft clipper (using Soft Clip Classic from Standard Clip), adjusting the soft clip saturator knob to introduce a slight range that compresses before clipping.

I’m a beginner, but I like the way I’ve mixed it so far. Is there something I should’ve done more at the mixing stage to achieve a better result during mastering? Any advice on achieving density and loudness while preserving dynamics would be greatly appreciated!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oLX0p8klpTMXqQDrXCmTTIl4linSwJMP?usp=share_link

6 Comments
2024/10/30
06:13 UTC

0

Which setup is best for music production/mixing

Hey everyone! Looking for some advice on setting up my home studio. I have two options for my speaker setup—either vertically or horizontally—and each affects how much table space I have. The catch is, I share the table with my dad, who has two Technics turntables and an Allen & Heath Xone 96 mixer, so space is tight. Given the need to balance audio quality and workspace comfort, which setup would you recommend?

This would be the vertical setup

This would be the horizontal setup

The speakers are a pair of jbl 4315s. Since the table would be quite high, on the first setup the speakers have to be sitting ahead of the table so they dont get covered by said table, but the angle is not perfect from where I would be sitting.

Thanks in advance for the help!

4 Comments
2024/10/30
04:20 UTC

0

How to make beautiful synth-wave ambient music like Domenique Dumont

I've absolutely fallen in love with Domenique Dumont's album People on Sunday.

It can probably most easily be classified as ambient music, but its got lovely synths that have a dreamy, yet often quite rhythmic quality to them. Examples of a couple of tunes below:

People on Sunday

Arrival

I guess in terms of sound design these songs aren't the most complex, I've been getting some nice results with a Juno emulation but that's such a small part of what's going on here. What are the sort of techniques being used here to make it feel so alive, and nostalgic and dreamy? What methods could I be experimenting with?

There seems to be a lot of the following:

  • automation of the synths to open up the synths, as well as the delays and reverbs etc
  • and then interesting arpeggios, some of them very chordal and repetitive, others a bit more euclidean and random sounding
  • some resampling and reversing of arps and synths
  • FM synths doing more percussive bits driving the song forward
  • Nice flourishes and fills here and there, sort of whimsy synth trills etc

Any builds on what I've seen so far? Maybe some synths to check out, fun tools to look into (doing this all in Ableton), composition / arrangement tips?

5 Comments
2024/10/29
23:06 UTC

1

Accidentally recorded some guitar parts in stereo with only one line in

Hi all, as the title somewhat suggests, I have an audio interface with 2 lines in (L and R) which I usually record Input 1 only for guitar recordings. It has come to my attention, that after renting a bass for a week and recording all my parts for a project, that I had recorded two songs worth of bass in stereo (Line 1 & 2) despite only having one input (the lead going into the left channel) going into the interface.

Have I completely sabotaged these recordings? They sound slightly more muffled, not by a huge amount, but I can't tell if that's me just overthinking in a panic. Will these recordings be salvageable? Sorry for the wordy question, just a bit scared that the hours worth of recording effort I've done has been for nothing! Thanks in advance :)

26 Comments
2024/10/29
21:24 UTC

25

For You Parents Who Are Musicians: Adult Perspectives on Children and Music in Early Childhood

At 5 years of age, my uncle who owned a band called The Nashville City SnagDraggers, taught me 3 simple chords. It lit a fire in me that is still burning 65 years later. It has been shown that the earlier children are exposed to the arts, in this case music, the better they fare in life even if they never use their skills in a professional setting. I have seen it in my life, even tho I've never pursued a career in music. The enrichment you gain is immeasurable.

You and your children may not share the same tastes in music. Cultivate an environment that strives to appreciate all music, even genres that don't necessarily resonate and appeal to you. I'm not a parent, but I am forever grateful my uncle took the time to teach me 3 chords. It's been an awesome ride.

This is a great book on the topic if you care to give it a read.

Adult Perspectives on Children and Music in Early Childhood

13 Comments
2024/10/29
19:45 UTC

25

I used to be a typical stubborn piano player about 88 keys now 49 is my preference. You probably don't "need" 88 keys.

I think I was just influenced by what all piano players say that they NEED 88 weighted keys or it's worthless to them basically. However after a couple of keys on my digital piano stopped working, I put it away and I've been using just a 49 key midi controller for a year with no problems at all. I just use the octave button when I want to write bass or lead parts, and I can even use it during a performance.

I've realised also, weighted keys are heavy and 88 keys is way too big to comfortably carry. So I'm not gonna bother with that for live performance either. Also I prefer 49 to 61 because 61 is 5 octaves and I feel like I should have a balanced number of octaves per hand, not three in one and two in the other. I don't feel like I'm in the middle of the piano and feel kind of lost like that.

And the most important point of all. I realised that 88 keys is only ACTUALLY necessary if you want to play an extremely low part and an extremely high part at the same time. Which is something that I would never do and I don't think I've even heard. It would sound pretty unmusical without anything in the middle.

121 Comments
2024/10/29
12:06 UTC

2

/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Collaboration Thread

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Collaboration Thread! If you're looking for help with, or wanting to pitch in on a project, post up your details here. Other threads looking for collaboration will be deleted and redirected here.

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

##Rules:

  • No feedback requests - use the feedback thread.
  • No promotional posts - No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages. Use the promotion thread.

#Other Weekly Threads (most recent at the top):

Questions, comments, suggestions? Hit us up!

8 Comments
2024/10/29
08:00 UTC

27

Is it at all acceptable not to formally master?

I'm a songwriter working with a studio out of state to master my song, so I haven't been able to attend any of the mastering in person. The mix has been strong, and it has a really holistic view of the song. Nothing is too loud, the drums hit just right, the middle and high voices are clear, the bass anchors it down, and the vocals are really crystal clean. Nothing is too loud, bright, or soft. It's all strong.

The master though has been really compressed. At first it sounded like it was coming out of a radio, and now on another try the low voices are dominating but they're so limited that they don't really round out the sound anymore, especially the drums. I'm leaning toward just not mastering at all since the mix really keeps it within the radio-ready confines. I've played the mix right after I've listened to other songs on Spotify and Apple Music, and the mix is right in line with those sonically.

I'm on the east coast and my mastering engineer is on the west coast, so it's been hard to communicate with them. My release date is mid December and I'm worried that I won't make it in time for the ads and promotional materials I've been working on if this is more drawn out.

Is it at all acceptable not to master? Is the concern that my song will sound bad once it's distributed if I don't?

79 Comments
2024/10/28
22:58 UTC

0

Stem seperation in the 80s & 90s

I've been making beats on my busted up pc and gaming headphones for the past year and it got me thinking. How did producers like J Dilla or Q-Tip do stem seperation on samples without all this technology? I mean sometimes they sound better and cleaner than mine and here I am clicking 2 buttons and it's all done in 10 seconds with absolutely zero production and music knowledge! I'm shocked that somebody with an mpc in their moms basement just taught themselves how to do those things...

19 Comments
2024/10/28
21:05 UTC

0

Is it ok to use the same mic twice to record different instruments?

Im working on a track and I only have an e835, sm57, sm58 and im thinking about using the e835 and sm57 to record drums, sm58 for guitar 1 and sm57 again for guitar 2 and e835 for vocals. Ive heard that it isn't the best to layer the same mic and id like to hear your guys thoughts.

24 Comments
2024/10/28
18:00 UTC

68

[UPDATE] My band is going into the studio with a producer and it’s all of our first times. Any tips?

Link to original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/s/JsNaPlFp47

Hello all, thought I’d give an update as I’d imagine threads like this are helpful for bands/musicians looking to get their first studio experience.

We had our day in the studio yesterday and it turns out most of you were right! We were not able to get all 5 tracks done in one full day. But that’s okay! We are very happy with what/where we got.

We live tracked all 5 songs, and decided to put one of those songs on the shelf then and there. So 4 tracks live recorded, and after some punching up on the bass, we have 4 rhythm tracks we’re very satisfied with.

After that we overdubbed guitar leads and were able to get 2 tracks that our lead guitarist was satisfied with. Then we recorded some scratch vocals just to have low in the rough mixes and that was all the time we had. We scheduled another 5 hour day with the producer in a few weeks to get the last guitar leads, record vocals and add any last productions touches.

Overall an incredibly positive experience. I appreciate the tips and reality checks you all gave, it made the day less stressful and more enjoyable. Very much a learning experience and I think we’re all better musicians now because of it.

27 Comments
2024/10/28
14:50 UTC

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