a first attempt at giorgio moroder vibe

[princefan3]

Hi guys would like comment on the following soundcloud attempt...early days but i think i need a little more help from you guys to tell me where im going wrong...its very raw stuff with no compression.

please check it out

http://soundcloud.com/princefan3/giorgio moroder-attempt

sorry i dont know how to download my clip onto hear..cheers buddies.

[tekkentool]

Fixed the soundcloud embed for you.



Your problems with it aren't anything to do with compression , they're to do with the two basic fundamentals that I wish people had told me to focus on earlier. Equalization and stereo image. The whole thing is almost entirely in mono which if you listen to giorgio moroder often you'll discover doesn't often happen. Having certain elements "wide" in the "side" stereo image allows you to keep things in the mono in their own little spot in the mix. It's hard to describe, but if you listen to a song like "the chase" by moroder you'll notice the Kick and the snare are uniformly mono, and sit in the middle of the mix. The bass sounds are almost entirely in stereo, using two different variations of a bass sound panned, then with delay added. The pads will almost always have a stereo chorus on them widening them out, the same with elements such as hi hats which are panned left and right and given stereo reverb. This fills out the space, gives you a dynamic sound and makes room in the mix too.

The other thing is equalization.



This is two EQ's from a project I made, the one on the left is a picture of the EQ on my Drum bus, that's Hi hats, snare, Kick, claps etc. The one on the right is the EQ for the bass guitar. Both instruments have notes playing at the same time, I have the bass guitar playing a note whenever the kick drum hits, likewise with the snare. Soon as they are going to be occupying the mix at the same time, I want to make sure they fit together. You'll notice each EQ is basically a mirror opposite of the other, I cut the bass guitar at about 70hz because that's the fundamental frequency of the bass drum, this means they can both play at the same time without the other one interrupting the space of the other. If I didn't cut there on the bass, it'd become muffled and weird, with the cut I can play both at the same time, and HEAR both at the same time.

here's a demo from the song I was making to show what I mean. (this also demonstrates how much clarity you use when you stack up the instruments, that "wall of sound" comes at a cost)

http://jumpshare.com/v/Z7xnMR?b=q7Q3LN

Other great examples are IMO "Ain't no sunshine" by bill withers. At first you wonder why the bass, drums and acoustic guitar sound so muffled at the start, bill's voice is in the mid with the slight hint of stereo reverb...then it hits you when those wide, glorious strings come in. individually the elements of the mix are unimpressive but they come together like a jigsaw puzzle. To make a cohesive mix that allows you to hear everything without everything interrupting each other.

http://grooveshark.com/s/Ain+t+No+Sunshine/2OAZkE?src=5

As for the stereo image, just go listen to something like the beach boys with the original mono mixes and latter stereo ones and tell me which ones you liked more.

Mono: http://grooveshark.com/s/God+Only+Knows ... xb3c?src=5

Stereo: http://grooveshark.com/s/God+Only+Knows ... 41aL?src=5



TLDR: You've got all the elements of your mix banging on the same frequencies, in the same portion of the stereo image! compression would only make it worse. Experiment with mixing and listen critically.

[princefan3]

Big Up Tekkentool..not only did you help me with the soundcloud but a great write up..very helpfull indeed..

yes ur right its all in MONO ive never bothered with sterio much as it takes another channel on my mixer as its only 8 channel with 2 effects channels...

i will look at this side of things more in the future...the 707 takes 4 channels kick snare clap and hi hats seperate.
not sure if these are sterio or mono when they come out of the drum machine..?

i have a two channel graphic equalizer which is just sat there, so im going to need to use that to help matters.

i liked the beach boys example...yes i can hear far more air and space for each instrument...especially the christmas bells....im still old school so i have no software at the moment to help me with these tweaks..what could you recomend to me, that would help here...?

with the beach boys example....i get the feeling its the mono one that gets played the most on radio.

would you say im on the right track and what would you give it out of 10 say.

i love this site and the friendliness of everyone on it..thanks so much Tekkentool

[tekkentool]

Haha, just realised I didn't embed the link to the demo http://jumpshare.com/v/Z7xnMR?b=q7Q3LN

If I was in your position I'd make sure I can get a decent interface so you can at least record two channels simultaneously in decent quality. Just use the mixer you have now to compose and record the channels individually to bring it into the DAW. If that's not an option...work on it.

Reaper is a good place to start, mixing and production crosses over into composition as far as electronic music is concerned. No way to learn it other than reading up, gritting your teeth and practicing it.