The Bass Kleph Blog

Music Producer Tips & Tricks

The Secret Sauce to Music Success: Mastering the Art of Fast Track Finishing

Getting more songs finished in a faster amount of time is the Secret Sauce to elevate your music production skills to the level where you will be proud of your music, get signed, build a following, and get booked for shows.

Let me explain why, with two big reasons.

#1 - You will fill the gaps in your knowledge.

Some people write loops and sketches and then decide it all feels too hard to finish. So they give up and start a new sketch. (Sound familiar?)

They have no trouble starting a new sketch as they have started sketches many times before. They have practiced that.

But they have not practiced the middle to end stages of finishing a song.
So when they reach those stages they get confused, and frustrated.

It feels like the song is not working anymore. Like it is not as effortless and fun.

In reality, this is not true. It is simply that they have not practiced these stages enough to feel comfortable with them.

Now when you get some perspective on this you can see how crazy this is...

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Mixing Drums With Ableton Drum Buss

mixdown & mastering Jun 24, 2019

In today's Ableton Live tutorial, we're going to take a look at the Drum Buss plugin. It is one of the new effects that came bundled with Ableton Live 10. This analog-style compressor overdrive and enhancer will give your drums power, energy, glue, and size!

The concept of using compression and overdrive on your drum group is nothing new. In fact, it is something I would do on almost every mixdown. I would usually use a separate compressor and overdrive to achieve this.

Ableton makes this much easier and faster with the new all in one Drum Buss plugin. It is based on compression and overdrive that is pre-optimized for drums and a quick and simple workflow.

As you may assume, the results have been excellent! Check out the walkthrough video lesson, or read on below...

Let's take a look at the three main sections.

 

Section 1 - The Input Section

Overdrive

Section one begins with a drive control for adding three different types of overdrive.

The soft drive is a waveshaping...

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8 Kick Drum Mixing Tips For Music Producers

mixdown & mastering Feb 21, 2019

1 - Finish More Songs With Good Kick Drum Samples

This might be unpopular, but I don’t recommend that you use kick drum synth plugins. Too many producers waste time trying to synthesize a good kick when they should be focusing on writing a good song.

You see, the top sound designers that make all the samples for Splice, Loop Master, Vengeace etc have some very nice analog drum machines, very nice analog outboard gear, and many years of experience.

It would be extremely unlikely that you could achieve a better result with a single digital plugin. Even more unlikely that you could do it quickly.

Pianists don’t build their own pianos. They just write music.

At the time of writing, there are 185,575 kick drum samples available on Splice alone. So there is plenty of unique and high quality kick drum samples out there for everyone.

Let your songs define you first. We can look at custom kicks later.

In fact, here’s a free kick drum sample pack from me that you can ...

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Audio Compression Explained For Music Producers

mixdown & mastering Feb 13, 2019

I remember a time when compression felt like some kind of music production voodoo that was far out of my reach.

People would say that... "A compressor makes things fat, or warm" but when I was first using them, I wasn’t sure what was actually happening.

These days, compressors are an integral effect for me. I couldn’t imagine working without them.

If I hadn’t learned how to use them, I would be miles behind with my mixing and mastering. Aside from that, once you know how to use an audio compressor, it's fun! :)

Here are a few tips that will help you along to the way to understanding audio compression.

 

Do I Need To Use Compression On Everything?

No. Follow my golden rule. Listen first, then only apply something if it needs it.

How do I know if it needs it? Well, you need to know what it does, how it works, and what it’s good for. Let’s explain.

 

Audio Compression Definition

This is the process of reducing an instrument's dynamic range....

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Fix A Muddy Mixdown And Make It Clean And Bright

mixdown & mastering Feb 04, 2019

The two main types of bad mixdowns I hear are muddy mixes and thin mixes.

Muddy mixes sound quiet, and kinda like they are foggy, or distant. The sounds and instruments are hard to hear. They have good low end but they not present or as loud as professional mixes. You might also say they have a lack of clarity.

Thin mixes are the opposite. They sound too loud/harsh, and kinda like they lack impact, power, and size. This is usually due to overuse of high pass filters.

Now...The best way to fix these problems is with the individual tracks in your mixdown. Not with your mix bus plugins, but sometimes you have no choice.

So, to clear things up here's a video I recorded with my top mix engineer tips for how to fix your mix and make it clean and bright.

Recently I received a question From Chris W, on my site asking about mastering and how to fix his mixdown.

He says...

"hi I'm a new producer, and I'm fantastic at creating chords and leads but I suck at mastering. I can't afford your...

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Make Your Music Sound Better In 2 Minutes

mixdown & mastering Feb 01, 2019

There are a lot of things you can do to make your music sound better and that is exactly what I teach.

A good way to introduce you to this is by telling what you should avoid, and my one and only golden rule that you must do.

Our story starts with the internet. It's an amazing way to share information, but the information is not always correct.

While teaching, my students all tell me the same thing...

They tell me it is too hard to sift through the noise on the internet, youtube, and popular audio magazines. These places offer lots of advice, but it's difficult to know who to trust.

One BAD piece of "amateur" advice I've noticed is to “Always do X".

e.g.

  • "Always high pass filter all your tracks except your kick and bass."
  • "Always share one reverb across all instruments".
  • "Always EQ a certain frequency on your kick/bass".
  • "Always use a multi-band compressor on your master bus.”

In my many years of being a touring DJ, Record Producer, and Mix Engineer, I have found the...

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Why HAAS and other bad stereo widening techniques are ruining your mix, and what to do instead.

 

Stereo is a huge part of every modern song/mixdown. We all use it and listen to it every day.

However, not many people know that using the wrong kind of stereo widening techniques can severely damage your song.

Techniques such as HAAS effect, Mid Side, Frequency Shifter, pitch shifting and even chorus (if used incorrectly) can cause huge problems in your mixdown. There are even some expensive 3rd party plugins that cause problems right out of the box.


These stereo widening techniques may give you a wide sound, but they have bad mono compatibility, and phase issues.

So, when summed to mono, this can make your song sound soft, mushy, distant, lose punch and lose bass.

This could be happening right now and if so, it's not your fault. You've just been taught the wrong techniques.

That's why I made this free video lesson, and why I made the plugin i demonstrate in the video.

Get Easy Stereo NOW

 

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My Thoughts On The Subpac Subwoofer For Music Producers

mixdown & mastering news Nov 07, 2017

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love my Subpac. I use it for every song and even travel with it. So it was an honor to be asked by the team at Subpac to do a video for them and be featured on their website as a Subpac artist. Check out the video below, or learn more about Subpac here.

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Bass Kleph Interview on EDM Prod Podcast

The EDM Prodcast is one of my favorites. I have listened to many of the great interviews that Sam Matta shares. So it was an honor when he invited me to be on the show too! Check out the interview below.

 

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The Problem With Tuning Your Kick Drum Sample To Your Song

Have you ever struggled to get your kick and bass sitting just right? Have you ever found it hard to get them fat while still being in the same key? You are not alone, and you might be making things unnecessarily hard for yourself.

I've been hearing more and more about this lately. Just like the "high pass filter everything" rule, here is yet another Youtube tutorial tip that has been blown out of proportion. If you haven't already heard this one, a tip has been spread that "you must have your kick in key with your song". As you know, I am highly against the concept of rules that apply to every song. I am a firm believer of listening and approaching things case by case. Here is my take on when you should tune your kick, how you should, and when you shouldn't.

The time to tune.

The only times I think you need to have your kick in key with your song is when you are using a long tonal kick that has a clear note to it. e.g. big room boomy EDM kicks, Trap 808 kicks, and sometimes long...

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