Getting The Best Sound out of Your Gear
Over the past few months its been a few conversations (that hve gotten out of hand) about sonics this that etc.. Lets talk about it with some real solutions..
What’s up Forum,
Let’s cut down to it.
A lot of the discussion around sonics and gear is just really BS.
What I hear is
”I want my music to sound good without much effort”
Well, that’s relatively easy.
Get some interesting-sounding source material and BOOM
If your source material isn’t as interesting,
then run it through something that makes it so.
Thats it.
Probably underwhelming right,
well yeah.
ultimately we are overcomplicating things that are super simple and pointing fingers in completely unnecessary directions.
So let’s point the finger in the right direction.
The current MPCs / Force line run at 32-bit.
When you listen to them it should be relatively flat or close to the source material.
Anything else is adding color.
So just find another way to do so.
I add color by driving everything hard af.
Sizle from 808 Mafia talks about this in an interview where they ask him how he gets his 808s to hit so hard.
”Turn them up”
Gem #1
Clipping is a form of distortion that sounds good in certain applications, especially hip hop
instead of grabbing a limiter reach for the Air Transient designer.
A/B the results with the AIR limiter or a compressor with extreme settings.
You’ll see that the transient designer limited overhead transients while still preserving the sound
I love this thing.
Some beats just sound good loud and distorted so I’ll place this on the master fader.
Gem #2
If you have a tape emulation use that and resample
Long story short because tape doesn’t handle fast transients well.
So the warm sound of tape is actually emulated in a million different plugins right now.
Add some character into your samples or tracks by using a tape emulation (that limits peaks)..
I’d sample this into your MPC (with XLR cables so you can use the preamps)
and make sure you’re at 16-bit.
Why? you don’t want to waste memory playing MIDI notes, AND this is essentially the MPC flow, right? Sample .. not use VST’s
Gem # 3
Get creative..but SAMPLE IT
There are a million things you can do to add character, so mix and match them.
But after all that is done.
Sample it.
I’ve noticed a pattern with FL studio producers.
after they get a great-sounding idea, they’ll bounce it down.
If you want to keep your MIDI I recommend you save it quickly and either re-sample or sample into your device.
I LOVE sampling into the MPC60 emulation, Air Lo-Fi, and SP1200 emulations.
this way the effect is printed onto the audio.
and that’s including whatever effects I may have sampled using the DAW.
1. this is a creative way to get extra effects onto a sound.YOu can layer so much this way without too much effort.
2. audio is easier to handle, especially versus multiple plugin windows.
3. again, this is the MPC workflow.. using it as a sampler not necessarily a DAW hosting multiple VST
Ultimately experiment with your stuff and don’t let the GUI fool you
… I can say that the Akai plugins are a little more discreet than the AIR plugins, BUT require a bit of knowledge about mixing, etc.
For example, the PEQ 2 Band 2 Shelf is an AMAZING eq.
But it’s not as fancy as the Air EQ
or as fancy looking, BUT it does sound extremely discreet.
So try not to let GUI fool you.
All in all,
These machines give you options.
here’s a quick list
Air Flavor Pro
Air Flavor
MPC filter (drum programs)
any one of the distortion effects
any one of the emulation effects
OR combinations.
SO have at it..
The kit below uses all of the techniques i describe plus some.
This kit uses most or all of the techniques that I mention..
i left a healthy amount of the FX chains on, however, i did sample from Tape Mello Fi and Airwindows Spiral for some character.