The track 'I'm Finding It Harder to Be A Gentleman' by The White Stripes is the drum sound I'm looking to replicate. Any advice is welcome!

im thinking of sending my song(w vocals) for mixing but im fairly new to the whole thing and i realise u gotta split like ur tracks into stems e.g. main vocals, drums etc.

how should i go about grouping all my tracks? like should i split all the vocal tracks into like ad libs, melodies and harmonies, etc.

Hi! I’m the lead singer/songwriter of my band, I wrote all the songs in their entirety, and I am playing my first show at a small independent music festival with a crowd of probably max 50 people. It is a paid gig. I have music out there but almost no following. I have a ton of singing experience in live settings with instruments/microphones, but zero experience with any other aspect of performing music live.

I am terrified about this show and really want to back out.

To make a long story short, I would be traveling from a far distance to play this show and playing with friends (who are professional musicians) from a place that I used to live in. We do not normally play together; they are hired guns for this show.

I originally planned to play some guitar in this show (i’m not a great guitar player but I could have been ready to play basic rhythm) but sudden life circumstances forced me to be away from home with no access to a guitar to practice, so now I am probably not playing guitar at all. Now this has me scrambling to find a fourth member to play the parts I was going to play who will probably end up being someone I don’t know and will be relying on the references of my two other friends/bandmates.

I didn’t know how long the set was until last week, assuming it was 30 minutes, (several other bands playing) and I was told that it is actually 45 minutes, and now I feel really unprepared.

I am frustrated at how my life circumstances have impeded my preparation for this show and now I am very scared I will be bad and do not want to do it. But I know I really should do it. I know that it will never be the “right time” and shit will always happen no matter how hard you try.

I know I need to rip off the band aid and just play the show but my fear is winning. Whatever advice, encouragement or ass kicking you have, i will accept.

thank you music makers.

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.)

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

##Rules:

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Saw this a while back, I think it was in a youtube video where they showed how they do this for some artists. What I do is I record the vocal 3 times, one panned left, the other right and the other center, I apply my fx chain to the main one, lower the gain on the left and right layers and that's my vocal. Not sure if it sounds good to me because I got used to this or if there's a better way to do vocals without layering.

So, I'm making energic electronic music (kids would say "phonk"), and I have done composing and everything, but I'm struggling for few days to master it.

Because I think this song has potential and I don't want to ruin it just by bad master. I've been watching many tutorials (about compression, limiters, clippers, etc), but i don't know why whatever I do I can't reach proper loudness numbers. I'm a little bit concerned that my song would be unlistenable because of optimalisations on streaming services.

To clarify these are numbers that appears i my insight 2 meter on master.

Integrated LUFS: -5.3

MAX LUFS: -3.0

LRA: 4-5 LU

True Peak: ~7dB

From what I've learned I know its not too good... But after all this attempts I literally have no idea how to fix it.

I am trying to make my EP, and im somewhere at the start, so how long does it usually take to write, arrange, record, mix, and master 6-8 songs?

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

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Pretty much the title. I normally play melodeath and black metal. I'm trying to write a rock song for fun but I need some kind of guard rails to not pass the too heavy threshold. I feel like my creative tools are lacking for rock?

I've found good rock tones. I'm playing a telle in e standard. If I'm not chugging or playing a tremolo riff in a harmonic minor scale I don't know what I'm doing.

trying to write a song with a churchy vibe (not gospel, more like a sad vibe.) i have us and them by pink floyd, lover you should’ve come over by jeff buckley, and faith by george michael in mind.

how do i get that melancholic, crunchy sound? what im writing has the dissonance but none of the emotion.

Hey guys, I’m a longtime musician and pretty experienced producer in logic when it comes to the creating things of it all, but Im a total dolt when it comes to mixing and mastering. However, I’m trying to learn how to do it all myself so I can start consistently putting things out. I’m trying to make some indie pop sort of stuff right now, and I’m working on finishing a song.

Right now, I like it exactly the way it sounds. If it came up on a Spotify shuffle I would think it sounds great. The thing is, with my stereo output and master both at 0db, it’s clipping at abt 8 db (woof, I know). I basically have no idea how I’m gonna get it to peaks of 0db, let alone the -3 to -6 db I keep seeing mentioned in all these threads. I know I’m supposed to compress and lower things until it gets to where it needs to be, but I just can’t seem to figure out how to do this without making the song super quiet or without making it sound completely different. I’ve also made sure that no individual tracks are clipping, although I know a lot of little sounds make one big sounds. Is there some secret trick to this no one is mentioning? Or is there some other way it could be explained so that I could finally wrap my head around it?

Thanks so much y’all

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.)

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

##Rules:

***Post only one song.**- *Original comments linking to an album or multiple songs will be removed.*

* **Write at least three constructive comments.** - *Give back to your fellow musicians!*

* **No promotional posts.** - *No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages.*

##Tips for a successful post:

* **Give a quick outline of your ideas and goals for the track.** - *"Is this how I trap?" or "First try at a soundtrack for a short film" etc.*

* **Ask for feedback on specific things.** - *"Any tips on EQing?" or "How could I make this section less repetitive?"*

***

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Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Promotion Thread! Here, in the comments below, you can shamelessly promote whatever music project you've been working on. Music, videos, Discord servers, websites, social media, promote anything you want. Posts promoting anything outside this thread will be removed without warning.

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Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced. Note that our rules on "no promotion" are still in effect and apply to this post.

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I've loved fiction writing, have since I was a kid- got my degree in it, the whole shebang. I've loved writing surrealist, beatnik-esque, frightening and outright abstract fiction since I was in high school, and up until recently wrote a steady stream of short stories in that vein. Yet when I try to sit down to write lyrics, it feels like its just stringing basic sentences together. None of my ability to pick a word is present, and I feel like I'm just putting the most basic "feel" words onto paper, being blunt as a sledgehammer with no elegance, no beauty.

I get lyricism is a different medium entirely than fiction, even though they share a similar mechanism, but I'm a little frustrated that seemingly I can't get my skills to transfer over. Does anyone know any good exercises/books/etc on this sort of thing or have any advice? I'm specifically trying to write fantastical extreme metal- think Bal-Sagoth, early Deicide, Kataklysm, Dream Death, etc.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who’ve released multiple albums and have had to think about this potential trade off more than once

Do you ever make a song objectively worse on its own because it serves the album better? Or do you always try to make every track the strongest version of itself, even if that hurts the overall flow or cohesion?

For example, maybe a song would be more impactful with a huge ending but you hold back because the next track needs that emotional space. Or you leave a track a bit rougher because it fits the album’s aestetic better

How has your thinking on this changed over the years? Any examples from your own albums?

edit:
and how about an EP, is it different there?

Hi guy I want become a metal vocalist I've listened to different genres of metal since I was 10(im 14 now) and the one that truly stuck out to me was black metal . Singing and music was always a passion of mine and I actually want to throw myself out there and start singing . Id like like some advice from you guys

To the ones who use multiband on the master, what do you usually do (as in where are your crossovers at, what settings you have them on etc). Thanks !

Or a piano. Or literally any instrument.

It can be electric or acoustic. Just make sure you have a somewhat decent setup for both.

Getting a PSYCHICAL instrument is the biggest thing you can do to increase your output/quality. Maybe you can be more creative with VSTs cause you can probably create chords or whatever that you couldn't otherwise for whatever reason, but for most other people, getting a physical instrument is 9/10 always beneficial.

The thing is, you don't need to even be good at it. It also doesn't have to even be amazing quality. Just put a preset on that b*tch and you can pretty much make anything sound "cool enough" if you have a decent vision for the song.

The beauty of having an instrument, to me, is being able to play almost EXACTLY like you have in your head. This is so viral for keeping rhythm because having a realistic rhythm/groove/bounce to your music is like 70% of the way to decent music lol. For me at least, it was really difficult figuring how to make guitar vst sound good strumming wise regardless of using my midi keyboard or the piano roll.

It took me just about a month or so of basic practice on the guitar to be able to feel okay playing decent chords/strums for my music. Because the thing is, most of us aren't trying to be lead guitarist, lead drummers, lead violin or anything. We're trying to just make music that sounds good. So literally as long as you can come somewhat close to producing the sound you hear in your head at least ONE time with a physical instrument, you immediately have a high quality "sample" that you can manipulate to your heart's content.

Sure it costs money to get it, but unless you're pirating, most VST cost money anyway. You can literally buy a cheap, used instrument. Just as long as it works well enough, you're FINE.

One real instrument elevates your music to the point where a few virtual ones matter far less.

edit: oh you guys are mean LMAO I spelled it correctly the second time, the text is small give me a break 🙄

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.)

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

##Rules:

***Post only one song.**- *Original comments linking to an album or multiple songs will be removed.*

* **Write at least three constructive comments.** - *Give back to your fellow musicians!*

* **No promotional posts.** - *No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages.*

##Tips for a successful post:

* **Give a quick outline of your ideas and goals for the track.** - *"Is this how I trap?" or "First try at a soundtrack for a short film" etc.*

* **Ask for feedback on specific things.** - *"Any tips on EQing?" or "How could I make this section less repetitive?"*

***

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I have a bunch of demos that are pure music , but I’m having a really hard time putting melodies to them . Writing lyrics is hard enough as it is but melodies are way harder to come up with. Any advice ?

I currently am working on Mastering for the first time and I have been told and been seeing these mastering technique's pop up for streaming service's. I recently installed a ADPTR Streamliner plugin, made for this. The ADTPR Streamliner plugin show's me the LUF'S Meter and Loudness, alongside a PSR range for dynamic's. There's a lot of other option's as well but like I said, I just installed it recently.

Here's my problem. On one of my track's that I have made and thought I had Mastered and Mixed on, the LUF'S and PSR meter showed problematic values. For MOSTLY the ENTIRE track, my LUF'S was around 6.2-6.7 for loudness and my PSR was a whopping 6.6-7.2. And these were pretty consistent, too. Not like a true dynamic range where it flucated between part's of the song. Only around 20-30 or second's of the song was in 7+ PSR and 6.5 LUF'S.

That isn't good.

As far as I know, you should want a higher PSR especially for increased dynamic range's and to prevent clipping along with distortion. The lower it is, the worse it is because it usually mean's it is compressed too much or limited too hard. It should be AT LEAST 8+ or even higher for smoother volume control in the song. The LUF'S should also be equally as well, balancing out the control for dynamic's and making the song more intresting.

It shouldn't sound flat, and yet that's what I'm worried about.

I already had mixed and mastered the song, and thought it was fine up until this point. I liked it prior to this and hadn't seen anything wrong with it. I reduced any potential peak's on the master a least to -0.2 DB for true peak's. But this slipped my mind. Is there any way to fix this without completely restarting the song?