Hello…and some thoughts!
Added 2020-09-25 08:13:48 +0000 UTCJust wanted to say hi again to everybody! :-)
The new mixing article brought in a lot of new members, so thanks to both all you new peeps as well as all older members. I can assure you I'll be providing you with fresh content.
I hope you've all been productive! I'm having a quick day off to recharge and kicked off the day by testing Steinberg's Backbone drum re-synthesis plugin, and I think I'll add doing a video of that to my "Patreon to-do" list as it's pretty interesting for all drum heads.
Anyways, I'd love your thoughts on these:
1) I'd love to hear what you'd like me to cover.
Sure enough I have a lot of material on my list of ideas (next video soon!), but I thought sometimes it might be nice to pick a topic presented by a member and then do either a post or a video on that.
I've seen some Patreon users have that tied to some paying tier, and I'm not sure about that – maybe it could be a public one (like this post), but in a way a paid one does kind of make sense in that regard.
Thoughts are welcome!
2) Song stems/parts etc?
Many of you probably know me as a producer as well as an audio engineer.
It's been my vibe here to keep things a bit more general and production/mixing-oriented, and I haven't included my musical productions here at all – but I've seen some Patreon users offer things relating to their music; I haven't pushed my music stuff here that much, but should I somehow offer that?
Maybe that'd call for a new mid-price tier or something like that. Chewing on this currently, so all ideas are welcome.
All in all, feeling extremely good about this. This is definitely a long-term thing for me and I want to have an abundance of content here over time.
For the past year or so, I've been involved in too many work projects outside and in addition to my main thing (mixing and mastering), which has lead in me not having enough time or energy for my own stuff…and that period has helped me see better what I truly fully want, and it's pushing my own things (music, audio engineering, Ableton stuff, as well as Patreon).
I've now let go of the extra project work stuff for others to concentrate on my own audio and music business even better.
I hope everyone's been doing good and stayed productive!
I'll get some more coffee, work on new music, and then it's time to do a 2-day Ableton workshop.
Stay in touch…more content coming soon!
Comments
I think that’s also part of the problem for me, is that through lockdowns, and even now, my work workspace is also the same place I make music. Which means, after a full day (or longer!) of sitting in front of my computer, I’m not always stoked to spend more time in the same spot, looking at the same screen. 😐 In an ideal world, I’d keep these spaces seperate, but I guess you have the same issue with your work and creative space, too. I *somewhat* negated this by obtaining a 2nd hand Nord electro keyboard during lockdown, which meant I was able to be musical without turning on the computer, but obviously that doesn’t really translate to much progress in the DAW. I guess it’s just a balancing act - I think forcing things can be counterproductive, too.
John Citizen
2023-12-22 11:42:03 +0000 UTCYeah managing time and energy is a job in itself, won't lie, especially when for me it's all about music. I'm not always super hungry for my own stuff after a workday. I don't always have the best solution to that myself. After every workday, I usually go out to have a walk or hit the gym to leave the work behind...and I can return to my own music after that (not every day though). I dunno, I try to appreciate both my job and creative gift – it kind of puts perspective there (I've had less nice jobs before, and I've also realized ppl who can create are quite special, and that should be cherished). I don't have a lot of social life TBH, don't have kids or pets, so I've wanted to optimize the time I have for myself. I also work from home so no need to travel for work.
Janne Hatula
2023-12-22 06:43:15 +0000 UTCHow do you manage to balance it all? I currently have two jobs, which has left very little time/motivation for music. It might not be the most exciting subject, but maybe one day you could do a post on time management and productivity. You’re pretty prolific with your releases, so it’s clearly a subject you know something about! 😂
John Citizen
2023-12-21 21:29:36 +0000 UTCA video I can’t promise (have no camera, never did screen capture), but I want to do a blog post at least. Also I could learn a bit more on the actual design behind then1073 and do the curves a bit more scientifically instead of just a rough copy.
hologroove
2020-10-15 14:07:35 +0000 UTCNow this is some great stuff I'm happy to hear! EPIC! Now this I would like to see a video about (the whole process).
Janne Hatula
2020-10-15 13:53:58 +0000 UTCNoted! Was actually doing an EMU bass there, and thats been requested, too :)
Janne Hatula
2020-10-15 13:49:18 +0000 UTCAwesome! Actually, Recharge from your Metalheadz EP would be at the top of my list! 😊
Alex
2020-10-15 11:04:53 +0000 UTCOk, I’ve just finished building a Neve 1073 rack using EQ Eight instances, a lot of effect racks and quite some macro mappings. I wouldn’t go as far as call it an emulation, maybe a rough estimation rather. But it does what I wanted: brings a lot of character. I used a free plugin called “Bertom EQCA” to analyze the freq response of Waves VEQ3 and tried to match that somewhat. I also wanted discreet freq choices with the macro knobs: solved that by having parallel effect chains and switching between them. My 1073 might not match the original at all (however A/Bs OK with the Waves plugin) but it’s mine and I learned a lot. I have a better understanding of what a 1073 does and how it does that. But mostly: I personally doesn’t need fancy and expensive plugins. I’ve just built my super simple character EQ. Thanks Fanu for the inspiration!!!
hologroove
2020-10-14 16:03:40 +0000 UTCThis is a very good idea, and has been in the back of my mind for a while. I was supposed to do a video about my Metalheadz EP earlier in the year, but got so hammered by too much work*, I didn't even get to start. This is most definitely what I'll want do to some extent. Would also love to hear if there's some specific songs ppl are interested in (I can't access the very old "classic Fanu" stuff as all those projects and DAWs are gone, but from the past few years, all doable). (* = was involved in some R&D work for a year, which was often way too much on top of my main audio stuff; I have now been moving that job to another person, which'll leave me with more time and energy for what matters to me the most: music, Patreon, videos, and audio engineering).
Janne Hatula
2020-10-10 13:50:10 +0000 UTCI'm interested in anything discussing how achieve your sound. Maybe you could open up the projects of from some of your released songs and discuss techniques/plugins/arrangement etc., or how you developed the idea? For me, the 'favorite plugins' post was the best read so far :) Keep up the great work!
Alex
2020-10-10 10:10:34 +0000 UTCWould definitely be a good topic! Ableton Live offers quite a few different ways of adding character. Adding this to my Patreon to-do list!
Janne Hatula
2020-10-09 09:10:28 +0000 UTCTopic suggestion: you mentioned in the "most used plugins: post that the stock Live compressors don't really add "character". I'd love to see a post on character eq & compressor solutions with Ableton Live stock plugins / free plugins. A Neve 1073 EQ built from Ableton stock effects would be my dream ;)
hologroove
2020-10-09 08:43:13 +0000 UTCI have my User Lib (that also contains all my main sample folders etc) synced via Dropbox. I tried Drive before but that was such a headache that I asked for a refund…never again. DB "just works" and had posed zero issues. On my computers, I have a folder HD! ▸ Users ▸ me ▸ Dropbox – and all the Ableton stuff and samples are there. So if I create a preset for User Lib on one computer or save a new Clip or a sample etc, it immediately syncs to the other computer, too. Same for songs. "You've often mentioned that you write a brief sketch of an idea, maybe a riff, and save it to the User Library. How do you then save the samples used in the sketch for a riff, or make sure it'll always load?" All my sample folders are synced, too, so that'll load on either computer. I never really delete stuff from my sample folders...if this answers the Q? :) So, whatever I create in my Dropbox or User Library folder is automatically sent to cloud and another computer, so stuff's nice and safe.
Janne Hatula
2020-09-28 16:36:41 +0000 UTCHi. I'd love to know more about retaining Ableton Live Templates, User Libraries, Presets, Instrument & Effect & Midi Racks. I've been crafting away at a Template for quite some time (no samples, just outboard gear, midi tracks for said outboard gear, and two drum-plugins). I'm now looking at how to back that up safely and securely to iCloud Drive / Dropbox / GoogleDrive, so it's saved for posterity, even if something were to go brokened with Ableton Live. I'm trying to figure out how to do that. Ideally, I'd like all saved Default Settings (for plugins or Ableton native effects) to be saved onto my iCloud Drive, so I can use them elsewhere too. But I'm not sure how to do that. The same for creating standalone instruments (Macro Maps, Grouped instruments, grouped samplers with samples retained). this is one thing I always get really confused with, cos like, I'd prefer to save standalone versions, not something where I first save the "settings" and then have to save the samples and always have them in the same place. So what's your go-to for that. You've often mentioned that you write a brief sketch of an idea, maybe a riff, and save it to the User Library. How do you then save the samples used in the sketch for a riff, or make sure it'll always load?
esaruoho
2020-09-28 08:47:35 +0000 UTCThanks for the feedback and ideas here, Mihai! It's prob true what you said re: saturated market in some areas, while some others are less busy. Actually, good food for thought and kind of emphasizes how I've been feeling. I want to offer a bit of variety myself, too. And remix stems might probably be some really good fun. So far I've only ever offered those for one tune, a recent "Techstep Weed" tune. Might definitely do more of that! Thanks for the thoughts and ideas, Mihai :)
Janne Hatula
2020-09-26 17:16:18 +0000 UTCHey Janne, thanks for all the work so far. I'm subscribed to a couple producers' Patreons and following a few more and I've also been keeping an eye on the discussions around Patreon on various producer communities. It seems to me like the majority of people following producers are following based on 1. their own musical preferences 2. recommendations from other people. The thing is, there are a lot of big producers with Patreon accounts already and they mostly focus on the sound design, plugins and arrangement part of production. I think that area is a bit saturated atm. Where I see you being very different is that you have a lot of knowledge and content on the mixing and mastering part of things, which is also a topic that is less covered in these producer group discussions. There is a lot of information out there about using tools and plugins for sound design purposes, but very little structured information on using tools and plugins for mixing and mastering (especially DnB specific information). I think there's a big opportunity here for you to jump in and fill that gap. Other than that, one thing I appreciate a lot, as a beginner, is being able to work with remix stems from an established producer. It helps me improve immensely in a lot of ways. I also think it's a fun exercise to do within a community and people generally get into it. But you might want to wait a bit until you have a bit of a bigger following (each of us can only work on so many projects at a time). Stay safe!
Mihai
2020-09-26 12:45:25 +0000 UTCSample packs: FatGyver beats pack and Fanu bass pack will happen at some point, and will be then available via Bandcamp and also via Patreon to those on the 30 EUR tier! Not super soon, but in the plans for Q4, 2020 :) Remix comps…not a bad idea actually!
Janne Hatula
2020-09-25 16:50:01 +0000 UTCLet me know :)
Janne Hatula
2020-09-25 16:48:58 +0000 UTC2) sample packs ? Bi-Monthly remix comps ? Just ideas
Simon Bates
2020-09-25 08:27:06 +0000 UTC1) lots and lots of things I’d love you to cover
Simon Bates
2020-09-25 08:26:12 +0000 UTC
