Mixing Tests: The Inconsistency of The Various Audio Players

(Ye, old Trippingonacable Studios circa: 2001 - 2004, Calgary, AB, Canada)

Ye, so once again we are doing mixing tests, and the one thing we are noticing is the inconsistency of the various audio players. I mean that shit is fairly obvious, but ultimately quite annoying when you are trying to get somewhat of an idea of what your track sounds like when they are mixed down and rendered. I guess it's just annoying, when mixing a track down to a WAV and then playing it, in an audio player, like iTunes or the Windows Media Player, there are soo many goddamn inconsistencies in the audio (between the various audio players)... you begin to wonder, or at least for me, I wonder what exactly needs to be fixed in the track... even in iTunes... the EQ feature they have, fucks up the audio too... so you're not getting a very accurate picture of what needs to be fixed in the mixes.

The solution for me, for this issue..? First, turn off any EQing that the audio player inserts while playing the track (once again I know this is obvious, but some people may not be aware). Second, most music that is distributed online is via streaming platforms, like iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc... When mixing and mastering, I keep those platforms in mind. I will also say, as a tip: at least I've found, get the WAV file or whatever lossless audio format you are rendering to, to sound the best that it can, I've found once the WAV file sounds good, then rendering down to a MP3 things generally sound good!

There's also the tip of: listening to the rendered mix on various audio systems, like computer speakers, earbuds (on your iOS device), and maybe even in a vehicle sound system, much like they would in the past... to get somewhat of an idea of what your mix will sound like... you want to make sure that the audio is fairly consistent on all those systems!

I realize some of these tips are obvious, but in the past I wouldn't really think about this kind of stuff, and just kind of get an idea with just my monitors... it wasn't until recently, in the last few years that I've actually really started to listen to the mixes on various systems... to get a better idea of how everything sounds, and to make sure everything is fairly consistent across all those systems!

The overall feeling of these mixing sessions: things are going well with these mixing tests! I'm very happy with the way things are coming out, and progressing... and I'm learning a lot! I can't wait to utilize these new found skills in upcoming audio productions and endeavors!! As I already stated in a previous blog, things are really starting to make sense... and rather thinking of this as a science, ultimately it really is subjective, and you kinda got to keep in mind what you are going for in the mixing process, and make sure that all the tracks on whatever album or EP or whatever you're working on have a consistent mix between all the tracks on said album or EP!

P.S.: The image included in this blog is of Trippingonacable Studios, circa: 2001 - 2004, in Calgary, AB, Canada. We have come a long way since then. This was the first iteration of Trippingonacable Studios. We were using a custom PC with a Soundblaster sound card, Impulse Tracker (sequencing software), and eventually Jeskola Buzz Tracker (another sequencing software, but with inbuilt synths and all that kind of shit), combined with a Tascam Portastudio 414 (used as a mixer with audio connected into the sound card, so we could capture guitar samples. As well, we would bounce the audio down from Impulse Tracker to the Portastudio, do vocals on the Portastudio, then send them back into the computer as completed songs, and render them as WAV files or MP3s), as well as a shitty guitar, and a Samson Q mic. My monitoring was done on computer speakers with no sub-woofer. Lot's of fun in the old days, had no idea what the fuck I was doing, but as time has passed, obviously have gained a lot more experience, and I think better mixes of tracks and better songs!

The Joy that is "Life Is Peachy" by Korn

So, yeah... I do realize this album is probably their most angry album, but I will say... this album... every fucking song on it is solid!! I don't think there is one song I don't like, and listening to it lately... really enjoying it!! I do think their first "self-titled" release is probably their strongest, but there are a couple of songs on it that I feel are kind of filler. With "Life Is Peachy", absolutely every fucking song is solid! The other thing I like about this album, is that... it seems every fucking song runs into the next one, and it feels like a very consistent record between the tracks. Everything seems to fit together nicely! I'm not sure why the songs were placed the way they were on the album, but it feels very natural! Even the quality of the mixes and mastering, and the general quality of the audio is excellent as well! I feel it is very clear!

The track list is excellent; when "Twist" kicks in and it kind of sets the tone of the album... then "Chi" kicks in immediately after... there's all these weird sounds on the tracks, weird noises and shit... which have been created with guitars. Personally, I think it's awesome! I will say from a sound perspective, I find this album... well noisy, but not in the white noise sense, I find it noisy in the sense that there is a lot of interesting distortion on the guitars and as already stated, the weird noises and shit! It feels very crunchy I guess! Even the vocals, Jonathan Davis' vocals seem to have some kind of distortion on them, likely they're not, but there definitely a nice crunch to them (it could actually be the choice of mic they used for the recording of the vocals). I will also say, even though I found this album noisy, everything seems to cut through in the mixes... which to me makes this album even more interesting cause, despite the noise, everything seems to fit in place and makes the overall sound of the album better!!

As most of you know, Korn is a huge influence for Twitch! And, I love going back to these earlier releases and really just listening and not only just enjoying the album, cause of the sound quality of the mixes, but finding inspiration within these tracks and applying some of this to my own endeavor!! There's also a lot of memories associated with these albums, a time and place of where I was at and my first time actually listening to this album. I think when I first heard this, I was in my first band Adam Hates You! at the time... and I remember seeing the music video for the song "A.D.I.D.A.S", it was fucked... seeing the band in a morgue and writhing around and all that kind of shit... it's kind of funny, cause that song is about well, their use of the acronym is: All Day I Dream About Sex... and the video is of them in a morgue. If I'm not mistaken, that was the only song off that album, that saw a music video treatment, but such a great song!!

Even though their first "Self-titled' release was explosive from the get go, this album seems more focused and refined in the sound! Yet, still explosive!

I will say here; outside of the genre nu-metal... I don't really listen to any other metal genre... unless we are talking about industrial metal... then that is whole other beast (Fear Factory anyone?). I will be honest here, I was tempted to put something in here about sound design, but out of all honesty, I think most metal bands, don't really do a lot of sound design type stuff (unless there is major use of synthesizers; ie: Industrial Metal)... I will say though, there is a certain quality of sound here... not necessarily sound design aspects, but certainly in the way the album was recorded, mixed, and mastered!

Love this album... and I will say, out of all honesty I think my favorite tracks off this album are "A.D.I.D.A.S." and "Wicked"!

What do you folks think of this album?

P.S.: Hey we released a new album called "Databomb", you can download it here!

Mixing Tests: Subjectivity...

(Ye, things are going well!!)

Well, today's mixing test went well!! I'm starting to get a feel for doing all this mixing, and things are starting to make sense! If you've done any mixing of music or audio, you would know the process is subjective, but if you keep in mind what you are going for with your audio, between tracks... then at least I'm finding things make sense and really fit together! I will be honest, for previous audio efforts, and albums, the mixing process was really experimental for me, and stuff that I would do in the mixes would really be stuff that I've picked up from various videos and tutorials on the internet (especially YouTube)... but after doing this audio mixing bootcamp, initially I was feeling a little directionless, cause I wasn't sure what to do... but things started to make sense, after kind of deciding, what exactly I wanted my mixes to sound like, and after a lot of trial and error, and kind of working with the audio that I have/had... and then being consistent with that mixing decision through all the mixes for this testing! Also, a little query here and there from various friends with how they do their audio mixes... and also keeping in mind what I want the end result to sound like after the mastering process (if the mixes need anything in the end)!

I'm very satisfied with where things are going, there's been lot's of learning, in the beginning of my music endeavor, I really didn't have any idea what I wanted my mixes for my previous albums to sound like, and as the years passed and picking up tips here and there, for a while, I thought there was kind of science to it, but ultimately there isn't... as stated above mixing is subjective, and it really is up to the mix/audio engineers ears and what they want the final mixes to sound like, while keeping in mind what a band or artist kinda has in mind for the mixes as well. 

I would say, things are going well!

Mixing Tests: Ear Fatigue?

(Ear Fatigue?)

Ok, so there is definitely a debate whether ear fatigue is real or not. Quite frankly, I don't know... I listen to music everyday, there really is no quiet time for me (except for when I meditate), I pretty much have something going on in the background all day, every day... and when I'm writing, typically in the past I would write/record and constantly be listening to sections of the track and then sometimes the full track, to hear how it all fits together.

When I think about ear fatigue, quite frankly, that is the one thing that we ultimately can't get away from... sound, if there is wind, rustling leaves, cars going by, fans, buzzing of fridges or microwaves, people, sirens (depending on where you live), we can't actually turn off our ears (even meditating, there is some noise outside that ultimately our ears can't block). So do we actually experience ear fatigue? Being that we can't really turn off our ears... there is no silence (maybe unless you are in outer space, but that might be a discussion for another time). I will tell you though, during these mixing tests, I find actually stepping away and not listening to the audio for like 5 to 10 minutes, and then coming back to it, helps. Now, I wouldn't equate that to ear fatigue necessarily, I would more equate that as stepping away, and then coming back to it with a fresh mindset.

What are your thoughts? When you mix, do you feel you get ear fatigue? Or do you feel ear fatigue is not real?

Mixing Tests... Monitor Placement!

(Mixing Tests...)

So, I'm doing these mixing tests... you know, more as something to learn and... I'm realizing why it's very important to have your desk, and monitor placement correct... The unfortunate part in all of this, is that I don't really have the space to setup my studio, the way it should be setup, and I don't really have the room to add a couple of monitor stands to my studio either... buuuut, I know I should at least raise the monitors on my desk so they are level with my ears, cause quite frankly, I realize that I'm not hearing things properly, and I'm finding I bend over a lot so that I can actually get an idea of the "true" sound that is coming out of my monitors... gotta find a way to raise them on my desk. I know that isn't the best or perfect solution, but at least it will do in the interim, until I can setup my studio the way, or very close to the way it should be.

Any of you folks know of an affordable way to raise studio monitors on your desk?

Studio Diary: Night... Structure?

(Night... Structure?)

Yep, today's session (June 9/2020) was excellent! Very productive, got everything done at around the 8:30pm mark! Today's track was, once again a lot of fun to make! This whole process has been a lot of fun, and I'm really enjoying the new things I'm learning, and new ways I'm doing things! 

It's very exciting, and I will say this again I love working with my synth pretty much exclusively for this challenge! Moving forward... for future albums, I'm exclusively gonna be using my hardware synths (Yamaha EX7, and DX100) for all sound creation, outside of guitars!

I will say this again too, even though I don't really have the luxury of time, and once I'm done writing one album, I should move on to the next... I will say, I'm glad I did take the time away from writing/recording for the length that I did (10ish months). The sound design and programming is vastly different than what I had initially envisioned, and I think this album will be better for it! I will also say, even though I don't like the isolation, it has truly been an inspiration! After a certain point of this period of self-isolation, my ideas and thoughts around what I was gonna do for this has changed... and like I said, I think this is better because of it!

I've also got a lot of new ideas for performance aspects and the live show and all that kind of stuff! When this challenge comes to a close, the way I do things musically, will be vastly different from what I normally would have done things! The one thing that is sticking in my mind? Get the ideas out, as they come out!! Personally, I feel the songs are better off this way... and is waaaay more natural, than sitting for hours deliberating on things that ultimately don't matter in the communication of the song!

Sooo much inspiration out there! So much to do, so much to learn! Loving every minute of this!!

Studio Diary: WeeoooWeeoooWeeoo!

(WeeooWeeooWeeoo! What is this..?)

Well, another productive evening in the studio!! Once again knocked off another song! Making a lot of progress these days!! The song for this session (June 8/2020) was taken from concept to completion today! Once again, the vocals were the last thing to do, though this time around, the session was coming to a close around 8:20pm... so it wasn't quite the end of the night, but did vocals, and song done!!

So far this challenge has been a lot of fun!! I'm getting things done a lot quicker than I normally would, which ultimately is making me think that, my normal process, does not need to be as long and drawn out as it is, at least for some of the stuff I do! I have made it a goal to write at least one song per day during this challenge... it really forces me to really only utilize the tracks and not get too fuckin detailed with shit. A lot of the tracks I've written out of this process have been very minimal, I think the highest track count I got to for a song was near 18 tracks (I think)... The other thing is, is after a track is considered finished, I'm not going back to them to listen to what I have done, I just get to a point, where I feel the track is done, and finish things up, and then move onto the next song! I'm also writing the songs one at a time, typically in the past when I was working on an album, I would start a track, and work on it, till I get to a point where I have no new ideas, so I set the track aside, start a new one... and kinda work that way, and then when it felt right, I would go back to the unfinished tracks and eventually finish them. The process sometimes took weeks or months, sometimes there was a lot of listening too, but now that I'm trying to do a song a day... I'm just focusing on one song at a time, trying to get my ideas, as soon as they come out... which is helping me finish the tracks, cause I'm not really messing around all that much, everything is more focused, and I've found when getting my ideas out in this fashion, it is actually a lot easier to finish songs!!

I will also say here, I'm not recording any (new) guitars on my own, and actually, I'm using royalty free and creative commons samples for various guitar parts, as well as stuff that I recorded a long time ago, in the past that I've never used before (thank fuckin christ I built a guitar sample bank, with a bunch of stuff that I wasn't sure what to do with)!

This process has been a lot of fun!! The challenge so far has been very eye opening, in what I'm capable of, and there has been a lot of learning (I know I've already mentioned this, but... I'm just having a lot of fun, and when this challenge is done, I can't wait to share this stuff with you)!! Ultimately, this challenge will end eventually, and I'll have to figure out what the next challenge is (already have an idea, but I'll get into that another time)!

Studio Diary: Light everlasting?

(Light everlasting?)

Ye, today (June 7/2020) was a very productive day, have knocked off two songs! Today's session was full of happy accidents. I was initially gonna create a neat little arpeggiated sequence, but as I was playing, this recorded bit started playing in the background, but at a higher speed and pitch... when listening to it, in context of the song, it worked with the song, and fit exactly what I was going for! Sometimes these little happy accidents happen, and the results end up being amazing!

I will say, the first song I worked on today... I was intentionally going in one direction, but as the song started to take shape, it turned into something entirely different! I'm loving this! I'm loving this challenge, I'm loving the output and stuff that is being written, the way it's coming out, and all the learning in the process! I'm well ahead of where I want to be!!

Sooo, much inspiration out there! 

I will say this again folks, I know a lot of you typically don't do something creative, unless you feel inspired, but I will be honest, sometimes you just have to sit down and pick up the pen/brush/pencil, play guitar/keys/drums what have you, and put it on paper/canvas, record/write etc... it may not look/sound perfect, it may be crap, but at least you are doing something, and sometimes that's all it takes! I know for myself, as of lately, I've been doing something creative every day, and sometimes I don't feel like it, but if you wait until you feel like it, it may never happen or get done. You gotta do these things despite your feelings! I know I've found, after years of doing this consistently (at least once a week), the ideas come out much more quickly, and easily, and sometimes it's inspiration, and sometimes it's just me going through the motions. The last little bit I'm gonna say here, I know some of you folks have heard me say this before, but I will say it again, ultimately life is very short, if we are lucky we live to 100... 100 years isn't actually all that long... think about the last 10 years, how quickly did that go by? I think you are getting what I'm saying!

Hope you folks are staying safe and are well!

Studio Diary: So, I achieved a very nice goal today!!

(Achievement unlocked, part one! Lightshift... dark!)

Ye, so today (June 6th/2020), I achieved a writing and production goal in my music endeavor. Today I took 2 songs from concept to completion, and even started a third song today! I am extremely happy with this achievement! I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to do it, but I did!

Once again, I will say, this entire challenge and process has been very fun, very inspiring, and there is a lot of learning that I'm doing in the process! The way this is rolling, I'm loving this!! I will say it again, this whole process reminds me a little bit of the early Twitch days when I was using Tracker software to write my first album (as well as my second)! This is all coming out quickly, and I'm getting it down as it comes out, it's lending to intuitive songwriting, and I truly understand why certain music producers do things in certain ways!

I've kind of gotten into a rhythm now, and we'll see what tomorrow brings, I would love to get out another 2 songs tomorrow... we'll see...

So, much inspiration right now!!

Studio Diary: That is the way... What is this vision?

(That is the way... what is this vision?)

Ye, it was another productive day in the studio today (June 5th/2020)! I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening (up until about 9pm) working on this song for the day. Once again, we did vocals at the end of the night, this time though, because we finished the track a little earlier (8:30pmish) we did the vocals, got them down in one take, and that's just the way we've been doing it lately! Not sure why it's coming out that way, but doing vocals these last few days on the various tracks that we've been working on, have generally been done in one take! Then I'll go in and tweak things here and there, add any effects and there you have it!

We've also been in the last couple of days, finishing one track per day (not including lyric writing), so things have definitely been going well!!

So, what is the overall feeling from today's session? 

This is awesome, and has been the most fun I've had writing in a long time! I'm trying to spit out tracks as quickly as possible, but I'm not gonna get into too many details here... other than, outside of a few things (drums, and guitars), every sound is from my synthesizer! I've either been using sounds that are already in the synth, or creating entirely new ones (with the synth), ye... I'm loving it! Lot's of learning going on!

Studio Diary: Is there light?

(Is there light?.. Photo courtesy of Natalie Torosian)

We are officially over the halfway point now, in the songs and tracklist... I wanted to do 15 songs, I'm now sitting at 8 that are done! These tracks have been coming out every 1.5(ish) days, so I'm not at the point I want to be (I would like to do 1 per day), but I am waaay the fuck ahead of where I wanted to be initially, so for me that's a win!

Today's session, was very intuitive, very quick... things came out quite quickly, I didn't over-complicate the song... I got down what needed to get down, and as of lately, it seems as though... the last thing I do, is vocals, just before 9pm (9pm is the cut-off point for doing vocals, as I live in an apartment)... for some reason lately... it's usually 10 - 15 minutes before 9pm, and I record the vocals, in one take! Not sure why it's happening that way, but for some reason that is the way it's happening! Then I'll go in and quickly edit them, put them through an Effects Bus, tweak the effects to taste... and song done! Obviously, if I need to, I'll carry things out a little longer in the tweaking stage, but generally 9pm has been the time I finish the song and get vocals!

So, what is the overall feeling of these sessions?

I'm loving every minute of this! I like the workflow, I love working with my synth a lot! Outside of a couple of things, all the sounds are generated by my synthesizer, and yeah... loving working with my synth in this capacity! It's really helping me to get out ideas quicker, and understand the internal architecture of my synthesizer and how it works! Initially, when I started this challenge, I was worried that I may not be able to meet the challenge (I hadn't actually touched my synth in like 10 months, so I was worried that I would be fumbling around trying to figure shit out, when I should be productive), but after working with my synth a bit and re-familiarizing myself with the way it works... it wasn't such a struggle to pick it up and work with it in the capacity that I am!

This has been the most fun I've had with it, since I got the thing... but I'll get into that another time! Loving this shit!!

Love you guys!

Studio Diary: Slump, but it picked up!

(Slump, but it picked up... inspiration is out there!!)

Ye, the start of the last couple sessions were a little tough (June 2 & 3, 2020). After the last sessions, I wasn't sure I would be able to keep up the same mindset, and keep the juices flowing. I spent June 2nd, writing lyrics from scratch, got them into some kind of complete state, then June 3rd I started and completed the track those lyrics were meant for... and then tweaked the lyrics a little more, and at the end of the session (around 8:50pm) I recorded the vocals and track done! I feel good again! Even though I was a little nervous about starting and finishing this track, it got done!!

A part of this process, I was meant to write guitar for the various tracks that I'm working on, but my guitar decided to not work anymore, so to replace it, I've started using free guitar samples off the net and such (Royalty free, as well as 0 Attibution creative commons stuff), it's been interesting, cause I'm manipulating and slicing the samples to fit into these songs (I will say it's a lot of work too). I think the way I've done this... well... I'll let you decide when you hear this ;)

Note: I really do gotta stay away from the alcohol these days, I felt like shit for two days after having a couple of drinks during the Terminus: Isolation feed. So, it put me off for those two days, and I felt I really couldn't write or do a decent vocal take. I mean, I did write, but my energy levels weren't there... of course this whole situation would be different, if there wasn't this isolation shit going on (as I wouldn't feel disconnected, and I wouldn't be ruminating on things as much), but I guess it is what it is!

Studio Diary: Today was almost not the day... but inspiration prevailed!

(Today was almost not the day... but inspiration prevails, and just getting the job fuckin done!!)

Ye... today (June 1st/2020) was tough... my vocals were not where I want them, but I pushed through and got them out. I was getting a little frustrated today, I felt like I was getting into the same head space that I was in before I did this challenge, and the ideas weren't coming out as quickly, but once again, powered through those feelings and finished this fuckin song! I did spend a bit more time on it, than the other songs that I've done, but I couldn't take this track any further, and I said fuck it, finished things up, tweaked things here and there, did the vocals, manipulated them a little bit, and song done!! This track is definitely different, but I think I got across what I wanted to!

I've shut everything down for the evening, and will start the next song tomorrow! Overall, despite the difficulties of finishing this track, I finally got to a place where I feel it's done, and I'm just going to leave it the way it is.