3/7/2015

KSHMR:ProductionTechniques&Advice

KSHMR
PRODUCTIONTECHNIQUES&ADVICE

3TipsForWritingMelodies
"What are your top 3 tips for progressive house
production?"
-JacobHarbron

I'mgoingtofocusmostlyonmelodiesbecauseIfeelthey
arethemostimportantaspectandI'veaddressedmixing
inotherquestions.
1)Iusuallywriteallofmymelodies,whetherthey'reforthe
drop or breakdown, using one synth over simple chords.
Evenifyouendupnotusingchordsonthedrop(i.e.abig
kick with one note) I think it's still much easier to be
inspiredwhenwritingthosemelodiestochords.Mycollab
"Burn"withDallasKwasdonethisway.
2) Learn at least one scale really well. For instance, I'm
mostcomfortableinFminor.Iknowwhatnotesareused
inotherscales,butbecauseIknowFminorsowellIcan
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hearinmyheadwhichnotessoundgoodtogetheritsaves
alotoftime.
You should also learn variations of the scale for more
interesting melodies. For instance, the F harmonic minor
scaleaddsthenoteE.Thus,theCmajorchordisavailable
and it builds tension extremely well, especially into an F
minorchord.
Ofcourse,notallofmysongsareinFminor.Itranspose
themelodiesafterIwritethem.AbletonhasausefulMIDI
effect called pitch that you can apply to any synth and it
willdothisforyou.
3) I recommend adding pitch bend, portamento, vibrato
andvelocityvariationstoyourmelodies.Theyhelpbreak
themonotonyandaddalotoffeeling.Youcanhearpitch
bendingonboththeleadsynthsandthebassinmytrack
SecretswithTiesto.Also,beconsciousofthelengthofall
ofyournotesandhowthataffectstherhythmyoucreate.
Thiscanbeveryimportant.

Tipstogetstartedproducing
"What is the best way to get started With producing, like
building habits and stuff? How do you develop your own
sound?Willitcomewithintime?"
-DarianGarmiani
IthinkthebestwaytogetstartedisbywatchingYouTube
tutorials and downloading the templates people make. I
stilldoitallthetimetoseehowpeoplegetcertainsounds.
Developing your own sound takes time. Often as
producerswetrytoemulatethestyleofotherartists,andI
think by failing in the process we often achieve our own
sound. It helps to have people around you when you
produce,becausetheywillbelisteningobjectivelyandcan
tellyouwhensomethingsoundsgood.Whereas,perhaps,
you could only hear your failure to achieve the sound of
someoneelse.

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ClassicalPianoTrainingvs.DrawingIn
MIDI
"Can you play the piano classically or do you produce
melodiesbyalteringpre-existingmidi?"
-MattJohnson
Iamnotclassicallytrained.Iusuallystartwithablankslab
ofMIDIanddrawinmelodies.SometimesIuseMIDI'sfrom
packs for inspiration to get started. I think that's fine as
longasyouchangethemsignificantly.

LayeringDropSynths
"Doyoulayeryourdropsynths?Ifso,howareyouableto
keepthefrequenciesfromclippingoroverlapping?"
-GlenelleClarkeII
Idolayerdropsynths,thoughtypicallyImakesurethereis
onemainsoundandthatitstandsoutabovetherest.The
supporting synths should assist in making the main one
soundfull,notcoveringitup.Toensuretheydonotcover
itup,useanEQtomakecutsinthemindividually.Always
EQasynthwithothersynthsplaying.Thecutsyoumaketo
asynthmaysoundbadwhenplayedbyitselfbutaregood
forthemixasawhole.
I compress all of my synths individually, as typically my
supporting synths collectively via a bus. Multiband
compression is useful on the supporting synths bus as
well, to ensure random frequencies aren't popping up
hereandthere.

CreatingBigSuperSaws
"Howdoyoumakesupersawsobig?"
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-GabrieleCiottolls
Ilayermysupersawsquiteabit.Somewillbeplayingthe
bass notes, some will be playing the chords, some will
playingthetopmelodyandsomewillbedoingallofthe
above. I typically compress and multi-band compress
them as a group as well. I recommend removing their
individual reverbs and having one consistent reverb that
theyallrouteto.
You'realsogoingtoneedbass.Inmyexperienceaplucky
bassworkswell.Youcancreateamodthatquicklyopens
up the Cutoff Filter everytime a note is struck and closes
shortly after. You can add one that spikes the volume
whenanoteisstruckaswell.
The bass notes can really help make your SuperSaws
groove and not feel so static. I recommend playing with
their length quite a bit and sometimes pitch bending to
bendfromnotetonote.

TipsOnReverb
"Howdoyougetthatclearloudreverbysound?"
-MridulVirmani
Iliketogetthereverboutofthewayofthesynth.Oneeasy
waytodothisistoapplyreverbasaninserttoyoursynth
andaddacompressorormultibandcompressorafterthe
reverbinyourchain.Ialsolikemyreverblong,sometimes
5seconddecay.Reverbtakesalotofexperimentationfor
me.
Alternatively, I'll bus my reverb and sidechain it to the
synths so that the reverb ducks whenever the synth is
played. I usually EQ all the low end from the bus and
sometimes make it wide by cutting out all of "center"
audiofromit.ThiscanbedonePro-QorWAVESCenter.If
youdothis,makesureyouaresidechainingtothekickas
well.

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KSHMR:ProductionTechniques&Advice

HowToTellWhenADropIsFull
"
Whendoyouknowwhenyouhavecreatedandlayereda
soundwellenoughtouseforadroporleadmelody?"
-MichaelLiedtke

Ithinkwithexperienceyoueventuallygetfamiliarwiththe
point at which things sound and it's best not to add any
more.Mybestadvicewouldbethis:
-Decideonamainsynththatcatchesyourearandbuild
aroundthat.
-Adjustyourmainsynthandlowerthevolumeorremove
anything that doesn't sound good. For instance,
sometimestherewillbeawhitenoiseOSCthatgetsugly
afteryouapplydistortion,multibandcompression,etc.to
thesynthasawhole.
- Add layers to your main synth that fill up the mids and
makeitwarmer.UseanEQ,adinfinitum,tocarveoutany
partsofthesupportingsynththatarecompetingwithyour
mainsynth.
-Addlayerstobrightenyourmainsynth.Ideally,onlyone
synthwillbeaddingwhitenoiseinyourdrop.Andbetter
yet, if none of your synths are noisy, you can be in full
controlofwhatyourwhitenoiseisdoingbyhavingitona
separatesynthoraudiotrack.
- Ideally your main synth sounds good in mono. You can
then use the higher-frequency supporting synths to
achievegreaterwideness.
-Generallyspeaking,forallyoursynths,removethereverb
anddelaytheycomewith.It'susuallybettertohavethese
effects on a bus, and for all of your synths to have the
samereverb,delay,etc.

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KSHMR:ProductionTechniques&Advice

Kashmir-StyleRollingBass
"HowtomakethatrollingbassinsongslikeKashmirorLet
MeFeelbyVicetoneandNickyRomero?"
-BaberParweez

Todothis,layerasubwithafewbasssynths.EQanylow
end out of the bass synths which may interfere with the
sub.
Theyshouldallbeplayingtherootofeachchordinyour
chord progression. For instance, in Kashmir the chord
progressiononthedropis:
F minor -> C# major -> D# major -> F minor, with each
chordplayingonebareach.
Sothebasssynthsareplaying:
F->C#->D#->F,alsoonebareach.
OnKashmir,allthebasssynthspitchbenddown(try-5or
-12) on the last beat of every bar, creating the effect of
slidingintothenextnote.
Note that although every bass synth is playing the same
notes, each synth can be playing the notes at different
octaves.Forinstance,theymightbelikethis:
Sub:F1->C#2->D#1->F1
Bass1:F2->C#2->D#2->F2
Bass2:F2->C#2->D#3->F3
Andsoforth.
Sidechain is really important here as well. The image
below is roughly the sidechain I would apply to the sub
using LFOTool. Other bass synths should be sidechained
thesame,butwithslightlylessoverallreductionifyousee
fit.

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KSHMR:ProductionTechniques&Advice

Kicks&Low-End
"How do you get such a full low end in your mixdowns?
What do you do to make kicks so loud and such a tight
bass?ThanksKSHMR!"
-MorganCarmont

HerearesomeofthetechniquesIuseforkicksandbass.
Hopetheyhelp.

GeneralLow-EndandKicks
-UsingthenotesbetweenD#andG#willinevitablysound
themostpowerfulinyoursubandbasssynths.
-Transientdesignerscanbringmorefocustoyourkickbut
becarefulyoudon'tlosethemid/lowend.
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- Use the high-pass on your EQ to cut as much low end

fromyourleadsasyoucanwithoutsacrificingtheirpower.
Dothesamefortheirreverbifonaseparatechannel.
- Kicks and sub should be mono. There is a plug-in by
Brainworx called Control that can help. Center by WAVES
also.
-Mixesusuallyendupwithalotofwideinformation:audio
that is not exactly centered and mono. This is a good
thing,butitshouldn'tbehappeninginyourlowendand
plug-inslikePro-Qcandothisforyouifyouturnontheir
Mid-Sidefeature.

BigRoomLow-EndandKicks
- For Big Room, there are a lot of packs available with
great, huge kicks for every key (e.g. Cr2 and Sounds To
Sample).Irecommendstartingwiththose.
- Try using an EQ to make 3 or 4 dips where the kick
doesn'tseemtobemakingadifferencehelpingyourmix
whenplayedalltogether.
- Often times I'll take the first few milliseconds from a
short,punchykickandquicklyfadeitintoabigtonalkick.
Itcanhelpyourkickstickthroughthemixandyouavoid
the potential phase cancellation of simply layering two
kicks.
- The melody of your lead will determine your sidechain
settingbutgenerallyIkeepitquickforbigroom,allowing
alittleattackforthetransientoftheleadtocomethrough.

ProgressiveLow-EndandKicks
-Useapunchykick,preferablyinkeywiththerootofyour
song
- The sub bass should be low-passed, cutting off about
two-thirdsofthespectrum,sothatcertainfrequenciesdo
not interfere with your leads and other bass synths. The
subbassshouldbecoveringonlythelowestpartsofyour
spectrum.
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- The sub bass should be sidechained such that it ducks

completelywhenthekickplays,thenfillsupthelowend
as the kick fades. Essentially, their waveforms should be
theinverseofoneanother.LFOTooliswhatIuseforthis.
- Printing your bass to audio and using fades to duck its
volumewhenthekickplaysisanotheroption.
- Lower-mid bass: I usually include one or two more
basseswith"fuzz"thatcreatesabuzzsawtypeeffect.The
should be sidechained like the sub, but slightly less
extreme.
- Lower-mid bass should have saturation, OTT, widening,
whateveritneedsappliedsothatitbuzzesnicely.
- Generally speaking, try not to make your bass pattern
complicated. Simply playing the root of each chord with
therightamountofsidechainoftenworksfine.Ididthison
mysongKashmir.
- Recently I've been using an arp on the bass, triggering
1/16thnoteslikeinmyremixforGalantis-Runaway.This
alsoanoption.Itaddsalotofenergy.
-Makingthebassstrongforeverynoteisimportant.This
can be hard depending on the key. For instance, if you
needyoursub-basstoplayaC,you'llfindithardtopick
anoctave:thehighCwillfeelweak,thelowCwillfeellost.
Thisiswherelayeringyoursubwithmid-rangebasseswill
help. They will fill out the more difficult notes, whereas a
subalonecannot.InmytrackSecretswithTiesto,thefirst
noteofthebassonthedropisC.ThesubplaysthelowC,
generallythoughtofastoolow,buttheotherbasssynths
helptofillitout.Thus,thelow-endsurvivedwithoutlosing
presence.
- Your bass synths will inevitably play different notes at
different volumes. Try compression and limiting. Another
option is bouncing your bass to audio so you can see
which notes are too soft or loud and adjust their volume
accordingly.

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Makingmixessoundfull
The best to make things sound full, in my opinion, is to
keep adding synths and figure out which ones are best
fillingeachareaofthespectrum
Basics
- Very high: should be white noise, or a synth that has
whitenoiselikeasupersaw
-Uppermiddle:mainsynth
- Middle: main synth and other synths that support the
mainsynthandgiveitbody
- Lower middle: some kind of mid bass supporting the
main synth (or in the case of melodic progressive house
tracks, supporting the chords) without getting in the way
ofthesub
-Low:thisareabelongstothekickandthesub,makesure
you eq the lows out of all of the synths I listed above so
that they do not interfere with this area. The relationship
between your kick and sub depends greatly on your
sidechainingsolearnthistechniquewell
Misc
-Thekickshouldhaveaniceattackonthetopendaswell
as the low. It may help to add a clap (with the lows and
midscutoutandafairamountofreverb)ontopofevery
kick
-Puttinggroupsofthesynthsonabus(e.g.mainsynths,
bass synths, etc), or a simply grouping them as with
ableton, and then compressing and eq'ing that group
helpsaswell
- There are plug ins such as OTT and FabFilter's Pro G
whichcanhelptomakesynthssoundbiggerusingupward
compression
Hopethathelps
-KSHMR
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