I make beats, metal, samples, patches, dnb, original game soundtracks, RVC voice models, and Russian/ English translation covers. Follow for monthly music producer freebies! Рада помочь русскоговорящим. Семплы вложены в ссылках вниз)))
Hey guys, me again. What's new? Well, a lot lol, but I've been doing the usual, keeping the lights on, updating sample packs. Had a rough start to the year, but the Christmas/New Year festivities were a nice break, and I recently went to a wedding where the cake was a GIANT stack of cheese wheels, so that was cool.
Biggest news so far, if you checked my last post, we're officially live on Gumroad, aka the new home for all my personal freebies.
This means ADREANALINE, ADR3-N's Free Metal Drums, CTK-2400 Keys, and CTK-2400 Drums are the freshest, prettiest, and most up to date they've ever been. If you need crazy percussion and lo-fi keys, look no further.
Everything is pay-what-you-want. You can use the product page as a donate button if you really want to make my day, share my page, or request updates from my support email for any new content :)
PS: Big thanks to everyone who has checked out my stuff. You know who you are. I hope you have as much fun with my projects as I did making them!
Now, with my shameless self-promo out of the way, time for the real show!
I'll try to get through this month's freebies on a low character budget. After like 4 years of doing these lists, you'd think I'd have settled on a good format, but here we are lol. Anyway, without further ado:
This might be the coolest thing I've seen in months. A FREE 80's piano emulator and it's only 9 MB? Yes please.
This ain't your mama's keys -- she probably lost those -- but look at this cute little GUI! If that doesn't scream COP THIS PLUGIN, I don't know what will. Besides the YT demo.
This is sort of an honorable mention, but I use converters all the time for my more obscure sampling needs. There are plenty of these around the web, but I like this one because it doesn't short-link you to potentially malicious sites with every click!
Limitation: won't do extremely long audio, like 10 hour sleep meditations. Idk why you'd sample that much audio anyway, though.
Any sound engineer would be stoked to have another few gigs of nature sounds in their pocket, but if that isn't your gig, you could try making 432 hz healing frequency binaural beats with forest ambiance. You know, you do you.
Had enough of perfectly good free pianos killing your vibes? Don't feel like routing FX to bastardize them into a bit-crushed mess of detuned trash? Don't worry. Bad Piano has you covered. With varying degrees of badness, this granular bad boi will put out all (or most of) the gross panini plinks you could ever need.
A bass amp that serves as the perfect introduction to Audio Assault's Amp/Bass Locker suites. I'm not a fan of amp lockers, but I've been in love with AA since the late, great GrindMachine amp sim, back before 64 bit plugins were the norm. That's a LONG time, but they've only gotten better with age. If you need a pro sound on a budget, this is where I'd put my money -- or lack thereof!
Note: Grind Machine II succeeded GrindMachine. The former is pretty hard to find on the Light Side of the Force. Of the two, I prefer GM1 for its raw, ugly djent tones.
If I can dig up my old PC, I may upload GM 1 and 2 to Dump. I got them for free during their promotional periods, after which they retailed for a whopping $7. They were and are my favorite amp sims besides Trivium's (not free) AmpKnob sims, Emissary with NadIR, and Sigma. I've been waiting to see if AA will ever add the GM series to Amp Locker, but I haven't seen any signs they might since 2019.
Btw, if you click on "Emissary", you'll be transported to igniteamps.com, where yet MORE metal production freebies await you. Ignite STILL has a LOT of products up after over 10 years! How freaking awesome is that?!
Cymatics is a name that needs no introduction. Everyone has heard of them. Almost everyone has used them. For the price of a little bit of email marketing spam, you too can have dope drums. I mean, Dope Drums. Ba dum tiss.
If you don't use sforzando or another sfz player, this isn't for you. If you do, this is nice little browse. Korg users will be pleased to find a small section catering specifically to patches you can load directly into your keyboard, including a realistic grand! Those who can't afford Kontakt guitars can take a stab at a section of sfz guitar patches!
@Dieswyx has a bite sized cutie for you to try on! 2 MB. If you're strapped for space, you can't beat it!
Description: The violet sounds are back, this time the Prototype has finally escaped... I wonder who could be its first victim. 😈
Make powerful and aggressive bassline patterns, soft and energic melodies, or warm and slow harmonies with over 100 sounds that comes in this delicious and versatile pack, made for you to have fun, and it's free (only on Newgrounds)!!! come get it till it's hot!!!!!
Keeping things short and sweet for, reasons -- specifically to get back working on the projects at the bottom of my last post asap. I'll finish out here with some minor personal updates and a nod to our lovely sponsors!
FPS nerd alert, @MATRVG and I have put out not one but two LOTR-Trilogy-length Call of Duty walkthroughs! They are FINISHED!
Yes, you read that right. Americans will use anything but the metric system, to say nothing of what we'll do for entertainment. Ba dum tiss.
Why am I so excited? Because this isn't just any no-commentary walkthrough! It's a labor of love.
See, Cold War and Black Ops 6 have taken on quite a few RPG elements: collectibles, multiple endings, and lots of dialogue trees for our silent protagonists Bell and Case. This makes the games fun to play, not so much to watch -- unless the streamer narrates every line of dialogue, and that itself can be annoying if you aren't a fan of said streamer.
Otherwise, when you need to grab a drink or look down to scratch your rapidly progressing gamer leg, you have to pause... But we've fixed that!
Now, @Matrvg's channel is the ONLY place you can enjoy the ENTIRETY of Black Ops 5 and 6 without pausing to wipe.
Thanks to his amazing dedication, masterful editing, and a LOT of voice acting from yours truly, every line of dialogue is FULLY VOICED.
This means that instead of staring holes into the screen as you watch Bell, Belikov, Mason, and Case progress through the missions as silent protagonists, you can glance away to grab your gamer fuel of choice. No more spilling hot coffee all over your brand-new keyboard!
You can watch them here. (Embedded Playlists)
Cold War
Black Ops 6
So, how did we do it?
Obviously, Matt is the star of the show. He screen-recorded both games in their entirety, made subtitles, and wrote detailed scripts for each. These were then voice acted by me, converted with the same models I made for my music (or upon request from samples), then edited over the resulting recording in post.
Seriously I can't hype him or these projects enough. His edits are SO unobtrusive, you would think we had modded the games -- and I wish we could have -- because I had so much fun!
I can't wait for our next projects together, with the F-Gents crew. Just. So. Much. Awesome! And because I enjoy this kind of work so much, I'm gonna say this now: if you have a parody and you need seamless, quality voice acting, hit me up!
On another note, the Legend of Korra Fandub lives on
You can check out the episodes up to 6 and their versions on Google Drive, 5 on Odysee. Episode 4 is my baby. Episode 8 needs to come out soon! T_T
Besides that, I got a lot of other projects and the usual day-to-day, which reminds me -- I probably better get back to that. Trying to speak less words and do more things, lol.
I'd been meaning to make one of these for quite some time, like a few years. Suddenly the desire to knock it out in one go hit me like a truck. So, decisions were made this week, and you may notice some minor changes if you have copies of my products.
Changelog:
Take My Cymbals is now ADR3-N's Free Metal Drums. I figured this suited the sample pack contents better, even though the majority is cymbals!
New cymbals include Wuhan China, O-china, Dark China, and multiple crashes. The file size is a modest 310 MB zipped.
Adreanaline has received a major update. Includes new chords, drum loops, and construction kits. Strange new SFX added; blown metal pipes, a literal minke whale boing, and a broken FM radio. I recommend copying and replacing this version over your existing Adreanaline folders; the entire pack has been normalized to better suit modern sample pack conventions!
If you're new here, Adreanaline incorporates multiple hard genres and styles. I highly recommend it for anyone tired of their old trap and hip-hop cymbals, who needs unique, face-melting 808s, or who really likes Japanese kabuki/temple perc. You won't be disappointed.
Other Sample Pack Updates: Virtually no changes to Saudade Drums Remastered and CTK-2400 keys, except the project page is prettier, duplicate folders have been removed, and the README files are much more succinct.
We also have a new arrival!
Meet CTK-2400 Drums. This pint-sized library is perfect for channeling lo-fi virtuosos like Red and Method man. Its limitations are sure to stimulate your senses and may even inspire Ludacris when properly summoned. (See: Rap City Freestyle, Stung Pilot) Smells like "the 80's called, they want their synth drums back," and "is that memphis rap I hear banging from your mama's basement?"
In other words, it's an excellent choice for synthwave, olskool low-budget rap, and Nu Jack. Exceeds the utility of its parent instrument when paired with a velocity sensitive sampler.
PS: Setting this stuff up on Gumroad was so easy a caveman could do it. My only complaint is I need not one image but two for every project to look pretty. Otherwise I really like the interface. Now you can EASILY find my products, understand what I do, and donate if you like what you see, all in one!
I've also got a convenient little page for my mixing and mastering servicesbtw, which I have offered for a solid year now. It's $25 MAX. If you need an engineer that won't break the bank, hit me up!
Do yourself a favor and set up a Gumroad if you haven't already. I got a "sale" on one of my products before I even finished typing up this post. It works!
Other news: Now that I'm back, I have some (ok a lot of) goals!
Projects/Releases to come:
An issue of the music producer freebie mag around the 25th
An e-book on steering your indie music career in the right direction (drafting stage)
Multiple remixes and covers, midi projects, and so on
Ethnic percussion pack, outlining stage, to sample and record
That's just the big stuff I can remember. Suffice to say I got a LOT left to do! Wish me luck and plenty of ADHD med refills, haha.
Despite how labor-intensive these projects can be, I'll be sticking with a pay-what-you-want model for my sample packs and instruments. I truly believe it works. If you find value in them, help me keep it that way!
I wanted to stop and wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year while I had a minute.
Here's a picture for proof I'm not dead
I'll update later on where I've been (maybe), what I've been up to, and where I'm going with new projects and so on, but besides being back from hiatus and open for music/voice acting commissions, that's about it.
Love yall! Planning to start up the music production resource posts again soon. Expect some new tracks and voice acting to come!
Just updating. I'm on a brief hiatus music and magazine wise. I just went through a WHOLE lot of life changes in one go. For one, a nasty breakup and an urgent move, two, a new job washing dogs instead of dishes, and three, starting ADHD meds. I'm doing okay, just haven't had much time to settle down and get used to, well, living life!
I want you to know I haven't forgotten about all of you, and I do still have some projects set to roll out. I'm gonna be fine, pinky promise.
Guess what? It's that time. Music Producer Freebie Mag -- anniversary edition!
Why anniversary? Well, September marks the first birthday of this bad boy, back when I used to call 'em Montha-lists. Ordinarily I'd write fancy words here like I do for basically every issue, but today I feel like hitting the cutting room floor. We'll see how it goes.
Before you ask, I'm okay. Real life is falling apart around me spectacularly, but I'm fine. If you want to know how spectacularly, check my last couple posts. Suffice to say I'm anticipating a move, really busy, and tired. I didn't realize how tired until I saw I had been putting this off for a few days, when it was basically done. Still, I made a promise to get this out by the 20th, and I'm sticking to it.
So, in honor of a FULL YEAR of freebies and before this September ends, we're going to shake things up with a retrospective -- giving the good plugins the press they deserve and remembering those that have gone to the great beyond.
This is exciting for me, not just because I love digging up the past, but because in trying to write about the hottest producer fad plugins and giveaways, it's easy to forget the ones that are old but still gold. I've taken the time to write "Septemberlist in Retrospect" not because I felt lazy, but because I end up recommending things off this list at least once a week.
Also, in my re-research for this article, I wrote a verbal kick in the ass -- I mean an encouraging and thought provoking piece for jump-starting your music career that turned into a book. I saved a snip for you here. Once that's out of the way, we'll wrap up with some regularly scheduled programming, a few more freebies, and I'll go take a nap.
If you find this content useful, you can donate here and here. Everything you see is made possible by viewers like you, so thank you!
Now, onto to business. I found some really neat surprises this month that I think ANY producer could use.
Let's GO!
SEPTEMBERLIST IN RETROSPECT
Last September we covered 19 Freebies.
That's plugins, samples, websites, and even a couple discords.
In other words, A LOT.
Going down the list, the NG Audio Pub Discord Server (#Resource Channel, admin @Lich) and Phonk Guys Discord are still active with plenty of goods dropping to date. I can't tell you how many great deals and rare samples I've found! They are my top two deep dives for samples and plugins, as well as chat!
Further down, Kyle Beats' free samples page is still up. I think I see some new packs. However, perhaps more interesting is how I could have missed a free music production course (hip-hop), which covers "melodies, sampling, beat arrangement," "networking secrets, and how to get yourself known in the music world."
Let me rewind you for a second -- networking and getting yourself known... You may not even know Kyle, or you might hate him, but if you ask me, he knows a thing or two about getting press. He's famous, not just for the recent "stolen" beat clickbait he scandalized himself with but for years and YEARS of publicly grinding his ass off… (That came out wrong. Do over before I have to mark this post NSFW.)
You seriously don't know Kyle? White kid making beats in his room with the boys, upselling dicey VSTs like Drip and Spaz, has a lot of critics? Because now, he's kinda balling. (Source: Reddit)
Lemme summarize.
The bedroom producer everyone was laughing at has hustled his way to household name. He's making headlines in the producer community, landing loops in platinum singles, and sparking conversation outside the community as well; for a sample pack maker and producer, this is phenomenal.
Basically, his strategies for breaking through internet obscurity work(ed). Not only has he built a solid community; he's showing up in millions of households with Netflix-grade camera work. How did that happen? Well, it certainly didn't come from a vaccuum, and it wasn't overnight, so I'm willing to bet when he tells you how to promote your stuff, he knows what he's talking about.
side-bar: stolen beat scandal
A huge kick in publicity for Kyle was the viral video I linked above, in which he discovered a loop from his Nightmare drum kit was used in a song that became a platinum hit. Kyle and his team had no idea this song existed, and he contacted the team about royalties or credits or whatever.
This is not unusual, and I feel the need to make a PSA for the uninitiated.
Every sample pack that isn't Royalty Free is liable to land you on one end or the other of an awkward phone call with somebody's management.
Keyword being NOT royalty free, assuming your song makes any kind of money. And the problem in Kyle's situation in fact, was that the loop was from a royalty free pack. So there isn't DIRECTLY any money he can make off of it.
DJ Pain said it best, "When you get a placement from a royalty free pack, […] the only way to monetize and capitalize on that opportunity is by using it to promote another product that you're actually going to make money off of."
This is exactly what Kyle and his team did, because he knows this. We're so ready to jump on the next PVLACE stealing beats, "stolen beat went platinum" was bound to make rounds on the internet.
See what I mean? Check that course.
There are some other things Kyle could do in his situation, which might be relevant for y'all. For instance, if your sample features in someone else's song prominently, you can contact their management to see about getting put on the credits. Just don't expect much if you dropped royalty free, as I did with this TOTALLY PREDICTABLE SEGWAY INTO...
My flagship sample pack, Adreanaline!
ADREANALINE Sample Pack is of course still up for grabs on Beatstars. Because it's still in BETA, I plan to seed updates until otherwise specified. In fact, I just updated this week to add a few more doodads.
In general, it's a Japanese Ethnic, Contemporary Hip-Hop, and Industrial percussion fest, but there are also some vocal stems, loops, and odds and ends in there for your experimenting pleasure.
Demo:
PS: I might have renamed the 808s to the proper key, but if not, those are available in the left side panel on SampleFocus, My Samples!
Going back to the list, some kits have sadly passed away. Let us pay our respects for:
Here's an angry note from the guest list, courtesy of reddit user [deleted]. Totally helpful /s
[DELETED] says:
[this kit is recycled trash.] For kit recommendations I'd say both the Inteus kits, The Caspian Rose kits, the Goupil kit, the Mythic kit (killmythic) kit, the Ponsuda kit, the Sappy kits, both of Sunson's kits, and if you're new all of the Rich Beatz (Jason Rich) kits […] Basically any phonk kit uploaded to Reddit beside the candy boy kits to be completely honest.
Phonk sounds (especially good ones) are rare so the few that have been exposed are the ones that are reused […] Those kits are phonk artists' private collections and contain sounds that they or only a select people have because they were sampled directly from that person […]
---
Let me say this. Even though I agree, r/drumkits is full of recycled sounds (kit), I still think they're useful. Take the good, delete the duplicates, and move on.
Sometimes samples like the amen break are carving out a familiar niche in our genre, the way that modes and chords associated themselves to moods without our conscious knowledge. Do you really think the cricket-hi-hats of hip-hop came from nowhere? Of course not. The 808 and 909 drum machines they were sequenced on conquered virtually EVERY genre of music, and it just so happens they really stuck for this one in particular.
My point is, the banshees on reddit might as well be screaming about Boogie amps in Metal, or chord stabs in retro jungle.
You can swim against the tide and chase your SPECIAL samples, but don't act like it makes your music more legitimate. No one is out here crafting ORIGINAL phonk 808s straight from samples of their anus. If they are, it isn't a hallmark of the genre. You could extend this to various combinations of every instrument typically heard in a phonk track, and it remains that if you stray too far from the standard across the board, you're going to end up making a completely different genre, which isn't always the goal.
To learn how something typically sounds and how to make it, you're kinda gonna need a TYPICAL SOUND.
So wait, if these less popular "direct" samples aren't associated with their main genre in pop-culture, how are responses like this helpful to anyone wanting to produce that genre?
They're not. It's just another rabbit hole. We producers are SO fond of falling into them, I think a stupid one is worth pointing out. If I want to make a specific sound, with a specific mood, why would I deliberately avoid the popularized version of that sound or mood I first heard? For no good reason, that's why.
Some hipster on the internet will not discourage me from sampling how I want. I'm going to download recycled trash whenever I feel like it, and I'm flipping that shit shamelessly, because one man's trash is another man's treasure!
---
Moving on. Still extant from last year's list, this Glitch kit was a particular favorite of mine. I still use it on occasion!
---
Searching for some of the "non-recycled" primo kits mentioned by our friend [deleted] lead me down some interesting searches, with yet more freebies.
A LIST of PHONK kits, no links, like a Pokedex entry with a question mark. Grab your CL (collection), and LF (looking for) and keep them close -- because they are nowhere to be found outside of a DM, but people evidently like them.
Leading Trap Drumkits (all in one) -- does not include any of the kits mentioned, but does have quite a few sample packs I like, including one from Nick Mira, who is a legend in my eyes.
And THIS Phonk Kit (in description, mediafire)
I did happen on some good music and a BUNCH of (unrelated) kits under "MYTHIC", like this onealso (free)
Link will send you to CVNVAS' $69 upsell, followed by the freebies to your email 20 minutes. If you can't find it and don't want to run through the junk folder, you might have less trouble ripping audio off YouTube. You know, the gold standard of sampling.
There are a LOT of free kits once you do get the email though. Worth a dive!
Also, when it comes to niche genres or a specific artist's kit you otherwise can't find -- don't forget, there's more than one way to cop a sample!
Forget spending hours going through comments and posts. That takes so much effort. We have so many tools these days, it really pays to do your own dirty work, and sometimes it's faster.
Here are some methods:
If you can't find a sound, isolate it from a source. I use RX10, my DAW, and Audacity (free).
Failing that, DM someone who posted "CL" on a subreddit. Usually free but sometimes shady, and occasionally illegal so watch yourself out there.
Study how the sample is made and DIY. If you can't, jump on a discord like Phonk Guys and ask if someone has the sound or can make it for you, or better yet, show you how to make it. Tutorials are great for this if you actually use them.
Example:
I was looking for a sample of something like a brake drum before I ever knew what it was called, for this track. Thought long and hard about what could make the noise. Then I found some videos of people hammering posts into the ground. Bam. There's your sample.
You can hear them around 1:12.
This is literally how I made half my drum library, cutting and processing samples, sometimes even splicing them into franken samples to make new ones!
There is no shame in this. The very nature of sampling is recycling!
If you like nostalgic keys, freeware, and punchy drums, this is the pack for you.
I probably need to update the file at some point, now that I mention it. I think I accidentally uploaded 2 versions at once. >.> Let me know.
---
Unison Freebies are still up, if you can tolerate a LOT of spam email from Sep and paid products like… Ass Dragon being rammed down your throat. Seriously, these guys are starting to piss me off.
The nameless marketing emails are seriously unending, so use your spam email!
DJ-Pain still has 3 free kits over on his website. As a veteran producer in the game for years upon years, his beats are great for inspiration and study! He also knows his stuff in terms of sample clearance, so you can trust that "royalty free" actually means what it says on the tin!
BPB's 2023 Collection is still worth a deep dive, and so is their beatmaking guide. I've discovered as I've gotten older (and more eccentric) I'm not ALWAYS a fan of their content style or picks, especially as someone who struggles to understand what she reads, but every once in a while there is an absolute gem, such that I would be remiss not to give them props!
Excuse the ugly ass graphic. I made it in 3 minutes because no way was I going to find all 6 of these images in the same collage.
Of these vsts, only one has aged in any considerable capacity, and that's KSHMR Essentials Kick. There are still instances where I would use it, but as a percussion processor, Diablo (full version) has taken its place.
I feel that Diablo handles sounds better in the genres I work in, which makes sense. My music is edgy asf, and Diablo is a very aggressive processor.
Besides that, I would be very mindful of input volume going into either plugin (or any plugins performing the same jobs). Hot input really affects the compressor's response and sometimes in a way you don't want! I find that lower input is generally better for most plugins.
For KSHMR E, you will have to achieve this externally, before the FX rack. Diablo has an input knob in its full version, but I still prefer to use the instrument volume knob (not mixer knobs or faders), so that everything is appropriately staged pre-FX.
For all of my sampling needs outside of sforzando or Decent Sampler, I still use Mixcraft's default Alpha and Omni Samplers. They're basically olskool single shot and MPC knockoffs, with a nice little drag and drop function that makes me rave and a rubberizer that keeps things interesting.
SlamPup occasionally makes its way into my compositions as a drum trasher or bass fattener. The interface is stupid simple, easy to understand, and most importantly has a big fat dry wet slider you can't miss.
Origin -- hands down my favorite downsampling plugin, not for its vinyl noise feature, wobbly chorus and movement, or saturation, although it all generally sounds good, but for what you can do with it by turning off the pre and post filter images and applying an LFO to the frequency cutoff. You heard that earlier ALL over No Propeller, and it bangs.
AND THAT ROUNDS OUT THE RETROSPECT PORTION OF OUR LIST!
Were you here for last year's issue? How do you like the format of this one? Drop a comment!
On to entirely more personal matters: the nuggets of wisdom section.
Cue hustle hard cliché montage as the stage goes black, and the theatre quiets to a hush. Suddenly, the screen before you lights up with a single ambiguous figure, silhouetted in bla-
Okay, I'm losing the plot and I swore I would edit this. I'll cut the theatrics, just bear with me. This is the beginning of a letter to my past self.
Dear self,
If no one has told you this, color me shocked,
but do you ever stop to wonder why you're here?
No, not on this planet, silly.
I mean, doing what you're doing.
In fact, what ARE you doing?
Lulz aside, why does what you're doing always feel like getting nothing done? That you're one click away from the endless scroll of producer tutorials but ten feet from the completely unrelated problems in your DAW? Why is it that despite all your efforts, you're not nearly as productive as you know you could be, when you spend most of your time "learning" how to do whatever it is you want?
Here's the cold hard truth. You're wasting your time.
What do you do most of your day? Spend time in the music producer community. And what's wrong with that community? It's absolutely rotten -- infested with too much of the same type of content, things you're probably guilty of saying yourself, like: "be better than yesterday," challenge everything, get these plugins.
There's so much "fix it" messaging, it's easy to forget what's the problem in the first place. And how could you not, when once you start scrolling, you can't stop.
The problem is that EDUCATION has become ENTERTAINMENT, or, Edutainment.
And before you start, I'm not saying cut off the internet and go live in a hut with your laptop and interface to make an album. Edutainment is great. It's a solid replacement for dead silence in line at the airport or roaring asphalt on the way to work, but it's not a substitute for ACTUALLY WORKING ON YOUR CRAFT.
You can "study" a million youtube videos, memorize them even, and none of that will make you a better producer if you don't take those lessons outside of class.
No, I'm not accusing you of being lazy. I just know, if we make a habit of giving into the scroll, sooner or later we end up telling ourselves things like:
I don't have the time to sit down and make a track today. Yes, I watched 3 videos on how to start a dubstep banger, but those great ideas never made it to a new project, or if they did, it wasn't what I was learning about. It's just too hard to understand the instructions. It's getting late. I should go to bed.
Or how about: I never post about my music. I'm too embarrassed. I don't know how to promote my work, despite watching 5 promotion ideas that don't suck a day.
My personal favorite goes something like: I'll be working along just fine until I see a notification pop up, or an interesting thumbnail, whereby I invariably go through a wormhole to retro-reese-bass tube, coming out the other side without having taken any notes -- and sometimes without hearing most of it because I was reading up on a plugin listed in the video.
Guess I must've spent a lot of time gaming with podcasts in a past life… my literal past life, skipping Music Theory at 8 AM and making beats in Algebra. Really shot myself in the foot with that one.
Another personal best of ours is how long we've sat staring at the screen, finally having posted content after a great while and now routinely checking for notifications -- but only replying thanks to all the comments.
We'll keep at it until we hit a tough one, which we'll sit on for days without proper response. Or better yet, we'll go dark and ignore all the notifications that come in after they get to a certain number because, well, I don't feel like answering comments all day; we have social anxiety, and I'd rather listen to Weaver beats' plugin police for VSTs I wasn't even considering buying until now.
We probably won't buy them btw, if we're smart.
We do this because what we really seek is dopamine, which may or may not be in short supply (pretty sure most of us have ADHD), not realizing that we are in fact spinning our wheels in the very thing we love -- which gives us dopamine.
As long as the cycle continues, we start to feel guilt, which turns to shame. Even if no one else sees it, we feel like we've been sitting in place, chasing our own tail for far too long. We think we aren't good enough, or that the forces driving our behavior and lack of motivation are supposed to be within our control but aren't.
Maybe we even feel like they are caused by something else outside of ourselves -- like genetics. I.e., we just weren't born good at this. But that's a lie.
You could be stuck in place for any number of reasons, but I'll tell you a few that have absolutely nothing to do with it:
It isn't because you aren't good.
It isn't because your music sucks.
It isn't because you don't have thousands of dollars to spend on advertisements.
And it surely isn't because you don't make the right genre of music. (Otherwise noise artists would be out of a job.)
Now if you feel the need to fix any of these things, by all means do it, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.
The only problem with your music career, is you.
What you chose to do with your time.
What you consider practice.
How you study.
Do you even take notes? Stop scrolling through YouTube like a 14 year old on TikTok after school, and do something with your life! Get up and GROW!
Incoming mood whiplash, where my editing ends. If you were actually sad that this veritable tome of text ended and want to read my book, the draft is available for any of my ko-fi and patreon supporters. Just ask! Otherwise, comment "waiting list!"
NOW, speaking of growing, let's talk about growing our sample libraries one more time, because I just cut like 40k characters off of this, and want to bed on time!
First up, I stumbled back upon ghosthack with this video:
Got major gearlust, so of course I bought myself a pack or … 7 on layaway. The packs are smallish, but a pretty decent price. And out of curiosity, I went to see if there were any freebies. To my surprise -- they were well hidden, but there were!
These are actually previews of related packs in most if not all cases, and they require enduring some email marketing, but the kits I've heard so far are banger. Worth checking out!
Summerville Sounds has released a lo-fi key plugin, Dusty Felts
And I happen to have a private collection that I just found on my old hard drive, if anyone wants to take a look. Just PM me to be safe.
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I had a small video section planned here, but in the interest of saving time, I'll leave the unfinished stubby tail here as links!
Video Section
Totally new concept in this digital age.... Is mastering... useless? I don't really think so, but I've been mixing in 32 bit floating point for a while and it is certainly superior.
And that's really it. I'll see you guys in the next few weeks with some more music releases, aiming for Fridays. Be working on the book meantime and a SLEW of commissions.
Say a prayer for me. I could use some Jesus in my life.
Hey guys, popping in a couple days early to make some announcements here, so I don't have to PM them to everyone just yet -- I'm still finishing up editing this month's freebie write-up; I ended up starting a book by accident, and by that I mean a post too big for NG news. Which is saying something.
I'm still transferring bits and pieces of that over to drive and rewriting other parts that referred to it, so I'll probably post the mag around the 25th again. Maybe we'll make that a monthly thing? To be decided.
The book as with almost everything else I do is music production related, basically a catchall expansion of the ideas I've been developing here on the blog. I wrote it as an answer to the ten plus years of music production advice I've gotten, the good, the bad, the stupid -- and what actually works!
I'll be saving a snip for the mag, but I dunno what to do with the in progress file while we wait. Maybe make it available on ko-fi and Patreon? Lemme know your thoughts. I'm new to this actual serious "premium content" biz. Still looking for a title btw, so that's an option. If you want me to name it "ADR3-N's music producer tips and big-back bag of dicks", I'll do it for 50 bucks hahaha.
Speaking of, thank you to all my supporters:@MATRVG, @MariogD, @Cyberdevil, and @JimmyTheCaterpillar. Thanks to you, all of my latest releases here on Newgrounds are ALSO on iTunes and Spotify and everywhere else. You've introduced me to several new hobbies I didn't even think I'd have, and it gives me life <3
In still other news, I'm back to work, starting to recover from WHATEVER THE HELL I'm sick with besides chlorine. However, it won't be for long. I just put in my two weeks; someone is still mixing bleach and other chemicals.
I haven't changed my mind about how great it is to have a part-time job as an indie musician. The money is nice! It even allowed me to afford a DIY vocal booth made out of a grow tent and some panels. Once that's finished I might take a video and show you guys the haul.
It's a strange feeling. I didn't really need the job. My living conditions will be fine, just a little tighter in the pockets. The thing is, I've never really "quit" a job, ever. My first job I went into knowing I'd have to leave for basic training, and my last one I fought tooth and nail not to medically retire.
Of course, the paperwork won. That was the Army, which through all my struggling to stay in taught me: no amount of money is worth your health going down the tubes -- in this case, breathing straight chlorine; I told my bosses about the problem, told the coworker what made me sick, and it's still happening. So, I know I made the right decision. I'd work anything else for them, just not dish! I mean, I guess technically I'm still employed, if an hour a week teaching English to one of our Ukranian gals counts. So there's that.
I'll be fine.
As for how I am now, well I'm rambling, but I quit most of all to get some time to recover. It's officially been two weeks of random headaches, confusion and dizzy spells, forgetting why I went into the kitchen, or what I came here to write as you can see. I decided, enough with the stress and dreading getting sick every time I go in for an early morning slog. Time to line up some major doctor appointments and figure out what's wrong with me. The Veteran's Administration always scheduled my stuff conveniently on the exact days I had to work, which was really annoying, and this is one way to fix that!
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE FOR A SECOND AND TIME FOR SOME SWEET MOOD WHIPLASH BECAUSE I TOOK A DINNER BREAK HERE
While my life has been turning upside down and inside out, the winners of this year's NGUAC have been announced, and I personally enjoyed this year's winners HEAVILY. Everyone send a big congrats and a review to @HollandAlbright, @GameBoyFireworks, and @NatahDN!
The winning submissions, hopefully in the right order, are:
Since they were already frontpaged, I asked Tom to see if we can't do something a little more special. After all these years I still didn't know you could frontpage things twice, so I guess it's a little out of my pay grade, haha.
Now, while I may be a little shorter on money, it's a good thing I'll have some extra time on my hands, because NGADM judging is on like Donkey Kong!
After that, I have two big commissions to slam out! One -- I'm not even sure I can talk about it yet -- but just to keep myself accountable, it's an OST for a videogame, not to be confused with Lakie's SmashHit OST Megacollab. I also can't post bits of that yet. Kinda got a non-disclosure agreement, but has been a journey learning -- well, whatever kind of house this is? Because it certainly is a genre I haven't made before!
For real what genre is this? I'm illiterate.
The other big project I'm proud to announce is Season One, Episode Eight of the Legend of Korra fan dub. Let's see if we got my episode on tap real quick.
Besides that we still got singles coming down the pipe. Next up is Little Dreams in Russian, followed by a smashing 90s inspired rap banger with @SkankyMojo!
And that's it! I'll see you guys in NGADM judging, the DMs, replies, and otherwise no later than the 25th! But for now, I gotta get ready for work tomorrow.
Okay, not actually dying, but I feel like it. I'm making this because for one, I've been so sick lately I haven't been able to keep up with my socials (no more going missing!), and for two, it was totally preventable.
Here's what happened. I was exposed to a moderate amount of chlorine gas at work as a dish washer, because someone mixed bleach with degreaser and lots of other chemicals in all my sinks. Turns out spending 3 hours over boiling hot chemical soup isn't good for you.
If you don't want to spend several agonizing days in bed, don't mix household cleaners. Just don't. It doesn't help clean any better than soaking, scrubbing, and rinsing each chemical off separately, but it will almost certainly give you a 4 day migraine and possibly a fever if you're working with it for longer than 10 minutes.
That's what I got. I feel like I went on a bender, caught covid, and followed it up by huffing paint thinner. I'm okay though! Please don't worry. Just gonna be slow with PMs and discords and projects.
My release schedule should be unaffected, and I have this month's magazine draft about half done. On Friday, my cover of Little Dreams (2020) should drop at balls o'clock, followed by Ne Ver Ne Boysia English version next week, and Little Dreams (RUS) the following week. After that, @SkankyMojo and I have a little surprise cooked up to bust up the flow.
Before all this popped off, @MATRVG and I also worked overtime to get another full Call of Duty movie on board. This time, a complete re-casting of Black Ops 5's Alex Mason -- revoiced by yours truly through the magical powers of AI voice modeling. We have:
What's the big hubbub? Well, newcomers to the franchise might not know this, but once upon a time, Mason had a very different, very grisly VA, Sam Worthington, who many in the CoD fanbase (MAT included) dearly loved as THE definitive Alex Mason. Personally, I love both his performance and that of Chris Payne Gilbert, but you have to wonder what would it sound like if Sam was still around? This series is an answer that question.
I had to make a new model for this one, one that would scream, and then actually scream into it, occasionally converting some lines as Matt found others from previous CoD entries. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun to make! Check it out!
Still other news, I just finished sound engineering 2 versions of Season 1, Episode 4 of Legend of Korra Fandub, publishing pending. I can't show it to you now, but I'm so excited for when I can. Keep your eyes peeled!
Wish me luck getting over the never-ending headache and fever! I'll see you later with any corrections or additions that I forgot (I asked Matt), NGADM/NGUAC judging, and the next edition of the freebie mag! I got several good ones from last month I might go through and add a little blurb. :)
Hey guys. It's about the end of August, so you know what that means! A lot of words and the next edition of Adrean's Music Producer Freebie Mag!
What's new? Well, besides being a little late to make room for some totally lame artist news -- new releases and a whole 5 hour movie in my last blog that you should definitely not check out (sarcasm), I updated my cymbal pack, got a nice camera, and am actually thinking about doing video clips so you can watch in your spare time, rather than having to read an entire list.
That's probably a relief. I write a lot. But I haven't decided still, so don't get too happy. The idea was, video is just smarter this day and age. (God, am I getting old?) Reason being, it's more accessible, you can reach your audience on YT AND wherever else you decide to embed, and they tend to be shareables. Something to think about.
But anyway, enough about me -- onto the list, starting with my pet project, TMC. Not The Movie Channel -- Take My Cymbals.
Sample Pack Update!
Remember this massive oneshot pack?
And this demo?
I added 6 more cymbals, (48 more in the works). New sample count is 568 samples, from 503. Zip name changed from ADR3-N's Free Metal Drums to Take My Cymbals v2.
INSTALL:
Literally download and unpack. Simple.
If you already have TMC, rename the zip to whatever you saved it as prior, extract and drag and drop into the install location. Some sample convention renaming may have created one or two duplicates. If that's a concern, just drag the Wuhan and Dream folders over. You can always compare the folders using a file duplicate manager or analyzer otherwise.
Changelog:
February 28, 2024
3 New Dream Cymbals, 12in Lion China, 10in Bliss Splash, 10in Han Effect
August 5, 2024
Wuhan Cymbals Folder, 16-in O-China, Wuhan China, Wuhan Dark China; multiple crashes added. Samples marked CUT are patched together from existing hits. I wish I could find more recordings of these budget cymbals. Leave it to China I guess to make some great, if not very breakable Chinas. In some senses having these samples might be better than owning a set of Wuhans, lol.
At present, I haven't programmed these into Kontakt instruments, or SFZs. If you're good at that, contact me via PM or Discord. Willing to pay!
I could just jerry rig them onto an existing cymbal patch and copy the presets in the TMC folder for a test drive. What I'm doing currently is loading each individual cymbal (select all, drag and drop) into a separate track onto OmniSampler, which is a spinoff of an entire piano roll of MPC. Save patch, write some midi. This allows me to choose the exact articulation I want. Then I mix and pan as I like.
I have tons of cymbals I plan to add, including and especially little known artisans and rare pieces. The same old cymbals just get old, even if analog doesn't! So, as I add new cymbals, expect more announcements!
PS: Send me your tracks if you use these -- I'd love to hear (and feature) them!
PSS: I am taking requests! If you find a cymbal recording I can sample, even if it isn't properly sustained, I'll cut it up and synthesize new articulations for it!
S-Drive Bass OD
We got ourselves a nice little overdrive pedal from Modern Music Solutions. I usually don't go for these as I prefer one knobs or dry DI tone going into the amp, but Bedroom Producer's Blog did a nice writeup on the specifics.
This has applications outside of metal. Any genre in which you're using a live bass, you're going to want to keep that low end balanced, tight, and out of the way of the kick, whenever it hits. I'm not going to ditch all the secret sauce here and now to spoil the article, because it deserves to be read -- so go read it and take notes!
On another note...
Producer Grind has released Trap Genesis BETA pack (2.8 GB)
The biggest standouts I see are the melodies shown. The drums so far are, well, they're drums, lol. We all know hip-hop loves to recycle drums and resell them. That's how it's been done for decades.
BUT, the pack also comes with midi.
Note, these are TECHNICALLY not royalty free unless you buy the license, but the samples are available nonetheless. You can still make beats with them. You can just expect to negotiate with the rights holder at a later date if you see a placement.
This is a new route I see sample vendors taking, and I think it's a good deal. Everyone gets to take great samples for a trial run, and what's the worst that happens to a producer who doesn't have a license? Can they really track everyone down? With content ID and a completely unaltered sample, yes they can, but then you just make an agreement on royalties.
Also, You KNOW for a fact these producers used samples to make they samples, especially the vintage melodies, so... Who fking cares, free sounds! Pack goes up for sale on the 30th, for those interested.
PS, Producer Grind ALSO hasn't changed their search feature since I wrote about it last time, which means you can still find FREE KITS starting on the bottom of this page.
Here's a link for that. Hope you haven't cleared your browser history. I downloaded several pages of kits off this thing and forgot where I put them. XD
Of course, you don't really need the link if you just type FREE in the search box from any other page on the site -- that's what the link is. And good thing. If you try the sort by price feature, I don't even think they show up!
So what are some of the high points?
Well, for the uninitiated, the Spinz 808 is a must. Hands down the most memorable 808 in all of hip-hop and a solid start for any bottom line. Pun intended.
There are also several, several drum kits, community packs, the flagship giveaway I just mentioned (but that one isn't royalty free), analog chord packs, FLPs, FX, you name it. It's a pretty diverse offering. Worth taking a gander at the titles and nabbing.
Real shoutout to whoever makes these sample pack graphics btw. Imma have to take notes.
The freebies go all the way to page 13 with some brief interruptions of sales and so on. Just keep slugging through them and pick what you like. And yes, there are some new ones, or I wouldn't be writing!
MONSTER SAX sounds like a 90s jazz writer's dream. And it's free!
All the links on the above page will open up to a new tab. I haven't checked them all because I don't (gasp) use FL Studio or Serum, but let's take a look at my personal favorite goldmine:
The unassuming Free Midtempo Sample Pack
For the price of a little email spam (and confirming your email btw), you'll get to …. Dig around for this pack, because it's old af. And as you're digging, you'll discover several other packs, quick and easy, no fuss.
Where is this Midtempo pack hiding?
Turns out, it's nestled in zipped and rezipped folders under the LEGACY pack, which contains all their older drops. Nifty, if a little annoying, but you just found yourself a trove of drums, presets, and in some cases demos to study!
Antidote Audio, where we found this little list, also has their own section of freebies
Same deal as the last, confirm an email -- a little annoying when you already opened a bunch of tabs after reading what you wanted, but it is what it is.
There are serum presets, dubstep drums, bass shots, neuro basses, ableton projects, advent packs with various loops, you name it! Also, I found out opening a bunch of tabs was completely unnecessary. Everything downloads right from the page. So props for that.
94 Royalty Free Tracks for your Remixing, Covering, and Interpolating Pleasure
An anonymous birdie sent me this royalty free music catalog. You know what that means, a trove of musical ideas you can sample, remix, cover, or interpolate into your own compositions with complete impunity. ;)
Also, if you weren't aware, 99Sounds has a slick collection of SFX for cinematic production!
I was aware of these before, but a certain birdie dropped this link to my inbox. We got braahms, swooshies, transitions, and quite a few nice surprises just from the demo alone!
I'd like to thank a certain anonymous birdie for sending more than one of these my way. When I first started this mag, I just wanted to do something useful with my particular data hoarding obsession, and well, I guess I have been if I'm getting this kind of response. I'm also proud that despite being super prone to burnout, it's been years now, and multiple consecutive months of posting these types of resources!
That amazes me, because you know, I started out on Newgrounds in elementary school, playing Punchout and Club a Seal, not a care in the world besides how to get to the secret nudie pics hidden in some RPG or best troll the BBS. I never thought I'd be sitting here 20 years later, a semi-accomplished music producer eye-ball deep in a community of creators, actually BEING one of them, helping people get to where I am!
Even though ADHD makes keeping a schedule so, so difficult I do that! So I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks, to everyone who reads this, and of course my supporters for encouraging me to keep going. Y'all are awesome.
SPECIAL THANKS
PS, TomFulp, if you're reading this, you've got a good thing going. Because of this website, memes have come, cultures have gone, labels have raged, and… we're getting old. If there's anything we can do to keep this thing rolling long after we're gone, think about it and let us know. I don't care if it's starting up a freaking stock. I'll invest. And bring friends. ;)
Also, there is one totally unrelated thing I read about, webtorrent -- a peer to peer solution that could potentially lighten the load on our servers by decentralizing file hosting. Seems pretty lit. FAQ. Wonder what we could do with that kind of service?
Anyway, if you're still here, have a great rest of your day wherever you are. I'll see you next month, or announcement. You know how I be. ;)
Hey! Me again. Last post I swore I'd get these write-ups done before judging NGUAC/NGADM. That did not happen, because life did. I'm drafting this quick, but here's the dates.
Should be every Friday dropping at balls o'clock (00:00 server time), except the last one which falls on a Thursday because I scheduled them all in one go and that's as far as it let me lol.
The licenses are green, and without further ado, here's the oldies but goodies. Links will be added in as they drop!
Genre: Pop-metal ballad, little on the atmospheric side
Remastered, de-essed, and novellized (I kid). I finally got around to writing the backstory, the making of, the memoirs and the dedications for this beauty, because this is the one that started it all, the song that marked me actually starting to do covers, songs in Russian, and even originals!
But don't get me started because I didn't write a whole spiel to spoil it before release day. ;)
Genre: Pop-metal, with a sprinkle of dance synths and blazing keys
Number two in a long list of things I never thought I'd do. I don't remember exactly when I wrote this, but I do remember the covid restrictions, lots of yellow gatorade, putting off my homework, and a girlfriend I had who went to the college not far from base and was over the moon that A, I wore a uniform (totally hot right), and B, I spoke Russian (hot to some people I guess?)
Whatever, I'm proud of it. Proud enough to drop cash to properly distribute it instead of waiting for a takedown over on YT.
September 6, 2024 - Little Dreams (Ellie Goulding, 2020)
Genre: Metal, or at least rock, c'mon. Like, as Dancefloor is the poppy version of regular DnB
Finally something English, at least I'm sure there's someone out there that thinks that, lol, but I feel like an old lady looking through her high school yearbooks. Which reminds me, I should take more pictures.
We got this one in two flavors as you'll see. If you're not a metal head, or you just like Russian, stay tuned. ;)
Ps: Here's a reminder to myself that 4 years ago, these pants were black. Now they're... not.
September 13 - Ne Ver Ne Boysia (t.A.T.u. 2023)
Genre: Eurodance, Early 2000s Euro Dance Pop
I should name this Friday the 13th for extra tensions, but I won't. XD
An English translation of a famous song you probably never knew didn't actually have a proper English version. Translated as literally as humanly possible, because accuracy MATTERS. To me at least. Also it got 15k+ views on YT so it must have been cool, right? Right?!
I debated on properly releasing this for a long time after fighting with YouTube's copyright algorithms, and not just on this track.
See, even royalty free samples get snagged in the new system, because it isn't programmed to recognize old sample CDs; it's programmed to recognize copyrighted works, whether or not they were based on royalty free samples.
That's ONE of the problems I had. Another one ten times more worrisome is that not only does the copyright detector borg flag samples, it's been updated to flag chord progressions, rhythms, and even melodies. So you can and will be forked and fleeced for doing a cover, whether it's good, bad, shockingly imaginative, or we-have-that-song-at-home simple.
Used to be, you could outrageously change the speed, pitch, timbre, and even genre OR gender for your cover to get around the algorithm. Now, that doesn't even work. That method is officially outdated. You can thank slowed and reverb, nightcore spammers.
But I'm getting off track. This in concert plus the fact that I sung this through vocal AIs really discouraged me from getting a cover license -- much like having to pay for cover licenses or potentially have my channel shut down and potentially getting sued discouraged me from ever submitting covers in the past (especially when "real musicians" said covers were the lazy bastard's way to fame, not real art or tribute).
I can only wonder how much harder it is for a would be Bieber or T-Swift building their career on other platforms to get off the ground today with bots chafing at the bit to auto-delete their creations, threatening them with legal action, and on the off chance they're being nice transferring all the funds raised from their hard work directly into some fat cat's pocket.
Patreon, ko-fi, and other artist-support networks are invaluable these days. New producers, take note. And get yourself some licenses. You never know when the rich man will try to shoot you down. Easy song license for the win.
September 19th - Little Dreams (Ellie Goulding, Jan 2024)
Genre: Eurodance of the early 2000s
And that ALMOST catches us up to modern times, lol. I had the same problem with this release as the last one. And I'm shocked, honestly, because I thought for sure this one would have no issues, except maybe a few drum loops that Shapavalov/Galoyan used in multiple works of theirs, as producers that day and age tended to do with sample CDs.
This one was almost a research project of sorts, like the one before it, for EVERYTHING that made up t.A.T.u's sound, to see if I could take that and apply it to a song that I knew by then by heart. I told y'all, I love this damn song. It's apparently the gift that keeps on giving, so much so that I feel compelled to keep buying licenses for it. Did you know that you have to pay for a license for every cover version you do of a song? I didn't, until the other day.
Anyway, basically the same story as the last song, but this one is translated into Russian. Was a smash hit across the ocean and I wanted to bring it here, because my NG fam deserves more than just the crumbs!
Additional Plans, Updates, and Hypotheticals
In due time, all of these should be available on Spotify, Apple, etc. Different stores distro at different times, and scheduling them doesn't always work right, for covers at least because the licenses have to come back.
I've got a remix of Can You See the Clouds Divide waiting on approval for release. Anxiously, chafing at the bit waiting.
I really want to release MEMORY on here as will. One of these days I'll get around to it. Writing up essentially double promos for all these has me wanting to rest on my meat haunches and find a donut.
Fall Away has been remastered -- and by that I mean I didn't fix the weird space of the vocal mix, but the EQ and compression have been re-dressed, and it sounds a lot better now. (@SkankyMojo what do you think?)
As I'm writing this I realized I've been listening to that on repeat for half an hour. Oops. And it's late as hell. I should probably sleep.
PS, I haven't gotten around to my mail yet due to the usual combo of ADHD and RL responsibilities. I have one or two commissions to do, competition judging, but I do have most of the week off work and the house to myself to get around to that soon! I'm patting myself on the back that I managed to do at least one extra thing off my to-do list that I said was a MAYBE, not a definite. We're getting them personal goals in, haha.
