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. 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.
Heya, just a little note that I'm taking the day off, or a couple days from creative endeavors. Today hit me like a ton of bricks, lots of manual labor and bleach water, but that's not why.
If you check my last post, we got about 5 covers and remixes I plan to release over the next month. Yes, I got the licenses! (which means they are out now on streaming cough google and add me to your library cough) But I thought to myself, where's the fun in dropping them to NG without a planned release schedule AND background information about what they are? Why should you care about them if I can't be even be assed?
Rhetorical questions.
So, I'll be taking some time to write up blurbs and trivia for the releases, scheduling them instead of tossing a giant dump in your feed. I used to never do this, and some of these are like 4 years old. It's about time I start treating things seriously, don't you think?
And once that's done, I'll draft a linked list here -- and more blurbs. Because promo. Then I'll drop the music prod mag on the 24th or so for a FP slot.
In other news, the freebie mag is coming along nicely. I have some articles drafted over the past month related to music production and music related advice that I might publish if not alongside it then at a later date, because you know me. Me write long blogs. (out now!)
NGUAC and NGADM's next judging phases are around the corner, so I'll be focusing on that in the coming weeks (hence why I'm scheduling everything now!!) @TaintedLogic, @AED-4, please ping me when it's time. I like to try and finish judging early to leave more time for feedback.
Since dubbing CoD Cold War went so well, @MATRVG and I have another project in the works. I won't say what just yet, but let's just say we might have another blockbuster movie on our hands. ;)
I still have a little more work to do on the Legend of Korra fandub. Like 2 episodes of sound engineering. Send thoughts and prayers because it's been a long haul! And the collabs are coming along. Yay.
And last but not least, @Shayinator has done an awesome commission that I haven't even decided what to do with yet, plus put up with my on and off communication officially for months. Made me like the slav squatting adidas sporting queen that I am. XD
Still other news:
Ko-Fi is still the best way to support me for now, HOWEVER, Patreon is changing their payout policy to monthly subscription only, which means -- the per-project account I haven't charged ever because I didn't think it was fair to just push the button whenever (y'all all follow me for different reasons, and they wouldn't let me change the setting!) will soon be NORMAL and USABLE! Double yay.
Also, I may be swapping files for some audios I've submitted here with remastered versions. If and when I do that, I'll make an announcement. :)
Hey guys! It's me, popping in between judging like 300 songs (NGUAC and NGADM), answering mails, and writing up the next free plugin/VST magazine. I'd say I don't do this often, but every other blog I'm writing some kind of announcement lol.
Well, this month, I'm going to be ... switching gears, at least on the surface. I know, you're thinking, look at your audio, Adrean! You do that a lot! And you're right. Had to change my username (twice), because let's face it, I hop genres like an 80s aerobics class.
Feel like I've done literally everything this year -- voice acing, screamo, 90s beats, hip-hop bangers, throat singing, audio book engineering. Might have something to do with the ADHD I just figured out I had. (And FYI, @SkankyMojo, @FarFromSundown, and @Trunotfals, not letting that get in the way of our collabs! Just cleaning out some backlog and getting back into the creative mood! If I haven't DMed you by tomorrow, poke me!)
And what might that parenthetical backlog be? Well, I was browsing my phone the other day and came across several tracks that I previously posted to YouTube and NOWHERE else -- for licensing reasons. Stuff I loved. Like this:
Yes, my cover songs/RU tracks. If you've been with me for a while, you know about them from my previous newsposts, which was the only place I could share them here without cover licensing. But if you're new, it's gonna feel a little abrupt -- like I suddenly fell off the wagon from modern-ish EDM and hip-hop into a whole new world of bootleg Russian djent, or in some cases 90s pop a la t.A.T.u.
It'll be about 5 songs. I still have some remastering to do before I submit requests, because the bulk of these are from 2019-2020 and need some TLC. I like to think that I learned a lot and do things differently now. Having better-recording-equipment and de-essing my vocals, cough.
Getting the licenses might take up to 14 days, but once Distrokid fleeces me for a dollar a pop per month and gives me the green light, I'll drop! It's gonna cost me like $50 a year extra, but I think it's worth it.
If you want to help keep them live, you can make it hail over at ko-fi, or I dunno, gift me a supporter sub. I actually like the second option not just because it will save me money, but because NG is life. xD
NGUAC and NGADM are still in full force! You can check the post history of @TaintedLogic and @AED-4 respectively for their progress, or, ya know, check the Audio Forum. ;) It's too late to enter if you haven't already, but you can ask to get on the mailing list for next year!
If you haven't received a review from me and you wanted my thoughts on your entry, I have a dedicated playlist for that. Send me a PM and I'll add you to the list!
Sound Kits!
I have updated Take My Cymbals on beatstars in anticipation of this month's freebie plugin/vst mega-list. More about that when it's out.
Speaking of, when my next Frontpage announcement is available, I'll drop the Music Producer Mag. Looks like that'll be the 24th or 25th. So a little later than usual, but September we should be back on track!
Projects/Work
I have several songs in progress, three of which being collabs, one or two which I'm waiting to hear back an OK to release after about a year's wait, some sound engineering work. It's taking a while, not least because of a WHOLE lot of dish washing and teaching English between managing my RL and judging two music competitions.
In short, I'm still super tired and short on sleep, and RL has been full of BS. As always.
The biggest and most labor intensive of the things I actually got done this month is this: I voice acted the previously un-voiced sections of Bell, Mason, and Belikov (from Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War) for @MATRVG over several sessions and LOTS of back and forth for files. The fruits of our combined labors are now featured on his channel as a full movie!
This so far is the coolest (and longest) solo voice acting gig I've ever done. Not only did I have to voice act the characters themselves, but I had to do so in a way that the vocal AIs (which I made myself) would act properly. So, basically I had to impersonate the original actors for Mason and Belikov, plus invent a persona and headspace that made sense for Bell, who was a silent protagonist. I even translated some lines into Russian for the intel-grab at Lubyanka (a KGB stronghold), which was such an AWESOME feeling, especially hearing the final product!
It also got me REALLY excited for CS#2 Remake! (which I have waited for anxiously since voice acting lines!) @MATRVG's idea <3
So all in all, while I haven't published as much MUSIC as I'd like this month, and I've been super busy AND dealing with writer's block, I'd say I'm doing pretty alright. I thank God for you guys here on NG, because without you, I wouldn't be where I am today, and I'd probably go insane. This world is hell in a hand basket, and because of you, I get to spend all day inside ignoring that fact and instead pursuing my passion. So thank you!
I still recommend the part-time job for anyone stuck in the "starving artist" crowd btw. It's working for me so far! Financial freedom ftw!
Happy late Independence Day (was July 4th to those of you not reading from the US)! It's been more like Independence Month for me, editing like mad to get this post under the limit of 10 images and be legible, and having everything that can possibly go wrong do so IRL.
When I finally did all the editing and dealt with Murphy's Law, none of the images pasted, and I realized I was going to be VERY late posting, lol. Fumbled the bag for the producer freebie mag. Woops.
In keeping with the Indie theme, this month of the Music Producer Freebie Mag is all about the independents. We're going to go over all my favorite Indie plugins, samples, and sample instruments -- almost all of them for Decent Sampler!
If you don't know what Decent Sampler is, it's basically fancy sforzando, or Kontakt Lite ;) And yes, it's more than decent! Google it now, if you don't have it already.
Up first is a little creator appreciation for some seriously OCD sampling! Jazz producers take a peep, and possibly take notes.
Creator Spotlight - Larry Seyer
This guy makes some EXTREMELY detailed drum kits, with FINE tuned control in mind. Don't believe me? His snares have something like 8 zones on them, mapped from E2 to E3! Absolute mad lad!
Why is this important? Well, for those of us (okay, well mostly just me) who strive to get the EXACT articulation we want, the average drum kit can literally be hit or miss. Most of them have 4-8 round robins on the snare, regardless of the spot hit and usually smack the same one at different velocities or a random spot at the same velocity RR.
It goes without saying that for a particularly picky producer (sometimes me), you might not want that. If you like deeply sampled kits, and you're not trying to play them on an e-kit, one of Larry's just might be for you!
Okay, enough nerd jazz, onto more cool ass patches! We got some real atmospheric horror in store for you with these next couple instruments.
This instrument sounds absolutely bonkers good to me, like bowed cymbal bonkers. To be fair, I think that's kind of the whole principle behind this pack. The cheap amazon shelves basically create a giant reverberating sound prison. Have you ever rubbed them the wrong way and thought to yourself, wtf? Well, the creator of this patch certainly did, and it's no wonder why!
Spooky Organ (that sounds like it's dying inside) is next up.
Considerably smaller and pretty atmospheric. This one performs best with long tones, and I've loved playing with it. Check out the demo!
Braaaaaaam!
No shocker here what this is. Tons and tons of submissions went into this Pianobook Braam Library, the World's Biggest Braaam! Filled with tons of horns, trailer sounds, and straight up drama, this one is a slick add-on for anyone's collection.
Next is one I was positively thrilled to try -- we got some taikos! If you know me, you know I love 'em. Here's the demo and a little profile of the pack.
Mapping: Mostly symmetrical, so that they can be played with 2 fingers on 2 keys, mimicking the left and right hand.
I love, love, love ethnic drums, particularly taiko and daiko. Maybe it's the fact that I played a lot of Samurai Warriors as a kid, and you could legit slam the daikos in all the enemy camps, lol. There are even a few taiko/daikos hidden in the percs from my Adreanaline Sample Pack (but thankfully these are faithfully named!)
Here's a little making of the kit for those interested:
Followed by these sleek and sexy gongs. I haven't seen a good set of these since the old, relatively low quality, and hard to find Chai Gongs (32-bit). These ones below impress <3
For those of you that love soundblasts from the past, this section will be up your alley. Below I've compiled several demos and downloads from the absolute coolest retro patches I've ever seen! Or well, heard.
You might sneeze at the file size, but the articulations, recorded riffs, and ability to solo each individual flute is CRAZY. Don't believe me, watch the video. Perfect for scoring, with multiple patches.
And probably better than your favorite paid library. It was for me at least!
STRINGS
Probably my absolute favorite toys, the strings below, whether I wrote a blurb or not, are friggin' ear tickling good!
Do basically all of these instruments sound similar? Yes. Do you think it will stop me from downloading them all and taking over the world? OF COURSE NOT MWAHAHAHAHA!
But in all seriousness, I copped all these and am currently in the process of creating a frankenmonster of stringed folk instrument bliss!
Closing thoughts
Usually I would use this space to ramble on about something or other FOREVERRR, but it's been a long, long month. Tbh I just want to go to bed. IRL we've had an assassination attempt on the former president, and online, the Audio Deathmatch AND Underdog Audio Competition (NGADM & NGUAC) are raging, with the conclusion of auditions just around the corner. Today was a busy day at work, and my brain is fried. I'm so, so tired.
I haven't had much time to think of what to write, but what I want to say is this -- internet impermanence is as real. If you like something and think it's cool, find a way to save it!
Whether that means getting several cheap USBs to hold you over for 6 months to a year, CD or DVDs (because yes, they're coming back in style), or even a big ol' suitcase of platter drives, do what you gotta do. External HDDs and cold storage solutions are cheap and getting cheaper. $150 bucks will get you a few externals that can last you up to 5 years or even longer, and they're pretty big for the price nowadays.
I remember 10 years ago a 64 gig flash drive was something like 80 bucks on sale, and now a 512 gig drive goes for the same price. Shocking, but super cool.
I thought about this after I switched PCs, only to catch that a sizeable cache of my photos were missing from my new drive. Then I noticed some missing plugins in my library, so I tried to go get them, and that process sucked. Some of the developers straight up no longer existed. Some of their DRM completely locked me out of putting my plugs on a new PC from scratch. And still more assholes straight went to a subscription service and tanked their lifetime licenses (Fuck y'all for that)
Not only were some of my favorite plugin companies going under or giving their old customers the finger, but as I restored my old setup, I caught onto a disturbing trend. Several more digital streaming platforms and consoles were caught deleting digital content that their customers paid for, straight out of their libraries. That'd be like Walmart breaking into my house and stealing my Xena collection because they decided to stop selling it (Ty for the analogy, Louis Rossman).
I came to one conclusion. The only way to actually own the content you have is to physically control it. And you can't do that with a movie you purchased the right to stream. You CAN however on a hard drive or USB, if you save it ;)
This isn't just limited to online purchases. Sites like YT constantly remove my favorite content from my playlists for one reason or another, even if you select to download their encrypted file format videos to your device for offline streaming. The only solution to that is to download your favorite content to a device you control, in a format you can access easily. Cough. YT downloader. Cough.
I do this infrequently, when I really like something, like a mashup that's almost certainly going to get taken down for copyright violation or a provocative indie artist's videos. Does this mean I'll stop streaming them to show my support? Nah, just saving for posterity, when either it or YT falls off the face of the earth.
We've had our own scares here on Newgrounds, albeit for less draconian money-grubbing reasons. Anyone remember Numa Numa's debut, or the old Naruto AMVs that used to flood the portal? Me too. They're gone because record labels rained down some scary DMCAs over the "unlicensed" use of their music on other submissions; in the aftermath, NG was forced to remove potentially offending content in advance, just to be safe. Had all of us had the mind of fighting internet impermanence, a lot of NG history would still be intact.
Just a little food for thought. Get yourself some storage, and use it wisely!
Hey guys, slight delay on the next freebie mag. RL duty calls. Just gotta fix the draft, so next edition will be out by the 20th! Thank you for reading!
Hey guys! It's that time again! No, not Pride Month -- though it IS that time, when every corporation and its mother temporarily becomes rainbow logos and everyone is gay, including you.
Yes, it's THAT time of the month, the season to be jolly -- because several gigantic blocks of words about free music production stuff are now here.
PS: Don't miss this year's upcoming NGADM (Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch), organized by @AED-4, auditions opening July 1st!
The NGADM is going on its 15th anniversary and WILL BE A BLAST. I've judged several of 'em, and this year I'll be seeing you on the panel again! If you want a thicc track review from me, come audition!
Now, jolly gay period jokes and cool music comps aside, I'm PROUD to present another installment of ADR3-N's Music Producer Freebie Mag - June List 2024!
The last several mags have covered maybe a terabyte of content in a TINY amount of time. I'm still digesting it tbh, but I promise I'll make it up to you with buckets more lol. If you find you still need more snacks by the end, you can check out previous editions here!
This month's narrative focus is, *exaggerated drumroll* *BadumTiss*, UNSOLICITED BUT TOTALLY HELPFUL ADVICE AND COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS OF MUSIC PRODUCTION IN POOR FORMATTING!!
But before that, let's drop into the plugins!
Vinyl Guitar (video) - This baddie is a quick dirty vinyl guitar, plus a time saver if you ask me. Good for lo-fi "chillhop" and modern laid back hip-hop beats. If you're looking for instant vibe, a synthy feel without being corny, it's a good choice.
Would Cymatics Origin on Ample Sounds' Acoustic Taylor get a similar feel? Probably, but beatmaking is 110% workflow. Whatever gets you the fastest, cleanest result is the best choice! And you can't knock free.
Grammy Nominated Producer KXVI's "Essential" Free Plugins
I guess you can call this a producer reaction. But before your eyes glaze over, I promise you it's worth it.
I saw this video by a guy styling himself as Grammy Nominated Producer KXVI and thought to myself, SURELY this is an excuse to name drop a load of sponsored, expensive, unnecessary azz plugins none of us can afford, but I was pleasantly surprised! He not only hypes up several FREE plugins; he understands the struggle of making trials go to work!
He does talk fast and doesn't link the plugs, so I'll be doing that below with explanations of what they do and how to use them. You can watch the video and/or scroll down for the list!
Cymatics have released boat loads of free samples and plugins: delays, tape emulators, percussion processors. I totally agree with KXVI when I say they are swiss-army lifehacks for producing music.
Deja Vu is a quick, easy, "better version of halftime," with extra bells and whistles. You can drop the speed to half, make it smooth or choppy, change the speed and pitch, and completely flip the vibe.
The last halftime plugin I recommended btw was VYBE. In comparison, Deja Vu has never crashed my DAW, but if halftime is something you need, take your pick! The perfect result is just a bounce away!
Origin is a bit-crush, vinyl tape emu, detuner, saturation, and chorus FX bundled into a sleek, simple interface.
If I haven't recommended it enough times, I'll do it again. It's super easy to use and so intuitive, to the point I use it almost everywhere, sometimes on the master like I did here (No Propeller).
KXVI admits Origin replaces and maybe even exceeds the utility of his longtime BFFs Decimort 2 and RC20, both sizable investments at ~150 euros plus tax. He's not alone.
Reason being, unlike with other vintage-y downsamplers and multi-FX, in Origin sample rates are easy to approximate, sound good out the box, and the pitch wobble is more natural than RC20.
It's true there are other plugs that have these functionalities separately. They might even sound better, but for workflow, nothing beats Origin. Absolutely SOLID pick for your arsenal.
Moving right along, next Cymatics freebie is Memory
Memory is a chorus and detuner to get some extra warble going behind Origin. Instead of having a fixed rate, you can really modulate these parameters around for a wobbling record, tape on its last legs type effect.
Is it my favorite plugin of all time? No, but upon hearing those presets swapping and that delicious wobble in the video (19:10), you'll know what I mean.
I promised myself I'd only say this once, LABS IS AWESOME. But I'll probably say it again, because, it's awesome. Perhaps the best free libraries of orchestral and live instruments, voices, etc. to this day.
Soft Piano and BBC Symphony Orchestra are two of KXVI's favorites, but there are many, many more.
Like him, before I could afford many Kontakts, LABS was my go-to. Even then, I still go back for goodies, like the choirs. Bc who doesn't want to make a franken choir of 15 different free choir plugs? (If you can't tell, I have an addiction, lol.)
LABS requires two things of you to get the goods -- make a Spitfire account, and download their manager.
There are tons of gigs of sample based instruments available. The best part is, they update them every so often to include more. Also, they do keep up with their software updates for bug patches!
Now I know for a fact I've probably rammed this and sforzando down your throat, but Decent Sampler is pretty much a "free Kontakt" style VST that, like Kontakt, supports graphic interfaces AND has a low memory footprint.
So, you've heard it from me, Venus Theory, and now a Grammy nominated producer, this one deserves a place in your heart.
See, Decent Sampler is not only cool and free, but as is true with sforzando's completely open format, developers can easily create patches and sample banks for it. It has many, MANY more free options than Kontakt as a direct result.
And I know you've heard the dreaded "FREE" instrument that only works with the PAID version of Kontakt, or the "free" pack that coincidentally only works with version 6.8 of Kontakt, when you JUST got Kontakt 6.7, update, update *eye roll*
None of that with Decent Sampler. The format is open; you can google "free flute DS instrument" and be reasonably assured you'll find a result. Nifty!
Speaking of googling for free instruments…
PianoBook, which you may remember from a previous issue or two, is another great spot to scope out new sounds!
Many of the samplists are impassioned hobbyists, and of course YMMV, but I haven't found a pack I didn't like or at least find useful in the popular tab. I'll list some cool ones below.
Cassette Drums by Dan Keen for Decent Sampler is a favorite for the 70s sound (though the demo is long af and unskippable on PB, so open it in another tab and skim for a quick demo)
Hunter Rogersson has also made a free Kontakt lib called The Spellsinger which literally took my breath away. May be the #1 male-female distant-mic choir I've ever seen, with three separate, utterly jaw-dropping FX chains paralleled on top of the dry signal you can adjust with the mod wheel. Check it out! (video at 3:33)
There's also this sweet Discord Choir by Fred Poirier for Decent Sampler that functions brilliantly as a pad for backing other choral patches. Reviews state that it "has to be heard to be believed".
Complete with the LABS patches we discussed earlier, I can only imagine the possibilities, loading these up in a template, mixing, and matching.
In short, you're really shooting yourself in the foot if you think you have to shell out dollars for quality. Do some window shopping. You just might find something you can lift off the shelf, for free, to compete with its paid analogues if not make them utterly obsolete!
And after these, little commercial break; we have a cute little freebie vault locked behind a mailing list for Sonix Audio and a prompt with some upsells that *wait a minute, record scratch*
I just spit out my tea. Let me rewind. Matter of fact let's do some history.
Sonix.audio is an online music prod sample store founded by KXVI, the guy whose list we're going through up to now, "to supply his award winning sounds to the producer community. Since [its founding in 2021, he has] sold over 10,000 products and received 2 GRAMMY nominations for our loops."
The licenses to their samples are Royalty Free UP TO 1 mil plays. In other words, unless you're ridiculously popular or get a placement, you're covered. Then you clear the samples and split the royalties accordingly.
By the time you get 1 million plays, any track will have done its work, and so will you. I think that's fair. (Cymatics is launching free BETAS of their kits now and selling the licenses under the same kind of guise.)
So anyway, under FREE Kits, you're gonna hit that email marketing jig I just mentioned.
You'll put in your information, and an email will arrive in 3.5 to your junk mail. You're going to un-junk it and click the link to the sample vault, which will take you to Dropbox and/or an optional discord.
At which point your jaw will hit the floor. Because there, in the folders, are over 10 GB of content, loops, drums, vox, presets, PDFs on how to get your money as a producer, and probably more.
That is, if you aren't like me and put in your email, hit enter, immediately read the upsell that followed of "$7 for a sample pack from a guy who I just watched rattle on for 20 minutes about his libraries? Yeah I might just cop it." Copped said samps, and then was like wtf where is my freebie, before I remembered to check my email lol.
The cheapo multi-pack is Mini Stash II, the sequel to Mini Stash.
I figured why not. Shrug. I got $7. The pack came with an extra surprise video from KXVI on 3 separate loops from the pack and a little of his thought process as he's working.
Note if you get the 10 GB zip, you're probably gonna have to extract it with WinRAR folder-by-folder. I tried to unzip it with 7zip and that gave me errors, despite there being nothing wrong with the file.
//end commercial break
With the Sonix.Audio self-plugs out of the way, we're looking at Baby Audio Free FX, which you can get for the low price of occasional email marketing.
Let's not take up too much of your time; they are in order: Magic Dice, Pitch Drive, Beat Slammer, and Magic Switch.
Magic Dice is a random multi FX plugin, which gives you random settings on a chain, good for oneshots and bouncing, but I wonder if you could modulate the hidden parameters with midi.
Pitch Drift does what it says on the tin. It's a one knob, or rather slider that might go nicely ahead of something like Cymatics Origin in a chain, or even on a master or tape stop for transitions. I can also see it being used for warbling effectively when modulated. It has a cute little visualizer too!
Beat Slammer, well, slams the input. But it has a makeup gain knob and output. ;)
And finally, Magic Switch is a cute little chorus plugin!
A fuller explanation of these awaits at the link provided. If any of these pique your interest, drop an email and wait 5 minutes, and your downloads will arrive shortly.
Moving on!
NOT FREE, BUT… you can use the trial for 20 minutes, bounce the audio, or save a preset, unload the plugin, reload, and repeat, so technically it's still free. - KXVI
Cableguys - Shaperbox 3 - Glitchy, warbly, reversing, and otherwise, Shaperbox has you covered. You can create fantastic paterns with this VST that just sound FIRE.
The only caveat to this one is price, and if not price, then the big bolded disclaimer up there. But I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who does that with trials, find a setting and bounce lol.
Thus ends the "Essential" half of KXVI's list.
Next up on the list are plugins that are still cool but with some more niche applications or a harder to understand interface.
Prisma - We've already gone through Prisma in a previous issue, but seeing this ugly ass UI in the hands of a professional gave me life. The free version just has a banner at the bottom if I remember correctly reminding you to support the developer. :)
Prisma is a multiband distortion with many different colors of hideousity to throw on top of your sound and make it gross.
Autochroma by imagi.ro is a glitchy granular FX plugin with an interface I'm almost completely incapable of understanding, but a completely usable set of presets that make these beautiful, percussive, delay-y textures. There's a short trial period, after which you can do the good-ol switcheroo with presets and bouncing audio.
One thing about Autochroma is that with the same preset, you can bounce multiple different versions of the same loop or sample. It's different every time, so you can 100% wet the signal and pan around multiple different renders for a granular cloud if you will.
Then there's Vital, with whom I'm sure you're all acquainted if you're like me, completely addicted to free plugs.
I disagree with KXVI's assertion that Vital is NOT in fact essential to any up and comers here, but I might be able to see his reasoning in that the free version is virtually bereft of good presets and a bit hard to get used to if you're coming from Serum, Nexus, or Massive.
Still, he makes the same point that I do that great presets are not at ALL hard to find on PresetShare.com or YT/Google, and neither are wavetables if you like to design your own synths, which we also covered in a previous edition of the mag -- think we got them off comfybox.
And back to the realm of squeezing the juice out of the trial, Guitar Rig 6 is great for running your leads through for, literally no reason other than to make them sound wild. (Oops that's Guitar Rig 7 -- we'll see if it works)
I've been running my keys through amps for a while now btw. These leads are not in fact guitars! (2:19)
My point: You don't NEED per se Guitar Rig 6 or 7 to achieve this effect.
All you need is an amp, a cab, or an amp and cab all in one, and some kind of multi-fx you can modulate to get things cooking. Amps and cabs aren't just useful for the metal heads shredding. They have other applications!
Jacob Collier Audience Choir
I think this one speaks for itself. It's got some interesting colors, stomps, claps and so on. Not my cup of tea, but someone might love it, so appending a link to the video.
And that rounds out KXVI's list. He goes on beyond this to say which plugins he would whittle down to if he absolutely had to, but I think you can do that for yourself. Or just watch him. You do you.
Wow. I didn't think that I'd be writing so much for such a short list. Well, in the interest of saving time and touching grass some time this week, that's the last of the plugs we'll be covering this month.
The next thing on my list is things I wish I knew 10 years ago when I thought I knew what I was doing but obviously did not
AKA
The Unsolicited Life Changing Advice Column
So begins the torrent of pro tips you never knew you needed.
We'll start with a quickie from Alice Yalcin Efe of Mercurial Tones Academy, aka my favorite EDM production and mixing guru. It's short and sweet, and you should probably take notes, because we're gonna learn 19 different grooves in the time it takes me to remember what I was just talking about.
Ok, 19 is more like the amount of times I FORGET what I'm talking about in 4 minutes, but bookmark this one to the speed dial, steal some of these ideas, and get inspired!
This video is long, so I've also written a condensed version. Feel free to skip and watch if that's your gig.
Fact:Music Production Twitter, Reddit, and YT have gone off the rails. Radio, TV and even biographies are saturated with wishful thinking, whining, and outright lying about how the industry works, or should work, or how to advance your music in the digital age.
Have you ever heard, "Good music simply promotes itself!"
I have. But does that ever happen to me? NO!
The only time my music promotes itself is if and when I get Frontpaged on NG, or I make an translation cover of something like Ne Ver Ne Boisya (things I know my YT audience searches for, which brings me to my next point)
It MIGHT be true that good music promotes itself, IF your music magically happens to sit in front of the exact audience who would organically share it. Chances are if you're reading this tho, you're dealing with the #1 problem of artists today: nobody knows who you are!
And problem #2, you don't know who your target audience is. You could be like me and discover it completely by accident with a passion project after years of inconsistency, but that's not the way to be. You need to determine who to market your music to and what they want. Make some videos or shorts or visualizers or WHATEVER to appeal to that want. And stop being shy about sharing!
If you don't know where to start, STUDY!
Stop scrolling TikTok and find some social media gurus for WHATEVER kind of content you can envision doing!
You might complain, "but GUYS, that's a LOT of work!"
But as Jesse explains, before the internet, artists did interviews, press releases, and shows over and over, touring, flyering, and phone calling to get their music heard. Ad nauseam.
The majority of our work today is online, tending to the audience you already have, focusing on quality over quantity. 3-7 pieces of content per week (promotional, videos, and otherwise) is ideal and totally doable.
What do you think I'm doing now? Writing a magazine for no one to read? Ofc not. I'm very vocal about it in my day-to-day convos here. I'm not shy to drop my own tracks as examples for a plugin or method I mention either, especially here!
Now, am I going to be that artist who releases a new video every week? No. I'm already pushing my limits, and I don't assume anyone reading this has time for FULL balls to the wall commitment. But you can do SOMETHING productive.
And you should absolutely link up with others you come across online and IRL musically or otherwise.
Find people who do graphic design, video editing, music videos, etc., things you lack; you can pitch them a song or commission work from them.
But don't just do this randomly with cold DMs. Strike up a conversation on their pages, comment on their work, then eventually seg-way into what you'd like to do together! It's like a date -- nobody wants to go out with the construction worker catcalling every girl who passes by, but a nice conversation and a business card might get you a callback. ;)
Ex: @Odd-Naw has done some really cool album art for me in the past, @Shayinator is finishing up a really cool graphic for my page as we speak. I have other contacts who I'm thinking of commissioning a music video from.
Ex 2: I've also done freakishly cool collabs with @trunotfals, @FarFromSundown, and @SkankyMojo that have resulted in not only more fans but FRIENDSHIPS. So give it a shot!
Never discount the importance of friends in music, people you can collaborate and and grow with. Not to mention inspire!
Other Online Producer Myths
For some reason, people think we're hopeless -- the labels control the charts, and daddy's-money nepo babies like Billie Eilish and Doja Cat are the only ones who can make it big.
Maybe so, but we're in the wild west era of music, where grass roots followings have more influence than you think.
Nepo-babies might have a lot more in terms of initial resources thanks to mom and dad, but if they aren't talented, they're not breaking out. Even with the financial freedom to work on music day and night plus their parents' connections, they can still end up screwed.
Editorial Playlists are STILL important
Not that you'll ever see me on them, but the benefit of these is self-explanatory. They do in fact convert fans and algorithm in your favor. One of these days, write a pitch or two. You miss 100% of the shots you never take.
You don't have to have a huge catalog to get big
Some of the artists on the top 200 have 30+ songs, but correlation is not causation. You don't need that many. You just need a few exceptional ones and a little consistency. I struggle with this myself, but hey. Garbage in, garbage out.
/end commentary
Whew that was a lot of text I didn't know I had in me.
Our next sub-section of Things I Wish I Knew Before I Wasted 10,000 Hours Acquiring DAW-Induced Hearing Loss covers mixing myths that I unfortunately fell for because some audiophile said so.
If you have at least 1 braincell left, and you still want to learn more about making music, read on.
Common Misconceptions of MusicProducerTube
So, you know how we're all our own harshest critics?
Well, if the shoe fits you as it does me, you've prob been researching all sorts of things to improve your music, only to find out a lot of the tips you learned were based on lies, circular snake oil, or outright bullshit. Right?
Like, someone please tell me why the majority of help videos are on mixing and mastering, yet the majority of problems in mix or master are plain bad production? But everyone says you need this or that $$$$ing plugin, and "don't do xyz, use this."
For instance - don't put reverb on the master, or kick, or bass. Granted, I'd usually agree (if you've seen reviews from me in the last decade, you know lol) bc it was the only advice I ever heard to keep a clean mix!
And that's because music prod gurus, where I got my info, were getting their advice not from pros, but from internet bros, leading us to the top 4 myths of music prod I used to believe.
MYTH #1. Reverb is evil
There's a widely held belief among audiophiles that reverb is the bane of our existence, creating resonances where resonances need not be and destroying n00b mixes before they leave the headphone jack with a nasty lo-mid wash.
Have you ever considered there ARE times using reverb "wrong" is the RIGHT THING to do?
Ex: a slow rock ballad with lots of space between the kick and other melodic elements -- you're not gonna leave that pillowy kick naked in a vacuum.
Ex 2: a shoegaze track, where that reverb wash is kind of the point?
There are genres and situations within genres where reverb is the tool for the job; you just have to use it intelligently. Watch for phase issues for your other instruments (re: bass and kick). Don't make it UBER noticeable or genre-inappropriate. STUDY.
This is of course not the safe-route n00bs are hoping for, nor something I expect them to get for reasons I will get into, but for the initiated, sometimes reverb is the secret sauce! I understand your initial revulsion too, bc the majority of the reason people tell you not to use it on a master or any low frequency instrument is the resulting wall of mud (wrecking your compression, phase, etc.)
The solution in most cases is to low-cut the reverb to 250 hz or so, roll off some of the highs if you don't want that shimmer, have a shorter tail, and turn the reverb wet down until it sounds suitable. (also, sidechain)
Send tracks are a godsend, so you can EQ and side-chain to taste.
Personally, I would never use reverb on three things: a fast moving bass instrument, a double-time kick on a metal track, or a master in general if the genre did not call for shoe-gaze. In fact, until recently I barely used reverbs at all due to the bunk advice I read online! Instead I used ping-pong delay, which… also causes its own mud and should probably be treated the same as verb.
Has it hurt me? No. There are plenty of ways to skin a skeever.
Things I WILL use reverb on: higher frequency instruments like keys and hihats because our ears don't care too much about the phase of those, snares because DSHHH DSSHHH means good, and vocals; a very slight amount of reverb properly managed is a beautiful thing.
Moving along.
MYTH #2. Choirs should be completely intelligible
I think this is self-explanatory. The purpose of a choir is to add a layer of EPIC, not to be UNDERSTOOD. Have you ever heard an actual choir perform? They sound cool af, but even in my own native language I'm lucky to understand a word or three of opera. Possibly bc I'm deaf-ish.
If you want your lead to be understood, have a lead vocalist mixed on top. Otherwise good luck. Choirs have soloists out front for this reason.
The only thing really important is that the releases and articulations of each individual vocalist are properly timed, not for intelligibility, but for cleanliness. Operatic singing manipulates vowels in a way typical every day singing does not, making them super open and resonant. They sound very different and may be hard to understand even with a soloist.
So no, your choir does not have to sound squeaky clean!
MYTH #3. You need this EQ for more color…
And that EQ too, and this parametric vintage three knob colorizer, and this 1982 mixer board vst for this and that and so on…
Um, no, and I don't expect you to take my word for it, since some of these EQs have popped up in my feed, and I myself once bought into the hype of this or that particular vintage-plug, but this is the digital age. It's… snakeoil.
I came across this sad truth in Russian actually, on Zvukar Bombit's channel.
You probably can't understand Russian (Eng subs are pretty ok) -- but if you can, you can skip the rest of this and just watch the video.
What I got from his frequency graphs is this: there IS no such thing as ANALOG COLORIZING EQ. Even if plugin companies believe the hype, the data doesn't lie. The difference in "color" when controlling for unique filters, boosts, cuts, and so on between "analog warmth" EQs is INAUDIBLY SMALL.
Too Long, Didn't Russian: EVERY plugin is digital. When measured for frequency response, they have little or no difference between them EXCEPT in EQ filter curves and how they might shift when you nudge knobs around.
The reason you THINK these EQs add analog flavor is actually the way they look. The human brain is affected by what it sees, so change plugin graphics, and you change the way it sounds. This is why music videos are great, and why batman skins were so popular for Windows Media Player in the 00's.
TLDR: Don't buy the hype -- EQs are about workflow. The average listener and pros alike probably won't hear whether you used a digital-analog-bro EQ or a 31 channel digital freebie, IF you use it well! The analog-plugin craze can be summed up in two words, irresistible marketing!
MYTH #4 Resonances must be cut at all costs!
This is a pernicious myth I find hanging out all over ProProducerTube. So-called experts, including my past self, insist you must scan every element of your track for hidden "resonances". I'm talking cutting offending frequencies out of the bass, kick, snare, vocals, pads, all the FX, you name it.
I call this "producerizing," what you do when there's really nothing left to be done to a track, but producing is supposed to be hard, so you do what you have to do to make it hard.
Here's the thing. Cut too much, and your instrumental/leads are going to sound stillborn.
Why? I'm glad you asked. Every frequency, every note, has harmonics. You'll notice them if you open up de-hum in a FX suite like iZotope 10 and try to eliminate something as simple as a PC hum, outdoor ambience, or an air conditioner from an otherwise quiet recording.
You select the noise, learn it, and get a frequency back with the harmonics. Our own voices are chock full them too. It's how we make vowels, how talk-boxes, vocoders, and wah-wah pedals work, and why throat singing sounds cool. Cutting them should not be on your list.
There are some instances EQ cuts are useful and unpleasant noises are properly called resonances -- aka a constant treble hiss on your guitar, dissonant snare reso, room noise. But you should only cut what DOESN'T harmonize with your track, ex: snare ring and rhythm guitar mud.
Please, don't do it to lead vocals, bass, or kicks unless they REALLY sound GROSS!
/end rant
Anyway, that's about all I got for now. I dunno how many hours this took me to edit, but I hope you found something useful!
If you haven't already, check out SECRET AGENT, made with April List's star freebie, the E-Mu Proteus.
Stay tuned this Friday at 09:30 NG server time for a fresh drop, then the following Friday, an interview part 2 with @Aalasteir coming up, and then July 15th, for the next issue of the Freebie Mag!
This edition would not be possible without my supporters. You can join the list on ko-fi or Patreon (sidebar left) for slick perks like priority requests for commissions and projects. Love y'all!
Heya! So I was gonna post the latest edition of ADR3-N's Producer Mag RIGHT NOW, but due to complications related to # of memes, I mean images, it's gonna have to wait until I get a spare half-hour to edit it.
Now that that's out of the way, stay tuned for tonight, because I'll be going over SEVERAL free plugin favorites from a GRAMMY NOMINATED producer, plus the biggest music production myths holding you back from making tracks that are Sausage FAT.
Drop a comment and lmk if you want an @ when it's ready!
Hey guys, I'm back! This month's freebie mag is a little short because LIFE HAPPENED. TLDR I worked a LOT, did some home improvement projects, got a car, and lost power after a storm. And that seriously impeded my habitual data hoarding and list making, as I'm sure you understand!
I was charging my phone at work and sweating to death for a few days, writing in my notebook for shiggles by candle light, worrying how much food was going to go bad out of the fridge, and eating gas station tacos for a bit. There's still a tree just chilling on our power line as I write. I only just got back to business semi as usual and still have a lot of projects to get back on!
Anyway since I've been touching grass against my will, this issue is gonna be more like a midnight snack. If you're still hungry later, you can go ahead and check out the last several issues below. I'm kinda in disbelief the last one went over 350 gigs. I can't imagine anyone really downloading ALL of it, except me. But you're more than welcome to prove me wrong!
Unison Giveaway - If the endless emails from Sep haven't given you a headache, they're offering 3.5 GB of free samples over at Unison Producer Growth Hub. Caveat, you have to apply to join it, and answer all the questions... And not everyone will be accepted. For Christ's sake, I'm getting tired of Unison and their marketing, if you can call it that.
Max Sansalone - Max released a free drum loop pack. Max is a funky drummer, to put it lightly. I'm talking filthy, in the pocket, booming and bapping, and pretty much sonically destroying his drums. I've been following him for a few years now, and he has a cool little website where he has taster packs and paid samples. Found this in my feed and thought I'd share! (Link is a video so you can see for yourself!)
Plugins by category
Vibe, for lack of a better word
Major cool factor here. Vybe is, well, a vibe enhancer, a purely transition focused plugin that allows you to do tape-stop like effects, low and hi pass, and half time effects with a dry/wet knob.
No more spending 10 minutes setting up a bunch of automations, dropping an octave or rendering a track, then playing it at half speed before crossfading back into the drop. It sounds great to my ears. Check out the demo!
Note: Unstable in Mixcraft 10. Recommend saving a backup of your project!
Guitar Plugins
I was completely blown away by this, but AuroraDSP dropped a plugin I would have DIED for back in the late 2000's, an emulation of the Line6 Pod. The kidney bean amp FX sim that every Myspace band on the planet knew and loved.
You'll have to scroll through the rest of their free plugs and create an account to download, but it's well worth it. Also got a sick little pre-amp over there, a guitar tuner, April Fools' Invisible Reverb (perfect for when your client says the vocal track is just missing something), an IR Loader, and Goblyn, the nasty guitar plugin.
Synths
@Synami says: ExtraBold from nakst is a free subtractive synthesiser with 3 oscillators, 4 filter modes, 3 effect slots with 5 different categories and offers 2 envelopes alongside 4 LFOs for modulation. It has 64 builtin patches and no copy protection/DRM (!!!). CLAP, native FL, AU and standalone formats are supported.
Verbs
Endless Reverb - What it says on the tin, a unique mono-stereo, pitch-bend capable, granular and pre-delay customizable reverb that is sure to make any sound tantalizingly spacious. Something to consider adding to your spice rack if you haven't found your favorite flavor of reverb just yet.
DDMF also has a small selection of other freebies, like a resizable BPM/time-signature display, a 10 band high IIEQ with a hi-lo shelf built in, a beloved tube pre-amp, and a fancy ColourEQ.
Utilities (exe)
Riffstation was made free in 2018. It's a great chord analyzer that unfortunately could be lost forever now that the website is down. You can find it at the link above and preserve a piece of music history uwu
Riff station was intended to help practice any song of your choosing. Pop in an mp3 and you can speed up, slow down, transpose, see analyzed chords, and even fretboard positions/chord shapes for guitar. It also can separate L/R/Center/lo-hi pass to help you hear rhythm and lead at a glance so to speak. Really cool software. But typically I use it to chord analyze loops and melodies I intend to sample.
Loved it for years, and going to continue doing so! Now that it's free, I couldn't resist sharing!
Misc Reading
There is legitimate reason for concern that one of the most popular communication platforms for music producers may be spying on your every move (DISCORD cough)
Friendly reminder you should not use your professional communication platforms for personal purposes, no ASL (90s kids know what this is), and make sure to use a different email for each in case of a breach.
The TLDR for this one is Discord tracks what apps you use, tracks all your communication, and stores it for govt inquiry. Since all of that is searchable don't do or discuss anything you wouldn't want daddy govt to know! And be advised, it's probably best to close it on your browser until you want to use it. Who knows if it's got a keylogger popped in there that we all agreed to in one of their many million changes of terms of use!
Random facts no one asked for
AI generated music - As you know, AI generated music is starting to flood the Audio Portal. It's becoming harder to recognize for the average user due to increases in quality, leaving the task of identifying it up to us music aficionados and otherwise hard nosed snobs.
Mission: You owe it to yourself to get to know SunoAI, Udio, and other AI generation platforms; learn to recognize the signs of their use (not to submit music, because I'll personally ban you lol). I don't want to be the mythical Paul Bunyon against the tunneling machine, and I don't know any other producer who does. This shit is coming straight for our jobs.
Right now, the tracks coming out of these are easily spotted by their 192 kbps bit rate, artefacts in the vocals, hard to hear hihat patterns, and strange pronunciation/song structure/phrasing. I'm sure they'll get better over time as more models come out. Keep your eyes peeled and start a-flagging.
Archive.org - Archive.org is facing some legal trouble after the covid pandemic for their open library's book-lending function violating the copyrights of various publishers. Who knows if the greedy fooks will be satisfied with that portion of the site being taken down, so just a friendly reminder to visit often, back up your favorite content, and potentially move toward more decentralized sources like torrents, especially if you don't want said content to turn into lost media. (not inciting copyright infringement -- there is plenty of user-generated/open-source content on Archive that deserves preservation!)
Power outage prep - You never know when a power outage might be coming to a store near you -- or rather, your house. Since I just went through this myself, I highly recommend a solar phone/laptop charger, a small generator (even a handcrank will do!), tea light candles or your choice of LED flashlight, a battery or solar powered radio, a couple cases or jugs of water, a small gas powered cookstove, and some non-perishable food to survive your trip back to the 1800s! All these can be purchased in due time and will serve you well in case of emergency. Thank me never.
I also recommend an ice maker and several gallon ziplocs of ice or a trip to the store to buy ice ahead of T-storms to keep your fridge from going foul after 4 hours without power. And don't check the temp constantly, or it will go foul faster. Splashing the body with water if it's hot and opening windows is a valid option in the advent of no handheld fans.
Wikipedia - okay, so I don't have a link for this, but some time this month it came to my attention that Wikipedia, or rather the wikimedia marketing side of Wikipedia, is again begging for donations like it's the end of the world. But did you know that wikipedia's donation side makes over 180 million a year in funding, enough to operate in barebones capacity for 150 years? EVERY YEAR?!
This is just a PSA to stop feeling guilty that you don't contribute to them. None of that money goes to the volunteers who make those articles possible anyway. It would be more helpful finding the patreons of the individuals who write your favorite articles and donating directly to them, because the marketing side of Wikipedia literally has nothing to do with the media on Wiki, and without the contributors would be worth nothing. Just my 2 cents.
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And that's it for the list. Short and sweet, but life happens and we make the best of it. Before I catch y'all on the flip side, be sure to check out @Aalasteir's awesome interview series! I just recorded an episode with him these past 2 weeks. It took almost 6 hours to record between two sessions, and I can't imagine how much longer it took to edit. Be out ETA -- actually I don't know because I've been touching grass. Anyway, should be here by the 16th.
Edit it's here!
Anyway, I'll catch y'all later!
Adrean's Music Producer Freebie Mag is brought to you by viewers like you! Shoutout to my amazing supporters: @MATRVG, @MariogD, @Cyberdevil, and @JimmyTheCaterpillar. I appreciate you all so much. Love you!
At 5/2/24 04:53 PM, Aalasteir wrote:@ADR3-N and I have recorded 3 hours of audio! Super thank you to @ADR3-N for being a genuine person. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, helping the community, and teaching newer users like myself about the history!
Deadline for MORE questions: May 8, 2024 - 10:00 AM - https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter?t=10am&d=2024-05-08&tz2=EST-EDT-Eastern-Time Timezone: EST (Eastern Standard Time)
Just gonna leave this here. @Aalasteir and I did our little interview jig on Thursday and got SO carried away chatting, we'll have to hit it again! So, new deadline for questions! And since I don't want to ruin my Front Page capability for the music prod mag, I'll drop a list of @'s below of everyone who commented/reacted to my last post. Ask me anything!
Besides the interview and trying to catch up on much needed sleep, I'm still alive. Slowly getting back to commissions. Think I just burned myself out working on several big projects at once, to the point it was getting in the way of my sleep. And sleep is something I realized I very much needed after completely crashing after work today lol.
Ofc, imposter syndrome kicks in when you overbook yourself and feel like you aren't getting enough done, but I'll live. Despite being tired all the time, I gotta say I recommend taking up at least a part-time as a music artist. It's a great way to get out of the house and feel like you're doing something (to fight depression), and it's WAY better than trying to make enough money for rent on commissions alone. Comms only amounts to lots of hours at less than minimum wage, and often no wage if you don't have a network of supporters already. Day job is the way to go.
TLDR, AMA before Thursday, and if you're an internet musician, don't be afraid to get a "real" job!
For real yall, I fooled myself into thinking you weren't a "real" musician if you weren't living off of what you love for years. You remember those days if you've seen my discography. So much stress. So much hustle, and for what? I went to school for music and basically lived off of scholarships I earned, or in mommy's basement, that is, until 2019.
Let me tell you a little story, about how once upon a time and probably against my will, I became a chicken wizard at Popeye's. Soon after I joined the military, where I realized I could afford all the software I wanted which was GREAT. I retired semi-gracefully; turns out the military is a great choice in terms of workers' compensation. But it sucks for reintegration. I went for a year without work. Job market sucked where I lived and I didn't have a car.
I almost forgot about how nice it was to work. Then I became a dishwasher and discovered all over how standing for several hours and constantly being tired sucks, but the lack of mental effort required to earn $$$ as opposed to spending all day on a beat someone might not pay for and still being tired is fire.
