BrianBoyleMusic
The Producer's Forum
Forever be my Always
02 weeks ago
Hey everybody,
Check out the new song I’ve been working on, “Forever be my Always.” Thanks for listening and your support!
-Brian
Setting up your MIDI controller in ProTools
010 months ago
Hey Everybody,
In this video I will be walking you through how to connect your MIDI Controller with ProTools. Depending on your controller you can transmit MIDI information with either a MIDI cable, or a USB cable.
First we will discuss what you will need:
1. External MIDI controller
2. MIDI / USB cable
3. Interface
-For MIDI cable users you will connect to an open port on your interface (i.e. MBox / Digi002 etc.)
-For USB cable users, an open USB port on your computer will act as your interface.
Next we will cover how to connect all of those external components so that they can communicate with one another. Once all of that is connected we still need to setup our MIDI preferences within ProTools and perform a test to make sure that all of our devices are working properly.
Happy recording.
How to Apply Side Chain Compression: Video Tutorial
011 months ago
In this video I will show you step by step how to apply side-chain compression to your mix.
For those of you who do not know what side-chain compression is, it is the “pumping,” or “ducking,” sound that you often hear in House / Techno / & even Pop music.
Enjoy
-Brian
Adding a Virtual Instrument in ProTools: Part 2
011 months ago
Drum Sounds: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13054763/Workspace%20Kit.zip
Hey everybody,
In this video we will be discussing how to:
• Create a virtual instrument
• Select a sound for your virtual instrument
• Record MIDI data
• Bus your MIDI data to a stereo audio track
Once we’ve done all this I will show you how to apply side-chain compression to your mix in Part 3 of this video series.
Keep on makin’ music
-Brian
Building a Beat in ProTools: Part 1
011 months ago
Hey Everybody!
In this video in part 1 of this 3 part video series I will be going over how to build a basic beat using the grid in ProTools. The grid breaks drum patterns down into different note values i.e. 1/4 note 1/8th note 1/16th note etc…
Many popular drum machines often are set to 1/16th as the default note value. By setting our grid to 1/16th notes and dragging our samples into the session, we can then layer the drum sounds as if we were using a drum machine.
If you would like to follow along click the link below to download the Drum Sounds from this tutorial:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13054763/Workspace%20Kit.zip
Enjoy!
Drums, Grooves, and Quantization
11 year ago
Every once in awhile I find myself at a bit of an in pass where I can’t seem to get ideas flowing. A sort of musical writer’s block so to speak. Generally when this happens is when I take the time to learn something new.
Today I am focusing on drumming. By nature I am a keyboard player but I’ve been writing electronic drums since I was 16. Unfortunately however drum machines will never replace the humanized sound of a live drummer. It can be next to impossible to get the desired groove when you are limited to quantized 16th notes, so I’ve decided to take a new approach to recording MIDI drums.
Quantization can be a fantastic asset to any new producer, however for those of you who use quantization on a regular basis, you know how static and robotic it can make a recording sound and feel. With that being said, I decided to learn a little more about drumming and grooves.
My first step in the learning process was to acquire some information about drums and different types of drum patterns. For this I downloaded a book to my Kindle entitled: 260 Drum Machine Patterns
This book contains the most popular drum patterns in modern music and is conveniently separated by genre. Each style of drumming (jazz, rock, etc…) also has a section for breaks so that you can also learn traditional fills.
Once I found the information I needed, I turned to my AKAI MPD drum machine and began learning each of the patterns as if I were a live drummer.
Learning to drum in this way gives your MIDI drumming a more realistic edge and humanized feel. As you quantize the recording however, the realistic edge and humanized feel will dramatically decrease. If you aren’t a great keyboard or MPC drummer I recommend partial quantization. Somewhere between 25 – 50% will clean up your MIDI drumming but still leave those humanized spaces between your drum sounds.
Remember that a drum beat does not need to be perfectly in time to sound “good.” In fact I would argue that is just the opposite. Embrace the imperfections and let your ears be your guide.
Video Tutorial: Recording Vocals
11 year ago
Hey Everybody!
Back again with another ProTools Tutorial. This time we are going to be talking about recording vocals.
Vocals are generally the focal point of any mix. Commonly they are panned dead center and they sit at the forefront of the mix, often rivaling lead instruments in apparent volume. In this video we will be exploring the two different ways that I approach recording vocals.
1. Direct to track: Recording vocals directly to a Mono audio track is the first and most common way that recording engineers get a singer’s voice into ProTools. The benefit of recording this way is that you get the raw performance. All of the frequencies are present, the audio is uncompressed and you have a dynamic performance that you can reshape and mould to fit into your mix.
With this technique, EQ and Compression are added later in the process and can be found as plugins that are inserted directly onto each track. The downside? Say for example you have a session where you have 15 different audio tracks. That also means 15 different EQ’s and 15 different compressors eating up a tremendous amount of CPU power and slowing your session down! Have no fear there is a solution.
2. Through a Mono Auxiliary Input: When recording through an Aux Input the audio goes through the Auxiliary track and is then bussed to an audio track where it is recorded. By putting an EQ and Compressor on the Aux track the audio is being sent into the Aux > through the EQ > Compressed > bussed to the Audio track > & Recorded.
Recording this way prevents you from copying your EQ & Compression settings to 15 different tracks because it processes the audio and prints vocals that are already EQ’d and Compressed onto a new audio track.
If you have any comments or questions please feel free to comment below and as always remember to trust your ears and have fun.
- Brian
Importing Audio / Instrumentals into ProTools
01 year ago
Hey Everybody,
Back again with a new ProTools tutorial. This time we will be discussing how to Import Audio into a session. There are three ways that I generally like to do this.
1. File > Import > Audio to track
2. Workspace
3. Finder
File > Import > Audio to track is the most common and your best bet when importing large audio files such as instrumentals or mix stems {Command + Shift + I}. By default it slides the audio to the start of the session and puts it onto its own track.
The workspace is another way I like to import audio into ProTools {option + ;}. Once you locate the audio that you are looking for within the workspace simply click the sound to preview, and then drag it on to the edit window to create a new audio track. This is most useful when pulling in smaller samples such as .wav drum samples, riffs, etc…
The last option I use is the Finder. The one drawback of using the workspace is that you cannot preview drum sounds while the session is playing back. When this is the case and I would like to hear how a kick would sound within the rest of my mix before dragging it in, I can locate my drum samples in the finder, hit the spacebar, and listen to the kick while the session is playing back.
If you find my videos or blog helpful please subscribe and follow me on twitter @BrianBoyleMusic
Happy Recording!
-Brian
Kick Drum Design
11 year ago
Getting the Kick Drum to sit right in a mix can be difficult. Bass frequencies add up quickly, but a good EQ on both your bass track and Kick drum can take your mixes to the next level.
Like myself, most producers these days are self-taught. Relying heavily on feeling and instinct, it can be difficult to know some of the more advanced mixing techniques when we had nobody to show us the way.
Never fear! Any information you need can be found on the internet. My friends over @winksound tipped me off to this fantastic diagram on Kick Drum frequencies.
The diagram features many of the adjectives that could be used to describe a kick’s unique sound, however the benefit comes from learning where these adjectives live within the frequency spectrum.
Say for example you are mixing a record, but you think your kick drum has too much attack. No worries! Insert an EQ and cut frequencies between 2K & 5K to reduce the severity of the Kick’s attack.
While EQ can sometimes be a viable solution to a mixing problem, it is also important not to forget that sometimes you might need a new sound altogether. Many hit producers incorporate more than one Kick drum into a song and blending them together.
With that being said there is no “right” solution to mixing a Kick drum. Every song is completely different so no single mixing solution will work for EVERY problem. Remember to always trust your ears and have fun.
-Brian
Holiday Drum Giveaway
01 year ago
Tis the season for giving! Happy Holidays to everybody from BrianBoyleMusic. I’ve decided to celebrate the holidays this year by giving away FREE drums the week before Christmas and it is finally here.
Through the years I’ve collected many different drum sounds (more than I know what to do with sometimes) and I would like to share them with all of my fellow producers out there.
Giveaways include:
1. Roland TR-808 Kit
2. Timbaland Kit
3. Swizz Beatz Kit
4. Kanye West Kit
5. Jay-Z Kit
6. Crunk Claps
7. Outkast Kit
To download the FREE Giveaways, head over to my Twitter page @BrianBoyleMusic and check out my most recent tweets. Simply click the link and they will begin to download.
I hope that everybody has a safe, happy, and healthy Holiday Season.
-Brian
