What's the best new trick you learned in 2015?

[Multibomber]

Hey guys! I've learned so much from you generous old farts this year! So I was wondering what YOU have learned over the past 350-something days that has helped out your recordings.

I'd say the best new thing I learned this year was two things about gain staging: That recording at or near 0dB sounds like ass, and that the sliders in REAPER are for monitoring levels when recording, not for the actual input gain! Once you guys explained that to me, my drum tracking has improved a staggering amount!

Thanks for being awesome guys!~

[Daniovan]

I ve learned and noticed that the frequency range from 80 to 280 Hz
generally must be treated more in depth - cuz that´s my "problem frequency range".
I either control this range by using a dynamic eq or sidechain comp
or just an eq - not a trick, but something I have to do...

[beingmf]

I've learned that I cannot mix in a room with so-so acoustics. Just thinking "this room sounds okayish" doesn't cut it at all.
But this applies to me individually, I have friends who are able to deliver good to great mixes in rooms where I literally hear nothing but mud.

Happy holidays!

[Hoodee]

A trick but by the other meaning of the word :
Assigning play as left click. If I happen to work with somebody who thinks he knows what he's doing behind the desk and breaks my number one rule (nobody ever touches the computer ), I'll do this in order to scare the living sh*t out of them. Works particularly well when working with metal

[G-Sun]

I've learned that asking for help is very valuable

[DrKev]

Use reference tracks

[Mink99]

Doing midi outside reaper ...

[jrengmusic]

I learn to write Reascript with EEL and Lua. Those scripts makes me realise the true meaning of the first letter R in REAPER, which is Rapid.

[noise_construct]

Originally Posted by jrengmusic

I learn to write Reascript with EEL and Lua. Those scripts makes me realise the true meaning of the first letter R in REAPER, which is Rapid.

How much effort was that, and do you have previous experience in coding? Lua is interesting, Id have few other uses (Lightroom and Taranis) for Lua scripting besides Reaper.

My new thing for 2015 was to learn FM/PM and PD synthesis, it was never intuitive like subtractive synthesis, and a lot of the online material focuses on the maths side, but figuring out how they make musical sense opened up a world of beautiful new sounds.

[kindafishy]

Learned to follow my own advice, finally. It's much harder than it should be.

[Multibomber]

I just learned an amazingly cool (and super easy) trick today for mixing toms... SPL Transient Shaper plus ReaEQ plus multi-band compression! Holy cats! My drums are really coming along now!!! And it was EASY.

[LightOfDay]

RTFM.

ok, I learn that every year anew. sigh...


have all a merry Christmas and happy holidays!

[Chris4943]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNi9Zb-tmIE

I searched for a way to edit the timeline like in Audacity and came upon this action. It's tough times coming from a destructive editor to non-destructive. I just wanna chop and cut and shred and reaper ain't havin it!

[tack]

This year I've learned not to get hung up over the memory savings of having multiple instruments sharing the same Kontakt instance, and instead have revamped my template to have one Kontakt instance per instrument, and one instrument per track (trying to mirror a score pad as much as possible).

Routing and automation is so much simpler.

Combining this with a couple custom scripts to conveniently offline/online FXs means my template is lean, loads instantly, and I can pack it with seldom-used instruments without much concern over performance.

[X-Raym]

I learned how to empowered x100 my workflows with ReaScript

And I learned that teaching to others can make them teach you new things in return.
Learning together is a great thing.

[jonesg]

I learned nothing except how to record , save and render, no compressors or other extra plugins, no post mixing or anything else and it all seems to come out just fine for my needs, keeping it simple.

[citizenkeith]

I learned that there aren't "tricks," there is knowledge of audio engineering and application.

Seriously. I'm not trying to be contrary. This was the busiest year I've had as an engineer, and I learned that the best musicians make the best recordings...

[morgon]

Originally Posted by kindafishy

Learned to follow my own advice, finally. It's much harder than it should be.

Yes! this ^^and your opinions welcomed by me as well, cheers and seasons greetings KF.

[kindafishy]

Originally Posted by morgon

Yes! this ^^and your opinions welcomed by me as well, cheers and seasons greetings KF.

Thanks my friend . I am hoping to spend more time around here in the new year. My work has kept me away from music and the forums more than I would like it to .

My best wishes to you, morgon. Hope the holidays are wonderful for you and yours!

[zappsunzorn]

Originally Posted by noise_construct

My new thing for 2015 was to learn FM/PM and PD synthesis, it was never intuitive like subtractive synthesis, and a lot of the online material focuses on the maths side, but figuring out how they make musical sense opened up a world of beautiful new sounds.

What did you use/do to learn it?

[Multibomber]

Originally Posted by X-Raym

I learned how to empowered x100 my workflows with ReaScript

And I learned that teaching to others can make them teach you new things in return.
Learning together is a great thing.

I have no idea what ReaScript is and how it can help us. Care to share a bit with the class?

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

I learned that there aren't "tricks," there is knowledge of audio engineering and application

I've been watching a boatload of YouTube tutorials,mostly on things you guys have described to me. It seems as though an idea doesn't really click unless I've heard it explained a bunch of different ways. Even though I personally don't own an amp or cabinet, I now know how to get a pretty awesome heavy guitar tone using the Fredman dual 57 technique. I had no idea what phase was really, but you guys explained comb filtering, and now I know how to use it to filter out nasty frequencies in a guitar cab. I know how to use the null of a mic to reduce bleed around the kit. I know that I can reverse polarity on one mic and move it until it I have almost silence, then flip polarity back and viola!... Mics that are in phase!

[noise_construct]

Originally Posted by zappsunzorn

What did you use/do to learn it?

Mainly Google, but for synths I used Dexed for FM http://www.kvraudio.com/product/dexe...gital-suburban, since it is basically a DX7 which has most available, and Beatzille for PD. PD doesnt seem to be very popular in VSTs, I dont know any other serious efforts.

[Twangothan]

I learned a lot about mixing after spending 6 months mixing and remixing an album. Mixing drums as a complete set of tracks, rather than drum by drum. Sure you might need to solo the snare to tweak it, but mix the whole thing. I learned to make the mix live by muting parts which pop up where they are effective - I tended to have everything playing all the time. I learned about LUFS and mastering at -16LUFS. I learned about reverb and which sound good on what. I learned a dip at 3k on the BVs helps them sit with the main vocal better. I learned not to track distorted unless you're REAlly sure you want it distorted. I learned to mix in mono for a decent amount of time then adjust in stereo. I learned how compression works. I learned Reaper for video isn't mature as a function. I learned I knew considerably less than I thought I did a year ago!

[X-Raym]

Originally Posted by Multibomber

I have no idea what ReaScript is and how it can help us. Care to share a bit with the class?

Of course

Basically, ReaScript is a way to code your own action. It can go from a simple "one click" action, to an action that run in background in a persistent way, or to a complex action with GUI.
The key thing is that you don't need to code to use ReaScript. You can just enjoy
the hundreds of scripts (actions) that scripters are sharing for free
And sometimes, only one action can save you countless hour of work.

Here is some demos :
REAPER 5: User-Created New Features — Showcase of the most Notable Scripts / ExtremRaym

If you want to learn more about it :
ReaScript Basics — Interview on REAPER blog / Part-1 / ExtremRaym

Have fun with it !

[HugoRibeiroDotCom]

I've learned that I've learned nothing!

[RobertP]

I learned (realised I need to keep reminding myself about) 2 things:

listen hard and long

take a break, no matter how well it's going

[Dannii]

The biggest lesson for me this year is not to get slack with backups.
I had my main DAW SSD fail on me suddenly and without any warning. I had been somewhat slack with my normal backup strategy and lost some fairly important and time consuming work as a result.

The average quote to recover the data was FAR higher than a regular mechanical HDD too... About $2500!!!

I accepted the loss and haven't paid for data recovery but I am FAR more vigilant with backups now!

[beingmf]

Originally Posted by misc100

take a break, no matter how well it's going

Still in the learning phase here

Great advice!

[richie43]

Originally Posted by kindafishy

Learned to follow my own advice, finally. It's much harder than it should be.

YES!

Originally Posted by ReaDave

The biggest lesson for me this year is not to get slack with backups.

YES!!

Originally Posted by misc100

take a break, no matter how well it's going

and YES!!!

[MikComposer]

I learned that you can mix in any room once you learn its sound and separate it in your mind from sound of mix. But remember to check on headphones too

[Multibomber]

Originally Posted by misc100

I learned (realised I need to keep reminding myself about) 2 things:

listen hard and long

take a break, no matter how well it's going

Do you set a timer for yourself to take regular breaks, or do you break at the first sign of fatigue or hitting a wall?

[bladerunner]

Originally Posted by MikComposer

I learned that you can mix in any room once you learn its sound and separate it in your mind from sound of mix. But remember to check on headphones too

Yes - absolutely. You can work from any space as long as you know it well - exactly the same goes for monitors/speakers.

[Reno.thestraws]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Gs-o39C5o

change a lot of things

[beingmf]

Originally Posted by MikComposer

I learned that you can mix in any room once you learn its sound and separate it in your mind from sound of mix. But remember to check on headphones too

Originally Posted by bladerunner

Yes - absolutely. You can work from any space as long as you know it well - exactly the same goes for monitors/speakers.

You guys are funny! I had written the complete opposite. But that's the point in internet audio fora: almost nothing ever works for 2 people the same way.

[fixerdave]

I've learned that I can't go more than 2 days without reading this forum....therapy required, me thinks. Happy new year all... Dave

[bladerunner]

Originally Posted by beingmf

You guys are funny! I had written the complete opposite. But that's the point in internet audio fora: almost nothing ever works for 2 people the same way.

Well, it's all about reference points. Just look at the frequency response of the infamous Yamaha NS10 - it's completely wonky but when you know them well enough - when they become a point of reference - one can use them just fine to mix on.

I had a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 7's for years - they were just fine as I knew them very well.

[The Buddha Rats]

I've learned that my strengths lay in masking visual images, not music and that realization has made me a better musician. I'm practicing again and also taking the time to enjoy listening to music again. When I do write/record, I'm not taking it seriously. It's fun again!

[RobertP]

Originally Posted by Multibomber

Do you set a timer for yourself to take regular breaks, or do you break at the first sign of fatigue or hitting a wall?

I am not a pro so the ££££'s don't come into it but I still like to make my tunes sound as best as I can so the reasons/times do vary:

sometimes my eyes give out, become blurry and I find I am creeping closer to the screen

sometimes I suddenly find that 3hrs have gone by .. a 'shit, is that really the time' moment - I mostly do this stuff in the evenings

and sometimes I just get stuck for what to do next in a song

all of which tells me I need a break... of course I don't always take my own advice

[tgraph]

I'm learning just how little compression I can get by with.. Go back and reduce it and keep doing that over and over...

[bladerunner]

To keep a bottle of water with me at all times. I can sit at the computer for hours on end forgetting to drink then wonder why I feel like shit.. dehydration!