The Bass Kleph Blog
Music Producer Tips & Tricks
Make Your Music Sound Better In 2 Minutes
There are a lot of things you can do to make your music sound better and that is exactly what I teach.
A good way to introduce you to this is by telling what you should avoid, and my one and only golden rule that you must do.
Our story starts with the internet. It's an amazing way to share information, but the information is not always correct.
While teaching, my students all tell me the same thing...
They tell me it is too hard to sift through the noise on the internet, youtube, and popular audio magazines. These places offer lots of advice, but it's difficult to know who to trust.
One BAD piece of "amateur" advice I've noticed is to “Always do X".
e.g.
- "Always high pass filter all your tracks except your kick and bass."
- "Always share one reverb across all instruments".
- "Always EQ a certain frequency on your kick/bass".
- "Always use a multi-band compressor on your master bus.”
In my many years of being a touring DJ, Record Producer, and Mix Engineer, I have found the...
How To Become A Successful Music Producer
I suppose the best way for me to start this post would be to tell you the story of...
How I Became A Successful Dj And Producer
...because while the music industry is more competitive than ever, I'm living proof that it IS possible to make it work, and to succeed on an international level… and I want to help you do the same.
So let's get into this story...
As some of you may know, I’ve been doing this since 2001.
In that time, I’ve been lucky enough to tour and perform in over 33 countries! Including USA, UK, Australia, Germany, China, and even some lesser visited places like South Africa, India, & Kazakhstan!
I’ve had two #1 records on the front page of Beatport (the biggest dance music store in the world at the time) & one of...
Analog Sol & Travis Emmons Collaborate for Mobilee EP!
I am very excited to announce that I have just released two new Analog Sol tracks on one of my favorite record labels! MOBILEE RECORDS
This famous German tech label has released artists such as Anja Schneider, Rodriguez Jr, Pan-Pot, Maya Jane Coles, Miss Kittin and many more!
The EP features two songs.
1 - Chase The Sun
2 - Rhymes & Rhythms (a collaboration with my good friend Travis Emmons)
There is already support from Karlos, Rodriguez Jr., Mathias, Sascha Funke, Steve Bug, Riva Star, Lee Burridge, Matt Joe, and more!
Have a listen and let me know what you think!
Keep an ear out for lots more Analog Sol tracks to come!
My New Project - Analog Sol
I'm very excited to announce my new project Analog Sol!
The style is Melodic Tech House, and the first single Trinidad Dreams is out now on Armada (Subjekt)
It has already had support from Solomun, Pete Tong, Armin Van Buuren, Dirty South, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Benny Benassi, Kryder, and more!
Check out this video of Solomun playing it!
Or stream it on Spotify
Lots more tune to come! To follow along check out www.analogsol.com and join the mailing list!
Why HAAS and other bad stereo widening techniques are ruining your mix, and what to do instead.
Stereo is a huge part of every modern song/mixdown. We all use it and listen to it every day.
However, not many people know that using the wrong kind of stereo widening techniques can severely damage your song.
Techniques such as HAAS effect, Mid Side, Frequency Shifter, pitch shifting and even chorus (if used incorrectly) can cause huge problems in your mixdown. There are even some expensive 3rd party plugins that cause problems right out of the box.
These stereo widening techniques may give you a wide sound, but they have bad mono compatibility, and phase issues.
So, when summed to mono, this can make your song sound soft, mushy, distant, lose punch and lose bass.
This could be happening right now and if so, it's not your fault. You've just been taught the wrong techniques.
That's why I made this free video lesson, and why I made the plugin i demonstrate in the video.
My Thoughts On The Subpac Subwoofer For Music Producers
Anyone that knows me, knows that I love my Subpac. I use it for every song and even travel with it. So it was an honor to be asked by the team at Subpac to do a video for them and be featured on their website as a Subpac artist. Check out the video below, or learn more about Subpac here.
Bass Kleph Interview on EDM Prod Podcast
The EDM Prodcast is one of my favorites. I have listened to many of the great interviews that Sam Matta shares. So it was an honor when he invited me to be on the show too! Check out the interview below.
The Problem With Tuning Your Kick Drum Sample To Your Song
Have you ever struggled to get your kick and bass sitting just right? Have you ever found it hard to get them fat while still being in the same key? You are not alone, and you might be making things unnecessarily hard for yourself.
I've been hearing more and more about this lately. Just like the "high pass filter everything" rule, here is yet another Youtube tutorial tip that has been blown out of proportion. If you haven't already heard this one, a tip has been spread that "you must have your kick in key with your song". As you know, I am highly against the concept of rules that apply to every song. I am a firm believer of listening and approaching things case by case. Here is my take on when you should tune your kick, how you should, and when you shouldn't.
The time to tune.
The only times I think you need to have your kick in key with your song is when you are using a long tonal kick that has a clear note to it. e.g. big room boomy EDM kicks, Trap 808 kicks, and sometimes long...
13 EQ Tips For Music Producers Mixdowns
Today I remembered a moment when I thought I witnessed an EQ phenomenon.
I was about 17 years old. I used to play drums in a reasonably successful band at the time.
Our producer was in the studio with us and was directing the recording engineer.
At one point he said, “sounds ok, but I think it has a touch too much 1Khz”.
My ears pricked up, and I thought, you are kidding me right. People can’t just hear a frequency and know precisely what it is. Not only that but can they also know if one specific frequency is a touch too loud or not?
This memory makes me chuckle at myself. For, sure enough, these days, I do this very thing every day as effortlessly as breathing.
Years of practice have trained my ears. I was reminded of this when someone asked me for some EQ tips.
There is a lot to cover with EQ. It is one of the most critical adjustments in your mixdown. However, I’m sure you have a life outside of my email tips, so I’ll try to keep it snappy.
MY TOP...
Music Producer Tips From Tommy Trash
A while back I did a colab with my longtime friend Tommy Trash (under my alias TAISUN). It was a fun experience writing it. Tommy and I had been meaning to do a colab for years. Way back since we used to live together in Australia. We had remixed each other, but never a colab. So, we finally put some time in in the studio. It is always extra fun writing when it is with one of your best mates. I can’t recommend it enough. There were plenty of good times, laughs, and whiskeys. However, there was also lots of hard work and even some learning. Some of the main things that I picked up from working with Tommy were….
#1 Less Is More
I was already aware of this and am a strong advocate, but he took it to the next level and really emphasized it. Especially towards the end of the process. Once the track was basically done, we would go through, and mute/delete absolutely anything we could. If we could cut it, and it didn’t make much difference, then it was outta there....
