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You are listening

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to the Inside The Mix podcast

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with your host, Mark Matthews. Hello and welcome to the

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Inside the Mix podcast.

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I'm Mark Matthews, your

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host, musician, producer, and

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mix and mastering engineer. You've come to the right place

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if you want to know more about

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your favorite synth music

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artist, music, engineering

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and production, songwriting

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and the music industry.

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I've been writing, producing, mixing, and mastering music for over 15 years,

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and I wanna share what I.

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With you. This is the first time we've

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ever dropped two episodes in one

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week, and it's because I wanted

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to continue on this journey of

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producing a song from scratch. So now we're into part

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four, so I'm just gonna

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play you what I came up with

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at the end of part three.

1:51

Okay, so there we go. And I'm gonna continue building

1:52

on this in this episode.

1:56

. Okay folks. So to begin with, having

1:56

listened back to this now,

2:00

recording this episode,

2:00

I've picked out something

2:02

that I want to change. And this is a great example of

2:03

how you can remove yourself from

2:07

a session and come back to it

2:07

a few days later, a week later.

2:10

And you hear something different. You hear something,

2:11

actually, you know what? That needs changing.

2:13

And sometimes that's what you

2:13

need as a songwriter and a

2:16

producer, is to remove yourself

2:16

from the situation, remove

2:18

yourself from that project,

2:18

and then come back to with,

2:21

with a fresh set of ears. And the main thing is really.

2:24

This, this pigments. I'm just gonna loop this

2:26

sort of pigments and loop

2:30

I've got going on here. It's cool, but all, all I'm

2:33

thinking is I kind of want to

2:35

just, I'm gonna use an eco in

2:35

this rather than go into the

2:38

actual, uh, patch and change it.

2:41

And I just wanna roll off some of that top end. If you're watching this online,

2:55

you can see there's a lot of

2:58

low end action going on Act

2:58

in, in this particular patch.

3:01

And, um, I'm just gonna

3:01

remove some of that from

3:04

the time being, obviously

3:04

during Mixdown I would, I

3:07

would come back to this. So there's a lot happening

3:18

here in the sort of, in the

3:21

low mid, you're looking at

3:21

around sort of three, 400.

3:26

It can be quite easy for

3:26

that area to build up and to

3:28

sound quite muddy and boxy. But like I said, I'll come

3:29

back to this during the mixing

3:32

process because when I bring

3:32

in the drums and everything

3:34

else, I might find, actually,

3:34

you know what, this sound

3:37

is competing with a lot of everything else at the moment. It sounds okay, but I'm gonna

3:39

leave it as this for now. And it might mean that I use

3:41

something like a low shelf

3:43

just to bring two or three

3:43

DB down around three or

3:45

400 hertz, just so it's not

3:45

competing with the drums.

3:48

But once again, this is all hypothetical. This is just me

3:50

thinking way ahead now. Getting ahead of myself, folks.

3:54

But what I wanna do now is

3:54

I've got these drop pads here.

3:58

I'm just gonna

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highlight this section.

4:00

I'm just gonna solo that as well. I'm on the wrong channel.

4:04

There we go. Solo this. So these chords, so I wanna do

4:07

is I'm gonna go a scaler and

4:10

I'm gonna mid-cap these, cause I

4:10

want to use these chords in the

4:12

next section and you'll see why. So I'm gonna click

4:14

midcap and I gotta play. Of course I've done that.

4:51

Now what I've gotta do

4:51

is I've got my second.

4:55

Channel and I'm gonna drag

4:55

the mid onto that and Nope.

5:02

And what I find is it never drags it where I want it to go, but it doesn't matter

5:03

cause I can, I can move it. And I dunno what patch I've

5:06

got on here, to be honest.

5:08

It's Anna Sue again. Let's have a listen. Okay.

5:16

And if you're watching this online, you can now see the difference between the two.

5:19

So whereas the first one was

5:19

just me triggering single

5:21

notes, I've now mid captured

5:21

and I've captured the chords.

5:24

So if I go into the piano role,

5:24

you can see the chords in here.

5:29

And uh, I've got my mid

5:29

notes on there as well,

5:31

or my rather my notation

5:31

and I'm gonna just gonna.

5:37

Sounded quite nice. I'm gonna delete those end notes. It's quite a nice pad,

5:45

but what I wanted to do

5:47

at the end is I wanted to,

5:47

I'm moving everything now.

5:50

Uh, don't wanna do that. I've just moved the pad

5:51

into the wrong group. There we go.

5:58

What I wanted to do is this.

6:00

I want to get these pads. And I want to, uh, just

6:03

at the end, I want like a

6:09

numerous hits at the end. So I'm gonna change you

6:15

and the moment's going,

6:22

and I wanted to go,

6:22

dun, dun, dun dun.

6:25

As you can tell, I'm not

6:25

that musical with my voice.

6:28

Alright, let's change the. As again, folks

6:40

pressing the wrong. There you go. That's what wanted,

6:48

that's what I wanted. A bit of variation

6:51

at the end though. In fact, I wanted to happen

7:09

there as well, so I'm just gonna

7:11

go and find out where that is.

7:37

S w the audio captured

7:37

not registered.

7:41

Then it leads into the next part. So a quick play there.

7:44

So what I've done is I've

7:44

just used a different patch.

7:47

So in Anna two, what if I use there? It's the eighties R back patch.

7:52

And um, I might just

7:52

roll off some of that.

7:55

I'm just gonna play around with

7:55

the filter on this actually.

8:19

Cool. So there we go. Nice variation on

8:20

that cord sequence.

8:24

Okay folks, so the next thing

8:24

now is this, but this actual,

8:27

these pads here, they're

8:27

quite, uh, they're not doing

8:31

a great deal on their own. They sound cool. What, what I wanna do is add,

8:33

add something different to them.

8:35

So I might quickly go in and.

8:38

I've got a bit crusher

8:38

effect on them at the moment.

8:40

That must be what that distortion is. I can hear.

8:43

I wonder, I used this last

8:43

time in, in episode 63, and

8:47

I'd like this side chain

8:47

effect that you've got.

8:49

I'm just gonna solo it so I can hear it on its own. This is quite nice,

9:01

but then again in context, not so. So what I've done there is

9:08

using the side chain um,

9:12

effects plugin in the Anna two. I've just increased the

9:14

rate from to one eighth

9:18

and I've said it to

9:18

Retrigger rather than host.

9:20

In fact, I wonder what it sounds like with one shot and then up the.

9:29

So one shot obviously is just

9:29

gonna do that side chain effect

9:31

once, and then re-trigger. It's gonna re-trigger it, um,

9:32

to the sink of the sink to the

9:36

tempo of the, of the track. Just gonna play that in context.

9:54

I'm gonna go back to retrial. I'm not sure I'm digging that.

10:06

I'm just gonna put a pin in that for the time being. Let's get rid of that.

10:09

I'm gonna try something else. Actually, I'm gonna

10:10

go into Hertz and I'm

10:14

gonna try the tape. I've used this before

10:15

and it's only quite cool.

10:23

So gives the illusion

10:23

of the tape stopping.

10:27

And what I'm gonna do is I'm

10:27

gonna go in and I'm gonna

10:30

automate that tape stop. And it's the play.

10:35

It's true. This is quite a tricky one to,

10:36

to get in time, but I'm gonna

10:38

give it a go and I just wanna

10:38

see actually, does it start?

10:41

It starts at play. And what I want it

10:46

to do is, is come in.

10:49

So it sounds like the tape's

10:49

just kicking in as it starts.

10:53

Dunno what this is gonna sound like. Maybe if we bring time.

10:56

And so I'm just looking at the controls on this. We've got stop time.

10:59

Time until the tape motor

10:59

reaches full stop and stopping

11:02

tape until the time it's

11:02

increase the tape time.

11:09

I think we need to decrease the takeaway then I wanted to do it.

11:20

This is gonna, this is gonna take me a while to do this. I want it to do it on every

11:22

note now, so it's gonna stop.

11:26

I'm gonna have to copy and paste this automation at the end of every bar.

11:35

So what I'm doing here faces, I'm, I'm just drawing in the automation.

11:38

I could probably just do this as

11:38

I'm playing, but I'm just gonna

11:40

draw it in for the time being

11:40

and see what it sounds like and

11:43

it keeps snapping and I don't

11:43

want it to, which is a pain.

11:48

Let's give it a go. It needs to be shorter

11:58

and let's keep that again. I think that sounds quite cool.

12:04

Actually. Need to get it timed right. I'm not gonna, I'm

12:06

not gonna play around with it too much now.

12:08

I'm just gonna get the idea down. Trying to drag this.

12:11

So that'll do for the time being. Otherwise, I'm gonna spend

12:13

the whole episode refining

12:15

these automations points,

12:15

which I don't really wanna do.

12:19

Uh, let's copy that will

12:19

let me copy that and put

12:23

it there is the question. No, it won't.

12:26

So we'll have to draw them. Okay.

12:32

What I'm gonna do is, folks, I'm gonna pause it there, draw this automation in,

12:34

and then I'm gonna come. Okay folks, we're back and

12:37

I've drawn the automation in,

12:40

and if you're watching this

12:40

on YouTube, you can see at the

12:42

beginning of every bar I've

12:42

automated the tape stop effects.

12:46

Uh, this is what it sounds like. Remember, I will go in

12:47

and fine tune this, but

12:49

I don't wanna spend all this episode doing that. Has not actually done it on

13:09

the first note of that bar,

13:12

but um, I'm not gonna worry

13:12

about that too much now.

13:15

What I'm fighting is though playing it. I think it only sounds

13:16

good on the lower

13:21

register registered court. Sounds cool there.

13:29

It doesn't really happen there, I don't think I've got it set quite right.

13:32

Let's drag it across. It's better.

13:43

I don't think it works there,

13:43

so I might just get rid of it.

13:48

I just have it on

13:48

those lower cords.

13:56

I like it there. And then I need it to

14:02

come in on that one there.

14:07

Let's strike that down. Once again, that one needs

14:25

to be dragged out a bit.

14:27

At the end of this bar, it's

14:27

gonna go into the next section.

14:30

So I might just have a tape stop

14:30

effect that just dies there.

14:34

So it's just gonna kill it,

14:34

and then it's gonna go back

14:37

into what is essentially the

14:37

first section, somebody see it.

14:43

I think that sounds quite cool. As a transition, maybe

14:44

a bit longer, I've just

14:49

dragged everything. Don't move. Little bit trigger.

14:54

Happy with my, there we go. Strike that back a bit.

14:57

So if you listening to this on

14:57

the podcast, player of choice

15:00

I've done is I've dragged the

15:00

automation of that stop back.

15:03

So if that sounds cool.

15:12

So there we go. I'm just gonna play through the.

15:16

Half of this section just

15:16

so you can hear how it then

15:19

leads into the next part. And then that's quite

15:38

a nice transition. Obviously I will add more

15:40

transitions to this, but I

15:42

like that tape stop effect. So there we go. Tape stop effect.

15:45

Automate it on your, Okay folks,

15:45

so this is a shorter episode

15:50

than the previous ones, purely

15:50

because it is a bonus one,

15:52

it's one that I've thrown in. And so we've got two episodes

15:53

in one week, and, uh, all I've

15:56

done in this episode is I've

15:56

just taken the chords from the,

15:59

the previous section, so the

15:59

previous 16 bars, I believe

16:02

it is, looking at my, yep. Doing my math route 16 bars.

16:05

And I've just taken those chords. I've used scaler two and

16:07

I've copied those chords,

16:10

I've captured them, and then

16:10

I've sort of, Drag them,

16:12

pasted them into a different

16:12

patch in Anna two again.

16:16

And it's, uh, the patch

16:16

itself, if you're interested

16:18

is called the eighties are.

16:22

And I trialed using the, uh,

16:22

side chain effect in that, but

16:25

I didn't particularly like it. So all I've used here

16:26

is the really basic, and

16:28

it's got, it's so easy to

16:28

use the tape stop effect.

16:31

And I think this will sound really caught at the end or beginning of a track as well.

16:34

And all I've done is there at

16:34

the end of, at the beginning of

16:37

each bar and at the end of each

16:37

bar I've got the tape starting

16:39

and stopping or vice versa

16:39

camera, which way around it is.

16:42

And uh, then at the end,

16:42

Just gonna stop and then

16:45

it's gonna go into the next session section. So this is what it sounds like.

17:32

Okay folks. So that is the end of

17:33

this particular episode. But before we go, I want

17:35

to make you aware of the

17:39

producer kickstart session. So if you need assistance or

17:40

help with production mixing,

17:44

or content marketing to

17:44

grow an army of superfans,

17:47

please do get in touch. Head over to

17:48

www.insidethemixpodium.com/free

17:54

and you can book a 20. Minute Producer kickstart

17:56

session with me where we'll just

17:59

thrash it out and go through any

17:59

of those particular topics that

18:01

you need a bit of help with,

18:01

and it'll also get added as an

18:04

episode of the inside the mix. Podcast.

18:08

So do go check that out. You hear me banging on about

18:09

it for the next few weeks.

18:12

Um, but I think it's gonna

18:12

be fantastic and hopefully

18:14

I'll get to meet some of

18:14

you virtually and, um, see

18:19

what we can do together. But as always, if you're

18:20

watching this on YouTube,

18:23

please do hit subscribe,

18:23

leave a comment, let me

18:25

know what you think as well. And if you're listening

18:26

to this on your podcast,

18:28

player of Choice, don't

18:28

forget to hit subscribe and

18:31

maybe leave a review as. Hey everyone.

18:33

My name is Jonathan. My artist's name is ea,

18:35

and I have to say one of my

18:37

favorite episodes from this

18:37

podcast is episode 41, which

18:40

covers the topic of promoting

18:40

your music and networking.

18:43

The reality with being a new

18:43

artist and working hard to

18:46

create your material is that

18:46

you need to promote and get

18:48

it out there to listeners

18:48

or else will never be heard.

18:51

The podcast talks about

18:51

networking and utilizing

18:53

Spotify playlist as a

18:53

tool to target listeners.

18:56

One thing that I realized and

18:56

have experienced on my own

18:59

is how do you ask someone to

18:59

put your song on a playlist

19:01

without really asking them. The reality is that not

19:03

everyone will be that helping

19:05

hand to do that for you. One of the biggest takeaways

19:06

and ideas that I've obtained

19:09

from this particular episode

19:09

was potentially being that

19:12

person with a playlist. I mean, if that one Instagramer

19:13

or Spotify user with the

19:16

followers won't add your song

19:16

to a playlist, assuming it

19:19

fits the theme of the playlist,

19:19

why not be your own promoter?

19:23

With the playlist and followers,

19:23

why not be that person to help

19:26

other musicians such as yourself

19:26

who are on the same level?

19:30

Let's face it, it is easier

19:30

said than done and will take

19:33

time to network with people. But in the long run, if this can

19:34

be accomplished, so many people,

19:38

including yourself, can benefit. The idea was definitely

19:40

derived from listening to

19:42

this particular episode. I can't recommend this

19:43

channel enough if you're a beginning musician.

19:47

Ahu, thanks for giving me

19:47

the opportunity to give

19:49

my opinion and providing

19:49

such great content.