Headhunterz production tips

Kan natuurlijk in het wjd topic maar daar zullen oudere tips sneller ondergesneeuwd raken

___

Here's a production tip for all you aspiring producers out there.. Shortcuts are essential for a streamlined workflow. I use an app called Sticky Notes where I constantly write down new key commands I came up with. I keep it on the side of my screen at all times and force myself to use them constantly so they become natural to me. When I really need my full screen for Studio One, I have a simple key command to change the screen size and it will just hide sticky notes in the back. For that I use an app called Moom. That's one step further in the direction of becoming a virtuoso ??

___

When Nexus came out, I immediately noticed together with @noisecontrollers and @wildstylez that the init preset, as simple as it was, was very useful. We started using it as a bass note underneath our melodies. It made the lead synth sound much warmer and heavier. Very simple, didn’t even need any eq-ing or anything else, except in the drops where we cut out the low end. We’ve since then used it over and over again in tracks like Tonight and World Of Madness. Even today I still use it quite often. Whereas the high leads can handle a lot of detuning and sometimes layering, the bass sound should be clean and supportive. This one has it all! Good luck! ??

___



This is what one of my signature lead synths looks like, made in Spire.
On this particular one, which I have used in my last track that still goes around as an ID, I have used no other eq, compressor, or anything else on the channel. Just Spire with a reverb on the send. Obviously there is an internal eq in Spire which I like a lot to give my sounds character with. That’s what I did with this one as well. Also the internal compressor knob in Spire can tighten up the sound really nicely sometimes.
A lot of people go wrong right from the beginning when making big saw leads. When detuning a lead it gets muddier and muddier very quickly, therefor it’s important to layer it with a clean and crisp version of the lead to make it cut through, otherwise it will be pushed back in your mix.
And why not do that in the synth itself! I’m not a big fan of layering too much saw leads with like 3 or four sylenths or spires on top of each other because it creates a lot of phasing. So better get that single sound as perfect as possible before considering layering.
Anyway, what I did is create 3 oscillators in Spire. The first 2 are identical, but the first is panned right and the second left. I detuned the sh*t out of those. they sound like an old hardcore lead together, lol. The third one is a really clean and undetuned version of the other ones, cutting right through the center. This requires some tweaking, it’s a matter of finding the sweet spot with the detuning. For extra movement you could also use a bit of lfo on the detuned oscillators.

Now the trick to give the whole sound more character is to add some distortion. If added in the right way this gives you a lot of control over the sound without destroying it. Here the key is to turn the dry/wet to 50% and then start playing with the high and low cut of the distortion. Find the right spot and the saw lead suddenly gets some characteristics of a square wave. This is what you hear a lot in my tracks. Find the sweet spot where it has the fullness of a square and the bite of a saw wave.

Add portamento for more drama.