5 Mainstream Music Production Tips and Tricks That Always Work.

As a music producer there are some certain creative tricks or techniques that you must know in order to deliver what your clients or your fans wants. There are certain elements or effects in a track that makes a song very interesting and makes people want to listen to it over and over again.

Lets dive in quickly, as I show what these 5 tricks are and how you can achieve them.

So, here are the 3 crucial steps you can follow that will give you a great vocal sound.

1. Layering Sounds

Like they say from where i'm from 'There are multiple ways that leads to the market". Layering sounds, which simply means adding other instrument(s) to compliment or to enhance a track that is already recorded.

The ideal mindset to layering samples is to think about frequency, simply because you want to avoid running into what is called frequency masking. Frequency masking is simply when frequencies from different instrument are fighting or competing for space, which in turn leads to a unfocused sound.

For example, layering two very identical sounds together, and I mean sounds that have almost the same tone, timbre or texture could easily lead to frequency masking and can defeat the purpose of layering samples.

So you have to carefully choose instruments that are not competing in the frequency spectrum to use as your layered samples.

The purpose of layering different instruments/samples should be to get either of these things:

• To get a full bodied sound e.g layer multiple synth sounds

• To Enhance the sonic character of the original track ( definition )

• To add multiple voicing or

• To Fill up missing frequencies

An ideal situation would be adding two or more snare samples to thicken up or add definition the original snare track. One sample could be adding top frequencies while the other one is rich in low mid frequencies.

Another common Ideal situation would be to add another kick drum sample that has more mid frequencies in order to provide presence or attack/click to the original kick drum. Or you could add a kick drum that has more bottom end or even knock that the original kick drum doesn't have.

Adding Attack to the kick drum using a click-y kick drum sample.

Using a bell to compliment the original synth sound

There isn't limit to how much samples you can add, just make sure you have a purpose.

Like i said earlier, try to avoid frequency masking. If you find the right sample but its clashing in some way, Feel free to EQ certain frequencies out to get it to sound the way you want it.

Another thing to always check is for phase issues especially when dealing with low end instruments. If you notice that you are losing your bottom end and punch, flip the polarity on one of your samples and that most times could fix the problem, but if it doesn't you can either replace the sample or use time adjuster in protools or any phase alignment plugin to fix the phase issue.

2. Using Risers or downfall FX

What is a riser or a downfall fx? These are sound effects that makes transition from one section of a song to another section interesting. Lets say you are going from a pre-chorus to a chorus/hook you can use a riser to create tension and excitement which helps listeners anticipate what is coming next.

A riser normally goes from a lower level and then it increases in volume over time and stops at a highest level of impact. These technique is most popular in the pop, edm, and hip hop world. A riser can simply be a reversed cymbal or a rhythmic sound that is tuned with the key of the song.

Here are some examples of a riser in action. Listen to our it helps carry and support the rest of the track. The risers are little exaggerated just so you can hear it. And these risers are from different sample packs that I have collected over the years.

The first section - risers only

The Second section - risers included with the rest of the track

The Third section - without risers

You can use a riser to enhance and add smoothness to your drum sound. In this case we are using a reversed crash

You can create a riser by simply recording a crash cymbal or grab a cymbal sample and then reverse it and place it before the chorus begins. Its that simple. Or you can reverse a piano, a pad sound or use a white noise in a sampler to create a riser. Look at this video that shows you how to create a riser in logic.

A downfall fx is essentially the same as a riser but instead, it is used to create impact or excitement when a chorus/hook starts. The volume starts high and then fades out over time.

Here is an example of using a downfall FX.

You've heard this effects on a lot of mainstream songs, and they use it all the time simply because it works. Some DAW makes it easier to make than others.

The Air Riser is a good synth based transition designer plugin. I haven't tried it yet, but i have heard what it can do. You can create simple and complex effects with this tool.

3. Introduce New Elements:

This is what separates the pro producers from the beginners. The essence of song arrangement is to convey a message or tell a story to the listeners and tell it without them losing interest.

Everyone gets bored easily after listening to the same thing over and over again. So a way to carry your listeners from the beginning of the song to the end is to introduce new elements in the song. May be introduce a clap or a guitar on your second chorus that wasn't in the first chorus or you can begin to introduce ad-libs. Add and take out instruments during different sections of a song to create that excitement.

Give your listeners a reason to listen to the whole song. Create new fills, slight pattern changes or introduce other rhythmic elements towards the end of the song that will make your listeners excited. And these

Here is a track by Lacrea ft Tori Kelly - "I'll Find You" that shows how this trick works. Listen to the new vocal chants at the end of the track creating more energy and excitement.

4. Simplicity

The best advice anyone can ever give you about music production is to keep things simple. The one thing I have realized over the years is that its actually hard to keep things simple.

One of the reason why its hard is because you feel like you have to add more and more stuff and before you know it, you've diverted completely away from the original thought or idea you had.

Think about the singers or rappers when you are producing a song. Think of them as an instrument that will be added later on in the process, and since vocals are technically the main focus of a song, you want to leave a lot of room for them to explore by keeping things simple.

Keeping something simple doesn't necessarily mean having a lower track counts, you could have a 100 tracks and yet the production is simple, while all you need sometimes could just ten tracks and you call it a day.

5. Don't Rush

Producing music shouldn't really be a task or a rushed process. I understand that sometimes producers and artists have a certain deadline they need to meet, so they tend to rush things. The problem with that is that creative ideas for a song can generate over a period time and not just in a specific moment.

So by rushing we can tend to miss out on that defining moment that can set this song apart for good. And you've also noticed that sometimes you work all night on writing a song or producing a beat, just for you to come the next day and you completely dislike the beat or song.

Take a break, it could be for some hours, days, weeks or even years , it doesn't matter how long it takes, just do it to refresh your mind, be inspired and then come back to finish it.

Let'sRecap

Layering Sounds enhance instruments.

Using Risers and Downfalls transition into different parts of a song easily

Introduce New Elements create variety and excitement

Simplicity be cautious of having too much going on.

Don't Rushing take your time and deliver the best

Thank you for reading, I hope these tips and technique will help you produce better songs and please be sure to leave a comment below and share your contribution, thoughts or questions. I would love to learn from you guys too.