I was working on putting together a new orchestral template last night and realized that I was maxing out my system’s CPU and RAM. This file was bringing my entire system to a crawl. It was late so I decided to go to sleep and come back to it the next day.
After waking up, I still felt a bit defeated and bummed out that I wouldn’t be able to use all the cool things that I put into this new template. I started to think of how I could salvage the work I had done in the way of alternative workflows. I enlisted my wife in an impromptu brainstorming session and she started asking me questions about the need for this type of template and what it would provide. I then described the time it would save and how I might consider having different versions of the template for different phases of production (e.g. a version with ensemble patches for general writing, fuller version with individual instrument parts & limited articulations and another version for mixing).
Then something that I had completely forgot about occurred to me: Freeze Tracks. I wasn’t sure if my plug-in supported this functionality so I rushed to my computer and opened the massive file to find out. To my relief and astonishment, it worked!
I’m so stoked as this will most likely be my go-to file for the next year or more. Should be a huge time saver, allowing me to get right to work on ideas, not having to build a project file up every time that I want to do something with orchestral instrumentation in it.
Thanks for being awesome (again), Logic/Apple!
For anyone interested, here’s the template file that I put together:
This was one of two classes that I took during the 2021 Winter Term at Berklee Online. Overall I really enjoyed this class and got a lot out of it. The teacher, Mehdi Hassine, was also the creator of the course and I feel he did a great job in making this a really enjoyable and informative class.
Perhaps the most helpful thing I got from this class was practice doing straight cut editing of footage that wasn’t my own, which was super useful. Also, I really enjoyed the watching the teacher’s workflow and work style during his weekly live class. It was great seeing a professional do the work quickly and efficiently.
Here’s what we covered during the twelve week term:
Week 1: Basic layout of FCP and it’s interface; getting set up to use with FCP; working with and organizing source material; working within the browser; creating a program and working with the timeline.
Week 2: This week was all about “Video Editing Essentials”. We covered insert/append/overwrite/insert edits, three-point editing, four-point editing, modifying positions of /deleting/replacing clips in the timeline and editing to music and promo narration.
Week 3: Focus this week was mainly on the various types of trim editing that are possible in FCP: Single & Double-Roll Trimming, trimming via numeric input, J & L cuts, using the Trim Edit window, slipping and sliding clips via the Slip & Slide Tools. Other topics included: Flipping video clips, changing the speed of clips, freeze frames (via the “Hold” in the Retime Editor), reversing clips, Speed Ramps (to/from 0%), Instant Replay, Rewind, Video Quality & Preserving Pitch on retiming of clips, as well as basic aesthetics to consider when making transitions.
Week 4: This was the “Capturing and Transferring Footage” week. Topics included: “Preparing for Capture Footage”, “FCPX Supported Cameras/Devices and Hardware Setup”, “Transcoding Preferences”, “Capturing Footage From Tape”, “Importing from a Supported Camera”, “Organizing Tape Footage”, “Rating Selections”, “Transferring Media”, “Transferring Media into Final Cut Pro X”, “Workshop: Capturing and Transferring Techniques and Workflows” and “Assignment 4: Scripted Short”.
Week 5: We focused on transition effects during this week. “Selecting and Applying a Transition Effect”, “Transition Preferences”, “Audio Transitions”, “Modifying and Saving Transition Effects”, “The Inspector Window”, “Copying and Deleting Transitions”, “Rendering Effects”, “Rendering Preferences”, “Background Tasks”, “Clearing Unused Render Files”, “Workshop: Real-Time Settings and Effects Rendering”, “Assignment 5: B-Roll Editing and Transitions” were the topics we covered.
Week 6: This week we went over “Editing with Multiple Tracks and Camera Angles”. Main topics for this week were: “Synchronizing Camera Angles”, “Synchronization Techniques”, “Discussion 6.1: Multiple Angles and Synchronisation”, “Multi-Camera Editing with Multicam Clips”, “Creating Multicam Clips”, “Using Multicam Clips”, “Editing Across Multiple Connected Storylines”, “Connected Storylines”, “Compound Clips”, “Auditions”, “Synchronizing in Final Cut Pro X”, “Troubleshooting and Fixing Sync”, “Workshop: Fixing Sync”, “Discussion 6.2: Multi-Angle Music Video Examples” and “Assignment 6: Multi-Camera Music Performance”.
Week 7: This was “Video Effects” week. We went over: “Choosing, Applying, and Modifying Effects”, “Previewing Effects”, “Applying Effects”, “Modifying and Customizing Effects”, “Bypassing and Deleting Effects”, “Built-In Effects”, “Transform”, “Crop”, “Distort”, “Stabilization and Rolling Shutter”, “Spatial Conform”, “Compositing”, “Keyframing”, “Applying Keyframes”, “Adding Additional Keyframes”, “Deleting Keyframes”, “In-between Frames”, “The Video Animation Editor”, “Managing Effects”, “Advanced Rendering”, “Discussion 7.1: Video Effects”, and “Assignment 7: Student Choice”.
Week 8: This week was all about “Titles and Graphics”. Topics included: “Title Safe and Action Safe Areas”, “Titles”, “Customizing Titles”, “Title Tab”, “Text Tab”, “Themes”, “Video Formats”, “Frame Sizes and Screen Resolutions”, “Progressive vs. Interlaced Video Frames”, “Frame Rates”, “Aspect Ratios”, “Workshop: Video Formats”, “Graphics”, “Generators”, “Importing Graphics”, “Discussion 8.1: Titles and Graphics” and “Assignment 8: Credit Sequence with Music”.
Week 9: “Audio” week. We covered: “Audio Levels and Pans”, “Adjusting Audio Levels”, “Audio Meters”, “Clipping”, “Mixing Strategies”, “Setting Audio Levels”, “Panning”, “Soloing Clips”, “Resetting Levels and Pans”, “Audio Fades and Automation”, “Audio Level Automation”, “Pan Automation”, “Audio Fades”, “Fade Shapes and Modifications”, “Audio Enhancements and Effects”, “Audio Enhancements”, “Equalization”, “Channel Configuration”, “Audio Effects”, “Workshop: Audio Editing and Processing”, “Discussion 9.1: A History of the Title Sequence” and “Assignment 9: Music Video with Sound Effects”.
Week 10: This was the week I was looking forward to the most as it was about “Color Correction and Project Finalizing”. It’s a deep subject that I’ve spent some time learning about in the past but feel that I could use a lot more work understanding and doing better. Topics included: “Color Correction within Final Cut Pro”, “Automatic Color Balance”, “Match Color”, “Manual Color Correction”, “Color Tab”, “Saturation Tab”, “Exposure Tab”, “Using Color Correction Presets”, “Secondary Color Correction: Color and Shape Masks”, “Managing Color Corrections”, “Markers”, “Finalizing the Edit and Rendering”, “Video Scopes”, “Waveform Monitor”, “Histogram”, “Vectorscope”, “Troubleshooting Video Level Issues”, “Color Bars and Tone”, “Workshop: Color Correction and Project Finalizing”, “Discussion 10.1: Color Correction Techniques” and “Assignment 10: Music Video”.
Week 11: This week was “Outputting and Encoding”. We went over: “Outputting a Final Master Movie File”, “Video Encoding Essentials”, “Export Using Compressor Settings”, “Workshop: Video Encoding”, “Encoding Video with Compressor”, “Compressor User Interface”, “Compressor Workflow”, “Discussion 11.1: Video Compression and Quality” and “Assignment 11: Student Choice”.
Week 12: Our final week of the course was about “Creating DVD and Blu-Ray Discs”. Topics included: “Uploading Video for Internet Streaming”, “Method 1: Uploading Straight from FCPX”, “Uploading to YouTube”, “Uploading to Facebook”, “Uploading to Vimeo”, “Method 2: Converting in Compressor”, “Uploading via the YouTube Compressor Template”, “Uploading to YouTube”, “Uploading to Facebook and Vimeo”, “DVD and Blu-ray Authoring”, “DVD Authoring in FCPX”, “Blu-ray Authoring in FCPX” and “Exercise 12.1: Authoring a DVD or Blu-ray with Final Cut Pro X”.
As mentioned in an earlier post, “Mixing and Mastering for the Electronic Musician” was my favorite class of Term 2. The course material was perfect for someone like me, a solo musician/composer/songwriter wanting to make their work sound a bit more polished and professional.
While the course material was very well thought out and presented I think the thing that I loved most about this class was the immediacy of being able to apply what I learned to my own music. Just what I learned about EQ, compression and limiting made a huge difference in the clarity and power of my mixes.
Other subjects that I found really helpuful were: “Developing Relationships in a Mix” via external keying and side-chaining (particularly helpful for dynamically ducking tracks under other tracks); Direction Mixer plugin on stereo tracks; using Distortion to color and shape EQ of tracks like hi-hats and vocals; using Noise Gates to shape output of audio tracks; using Side-chain/External Keying on Reverb and Delays to dynamically control output; Reshaping Transients (a bit like synthesis on audio tracks); Dotted 1/8 & 1/4 note delays; Ping Pong Delays; Pre-Fader Metering (to help control gain staging); Subgrouping; Parallel Compression (on individual tracks, subgroups and global tracks); Flex-Pitch; Auto-Filter (to help tracks stand out); using Sample Delays to pan; VCAs (to control volumes of subgroups); and how Mastering really is all about making small, subtle changes in EQ, Compression and Limiting.
As usual with a number of Berklee Online classes I’ve taken already, there was a lot of ground covered in 12 weeks. Here are the subjects, by week.
Week 1 – Getting Ready to Mix Logic Pro Skills & Preferences, Plug-In Latency & Track Meters, Logic Pro X Interface, Screensets, Mixing and the Electronic Musician, Composing & Mixing Simultaneously, Working with Software Instrument Tracks, Rendering Software Instruments to Audio Tracks, Mixing Workspace Ergonomics and You, Monitors & Walls, The Mix Position, Monitor Loudness Levels, Using Reference Material, Getting Ready to Mix, Organizing Tracks & Assets, Setting Up a Listening Mix, Gain Structure & Digital Meters, Mixing Balance & Panning, Panning Stereo Tracks, Panning & the Direction Mixer, Working with Automation, Volume Automation & the Dynamic Mix, Real Time Automation, Automation Modes, Automation and Sculpting the Mix, Discussion 1.3: Automated Mix Example, Why We’re Starting Here, Assignment 1: Levels, Panning and Automation Mix
Week 2 – Shaping Your Sounds: EQ and Compression Prepping the Mix Project, Working with Logic Pro X Markers, Introduction to EQ, EQ Bands, Shelving EQ, Filters, A Word About Q-Couple, EQ in Mixing, Kick Drum EQ, Snare Drum EQ, Bass and Vocals EQ, EQ in a Sample Project, Doing More with EQ, EQ Means Endless Tweaking, EQ Tips, Boosting vs. Cutting, Controlling the Low End of Your Mix, Bracketing Sounds with Filters, EQing in Solo Mode, Plugin Presets, Introduction to Dynamics Processors, Dynamics Processor Block Diagram, Working with Compressors, Compression Curves and the Transfer Function, The Logic Pro Compressor, The Logic Pro Compressor Setup, Using Compression, Compression Gain and Make Up Gain, Classic Uses of Compression, Mix Analysis: Compression, Limiters in mixing, Using the Limiter in the Logic Pro X Compressor, The Logic Pro Limiter, Assignment 2: Begin the Mix Project
Week 3 – Doing More with Dynamics Processors Where Are We?, Compressors Continued, Detection Mode, Sidechain Filtering, Distortion and “Color”, Other DAW Compressor Plugins, Pro Tools, Waves, Circuit Types in the Logic Pro X Compressor, Compressor Design, Transfer Functions, Changing Compressor Settings, Introduction to Noise Gates, Why We Use Gates in Mixing, De-Essers, The Logic Pro X De-Esser, Why We Use De-Essers, Exercise: Listening to the Mix So Far, External Keying and “Sidechaining”, Setting Up Sends as Key Signals, Sidechaining and “The Pump”, Developing Relationships in a Mix, Externally Keyed Compressors, Externally Keyed Gates, Ghost Keys, Ghost Tracks, External Keying Vs. Automation, Discussion 3.1: Mix Analysis, Assignment 3: Dynamics Processors
Week 4 – Reverb and Delays in Mixing Reverberation, Creating Reverb in the Studio, The Reverb Event, Algorithmic Reverbs, PlatinumVerb, Setting Up Reverb Plugins, PlatinumVerb and Reverbs on Individual Tracks, Making Reverb Decisions, Exercise: Reverb, Reverbs in Mixing, Setting Up Reverbs on Aux Tracks, Reverb Modification, Reverbs on Track Inserts, Reverb Tips, “Come to Me” Mix with Reverb, Introduction to Delays, Delay Effects, Introduction to Tape Delay and Stereo Delay, Stereo Delay, Delay Parameters, Delays in Mixing, Slap Delays, Ping-Pong Delay, Processing Delays, Delay Tips, Working With Automation: Sends Automation, Mix Limiters: An Introduction, Final Mix of “Come to Me”, Assignment 4: Finishing Project 2
Week 5 – More with Dynamics and Mixing Working with a Large-Scale Mix Project, Strategies for Project Organization, Screensets and Markers, Marker Sets, Developing a Vision for the Mix, Discussion 5.1: Developing a Vision for the Mix due Tuesday, Arrangement Editing, Editing vs. Mute Automation, Creating and Working with Track Groups, Track Groups and Workflow, NOW Where Are We?, Reshaping Transients, Upward Expanders and the Logic Pro X Expander Plug-in, Multiband Compression Techniques, Logic Pro X Multipressor, A Sidetrip About Expanders, Noise Gates vs. Downward Expanders, Mixing, Gain Structure, and Headroom, Pre-Fader/Post-Fader Metering, Getting Off the Ground!, Assignment 5: Dynamics and Mixing
Week 6 – Doing More with Mixing A Starting Point, Creating and Working with Audio Subgroups, Setting Up Audio Subgroups, Deciding When to use Subgroups in a Mix, Vocal Tuning, Fixing Pitch Problems, Going Deeper with Flex Pitch, Flex Pitch in the Track Editor, Tuning Other Instruments, Exercise: Exploring Vocal Tuning, The Big Freeze!, Parallel Compression Techniques, Setting Up Parallel Compression, Parallel Compression for Multiple Tracks, Parallel Compression Guidelines, Exercise: Parallel Compression, Adding Color and Character to the Mix, Filters, AutoFilter, Distortion Effects, Clip Distortion, Re-Amping, Enhancing the Low End, Exercise: Distortion, Assignment 6: Adding Character to the Mix
Week 7 – Working with Delays Short Delay Effects, Delays and the Stereo Image, Using a Short Delay for Panning, Modulation Delay Effects: Flanging, Hands-On Tweaking, Modulation Delay Effects: Chorusing and Doubling, Chorusing, Ensemble, Exercise: Mix Example, Convolution Reverb and Space Designer, Tweaking Space Designer, Using Convolution Reverbs, Exercise: Mix Analysis, More Mixing Ideas with Delays and Reverbs, More with Processing Effect Sends and Returns, Exercise: Putting it all Together, Assignment 7: Working with Delays
Week 8 – More Mix Techniques Automation 1 Checking Up on Our Mix of “Please Baby”, The Dynamic Mix, Manipulating the Sounds, Splitting Regions to Tracks, Making Sounds Bigger: Stereo Width Ideas, Pitch Effects in Mixing, Discussion 8.1: Pitch Manipulation, Vocal Transformer, SFX, Ear Candy, and Transitions, Delay Designer, Exercise: “Please Baby” Mix, Assignment 8: Mix Techniques
Week 9 – Shaping the Mix Automation 2 Checking Up on Our Mix of “Please Baby”, Where We Are, Global Parallel Compression, VCA Tracks and Mixing, VCA Usage, Mix Bus Compression, More With Mix Automation, Working with Mix Automation, Final Touches: Mix Limiters, Final Touches: Mix Limiters – Mix Fade Out, Bouncing the Mix, Exercise: “Please Baby” Mix, Assignment 9: Automation
Week 10 – Mastering 1 What is Mastering?, The Creative Side of Mastering, Discussion 10.1: Original vs. Mastered Versions, The Technical Side of Mastering, Discussion 10.2: Top Mastering Engineers, Mastering in the Project Studio, Tweaking Your Studio Space, Installing Ozone, Mastering with Logic Pro X: an Overview, Intro to Ozone, Exercise: EQ, Corrective and Creative, The Ozone EQ Module, Exercise: Mastering EQ, Discussion 10.2: Ozone History, Ozone Digital EQ Mode, Exercise: Analog and Digital Mode, The Digital EQ Surgical Mode, Some Tips on EQ and Mastering, Limiting in Mastering, Assignment 10: Project 4
Week 11 – Mastering 2 The Mastering Process, Compression in Mastering, Using the Dynamics Module, Exercise: Compression, Multiband Compression with Ozone, Exercise: Multiband Compression, Multiband Compression Considerations, Discussion 11.1: Multiband Compression, The Dynamic EQ, Mastering, Loudness, and the “Loudness War”, Loudness and CD Mastering, Discussion 11.2: Loudness and CD Mastering, The Ozone Maximizer, Exercise: Ozone’s Maximizer module, Daily Assignment Practice, Assignment 11: Project 5
Week 12 – Mastering 3 Image Manipulation in Mastering, The Ozone Imager Module, Exercise: The Imager Module, Multiband Image Adjustment, Exercise: More With the Imager Module The Vintage Limiter, Mastering Workflow, Making a Mastering Chain, Workflow Tips, Bouncing Your Mastered Audio, Mastering for Digital Delivery, CD Delivery Masters, Exercise: Truncation vs. Dither, Creating a CD Master, Loudness, Audio CDs, and Streaming Audio, QC = Quality Control!, Discussion 12.1: Project 6
Here are a couple screenshots of an assignment mix that I submitted. Check out the number of tracks and plug-ins. This was a pretty massive project. Took two screenshots to get all the tracks shown!
Here’s a mix that I did using many of the techniques that I learned in this class for my final project in MTC2 (Music Theory & Composition 2).
My wife, Rachel, found this fantastic video of a live orchestral film scoring session on YouTube. It’s a 2.5 hour film done @ Air Studios in London, England. Very inspiring to see how things are done at this level of professionalism, expertise and excellence.
Thanks to Christian Henson and Spitfire audio for making this available for all of us to see. Very cool, indeed!
Determine the number of beats per minute (e.g. 96BPM).
Determine the number of measures per minute by dividing the BPM by the number of beats per measure (e.g. 96/4 = 24 measures per minute).
Then take the total number of bars in the song and divide it by the number of measures per minute. E.g. 104 measures/24 measures per minute = 4.5m for the total time of the song.
Audio mastering is a distinct discipline that I’m still getting acquainted with. While trying to wrap things up for the Equinox album I decided to see what I could do on my own and found this really helpful course on lynda.com: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/audio-mastering-techniques
Here are some of the key points that helped me with this project:
Mix and bounce to -10 dB, with plenty of dynamic range available. If this means removing compression/limiting on the master bus then do it.
Bring all mixes into a unique mastering session. Place all songs on their own tracks, each with it’s own EQ/Compression/Limiting.
Find the right compressor for each song tonally, using a low ratio, somewhere between 1.5:1 to 3:1. Set the threshold high enough so that the compressor kicks in, but not too hard.
Adjust the compressor’s attack and release settings so that drum transients are cutting through nicely.
Bring up the song’s level by boosting the compressor’s output gain until peaks get close to somewhere around -2 dB.
Apply the limiter (L2) so that the peaks are set to -2 dB with the threshold being just lightly triggered.
Try to shape the songs in terms of EQ and volume so that they sound “sonically related”. (Ended up cutting quite a bit ~60 Hz and below, due to bass build up.)
Note to future self: don’t use the master EQ to shape each track individually. Seemed like a time saver until I had to do revisions and had no idea what was done with songs mixed before the last bounce. Always use an inline EQ!
I’ve been a Logic Pro X user for a few years now. Previously, I was a sworn Pro Tools devotee for years (in large part due to the amazing time I had working at Digidesign in the late 90’s). While the earlier versions of Logic felt anything but logical to me, I have really come to love the latest versions of Logic Pro X. I feel it’s a fantastic app for writing and production.
I love the layout, signal flow/routing, EQs, compressors, virtual instruments (especially Drummer), arrangement tracks, comp tracks, extensive MIDI and audio editing tools, Flex editing and (for the most part) Smart Tempo.
Now, I still have a few pet peeve’s here and there. One being that Smart Tempo doesn’t always do what you think it should with odd time signatures. Try to get the session time signature of 6/8 onto newly recorded tracks… Smart Tempo defaults to 4/4 and converting & getting everything to sync up can be a chore. Aside from that, most issues I’ve had were easily solved with a quick Google search.
I recently realized how much I enjoy working with Logic Pro X as I was preparing for the 2019 Spring Equinox Concert and album. Thanks Apple!
Absolutely love the sounds I can get out of Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere. Fat synth basses, warm pads, beautiful textures, fantastic rhythms from it’s arpeggiator, extensive synthesis editing and signal processing. With over 14,000 built-in sounds, audio import/processing, 500+ synth oscillator waveforms, wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, 57 effect processors, FM/Ring modulation, 34 filter algorithms, performance mode (stacked or layering), 20 oscillators and 8 LFOs per patch, 12 envelopes and substantial HW synth integration it really does feel pretty limitless.
That being said, Omnisphere seems like a bit of a memory hog. It crashed a number of times when using it within Logic Pro X (crash logs submitted). It’s a bummer when it happens but to be fair it appears to be due to switching between Logic files that have a lot of other plug-ins instantiated as well.
I found a really useful course on Lynda.com that helped me get up to speed using it just in time for the Spring Equinox concert and album: Learning Omnisphere 2.
If you want to add an amazing sounding software synth to your set up then this is it!
I’ve owned Native Instruments’ Battery for a few years now and hadn’t done much with it until recently. Partially because it was bundled with NI Komplete and I wasn’t really sure how it worked. But also due to the preconception I had that it was mainly for electronic/dance music and wouldn’t suit what I was trying to do. Then I stumbled onto this course on Lynda.com: Learning Battery 4 and it made perfect sense to me. I began to think about how I could use it on my songs.
It’s a fantastic plug-in that allows you create custom kits either using your own samples or from a large built-in library of instruments. It also has extensive editing, routing and processing options.
I ended up using Battery on a couple of the tracks for the Equinox Album – “Dew Drop” and “Frost”. One thing I loved doing was taking Drum MIDI files from Superior Drummer and pumping them into one of the kit presets in Battery like “Telefon Tel Aviv Kit”. This gave a humanistic style of playing to a drum machine sounding kit. Really great!
I’ve had Superior Drummer for about 10 months now and I have to say it’s quite an impressive piece of software. Actually, it feels like the type of virtual instrument/drum library that I imagined having way back in 1999. That being said, it’s a deep and powerful program that can be intimidating at first, making it hard to feel comfortable with.
While I used it on a few projects (“On and On”, “Lost Thoughts”, “Nets”) it wasn’t until the the Spring Equinox Album that I really got to know it well. This is in large part due to a fantastic tutorial on Groove 3 that Luke Oswald put together: “Superior Drummer 3 Explained”.
The course is very thorough, clear and well produced. It not only helped me to understand the ins & outs of the software but to also appreciate how superior it truly is when compared to other virtual instruments I’ve worked with in the past.
It has fantastically recorded samples of a wide variety of kits with close/overhead/room/ambient/bleed/surround mic options. Extensive editing power for custom tailored sound design, getting instruments just the way you want them. A great groove library with excellent search and “Tap 2 Find” functionality (which I love) with a powerful grid editor. It’s fully extensible for additional sample and/or drum MIDI libraries. Has a built in mixer with extensive routing options, great sounding effects and excellent sounding presets (personal favorite is “Ludwig Classic Default”). All this makes it super easy to bring up a great sounding drum track rather quickly.
Even though I don’t see myself using Superior Drummer on everything I do I’m really glad to have it available to me.
