Outdated Music Production Tips to Stop in 2024 😫 

✨Remember: if you like something, that is the correct way. If a RU-vidr like me comes and says "No, no, no, that's bad" but if you like how it sounds? Then I am wrong and *you are right* *Your song, your decisions, your story.* ❤

Just one addition to watching tutorials: when you are a beginner its very tempting to watch everything at once and get overwhelmed pretty quickly. I did this mistake and forgot to actually make music. Best thing to do is: make your first tracks (= finish them) and analyze what you do not like about it. Then look up tutorials for only that problem and integrate that new knowledge when you make a new song. Then just repeat from here. You will gain more and more confidence and will master one issue after another rather than trying to take on the whole world at once. And always remember: have fun doing music.

I feel lucky to have learned the basics of music production in the mid-1990s. Since there was no information available online and the local library only had two outdated books from the 80s, we simply experimented until we figured things out on our own. I feel today, it's much harder not to fall into the trap of following a "recipe" and ending up with generic music.

Totally agree, some width on the bass sounds great in a lot of tracks. For music intended for clubs and rave spaces, 150-200Hz and below is good to be mono. There are enough phasing problems already in these untreated spaces, no point in introducing more.

I always really enjoy your videos, Alice. Thanks once again. Hope this is a great year for you.

Happy new year Alice, much love and respect. Pz 🎶

Love this refreshing approach. Thanks for sharing these tips Alice! Hope 2024 will bring you even more succes and experiences in music

I love creating presets when not feeling inspired to work on a song. Often just messing about with a synth creates its own inspiration for a new song.

Happy new Year Alice

Love it ! thanks for these updates

Lots of great tips in here, or should I say, corrections to bad tips. The tip to mono your bass has always been pretty unclear when thrown around as a general tip. It should be more transparent that sub bass is more 20-80Hz, while bass is more 80-300Hz. So the real tip should be mono your "sub bass". Subwoofers are by definition mono devices, and cannot really do anything with stereo information, so side information for the sub bass does not really add anything extra to your track. A lot of stereo speakers still go deep enough for regular bass though, so when dealing with wide basses like Reese or neuro basses, you would not want to lose the width there. I will add something though to the last point. I think there's a little caution every producer should exercise against the whole idea that 'if it sounds good, it's good'. Our own ears have biases due to our own hearing ranges. Our own headphones have biases. Our own speakers in our own room have biases. Whether we listen with fresh ears or tired ears makes a difference. The volume we listen to music affects what frequency range pops out in the mix (Fletcher-Munson/equal loudness contours). There's so many variables that we can lose a little objectivity at how our music will translate as broadly as possible to as many devices as possible at the mastering stage. So as much as it sounds ridiculous to say, I think we have to use both our ears, and our eyes, to see what's actually going on in our track compared to reference tracks that are known to translate. Spectrometers and oscilloscopes and phase meters and everything are objective tools to lean on on top of aiming for what sounds good to you. I know this isn't a beginner level concept, but there's a reason why a lot of beginner producers wonder why their mix sounds great in their headphones and then they go do a car test and everything falls apart.

Wow, great advice! I'm learning how to make music using VCV Rack and a lot of what you said applies to that as well. Thank you!

very good points. thank you!

As someone making ambient and industrial since dinosaurs roamed the earth, I've been rolling my eyes at mono basslines for a loooong time. I really appreciate you coming out of the gate with that one!

Always very inspiring and helpful your content, thank you!

Thank you very much for the great information and congratulations on the track with Fatum. It's awesome.

Don't mono the bass instrument. Mono the bass FREQUENCIES -- and while this rule is valid, every rule can have creative exceptions.

Helpful advice thanks.

Thanks a lot - great comments for approaching good music. And as always - Song idea is the key...

I love the last tip. One thing I had to decide when returning to music production was: do I want to create music for me or for others? I decided on me. If others like it, then great. I often struggle during a composition with rule-breaking and thankfully my inner voice always wins: If I like it, I go with it even if I think it breaks a thousand rules on a genre.

Well said! Alice love your stuff

Fantastic advices! ❤ Finally someone said it! Thank you 🙏 About stereo bass, I noticed that most of the modern hits have stereo basses (but mono compatible). That’s easy to hear with a good pair of headphones but I think things could get very complicated with two pair of speakers and just one sub… meaning that we could be deceived by making stereo basses coming out from a single sub speaker… there are those saying to buy just one sub because two subs are very difficult to handle, but then you see many studios with two subs under their speakers. I’m wondering what will happen with atmos.

Thanks for your tutorials and advise, your examples are clear and concise + I'm gonna check out your new track - sounds lush

I don't usually comment videos on RU-vid, but I'd really like to thank you for this video! Never have been so in phase with my way of producing.

Hey Alice, thanks for the info you provide in your videos they’re really informative and so interesting. Is there a link for your video on distortion and clipping somewhere?

I love your videos, they always leave me with an optimistic vibe ❤

I listened to your tack " Termination " and enjoyed it a lot! 💫

Not gonna lie, opened this readying my fingers to get bitchin on almost every point but the goddess of production tutorials got almost everything right once more....only objections would be start mono-ing everything below 95Hz and work your way slowly to 60Hz but trust your EARS as each track has it's own key and balance....objection two is not really an objection but with regards to additive EQ, if you are using analogue emulations like UAD Api or Avalon Channel strips then adding through their respective EQs can do miracles to the sound if you do it sensibly and with trepidation....all in all though thank you once again for producing a tutorial that will help all that will spend time watching it 🖤🖤🖤🖤

Your videos are awesome, Alice. And this one is really revelatory! One of the best educators in YT… and your blonde look is fire! 💜

Preset use should be viewed as a sort of collaboration! Great video as always

Basically we're discussing mono tresholds then, so back to that discussion :) I'm currently working on a song that has two basslines basically. One misses the main beat and hits all other quarterbeats, has very distorted noisey sounds in the highs which sit on the sides. The other is supposed to sit dead in the middle and hit all quarter beats. The idea is to have them work together to create sort of a flickering rythm, a bit like oldskool speedmetal rythmguitar and bass did back in the day, for rythm and for fleshing out the chords progression. I honestly have no clue wtf I'm doing though. But I try to learn. Back in the day, there was this party organization down here that had for their slogan "the delicate sound of thunder"... That about sums up the bass part of it all.

I've been semi pro in a game and the whole, don't watch tutorials myth is definitely so weird to me, like if someone wants to be good at a game, what they will do is look for streams of gameplay, videos, tutorials. Those people will try their best to learn from the best, and making music is basically the same thing curve, as someone really new at this still, if you wanna be good at it, you look for tutorials, maybe streams of people doing it, getting feedback, just keep practising the stuff you need. I appreciate you make videos like these since I think they are so good just to help both with mentality and just getting good advice. 💙

Great video 👍🏾

Really inspiring advice, as ever! I've definitely fallen into some bad/misguided production traps recently so this was a good refresh.

I loved every piece of advice♥ Thank you for everything!

Yes, something I've waited for, Alice. So, the most important tip for anything you can create is: Stop listening to bullshit. In terms of creating music you can state: What sounds good, is good.

Always enjoy your vids! I do have to ask some questions though as there may be stuff you arent 'hearing'...you are playing back 'bass' in the comfort of a 'stereo' studio! Listening to different genres in their home is the key. Most clubs and FOH live (in fact I have NEVER seen an install with stereo subs), use mono subs. If you are pumping a couple of 1000s of watts, ie a target output, then what you are saying is actually 'wrong'* but Im glad you added at least 60hz to the equation. I can tell you from doing years of FOH, most installs have xover at 100hz and for good reason. You are also using the ableton plug to do this which is average at best and not giving you reliable results. 1. What is the rolloff? 2. Is it min phase or linear xover? 3. Is the source bass material 'width' purely causing cancellation in the first place? Im pretty sure this is the case for your (nice) track...I put my finger on it and feel it...it has an immediate drop in volume? Probs should check that first...ie why? If you have mono compatible sub bass, there should be NO drop in bass energy (im listening purely through the sub that the focus is not subjective) I cant see any explanation of the influencing factors even for the plugin...I use Ableton and program control surfaces for OEM chinese mfgs...Its a great little package but I dont use those utils...its worth setting up a loop to DDMF plugin in doctor and you will quickly get what I mean (you cant, of course use ableton plugs in PID). Dan Worall has just covered the latest TDR filters which do a great job in this area. Pumping purely arranged sub harmonics can be heard kms away...easy to tell how has a mix without this knowledge tbh. I have heard great basslines completely disappear when summed to mono music (or incorrectly setup studios without proper xover/system calibration to the sub) You can check this visually by simply running an phase inverted 80hz signal...the idea is to obey physics and use the psycho-acoustics to move those 'wide' harmonics above the sub xover. Then you will truly get the best of both worlds and lose virtually nothing in width. Now for those running stereo subs...hmm might be time to do some research as you are likely in less than a 17m room...right? When running foldbacks, we shave everything below 100hz in the same was as the FOH subs are supply inordinate omnidirectional power at distance so you can actually feel it else its mud on stage...the same applies to not calibrating your room...which quite often lies to use ;-) BUT BUT BUT Tip of resonance = GOLD...too many people raving about "theory"...resonance imbalance (in context) IS the sound...just look at real recorded instruments eg Cello...crazy resonances...even in different parts of the omni field and that IS the sound...who doesnt love a well played cello (or crazy samples) PLUS Minimal well versed palette is ALWAYS better than preset surfing ; So totally agree with you (Check out Picasso 'Blue Period' for an extreme) AND NEVER layer sub sounds...asking for trouble...leave the layers till the LF and up...and again agree with you...only if it adds...less is ALWAYS more...like a good depth of field photo. Cheers and keep up the good word!

Awesome tutorial and awesome new track!

Nice. On my last Beats I started to make the bass fill the stereo image and it was full of energy. ✨✨

I'm with you for these tips ❤

❤ amazing stuff!

ty!

Working on a track last night for my bands upcoming album, Re-recording the bass line, Decided to record 2 seperate play throughs one through the clean channel of my Rocker 32 and a seperate one through DI. Made them Stereo and man does it pop. Tried something new and for now I like it

Incredible video, thank you 🙏

You look great! I am so happy for you!

to add to the mono bass discussion, mono compatibility is very important especially if you want your tracks played in clubs. as Alice said, frequencies below 60Hz (I personally go by 100Hz but either way) should be mono mainly for phase reasons. but if your sound loses energy when played as mono that's an issue. this might be changing in the future, but currently a majority of clubs use mono speaker systems so sounds that do not translate well to mono will lose a lot when actually played out. essentially always have a utility on your master channel so you can see how it sounds in mono and what is playing on the sides, then use mid/side EQ to control the stereo field and reduce the impact that summing to mono can have TLDR: wide stereo sounds are great, but make sure they sound good in mono as well so they can still rock the dancefloor

thank you, i think you gave the most valuable video for 2024!

"Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us show up and get to work." This is one of those internet quotes attributed to an endless list of people who probably mostly didn't actually say it - but is actually a fairly worthy sentiment.

I've watched countless music-making RU-vid tutorials over too many years. Yours is the best yet. Thank you, Alice

great tips!

noticing you transitioned blew my mind keep doing what you do you look amazing Alice ^_^

A good video, as always!

awesome, as always

Thanks Alice, good tips

A great shot of sanity to start the new creative year!

Thanks for the update. I think AI is useful but it can be take things too far, this is similar to using only samples and copy pasting all, samples are great but you can also take things to far.

😁👋Hi everyone😄👋... I am a 1980's old peep. And I am reminded of a 1960's friend of mine said - "There's no good music or musicians anymore".... "They've all gone away with the passing of time"! I disagreed with my friend. My retort was thar new minds will fruit new adventures. I'm reminded of this every time I watch an update from Alice. Listen kiddoz😊 this is great stuff.😉✌️🥳😺 peace ✌️

Have a great and musical 2024!

I think the mono bass idea came from cutting vinyl records, I saw an interview with Ed Rush & Optical years ago where they talked about breaking a dubplate cutting head because of stereo bass (cost a lot to fix if I remember).

I think for a beginner keeping bass and low frequencies mono is still a good advice because you avoid a lot of potential errors, like stereo width that is achieved by moving the phase of L/R. This will cause a loss of level and Bass energy when it's played in Mono. You can do stereo bass, but you have to know what you're doing.

Thank you for clarifying topics on which there is a lot of confusing informationТhis knowledge is pure gold for most people who are not professional producers like me. I know this is off topic, but I see that Serum is not in your top 4 synthesizers. Can you explain please why you prefer these in particular? Is it because of the workflow, the sound design possibilities or the sound quality?

Awesome thank you! 😊

Yes yes yes. So many tutorials say to cut everything under 100hrtz or so except the basses. But that screws with your phase alignment and can ruin a mix. One outdated "rule" I hear constantly is needing excessive headroom. Headroom is fantastic if you're giving your tracks to someone else to master but since a lot of bedroom producers mix and master their own tracks, they spend a lot of time reducing the tracks volumes only to need them louder later. "Baphometrix" has a fantastic series of tutorials on a technique called Clip to Zero which completely changed my views of headroom. Keep killing it, your videos are great!

Whoa whoa whoa, let's be careful with that DJ label, please. I was accused of djing once. It hurt a little, if I'm honest. I don’t even use samples. I play my synthesized sounds live, and record the stereo output. As always, thanks for the tips! It's also nice to see an apparent increase in your own confidence re: your appearance. Getting more into "look at me!" territory, and it appears to be good for you.

I don't think it's outdated so much as bad advice, or at least way of giving the advice. Everything that is true today was true 10 years ago as well. The discoveries and realizations we make yesterday were made by those preceding us decades ago. Obviously there's a limit as far as technology goes, but the truth of there being no true "principles" to making music was always the case. The bass certainly wasn't (mixed to) mono on a lot of old jazz recordings, though it was mainly just a hard pan. A lot of what's advised is often good advice, but it can't ever be seen as absolute. I'm glad I always took to heart the fact that nothing is absolute when it comes to music. It's all advice to achieve specific goals, and in our field there's at least 5 different ways to accomplish any single task, whether that be making something louder or balancing elements of a music.

FYI let it be known mono-ing your bass below whatever frequency does NOT solve bass phase issues in many cases. If they exist in stereo they may still well exist in mono. Try adding more voices of unison to a synth patch or a chorus effect to a bass then try to mono it. The phase cancelation will still be there and your bass will be very inconsistent in level in stereo AND mono.

4:33 I had no clue pro q had this option. i need to stop using the ableton eq 8 and just use that more often

I think the tip to mono low frequencies comes from the limitations of mastering for vinyl, as very low frequency stereo information can cause the needle to jump out of the groove. So its not applicable to digital masters.

My most valuable tip would be: Limit your ressources. Drastically. My best, most creative tracks are from a vacation without internet, where i didn't fully set up my new laptop. So i had to use mostly stock plugins and samples. Let me tell you: you'll learn SO MUCH and it will be much more creative than anything you've done before.

Adore your video edditing and content is brilliant ;)

Nice combination 🔥🔥🔥🔥 & I listened to termination that is also awesome 👍😎

Thank you Alice

When people say make your bass mono, they mean bass frequencies. Your bass had upper midrange frequencies as well. It would sound better if it was split and the bass frequencies were mono, and the higher frequencies were stereo

You're Incredible!!!

im so glad to you and weaverbeats...

I don't produce music, but i do play a bunch of instruments and listen to tons of the stuff. Love the stuff you make, and i love the tips.

So some tasteful responses =] I’m not ashamed in using presets. In fact, between having a lot of different synths on hand, I trust I can find the right “colour” amongst them for what I need. And honestly, that’s how I see it. Is there a certain satisfaction in making your own? Absolutely. But if it is right for your track, use it. It does help to know engineering, especially if you are doing things yourself. But yes, you are more often than not a composer-producer and thus it is less about the technical. As long as you can avoid the most egregious things, i.e. digital clipping due to high volume, you will be fine. I have a simple criteria for when you know a track is done and you like it. Imagine the worst things someone can say about it: it’s loud, it’s monotonous, it’s dense, it’s not interesting, etc. If you can stand behind it even with those comments, then you know it’s done and it’s yours. If you can’t, then work on it until you are satisfied with it. And remember: everything is trance 😉

i agree with all points, but not with the first one about the bass mono / stereo, with the called numbers. 60hz is at least 100hz to low to add stereo to your bass, when you make music that should transform well to club or festival Soundsystems. Sub speakers im clubs and festivals run always in mono and the frequency split between sub and top speakers are in all systems i have work with in the last 20 years as audio technician between 100hz - 170hz. So if you want to be safe that your song translates well to such a system, do not add stereo information's under 180hz i would say. Under 60hz comes another problem and that is that a not so good system is not working much lower as that. To have a system that really goes down to 20hz is very rare, most end between 30 and 40hz. We as human hear sound also not lower as 30hz under that we can only feel it, and so deep it is really difficult for us to recognize stereo anyway. Over 180hz there is still more then enough from the bass left that can benefit well from stereo information. When you don't care for club or festival systems, then ignore my information.

I agree, bass doesn’t need to be mono anymore… but sub WILL ALWAYS need to be mono 😂 it will sound like absolute garbage at a show if you don’t

Mono bass is a throw over from analog rock music and still is generally for that form, mainly because of the structure of songwriting. It's also influenced by live pa production. EDM is a different form where the bass is more likely to be a central focus and cover a wider frequency range for which stereo is a more valid approach.

All lowend frequency such as kicks & 808s & subby bassses should be mono in my opinion unless u want wide bass which is another issue

Also: High pass everything except Kick and Bass 😶‍🌫

thx for the great tips. would you consider making a tutorial on DJ'ing with Ableton Live?

It now depends on the genre, if its a genre that would make your drums (including bass) stereo, lighter/reverbed, and almost no mid freq, it is what will sound like, mostly the song or what gives it 'vibes'

stereo bass under 120hz may cause problems on LPS, there is a risk that the needle will jump to other lines. instead of putting effects in master you might just want to group the tracks and put the effects there I do that with drops and filters there is just a nice dj filter sound when you make the drop that way

You're only half way there with the mono bass misconception. You only need to check if it is mono compatible, below 60hz doesn't need to be mono. If it's not mono compatible because of phase issues (which only occur if you use wideners or haas) then it won't fold to mono in clubs and stadiums, it will also jump the needle on a record. This is almost never the case so just press the mono button on the master fader, check then un press the button and move on.

The bass should be mono should always have been sub bass, anyone that said otherwise were always wrong. Otherwise anything that is going to be in a sub not the mains in a big system can be mono and most should.

@10:24 you were gonna highlight a video on clipping/distortion, but it isn't there!

Here's what i do with stereo basses, i set up an eq mid side, and take the side away to taste, ive got a rumble kick with reverb and a stereo bassline, and ive had to cut the sides on both, to accommodate both element's

The good thing about music is that there’s are no rules as long you trust ur ears and know we’re you want to go

if you play a bass stereo under 100hz in a big PA you can suffer of phase cancelation, and your bass loose power. Better to have bass mono, and fill the stereo spectrum with more interesting elements. Maybe the bass for you doesn't sounds better in mono, but there are a lot of other elements that prefer stereo, so why take them space away?

About presets, just listen to how many hit songs in the 80s just used the DX7 ROM 1 patches. It’s what you play with the sound, not how they are made.

with each passing year you are brighter 👩‍🦳🧝‍♀

Your sub bass frequency must be in mono. Around the 200/300 you can ad a stereo tool. But do not put stereo on Sub!!!!!

Making your sub bass mono is essential when playing on big systems, as stereo can induce phase problems that can, in the worst case scenario, basically “delete” your sub frequency depending of where you are placed in the room. Stereo is just a difference between the two channels (if you have the exact same signal it’s gonna be mono)

Its not outdated Mono the Bass we just don't make vinyl anymore. if the Bass isn't mono and you print onto vinyl the needle will jump off the platter while playing back causing scratches and all types of problems

super contribution would be considered for all styles of electronics, how do I get that frequency meter at 0.56how do I get that frequency meter at 0.59

I've never made my bass mono. Even if I did want to do something like that, I would do it very subtly. I've never even done that. I don't always follow the "rules." Go with your instincts & ears.

Great Video! But am i crazy that i couldnt hear any difference on the bass mono/stereo exsamples? Asking because i am currently setting up my first pairs of monitors but couldnt really hear a difference between mono and stereo bass. Never mind i just heard it ... but honestly really hard to recognize for me but i agree with ur point. Especially on reeze basses stereo width in the lowend is kinda cool. Always a struggle to find balance between headroom and phat sound.