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Lummy Keen

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Posts posted by Lummy Keen

    Can a song in C major key uses black note?

    in The Coffee House

    Posted

    Dear All good day,

    I am aware that there are no black notes in C major key, however i found that there are some songs in C major key that use black note, for example the "not a pop song - by little mix",



    1. why isn't there any dissonance since it plays notes outside of the C major key?

    2. Is this known as the "Accidentals"? 

    3. Under what circumstances can i use notes outside of a key?

    Thanks all

    • Like 1

    Aren't sound/music supposed to be similar for both before and after freeze synth

    in Q&A

    Posted

    Thanks to all your reply.

    And it does sound a little different, and it is not a mono track. I have no FX in the track. I dont think i did change the synth value, because synth value could not be changed when a track is freezed.

    To ensure it sounds the same, can i try the workaround of recording sound before unfreeze into a new audio track? e.g. inserting a new audio track, and record the sound before unfreeze into this new audio track . But i have problem recording it...do i need to mute my Mic?

    Many thanks

    Aren't sound/music supposed to be similar for both before and after freeze synth

    in Q&A

    Posted · Edited by Lum Tham

    Dear All, 

    Good day. 

    If my understanding is correct, the purpose of freezing synth is to convert it to audio, therefore without requiring PC to re calculate those MIDI. 

    however, recently I notice it sounds different after I unfreeze eg. it sounds louder and the music is a bit different. 

    Could there be anything wrong that I did? 

    Thank you all. 

    How to merge piano roll view within the same track

    in Q&A

    Posted

    13 hours ago, scook said:

    Bouncing clips is not the same as bouncing a track.

    Bouncing MIDI clips does not render them to audio.

    The image in the OP shows a parent track with 2 clips in different take lanes.

    Open the take lanes to see both clips.

    Bouncing the clips in the parent track merges the selected clips into one clip in a single take lane.

     

    Many thanks for your reply.

    How to "Open the take lanes to see both clips." ? (i am sorry, i am a newbie)

    If bouncing to clip does not bounce it to audio, does it mean i can still edit the notes in the piano roll view and also to change the setting in the VST to change the sound isn't?

    Many thanks!

    How to merge piano roll view within the same track

    in Q&A

    Posted

    Dear All,

    Goodday.

    When creating a MIDI track, somehow it was just split in between without me knowing it. The screenshot shows 2 rows of track and it is actually the same track and the 2nd row shows how it looks like when i click on the "A" part using "smart tool".

    How do i merge/link A and B  ?

     

    Thank you

    track.png

    How to start mixing: volume fader level

    in Cakewalk by BandLab

    Posted

    Dear all,

    Goodday.

    I was watching youtube video and it recommended to set stereo and master fader level to 0db.
    My question : 
    1.     i dont see a stereo fader in cakewalk, i only see a master fader in my cakewalk. Is it necessary to have a stereo bus?

    The youtube video recommended leaving enough headroom.
    My question:
    2. Does it mean the master fader level shouldn't be set at exactly 0db, maybe should set at say -4dB to leave headroom? what is the recommended headroom and how to decide how much is headroom required?

    3. To start the volume mixing, does it mean i first set the master fader level to 0dB (or let say -4dB for headroom?) first ? 
    And then slowly bring up all other track fader in my mix to achieve the volume mix that i want?

    4. In the mixing volume level pane, there are 3 colors, green, yellow and red. Does yellow mean bad? Must we maintain green for the entire track?

    Thank you all.

    Kind regards,

    Lum

     

    youtube.PNG

    my mix.PNG

    Exported mix plays differently on 3 gears, but my gears are not faulty

    in Cakewalk by BandLab

    Posted

    23 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

    So you are starting on a very low budget, and that is fine. That's not a bad sound you're getting for a phone mic recording, although I do hear some lip and tongue noise, which is why I suggested de-essing. A phone mic will pick up more of that than one designed for singing because it has a smaller diaphragm and is designed to make the speaking voice well understood. You may be able to reduce the lip sounds by placing the mic a few centimetres further away when you sing. See if you can figure out whether your app is using the "telephone" mic or the "camera" mic, and adjust to account for that. Most smartphones with cameras have a mic on the front for taking movies that sounds better than the phone call mic.

    As you get more into this hobby and want it to sound more like the polished songs you hear, as with anything, you need to do what they do, and the next investment you should make is to get a microphone. I don't know where you live, but here are some suggestions that I think would work well to get you started:

    https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/behringer-c-1u-usb-studio-condenser-mic/

    I own the version of that Behringer without the USB interface built in and it is a very good sounding microphone. I have used it to record voice and electric guitar and it worked well with both, especially considering the low price.

    https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/samson-meteor-usb-mic/

    I have no direct experience with this one, but it gets good reviews and Samson markets quality products for the budget market.

    My next, easier, bit of advice is to start mixing (and listening) using your Sony headphones. The XBR450's are designed to have hyped bass (eXtra B*****), but they are decent quality consumer cans. Get used to what well-produced music sounds like on the same thing you use to mix it.

    Disable the Windows Sound Enhancements on your system and get VLC Media Player and MusicBee so that you can hear in great detail what your music really sounds like. Windows Media Player puts processing of its own on your files as it plays them. Music Bee can use WASAPI or even ASIO mode just like Cakewalk to use your computer's audio output device more directly.

    John, the first recordings I did were into a monophonic Sony tape recorder with a small handheld dynamic mic. This rig was pretty nice for its time, about 50 years ago, and probably cost my grandma about the same as Lum's phone. His phone mic, which is an electret condenser, is getting a better capture than my Sony dynamic used to. My options for file export and editing were....fewer. We all start somewhere, and if I had had a smartphone and the power of a 2011 Dell laptop and a pair of Sony cans to work with 50 years ago, things may have gone differently.

    Dear Starship,

    Many thanks for your reply as usual.

    Vocal comping/cleaning took a huge amount of time because of the mobile microphone that i use. Will definitely buy a microphone next time. I de-essed using melodyne during the trial period. I even paid someone on Fiverr.com to clean my tongue/saliva voice because it is just hidden within my vocal, and i tried spectral editing with audacity but i just couldn't find the spectrum of the tongue/saliva noise, so i had to pay someone to do it. Will definitely buy a microphone for my next singing.

    Thanks for all your other advice. In the meantime, i am learning to do mastering/mixing through watching youtube.

    You mentioned "Disable the Windows Sound Enhancements on your system and get VLC Media Player and MusicBee so that you can hear in great detail what your music really sounds like. Windows Media Player puts processing of its own on your files as it plays them. Music Bee can use WASAPI or even ASIO mode just like Cakewalk to use your computer's audio output device more directly. My next, easier, bit of advice is to start mixing (and listening) using your Sony headphones. The XBR450's are designed to have hyped bass (eXtra B*****)"

    But using the extra bass headphone will distort the "what my music really sounds like" isn't? 

    Thank you all.

    • Like 1

    Exported mix plays differently on 3 gears, but my gears are not faulty

    in Cakewalk by BandLab

    Posted · Edited by Lum Tham
    added description on how it sounded on Edifier speaker

    2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

    Lum,

    You are doing the right thing by listening on different systems. Also asking for advice. I have a hard time doing that myself.

    My mobile Cakewalk system is a Dell E6410 laptop from 2010. I often reference mixes using consumer Sony headphones similar to yours and have even tried recording just for fun using the built-in camera mic as a room mic. Not recommended for mass distribution! 😁

    I listened to the file that you attached to your post and in my opinion  there are no problems with it that would be solved by spending a pile of money on equipment. After all, you didn't even say what kind of gear you used to record, and to monitor while you were mixing, you only told us what you were using to reference listen.

    But that stuff only matters as you go along, and what kind of results you want to get. You didn't say what you used on your voice, but I think you're off to a good start. My equipment suggestion for getting started recording vocal pop like you are doing would be a USB condenser mic. I can purchase Chinese-manufactured ones of acceptable quality for well under $100 here in the USA. You don't say what your mix monitor system is, but I could mix with those Sony cans while I saved up for something more accurate. The IDT chip in your Dell will drive them plenty loud, undistorted, and with a flat frequency response as long as you use the Sound app in your Control Panel to disable any Windows "enhancements."

    Where I will agree with those who say you need to spend more money is if you want your mixes to sound just like the ones you hear on the radio and on YouTube. You will need a good quality microphone for your voice and a good quality external audio interface if you want to go that far. But you have a journey ahead of you, and you don't need to spend all that money at once if you don't have it or don't want to right now. You can have fun and learn and get pretty good results with maybe just a better mic.

    There's so much you will learn, about compression, reverb, EQ, and being good at using those things has WAY more effect on how your mixes sound than whether you are monitoring on the laptop headphone jack vs. the headphone jack on a fancy audio interface. At this point, your mix might even sound worse played back on a $1000 audio interface than it does through your Dell's headphone jack.

    So, after all my great advice 😄, you like how the file sounds on the ear buds and the cans, can you describe what's wrong with it on your satellite/sub system? Too much bass, too little bass? Shrill? Distorted? Hum? Hiss?

    As a mix critique, I suggest that maybe you should use some FX, EQ and compression. Specifically, try a little bit of de-essing and room reverb on your lead vocal, and mastering compression and limiting on the Master bus. There are some good vocal processing tools in VX-64, you just need to enable it.

    (Kurre, Lum said that other audio sounded good through the Edifier system, so it seems like he's not having technical issues with the speakers)

    Dear Starship,

    Many thanks for your detail reply.

    I use my android mobile phone (using woMic app) microphone to record my vocal. For monitoring of my cakewalk while making music/mixing, i use my in-ear earphone.

    Regarding the playback on my edifier (using cakewalk DAW , using windows media player and also playback on bandlab website that i uploaded), the entire mix sound harsh, muddy.  

    The rest of your comment is very advanced and high level for me, i have to digest slowly.

    Thank you.

    • Like 1

    Exported mix plays differently on 3 gears, but my gears are not faulty

    in Cakewalk by BandLab

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, Kurre said:

    I have one other thought on this. If your onboard soundcard or your audio player have separate settings for your speaker uncheck any enhancements settings.

    Dear Kurre, thanks for your comments.

    How do i check my onboard soundcard and separate/enhancement settings?

    For your info, for edifier playback of mp3 songs by other artists, they are playback on windows media player connected to the edifier using aux cable.

     

    Thank you

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