Music Production Tips: Creating Strong Transitions In Your Music
Summary
TLDRIn this Velveteen audio tutorial, Brad demonstrates techniques for enhancing transitions in music production. He starts with a basic beat and then layers instruments, filters, and effects to create a dynamic shift between the verse and chorus. The video covers muting drum elements, adding groove elements, adjusting bass sounds, using filters for dramatic effect, and incorporating swells, impacts, and fills to emphasize the transition. The result is a more impactful and engaging musical piece.
Takeaways
- 🎶 Brad from Velveteen audio shares techniques for building impactful transitions in music production.
- 🔊 He starts with a basic beat using samples, a chord loop, and a root note synth bass to demonstrate transition improvements.
- 👂 The transition is initially simple, just getting 'a little bigger', which Brad aims to enhance for more impact.
- 🎵 One method is layering instruments, adding or removing them at transition points for emphasis.
- 🥁 Brad suggests muting certain kick and snare drums in the verse to make the chorus feel more impactful.
- 🌀 He introduces groove-based elements like shakers and tambourines to bring bigger sections 'further up'.
- 🎹 Brad explains how to use bass lines to create transitions, thinning them out in the verse and adding sub bass in the chorus.
- 🔍 Filtering is used to create transitions, with the example of a filtered chord loop opening up in the chorus.
- 📉 He demonstrates automating a filter to create a 'drop' section, where the music rests before hitting hard for the chorus.
- 🎉 Swells and impacts are used to emphasize the downbeat and add drama to the transition.
- 🔧 Fills, such as vocal swells, noise tracks, and glitchy sounds, are added to enhance the transition and create a story within the music.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video presented by Brad from Velveteen Audio?
-The main topic of the video is about the different techniques and methods to build impactful transitions in music production.
What does Brad consider as the smaller and bigger sections of the music track he is working on?
-Brad considers the smaller section as the 'verse' and the bigger section as the 'chorus' for the purpose of the video.
How does Brad suggest improving the transition between the verse and chorus in the beginning of the video?
-Brad suggests improving the transition by adding or removing layers of instruments at transition points for impact.
What is one basic way Brad demonstrates to create a transition in the drum production?
-One basic way Brad demonstrates is by pulling out one of the kick drums and one of the snare drums in the verse to make the chorus feel like it has a jump forward.
What role do groove-based elements like shakers, tambourines, and hi-hats play in transitions according to Brad?
-Groove-based elements are used to bring bigger parts further up and add movement to the transitions, making them more impactful.
How does Brad approach the bass in the transition between sections?
-Brad suggests duplicating the existing bass and adjusting its thickness, possibly adding a sub bass in the chorus for a fuller sound.
What is the purpose of using a filter in the transition of a music track as shown by Brad?
-The purpose of using a filter is to create a sense of change or development in the music, making the transition more noticeable and dynamic.
How does Brad utilize the concept of a 'drop' in the context of transitions?
-Brad uses the concept of a 'drop' to refer to a part of the track where elements like the kick and snare are removed right before the chorus to emphasize the transition.
What are some examples of fills that Brad mentions to enhance transitions?
-Examples of fills Brad mentions include vocal swells, noise tracks, and glitchy or rhythmic elements that can be time-aligned to fit the track.
How does Brad deal with the issue of pitch when using a vocal fill from a different key?
-Brad uses a pitch-shifting tool like Altiverb to adjust the vocal fill to match the key of the track, ensuring it fits harmoniously.
What is the final outcome Brad aims to achieve with the various techniques discussed in the video?
-The final outcome Brad aims for is a more powerful and impactful transition between sections of the track, making the music more engaging and dynamic.
Outlines
🎶 Building Impactful Transitions in Music Production
In this paragraph, Brad from Velveteen Audio introduces the topic of creating impactful transitions in music production. He demonstrates a basic beat and identifies the need to enhance the transition between the verse and chorus sections. Brad outlines the importance of using additional instruments or layers during transition points to create a sense of progression and impact in electronic music production.
🥁 Enhancing Drum Production for Transitions
Brad discusses techniques to improve drum transitions by selectively muting or adding kick and snare drums at key points. He illustrates how removing certain drum elements from the verse can make the chorus feel more powerful and impactful. The concept of adding groove-based elements like shakers and tambourines is also introduced to further enhance the transition and create a sense of movement in the music.
🎛 Utilizing Bass and Filtering for Dynamic Transitions
This section delves into the use of bass and filtering to create dynamic transitions. Brad explains how adjusting the bass sound by thinning it out in the verse and introducing a sub bass in the chorus can add depth and contrast. He also demonstrates the use of filters on a chord loop, showing how automation can be used to create a more dramatic transition into the chorus, effectively telling a story through the arrangement.
🌀 Incorporating Fills, Swells, and Impacts for Transition Emphasis
Brad explores the use of fills, swells, and impacts to emphasize transitions. He introduces the concept of using vocal swells and noise tracks to create a sense of climax leading into the chorus. The paragraph also covers the use of impacts to accentuate the downbeat and the creative use of a glitchy fill to add character to the transition. Brad discusses the process of finding and aligning samples to fit the tempo of the track.
🎤 Creative Vocal Fills and Final Transition Touches
In the final paragraph, Brad focuses on the integration of vocal fills and the importance of time alignment when using rhythmic fills. He demonstrates how to pitch-shift a sample to match the key of the track and discusses the use of reverb to ensure the sample sits well in the mix. The paragraph concludes with a recap of the techniques used to enhance transitions, emphasizing the improvements made to the overall feel of the track.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Transitions
💡Electronic Production
💡Kick Drums
💡Snare Drums
💡High Hats
💡Bass
💡Filtering
💡Swell
💡Impacts
💡Fill
💡Pitch Shifting
Highlights
Introduction to the video by Brad from Velveteen audio on building transitions in music production.
Basic beat construction using samples, cord loops, high hats, and a root note synth bass.
Discussion on the importance of impactful transitions between sections like verse and chorus.
Technique of layering instruments for transition impact by adding or removing elements.
Example of pulling out kick and snare drums to enhance the transition to the chorus.
Use of groove-based elements like shakers and tambourines to bring bigger sections up.
Bass line manipulation for transition by thinning out the bass in the verse and adding sub bass in the chorus.
Filtering techniques to create transitions, demonstrating with a chord loop.
Automating filter levels to build up to a drop section in the music.
Emphasizing transitions with drum fills and impacts right before the chorus hits.
Adding vocal swells and noise tracks to create a sense of climax leading into the chorus.
Utilizing reverse plugins to create unique effects with vocal swells.
Incorporating fills and impacts to emphasize the downbeat and create a dynamic shift.
Aligning fills to the correct tempo and time, adjusting pitch and reverb for seamless integration.
Final demonstration of the improved transition incorporating all discussed techniques.
Summary of the video's techniques to enhance transitions in music production.
Transcripts
hey guys Brad here from Velveteen audio
and today I'm going to show you some of
the ways that I build transitions into
my productions
[Music]
okay
so let's dive in here I've whipped up
just a really basic beat consisting of
samples from splice a little cord loops
some high hats and it looks like I built
just a root note synth bass so I'll just
kind of play you over the transition
that were we're gonna work on today so
[Music]
okay so that's the gist of the part and
just for just for sake of naming sake
and just for clarity I'm just gonna call
this smaller section the verse and the
bigger section the chorus just so where
I can use those terms throughout the
video so yeah the transition is pretty
lame right now it just kind of gets a
little bigger that's it or opens up a
bit so let's let's dive into some ways
that we can make that even more
impactful so the first way that you'll
see a lot in electronic production
especially is when you have layers of
instruments or even just additional
instruments you can bring them in and
out on these transition points for
impact so let's just start with one of
the most basic ways in the smaller
section we can maybe pull out one of the
kick drums and one of the snare drums
I've brought in three of each on this
particular this particular beat so so we
can pull those out and then that way the
bigger part feels like it's got a little
bit of a jump forward in the in the drum
production so you can also also just
like add another kick and snare here
it's the same principle
so let's go in and just listen to the
kick sounds and see which one we want to
pull out so because this particular
sample is really really hard-hitting I'm
probably gonna be
oh this one and that way when the course
hits it'll get a nice attack so let's
mute that one for the verse section and
snare wise let's do the same thing that
might be cool livers and now one hits
pretty hard so maybe the same thing
we'll take that one out of the verse so
that when we get to the chorus it hits a
little harder so I just muted those two
just in those sections so I just needed
the regions directly so let's let's just
check how that feels now cool that's
already better you can just feel even if
we mute all the rest of the instruments
you can just feel it get a little bigger
so even the drum production itself has a
tells a bit of a story now I've brought
in high hats
so that's I don't have anything before
that but you know that that's another
thing you can do is like bringing in
kind of groove based elements such as
shakers tambourines hats loops whatever
sounds that have some movement to them
they're really good to bring bigger
parts even further up so I've got this
just kind of a filtered hi-hat loop and
then more of an organic hi-hat and the
end result is when we cross over cool
same thing I'm doing the same principle
here with a bass so I've got it just
comes in on the chorus
right anyway you can do the same
principle with a base what I'll often do
is I'll duplicate what I have and let's
just pretend that there was base in the
previous section oops so I'll just leave
it as this what is the same chord
progression for now so sometimes what
I'll do is I'll have the base here in
this section be something a little
thinner I'm using Deva since for for
this let's see here
and maybe I'll bring in something a
little more sub e there's a cool sub
patch in here in the chorus and then
maybe I'll just thin this one out a bit
so if I maybe just take a let's just add
itchy EQ it doesn't matter just trim off
some of the low end and maybe a little
of that top so it's not so okay so maybe
that's like a bass sound I had in the
first and then when the chorus hits
we'll get the sub bass and maybe I'll
even bypass this EQ so that it lets the
full dynamic out yes we want okay so
it's the same principle there
[Music]
yeah that bottom-end
really filled out so that's the same
effect as if we just had no bass in the
verse I'd say especially with this chord
let's bring him back in okay that okay
so I'm not a huge fan of that anyway so
I'm gonna kill it but yeah that's that's
some of the principles you'll notice
that the the maybe we'll talk about
filtering next the the chords themselves
this particular sample had a filter on
it so in this I've kind of looped it to
fit this groove but it has a filter
section and a non filter section so
let's just even though it's there let's
go through that just to to show you what
that could what that could look like so
often what I'll do is I will filter kind
of a drop part and maybe we'll plan this
out a little bit and then work on the
rest of the instrument so let's just
grab a basic filter like like what the
one knob filter is fine so so that's
kind of already being done but let's
just go a little further just for the
sake of it so imagine that let's
automate this one knob okay so I'm gonna
and this line it's just literally
automating then the knob level so I'm
going to release it on the chorus fully
open and I'm gonna filter it maybe not
quite as much for most of the verse and
I can do this in a couple ways I could
build a transition we
it comes down it filters harder or if I
just cut it down at at the point I want
to kind of have everything drop out okay
so what I did there is I'm planning on
taking making a transition rate at this
is back to beats of bar twelve so I
pulled the filter down even further just
to like really pulled it the arrangement
back
[Music]
let's go even further just so you can
really feel what's happening here it
might be a bit far okay
so we're using a filter there to create
the transition too so now the the cord
loop is even telling more of a story
cool so that's some of the things you
can do with filtering if we had any
other synths or instruments you could
just hit you could take this one knob
and just copy it wherever and you get
all your instruments kind of getting a
little smaller and filtered and then
expanding into the into the chorus so
now this could just be done by just
keeping it lower in general it doesn't
have to be like a drop it could just be
something like that so it could just be
playing at that filtered level and then
just jump into the course for what I'm
planning on doing let's do it this way
so this section is like often you'll
you'll you'll hear this a lot where
instruments drop out right before the
bigger section so let's do that we're
gonna take out the kick and snare and I
think just those two so again I'm trying
to I'm trying to drop this back to beat
so that the chorus really hits
[Music]
that's getting better so again I just to
follow this filter I just took out the
kick and snare so that it emphasizes
that let's go a little further with it
so now some of the things we can add our
fills you know swells noise and whatnot
so let's grab some stuffs from splice so
I think I've got a few kind of ready to
go if we go to the top here yeah so
let's drag in that vocal swell I think
that sounds like a vocal so maybe I'll
try doing it right there
[Music]
that's pretty cool
so we're really gonna try to emphasize
that that drop there doesn't sound like
it's cut very nice no I'll just do
something like that and I'll put a face
on it maybe I'm okay so and then
balancing it in cool that sounds great
now often what you can do with this too
is if you find a swell sample or or
whatnot you can utilize the reverse plug
in for effect so you can have it as
almost like a crash with a tone kind of
thing so I'm gonna put it down as if
it's a crash to hit the core so it acts
kind of the same way a crash would
[Music]
well we could also do this like this
where maybe that swell comes in right on
on the drop let's see how that sounds to
be honest with you I think I prefer that
let's roll with that one and what I'll
often do too is if I have like a
back-to-back region like this I will
clip gain down this one's so that
there's a little bit of a story being
told here to see how it gets a little
louder when because I've clipped getting
this down again the same principle so
let's hear that again okay let's go
further with the stuff on the downbeat
so that's how one of the ways we can use
a swell let's add an impact
[Music]
yeah okay let's roll with that that's
cool okay so impacts are they come in
various shapes and forms that some of
them shapes and sizes they have usually
like a really basic kind of hit to them
with lots of reverb some of them have
like noise with them like a crash so a
lot usually they have a lot of decay
this one is kind of a little more dark
but still has that hit so let's just see
how it sounds in there to be honest we
could probably get a little more out of
it
[Music]
okay that's cool let's add something
that would emulate like a crash let's
let's do no it's like a white noise
thing now I will say I I'll be the first
to admit I'm getting a little sick of
these white noise sounds but as if
they're done tastefully they still work
it's just kind of getting old I think
but it's the principle because you can
do this with all kinds of different
instruments so I'm just looking for that
like sparkly top end that a white noise
has so let's try blending that in that's
too much for me but let's try it again
go down a little bit further
[Music]
that's better cool okay I pretty sure
how to fill queued up that we could use
so one of the last things I want to show
you is just putting in a fill there and
a fill could be anything really it could
be something that's rhythmic like a drum
it could be a little vocal fill it could
be lots of things so that was the the
glitch I guess that I had kind of
prepped ahead of time
so with fills because they especially if
they have some kind of rhythmic
component they generally are gonna need
time alignment sometimes they I don't
know what it is yet why but some some
files drop in from splice and auto
adjust themselves this one doesn't so I
can see that this tempo is 103 and ours
is 83 so one thing you can do is
typically splice sample creators will
cut them to a bar for that tempo this is
just shy of two bar a full bar you can
see that it would be this length for a
bar so I think because this is at a
faster tempo I can assume that this is a
bar and I'll just stretch it out to and
if I decrease my grid granularity it
looks it looks like that's a bar so and
then it's worth going in and just seeing
how they're sitting with the bar looks
like this is generally a little bit
behind so maybe I'm going to adjust that
and I think we're good so let's let's
just but this up to the transition see
what happens and just drop it down
[Music]
that's cool I'm gonna put a fade on it
so maybe it gets a little louder and I'm
also gonna put a bit more verb on it I
think so it's just kind of hanging in
the background it's it feels a little
forward to me right now everybody's
favorite little plate
okay so let's see what that adds to the
equation very cool let's add one more
let's do like a vocal fill vocal fill
and what did I say 83 so let's go 80 to
85 and we'll have to probably pitch
shift wow these are all drums that's
great okay not did not
let's see if we can work with that um
this is really gonna test my skills here
cuz that one is without going too far
into it oops okay so I'm fairly certain
that this chord is C sharp minor and
this is in C minor okay that's nice cuz
it's only 1 semitone away so you can
pitch in various ways actually let's use
altar boy cuz then I can mess with it a
bit so we need because it's from C to C
sharp we got to go up a semitone so
let's do that that's just one on altar
boy we'll want to keep the mix fully wet
because we're pitch shifting and not in
like an even increment like an octave or
a fifth this is this is a semitone so it
sounds terrible if you blend them okay
and let's do the usual trick where we
put some little plate after a little a
little altar boy a little plate secret
sauce maybe let's chop a little bit of
the top end off and again I'm just gonna
use a nice and simple I'll put a little
plate after so it doesn't affect the
reverb tone it just chop saw that girl
sneeze off the volkl and let's see if we
can fit this in don't need that fade
[Music]
okay it's almost there I think we got to
go a little further with the wet here
okay I think we made it work all right
let me play that whole bar leading up to
it
are two bars so just to recap some of
the things that we did on this video to
make the transition a little more
powerful
we added or took away instruments so
take away instruments or layers from the
smaller sections put them back in or add
more to the bigger sections and whatever
order you're doing that in we talked
about filtering so with for instance we
filtered this chord loop and then we
filtered it even further in the drop
section so what I'm calling the drop
anyway I know drop can be used in so
many different terms
I just dropped these last two beats at
the bar just so that everything has a
rest and then we hit hard for the course
so that's what I'm calling that what's
called the drop out so people don't
confuse it with a drop so that's another
thing so just to go over that we muted
the kick and snare there we talked about
swells so we had this one vocal swell
which we brought into the chorus and
then we also reversed it so it was more
like a crash coming down right here and
then we talked about impacts so those
are things that emphasize the downbeat
like something that has a lot of hit we
added a noise track too so that same
thing emphasizing the downbeat we
brought in a little kind of weird
glitchy fill and we did a somehow
miraculously pulled off a vocal fill
with that random sample so here's the
end result one more time
[Music]
okay given where we were I think we made
massive improvements to that transition
it feels a lot better so yeah I hope
really hope you got something out of
this and yeah appreciate you appreciate
you getting to the end it's got a little
bit long but yeah we'll see on the next
video thanks guys
[Music]
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