MsTrisMusic.Com

Hey Hey all!! I missed you last week…it’s been a while since I have had to skip an entire week. You know what’s going on when I do? Beats, beats, and more beats!! I’ve got about 20 tracks in the works. The artist are writing and I am happy…

I have also been preparing for a new arrival:

I have been struggling with mixes, blue screens, and pc freezing for too long. I have a favorite soundcard the M-Audio Delta Omni i/o

I have had this for almost ten years, and I can get a great mix using it. The pc that I call “old faithful” which the omni is installed on, just isn’t fast enough to handle extensive mixing.

I have been transferring that soundcard to any pc I’ve tinkered with. My friend gave me a HP Touch Smart 300 last year. I absolutely love it. Its super fast, but one major problem? I can not do any type of upgrades to the all in one unit. That meant no transferring the delta soundcard ..ugh! I started using Roland Edirol M-16DX as my main mixer and soundcard. This mixer has so many excellent features, but my novice engineering skills held me back from it’s full potential.

I found myself using the Touch Smart to make the beats, then trying to mix on the older pc. Talk about a hassle! My “old faithful” would shut down it seemed every 30 minutes. Over the last few months I have come across several ways to avoid glitches when mixing more than 12 tracks in my DAW on the older pc. It’s nothing worst than working on a mix, getting the “sweet spot” only to have the pc freeze or restart!

Most of my beats range from 12-20 plus individual instruments when tracked out:

With out a fast processor this is almost impossible to even play within a DAW. I started splitting the mix into basically 3 projects: One for drums and bass, one for percs, and one for other instruments. This will sound like a lot of work, but it is definitely a work around if your pc is slow.

Step1:
Load all kicks, snares, and bass instruments. Save as a project file. Export a rough mix down. Name the file “rough mix drums”.
Step2:
Load all percs: crashes, cymbols, bells etc. Save as a project file. Export a rough mix down. Name the file “rough mix percs”.
Step3:
Load all instruments: Keys, synths, strings. Save as a project file. Export a rough mix down. Name the file “rough mix instruments”

Step 4:
Choose one of your project files to begin your main mix. Drums are important for most hip hop, so I start with the drums. I open the “Drum” project file. (This may have about 5 tracks: 2 kicks, snares, claps, and bass since the kick and bass are in the same frequency range.)
Next insert your rough mix that you exported of ” percs and instruments”.

Now you can mix your tracked out/separated drums and bass adding effects without maxing your cpu. You have inserted the “rough mixes of percs and instruments only as a reference at this point. Once you have a good mix on your drums, save this as your new “drum project file”. Export a mix down drums ONLY, naming it something like “Drums Mixed”. Export a mix down of bass ONLY, naming it” Bass Mixed”. Close the project.

Step 5:
Open your “instruments project file”. Insert your “Drums Mixed”, “Bass Mixed”, and the “rough mix of percs files”. Now you can mix your tracked out/separated instruments adding effects without maxing your cpu, and hear how they sound with your terrific “Mixed Drums and Mixed Bass”. Save this as your new “instrument project file”. Export a mix down of instruments ONLY, naming it “Instruments Mixed”.

Step 6:
Open your “percs project file”. Insert your “Drums Mixed, Bass Mixed, and Instruments Mixed” files which you exported earlier. Now you can mix your percs adding effects without maxing your cpu, while hearing your wonderful ” Mixed” drums, bass, and other instruments. Save this as your new “percs project file”. Export a mix down of percs ONLY, naming it “Percs” Mixed”.

Step 7:
Create a NEW project file. Insert your ” Drums, Bass, Instruments, and Percs Mixed” files. Now you can do a final mix for sending to artist.

Keep in mind that this is just my little work around which helped me get through my pc processor problems. If you have a slow pc, you can always pay a professional engineer to mix your tracks. You can use less instruments, or bounce tracks within your production hardware and software. This means the same thing can be achieved if you are mixing inside Fl Studio. You don’t have to break down your beat as I described. The main idea is to “Bounce or Mix” elements in groups of tracks small enough for your pc to handle.

Happy Mixing To All..
Pz Til Later!~

Popularity: 6% [?]

Good Morning all… woo weee Spring is totally in the air today. I’m inside mixing beats and later heading out to ProffittProductions new studio with HBO’s “Spider” aka Ammo from The Wire. Busy day which is great …

Y’all know I luvzzz some Araab Muzik!!

…This performance is craaazy! He’s at it again….this time in a battle verses 8th Wundah

Araab Muzik vs 8th Wundah hosted by Math Hoffa Part 1

Araab Muzik vs 8th Wundah hosted by Math Hoffa part 2

I think 8th Wundah has skillz, but this was a one sided battle from the jump….took guts to get in there against the Mpc beast…

I want to see him live..AraabMuzik go on tour! lol…

Happy Beat Making To All!
Pz Til Later!~

Popularity: 6% [?]

Great Morning to ya! I’ve been rolling heavy with the production this week…working on music for 4 artist..busy busy..

I absolutely LOVE the new Maschine update. I have been working a lot faster with the addition of vst instruments inside the stand alone version.

I am still working out a few quick start up templates on my own. I found a video which pretty much sums up what I’ve been doing. It’s so much easier to start projects using templates. It really comes in handy when you need to load up general instruments like bass, keys, synths, etc.

Native Instruments Maschine 1.6 Custom VST Chains

I like the tutorial and his studio is awesome! lol Check out more videos from Matt at :mcsg27 youtube channel

Remember you can use templates in all your music production software.. Fl Studio, Reason etc. Have fun with it, but be sure to make templates that help you work smarter …

Happy Beat Making To All!
Pz Til Later!~

Popularity: 10% [?]

Great Afternoon to all!! It’s a brisk Friday bundle up if you are on the east coast. On the bright side I noticed days are getting longer..Spring is on the way ..

The E. Family: Now & Forever

The Escovedo family name rings bells in the music industry. Most of you are familiar with the music of the legendary Pete Escovedo father of the great Drummer/Songwriter/Artist Sheila E.. You may not have known there are many members of the Escovedo family on the music scene. Sheila’s brothers Juan and Peter Michael both play, write, and sing too!

For the very first time they have all come together to bring us ” Now & Forever”. They have also launched a website filled with the latest E Family news, and updates.

Check out the preview single: “I Like It”

Did you here the mix on that?…Guitars sitting so sweet with the percussion..vocals perfect…and it’s so very catchy!…. I like it

Excerpt from the-e-family.com

Now & Forever
A Timeless Musical Journey

The E Family featuring Pete Escovedo, Sheila E., Juan Escovedo and Peter Michael Escovedo, is truly one of the most versatile and gifted families, with their amazing talent crossing cultural and musical barriers. The Escovedos are joined by special friends who happen to be some of music’s greatest Grammy® Award winning entertainers. “Now & Forever” is a special 13 track collection encompassing a rich range of musical influences, ranging from Latin, Hip Hop, Pop and Jazz, and features special guest artists Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Estefan, Joss Stone, Israel Houghton, Rafael Saadiq, George Duke and Damon Castillo.

As an EXTRA BONUS, the “Now & Forever” CD package will contain a special promotional code that will enable CD purchasers to download a behind-the-scenes DVD featurette from The E Family website.

Video of first radio airplay and interview about Now & Forever…

For complete track listing, song lyric download, and to purchase Now & Forever visit:
the-e-family.com

Along with the many years of great music, I have always loved the joy and humble actions of The Escovedos. To see this project complete is inspiring…Order your copy and drop them some comments…let them know you “Like It”……

Pz Til Later All!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Great Morning to you! I’m having a cup of coffee going through thousands of emails and commenting on other blogs (hint hint) … So I read on www.thisis50.com that Nicki Minaj is #1 on Billboard charts. That’s amazing for hiphop and female artist…yaay for Nicki.

I couldn’t help thinking “Where’s The Hit Lounge?” They were the most informative live streams for producers that I have viewed. I missed about 3 or 4 over the summer and plan to watch one more before I get to banging out beats.

I was excited to watch the following segment. It’s filled with a lot of information about publishing, song writing, and things a new producer should consider. Check this out when you have time…

The Hit Lounge 7/29/10

Be sure to follow Tony G and Dre on Twitter:

@tonygnyc

@dremckenzie

If you see them post about a new episode let me know and I’ll do the same …

Happy Beat Making To All!
Pz Til Later!~

Popularity: 5% [?]

When I heard that Slaughterhouse got signed to Shady Records I was happy for them. I am more familiar with Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz. I know that Joe Budden has been just under the “Super emcee” radar for a while now. He’s always put out solid mixtapes and his beat selection is on point. Joell Ortiz wowed me with his punchlines back in 2007. I hadn’t heard many tracks tracks from Crooked I and Royce Da 5’9 until the“Slaughterhouse” album release. They too have been grinding hard on the underground semi mainstream scene for a minute now. I think all the emcees deserve proper backing and promotion.

Check out the preview: Slaughterhouse Ep

I was surprised how fast they released this Ep. It is really great to hear witty lyrics that most of us are missing from radio now days. DID you hear the BEATS?!? ….So far so good… I’m about to purchase!

Happy Beat Making To All!
Pz Til Later!~

Popularity: 4% [?]

Afternoon to ya! I’m excited to say I know about three chords thoroughly on my guitar now..yay and double yay . I stuck to my at least 2 hour practice / study. I did have to break it up between two weeks though lol… Well I am still on the quest.

My main problem is stretching my fingers to reach some notes. I am also finding my left pinky is just too stiff period! Woo Hoo for youtube. I found this video a few minutes ago. It’s all about dexterity which is needed for playing guitar and many string instruments. It will also help piano players.

Beginner Guitar Lessons – Finger Dexterity Exercise

There is a second part which can be found at :Gutar101Ramstein on Youtube. I have subscribed and will continue through his series.

I am also using this chord book. It has thousands of chords and chord progressions including pictures of the fingering:

Putting all my resources to work now. So far so good and my guitar is no longer dusty

Happy Beat Making To All!
Pz Til Later!`

Popularity: 5% [?]