I'm a talented composer but a novice sound designer... anyone wanna trade advice?

[ThaRealness]

Basically Ive put most of my time into composition.. Just started getting into sound design, drum textures, etc.

mainly I need help synthesizing a mellow/psychedelic bell tone.. I need bell tones that shimmer, kind of like on that Summer Knights mixtape

My plan is to get some bell tones that mesh with SGP style deep pads (Ive had a little more luck with synthesizing pads)


Also Im trying to figure out how process drum breaks and give them a modern sound.. specifically how to use a bass amp to change the tone..

Im not looking for definitive answers on how to cultivate a sound.. its more that Im trying to keep my production going in the right direction - Im looking for suggestions on which features I should be experimenting with, maybe a few tips on what doesn't work etc. that kind of stuff

Shoot me some questions on composition too if you want

 

[ryshy]

for bass kicks theres this sample pack called goldbaby 808s, i dont use it but ive heard from pros that its the best source of 808's, still you have to process them to get a good sound

for all subbass you probably wanna use distortion to give it a nastier sound. Also EQ/filter it to cut off to between 150-300hz frequencies (really whatever sounds best for what your going for). I use this plugin called maxxbass from waves to make my bass sound fuller, although for really deep subbass you dont want distortion or maxbass, for that just take a sine wave and put it down an octave, then play lower keys. You can compress it to make it louder, an thats it.

Most industry people nowadays take a good 808 sample, do whatever to it (distort, whatever else people do thats up to preference), then compress it to make it fukkin bang, and put a limiter on it so that its still a huge fukkin sound, but it isnt too loud. Many producers who actually care about using good technique (me included) dont like doing that, but it gets the job done.

For the bell tone i dont rly know what ur talking about tbh an example would be cool, but it sounds like u want reverb, maybe play with some decay, filter it (again idk what your talkin about but these are all the things id ever put on a bell sound), flange/phase it, cant rly think of anything else.

I also dont rly know what you meant for the drum breaks easier, i saw bass and modern sound so i just talked about subbass. For joey badass type drum breaks i dont think they do too much with it, they probably just add a slight reverb to snare/hi-hats and hipass filter it to get a snappier sound, or if you want darker more lofi sounding snares just add a bit of distortion, an saturate it i find that increases the darker sound of snares. For kicks just eq an maybe compress it.

Composition is my weakpoint but i dont rly have questions, i just find it hard to spend time mixing and making sounds just to throw them in for a little bit, but that results in my beats being pretty uninteresting at times. I usually dont worry about it too much though because my beats tend to have enough power behind them in the first place where they dont need much variation in composition.

 

[ThaRealness]

for bass kicks theres this sample pack called goldbaby 808s, i dont use it but ive heard from pros that its the best source of 808's, still you have to process them to get a good sound

for all subbass you probably wanna use distortion to give it a nastier sound. Also EQ/filter it to cut off to between 150-300hz frequencies (really whatever sounds best for what your going for). I use this plugin called maxxbass from waves to make my bass sound fuller, although for really deep subbass you dont want distortion or maxbass, for that just take a sine wave and put it down an octave, then play lower keys. You can compress it to make it louder, an thats it.

Most industry people nowadays take a good 808 sample, do whatever to it (distort, whatever else people do thats up to preference), then compress it to make it fukkin bang, and put a limiter on it so that its still a huge fukkin sound, but it isnt too loud. Many producers who actually care about using good technique (me included) dont like doing that, but it gets the job done.

For the bell tone i dont rly know what ur talking about tbh an example would be cool, but it sounds like u want reverb, maybe play with some decay, filter it (again idk what your talkin about but these are all the things id ever put on a bell sound), flange/phase it, cant rly think of anything else.

I also dont rly know what you meant for the drum breaks easier, i saw bass and modern sound so i just talked about subbass. For joey badass type drum breaks i dont think they do too much with it, they probably just add a slight reverb to snare/hi-hats and hipass filter it to get a snappier sound, or if you want darker more lofi sounding snares just add a bit of distortion, an saturate it i find that increases the darker sound of snares. For kicks just eq an maybe compress it.

Composition is my weakpoint but i dont rly have questions, i just find it hard to spend time mixing and making sounds just to throw them in for a little bit, but that results in my beats being pretty uninteresting at times. I usually dont worry about it too much though because my beats tend to have enough power behind them in the first place where they dont need much variation in composition.

Thanks for the info man

ya with the bells, Im just looking for ways to add some character to the tone. I mean my ultimate goal is to come up with a sound like this

But I know it would take serious skill to achieve that tone. so for now Im just looking for suggestions on which effects are worth experimenting with

regarding drums, I mentioned bass amps because Im pretty sure that producers like Madlib, RZA, Spaceghostpurrp etc, use bass & guitar amps as part of their lo fi aesthetic.


Im wondering if anyone knows anything about that