Courtesy of Solitude Studios
DJ Hero’s V-Theory of Production
I see a lot of aspiring producers on the web nowadays and thought it would be cool to share some of the ideas I keep in mind while I’m producing and engineering my tracks, remixes, and other peoples work in Solitude Studios. Disclaimer: Obviously these are only ideas and are my point of view, but they have been tried and tested in the industry for going on a decade. If something is not clear or you’d like more detailed information, please ask.
The V-Theory is a simple formula I use to make a track wide, bright, and full. It starts with the shape of the “V” and:
-The bottom point of the “V” is the low end of the spectrum sounds that typically take up the most space in your mix.
-The tips of the “V” represent the high end of your track. And obviously the transition from the point to the tips is the transition from the low end to the high end.
If you look at the “V” the top end is wider than the lower point.
As I produce I make each frequency range starting from the lowest to the highest a little wider, with respect to stereo width.
For example, the kick drum, the root of most dance music, is a low end instrument (typically). Because of the space a kick requires and the low-end nature of the kick, I keep it directly centered in the mix (normal stereo width, not mono).
The next level could be the snare, which generally falls somewhere in the middle of the “V” with respect to the frequencies it uses. That particular range I like to widen, usually half way (if we think of width as being 0 to 100%). That sets the snare wider than the kick, but not as wide as it can be widened.
Next I’ll move to the top of the “V”, which for this example I will use the high hats as an example. The high hats I’ll widen 100% to keep them from sitting directly on top of both the kick and the snare. The result is that it requires less volume to achieve the presence needed to push through the mix.
Obviously I have only covered three sounds in this very basic example, but if you take all of your instruments and evaluate what the main range of frequency is, you will be able to sit more sound into your finite space. In most cases, there is a bassline, a lead synthesizer, perhaps an acid line, open hats, closed hats, various background percussion, and various string-like instruments (pads) to fill out the mix. Each sound has a range of frequencies which they occupy most. If you think of each instrument as an average frequency range — and stick to the V-Theory — you be able to really fill out a mix, keep your production from sounding flat, and allow your stereo effects to really breathe and move.
Read the rest of this entry »
