Production Development by jSf

Creative Compression

jackfaulkner2 — 2025-04-07 11:13:55 UTC

One of the first things I wanted to develop in my production work was the way I applied compression to tracks. I noticed that I had become complacent with how I compress most of my tracks not giving it as much thought as I could so I wanted to learn to get the most out of compression. I learnt to use heavy compression on a drum bus to add punch and glue the kit together and use fast-attack settings on vocals to tame the sound without losing energy. I also explored the use of parallel compression on synths to duck them and control the rhythm. I also experimented with extreme compression on ambient textures and loops to create dynamic soundscapes that evolve throughout a track.

Vocal Mixing

jackfaulkner2 — 2025-04-07 11:25:02 UTC

How to mix vocals (specifically my own) has always been something I've struggled with within my production and I wanted to remedy that. First I played with volume automation to bring out the natural dynamics of the performance making it feel more alive. Secondly, I experimented with using saturation to add warmth and toning down reverb to clear up the vocal topline. And the last effective use of vocal mixing techniques I learnt to use this time was using short delay on stacked vocals to create syncopation when needed.

Effective Reverb

jackfaulkner2 — 2025-04-07 11:26:17 UTC

Another skill I wanted to develop in my production work was the way I applied reverb to tracks. I've been not using reverb as often as I should or at least just not considering the different types of reverb available. I explored use of short, tight reverb on drums to add space without washing them out and use pre-delay on vocals to maintain clarity while still creating depth. I also learnt the proper use of reverse reverb on synths to build tension before drops. Furthermore, I experimented with long, modulated reverb on ambient textures and loops to create immersive, evolving atmospheres that fill the stereo field.

Harmonics

jackfaulkner2 — 2025-04-07 11:27:34 UTC

Another area I really wanted to improve in my production was how I approached harmonics in my tracks. Harmonics is something I've never really had the chance to fully explore before and definitely a technique i needed more information on. I started focusing more on the notes themselves and instead of always reaching for saturation for harmonic depth on basslines, I tried reinforcing them with root notes and perfect 5ths to fatten the sound out. I tried a technique for hi-hats with adding minor 7th intervals in the background to create tension. With vocals, I found that simple added 7th harmonies worked better than exciters for making them stand out. The biggest breakthrough came when I stopped trying to fix synth sounds with effects - just adding the right 5ths and 7ths in the chord voicings made them sound full and organic right away.