yo man biggups! question: what are you using for live effects/glitching during your live sets?

Ask your girlfriend

^"Like"

LOVE YOU FREDDY TODD. Keep puttin' out smangers for the rest of us who wish we knew how to do it as well as you do.

Congrats and condolenses.

I'd like to know how you go about making yer hihat and purcussion sequences. Do you play them in with a midi controller or pencil that shit in? How do you fuck with them get the groove? Also, do you have a favorite plugin in fer this (like Battery or whatever)?

Love yer music, can't fucking understand yer magical skills but am looking forward to yer replys.

I just wanted to tell - U awesomely ROCKZ sir fred!!!

no questions from my side

cheerz bro

dorian

first of all your newest release is the shit!!! i was curious about some of the effects youre using on the intro to can't techa right when you start mixing in the mutalated vocals it sounds awesome. actually that whole track is suuuper awesome thanks for the dope tunes!!!!

FREDDY!!! Bootsie Collins said in a recent interview with a local paper that he got his funk from 'eating mouth'. Where did you get your funk from? I've been munching carpet like crazy lately, and I think it's starting to work.

Freddo?

hey guys! first of all let me apologize for the wait, been super busy with family stuff after tour (21st birthday, grandpa dying), no internet at the house for a long time, more travel and shows, and general shenanigans. but anyway enough of my excuses, i love you guys for this and am super flattered i was chosen to lead this rounds q&a's....i started off posting my first glitch hop style crunk tunes on GHF and getting feedback, as well as reading about different peoples techniques a few years ago, and it definitely helped me grow as a producer.

let me just say, i am by no means a musical "genius" in any institutionalized manner (aka i didn't go to music college, i don't know any technical terms, not really sure WHAT i'm talking about but i know how it SOUNDS… obviously, thats why you're here). anyway, im just gonna dive right in and start knocking off the questions in order of their appearance.



ahab:
1.
Q: I'd love to know what your mixdown process looks like. I love how you can hear each instrument clearly, even when they seem like they'd interfere with each other frequency wise.
A: my general philosophy for a mix down is to always have 1 thing at a time, lowend wise. if you have a phatty bass synth going as your bassline and you have a kick drum going with the same frequencies blasting, youre gonna get a shitty mix -- i ALWAYS make sure to either side chain the low end frequency OR the overall volume of the bass with the kick drums peak volume. in other words, when the kick hits, the volume or lowend of the bass goes down- its frequencies dont interfere with the bass's frequency, hence a super clean low end, not muddy. as for everything else, once i have a track laid out, i generally turn all the volumes of every instrument on the mixer down to 0 and slowly bring them all back up to taste.

2.
Q: Is there any audio unit that you mainly use for stutters and glitches, or are you more of a copy 'n' paste-r? I've always been curious.
A: i mainly use Image Line's (they make fruity loops studio) Gross Beat stutter/time/glitch/volume envelope editor. unfortunately, they only have it for windows, which is what i use. i recently got a baller blangin new mac book pro but i partitioned the harddrive to have bootcamp windows running when i want to produce on FL with it on the go. however, i do drop audio files into the Fruity Slicer, which basically chops it up and lets you play around with it on the piano roll. i'll also sometimes go into the actual song playlist layout and manually chop up loops or audio waves.


Simteks:

1.
Q: I have a feeling you know a lot about sidechaining. Could you explain some of the main ways you use it in your tracks?
A: OK as for the sidechaining, i kind of delved into it above (see ahabs 1st answer). to recap, i mainly use sidechaining as a technique to keep bass frequencies from interfering with each other. im going to go ahead and say i LOVE the dynamics and the organic mechanisms side chaining creates. its like a little creature or organism that works for you. as a rhythmic person (grew up on the drums) its fun to play around with how hard the kick hits (or whatever you're side chaining for that matter) and how much time is delayed with the side chain. you can literally side chain anything to anything. for example, you could have the snare peak volume side chain attached to a hi or low pass filter on a synth pad. go ahead and try out side chaining different creative things, the possibilities are limitless into infinity, as the inner fractals of music will always be. as for how to ACTUALLY set up a side chain, i can only really provide the philosophy because i have a feeling pretty much all of you use ableton or logic and i only know how to set it up on FL - just look up a tutorial on youtube or something if you have no idea how to get to what im talking about.

2.
Q: What DAW do you use and what are your top five plugins/synths you go to regularly?
A: the Digital Audio Workstation i use for production is Image Line's Fruity Loops Studio (v. 9.something right now) and i use Ableton Live for live sets.
My favorite synthesizers are NI's Massive for bass (or anything) sounds, Image Line's super simple WASP synth (FL native), NI Reaktor's Razor synth (just getting into that one, its a pretty awesome additive synth). those are pretty much my favorite digital synths > i do use a few analog hardware synths like my microKorg and a the classic Roland Juno 2 for some funky retro sounds
My favorite VST effect plugins are pretty much all Image Line native ones, Grossbeat (time glitch editor) fruity reverb, delay, etc >>> (which goes to show its the artist not the brand of paint brush that creates the painting). out of all of them i use their Maximus vst a lot to beef up individual mixer tracks, usually just on the bass insert track and the kick drum insert track for maximum beef (image lines description of maximus: "Maximus will deliver transparent peak limiting and volume maximization without coloration of the processed sound. However, Maximus is much more than a pristine quality Mastering Maximizer, it's also a Compressor, Limiter, Noise Gate, Expander, Ducker and De-esser. Maximus excels equally well as a final mastering plugin or as a per-track effect. Lock and load.")

3.
Q: Can you explain your basic sound design processes for your bass and synth sounds?
A: my most honest answer, with a hint of "magicians never give away their tricks" arrogance, would be to just get a bomb ass subwoofer (just picked up a KRK 10" sub for $400) and some good studio monitors (i use the biggest mackies) and just PLAY and PLAY and fux wit it. meld the bass or synth to whatever you desire, play with the knobs, get to know the synth, even look up a youtube tutorial if you're in the complete dark as to, for example, setting an LFO parameter on massive. another good way to figure out how to use a synth and mold it to your liking is to take a look at the presets and check out what theyre doing. then start from a default scratch saw wave and build your way up to something unique and awesome and sounding good (and you know when it will sound good bc you should have a dank system - no dank sound, no dank music, no reference as to how dank it will sound on the big speakers at a venue or club)

4.
Q: How do you get so much atmospheric space in your tracks (i.e the beginning of 'Rooftoppers')
A: i suppose the best way to answer that listening to it would be just to list off what im doing in the beginning: a combination of chill vibraphone samples, chill pads, but most of all probably the use of an lfo on the cutoff frequency on an arpeggiated synth with the combination of reeverb, making for a super pineal almost Bluetech-y chilled atmosphere

5.
Q: Your style is fairly off the wall and very unique. Where does the inspiration for all your audio insanity come from?
A: haha thanks man, i'd have to say, the beginning of my glitch hop bass music career ( i had been producing goofy electronica that didnt really go anywhere, just more of a personal calming meditative thing since i was 14 in 2004) really kicked off after i went to Rothbury festival 2009 (my first campout blowout magical forest time) and saw all these emerging artists, Pretty Lights, EOTO, Big Gigantic, Eliot Lipp + Lipp Service with Alex B, Shpongle, (not to mention the fcking DEAD, String Cheese, and Bob Dylan). i got home from that festival, sat down with a sack of ganja and just wrote my entire first EP, Ghost Dance Messiah (released on Car Crash Set), while my parents were on vacation. although, i had already began developing my own crunk sound before rothbury, i had known Ben Samples since '05 when we were BOTH making shitty goofy techno on FL studio and had also been an STS9 head for a while, rothenblury just helped solidify the inspiration for my first push into the world of publishing original albums. my first exposure to this kind of super crunk psychedlic bass music live was probably a combo of my first Bassnectar and EOTO shows circa 2008. Long story short, i get my inspiration from new ground breaking music, live shows, friends, travel/tour, nature, psychedelic realms, all in a swirly plethora of emotions.


Bleep Bloop:

1.
q: can you please explain the atmospherics that begin happening around 1:00 in this tune? its pretty wow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltxjLSFhDHg
a: All the atmospheric stuff in between, at the cut outs, are all vocal cuts from zebbler and enchant for the remix

2.
q. aside from that, how do you go about processing your basslines once you have bounced them down to audio. your glitch technique fascinates me.
a. all my bass lines and every line for that matter, synth drums, are all midi until i bounce them all down to audio when i render the track to a wav or mp3, i don't bounce my bass lines down to audio first much. however, if im glitching out just the bassline, its from using gross beat within the bass line's specific channel.

Distruzio:

A: No.


Plus 2:

1.
q: I've heard you can glitch shit a billion ways man. I'm interested in a few of your go to's and some others that you would recommend. What have you used in the past that really helped change your flow and get some of those amazing edits in?
a: see answer to ahab's q: " i mainly use Image Line's (they make fruity loops studio) Gross Beat stutter/time/glitch/volume envelope editor. unfortunately, they only have it for windows, which is what i use. i recently got a baller blangin new mac book pro but i partitioned the harddrive to have bootcamp windows running when i want to produce on FL with it on the go. however, i do drop audio files into the Fruity Slicer, which basically chops it up and lets you play around with it on the piano roll. i'll also sometimes go into the actual song playlist layout and manually chop up loops or audio waves."


+verb:

1.
q: boxers or briefs?
a: boxers, but sometimes boxer briefs if im out of boxers and need to do laundry

2.
q: turkey or veg:
a: vegetarian with bacon

3.
q: indica or sativa?
a: both, all the time


skunky:

1.
q: I would be interested to know what daw youre using for producing?
a: FL studio

2.
q how much/what kind of analog equipment (if any) youre using for producing/post processing?
a: the only analog equipment i use are (sometimes) synthesizers during production, a roland juno-2 and a microkorg.

3.
q: would you tell us about your dynamics control between different instruments and give us a little insight into how you use compressors?
a: like ive discussed, i like to keep everything crisp in the mix by using sidechaining techniques. as far as compressors go, i mostly use them on vocals with a ratio of 10:1 for hiphop, and for volume boost. ill also use a compressor if there's ridiculous delay or reverb that needs controlling, but sometimes that just funches up everything, cramming it all into a weird compressed sound- and then ill just set the delay after the compressor in the chain instead.
like i discussed before, i use the muiltiband maximizer Maximus a lot on bass kicks and bass synths to max it out, which is partly a mutt band compressor (see my explanation of Maximus vst above)

4.
q: beyond that, how do you churn out such ridiculously good music at the pace you do? what are some tips you could share for speeding up workflow to the point where tracks as crazy good as yours are getting done as quickly as you seem to be able to get them out? ...i mean, NSO was epic.
a: as far as a speedy workflow, a lot of it comes down to time, inspiration and how much you know how to do on your specific DAW. when it comes to NSO, i pretty much had cracked all of FL's codes by then and could produce whatever i was feeling. if you're not feeling a specific track, scrap it and start a new one. maybe don't use templates. inspire yourself by creating new synth sounds everyday. work on sound design. if you're un-inspired, listen to your peers and favorite artists, or seek out new more inspiring music. travel and live music always inspires me to create new styles and fusions of music.

5.
q: when can we expect to see you or SplaTTerboX in vancouver?
a: shiiiit hopefully soon! trying to get griz in the detroit studio to finish our first album. ++ i still have to get my passport!


80M85

1.
q: I heard you use FL Studio. Any plans on trying Ableton?
a: i actually use ableton for live sets and for creating DJ mixes, etc

2.
q: Do you master your releases or send them to someone else?
a. i master my unreleased posted preview tracks on soundcloud and any self-released stuff on my bandcamp with ozone. any releases on simplify or other labels are sent to a professional master man.

3.
q. Do you ever spend time in a 'big' studio with a control room, console, etc? Any vintage gear you love/use?
a. i actually haven't for any of my solo stuff, but i love old rhodes and any old synths anywhere. however, my ex-indie progressive rock band from '09, Cave System, recorded our album in a super nice professional studio in detroit (myspace.com/cavesystemmusic)

4.
q. i want to check out detroit. any tips?
a. food: slows bbq, chicken shwarmas in dearborn or bucharest downtown, or lafayette coney dogs downtown.
bud: legal
beats: me
also check this documentary out, im at the end rocking a show for 2 seconds - but otherwise awesome insight http://www.bonafidezine.com/palladium-b ... knoxville/


shinobi:

1.
q: i always wondered how you got so many noises in one track. how do you go about selecting all your super psychedelic sounds? do you make most of them urself and if so on what software? when u have so many things going on in the higher frequencies, are you sidechain compressing them to one another so it doesn't sound muddy or conflicting?
a: i mostly start from a default saw wave and the go from there either changing the wave or whatever with either wasp, massive, or recently razor, albino, or vanguard synth vsts. as for my sidechaining, i went into depth in a previous answer above. i am not sidechaining highs synth sounds to each other, however, mostly to the kick and volume or other effects. and your dream rules!!!!


augustineVIII:

1.
q: Whats your mastering process? Do you master your own tracks?
Your new album... is SO loud, while simultaneously being so clear... it had me listening to your music for at least a week straight and going back into all my tracks and re-mixing them.
a: a certain simplify-homie mastering wizard mastered my two new albums he really pumped them up and polished them off beautifully. not sure of his process.

2.
q: Do you split your basses? Low Mid and High freq? Do you do specific modulations to different ranges?
a: i do not split my basses. i did it once with a splatterbox track but usually never. i just make one beefy fatty bass with massive or another synth. some times i'll side chain the kick to the lowend of the whole bass synth so they don't interfere, as far as modulating differ ranges.


theObserver:

1.
q: Im most interested in learning about your workflow in Ableton. What LIVE instruments/fx do you use and for what process.. I really like how your drums are very glitchy and almost static sometimes but still have depth thru layers, any comments on your process? Thanks!
a: i produce in FL studio and i've discussed most of my workflow and different vst effects and synth sounds above. as far as drums, i use different audio samples from my growing collection.


JaiRiddim:
1.
q: what are you using for live effects/glitching during your live sets?
a: i used to use gross beat for live glitches but since i've switched to a macbook pro ableton set, i've been forced to use ableton's beat repeat, but im probably going to switch that up soon. otherwise, i use a LOT of reverb and delay + their x and y frequency lowpass high pass functions on other knobs.


samples:
lol


haywood jablomi:
nice name

1.
q: I'd like to know how you go about making yer hihat and purcussion sequences. Do you play them in with a midi controller or pencil that shit in? How do you fuck with them get the groove? Also, do you have a favorite plugin in fer this (like Battery or whatever)?
a: as for creating my drums, i rarely punch them in with a controller (i did that a few times a few years ago). although im a percussionist and drummer, i somehow end up always writing in midi notes via my mouse on the piano roll on fruity loops or the step sequencer in fruity loops. i do a lot of humanizing techniques, like turning up the 3rd hits or whatever groove in a hihat or shaker line.


tedwilson40

1.
q: i was curious about some of the effects youre using on the intro to can't techa right when you start mixing in the mutalated vocals it sounds awesome.
a: in this particular track at that point in time, im using a mixture of grosbeats time wheel, a high pass filter, and some panning, as well as all of the vocals and synths chopped up under it.


simteks

1.
q: Bootsie Collins said in a recent interview with a local paper that he got his funk from 'eating mouth'. Where did you get your funk from?
a: i found someundafunk from under wherever i was standing when i found it - probably my previous life as a unicorn, hanging out with stevie wonder's previous spirit animal, the gnar-whale. its complicated.


sketmoist

1.
q: freddo?
a: IM HERE!!! SORRY GUYS! that just kinda piled up on me in the past few weeks phew… keep em coming! cheers!


P.S. i answered these at three+ different fragmented times, let me know if i accidentally missed your question or read your question wrong and can elaborate on it more. let me know!


<3 FT

"i found someundafunk from under wherever i was standing when i found it - probably my previous life as a unicorn, hanging out with stevie wonder's previous spirit animal, the gnar-whale. its complicated."

probably the greatest answer to any question I've ever heard in my life

do you dab?

Haha thanks Freddy. Almost make we wanna play with FL but damn do I get lost in all those windows. Come back to CO soon man I was locked up when you played Cervantes'. FUCK THE POLICE!!!

FT, no questions from me just a big up to you for the tips and a massive big up to DETROIT!!!! REPRESENT!!!!

Thank you very much fer the answers. Just one more thing I'd like to know, do you use sample libraries (like Native Instruments) or slice up beats and take sounds from there to make yer percussion, hithats and even kicks fer that matter?

Big ups and keep on pumping out that massive bass.

ahab: haha thank you

bleep bloop: all day! well, when i have the means to.... lets just say i do when i can.

simtek: the police are not our friends, stay vigilante and aware !! and i hope to be back in CO very soon!

haywood: so i do a bit of both, but most of the time im using different sample libraries to pick different kick or snare samples or whathaveyou to drop in the fruity built in pattern step sequencer to lay out a simple drum part, which i will then spice up later. but yes, from time to time i will chop up a classic funk break beat, or possibly even sample myself playing drums. one thing for sure is i usually start from scratch so not one song has the same combo of sounds, drum sounds, whatever. it takes a bit longer to get going but it ensures new creativity. however, if a song IS really awesome, i WILL sometimes go back and save as a new song and delete all the patterns, using the same sounds but tweaking them in a different way into a new song.

any more questions keep em coming! im trying to stay on top of it this time
cheers!

FT

Let me say, such an ill style, like no other really. I've introduced a lot of people to your stuff and even non-electronic heads can dig it. Keep it up man, will always have my full support

now for the question...
what tempos do you usually run at?

Are you still planning on dressing as GalaxC Girl for Halloween, how is your costume coming along (will you be "passable"?) and will you be actually performing on Halloween as GalaxC Girl as well as trick-or-treating? And why is GalaxC Girl your fav person/alien/fan on Planet Earth?



hehehe <3 u, dood

ez brah, hope you're doin well with everything happening in your life atm.

somehow im just finding out about your stuff, and im way stoked. for one, it's some of the toughest shit around, and two, you're using FL, as i am. i've been making the transition to Ableton for the last month or so, as i felt i couldnt get the solidarity that i wanted out of FL. hearing your stuff has proven me wrong, and inspired me to give FL another shot (which im glad i did, my workflow has increased back to normal), so now im doing most of my writing in FL and using Live once in a while for some effects rax n random stuff. i would also recommend you checking out the production side of Live, as there are a few things i think you would find useful in conjunction with what you're already doing in FL.

anyhow, my questions: what is your writing process like in FL? do you start with drums or a synth, then build up layers in the same pattern and work backwards, tearing it apart from there ? or do you start with one or the other and write in a more linear process via the playlist ? as far as your synth lines are concerned, do you find yourself more typically playing them out via midi, or writing them in the piano roll. do you usually find yourself making a half assed synth sound, getting the "musical" idea out, then tweaking the synth to perfection, or does sound design come first ?

biggup for doing this man, takes balls to throw all of your techniques out to the public. we appreciate you

best wishes,
bokator

Hey Freddy,
Thanks for the inspiration. Your music is the best fucking thing I've heard in a good long while. Of course I want to figure out all your techniques, etc, but you pretty much covered everything you can explain. The only thing I need is some suggestions for other people to listen to that have a similar sound. Who else is doing anything even close? It's like you never let it fully settle into any kind of repeating groove. Everything's always shifting, nothing happens twice, but after you hear all the different slices coming in, your brain sort of pieces together what the groove is supposed to sound like. Love it man. Blown away. Thank you.

I'm working on a track right now that I got to be as loud as (and even louder than, in some cases) commercial tracks. I got it this way by adding shit to the master bus. The perceived loudness is off the chain, and with no distortion or artifacting going on. BUT, the track isn't done and I've really only just fleshed out the sound design portion of it -- made all the instruments, and made one loop of the peak of the song with the most things playing at once that I want and pushed the master to that. I haven't arranged the track at all. Do you think this is a bad idea, to get it loud before the song is done?

You do an intense amount of transitioning in your music. (ex hustle buster, insane amount of content)It suits my ADD quite well. How do you go about creating those transitions and beyond. Do they come about playing around on a keyboard or do you think of them in your head before, or is it a matter of your knowledge of theory and just knowing what comes next?