technical > music production

making beats sound old & dulled

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andy_e:
For example like Boards of Canada would use, to give an organic, chilled out sound to beats? I'm guessing it'd be done by EQing out some high-end stuff but is reverb used for it at all?

Falling Down:
Andi,

BOC actually use a shitload of analogue equipment to write, record and produce their music which is why it sounds so unique.  Loads of producers run through an analogue compressor for specific instruments and then at mastering.  Some even master to 2" tape and then back into logic or pro-tools.

If you want a cheap and easy route here's some tips:

- Lower the bitrate on your samples - they'll give you that grainy sound.
- Use bandpass filters not EQ - using a high pass filter and a mid pass filter is a good way to get that muffled underwater sound.
- Sample a loop of crackly runout grooves from an old lp and loop it in an adjacent track or through the envelope of whatever signal you're processing.
- Re-record your synths or samples "live" through a valve guitar amp and really good microphone.

Basically to get something sounding warm and analogue you need to do it analogue or get as close as possible.

As for reverb, use it sparingly on some lead tracks and then apply a warm room when mastering.

Hope that helps

GCW:
There's a few ways.  You could use a banded compression/EQ and dim down whichever areas give it sparkle (usually high end).  As FD says, filter do the job well after a bit of messing about.  A bit of reverb will give you a bit of depth and a feeling of space if you do it well.  I sent you a VST a while back that would work well, forgot the name.
Introducing some shuffle to the beat will often give it a friendlier feel.  This can work well even by adding it to only one or two components.

Essentially fuck about for hours and see what works.

Serpico:
Just had a quick listen and for some parts it sounds like they're using hi and lo-pass filters to limit the bandwidth. I don't think you'd want to use that for a whole track, but you could try a 400hz hi-pass and 4khz lo-pass filter for a break and then slide it out to full-range. As for reverbs I'd try short room and plate 'verbs, stay away from the halls.

Serpico:
Just listened to some more and a lot of their drums are quite dry and upfront so I might stay away from the reverb altogether. There's also a lot of low mid and some soft distortion, there's VST plugin that I can't remember the name of that simulates analogue tape EQ and saturation, try that.

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