Before I begin the tutorial please note that for the lead part I intentionally changed the rhythm to fit the straight 4/4 rhythm signature. The original song was in 3/4 and I had to modify it to adapt into another system.
Vision
My aims for the new version was
- make an extended version of about 6 minutes long
- give a more modern progressive style
Unique Selling Points
I think these two parts makes this music special
- the modern and classic progressive style
- the epiano part in the intro and outro
Project Basic Settings
With Progressive House styles I usually stay between 120 - 125 BPM. So I did that. I chose 120 BPM for this project.
- tempo: 120 BPM
- rhythm signature: 4/4
- musical scale: C-major
Production Workflow
This is a summary, how I made this project:
- I opened up the old project
- I kept the lead, bass, pad and piano
- I added new drum loops and samples
- I made a longer intro and outro
- I automated then filtering
- I deleted some of the loops to have some breathing at sections
Mixing and Mastering Workflow
I mixed as I went along, then I added some volume on the Limiter.
On Plugins
I like to stay in Ableton with the tooling. So I only used Ableton plugins for instruments and effects.
Lead
I started with this lead synth. This is the classic Silent Night melody part. I wanted the main melody to cut through the mix and give it a strong sound. I was thinking about either a saw wave or a square wave. I decided to stay with square wave.
Actually I shaped the Square wave further with the Saturator.
Synth - Analog:
- Osc1 Square Wave
- Amp ADSR, 5 ms, 626 ms, 0.32, 626 ms
- LFO1, 1/4 triplet time
- Osc1 Pulse Width Modulation, width 50%, 1.0 LFO1 depth
- Volume, 3 dB
Fx:
- Saturator, 4 dB, Analog Clip, 16 base, 471 freq, 50% width, 12 depth
- Ping Pong Delay, 70% feedback, 44% dry wet
- Limiter, default settings
- EQ Eight, low cut 370 Hz (basic HP filter)
Bass
A simple bass part for counterpointing the melody. Most of the time the motion of the bass follows the lead.
Synth - Analog:
- Osc1 Saw
- Osc2 Square, -3 dB, -1 octave
- Filter1, LP12, 1.5 kHz, 0 reso
- Amp1, ADSR, 12 ms, 3.54 s, 1, 40 ms
- Filter1, ADSR, 5 ms, 626 ms, 0, 626 ms
- Volume, 4.5 dB
Fx:
- Compressor, sidechained to kick, 1.8:1 ratio, medium attack, auto release
- Auto Filter, used for automating HP filter
Pad
The pad is playing two-note and three-note chords, and also single root notes at places.
Synth - Analog:
- Osc1 Square
- Osc2 Square, -1 octave
- Filter1, LP12, 1.5 kHz, 0 reso
- Amp1, ADSR, 126 ms, 11 s, 1, 919 ms
- Filter1, LP12, 974 Hz, 0 reso
- Filter1, ADSR, 5 ms, 626 ms, 0, 626 ms
- Filter2, LP12, 6 kHz, 0 reso
- Filter2, ADSR, 5 ms, 626 ms, 0, 626 ms
- Amp1, panned left
- Amp2, panned right
- Volume, -14 dB
- LFO1, 1/4t
- LFO2, 1/8
- Unison detune 25
- Voices, 4
- Osc1, Pulse Width Modulation, 50% width, 1 depth
- Osc2, Pulse Width Modulation, 50% width, 1 depth
Fx:
- Ping Pong Delay, 39% feedback, 38% dry wet
- Reverb, maximum size, 3.7 sec decay, 39% dry wet
- Compressor, sidechained to kick, 2:1 ratio, default attack, auto release, -19 dB threshold
- EQ Eight, low cut at 285 Hz
- Utility, +8 dB gain
Piano
This is a very soft and relaxing sound, this is my favorite part of the song.
Synth - Operator:
- 8th algorithm
- Op A, Sine 8
- Op A, coarse 1, fine 3, level -6 dB
- Op B, User waveform
- Op B, coarse 18, fine 25, level -14
- Op C, Sine
- Op C, coarse 1, fine 0, level -6 dB
- Op D, User waveform
- Op D, coarse 18, fine 18, level -24 dB
- Spread 100%
- Tone 100%
- LFO Sine, Low, Retrigger, 99 rate, 77% amount
- Volume, -14 dB
Fx:
- Simple Delay, Left 4 Sync, Right 5 Sync, 41% feedback, 38% dry wet
- Reverb, 100 size, 8 sec decay, 40% dry wet
- Utility, +5 db gain
- EQ Eight, low cut at 300 Hz, default HP filter
Drums
I used hits and loops samples for the rhythm sections. For actually using the samples I used Simpler, Drum Rack and timeline placement.
Kick
Fx:
- EQ Eight, -2 dB low bell cut at 53 Hz
- Auto Filter, HP filter
Clap
Fx:
- EQ Eight, low cut at 650 Hz
- EQ Eight, same as previous, I doubled it for making an overall stronger cut
- Limiter, default
Rev Clap
Fx:
- Reverb, max size, 20 sec decay, 50% dry wet
- EQ Eight, low cut at 300 Hz, 6 dB shelving boost at 2 kHz
- Compressor, sidechained to kick, 2:1 ratio, default attack, auto release, -16 dB threshold
Loop1
Fx: EQ Eight, low cut at 300 Hz, 3 dB shelving boost at 3.5 kHz
Breakbeat
Fx:
- Utility, +4 dB gain
- EQ Eight, low cut at 300 Hz
Shaker
I used Utility with +5 dB gain.
Conga
EQ Three, +1 dB mids, +2 dB highs
Perc
I made a cut with EQ Three -8 dB from the lows.
Fx
Effects Chain:
- Reverb, 100 size, 4 s decay, 44% dry wet
- Ping Pong Delay, 33% feedback, 33%, dry wet, default settings
- Utility, +2 dB gain
Master
With the Utility tool I checked mono compatibility (width 0%), then used EQ low cuts to remove unnecessary information.
I applied a default Limiter to catch peaks and amplified 2 dB gain to have a louder level.
Fx:
- Utility, default
- EQ Eight, mid-side operation, low cut at 40 Hz - mids, low cut at 255 Hz - sides
- Limiter, +2 dB gain
Export settings
I used these export options. Usually this is my default for a master render file.
- filetype: WAV
- sample rate: 44.1 kHz
- bit depth: 24 bits
- dither type: Triangular
Summary
Finished version
In this tutorial I explained my session of remixing my Christmas song made in progressive house style. First I remade the lead, bass, pad and epiano. Then I continued with drums then fx. I mixed and mastered as I went along.
