Musicians of Popjustice

Sam de Jour

Sam de Jour

Crisp X said:
I need to catch up with this thread and I'm curious to listen to all your stuff, but I also have a question... Coming from a struggling girlie, what do you guys use for mixing? Any tips or useful tutorials?

I'm principally focusing on heavier, rock music stuff at the moment but I'd love to implement electronic touches and also go back to making other genres here and there. Have no problem when it comes to songwriting (ideas just come to me 24/7), but when it's time to get to the stage of making things sound less demo-y, hence wanting to get deeper into mixing, I'm lost so my attention quickly drifts and I want to move on to the next song instead.
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Everything I do is in Logic Pro tbh. I find pre-mixing instruments during the composition (EQ, compression, reverb, distortion etc) goes a long way, so that when it comes to the actual mix it’s just a case of adjusting the levels. I used to have one session for composition/recording, another for mixing, another for mastering but I’ve condensed the first 2 by just bouncing down any MIDI once I’m happy with the sound and going from there
 
Crisp X

Crisp X

she/her
Sam said:
Everything I do is in Logic Pro tbh. I find pre-mixing instruments during the composition (EQ, compression, reverb, distortion etc) goes a long way, so that when it comes to the actual mix it’s just a case of adjusting the levels. I used to have one session for composition/recording, another for mixing, another for mastering but I’ve condensed the first 2 by just bouncing down any MIDI once I’m happy with the sound and going from there
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I've been following your pre-mixing advice for the past week, using some of the tools Ableton already contains, and it turns out I'm staying more on track and wasting much less time in the process so I wanted to thank you!!

Now why does anything I then roughly finish have to sound good only through my usual headphones and "I have to remix everything from scratch" bad through other listening means... how the hell do mixers not lose their mind doing their job fff
 
Mr. Mr.

Mr. Mr.

That's when the mastering process comes in. It's a long process of getting everything right so that it sounds the same on all different output devices. But getting the mixing right first time around makes a huge difference in how easy or difficult it will be to master the track.
 
Sam de Jour

Sam de Jour

I use ozone and just let it do it all for me tbh. I might adjust the EQ and maximiser afterwards a little bit but I’m not out here pretending to be an engineer dd. Everything always sounds great to me
 
NotAPassenger

NotAPassenger

3rd of the 4 that I’ve done… almost out of my system now! Haha

Dark, robotic club vibe to this one! Channeling my true Britney energy. Big shoutout to Tony Halliwell who produced them for me, really talented and versatile guy if any of you want to give him a try!

 
Hurricane

Hurricane

Hello,

I am a songwriter and producer. I am hoping to get better at what I do. My portfolio is below. Would love to meet someone to collaborate with.

I use Ableton Live and my main instrument is the piano/keys. I write music sheets using Finale, and I also arrange music in bossa nova, rock, swing, and funk. I can provide a music sheet when needed.

I am very open to finding a mentor that I can help with his/her work or in exchange for another type of work such as design, 2D or 3D.

Thanks
 
NotAPassenger

NotAPassenger

Last song of the 4 I did is finally out! It’s been a fun process playing with Tiktok and the posts, each song has a different feel but so happy with how each of them came out. This one was the first I wrote to music rather than starting with the lyrics & building the beats around it. Tony Halliwell is a great collaborator, really versatile if anyone fancies doing what they’ve always loved!

This is “Don’t Say” a short little sad dancey bop… thank you to the ex!

 
JakeXo

JakeXo

he/him
Me again! I'm releasing another song this week ahead of my full EP next week. It's called "Understanding" and it's the first downtempo song I've put out. I'm really proud of the lyrics and how it all came together. If you feel so inclined, you can pre-save here

Related but curious if anybody has anything that's worked for them in getting their music heard? My biggest song was added to a gay sex playlist randomly that has a ton of followers, so that's how I've gotten a chunk of streams and followers. I'd love to widen the net with this song and get a larger audience for the EP. It feels so empty and like you're screaming into a void when trying to get music heard at the independent level.
 
Raichu

Raichu

I hate that I can’t do justice to my own songs. They are so fucking good in terms of songwriting but they don’t sound nearly as good as I want them to. Maybe I should just release the album and work hard to make the second album, which is already written, sound more professional but I’m so depressed I can barely get through work so that will have to wait.
 
IT grrl

IT grrl

xOJakeXo said:
Related but curious if anybody has anything that's worked for them in getting their music heard? My biggest song was added to a gay sex playlist randomly that has a ton of followers, so that's how I've gotten a chunk of streams and followers. I'd love to widen the net with this song and get a larger audience for the EP. It feels so empty and like you're screaming into a void when trying to get music heard at the independent level.
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I came across that Gay Sex playlist and considered submitting my new song given the subject matter but I'd read so much about fake playlists so looked into whether that was one and found a "red flag" so I'd be interested to know if being added has impacted you in any way. I relate to the feeling of emptiness as indie artists but congrats to you on 4k monthly listeners! 'Eruption' is so chill.

This is my latest effort...

 
Raichu

Raichu

I’m going to record the title track of what will be my second album today. Nervous as hell. And it’s not lost on me that I haven’t put out the first.

If I have some creative energy left, might record this midtempo called Neon Age which sounds a bit like a midtempo Charli XCX track.
 
Systemagic

Systemagic

He / Him
Hey! Posted this in the New Music Friday thread, but thought I'd drop it in here too :)

I released a new album 'WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES' on Friday, complete with artwork by Popjustice's own @Jacques which is available to stream / download on all the usual online music platforms.



A bit of a mix of electronic music styles, but overall I've played around with lo-fi, ambient, trip-hop vibes with bits of experimental downtempo rnb. My first time using vocals (not mine, thankfully) and it's something I've worked on relentlessly for the past 2 years (whilst working full time and studying, so it certainly reflects my mental state of mind during this period!)

Let me know what you think and feel free to give my personal IG a follow :)

Daniel x
 

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Raichu

Raichu

Raichu said:
I’m going to record the title track of what will be my second album today. Nervous as hell. And it’s not lost on me that I haven’t put out the first.

If I have some creative energy left, might record this midtempo called Neon Age which sounds a bit like a midtempo Charli XCX track.
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Recorded both of these tracks. They sound pretty good. They are very unique. My first album is mostly alt R&B, but I struggle to even categorize the title track of my second album, which is called Water Songs. It almost sounds like it could be a new genre called ocean pop. Neon Age is synthpop but with some unusual lyrics about a person filling a void through an obsession with cliche 80s imagery.

Vocals continue to be the worst thing about my music, but they are getting better and they at least have lots of character even if I'm pitchy more than I would like. I've managed to correct some of that, but other times I'm content to let a pitchy word or phrase to be a vulnerability moment or whatever.
 
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