Mixing Synths and Keyboards

Mixing Synths Using Overdrive & Phaser

Join Artistic Energy Records, Gio De Marco’s YouTube Channel

Mixing Synths & Keyboards Tips

Well, here we are editing these keyboards / synth tracks…

The Waves GTR Stomp pack is a great tool for texturing sounds. Originally intended for guitars, but you can get creative and use it for other purposes. Here I am using it for mixing synth tracks, but can also help a lot for mixing vocal tracks.

Mixing Synths with Phaser

It seems that it’s definitely a phaser sound… it takes everything out of it, changes it totally; it’s a very deep effect.
I want it, but I also want it to keep the properties of the original sound, so maybe I can add… to make it a little more “bright”, a little bit of overdrive before the effect… but “nothing”.

Using Overdrive for Mixing Synth Tracks

Adding overdrive / distortion often brings the sound to the front.

So I try adding a lil bit of overdrive to mysynth track to make it pop up. I place it BEFORE the phaser, so that the overdriven signal gets phased. So then I just try to adjust the knobs until I get close to the sound that is in my head.

So what this does is that in that part of the waveform, when the phaser is completing the full bar, and the beat starts again, you notice the overdrive, like you can tell the waveform is doing kinda like this. It’s as if… like it enhances the “sustain” of the effect…

Well now it’s very loud, so I have to adjust. ALWAYS make sure that your signal is not “clipping”. So I slightly decrease the output level, and now I mix my synth track using the track fader to fit it within the mix.

At first, I kind of wanted those keyboardsto have a little more presence… they were a little “off”, now I’m a little
more satisfied with their sound. These are all the synth layers together.

Listen to the final version of the song “Cyan” and focus on the synth sounds:

Compression for Mixing Synths

This one could also use some compression. Compressors are very useful for texturing sounds by altering their dynamics.
When compressing, simply use your ears to get the sound you need for the mix. The goal is to use just the right
amount of compression to make it work
. Sometimes you need a lot… Sometimes you only need 1 or 2 dB of gain reduction.

Check the new synth sound (with
overdrive & phaser) vs. the original sound that was this.

Look at this synth track, is kinda crazy; I think it has a lot of feedback, but… it adds “mobility” the synth track;
and fills the stereo field in a much more effective way. The sound is more dynamic, the other one was very “flat” I don’t want the effect to be EXTREME.

Please join my fan list so I can tell you about my progress and send you new material, and feel that what I do is valuable.

I created Artistic Energy Records to add value to the artistic community, and add my 2 cents with what I learn along the way.

Thank you very much and see you in the next video!

Making Of Metamorfosis Music Production Documentary by Gio De Marco

The Making Of “Metamorfosis” Documentary (Part 2)

Join Artistic Energy Records, Gio De Marco’s YouTube Channel

What does “Metamorfosis” sound like? Influences?

Since I started there is only one rule for me: It’s music. The genre DOESN’T MATTER. There are no “genre” limitations.
Although it could be said that it is mainly focused on rock and its derivatives (progressive rock, alternative rock, hard rock, punk rock, grunge) but since I like all kinds of music, it also has some of jazz, pop, blues, soul, funk, and of course, classical music.

This will become clearer over time as I release more music. But instead of me telling you what the album sounds like, better listen to the opinions of some listeners…

Yael Rosenzweig:

When I heard “Metamorphosis” for the first time, what I felt is… a conjunction of genres that transported me through a tunnel, a kind of magical continuity of songs, that were transforming me in some way. I felt that there was a mix between bands like Pink Floyd, The Doors, and a little more current rock… I feel like it took me to very dreamlike times of music, and the truth is that it is an album that left me thinking, I feel like it left me… It’s certainly a record that does not pass without leaving a mark, a change in you… I think that is exactly what metamorphosis is about, right?

Sebastián Fernández:

For me, the name of the album describes quite well what one feels when listening to it; because it is pure change. From a power of distortion to
arrangements and tones that remind you of music from the 80s, the 90s, even the 2000s and it has its “traditional song” parts; its “spoken” parts, screams, and all fitted and set in motion in a nice and precise way.

And in addition to being a journey through time, it is also a journey through emotions. It has uneasiness, sadness, darkness… but it also has lights of hope and tenderness. You may not realize it but as the songs go by they leave you those strange sensations that are great.

Brenda Lafalle:

When I heard “Metamorphosis” for the first time, It did not reach me. I had to listen to it again… It has a lot of atmospheres, different kinds of atmospheres and textures. It takes you through a lot of places of the mind, of memories, feelings… It’s very rich in many aspects.

It makes you travel in time, as it makes you rethink the present, It’s… a work of art. I think that’s the word that best defines the album. A work of art.

Macarena Valverde:

I think that Metamorphosis is an album with a professional production, with a very pink-floydian sound at times, especially in the guitars, and also in the concept that it is an album I think certainly designed to listen to it in its entirety as a whole work, with a clear connection between songs.

Germán Gomez:

Very instrumental music, sounds kinda like 80s music to me, the presence of the instruments seems to me to be very “visual” and I really like the way that all the songs are connected. Pretty amazing guitar, personally I am a person who likes to sit and draw, and it seems to me that these songs go well with the vibe as they “create atmosphere”, they take you to another space.

Pablo Miño:

I think Metamorphosis has a lot of rock, but not only understood from its sound or the music, but also from the lyrical content, the lyrics that Gio proposes in the album at least personally leaves one reflective, and I don’t want to spoil anyone but that’s the way it is. And that’s very interesting and cool.

Sensations of the process?

It really seems crazy that with a laptop, headphones, instruments, a 2-channel interface and without a studio it could be done, although I felt it that way, and it was true. I even remember thinking that it shouldn’t be so difficult to record all the instruments. Maybe I could even have the songs ready one a day.

You then come across the truth that just because you composed the music and the melody of the voice, it does not mean that you can execute it perfectly from beginning to end. Especially in the type of music that I wanted to make, that are not simple chords, but have multiple parts, solos, atmospheres, textures.

What is the meaning behind the songs on the album?

01. Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is the first song, an instrumental piece although the different sections -far from being random- have meanings. It took me about a year to record all the parts of this piece, and a few hundred hours to mix it. Great learning of processes and techniques during this tune. Proud with the result, it really is a great song that takes you through different atmospheres, just like the whole album. I’m looking forward to playing this song live, the final version sounds great, it has ENDLESS layers of instruments, you can listen to it 100 times that you will continue to find things and that represents a bit the style of the whole Metamorphosis album.

After all, this is “my own style”, which I think will be clearly reflected in my next albums.

02. Broken dreams (there they go)

“Broken Dreams” tries to capture that feeling of frustration by investing endless amounts of effort and time in things that sometimes are not worth it and take us away from our goal. It is a sad song without a doubt. My intention was for the listener to feel that, and I think it manages to generate those feelings.

The storm part represents that whole introspective period during the album’s creation. I remember going through the whole story of figuring out which amp-sim to use, and experimenting with different techniques to get good guitar sounds; given the fact that I couldn’t use and mike my amplifier in the apartment because of volume, there was also a lot of external noise.

In this song there are two types of guitar takes, in one chorus they are amp-sims, and in another they are real reamps.

03. More

“More” is about never settling and always trying to keep growing, although I am satisfied with the fact that it remains
open to the listener’s interpretation
. I like the moments of this song. It starts with an acoustic guitar arpeggio and it takes you from there, instruments add up progressively, a guitar solo…

Structurally, it is very different from the typical radio song, although for me it is the most “radio” song on the album. It has several verses, a bridge and a double final chorus, double tempo and beat signature change, although it is in G, I love how the ending resolves in A major, connecting with the next song.

04. Symphony in Colors

“Symphony in Colors” is a kind of metaphor about feelings and introspection. It is a song that I wrote in 2007 originally in English “Forgive me” and performed with one of my previous bands, Have Fun. It was converted to Spanish with a different meaning. It is a dynamic song, the choruses are louder and more powerful than the verses. I particularly like the bass line of this song, and how it works in conjunction with the guitar arpeggio.

At the end the drum beat fades with Cocó’s meows… our little kitten while we lived in Buenos Aires, with my girlfriend before moving to Australia. It was my way of immortalizing her, in the future I can listen to her wherever I am.

05. Crimson Sky

“Crimson Sky” is a romantic parody. Along with the previous one, it was one of the first songs I wrote, back in 2006. Originally a song that I wrote
in English “So Lost” in C, but finally reconverted to Spanish and its initial meaning changed.

It has the peculiarity that it is like two songs in one. First part is like acoustic, happy and soft; while later it explodes with distorted electric guitars, very strong drums and the voice at a higher level. The two parts of the song are very different.

I remember working a lot on that transition and on the high-gain tone of the guitars, sometimes it is difficult to get a good distorted guitar tone, because there is also squeaky noise in the rich area of ​​electric guitar (1k to 4k).

I think they fit quite well, along with the kick drum and bass each hit sounds really full. In the end the song fades with a spatial, wet guitar solo, that sounds really wide, ending up violently in E minor, hooking up with the next song…

06. Crossroads

“Crossroads” is my favorite song of the album, as it clearly captures my thoughts before and during the creation of the album. It aims to give a message of opening our eyes, not to waste our life but to honor it using that precious time to try to be who we REALLY want to be. Create our own destiny with our actions, do what we love, and go after our dreams.

In musical terms I think it is a very rich piece. Its peculiarity is that all the chords are minor. It sounds like spatial, increscendo. The voice at first seems distorted, it may even be difficult to catch the words, but it is on purpose because it tries to reflect a thought: those things that sometimes we can’t understand clearly.

Meanwhile the rhythm and what is executed by the instruments is changing and it takes you, until it explodes into a giant guitar solo, which then leads to the “second part” of the song where the voice is clearly heard. The sound gets louder and more aggressive, the last 2 minutes are
total musical madness. Uneven bars, effects, speed and intensity vary, guitars, keyboards, bass and drums work together to reach an epic finale which resolves in G minor.

A perfect closing for the album. I look forward to playing this song live, SUPER loud, an atomic bomb of energy and madness… RIOT!

Metamorfosis, my debut album – Conclusion

Thanks for watching the behind the scenes of “Metamorphosis” in this humble documentary. I hope you liked it, It’s been a lot of work! If you did not listen to it, you can do it here.

This album, this documentary, my next album “Cyan”, I create them 100% on my own. No one pays me, funds me nor helps me create these things. And they are NOT FREE. I finance myself.

That is why I thank you FROM MY HEART for your interest, and I ask you to help me by sharing this with a friend, word of mouth is very important to me.

Please join my fan list so I can tell you about my progress and send you new material, and feel that what I do is valuable.

I created Artistic Energy Records to add value to the artistic community, and add my 2 cents with what I learn along the way.

Thank you very much and see you in the next video!

The Making of Metamorfosis Documentary By Gio De Marco

The Making Of “Metamorfosis” Documentary (Part 1)

Join Artistic Energy Records, Gio De Marco’s YouTube Channel

“An artist tries to capture in the real world something that does not exist, something that lives in his imagination, a signal that he receives from beyond. Nothing simple.”

Creating, in itself, is not easy.

It requires energy, preparation, work, effort, perseverance… creating music, in particular, also requires creativity, imagination, talent…

Creating a conceptual music album is an even greater challenge… demanding dedication, attention to detail, perfectionism, focus…

It requires the union of all the musicians in the group, debate, consensus… to compose, record precisely each instrument, each arrangement…

edit all the parts, assemble them, mix them to build each song and bring it to life… and have all of them share the concept of the album… a long and arduous process, really exhausting…

Imagine if you had to do it alone …

If what several musicians in a band, the recording and mixing studio staff all depended on the same person… It would be practically impossible…

But… what if that alternative were the only one there … however difficult it may be … could it become feasible?

That is exactly what Metamorphosis is. After approximately three long years of work and dedication, Metamorphosis is the evidence that nothing is impossible. Today it exists in the real world and is the kickoff in a dream chase.

What is this project about? What are its qualities?

Gio De Marco:
“… Metamorphosis was born as a personal challenge. I felt the need to create a material to test the knowledge that I had been acquiring, and also to be able to show my musical style. With very few resources, without the ideal space, equipment or experience to do it, I set myself the goal of making a complete concept album, like the vinyl of the 70s. I wanted my album to evoke that experience from before, where you put the vinyl on the tray and listened to the entire album. I am a very perfectionist and detail-oriented, and even with the few tools available to me, I thought I could make a semi-professional quality record. ”

What’s the concept behind the album?

Gio De Marco:
“… when I decided to start the album, I was going through a lot of changes: personal, work, sentimental, musical, artistic … etc. That is why the album was called “Metamorphosis”, a conceptual work, with change and constant transformation being the concept of it. I think I managed to capture it on the album, the rhythms change, the sounds as well, no two songs are the same but they are mutating, some brighter and happier, others darker and deeper, there are long instrumental sections, as a reward for those who choose listen, and has the peculiarity of repeating some melodies throughout the album.

For the cover I wanted that transformation, mutation, evolution to be reflected in a hyper-realistic illustration. For that, I published an ad on a illustrators’ marketplace, and there I discovered one of my favorite illustrators, Darío Mekler. Seeing his work, I knew almost immediately that he was the one, I became a huge fan. I think the cover was great, without a doubt I would work with Darío again, I celebrate it and I recommend it infinitely.”

How did the idea of creating the album come about?

Gio De Marco:
“… In 2015, I started to build my humble” home studio. ” I started by recording a test song at home, to see what quality I could achieve, and also to see how many of the production ideas that were spinning in my mind I could manage to translate into the final audio, which are very different things. The result emboldened me to try something more ambitious, and that’s where the idea for a concept album was born. I plan to share everything I learned so that others can create with less limitations, so I invite you to subscribe to the new Artistic Energy Records video channel. ”

Why On Your Own?

Gio De Marco:
“… my original goal is to form a group of high caliber with other experienced musicians, focused on obtaining the best sounds and textures. This is my project with Indica Stout. Where there is freedom of instrumental and tonal expression, create without limits, innovate . Having a group would be ideal. But … it is difficult to find those musicians. They have to be responsible, have chemistry with one, similar interests artistically speaking, play their instrument correctly, discipline, well … it is not as easy as it seems to find matching pairs in the goal. In this context I decided to do it myself. Also to put myself to the test, knowing that if I achieved it, I would gain a lot of experience.

It was undoubtedly an uncomfortable journey, one of constant suffering, evolution and learning. When I told people that I was going to do this, no one took any dimension of what I was saying. Some told me that I was crazy, others that it was not possible … of course I felt that in the middle of the process. Thousands of times, I felt that I would never finish it, that no one would care, that it was not going to be good, and so many other things. But today, with the album coming true, it’s… satisfying.”

Stay tuned for Part 2, Coming Up Next Week!