Beware Of Over-Amping Your Top Quality MP3 WAV Beats


By Elaine Guthrie


Modern music relies heavily on technology, not only to record and master tracks but also in its composition and production. It is not unusual these days for musicians, even the most famous ones, to make use of synthetic techniques and devices to produce or edit their music. Understanding how they do this is part of making your own top quality mp3 WAV beats.

To start with, there are two stages to the production of a synthetic track, or a backtrack. A backtrack is what some performers use instead of live musicians playing instruments. Sometimes, though, some musicians actually produce the entire song using synthetic devices and computers, and it is then known as a track. The first stage is to compose the actual track. This is done either by recording the live instruments and vocalist or by composing the track using only synthetic means. The second stage is then to master the track using the editing software. For some musicians, these two stages are interrelated or happen at the same time.

Mixing beats usually involves the use of software, mostly or exclusively. The software has been on the market for decades, and is not limited to one specific manufacturer. It is important to experiment with different programs so that you can decide which one you want to use.

These programs all work on the same basis - they use samples, or recordings of sounds and instruments - as the building units in assembling a track. They also allow their users to manipulate every aspect of the track.

You need to have experience in mixing tracks to use this software properly. If you mix the tracks wrong, you won't be able to use them for their intended function, whether that is performance in public or for a vocalist to sing to. There are some common reasons why this is so.

One of the most significant is the way that not all speakers are the same. People who mix their tracks on a PC might be using ordinary PC speakers, which are typically smaller and low in their bass output. The user cannot determine the true bass power of the track on these speakers and so they try to compensate for what they perceive as low output by amplifying the bass component of the track. They find out how wrong they are when the track is played on a much larger, more powerful public speaker system - the track is incomprehensible, the speakers distort, or they are destroyed by the excessive power of the track. This is known as "blowing" the speakers.

You should always try to maintain awareness of the relative power of the speakers that you are using to mix your tracks. Sometimes, a track might sound weak on the speakers at home, but on a professional PA system it is perfect. Tactics such as part doubling (mixing a double channel for a specific sample or instrument) or "amping" should be used sparingly, since they are seldom necessary.

The famous pop musician Nelly Furtado once reported that the speakers started to smoke during a rehearsal session. It might sound strange, but speaker equipment does, in fact, have the capacity to damage itself. There is no automatic or built-in limit on its output, so you should never try to compensate for weaker equipment or sound output during mixing.




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