i'll say a few things here and there on how i approach mixing based on a set of guidelines i've been giving thru learning. i won't go 100% and i encourage you research further on your own as everyone has a different perspective of certain concepts. whats important is that you understand the concept so that you are able to interpolate on it with your own liberties. yeah. please read the links before looking at my commentary or you won't understand what im saying.
Some DAWs, Their Guides, & Some Freebies: One of the first things you should do is pick a DAW and learn how to use it and its functions to streamline your mixing process.
Free DAWs: The Best Available in 2023 by Produce Like A Pro
Audacity / DarkAudacity (i like darkaudacity): has a section of the site dedicated to tutorials on using Audacity!
Reaper: has a 3 hour course FREE course on mixing!
FL Studio: has a demo version you can pretty much use forever with a few.........exceptions. I won't be linking any cracked versions though. Here's a manual for this program since many people use it!
Free VST Plugins by Bedroom Producers Blog
37 Best Free Mixing VST Plugins by hiphopmakers
ORDER IN THE COURT!: The order of plugins is more important than you think. These links should also introduce some terms we use in the audio production world (like "gain staging" or "EQing")
WHAT'S THE BEST EFFECTS CHAIN ORDER FOR MIXING? by Icon Collective:
The Order Of Things: Audio Plug-ins by AskAudio
Plugin order is viewed from "top to bottom". BASICALLY... most like to gain stage -> EQ -> compress -> saturate -> MORE EQing -> whatever else at this point, but i do my process a bit differently. don't be afraid to bend the rules a little bit. but the guidelines are there for a reason.....based on what they do
Basics: I'll link to some tutorials to elaborate on what was listed by Icon Collective's list.
Gain Staging: Gain Staging Like a Pro by Sweetwater
Saturation: Saturation in Mixing – Instant Warmth, Glue and Fullness with One Plugin by Tough Tones (soundgoodizer fans make some fucking noise i guess)
EQ: SUBTRACTIVE VS ADDITIVE EQ (WHEN TO USE EACH & WHY) by Producer Hive
Compression: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO AUDIO COMPRESSION by Icon Collective + Audio Compression Basics by Universal Audio
Modulation: Modulation Effects: Flanging, Phase Shifting, and More by Universal Audio
Time Based Effects: Reverb Vs. Delay: Complete Guide To 3D Mixing by Mastering.com
Audio Busing/Routing/Sending Tracks: Your guide to busing and routing audio tracks like a pro by Splice
Limiters: 10 BEST LIMITER PLUGINS FOR MIXING AND MASTERING by Icon Collective
Sidechaining: Sidechain compression demystified: what it is and how to use it by Native Instruments (i dont know anything about this lol)
Automation: Mix Automation 101: How to Automate Your Sound For a Better Mix by Landr (p.s learn how to write automation in your respective programs)
Last note: great. these are the main things you should focus on understanding in mixing. now you are FREE my friend!
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Bonus: Tempo Mapping in Reaper (if you want to learn how to midi songs with bpm changes!!!)
[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled "immortality” after the poem by clare harner (more popularly known as “do not stand at my grave and weep”). the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]
a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”
Richard "Dick" Grayson is the golden child. In the eyes of the public, and in the eyes of the league. Dick is a sweet, caring son, a man who went from being a sidekick to being a hero. The pipeline from Robin to Nightwing had many people applauding his dedication to keeping Gotham safe.
No one knew the full story, not truly. No one but Bruce Wayne himself. And maybe a certain butler. Many don't know that Dick only became Robin to stop him from hunting down and killing the man who killed his parents.
No one really knows about the harsh fights and arguments he has had with Bruce. The times when Dick would find himself cut off from the Wayne name for a week or so. No one knows that the first person Dick warmed up to was Alfred. Having been bribed with cookies.
Things weren't always this good, trusting, happy relationship between Bruce and Dick. It had been a rough ride, a complicated one. But that was okay, because it got better.
Dick stopped being so moody and angsty. He grew up, he learned, and he changed. He became an older brother, found people that needed him. Needed him in a way that the citizens of Gotham didn't need him.
His brothers like to call him annoying. A goody two shoes who Bruce trusted more than everyone else. They couldn't fathom how someone like Dick could be so stupid and bubbly at all times.
All times, except when shit hits the fans. Despite the name calling, despite coining Dick as the stupid Wayne. They all knew better. They knew that when it mattered, Dick Grayson always pulled through. He was a force to be reckoned with when needed.
The whole Wayne family was a force to be reckoned with when called for. It didn't have to be under the guise of costumes and vigilante acts. Whether he was Officer Grayson or Nightwing, Dick was a man with his morals and values.
One night on patrol as Officer Grayson, Dick found someone who needed that force. A force willing to protect and care for the innocent. The hurt. The damaged, yet still good.
It started like any other night. A call of shots fired by an empty warehouse. There was no sighting or knowledge of any rouges being there, so Dick took the call. Told the team he'll contact them if it seems more than just a civilian incident.
The warehouse was dark, reeked of copper and oil. It didn't take long for Dick to find the trail. The liquid he found looked like the person had been dragged before walking. There was a clear struggle, even with the mess and emptiness that was the warehouse.
That wasn't Dick's biggest concern. The concern lay in just how much blood there was. Too much for any normal person to lose and still manage to stumble through the warehouse.
It wasn't just blood. It wasn't that much, but Dick could spot the strangeness in the liquid. The mixed in green that had an eerily similar color and glow as a certain pit.
Without thinking, Dick followed the trail. Barely remembering to make contact with his family. Give them an update on what he found. Words telling him to stay put for backup went in one ear and out the other.
Something in Dick's gut was telling him he couldn't wait. He needed to find the source. Whoever was currently bleeding out in this warehouse. He silenced the comm, moving further through the dimly lit building.
Then Dick found it. Or more so, he found him. It was just a boy. A boy that reminded Dick too much of the youngest Wayne. A boy sat against a wall, looking pale and weak.
Red and green coated the front of the boy's shirt, arms wrapped tightly around his middle. An attempt to stem the bleeding. A puddle had already started to form beneath the boy, and Dick moved without thinking once again.
He quickly found himself kneeling beside the boy, hands carefully reaching out. Before Dick even touched him, the boy flinched. Eyelids suddenly opened, wide and terrified blue eyes landed on Dick's.
In just that one look, Dick knew what he had to do. The haunting, terrified, and pained look in the boy's eyes told Dick everything he needed to know. The boy was in danger. Someone had hurt this kid, and it was clear it wasn't the first time.
The boy struggled weakly against Dick's touch, terrified whimpers, and barely coherent pleas spilled from the kid's lips. It had Dick's heart aching, clear as day the poor kid has been through hell and back.
It took a lot of reassurance, gentle touches, and promises of help before the kid let Dick take a look at the bleeding wound. A promise on Dick's soul had been the final thing that earned him any semblance of trust. A strange promise, but Dick was willing to make it.
That concern turned to pure anger the moment Dick managed to pull the sticky shirt away from the wound. The sight of a Y-incision cut perfectly into the skin, stitches tight on the skin, but blood still leaking heavily from the wound.
It didn't take long for Dick to realize why. Despite the perfect surgical care of the wound, a good couple of stitches had broken. Leaving gaping spots for that red and green liquid to pour out of.
The boy was deathly silent, tears streaking down his cheek as wide blue eyes stayed trained on Dick. In that moment, Dick knew he had to help. Had to get the kid to safety, patch him up, and find out what kind of monster would do this.
It didn't matter if the kid was human or not. It didn't matter if the kid had special abilities or not. No one, absolutely no one, deserved to be vivisected.
The kid was shrouded in mystery, but that mystery only seemed to grow and become clearer when Bruce had entered the scene. The boy had tensed, eyes flashing a bright glowing green.
Lazarus pit green.
It set a pit of dread in Dick's gut. His mind brings forward memories of Jason. Jason, after his revival, after his dip in that cursed pit. The same flash that his brother would get if he got too angry. Too emotional.
As much as Dick wanted to focus on finding who did this, if it had any connection to Ra's al Ghul. He couldn't. Not when the kid tried to get up, to pull away as Bruce and the others made their way closer.
Right now, Dick only cared about making sure the boy was okay. Fixing those stitches, getting him a meal, and a warm bed.
He needed to get this kid someplace where he felt safe and secure. Comfortable and protected. Dick wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the promise he had made, but he wasn't letting anyone get to the kid.
That included his family. As strange as it seemed, Dick put himself between the others and the kid. Shooting them all a glare that they had only ever seen a handful of times.
Dick lifted the poor boy up in his arms, cradling the crying child close as he led the way out of the warehouse. Ignoring the questions or confusion coming from Bruce and the others. As Dick walked, feeling the trembling boy clinging to him, he made a rather obvious realization.
Maybe the eldest son really was more like Bruce than he expected. Just a few short moments the the boy, a boy that Dick didn't know his name, and he was ready to pull out adoption papers. To give the boy a safety he so desperately needs.
Give him the chance that Bruce had given him all those years ago.
In the wake of the cancellation of Warrior Nun, I am imploring anyone who has Disney+ to watch Willow (2022).
It features a woman loving woman romantic subplot at the forefront, meaning it’s not in the subtext. Episode 1 has them kiss and afterward the lines of romance exist so throughout the narrative for these two characters that it is current and seen to the point that it cannot be argued away.
But there’s next to no buzz for it, only the Disney+ app really promotes it as something to watch with the odd ad showing up on Instagram of the cast playing mini games.
On top of that, it is a well written show that holds all of the love of the original film from the 80s.
I know that it would appear that numbers don’t seem to matter, but I am begging people to watch this show because it is a fantastic piece of media that delights in paying homage to the source material it comes from.
Also hot women with swords. Hot women with swords who could KILL you-
one of the reasons (i said “one of” not “only”) young men are susceptible to this kind of foolishness is the reality that many women play games. we as men have to intreprent hints and deal with women who say “no” but mean “chase me.” who say “no” but mean “yeah.” ughh it can be ugly. the way to proceed as guys is to always (always) take “no” to mean “no.” doesn’t matter if she’s playing a game, wants to be chased, wants to see how determined you are or whatever. don’t risk your freedom. if she says “no” then it’s final answer and just move on.