From Jam to Mastered Album: 13 tips and ideas that just might help you finish that track or album

[@casualdecay6775]

"A recorded jam with flaws is better than a session you missed out because you didn't go through the effort of hooking everything up" Why would you personally attack me like this?

[@donaldpriola1807]

One thing your manner teaches us: Being calm, thoughtful, and open to ideas is one of the best tools we can have.

[@josehaya6362]

i have a 10 channel mixer into a stereo input interface. what i do is record the complete jam. and then i record each instrument on its own. the complete jam gives me the idea of what i want to accomplish. sometimes i like the original jam recording better and stick with that!

[@SyntheticFuture]

5:30 yes! 100% yes. Do this. This wil save you so many headaches! From the ability to correct small mistakes to fixing timing and (if storing a jam for a while) recalling what key you where playing in. Always record midi!

[@SyntheticFuture]

Oh and while on it. If you use hardware: NOTE DOWN THE SYNTH AND PRESET YOU USED! You can thank me later =p

[@ziccodx]

Uff, I would think mastering isn't that important, but it does so much for the feel and "listenability" of the song by changing nuances. By the end it felt so much warmer

[@samprock]

Jamn' is main ingredient of music art! Most of my released tracks (or at least best) based on and preserving happy accident and spark of inspiration. No a big deal (i mean me - no a big shot :), but I never approach "now I make album track" vs "now I'm just jamn" (unless it deliberate one synth "unplugged" joy of interaction with instrument). With all hi-tech possibilities there is nothing can stop you not to setup levels right or have that record button ready. Happy to see this vid, as was enjoying the album! Both inspiring!

[@LarsDanielTerkelsen]

Great stuff, and very much the route I am on. And what a mindblowing number of processes in Ohad’s mastering. If nothing else, to me that is a reminder what a true craft mastering is, and I will happily leave that part the a skilled craftsman.

[@jantuitman]

Listened to your album today. The tracks are lovely little gems. Usually just one theme, slightly developing and that is it. I wouldn’t mind hearing two of such themes together in a bigger development. But maybe they get their strength, and calm serenity precisely from the fact that you let them stand on their own. I highly enjoyed it, thanks!

[@loopop]

Thanks very much!

[@RajaSandhu]

Thanks again big man, lately you’ve been a roommate... on screen. I’m sure a huge payoff is coming your way for all the hard work and passion you put into music and helping others. That’s just how the universe works. 🌊🌊🌊

[@kessbeats603]

Ohad Nissim Thank u , great tips!

[@davidmorarobles5884]

Loopop ha sido mi universidad durante la pandemia. Gracias desde Costa Rica!

[@am5790]

Thanks for sharing your processes and insight. Ohad Nissim's master sounded better to my ears than AI. It could also be my bias for preffering the human discerning experience and touch.

[@fjfrancois]

There’s no such thing as cheating with a Daw. Good job 👍🏻 Dude, nice production

[@holotropik]

This is how I have always done it. But I have never released anything. My goal this year is to do this and so this video has come at a perfect time for me 👍😎

[@roryjineffect]

Keep us updated!

[@vuilgatmusic7333]

Do it! Joiiinnnn uuussss 🤖!

[@gasparlucas92]

Very nice!! Good tips! Would be nice to see a second part with drum machines, how to record jams how to deal with mix and get a track/album done.

[@henryalfaro9125]

Wooow!? what a level of passion and talent you have. Thanks for sharing it

[@loopop]

Henry Alfaro thanks very much!

[@obshaky]

1) this is the kind of video where i catch my eyes opening wider, an involuntary physiological response to reaaaaaally paying attention. 2) @9:48 the sound difference is subtle because you recorded the thing so good from the get go that Ozone AI really just cannot catch the tiny subtleties 3) Who tf dislikes this and why? Great info, to the point, entertaining... I dont get it. Really amazing job on this video.

[@loopop]

Thanks very much!

[@firesailstudios1003]

Thanks for this video! I literally just put in my mc 707 last night using it for midi out only and had a hybrid jam recording hardware synths and midi from the 707 into Ableton... it feels much more promising than just jumping into Ableton and letting loose with plugins which are awesome, but often get overused, which kills the cpu and the vibe (especially if you have no self control with using plugins like I do lol)

[@strangersun7721]

You released an album??? How did I miss that? Congratulations! That's no mean feat. Going to check it out on a long car ride today. Thanks!

[@loopop]

Awesome - thanks!!

[@DBPawlan]

Great explanation of your post-production processes. Really appreciated!

[@zdravkodimitrov]

This sounds a lot like the OST of Deus Ex - Human Revolution. I love it!

[@zdravkodimitrov]

Your work is fantastic! You should consider doingo more colaborations to increase your audience, you deserve to be way more popular. And please consider doing reviewes of the Korg Kronos engines, especially comparing the MS20 to the recent reissues.

[@st0rmchild]

The two newest Deus Ex soundtracks (Human Revolution and Mankind Divided) are amazing. For me it’s a big part of the experience of playing the games. The music was made by Michael McCann: michaelmccann.io/

[@Worldwave]

Thanks Ziv, a look into your methods was insightful and interesting.

[@RobertAdachi]

I love your music as well as your tutorials! Thoroughly and beautifully done, as always!

[@Ryahan]

Thank you

[@MoltenMusicTech]

This was really good - thanks!

[@loopop]

My pleasure - thanks for the comment!

[@kalubandali2241]

What a great insight into the Process! Thank you

[@benjaminbrodie9801]

Another master class from the Professor of Sonic Theory. Great job!!

[@loopop]

Thanks!

[@winddealer1]

Thanks for the update and tips! Enjoyed Ohads narrative on the mix as well. What did you think of the final mix over what you had originally created? How would you best describe the differences between the two mixes?

[@loopop]

My pleasure: I think in both cases the master was an improvement, in both cases it can be major or subtle based on your listening environment, and indeed I prefer Ohad's, though I am sure in knowledgable masting hands Ozone can do wonders too

[@raymoody6023]

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the album!

[@davidbrown8600]

Thank you loopop. Kind of brilliant.

[@niknayme3754]

For mastering I use Ozone and sometimes T-Racks Master Match. It's an auto mastering plugin that works from a reference track of your choice and gets your recording somewhere close.

[@spoony303]

Eureka! The tutorial I’ve been waiting for!

[@powermix24]

This is Gold! we need more of this kind of content! keep em coming 😉

[@hughfasher8070]

So very useful. Thanks loopy

[@xdrabbit]

5:56 really smart!

[@nitaiprem2185]

I wouldnt know allot of things if it wasnt for loopop. Was wondering when you were going to release music. got tired of playing gear videos to enjoy your sound. Great sounding album btw!

[@markschweter6371]

Very nice overview of a process heard of, but, what is actually done is relatively unknown.👍 Everything Ohad did added clarity and substance with subtlety, removing all the 'mud' and 'blankets'.😏 One thing not covered is even though the source material was stereo instead of tracks ( it was quite good to start) it would have been informative to see a 'fix it in post' failure.

[@loopop]

Thanks for the comment. What do you mean by “what is done is unknown”? Anyway, the techniques I mention (taking the best bits from a few jams, the infinity software) are pretty good fix it in post examples. Aside from Ohad fixing the mud...

[@markschweter6371]

@@loopop clarification: Relatively unknown to novices what's done in mastering. Wondering how 'bad' the source material has to be that no amount of mastering can fix it. We'll leave examples of 'butchered in mastering' for another discussion.😏

[@django-music]

Loving the album. Beautiful sound design. Kudos! I was wondering if you published an overview of the instruments thats you used per track?

[@mudsh4rk]

Unrelated to the theme of the video, I saw you have a Doepfer A-119 in there. If you haven't already done it, swap an LME49740 for the TL064. Mine already had the 064 swapped for a TL074 by a previous owner, but even in that case the 49740 was a big improvement. Better transient response, more high end, lower noise floor, just all around more hi-fi. Didn't solve the A-119 headroom (even a single coil passive guitar pickup straight into the low gain input will clip it in an ugly way with the level knob above 1 for me), but it's still really worth the $2-$3 and makes it a much more useful module.

[@loopop]

Thanks but where did you see it? I don’t believe I have that module

[@InkyDaCaT]

Thanks Loopop, just the video I needed!

[@loopop]

My pleasure - thanks for the comment!

[@InkyDaCaT]

@@loopop no "Thank you" for all you do Sir😉🙌😎

[@Bladi4n]

I read the title like 'From Jam to Mustard' and thought this was a cooking show.

[@jjaffee]

inspired

[@visiblesoundsmusic]

תודה!!

[@dotted9689]

Thanks.

[@samaBR333]

mud has been removed!

[@jumpingman8160]

the track by itsel is a damn beautiful ambient piece. Somewhat melancholic as well. Really good transitions. I can easily see it used on sci-fi or lynchian kind of movies. Ever thought about sending it?

[@loopop]

Thanks! I don’t know where to send it but I’m happy for people to use it from the KZbin library

[@jumpingman8160]

@@loopop Try googling for Indy movie directors/producers as a start. It would be a pitty if your music isn't used in a movie. Best of luck

[@distantfloats]

My problem is that the effects (rainmaker!

[@nebula0697]

That was unexpected! Very cool :-) I'm buying the album

[@loopop]

Thanks for your support!

[@nebula0697]

@@loopop You're welcome. Very curious about the album, which I'll listen to in the coming days, and whether the modular setup at the end is your current, somewhat stabilized, "workhorse".

[@loopop]

@@nebula0697 oh no, unfortunately, I don't have a stable workhorse - this channel has pretty much taken over my life :) so I build a new setup pretty much every time I make a video, to best explore the module/synth at hand.

[@nebula0697]

Ok, I thought that was probably the case

[@Digithalis]

great tutorial man, my deepest respect for your work master!!! :-)

[@simonmcg23]

Great video. Can you tell me what multi track audio interface you use?

[@loopop]

Thanks! Audiofuse Studio is my favorite, though really any multitrack interface will serve you fine unless it's really dirt cheap

[@DayflightTrok]

Thx, very interesting

[@ReneGBoscio]

Thank you for sharing your process. Very insightful and inspiring. If you don’t mind me asking, what genre and sub-genre did you use when uploading your music through Distrokid? I always had a hard time figuring out what to choose since they didn’t really seem to have anything that fit this kind of ambient/electronic stuff... Thanks!

[@loopop]

Thanks! I honestly don’t remember... electronic music or electronica I think? I don’t even know what my genre is...

[@medenine4828]

This is great! Do you have any thoughts on copywriting before releasing? Know you didn’t need to for this KZbin release.

[@loopop]

Thanks! Sorry copyright is not my area of expertise

[@omarsorianolopez5290]

Hi man! Great video. Super useful. Could you please share the link of the software that lets you change the notes of a whole mix as a piano roll? Didn't quite get what you said, Infinity?

[@loopop]

Thanks! And yes - added to the description plus here it is: hitnmix.com

[@omarsorianolopez5290]

@@loopop awesome, Thanks!

[@ManCalledMif]

Distrokid. For tracks uploads. Thanks.

[@Erik_Torstensson]

Very inspiring video! Maybe I missed it in the video, but how much material did you record in minutes to get this album? Very nice sounding! /Ertoz

[@loopop]

Thanks! My guess is that each track is about 20-30 minutes of recorded practice and takes, and then maybe 30-60 minutes of exploration before that.

[@loopop]

EDIT: and note many jams get thrown away...

[@shortcutDJ]

would it not be easyer to just leave the mastering to the pro's like your friend? and focus on creating?

[@ohadnissimmastering]

Has the mastering engineer in the video :) it's most of the time comes down to money. not everybody can afford paying for a mastering engineer so they will look for cheaper options, like ozone for example as shown in the video. And just to be clear, Loopop paid for the mastering of course, we didn't know each other before, but now we are indeed friends :) anyway, I try to help as much as I can with independent artists budgets but still, it's an investment that not everybody can afford now days and lots of artists would just prefer installing an illegal copy of ozone and try it out themselves.

[@nikherold290]

What's the problem with "cheating" in the DAW, actually, why cheating anyways? Music recorded with acoustic instruments is also manipulated with effects etc... it's just sound

[@loopop]

No problem at all - this video is more about encouraging the leap from jams to full tracks and album than a process that starts on a DAW timeline

[@nikherold290]

@@loopop got it! I had to stop the video so I could go listen to your music on spotify first, then I will continue the video, and maaaaan I'm enjoying this

[@loopop]

nik 2347 thanks - I appreciate the comment!

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

Great video, unfortunately I don't believe people are interested in recording anymore. It's dAwLesS oR noThing Brah!

[@alphanuevo]

Yeah, I agree with someone else that using a DAW isn't cheating. :) Don't worry about what the 'purists' think. Nice work. Cheers.

[@MonsieurC64]

So the mastering guy is doing at least two digital/analog conversions. I know converters have improved a lot over the years, but still... I hope he uses high res files at least.

[@ohadnissimmastering]

I will start by saying I am using very good convertors, Lavry blue d/a a/d and the convertors on the UAD Apollo X16 are also pretty good. if you refer to the tape machine as a conversion that's just in parallel, meaning I still have a clean none converted file, the return from the tape just sits under the original file (-17dbfs), it doesn't effect the conversion, it's only there for 'sound' and 'glue' purposes. so the only d/a-a/d conversion that actually effect the final file is when I go thru the hardware and back, only one round, there I use the Lavry Blue convertors which are very high grade. at the end, it's been tested of course and if it was degrading the quality of masters we put out in the studio we wouldn't have done it of course. :) Hope that clears it.. feel free to ask more of course and thank you for your interest in the process!

[@MonsieurC64]

@@ohadnissimmastering That's clear, thanks. Never heard of using a tape machine in parallel, that's interesting.

[@ohadnissimmastering]

@@MonsieurC64 No worries. Yes, people are always find this process special :) but If you think about it, you get so much more control when things are in parallel. original audio stays dynamic and you can just add layers of 'harmonics' under it, as much as you want without killing it. I also mix the same way, compress in parallel for example, distortion in parallel... so much easier to help things sounds fuller without destroying the dynamics.

[@sdrozo]

what oscilloscope vst are you using?

[@GhostOfLorelei]

I figure having a pro master would be better, but I do have to ask, how do the costs compare? I know Ozone 9 is around $500 or so. How much was it (if it’s alright to ask) to have it mastered by Ohad?

[@loopop]

I’ll let Ohad publish his prices if he wants, but the album cost me well over $500 to master... I did compare his prices though and they weren’t uncompetitive

[@ohadnissimmastering]

Hey Jay, you are welcome to contact me and we can discuss it further. I think every project is different and at the end I'm just trying to help you finish your project. So nothing is set in stone and I try to be flexible as possible, depending on how big is the project and the artist budget.

[@cinmay05]

I can't find you on Google Play Music. Can you provide link? Or is it just taking some time before your album gets published everywhere?

[@loopop]

Thanks for the comment - it's live now :)

[@cinmay05]

@@loopop Yes! Thanks 😃😃 it sounds amazing 😃😃 . I find your work inspires me to make more music. And your reviews are the best 😃

[@AM-ui9mc]

Ahaaaaa!

[@Ceedubbya]

69th like hehe

[@moistpeanut5986]

"cheated with a daw" is misleading. Daw's just like synths are instruments to make music. You never hear a carpenter saying "I cheated by using a hammer".

[@loopop]

I wouldn't really publish a tip if I thought it was "cheating". The goal of this video is to encourage people jamming to record their work and publish it, with or without the help of a DAW; just trying to keep it light with the occasional dad joke... sorry if you felt mislead

[@LimGiong]

Thanks.