My Unique Production Techniques Revealed

[@unc1589]

“Keep it natural “ is the lesson I take from this wonderful video. I already fix single drum hits the long way. It sounds way better.

[@Tru-Luv-is-2-Giv]

Same here. Sounds more musical and less robotic.

[@whaleguy]

Your sample recording reminds me of the fact that Brad Fiedel recorded himself whacking a frying pan with a screwdriver for the Terminator theme. Fun bit of recording trivia.

[@fpvtv2222]

You managed to keep me here for 30 mins! I normally move on if the video is that long. It's not that I have a short attention span. Most of these music production video suck! They usually are trying to sell me gear or something. You didn't and acutely gave solid advice. I started making my own samples and loops this week. This video also brought a serious problem to my attention 😔 You showed my I'm a mic snob! I see cheap mics all the time and say wow that junk. No self-respecting producer would buy those. Well now the hard part. I was wrong. I want to see more video like these that have useful information. Great video!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Oh wow! So cool! Glad you watched it all. There's a place for all different types of mics. Having some stuff recorded with high quality mics AND cheap weird sounding mics makes mixing easier and makes for a bigger more in depth production.

[@fpvtv2222]

@ I’m definitely going to add that to my arsenal. Next time I see some cheap mics I’m going to pick them up and try them out. It should be lots of fun.

[@unknown_character_music]

24:22 This is such a huge point! There are a million KZbin videos on; getting a 'professional' drum sound, what the 'industry standard' gear is, 'how to sound like [huge artist]' etc. etc. I've never once enjoyed a song just because it sounded professional, but I've heard tons of stuff that had unorthodox or even downright bad mixing that was still moving and brimming with creativity.

[@jeffbridges6110]

the ways you built that song are very inspiring.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Inspiration is what I strive for.

[@mikebryant4146]

Love the man cave! Makes me nostalgic for the one I used to have in Teddington, UK. Lots of ideas here. Thanks for your labour-intensive efforts to share your process.

[@zelbarnap]

For the years I recorded you nailed it. I know the reason I end up failing is laziness not the technology. Thanks for showing how to do it to keep the emotion. You are speaking my language

[@jayheinz4624]

Hi,,,Fellow old school producer ,engineer, musician here. Started in the late 1980s.. I really like what you shared here and I enjoyed the end part ,,I can definitely relate to you and your buddies,,And I like your philosophy you shared at the end.🎶 👍

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks friend! I'm so glad to be connecting to fellow travelers.

[@jayheinz4624]

​@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume yes! right back at yaaa! 👍🐦

[@7777J3shua]

My first album was recorded in 1982. This is a wonderful reminder that recording the old fashioned way is a great opportunity to really show an individual or band's unique identity #Tascam❤ Love your channel ❤

[@johnnybegood2693]

Thank you for showing that being creative is the human way of doing things 🎉

[@brawndothethirstmutilator9848]

I love sampling “found sounds”. Please make this a series!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Sampling a Stanley Cup next.

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Huge industry secret: the best snare drum samples come from slapping huge cuts of beef with a machete (on the side of the blade of course). What most people don’t know is that you have to put that sound through an Aphex Aural Exciter and an Eventide Harmonizer on the ‘bleen’ preset. Instant hit record. Just ask Def Leppard! Great fun video man! 👍

[@PrinceWesterburg]

Hahahahaaa - i wonder how many vegans are going to resposibly dispose of their albums now HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA!!! Nice! :D

[@sub-jec-tiv]

@ If you’re not willing to slap the dead to gain fame you clearly don’t want it bad enough! /jk

[@ExileMixes]

You're a genius, man! Thanks for sharing.

[@GerryMoningkey]

Great point at 26:53, I like to limit myself by not using gears/instruments that have been used for previous music, this way I can make sure all my gears get used and not just laying around.

[@dimakalenyuk9286]

I'm on TV !

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

You deserve it! Your suggestion led me down a very cool rabbit hole. Thanks!

[@AmyTankersley-t1l]

I always enjoy all your videos and I hope future musicians watch them, and keep uniqueness and creativity alive.

[@teamtomii]

Great video. Very inspiring! As someone who also think modern music all sound the same (and you're thinking to yourself "how did these songs get millions of streams?") I hope more producers take this stuff to heart.

[@jerrrdy]

Best snare I ever recorded was with a Bic lighter hitting a popcorn tin with loose rice on it. It was the same crunchy sound as Crass. Apartment sessions: use what you have, play all night and keep record ‘always on.’

[@RobChandler]

You literally have the same "model" brain as me. I'm 57 and getting better WITH age!!! Thank you for sharing!!! :-)

[@alkaponememphis]

You are an amazing talent in so many ways Billy!

[@grunklesmuff]

really underrated channel

[@BPD81]

I really appreciate how you have one foot in OG techniques, but also having a ton of modern sensibilities. It’s not easily found in these type vids. I just subscribed!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!

[@jimshepherd3841]

That mic inside the water jug is called a HELM HOLTZ RESONATOR I USED IT IN THE KICK WITH THE MIC PLACED IN A LARGE MASON JAR LYING ON CHEESE CLOTH. IT WAS AN AWESOME EFFECT.

[@arediusmusic]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@LuxLucidOfficial]

Turned out to be so much more than just a hit by hit "how I mixed/produce this song," so many good points. I have never subbed to a "production" channel, until now! Love your personality! The whole "listening to music outside your comfort zone" is gold! I used to do this, don't know why I stopped! It is such an inspirational experience.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you!

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great video! You are a true master artist. I am a software-developer and my hobby is retrocomputing becuase of that limitations you mention in your video. It forces you to think out of the box and do things never had been done before. It also makes you a better creator as a hole with the modern, boring stuff. Love your channel und experience and wisdom never gets obsolete :)

[@JimmyLem]

I enjoyed this video. Saw many headspaces I have been in myself. Sometimes in music/art, you can end up second guessing about what you are doing. In my stronger moments, my uniqueness is my strength. Thanks.

[@derminotauros]

Thank's for this video. So much information. So much experience. So much good whipes for working in a human experimental behavior. Love, peace and harmony Bernward

[@cyri11e]

You made the point pitch correction is OK when it’s done with your ears and not with your eyes

[@lb3515]

Glad to see you perform each part. I used a soft mallet on my bathtub to get a good kick some years ago. I used to record nature sounds with my LDCs but that proved to be too cumbersome for longer hikes (my DIY deadcat was 3 merino sweaters wrapped around them). We used to bring a thermos and picnic blanket and make a day of it on a grassy field (haven't done that since quarantine). Also! Just ordered a pair of low-SPL high-sensitivity lav mics from the UK to record samples and nature sounds with, excited! EDIT: Merry xmas to me lol.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

You were hiking with LDC mics???? We bow before you!

[@REDOPTICALCORP]

I love this!! I used a pan and a microwave beeping on a song for my next album!!! Thank you for sharing!!

[@jennoscura2381]

Now I need to sample my microwave. Thanks for the idea.

[@REDOPTICALCORP]

@@jennoscura2381 i used the beeps when the timer was done and the sound it makes when you open and close it. It's interesting to use these in backgrounds

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Never thought of the microwave....

[@REDOPTICALCORP]

@ ​​⁠ it makes so many noises and if you have one from the 80s, oh man!!

[@hearpalhere]

Love your attitude and vibe here! When I first started recording, I had an old 4 track Tascam and only two microphones. i had an SM57 and a really old Radio Shack, cheapo microphone. Love recording strange things for sounds. My first experiments with "drum sounds" was hitting an empty notebook binder with the eraser ends of two pencils (as the "snare") and hitting the floor with a heavy sandal (for the "bass"). I still love that recording 🙂 Rock on, greetings from Hungary!

[@ganderson87]

Going through a bit of a tough time at the moment. Your videos have given me a lot of inspiration and positive energy. Thank you, Billy!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Oh man! I'm sorry that things are tough right now. I'm glad I could help. I've found that creating usually helps pull me out of my all to regular slumps. If it weren't for music I don't know where I would be. Hang in there and keep making music.

[@casaterris4527]

Excellent!! I remember using a pot in a track to sound like timbolies! It sounded beautiful 😍

[@jbond1224]

The videos you make are superb, and I appreciate you.

[@josecuralegacy]

Twist the nobs! Love you, Billy!

[@sleonse]

You’re amazing man! So free and refreshing! Thank you’

[@TOMJLAEL]

I think the idea of using an odd measure count for like hi-hats or a shaker loop is a great idea! Gonna give that a try...

[@AveEndGermany]

Of all the wisdom you shared in this video, the last seconds where the most valueable ones: do what you love and be as much of an individual you can be. Be unique!

[@greenthumbsup7321]

This is very educational, funny and inspiring content man. Thank you so much for being unique and encouraging other to take that approach. 😁

[@lennartrauhe]

Love it! ..and the amount of depth a cohesiveness of your verbs! Superb soundscape! 👌

[@lennartrauhe]

@FreakingOutWithBillyHume do you have a video on reverb & spacial FX layering? I'd really like to learn from that!

[@turbinenraum9476]

Inspiration in a video, brilliant stuff. Thanks so much for this!

[@davidtownsend1039]

Fantastic video!! Thank you for some really solid advice and inspiration.

[@Eduardo_Escobar0315]

Man. Great video. You sir are an inspiration and I will take these things with me. Thank you. 🎉

[@ActionArtzStudioz]

Excellent Video! very encouraging! I am a musician and currently in a band playing only improvised music (The most challenging thing I've done on a weekly basis, but so much fun) and I also write music...I'm all for creating, original, well crafted music that has emotion, just like the music from back in the day had. Keep up the great content.

[@snacksonaplane]

Your channel is a treasure trove, because you are a gent for sharing this great wealth of inspiration and knowledge. Thanking you very muchly sir.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Wow, thank you!

[@gustersongusterson4120]

Hell yeah. Great insights on engineering and songwriting.

[@MVVblog]

13:02 Do you hear voices? I have heard them! Anyway, man, you are awesome and exciting, you make me want to experiment again!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes. There are always voices going on.

[@ProdByAusto]

Where did they come from

[@collapsingruins]

@@ProdByAusto Sequestering. The Air is full of BS these days.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Sometimes I talk to myself and it ends up in a recording.

[@DylanPwnt]

This is all golden, fun and inspiring.

[@FlexXx_x_x]

I love you BrO!! I highly appreciate the knowledge you’ve obtained over the years and don’t mind sharing in hopes to keep music natural Organic and full of life!!!

[@FlexXx_x_x]

Lmao I just confessed to love on KZbin 😂😂

[@craigligman]

Excellent vid Billy, love seeing how you work and think, such an inspiration!

[@FirstnameLastname-i9d]

Heck yeah! Super inspiring, thank you!

[@Rubi8Hz]

I'm still here. Your content is really good! Thank you

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I appreciate that!!

[@Rubi8Hz]

@FreakingOutWithBillyHume you make the best audii content to me!! Very important. Everyone should watch

[@RESETBand]

Thanks for reminding me that I have a lot of wonderful tools that I need to start using again!! Lots of inspiration though

[@ehzeeee]

Sticking to your inner gut's feel is always a timeless trait. Stick to your ways, you are an inspiration my friend. Thank you for this self-creative recording video tut.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you! I'm glad I could inspire you!

[@xyzyzx1253]

I could watch this for hours the animations on ableton are an incredible idea, plus I’m so used to that work flow that I can follow every step and know the decisions why etc

[@andreasfranzmann9634]

THAT was a great video, very inspirational! Thank you Billy!

[@xyzyzx1253]

listening to this on the PC you mix with is some of the most satifying things ive seen in a long time

[@zackhooper5427]

Yasss. I have written many bad songs with a good bridge and then turned that bridge into a whole other song.

[@dirtydanny8267]

Thank you for taking the time out to do this. I enjoyed it so much. You’re amazing Mr. Hume

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

My pleasure!!

[@rogerfurer2273]

I love your ideas and suggestions. Can't wait to try 'em.

[@corticallarvae]

Vocals were fine before / loose the auto tune ….. post processing without tuners were rad melodyne is incredible

[@tonybmusic1166]

Gary Chase, a drummer I used to work with also used to work at Enterprise Studio in LA and one time created a terrific piece using only different lengths of PVC pipes. Pretty primitive stuff but very creative.

[@MoreMeRecording]

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Keep doing you thing!

[@joelandersmith2735]

Really really like the last bit about songwriting and the guest appearances about mixing and production, gonna try a lot of that stuff out. Also really cool about the cheap mic, I used to have an old telephone I soldered the speaker to a 1/4” jack (it doesn’t work anymore) but I have another old telephone I should do that to, definitely miss that sound

[@laporteestouverte]

Awesome video, thank you so much for sharing all this knowledge, perspective and mindset ! So valuable and inspiring

[@mrgoggles1963]

You are very smart! Appreciate you. 👍👍👍

[@Tom-S1981]

Excellent Billy! We'll have more where that came from. Giving me motivation to want to experiment more 🤟

[@jakethepitador2558]

I've got a fever, and the prescription is... more chain? Very, very intriguing. 🤔

[@collapsingruins]

Mike from creative Sauce has a great tutorial where he shows how to use the Audio Snap feature in Cakewalk to make the drum track follow the speed of other audio tracks like vocals or the instrument track so that it sounds organic. instead of quantifying everything: Leave room for imperfections. Not everything has to be clean, sterile and perfect. People love the Velvet Underground so much because you can hear someone closing their guitar case in the background of a track... that's what makes it unique and organic. On Friday evenings my neighbors are always extremely loud, a few weeks ago I was trying to play my guitar and they started singing Smurf songs karakoke. When I listened to the track on Saturday, you could also hear this strange atmosphere in the audio file. It gave the whole thing something sinister and obscure and funny at the same time. Most people would probably cut it out, but I'll leave it in. Some times, the factory near me, makes siren noise (don't know if they test it in case it burns or something) and when I walk past the factory during the day, you can hear through the outside wall that they have 80's radio on inside, along with the noise that the rails make, a very dense weird soundscape. The whispering in the neighbors' house when ambulances and police drive by. A dog or a cat makes itself heard or simply the thrushes scolding outside in the bushes. All of this is life and it's perfectly OK to hear it in your music.

[@odmusicman]

Everything good takes a modicum of effort. Everything GREAT takes stamina and patience. Peter Gabriel should be calling you soon, it has all the earmarks of a Gabriel song with a strong focus on unique rhythms and rhythmic sounds. Superb job. Joe

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

If Peter called me I'd totally freak out.

[@odmusicman]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume You and me both. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[@meronyach.]

Before I had my home studio set up, I used to love going around the house with my IRig interface, recording the sound of things like old copper pipes to emulate cymbals, and a bucket with screws at the bottom to emulate a snare drum. I think I'll get more into recording that kind of stuff again, it was super fun, and you end up with a one of a kind sound.

[@ThePsychoghost]

I just found your channel and commented on the previous video and I love the videos

[@57RickH]

Love your channel man! Great info for non-technical types like myself. 🎸

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@elambi]

I am enjoying your video. Glad I found your channel.

[@rthomasstarkey6963]

Billy, This is a wonderful video. Thanks ! I heard Sting being interviewed by Rick Beato on a video. Sting said if he doesn't hear something unique early in a song, he will stop listening. We are all unique. We must try not to sound like anybody else in our playing or singing. We are all special and we should accept our special contributions as the correct way forward. There is nobody else exactly like us on Earth. We have to embrace that fully. The listener will love and prefer our being just who we are. What's wrong with today's music? Too many people are afraid to be their unique selves in their created music.

[@kond1]

Damn this is epic. I love it. Time to go record my own sounds 🏃🏾

[@studiodude1]

Great video! Very well presented concepts. As someone that started playing in 1964 and coming up in analog and then digital, it feels like, "Of course. Who doesn't do all that stuff. That's just how it's done". But all the younger folks that never had to do that stuff don't really know. A video like this should be really inspirational to them. Right on!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

That's why I do this. Ill see people jump all over younger artists and producers for not doing some of this stuff that's just damn rude. Most of the youngsters I meet and have communicated with here just don't know this stuff. Where would they have seen it? It's been gratifying to get comments from people about how they are going to re-record some parts with ideas inspired by my whacky processes. Young artists I work with aren't bad people like some people think - in fact they are way more openminded than most. They just need to be shown things and mentored. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@75YBA]

Just sending out best wishes to you, KitCat, your family and friends! Almost everyone in my family are teachers and principals or therapists. You remind me of all my favourite teachers that weren’t family members too. Anyway, great delivery, such a pro. I grew up and later lived in Kzoo, you remind me of all my friends that were in bands there. RAT pedals everywhere and Pete Marino from Gibson had his own little shop. He used to do set ups on my Les Paul for $20. Thanks for all the great content!👍😀🌏🌍🌎🪕🎻🪈🪇🥁🎧🎼🎹🪗🎸

[@kitcatmama]

Thank you! ❤ (Teaching was my degree, too. 😂)

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Wow! Thanks! Rat pedals...

[@AdrogMTB]

Great video. So much to unpack in there. And your final comments are spot on. Thanks!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank YOU!!!

[@yiqwaba3833]

I've learned a lot from this video, I desire to try it tomorrow. Thank you very good video.

[@karlaskitties]

Just happened on your channel. Super interesting. I work for K&K Sound and the boss (husband) spends a lot of time in his studio. We found it quite inspiring. 😺😺😺

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

You make the acoustic instrument mics?

[@midnightsocean2689]

This is great. My technique over the past 20 years has been strikingly similar to yours. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's doing it and that I'm not the only one who appreciates this sort of thing. Even though it takes every work and time, I think it's worth it to make more unique/alive pieces of music. I used to keep a giant clean metal trashcan and weird random junk in my studio for just this sort of thing. Everyone would always ask me, how come you never put any trash in that trash can? lol I often take it a step further and RE-sample the same physical objects for a new tune. That way, each song has it's own uniqueness, instead of using the same sample patch I made over and over. I think the biggest contributing factor in the sameness syndrome is, time and talent. too many people don't want to or can't put in the time/develop the talent, to make music like in this video. And IMO that really boils down to consumerism. The audience needs to value music more, so that more producers are incentivized to spend the extra time to do it right. Instead of being expected to crank out a tune in few hours and thus, be forced to use every shortcut in the book. As far as Al replacing music. It's only able to replace cookie cutter music, with more cookie cutter music. The one thing Al will never be able to do, is create genuinely unique ideas, because it can only reproduce stuff that already exists. That's why they call it artificial. It can't actually create like a real human individual.

[@griffingibson4389]

its crazy. i can usually hear when someone has produced in fl studios or ableton or logic just by the workflow it produces on the track.

[@1KoeiKan]

Thank you so much for this video. It was great! I learned a lot and it was also inspiring to me.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

It is my goal to inspire you. I'm so glad you liked it and were inspired. Now make some music!

[@AtticVibes]

Just dropped in here, I’m seeing years of experience, I taken a lot from this thx, subbbed…

[@tatooinemoor]

Being on a budget, I use an absolutely minimal recording setup - but a quality setup, nevertheless: a ten yrs old RME Babyface (non-"pro"), an M2 Mac mini base model with Logic Pro X, 1 AU synth plugin (OB-Xd Oberheim emulation), and the Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard Edition (has a Fatar 49-key Keyboard w/ after touch, 25x Timbrality, Sampler extension license included w/ keyboard edition, yada-yada...). Finally, an AT2020 Mic to record anything from voices, instruments, samples, etc. So, for roughly US$1200, I got all gear I ever need to produce/arrange...

[@leonschlommer839]

This is amazing. More of this please!

[@kovoliver]

I subscribed... Both the production and the channel are very unique. Thanks for sharing!

[@in.der.welt.sein.]

I love that vocal harmony without autotune. The sharp note doesn't sound off, but wide. Kind of like when people make synths wider by slightly putting them a few cents off center pitch. The band Elvis Depressedly put out an album a few years ago where autotune was all over the vocals, and it made it unlistenable. Whereas their previous albums were great.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I'm noticing autotune being used in some modern musicals. Unlistenable.

[@jonnyfunkson]

hey thanks Billy for sharing all your tricks with us your a star brother , love ya man !! 🙂

[@jmd76family]

Thanks for leading me down the road of inspiration! More videos like this plz!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! More coming!

[@gisfortheguitar]

Brilliant tips and techniques. Also nice to see Ableton in action 🎵🎶

[@lennartrauhe]

setting that Sm57 up like a true master 👌 the smoothness of decades of expertise 👍

[@lennartrauhe]

I was talking about the beginning, the two quick tossing moves to curl the cord around the stand

[@brooksideplaylists]

Excellent work Billy. That track sounds great

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I've got a follow up video with more sampling on another part of that song coming up.

[@brooksideplaylists]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume Great I'll look forward to it

[@mymusicmixminute473]

"Just start turning knobs," best advice ever unless you are trying to copy something in particular.

[@patrickisirish]

So many great ideas ! Thanks for sharing !

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you!

[@ProducerStefanSchnabel]

Awesome Work! Thank you! 🙂

[@panagope]

So much information, from years of experience.. Thanks a lot !

[@kungpao-wp2sq]

Excellent excellent video thank you !!!