You Asked for It: My Unique Music 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.

[@jeffbridges6110]

the ways you built that song are very inspiring.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Inspiration is what I strive for.

[@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.

[@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! 👍

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@ExileMixes]

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

[@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

[@DavidStarrUSA]

Thank you for being a safer, much better alternative to Rick Beato. You rock 🤘

[@xyzyzx1253]

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

[@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.

[@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! 👍🐦

[@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.

[@johnnybegood2693]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@andreasfranzmann9634]

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

[@casaterris4527]

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

[@jonnyfunkson]

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

[@brawndothethirstmutilator9848]

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

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Sampling a Stanley Cup next.

[@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!!

[@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.

[@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!

[@utube4andydent]

i once used a bowl of dry past to get the effect of lots of people marching. Listening back to it - it sounds like a bowl of pasta. I sorted it in post. Now it sounds like a bowl of pasta with reverb added for good measure. Some times making sounds can be great fun. It's nothing more than what people were doing in the 80s and 90s with hardware that cost eye watering amounts.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@panagope]

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

[@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.

[@dirtydanny8267]

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

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

My pleasure!!

[@corticallarvae]

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

[@leonschlommer839]

This is amazing. More of this please!

[@rogerfurer2273]

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

[@arediusmusic]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@57RickH]

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

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@MoreMeRecording]

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Keep doing you thing!

[@zackhooper5427]

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

[@CyberiaMusicDK]

Wow - this video inspired me big time. Very well done, thank you so much 🙂

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you thank you!!!

[@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!

[@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 😂😂

[@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.

[@craigligman]

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

[@laporteestouverte]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@brianelkins8604]

L I'm still hete and could listen for hours. I wish I were one of your friends not only because of what I could obviously learn from just hanging around you, but because of what being a friend of yours would mean I had to already know lol. Watching you work is like watching real magic happen and is very inspiring.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much!!

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

Wow this was absolutely amazing and inspiring. Thank you!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you!

[@jmd76family]

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

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! More coming!

[@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!

[@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.

[@paullawson8610]

The water jug 808 is cool .putting synths through amps and guitar pedals is cool too thanks for the tips

[@turbinenraum9476]

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

[@crazydougthewolf]

That water jug 808 sound was awesome! Thank you!

[@kw9172]

Cannot agree more. There seems to have developed a kind of "ISO complient" approach to the whole creative process from songwriting to mastering, following a set of specified "rules" for each genre. The music suffers greatly from that.

[@barlypop]

At last, someone that has taught me something new and different in music production. Thank you.😺

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you ! And thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@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.

[@grunklesmuff]

really underrated channel

[@mrgoggles1963]

You are very smart! Appreciate you. 👍👍👍

[@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...

[@Tom-S1981]

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

[@no-relic]

Workflow is the most important thing to me It’s gotta be fast and allow me to be creative with my brain off I’ve also gotta be able to completely toss it when things are getting stagnant

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Exactly!

[@CharLessMajor7Music]

You and Gregory Scott are my GOAT!!! Best mixing/production channel I subscribed to next to my all time fave Greg from Kush Afterhours. 🙌

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Greg is the man!

[@CharLessMajor7Music]

@ yea! hoping for his come back. You guys are real educators! Your work is what I truly resonate with. I’m just 33 and I still prefer the old music production and how old music sounds. Modern mixing is not my cup of tea.

[@jbond1224]

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

[@patrickisirish]

So many great ideas ! Thanks for sharing !

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you!

[@kungpao-wp2sq]

Excellent excellent video thank you !!!

[@Gregorovitch144]

This is how it's done. I'm particularly into the idea that you use the take that has the emotion even if it's not perfect. I'm reminded of the story of Mick Jagger saying "Alright, Wild Horses, yeah" after the third live take of Brown Sugar (the one we hear on Sticky Fingers). The Muscle Shoals engineer on the desk said words to the effect of "WTF" (being used to country musicians doing like 20 or 30 takes). Mick reportedly replied "Nah, we always use the first take that doesn't have a serious mistake in it". Evidence would suggest this policy worked out pretty well for them. When I record a new part I find that almost invariably it's the second of third take that has the mojo. I now usually loop through four takes on a part and that's it. The first one's usually got too many mistakes in it. The fourth one is usually the most mechanical. The third one is usually the best balance between emotion and accuracy but sometimes the second has got so much emotion it's got to be the one. If none of them are good enough I drop it and repeat the same thing next morning or whenever or I might spend a few days practicing the part or figuring out an easier way to play it before trying again happen my playing chops simply weren't up to what I was trying to do.

[@gisfortheguitar]

Learned a lot from this one. Thank you Billy! 🙏

[@mocreativ]

i watched the hole video, i am happy to listen to, in germany we say, an old Rabbit :) ...please sent out your knowledge, to be also some counterpart to the boring stuff out there.

[@The_T-Bone]

Soooooo helpful!!! thank you so much!! Like really it all makes so much since,

[@AdrogMTB]

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

[@jakethepitador2558]

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

[@Begadiel]

Love this channel is the best👏👏👏🎶🎶🎶

[@cyri11e]

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

[@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!

[@gisfortheguitar]

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

[@alkaponememphis]

You are an amazing talent in so many ways Billy!

[@krakulandia]

Great points! I'd love to see more videos like this.

[@colindeibertmusic]

Watching this while my 1 year old plays with that exact shaker 😂

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Ha ha! So awwwesome!

[@achtagon]

Great content, huge training effort, and value here. Subbed. Don't listen to any dumb hater comments.

[@Joshphoto]

Love this! Totally where Im at Your unique and authentic style is awesome What DAW to use that easy to learn?

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

They all have pros and Cons. I like Ableton for creative flow however Protools follows a more traditional 'engineering' work flow.

[@ChillMaxxGroup]

great video

[@ChillMaxxGroup]

some of the best technique and advice ive seen on youtube honestly, quite a few of these tricks i use, and i agree.

[@SatelliteSoundLab]

very inspirational!

[@sleonse]

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

[@gustersongusterson4120]

Hell yeah. Great insights on engineering and songwriting.

[@trismahaffay2813]

Try anything to see what you can find searching for sounds. ..love my Radio Shack, Teac , Alesis recording gear. Don't get caught up in all the big name labeled pres, comps bla bla bla....it's all snake oil. You have proved it. Having said that..... have got the NS10's all the way. That's the secret to mixing and always has been. Big fan Billy !!!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! NS10ms forever!

[@lanatrzczka]

This was really amazing. So creative. Could you in the future maybe explore balancing a close-miked guitar amp and using a far mic to give it depth? Something for us "living room" hobbyists. Thanks for reading. Great channel.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I have some videos about guitar micing. Mostly concerning the effect of a distances mic causing phase issue and how to use that. It's either in Polarity and Phase Part 1 or Part 2.

[@lanatrzczka]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume Ok, will check those out. Thank you. Really great channel.

[@saulomunoz8075]

This is the kind of videos that i love ♥

[@ProducerStefanSchnabel]

Awesome Work! Thank you! 🙂

[@dandjurdjevicplus1]

Good on you man! 😊🙏👏

[@AtticVibes]

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

[@DylanPwnt]

This is all golden, fun and inspiring.

[@soysos.tuffsound]

Loooooove this, sooo my vibe!

[@leogolive]

Man I love this video! I made a killer kick drum once just from thumping my suitcase. Recorded it with nothing but my iPhone built in mic. Then I took it and played around with some settings just like you were doing and voila! Killer kick drum!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! Suitcase... love it!

[@leogolive]

I’ve checked out a few of your videos but this one made me subscribe 💪🏾

[@CapriciousBlackBox]

I’m new to your channel……what an excellent video!!!

[@ericsparks]

Reminds me of Second Life’s Chichen-Itza track

[@syntheshwara]

Bro you are something else.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I hope you mean that in a good way...

[@syntheshwara]

@FreakingOutWithBillyHume of course in a good way sir. Namaste 🙏 from India.

[@azenircruz7683]

Sounds pretty good!!

[@WALLMUSICNOW]

It would be great if you did a video on electronic music specifically. Maybe old synth tricks applied to modern synths. Like what would Thomas Dolby sound like if he used Serum, or Kraftwerk if they only used VCV Rack.

[@elmo.357]

this was gold

[@jimmyquail1]

Brother!! lol❤