Music Lesson: Working with Strings

Okay, so next up, I think the strings need some attention.

Listening to the Strings

So, what I'm going to do is just loop up the strings here. They're soloed, and I'm going to have a little listen.

• It's another vinyl loop.
• As I've been saying, there's often a lot of low-frequency stuff here.
• There's not too much high-frequency energy, which is good.

Now, I'm going to scoop out a lot of those lows. I could possibly add a little bit of high-frequency energy as well.

Creating a New Effect for the Strings

Now, I'm thinking about creating a new effect for the strings.

1. I'm going to get another return track in, like so.
2. I'm going to use some delay, specifically, the filter delay, which is a great delay that gives us independent delays on the left and right channels that we can also change the frequencies of.

So, I'm going to take out the left and right and just have left and right. I'll adjust the frequencies accordingly. Let's send these strings to this auxiliary or return track.

• We're on the fourth one here, and let's have a listen.
• We'll also hear it with our string channel.

Can I add some more feedback too? This will mean that there'll be more delays one after another, creating a nice washed-out effect to the sound. I don't think it needs any compression or anything; I'm fairly happy with that.

Mixing It All Together

Let's hear it in the mix. I'm just going to turn it down a little bit and pan it over to the right-hand side.

• This set of strings will move over to the left-hand side by the same amount, 18 right and 18 left.
• Let's have a listen to this section.

Now, I'm going to zoom in a little bit and loop up this section. Let's load up some EQ.

• It's a little bit resonant, so I'm going to take out some of the mids here.
• There's also a little low cut.

I might send it to that very large reverb I created earlier, which also had some filtering.

• Let's have a listen. It has a nice tail echo effect going on there.

Adding Automation

So, let's come back to the beginning and have a listen through. What I might also do is a little fade with the volume at the start of the track.

1. I'm going to make sure that I'm on my track volume.
2. I'll pop in a little node at the front.
3. We'll fade up over the first eight bars here.

I'm also going to add a slight automation curve at the start.

Adjusting Other Elements

Now, in with the shakers.

• I'm going to cut this string out here; I feel it's getting a little repetitive already.
• We'll calm things down with the structure.

We get the first set of strings, the call and response from the flute section, and then we're going to have a little gap here.

• Maybe we could have a little fade-out here as well, but I think I'll leave that as is.

On the hang drums, I'd like to create more movement and excitement in the sound.

• I'm going to loop these and throw on a filter.
• I'll come in with the auto filter and grab the filter cutoffs.

Once I click on the track in question, the frequency will come up. By adjusting the resonance of the filter, I can filter out the frequencies to achieve a fade-in effect.

• Let's pull this node down.
• That's a nice transition; I think it works well.

I'll open up the filter here because we don't want it to remain permanently closed.

Final Adjustments

Focusing on the individual elements still, the brush drums feel a little dry, so I might add some small reverb. The tambourines sound a bit looped, so I want to create more movement.

• I'm going to use a flanger with a slow rate time, so it rises and falls nicely.
• I'll mix in the original sound a little bit, not wanting the maximum amount of flanger on the track, just about halfway.

Let's check how loud that cymbal crash is; it could be a little bit louder. I'll copy this over as well and put it in a few spots.

Ending the Track

There's a little abrupt ending, so I'm going to put in a fade.

1. On the track volume, I'm just going to pull it down.
2. I'll use Alt to drag in a little curve.
3. Let's grab our cymbal crash for a fade-out of the shakers.

So, I'm fairly happy with the mix now. I feel that everything's really in place, and it's starting to take shape.

Final Thoughts

So, get out there! Grab yourself a field recorder and visit car boot sales or jumble sales.

• Pick up some vinyl, start sampling, it's a great way to create music.

You can check out my other courses at musicguries.com, and I hope you enjoy the course!