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We are Televisor - 'Producer / Audio Engineer / Audio Geek' A.M.A!
Sup guys, we get a lot of questions about our tracks and what effort goes into creating them (i.e the processes and details behind their production). So we thought it would be cool to make an AMA so that we can try to answer as many questions regarding production / mixing advice as possible! Fire away!
Elekton1 karma
It was made during a livestream quite a few months ago by /u/Prizyms!
(And if I recall correctly, that's the original link for the picture too.)
TelevisorMusic1 karma
we we're working on a track a long time ago, someone made this picture in photoshop. Its not official or anything.
Toiletlord12 karma
Your track Starlight and Pinup have been some of my all time favourites, but I was really wondering when you plan to do some more youtube tuts? also, how do you guys go about afterwork such as eq'ing? also could you name three main vsts you use? <3 much love fellas! already posted in my remix under the alias Paragon <3
TelevisorMusic15 karma
Youtube tutorials are on hold for the time being since we both dont have that much time to devote to creating good tutorials and editing them etc.
3 fav VST's:
Sylenth1 Trillian Omnisphere
TelevisorMusic7 karma
Ehh? We are all actually really good friends, it's so funny how fan's think way too much into things :)
VeryShagadelic8 karma
The two of you recently mentioned that you only recently came together for the first time; how did you go about making music before? What were the complications in working separately?
Thanks for doing this AMA, I love your music.
TelevisorMusic18 karma
Tom lives in Amsterdam, and I (Tim) live in the UK. We both use Logic Pro 9 and we both make sure we have the same plug-ins each, so that there are no complications when transferring the project files via dropbox.
Working seperately is great we think, because it gives us time to ourselfs to really let go and do to the song what we feel it needs
xBobaFett1337x7 karma
Hey guys, thanks for doing this AMA. I love your music (especially Alliance, it's just so feaking awesome).
Can you say how long it takes for you to produce a complete song ?
Does it take more time to produce the sounds you use or to create the songs ?
Keep up the work guys, looking forward to all your releases.
TelevisorMusic5 karma
Both the sound design and the musical composition take a very long time. TO be honest all aspect of composing / recording / mixing / producing and mastering a track take a long time. In total we spend around 80 hours on a song between us both.
Tuccker7 karma
Hey guys (fan Cymreag fyn hyn, Televisor am byth!), 2 questions:
Would you ever consider doing an AMA over at /r/edmproduction, where you can go more in depth on the science behind the music?
When are you going to do some live shows? Your music would be perfect for a retro themed/disco type of gig. It would be beautiful!
Much love!
TelevisorMusic4 karma
We have a gig in cardiff on July 13th (Check link below): https://www.facebook.com/BoulevardCardiff?fref=ts!
Would be great to see you there :)
And yes, we're very new to reddit and didn't even know that subreddit existed haha
Tuccker3 karma
FUCK YES. I am there, mate. Gathering all of my friends now. Will you be doing a meet & greet at after the show? <3
TelevisorMusic3 karma
Sure thing! Only 1 half of Televisor will be there since Tom can't make it to this gig, so I'll be riding solo in Cardiff. But yeah, just come up to me and say 'Iawn' or what not! :)
DigitalUprising4 karma
When making your tracks, how much do you create live? This includes live instruments like guitars, basses and midi data entered through a keyboard or pads. Also, you probably don't remember me but ever since you guys popped up through monstercat you've greatly helped my depression by having something cheery to listen to pop up pretty often. Thank you for that!
TelevisorMusic5 karma
It depends on the track and what we feel it needs. Sometimes the bass and the guitar parts are live, and sometimes they are synthesized. It depends on the vibe we're going for. Great to hear our music helps you in your low times!
MusicAddict33 karma
Hey Televisor Your Song Rock The Flock is flipping awesome and is what got me hooked to your band. What is one of your favorite bands to listen to?
TelevisorMusic3 karma
You have the stems for our latest track 'Old Skool' available on our facebook page.
mrtoxic60032 karma
What are your thoughts on the state of monstercat right now? Are you guys digging the new artists that joined?
TelevisorMusic5 karma
Sometimes we get vocalists to come in and sing, and sometimes we sing.
Mimecraft3442 karma
Love all of your music, awesome that you guys are donig and AMA!
- If you could choose one artist to collab with, who would it be?
- Have you ever thought about making songs in other genres than Nu Disco/French House?
- How long have you been making music?
TelevisorMusic2 karma
All the answers to your questions are in this thread already haha :D
televisorquestion2 karma
Hello Televisor! I love your music. One of the things I noticed is that your masters are clearly less loud/bright and punchy compared to a lot of other Monstercat tracks. Some might say less well mastered, but I was wondering if it's maybe a very conscious decision? As it does fit your music quite well. Keep it up!
TelevisorMusic6 karma
Quite a few of the Monstercat artists have their mixes sent off to mastering engineers to get their results. However, we know that for the style of music we create that we are very capable of creating great masters that do not sound brick walled and actually have a fair amount of dynamic range.
AmrOH2 karma
What's the main thing you guys are hoping to find in the remix submissions of your new song "Old Skool"?
ThePhrax2 karma
I had a question for you guys :D, i was wondering if you could give us a bit of theory behind your funky/disco style,it seems now a days everyone is focused on synthesis/EQ'ing i want to know how you guys write your tunes, thanks!
TelevisorMusic2 karma
We usually start out with an idea either on a guitar or a piano and then transfer those ideas to Logic Pro 9. We work on the song in layers, we'll do percussion and other rhythm instruments first and then focus on writing the rest around it.
AmrOH2 karma
Do you guys get this mental blockage sometimes where you just keep staring at your project for hours not knowing what to do next? So you just close the project and go eat noodles? Or is it just me?
TelevisorMusic2 karma
Definitely, although we often have to stop working for a few days to refresh our minds.
SentinullMusic2 karma
Hey guys, I was wondering, how long did it take for you guys to learn most of the things that you know about the music program(s) that you use? I'm currently trying to learn all that I can about this music program that I'm currently using. I really love your music by the way.
TelevisorMusic3 karma
We've been using logic for about 6 years now, and we still dont know everything. However, we are very fluent with it and can be very productive in short amounts of time.
Superkowz2 karma
Have you guys ever considered making anything besides nu-disco?? I feel like some Televisor glitch hop would just be fucking insane, in a good way.
P.S. Just realized I'm wearing my Televisor shirt right now, love you guys, keep on making awesome music!!
TelevisorMusic3 karma
Not really, but we could always collab with someone who was good with the glitch hop side of things.
Also, great job on repping the televisor tee! :D
kobe24Life2 karma
What is the most helpful top you can give any producer, production wise?
TelevisorMusic3 karma
Stay true to yourself and write what you want to! Not what you think people want you to write.
Meh_Sauce2 karma
Hi! I'm doing the remix contest right now, love your music by the way. Would love to know three things
1.Who is your inspiration?
2.Favorite plug-ins?
3.Favorite song you've made?
TelevisorMusic3 karma
We have so many inspirations!
A few would be:
Earth wind and fire Jimi Hendrix Chic Michael Jackson
A lot of french house / Nu Disco stuff too
BlitzDub1 karma
I believe that it was Tim who did an hour-or-so long video on the production of some of Televisor's synthesized basses in Trillian.
Unfortunately, this video was taken down and I can't link you to it. :( But I hope this answers your question regarding a favourite plugin! :)
TelevisorMusic2 karma
Ahh yes, our favourite plug-in would probably be either sylenth or Trillan for synthesis.
And our favourite song we've made is a tough question, we like all of them :)
Chainbrain2 karma
I absolutely love your guys' basslines.
What software do you guys use to produce your tracks?
rhcp12 karma
How did you guys get to know Nu Disco?, or what made you guys start making Nu Disco?
Thanks for the AMA :)
TelevisorMusic3 karma
We started writing it because we love disco (70's and 80's style disco) and we loved french house. So we combined the two and found out that our music was considered Nu Disco.
JessePom1 karma
What do you recommend as the best way to start out learning to produce and to learn how to use your Synths and DAWs... and music theory? Thanks :)
BlitzDub3 karma
Hey, I'm not Televisor, but I produce myself and hopefully I can help... :P
Learning a DAW is not actually as difficult as some people make it sound! I use Logic Pro 9 (same as Televisor) and learned its basic functions in a day. Reading any sorts of manuals is very helpful, but you can find everything you'll need to know by just spending time clicking around and learning which stuff does what. Televisor also made a 6 minute video on logic's layout! :)
Synthesis can be pretty tricky to learn at first, but all synthesizers follow the same methods. I recommend you start with subtractive synthesis, as it's one that's easy to wrap your head around. The Moog Foundation made up some great posters that can help you in understanding synthesis fundamentals.
Music theory is a little tough, as I jumped into production without actually having much of a musical background. The most essential elements of music theory you need are knowing how to form a chord, knowing names of the notes and how they're laid out on a keyboard, and how to stay in key. Learning these things can take some time, and until you've had tons of experience with it, just write stuff that sounds good to you. We all have a tendency to know what's in key and what's not, so just trust your ears and you'll be good to go! :D
TelevisorMusic5 karma
^ Sound advice here. The only other thing I'd add is that above all else its important that you just have fun with it. I (Tim) was producing music for 4 years until I signed my first record, and in that time I had the most fun ever. I decided to go to university to learn more and graduated with a BA in music production. But you can also buy books on subtractive and additive synthesis and books on how to use DAWs such as logic.
The author David Nahnami has some great logic pro books.
7Point11 karma
I do not have a question but I would like to say, "Thanks for the massive amount of songs you guys have produced. Because of you guys, I love Nu-Disco!"
Peace!
<3 <3
professionalbadass1 karma
Who are your musical inspirations? Thoughts on Daft Punk?
How long does it take to make a typical track?
What software do you use?
Who are your favorite Monstercat artists?
Burritobrett1 karma
What inspired you to make the more funky style of edm rather than something like dubstep?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
We just enjoy making melodically rich and harmonious music. The timbre of the music, the instrumentation...everything about it is what we love.
sssShawnnnn1 karma
Hey Televisor! Do you guys tune your drums? And what do you use for reverb?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
Yeah, we like to tune our toms. Not the kick though, I know many producers that tune their kicks to the key of the track, but thats mainly in genres such as electro house.
somting11 karma
Do you have someone to slap the bass in the songs or is it synthetically produced?
Also, is it possible to slap to some of your songs?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
Some times we record my 1977 Fender Jazz, and sometimes we use 'Trillian'. It depends on the song and what vibe we're going for. And yes, im pretty sure you could learn a bass part from one of our songs, it might take you a while though.
Goldrunner1 karma
What artists inspired you guys to make music? I know it's a generic question but still.
pludrpladr1 karma
Thanks for the AMA, just wanted to say I really like what you're doing!
What's your favorite track that you made?
How long have you made music?
How did you two meet? ("Meet"?)
bbbbush1 karma
Hey guys! This is really cool, I just discovered your music a few months ago and i've been a fan since. Here's my question.
How did you get discovered? From a personal perspective, do you feel like your music has spoken for itself, and gotten you to where you are now? Or was it more of a "it's all about who you know" kind of thing?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
We wrote music for fun and ended up finding out about each other on soundcloud, from there we formed Televisor and released our first EP with a small label called Stardust records.
We think our music has spoken for itself, in an industry crowded with bass heavy EDM (genres like dubstep / electro house etc) we feel like we have shown some people the funkier side of electronic music and opened their minds to the disco style.
noqtgf1 karma
Do you think the release of Kanye West's new album Yeezus is a sign that there is a place for more experimental music in the mainstream?
Do you feel the same way about Death Grips being (previously) signed to Epic?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
We havent listened to his album, and probably never will. We also don't listen to death grips, since we dont like hip-hop all that much.
TelevisorMusic5 karma
Learn about EQ and arrangements. Learn about various instruments and where their most resonate frequencies are, this will become of big use to you in your EQ stages and stereo image placement.
astronautz0r1 karma
Hey guys! Huge fan of your funky tunes! If you could bring over an artist to the Monstercat family, who would you pick?
ImNotVenom1 karma
What do you guys do when you have a creative block?
What techniques do you use to create such amazing melodies?
TelevisorMusic2 karma
When we have a creative block we usually just take a few days off. Its always good to clear your mind and let your ears rest. There are no 'special' techniques, we are just heavily influenced by a lot of classic funk / disco records and so our melodies and chord progression stem from that.
FOHmixer1 karma
You mention that you guys are audio engineers as well, does that include hardware and sound systems also? If yes, please elaborate. Follow up: How did you get into the world of audio engineering ?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
Yes it does. I (Tim) have had a background in live music performance for about 12 years now, I used to Drum in a prog rock band. Throughout that time I had quite a bit of experience in setting up rig's and outboard gear. I also went to University and got a B.A in creative music production. This course had a lot of modules focussed on live sound and hardware for both live and studio use.
TelevisorMusic7 karma
Michael Jackson would have been amazing to work with. Other than that probabily 'Oliver'
TelevisorMusic1 karma
Playing technique, and production technique. Compression / EQ play a massive role here.
iproginger1 karma
At what age did you start producing music (of any kind), and at what age did you start getting into EDM?
YWNightmare1 karma
Why did you choose to do mostly the disco-type electronic music and not the more mainstream house, electro, dubstep stuff? Thanks for doing an AMA, you guys are awesome!
TelevisorMusic2 karma
Disco is something we have both always loved and so we wouldnt want to write anything else. We love electro style tracks too, and so we really enjoy writing disco style melodies and chord sequences but with a more modern production style.
klakuv1 karma
Hey guys, big fan of yours here!
What are you guys using right now as far as hardware? Things like headphones, monitors, any other things you use for production.
TelevisorMusic4 karma
KRK RP5's Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 Glyph external HDD 500GB Beyerdynamic DT770PRO 250OHM headphones (Closed Back) iMac 2.7 GHZ i7 8GB ram Moog Little phatty moog stage 12 analogue phaser pedal traktor s2 novation launchpad
themidger1 karma
how much of your songs are created/sequenced inside the daw and how much is recorded material you've chopped up? is all of your recorded material original?
i love the funky vibe you two put out, it's that high energy organic sound that nu disco has been longing for
TelevisorMusic3 karma
Yes, all of our tracks are original compositions unless they are remixes! Most of our ideas stem from chords we like after playing around on our synths or guitars, from there we put those chords into our DAW's and let the song grow.
srs_bsn1 karma
Hi! Just working on your remix now but saw this so i thought id ask a question!
Absolutely favorite type of sample to mess with with processing? eg. toms/snares/vox
DJUnBalanced1 karma
How did you start out with your music careers before Monstercat? How did you work your way up to success? I've never heard anything pre-"Rock the Flock" so I'd love to hear your history.
TelevisorMusic5 karma
We both have a live music background. Tom being a guitarist / vocalist in many bands and myself (Tim) being involved in many prog rock / metal and funk bads as a drummer and vocalist. We started producing about 7 years ago, and we met on soundcloud after I messaged Tom asking if he wanted to collaborate. Our first track was 'Rundfunk & EDDR - Hush' (I was Rundfunk and Tom was EDDR). After that track we decided to stick together and form a new brand called Televisor.
DJUnBalanced2 karma
Stems are the singled out parts of a track. The idea is that together they make up the original track, but you can take out parts, sample parts etc to your desire to create a fresh take on the original.
TelevisorMusic2 karma
Import them into a DAW and mess with them. Re-arrange parts, cut parts, sample / sequence parts. Just have fun!
thevampire1 karma
Sorry im a little bit of a newbie but what would a remix consist of? Is just simply reearanging the stems to make a new song good enough or would it require a more original take of the song? Love you Televisor you are my favorite Monstercat Artist!
TelevisorMusic2 karma
A remix is whatever you want it to be! Although the general premis is that you take the audio files and create a new arrangement from them. Essentially to create your own version of the song. Have a listen to some of the submissions so far, that should help you.
naicher1 karma
Would you guys consider making a slower song, something along the lines of Digital Love (by Daft Punk of course). It be super cool. And breast job on the music. I love you guys.
TelevisorMusic1 karma
We have a track called 'CLoser' Its a bit slower, around 110 bpm I think. But yeah, slower styles are something we want to look into more :)
refrigerator0011 karma
Is there a genre you would like to make songs for that isn't Nu Disco?
TelevisorMusic6 karma
Some stuff similar to the 'Mirror's Edge' soundtrack by 'Solar Fields' would be awesome.
Voia1 karma
Are you both leaning towards a more instrumental live performance or a dj-based setup for live shows?
TelevisorMusic1 karma
Currently we are DJ based, however we want to incorporate some live gear such as synths and samplers. Its just hard to get a solid, consistent set up together that you can also take on the road easily.
AlejandroidSC1 karma
Do you have any honest advice for aspiring producers?
I love your music, especially Starlight, Closer, and Rock the flock! Don't think it's possible for you guys to make bad music. :) I'm in the Old Skool remix contest, but would love to remix some old songs by Rundfunk, if Tim would be alright with giving the stems away.
TelevisorMusic1 karma
Just have fun and dont conform to whats popular. Write what you WANT to write, not what you think people want to hear. Write music because you thats what you love doing, if you're writing music to become 'famous' or to become filthy rich then chances are thats not going to happen.
Success is a product of passion.
TelevisorMusic1 karma
We were going to do that, but we dont have a lot of time to do it. There is one video on our youtube of me (Tim) talking about and showing you how we sampled vocals for starlight.
GoodGuy041 karma
Thanks for doing an AMA! I've been a fan for awhile.
I was wondering what kind of effects you used on the vocal in your new track Alliance? It sort of sounds like a talkbox, I was just wondering if you could clear that up for me.
SargeKroell51 karma
Have you guys ever considered doing a gig in Canada? little ways away, I know, but still. I'd pay SOOOO much for that concert.
Ikkie4591 karma
Just to start the question off, i have to say, I've loved all of your songs, especially starlight, alliance, and pressure.
But just to ask, what/where do you do/go to get inspiration for your funky beats?
TelevisorMusic2 karma
Old disco records, a sound we might hear, a rhythm we might like, a chord, a melody...ANYTHING!
nateandlever0 karma
Given the choice, would each of you rather fight a single horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?
Elekton21 karma
When are we getting this?
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