A new logo for my up and running soft furnishing business by Wonderstitches

Dear All talented graphic designers. i currenlty run a small family business specializing in soft furnishing. its up and running at www.wonderstitches.com the currently website and logo i have both done my self without any help… (Budget: £20-£250 GBP, Jobs: Banner Design, Graphic Design, Logo Design, Website Design)


Pimp Out Your Text With A Shiny Chrome Stlyle – Tuts+ Premium

In this tutorial we’ll take a look at how to create some great looking 3d chrome text. I’ll demonstrate how to create gleaming edges, convincing shadows and my basic 3d workflow. Enjoy!


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Community Project: Design a Custom Vectortuts+ Paper Toy, Round 3


Vectortuts+ loves Illustration and discovering new talent, so today we are proud to be showcasing the final round of the Vectortuts+ Paper Toy Project. Don’t worry if you missed out, there is still time to participate in the very last project for 2011. Find out more about the new project and check out fantastic creations from past projects, at the jump.

Continue reading “Community Project: Design a Custom Vectortuts+ Paper Toy, Round 3”

How to Draw a Vector, Music Folder Icon


Read this tutorial and learn how to draw a music folder icon in Illustrator. We’ll use the 3D Revolve tool and Extrude & Bevel effects. They are put into use throughout the entire workflow, starting from shaping a 3D folder using a single path and finishing with all the colorful glossy musical notes. If you want to learn all these vector techniques, then follow me!

Continue reading “How to Draw a Vector, Music Folder Icon”

3D Mixing Part 6: Depth

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series 3D Mixing

In this segment of our mix down tutorial, we are going to begin to look in depth into depth. Depth within any mix and listening situation is paramount to proper sonic understanding. Much like we see in 3D, we hear in 3D and taking out any one of these dimensions only serves to create a flat and unnatural sound. As such, the most common tools which give the illusion of depth (reverb and delay) become an important and necessary part of mixing.


What is Reverb & Delay?

Sound, much like light, travels in a spherical and expanding way from its source and is reflected and absorbed by the various objects it comes in contact with. Reverb and delay give us the sonic information necessary to not only get a sense of the sound’s surrounding environment, but where the sound sits in space in relation to the listener.

As such, it is safe to say that reverb is the culmination of all sonic reflections associated with a sound after the initial event in any given space while delay can be described as a series of direct reflections after the initial sound event.

Sound waves expand in a spherical way from their source.


Why Use Reverb?

There are several reasons to use reverb. The first, as mentioned, is to create a sense of depth and give our sounds a natural and believable quality. The sonic characteristics of reverb in any given space will tell the listener how far away the sound source is from him/her. A flat mix will appear to have all sound sources at roughly the same distance from the listener while a robust use of reverb and use of depth strategy will separate those sounds and create a believable, deep and interesting sound experience.

We can also take this separation to the extreme and use reverb as a special effect to draw attention or create emphasis. Several 80s rock tracks come to mind where reverb is used extensively on the snare drum to create a thundering sound separate and apart from the rest of the kit. This draws attention to the snare over the rest of the drum kit and adds an exclamation point to the rhythm.

On the other hand, we can use reverb to glue sounds together. A very common reverb trick is to send a slight amount of the drum sub-mix, or even the entire song mix to a reverb and nudge the reverb level until it tucks under the sub-mix/mix to where it is barely audible. The reverb in this case serves to put the material in the same acoustic space and ‘glues’ the sounds together.

In cases such as this, the reverb should really only be noticeable when it is not present. In other words, the reverb should not be a noticeable effect and should only be realized in the mix when muted and the dryness of the original signal becomes obvious and unnatural.

Many producers also use reverb to create unnatural spaces for vocals, groups of instruments or even entire song sections. This helps to jar the listener’s attention and force their focus to the clanging sound of a small plate or the cavernous, washed-out sound of a large hall – all depending on the artistic intention.


Getting Started

As far as initial and common depth strategy, one should think about instruments in order of importance (drums, bass, vocals, etc.) much like one would think about an initial mix down. In this example, I have bussed the drum sub-mix to a small drum room convolution reverb. I have then rolled off some of the highs of the reverb.

The reason for this is due to the behavior of sound: It is obviously a complex subject, but for right now we only need to understand that sound appears duller the further from the listener and brighter the closer to the listener.

I then tucked the level to where it is just noticeable under the drum sub-mix channel. Although the effect is subtle, you can definitely hear the difference when it is muted. Details, as you well know, are incredibly important to mixing (and pretty much anything else).

Here, the drum sub-mix is sent to a dedicated reverb which is mixed back in under the original.

Download audio file (Drum 1.mp3)

Drum mix with reverb.

Download audio file (Drum 2.mp3)

Drum mix without reverb, notice how flat this sounds (especially the snare) in comparison.


Delay

Delay is another great method for adding depth to the mix. One problem with reverb is that if you use too many, the stereo field and sense of depth tends to become undefined and muddy. Delay can solve this issue by creating the illusion of depth without adding as many counteractive space simulations or muddy reflections as a reverb.

Below, I have sent the keys to a dedicated delay aux. set to 100% wet, rolled off the highs to make it sound deeper in the spatial field, panned the delay to the opposite side of the stereo field to make it wider and tucked it in under the dry key signal to blend it more naturally. Notice the subtle depth and fullness it adds to the sound.

The key output is bussed to a dedicated delay which is then panned opposite and mixed back in with the original.

Download audio file (Key Dry.mp3)

Here I have soloed the key section to show it in its dry state.

Download audio file (Key Wet.mp3)

The soloed keys with the delay.

Download audio file (Key Drum Wet.mp3)

Here are the wet keys and drums combined.

The synth is also sent to a dedicated delay, panned and tucked under the original signal.

Download audio file (Synth Wet.mp3)

Here I have gone and done the exact same to the synth; adding a delay and panning it opposite the original.

Download audio file (Synth Dry.mp3)

Although the synth already has a delay on it from the recording, the added delay, pan and volume control allows for a much better result.


Bass Rhythm Glue

A good way of getting your lows to sit better is to send a slight amount of your dry bass signal to the kick drum reverb. This helps your lows sit in the same acoustical space, thus gluing them together. This helps to keep the low essentials clear and in their own pronounced spatial environment.

This effect can be difficult to notice on first listen so I’ve sent a bit more of the bass than I usually would to the reverb to get a more pronounced effect. I try to use this trick whenever possible as it does wonders for your lows and really makes sense when you think about it.

A slight amount of bass signal is sent to the drum reverb to put the lows of the kick and bass in the same acoustic space.

Download audio file (Bass Dry.mp3)

Listen to how the bass rides on top of the rhythm without reverb.

Download audio file (Bass Wet.mp3)

In this example you can hear how the bass sinks into the mix and melds with the kick drum and surrounding kit to act as a more singular unit.


Special FX

For the next part of this project I decided to have a bit of fun and put some more or less ‘special effects’ on some of the percussion to help it to stand out, gain more emphasis, and/or to simply add a new texture to the mix.

The snare output is sent to an extra and dedicated reverb for emphasis. The snare reverb is then sent to the drum sub-mix reverb to tie it back in with the rest of the kit. The clap uses the same routing.

Download audio file (Snare Clap Dry2.mp3)

Before.

Download audio file (Snare Clap Wet2.mp3)

After.

For the open hi-hat, I just slapped a reverb directly on the channel. It was a bit unorthodox in terms of my personal rules as I usually try to put depth effects after all of my sound shaping.

In this case however, since the open hi-hat and closed hi-hat are being routed to the same sub-mix channel I decided to take the fast route and not go through the extra steps and processing power it would take to separate the two sounds and run them through parallel and identical effects auxiliary channels. The fact that it sounded pretty good immediately and added a texture that would not be there otherwise (distorted reverb) cemented the decision.

The open hi-hat with a reverb directly placed on the channel. The reverb then goes through the same processing and coloration as the dry signal.

Download audio file (Open Wet.mp3)

The open hi-hat with a reverb placed directly on it set to 63% dry and 100% wet.

Download audio file (Open Dry.mp3)

The dry and grating original.


Glue Master

Finally for this tutorial session I put a ‘glue’ reverb on the master bus. I set this to 100% dry and about 5% wet to set everything in the same space, however slightly. I also set the spread of the reverb to full to make the stereo spectrum wider. This ‘master glue’ really helps to add a final and subtle layer of depth, width and general coherence to the final sound.

Reverb placed on the master output to ‘glue’ the mix together.

Download audio file (Glue Dry.mp3)

Before the ‘glue’.

Download audio file (Glue Wet.mp3)

…and after.

So, let’s review what we’ve achieved in this tut:

Download audio file (Before.mp3)

Where we started today.

Download audio file (After.mp3)

Where we are now…much better.


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A Look into Slashthree’s Latest Experiment “Quote Unquote”

The talented designers over at Slashthree have recently released a new exhibition that they named Quote Unquote. Each work of art features an interesting quote that the artist decided to draw inspiration from. The whole exhibition contains over 50 various types of works that range from visual illustrations, photographs, and even music.


We Are of Peace Always by Erik Schumacher


Time by Ed Lopez


They Were Here by Alexander Latille


The Creators by Anthony Giacomino


Spirit by Przemek Nawrocki


Rebirth by Wojciech Magierski


Dark Allies by Rob Shields


The Left Hand of Darkness by Rob Shields


Locus Amoenus by Anthony Giacomino


Impact by Martin De Diego Sadaba

Just before the New Era project was launched, Slashthree welcomed Tarin Yuangtrakul, a 19 year old artist from Thailand. Tarin’s impact on the collective was instantaneous, and his two submissions to “Quote Unquote” demonstrate the progress he has made as an artist since joining the collective, and showed true dedication to the exhibition. Tarin’s sublime mixture of traditional and digital art was something new which captivated the entire artist core. Tarin Yuangtrakul has become not only the first traditional artist to be named as the “featured artist” for a Slashthree exhibition, but also the youngest artist in Slashthree’s history to receive the honour. Site Director Saad Moosajee sat down with Tarin to discuss life and art; you can read the interview here. -Saad Moosajee

Hammer to Fall by Leonardo Dentico


Esta Especie De Alma by Samuel Pereira


Erinye by Wojciech Pijecki


Don’t Watch TV on LSD by Vladimir Tomin


Carry the Fire by Marco Casalvieri


Carefull What You Fish For by Vladimir Tomin


The Mountains Are Calling And I Must Go by Neil Hanvey


Enimies Still Stay by Tarin Yuangtrakul


La Martiniana by Edmar Cisneros


Land Within by Ed Lopez


More Information

Keep an eye on the Slashthree home page, as well as their Facebook and Twitter accounts for announcements and updates! For now though, please feast your eyes on Exhibition 17: “Quote Unquote”.


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