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Chillout experts
Spill your down tempo beans.
I've stared at a blank Cubase project for three days now.
Without a 140bpm 4/4 I'm lost 
Do I just hit record and start playing chords on an Absynth preset? 
Start by turning your tempo down. 
| quote: |
| Originally posted by tehlord Do I just hit record and start playing chords on an Absynth preset? |
, or make the spaces twice as big so you're effectively doing 70bpm :P
Actually, here are a few articles I found a while ago that may or may not be helpful (I never actually read them):
http://www.soundstosample.com/Serving_it_chilled
http://www.soundstosample.com/Produ..._chillout_beats
Yes
turn the tempo down
I hadn't thought of that 
I shall peruse those links Mr Phonik. Thankyou 
The thing with chillout music is that you're really not limited by much more than tempo and, to a lesser extent, sound selection because you obviously don't want to load up your track with a bunch of abrasive sounds. But, aside from that, you're free to do pretty much whatever you want. Downtempo music encompasses everything from minimal ambient stuff to melodic songs with vocals, synths, drums (including 4/floor if you wish), guitars, ethnic sounds, etc. That's probably not much help to someone staring at a computer screen wondering where to start, but you can pretty much start anywhere. I usually start with a melodic idea, since I am an unapologetic melody lover, but I've started other downtempo tracks with a drum loop or just a chord progression, or an arp pattern, etc.
It might help to find a couple of downtempo tracks that you like and model your song on the ideas that you like in those songs.
I need to start working on a chillout/downtempo track, I'm not sure I can do ambient though lol!
Here are some good examples of some chillout/downtempo tracks.
Chicane - Low Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3ghsvFCZI
Magdelayna - Tabatha's Wish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ku_NTUB44
Oceanlab - Satellite (Bren F Orchestral Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjerVljxB4c
Good Charlotte - We Believe (Adam's Sadness Mix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO0L0uLC_FU
Sorry I can't be more descriptive, but imagine that 2-3min breakdown in epic trance, and try to extend that, with a slower tempo, and a better groove.
Hopefully that will give you a hint to what goes into a chillout song.
This is lesson #1 for me to, I'm all over those track, Thanks B.
Cheers
I normally make it between 75-110. It just depends!
Here is another nice article:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials...-for-composing/
its all about layering and phasing bpm wise it doesn't really matter as you can skip beats alltogther if you want to
Sorry to hijack, but I actually need a TON of good chillout for a spa I'm invloved with (extremely long story).
Can anyone recommend good compilations or artist almbums that stand out?
Thanks!
...and save the deep forest and enya recommendations wiseguys
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| Originally posted by DJ RANN Can anyone recommend good...artist almbums that stand out? |
Seriously.
everything you need to know you can learn from Groove Salad on SOMA FM.
http://somafm.com/play/groovesalad
Chillout for me means trip-hop, acid jazz, downtempo funky shizzit. Start listening to Kruder & Dorfmeister, Tosca, Count Basic, Boards of Canada, even Moby. Even some of the less ghetto hip-hop is good for gaining an understanding of downtempo music. Please put away the chicane and cafe del mar shit, that's not chillout, it's trance music with the percussion taken out.
Listen to breakbeats too. Almost every good chillout track uses one; not the Amen break or anything particularly aggressive, but rhythm-wise, it's just really hard to make a slow track flow with a four-on-the-floor beat. A broken beat helps fill up all that empty space.
Psy-chillout or experimental music in the vein of Shulman or BT's Binary Universe are great examples too if you're leaning more toward the ambient side, but damned if I can even come close to imitating their sounds.
As for workflow, my advice is start with a deep (not aggressive) bassline and some light drums - snares, rimshots, sticks, etc. Then add some chords - not pads, but foreground elements, like a piano or guitar but try to find something less clich�. Make sure you make it swing/shuffle a bit as well. After you have at least some idea where the track is really going, then you can start piling on the ambient effects, and go nuts with 'em.
If you start out with just a crapton of ambient sounds and try to add substance later, the end product will sound like a crapton of ambient sounds with a couple of rhythmic elements tossed in, not like a cohesive chillout tune.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ RANN Sorry to hijack, but I actually need a TON of good chillout for a spa I'm invloved with (extremely long story). |
Well, I wouldn't worry about the tempo too much actually. Theres a lot of great chillout at 170, 140, 130, and 98 BPM. Its a very flexible genre tempo wise. I'd actually say tis more an attitude than a genre...
/DJ sprinkles
I'd just get some chords down, listen to some of the rhythms in chilled out music, you obviously won't be wanting a 4 to the floor beat if your up at 170 BPM, but it can work at 110 or something. Otherwise, just look into nice string sections, lots of pads, less percussion, more emphasis on the deepness... Some of the earlier people - actually not really, just some of the more popular people maybe?- to make more chilled tracks were enigma, so I'd maybe look there for a very generic template of what goes where.
RANN, aside from the obvious Chicane, Afterlife, everything but the girl, way out west stuff (which is chilled trance as far as I'm concerned, not just trance without the beats:whip you might also look into stuff on Elevation records. they released a best of some time a year or so ago with fuckloads of really cool deep tracks. Not really chillout, but I think even with chilled music, you really want some beats occasionally. I'd also throw some Bpitch Control stuff, they have a lot of good ambientish shit, artists like Apparat, Telefon Tel Aviv, Fuckpony, are all great. Dubstep is also a good source for stuff.
Like I said, I think its an attitude not a genre, so I can't really think of any music that fits into the "chillout" category specifically, without having other strong crossovers...
There are a few here on this board that produce ambient/chill, most of you guys know about the awesomeness that is Owen F. But check out the work of Joss Weatherby too, and if you can get some old school Kopi tracks, those were great works!
as with anything you will have a whole bundle of shit before you begin to master the nuances. you just need to start somewhere.
I had my biggest breakthroughs making downtempo type stuff; EDM felt too rigid and bound by rules and principles - I was not able to develop properly within those limits. All that tension and release shit, all the trademark sounds.
With downtempo, I could forget all about arranging with tension and release in mind. It was just a matter of finding a starting point. An interesting pad or sequence, maybe even a processed drumloop. Start at one and and just keep piling on.
An example. This started with a simple rhodes sequence automating out from under a reverb with FX on top, and just keep adding sounds. The great thing about downtempo is that its so easy to add drama to the tracks.
http://soundcloud.com/turbotrixie/k...berg-momentum-1
If all else fails, just sitting down really exploring a synth can lead to some cool ideas also.
shit, am I even allowed to post songlinks in this forum?
edit: how do you embed soundcloud players haaaalp!
edit2: trying to emulate BT's stuff will probably lead to suicide on your part
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| Originally posted by cryophonik |
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| Originally posted by BshidoHEAT |
So, what is the distinction between chillout and new age? Seems like a rather blurry line.
There are a lot of good chillout tracks in Hed Kandi compilations. Check out 'acid lounge in space' or 'winter chill', etc...
Groove Armada, Thievery Corporation, 45 DIP, Jens Buchert...too many artists to name.
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| Originally posted by aNYthing So, what is the distinction between chillout and new age? |
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| Originally posted by DigiNut Bathing. |
Many great ideas here, thanks
Got mine started now
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