opening filter on a lead is the obvious way, i dont like that myself its soooo cheeze.

you could raise the volume of a drumloop or two over 4 or 8 bars and at the same time mute or lower the kick, once the 4 bars are finished, unleash everything. then after 8 bars again do a transition-effect somehow. variation without loosing any energy is the key, you can actually keep it at the same level of tension with three separate themes and it would feel like a tension-raise lol. sounds gay but it works, u dont even need a breakdown.

Silence

I figured I would chime in with some tips and tricks, I hardly have time to post here.. But some of the ways I build tension in a track;
Tape Delay with combination of reverb to mess with the sound. Can do some crazy things with Tape Delay.

I sometimes use the standard filter automation.. I sometimes like to mess with the lfo automation.. Sometimes I apply this effect to the release of the amp envelope.. Also, the good ole high string sustained note works.. and as a few others volume automation etc.. Just mess around and see what you can come up with but that is just a few tricks I use.

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David & Carr

Alter Ego Records A&R, Producer, DJ
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you have to try everything on every sound and see how it effects it... from long delay's (building up), to pitch's, to LFOs, to filters, to sustain'd notes, to whitenoise, to an alternative sound pitching up, to stutters, reverbs etc.

i took a quick phone video of what i'm working in the studio last night.. i'll post a better sample when i get off work

http://vidly.com/bGgf

What are you gonna name her?

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commercial and underground electronic music (house/techno/trance/other) will surpass today's hip hop/pop/rock/country in worldwide interest...if it has'nt already.

quote:

Originally posted by Kismet7 Yah i'm not a fan of hijacked threads or hijacking threads, but the thread was already hijacked when I chipped in

it wasnt my intention to jack this thread, i just like to post pointless, unrelated things in threads sometimes. makes the forum more interesting to look at rather than seriously anal text.

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Found Atlantis - Mixography [mix archive/mokumentary/my soul]?
i writed a song.

It's also fairly cliche stuff, but I am still a fan of dropping the kick, and then slowly building a big reverb onto whatever's left over the span of several bars. While this is happening, slowly high-pass everything with a filter, and right as everything gets to the end, slam the filter and reverb back to zero and bring the kick back in.

It's nothing new, but I'm still a sucker for it when done right.

you gotta find ure own way...the best solution is to combine all the things you like from other tunes.... but often producers make it harder for themselves...thinking they need a big complex build up...some time the simpliest thing is the best.

quote:

Originally posted by isrefel you gotta find ure own way...the best solution is to combine all the things you like from other tunes.... but often producers make it harder for themselves...thinking they need a big complex build up...some time the simpliest thing is the best.

i guess it depends on the genre but i can't stand poorly done build ups, it's one thing that's unique to EDM and i hate to see it not have much merit

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 i guess it depends on the genre but i can't stand poorly done build ups, it's one thing that's unique to EDM and i hate to see it not have much merit

yeah i totally agree..i mean personal i use the first 2-3 minutes to build it up the tension in the tune then have a smooth transition into breakdown... im not into these short build ups as in my opinion to make it in this game you need to do things differently than they have ever been done before...

but thanks for ure comment as it is an area that i do rush over....

certain musical keys, scales and "modes" have more tension than others, perhaps you can investigate?
Also, try this experiment, get a few blank pieces of paper and pre-write a bunch of music bars on them (without the stave), play one of your fav tracks (numerous times) and mark on the bars where things are happening, especially rhythmic things, you'd be suprised as to how much is going on and how, even within a song that our ears perceive as simple. Taking note of the panning is important too. Hope this helps,

cheers,