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Knowing what your tune will eventually sound like (pg. 3)
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| Zombie0915 |
I have other hobbies besides just being a musician, I like to poke around the internals of sound programs(not that I am very good at that either). Linux satisfies those desires for me a bit more than a windows system does. In the end I think of myself as more of a computers person than a music person. I'm in my senior year stydying comptuer engineering, next semester I get to take alot of signal processing classes. I like that my linux system gives me more ways to play with the stuff I learn than my windows box does. I realize that by using linux I am voluntarily handicapping myself a bit because I dont have a uniform construct to work from like on less DIYish systems, but I hope it will help my sound stick out from the horde eventually. My set of programs is a bit more modular, I can switch one for another and chain them through each other in lotsa different ways so I imagine that if I keep at it I might be able to come up with a good unique arrangement eventually. I am trying to get good at music so that later on I might be able to use it to show off some of my noise programming, which I am also practicing, im not into this so much just because of music scene ambitions but more because I like to play with audio programs and the linux programs are more open to being played with.
So you can take a single kick sample and layer it on top of itself with eq's applied to each layer, and that will result in a different kick? How do you take the head of one sound, the tail of another, and join them together smoothly for your hihats?
Maybe I will try and design myself some drum noises and then have another crack at the drum loops after that. There are all kinds of threads in here about designing drum noises.
I will keep your offer in mind, I'm sure I will have a whole new set of questions to ask after I act on these suggestions. |
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| GreenLight |
Unworldy -
On taking the head and tail of soundwaves and combining them I can say this ... for example ... when looking at a soundwave in more than 128 samples, a rising crash has a defined point at the moment of impact, cut at the exact moment ... if your close, lets say within 1/16 millisecond, the human ear will not pickup on the passing tick, if there is one, as you conjure up the release on the wave sample ... |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by Axolotyl
I dont know how you can have the exact tune in your head before it exists. I mean it hasnt even been created yet but you know what it sounds like? |
Yep - my brain is a kick-ass synth, I just wish it had audio outs. :p
It's not all that different from writing software, really... at the *very* least you need to know what its function will be (which I guess equates to the "genre" of a track), but the more concrete your specs are, the better chance there is of success. |
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| Axolotyl |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
Yep - my brain is a kick-ass synth, I just wish it had audio outs. :p
It's not all that different from writing software, really... at the *very* least you need to know what its function will be (which I guess equates to the "genre" of a track), but the more concrete your specs are, the better chance there is of success. |
So your a coder? That explains it ;) I wonder if that has an influence on how you approach production. I myself am a 3D artist and have worked closely with coders in the past on projects so I can appreciate how different minds approach creative problems.
Cant say I really identify funtions or elements of tracks before I just dive in and start brainstorming. I kind of get something akin to a buildup in my head thats tied to an emotion or colour and sort of just work around that feeling.
This is really interesting. I wonder if theres ways of approaching production with your left of right sides of your brain similar to how you can learn to draw with different sides. |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by Axolotyl
So your a coder? That explains it ;) I wonder if that has an influence on how you approach production. I myself am a 3D artist and have worked closely with coders in the past on projects so I can appreciate how different minds approach creative problems.
Cant say I really identify funtions or elements of tracks before I just dive in and start brainstorming. I kind of get something akin to a buildup in my head thats tied to an emotion or colour and sort of just work around that feeling.
This is really interesting. I wonder if theres ways of approaching production with your left of right sides of your brain similar to how you can learn to draw with different sides. |
I'm an instrumental musician as well, so I'm not entirely left-brained - that's probably why my music sounds both melodic and technical (at least I like to think so). But yeah, when it comes to the visual arts I'm completely braindead, I lack any kind of spatial awareness. :wtf:
It starts with a feeling for me as well, and usually evolves into notes and progressions and sounds in my head before I actually start playing around in the sequencer. It's not as though I have a complete tune, more like abstract ideas and disconnected fragments - that's why it's always so hard to get it out of my head and into a form that can be listened to. :p
People are always making the "musician vs. sound designer" distinction - but maybe it's really more of a general "emotion vs. logic" issue? Food for thought... one thing I do know, and this has actually been researched a great deal, is that playing/writing music uses BOTH sides of the brain extensively. |
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| psyklolink |
i usually start a new production by fooling around with different bass lines. when i stumble upon something cool sounding i add in a kick and then start throwing on all sorts of other instruments, tweaking presets and such until i come up with a nice groove. i tend to let that sit for a day or two, and if i still like how it sounds i'll start figuring out an arrangement based around the groove. i accumulate so many unfinished projects doing it this way, haha!
and going along with the recent discussion...i'm a trained musician so my music background usually kicks in when it comes to chords, scales, etc... but i'm also fairly technical minded...guess it's kind of an even mix (ha, no pun intended) between musician and sound technician for me. |
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| Jinyun |
The key is to relax, go with the flow.
There are elements that are need in a track, beats, bass, melody, and the rest goes inbetween.
I find that working on the individual elements works well.
Spend time on beats, add a nice bass, then play them back and work out a melody over the top.
I dont actually think anyone KNOWS what the track will sound like, but it would probably be quite boring if they did. |
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| digitul punk |
| True. I usually have a general idea of what I'm gonna do with a certain track but that changes like the wind.. So basically it's all feel n click for me. If i feel a track has that "SOMETHING" i go ahead and finish it. If not well it just lays there. A good thing people should learn here is to not FORCE music outta yourself. It happens when it happens, it might take weeks, days and even months. That teaches you patience. As for starting a track, anything different/good is motivation enough for me. Most cases its either a nice bassline or a good melody or a hook atleast. It just all depends on various aspects. My latest track started out from a single bassline and I planned an original track.. but it turned out to the NiN - Only remix. :) |
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| dj jasonF |
i usually have the structure in my mind and the general feeling of course. but since im usually remixing i decide what i like to keep, then desing the sound for these parts while im building the drums in the between. when i finish this part i usually have the lead, the lead bassline, and the "lead" drums. then ill make the drums intro for 16bars add some stuff like a few fx's add a bassline and after that 32 bars i start making melodies pads etc as i move on every 16. then i review and change all these till i think of a good idea about the breakdown. and it keeps going like that till its finished. its the same thing every time i force my self.untill real inspiration strikes when i sit down and just do stuff whithout knowing anything about whats coming next when i "wake up" at the boring part (outro). of course after the hole sketch is down i add effects, try to make things interesting and clean.
btw i think someone said something about G&D (or was it another thread?? anyway) g&d's most tracks are pretty simple.. they sound like 10 audio tracks mixed together. and they mostly are (in andain - beautiful things or the way out west remix for example). but you dont want your music to sound like 10 audiotracks do you??? cuz im not. the fun part is to have 10 (well not 10 you get the point)melodies, 4 basslines and complicated drums and trying to make them fit and glue. also.. i like a bit of "dirt" in music but thats just me:D. |
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| whiterex |
| quote: | Originally posted by dj jasonF
i usually have the structure in my mind and the general feeling of course. but since im usually remixing i decide what i like to keep, then desing the sound for these parts while im building the drums in the between. when i finish this part i usually have the lead, the lead bassline, and the "lead" drums. then ill make the drums intro for 16bars add some stuff like a few fx's add a bassline and after that 32 bars i start making melodies pads etc as i move on every 16. then i review and change all these till i think of a good idea about the breakdown. and it keeps going like that till its finished. its the same thing every time i force my self.untill real inspiration strikes when i sit down and just do stuff whithout knowing anything about whats coming next when i "wake up" at the boring part (outro). of course after the hole sketch is down i add effects, try to make things interesting and clean.
btw i think someone said something about G&D (or was it another thread?? anyway) g&d's most tracks are pretty simple.. they sound like 10 audio tracks mixed together. and they mostly are (in andain - beautiful things or the way out west remix for example). but you dont want your music to sound like 10 audiotracks do you??? cuz im not. the fun part is to have 10 (well not 10 you get the point)melodies, 4 basslines and complicated drums and trying to make them fit and glue. also.. i like a bit of "dirt" in music but thats just me:D. |
Yeah that was this thread I mentioned g&d but it wasnt because of how complex there songs were... because well there not really, what i said was they get an amazing and professional sound from very basic equipment... |
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| RIPassion |
"The ideas for A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultra World were there weeks before, but the mix itself took 20 minutes."
-Alex Patterson (the "Trent Reznor" of The Orb) |
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| digitul punk |
| quote: | Originally posted by whiterex
Yeah that was this thread I mentioned g&d but it wasnt because of how complex there songs were... because well there not really, what i said was they get an amazing and professional sound from very basic equipment... |
That is actually where your skill and talent comes in, you have less stuff to work with but you manipulate and play with them in such a way that they sound intresting as well as appealing. You can actually make pads, background noises and various effects from a single melody loop. |
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