composing tracks

lets discuss how we write tracks , from what we use : hardware, software, how we use it. to how in depth you would like to go

me?

i/ve gone through many setups through my lief time. but currently i'm using sony acid pro which i/m recording my rm1x with (wav). . one sound at a time unfortunatley because my setup only really can do one input, (audiophile) , so then i record another, etc etc . i don't use vsts really at this stage but rather use the rm1x sound engine when recording in realtime.

i then arrange in acid and when i have a rough sketch i export as a wav and open in cool edit

from there i make further edits, loops and such and cuts.

basically i like jamming and making noises and not seeing the midi data, i hate arranging the little blocks of midi notes.... i feel like a scientist when i chop up beats in cool edit :)

I open renoise and load a few samples from a set that doesn't change too often, then fuck around with them with my vst-of-the-month (buffer override right now). Then I just make sequences randomly until I hit upon something that sounds decent enough. Repeat and rearrange fifty times or so until everything coalesces musically, export to wav.

grab a piano or a guitar and having fun

if anything sounds good, record it on my dictaphone

then launch logic and do everything with it. no third party plugins.

i used to have a MPC 2000XL, a nord lead, an EMU e6400, a huge mixboard, 3 X DBX 266xl, mpx100, nord micro modular, TC M300, TC multiband compressor, TC M-One, this, that etc etc

sold everything and feeling MUCH better now and much more productive

btw benoit pioulard uses garageband and he produced one of the best records of 2006

I open up FL

Get some sweet hihats

Add some crashes

Up the BPM

Sample a Bassline

Crunch some flangers

add in more flangers

Up the BPM

Sample a trance lead

And then i export as 4kbps mp3s

ur serious>>>????

no but as for the black devil using garage band... holy crow

but see, we are learning things

and to you , the next person that wanders into the thread howdo you produce your choons?

i open notepad

go outside and find a stray cat

tape it to my keyboard and pour melted cheese on it

let it squirm for about half an hour

print

i then split the text into 8 sections

i read each section at the same time in a different voice at different cadences

i record it all with windows sound recorder

save wav

convert wav to midi

open midi with wingroov

save to wav

open wav with cool edit

save to mp3

upload

post in ylc

  YEK said:

ur serious>>>????

 

no but as for the black devil using garage band... holy crow

 

but see, we are learning things

yup about garageband i've read it somewhere and seen a pic of a minimal setup (an iMac, a mic and some instruments)

black devil ?

anyway

gear lust will eat your soul

less machines / softwares /plugins = less headaches

crack open cakewalk, pick a few nice synth sounds, then i will write 2 to 3 chord sequences with 7 to 8 chords, put down the basic chordal harmonies in a blended, indistinct form, then begin to add melodies and basslines, fiddle around till complete, add drums.

slice a few beats

cut a few square waves

dump in some flanger and bitcrusher

add some delay

cook at 180 degrees - 2 hours long

it's ready !

write and record a few lead/bassline riffs and melodies on monosynth

program drums (either sampling patterns from 606 or 707)or individual hits using abletons impulse.

keep building on the melodies using pads/other instruments

either step sequence the whole thing, or jam it out in live and edit it quickly til Im happy.

add any vst effects and anal editing later on

Lately it has been all monomachine and machinedrum composing and a geetar thank you goodbye.

before i started out with trackers, i used ableton. i played around making presets (from scratch) with arturia's arp2600v. then i wrote some melodies/riffs/whatever you call it + some chopped up break samples (not necessarily dnb).

right now i'm still using pretty much the same "setup", but with renoise as a host, since it's fucking great for creating drum patterns.

oh, i forgot i used to make shitty acid tracks with drummachine samples (606, 707) and audiorealism bassline, but i got tired of it.

the shame is that i'm lazy and i never finish my tracks, they're just compressed (all parts of the song together) 1 or 2 minutes "songs".

way before Live existed i used FL, and some time after, Reason.

  bontempi said:

anyway

gear lust will eat your soul

 

less machines / softwares /plugins = less headaches

I agree. I've refined my setup over these last few years so that everything is as easy as it can be. I am currently only using my nord modular g2s, and logic's synth "sculpture" because I find it much more productive and inspiring to use minimal amount of instruments, so I learn them better, deeper, and can get results faster. Sometimes I use Kontakt 2 when I need to... but I try to avoid it most of the time.

My setup right now is:

Logic Pro 7 (where almost all of my work is done)

specifically using the logic synth Sculpture

Wave Arts Power Suite 5 plugins (really nice compressor/eq/gate, L2 type limiter, 3D imaging plugin, multicompressor, PCM reverb

kontakt 2(on rare occassions... I prefer cutting and editing waves in the arrange... I only use a sampler when its worth the trouble)

Nord Modular G2 (and the software editor for it)

Nord Modular G2 (engine)

MOTU 828 mkII (audio interface)

Maudio Keystation Pro 88 (88 weighted keyboard)

Mackie Control

Mackie Extender

Pad Kontrol (drum pads)

So most of what I do takes place in the computer, and I just have controllers to make the process quicker/more intuitive. All the sounds are either the nords or sculpture. all the other external gear is merely for more hands on control, and less mouse clicking. Its so much faster to grab a fader on the mackie, then to select a track, move the mouse to the virtual fader, and edit one track at a time. My process is bogged down with lots of tedious editing as it is... whatever else I can make easier, speeds up the process, and keeps the creative flow going.

Its a hard balance in electronic music... you are playing the role of composer, sound designer, producer, engineer, performer etc etc etc... and often its hard to switch your mind so quickly from left to right side of your brain all the time.

Obviosly I have to record the nords as audio, which can be kind of a chore, esp when you decide to change something... so I have to pay careful detail to saving patches etc.

My work flow is usually divided up into creative sessions, and technical sessions, although they obviously overlap. Ill spend hours working on patches on the nord, then Ill spend hours writing music with them. Then I record it, edit it, etc, and then back to the composing.

Everything eventually becomes audio (I dont bounce VSTs straight to the final mix.. I always record each track as audio to clean up the waveforms etc.)

My music making takes a lot of time, as I am constantly writing, bouncing, editing, writing more, repeat. But, I like it... I enjoy the process, and the end result is much more satisfying.

As far as coming up with ideas, its anything from being inspired by a sound as I create it, to noodling out melodies/chords on the keyboard, to doing long mix takes with my mackies to hear how sounds interact with each other or make transitions, to theoretical ideas that I sketch down on music paper and then work out extended structures. It's always different really. I guess the one underlaying commonality, is that everything is handled with great care and precision... some would argue too much... but Ill just argue it back.

but yeah... since my process is so indepth as it is... having minimal gear is key. If I used tons of different programs, my work flow would be even more bogged down. I highly suggest to everyone to find those "special" instruments that for whatever reasons, really click with you, and stick to them. You will learn them better, and get more out of them. If you absolutely cant do what is in your head with what you have, then expand.

just my personal views

most important thing for me creatively is taking breaks from music.

makes everything feel new, having forgotten a little about the lower level innovations from my previous track(s).

when i make things back to back i tend to trudge through each one and drag them out of months.

when i get a track idea out of time off, i'll stay up all night, miss work, and have a track done in a day - few days, it's a different kind of session, full of excitement.

i usually get a pair of songs out of those manic musical outbursts, then rest a few weeks doing other things.

take breakbeat add suppatrigga

sample ez listening album

add dub delay sound fx and vocal sample

keep it flange, ya'll

  Adjective said:

keep it flange, ya'll

I'm not sure why but ....lol

i get some basket balls and some tools and a shopping cart, take that to the local school gym, then i throw a shitload of balls down the bleachers and record it, then i take the shoping cart filled with tools and throw that down the bleachers, record it.

sampe the guy complainig that i am not supposed to be in the shool gym

go back home, chop it in the fruity slicer.

bam new track

Sample people talking or making noise. Cut the noises into .wavs with Cool Edit. Load into FL and make beats. Load in an NES tone emulator. Let the song take me where it wants to go.

Honestly, the process depends on what kind of song I'm writing. If I'm doing sound collage stuff I'll typically only open Cool Edit and just sample a ton of things. I change the process for the song's aesthetic constantly.

How I do it now (with my metal project) is I either sketch out an epic melody in FL or dictate it into my mp3 player (if I'm not near my computer). Then I build on that and sketch out the entire song using just a strings patch. Then I build on that with more layers and harmonies and everything, add some fake drums and fake guitars, write some lyrics, and then croak my way through a few vocal takes. Then I get everything mixed and equalized the way I want, and blammo!

lately i will start with guitar and jam around for a bit until i get something kinda song-like, then record it, eq, chop some loops out of it, toss it in FL and add some synths, drums, shit like that... listen... record more guitar parts, bass, whatever.. go back to FL with that shit, then add more synthy bits perhaps, make drums better,,, eq things nicely and add some fx... mixdown song to wav, toss it in cool edit,, maybe add some vocals,, more eq, maybe a bit of compression, save mixdown as mp3.. then smoke a bowl and listen to it over again until i get bored of it and fall asleep.

the setup is pretty basic right now, just some guitars, and a harmonica.. shitty dollar store mic, fruity loops and cool edit... records.

sometimes i will arrange a song in acid pro 2 aswell, or have some kind of hardware sampler (sp-303, sp-505) or groovebox (roland mc-307) or keyboard (triton le) kickin around, but it's all scattered in different places right now, and im not very good at utilizing those things anyways. tryin to keep it relatively simple.

im having real difficulty at the moment, ive been writing new music constantly in my head for two years with no way of gettin that shit down, and now ive got everyhting up and running ive just got this torrential storm of ideas forcing their way out my head, im trying to get something to sound finished but as soon as ive written the music for one piece, another even better one is just there in my brain ,its been this way for 3 weeks solid, uive just got mountains of chord sequences and melodies piling up in sonar, but i have no skill in the mastering yet.

i start college next week, i think il just keep getting the ideas out of me for now. they just dont stop though after all this time pented up in my head!

first i start wih a beat

  GORDO said:

first i start wih a beat

"he came... to teach us things..."

record some guitar and 'korg notes, add some pedals, stir in Renoise, sprinkle with some VSTs, bake to .wav.