 Just wondering... [How do you compose?] |
brucifer 
Making all the tunes your mum loves
Registration Date: 23-10-2007
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How do you go around writting your tunes? Do you tend to use the same sample/sound in your tracks, or do you look for new stuff for each track?
I have noticed that I am pretty much recycling my sounds and old ideas at the moment... One of the reasons why I do, is because I use Reason 3 and it can take ages to set up the rig how you want it.
This something I have noticed about certain artists aswell. For example, one album I really liked was Wormhole by Ed Rush & Optical, but pretty much every song used the same synth and bass. Same with the old Bad Company stuff.
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25-11-2007 23:00 |
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BattleDrone
2161... the future.
Registration Date: 30-12-2005
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I always start off with different samples... usually just messing with a couple of sounds (drum, synth, bass, vocal,... anything goes) and when I hear something "special" I try to add elements to build a basic loop. 90% of the time I can't get passed this stage though 
But when I do get passed that stage the loop might change completly over time. Sometimes a loop starts of as pure liquid and in the end its very dark and sometimes it's the other way around.
While building a real track out of the loop elements are added and often the existing sound changes to make it all fit. In the end it sounds more or less recognisable (I've been told).
A regular track passes through about 20 "versions" before it is finished. The first versions are often very very different from each other. In the end the changes are just minor though.
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25-11-2007 23:34 |
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Seven Gun
dotbee 4eva
Registration Date: 16-01-2007
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best thing to do is to try another style of music.
this will force you to change your approach to your structure, synths and samples etc.
first thing i ALWAYS do is start my beats first.
then the head starts to nod and it goes from there.
a new synth (vst) or batch of good samples can inspire me to make something new.
yeah... thats it really.
oh yeah... try get a collbaboration going with someone.
its very enlightening. 
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"When you lose, dont lose the lesson"
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26-11-2007 00:07 |
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Paracyte
Crazy Bouncin Sinusoid
Registration Date: 07-12-2006
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I start with messing around patches on my Juno ,if i found something relly good i try do some basic melody or something ,then i plug reason under cubase and i do the simply beat to shake my head ,then i start messing around with samples ,intro ,vst and build a nice break over ths simply beat ,add some ghosts ,hihats ,bongos and shit ,and then try to do some more melodies basses and stuf.Not allways excactly like that but pretty much time.
cheers.
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26-11-2007 01:47 |
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Arkitekt
Brain Fried Amen Bastard
Registration Date: 13-06-2005
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i start with beats first. i use mostly reason these days ( vs. 4 is the tits) i have a couple of premade RNS files that i use to muck about with various bass /synth noises. i dont normally save patches so ill mess about with those and find something i think might fit. copy/paste into the new rns and away we go.
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VIRB
DARKLAND144
DARKLAND115
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26-11-2007 03:21 |
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Surya
The Robot
Registration Date: 04-11-2002
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| quote: |
Originally posted by brucifer
because I use Reason 3 and it can take ages to set up the rig how you want it. |
Huh?
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"In dnb you should make people jump not swim"
- Pieter Frenssen 2004
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26-11-2007 10:25 |
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brucifer
Making all the tunes your mum loves
Registration Date: 23-10-2007
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26-11-2007 11:06 |
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Halph-Price
Zombie Algorithm
Registration Date: 22-12-2004
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yea, usually you set up drums first, because tehy set the rhythm, BUT if there is another source of rhythem ont eh track you must included it tooo, i.e. a synth or some weird sample. this si thoes tiems when yuo see a song that has a vocals sample that the drums go in rhthem too, and it then makes sense why the swing ont eh drums is so fucked up.
basicly with ALL songs, you want to start with what's called a Rhythem Track or Click track, if you're recording Lamb of God or mixing a dnb track, usually best to start with what's going to affect the songs timing and rhythem. from there on it's makeing the transitions to each of thoes rhythems which si where the producsers skill and art come in.
then making the rhyhem work for the track or repalcing the rhtthem to amke it work. hellish nightmare, likea puzzle made in time. but the main thing for composing, is even if it's just one-second of PURE PERFECTION that's all you can ever ask for in art. is that one second of perfection.
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26-11-2007 15:55 |
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Seven Gun
dotbee 4eva
Registration Date: 16-01-2007
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| quote: |
Originally posted by Halph-Price
yea, usually you set up drums first, because tehy set the rhythm, BUT if there is another source of rhythem ont eh track you must included it tooo, i.e. a synth or some weird sample. this si thoes tiems when yuo see a song that has a vocals sample that the drums go in rhthem too, and it then makes sense why the swing ont eh drums is so fucked up.
basicly with ALL songs, you want to start with what's called a Rhythem Track or Click track, if you're recording Lamb of God or mixing a dnb track, usually best to start with what's going to affect the songs timing and rhythem. from there on it's makeing the transitions to each of thoes rhythems which si where the producsers skill and art come in.
then making the rhyhem work for the track or repalcing the rhtthem to amke it work. hellish nightmare, likea puzzle made in time. but the main thing for composing, is even if it's just one-second of PURE PERFECTION that's all you can ever ask for in art. is that one second of perfection. |
DEEEEEEP! 
true tho
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26-11-2007 17:41 |
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Wood.
Producer
Registration Date: 29-07-2007
Posts: 70
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I don't have a specific approach to composing, it depends on time mostly. There's times when I'm into making breaks and there's times that I'm into learning skills of making basses.
It also happens that I installed a new vst and I'm exploring it, happen to find a nice sound, and start messing with it, adding drums etc.
So I start up FL, make something (as practise, to get better) and if it sounds good and I've got alot of time left that day I often build alot of stuff around it, get ideas flowing, and make a track from second one till the end. I know most guys do it a specific way, but this one works for me. I think I'll be changing that approach to it though, coz often I get stuck at 02:30. so yeah.
and as 7g said, collabs are very inspiring and learnfull.
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Wood.: 28-11-2007 22:49.
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28-11-2007 22:48 |
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Crispy Liquids
Liquid Funkateer
Registration Date: 22-05-2005
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I use FL and noticed I'm approaching things differently then when I make guitar songs.
In FL I start making a nice and drum (in one order or the other) and if not, I start making a melody, fitting it to a drum track (just to make sure that my snares won't be going in the wrong places) and then adding bass, and making the 'real' drumtrack ;-)
But that's not so strange about the way I do things... Basicly I create things pretty lineair, meaning that I start with something and start adding things after it, transitions, breaks, alternative melodies, an ending, whatsoever, but in any case, when I'm done with all that I have NO SONG!
Well I do, but it still has to be put together :-P
I seem to make one puzzle piece, then make some other puzzle pieces that fit it, but in the end I don't neccessarily put them together, since they might fit to other pieces as well. So I really don't know what's going to come out of it, it can change a lot. Also in this rearranging-phase I add fx most of the time, and very often add more breaks or envelopes that make it all work together better.
And don't think I'm making this up out of thing air: when I'm 'done' for the first time I never have a good song :-P
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03-12-2007 16:52 |
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Halph-Price
Zombie Algorithm
Registration Date: 22-12-2004
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experimented, i still find i get the best results starting with the rhythem. drums first, adn note ven getting the drums themself the best. i don't have any effects on them, just the drums for layout.
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04-12-2007 17:05 |
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Tomos
Infidel
Registration Date: 15-04-2007
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I always start by brewing an idea in my mind for a few days and then going into FL and start hammering out the idea. I never just go on FL and 'see what happens', it never works for me. I always feel I need a focus - could be something I heard on a MySpace page, something from a non-dnb track (usually rock), or whatever.
The really interesting bit is when you get on FL and try to replicate your ideas. For me, they hardly ever turn out the same way I originally intended. But that's not a bad thing cos I usually end up with something better! During the process of producing a tune you learn loads of new stuff and that gives you ideas for future tracks. Making tunes wouldn't be half as fun or interesting if you could magically replicate what's in your head into an MP3 file. It's during the actual process of putting the track together that you come across new tricks, sounds, ways of doing things, chopping samples up, adding FX, taking them away, etc, etc, that you learn new and interesting stuff. 
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"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." Carl Sagan
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04-12-2007 18:18 |
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cynik
Cp6uja
Registration Date: 15-03-2005
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05-12-2007 02:08 |
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Greyone
Master Producer
Registration Date: 01-04-2005
Posts: 6,285
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| quote: |
Originally posted by brucifer
This something I have noticed about certain artists aswell. For example, one album I really liked was Wormhole by Ed Rush & Optical, but pretty much every song used the same synth and bass. Same with the old Bad Company stuff. |
this is the problem of most producers , the recycling
its a fast way to create a new track but when you hear all the track on a row you'll hear they're in fact all the same;
more samples plz
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13-02-2008 12:42 |
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BattleDrone
2161... the future.
Registration Date: 30-12-2005
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I've had tracks that contained good ideas but were not going to be finished, then I took a part of it and started to rework it and something completely different came out, liquid turned into techstep or jump up, whatever...
Recycling can be cool and does not have to lead to samish tracks. It's just that some producers try to create a "sound" for themselves.
This is also very present in some non-dnb productions (Some albums from Prince have this typical prince-snaredrum all over the place, guitar from Queen or Dire Straits, Technotronic Synths,...)
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13-02-2008 12:49 |
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Tomos
Infidel
Registration Date: 15-04-2007
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| quote: |
Originally posted by Greyone
| quote: |
Originally posted by brucifer
This something I have noticed about certain artists aswell. For example, one album I really liked was Wormhole by Ed Rush & Optical, but pretty much every song used the same synth and bass. Same with the old Bad Company stuff. |
this is the problem of most producers , the recycling
its a fast way to create a new track but when you hear all the track on a row you'll hear they're in fact all the same;
more samples plz |
I don't necessarily see that as a problem myself. As long as the main sounds/synths are solid and good, then it'd be a shame not to hear them again! Also, like Battle said, it gives artists a certain sound and identity. For me, that is what makes an album like Wormhole so good. It's got a certain sound that is unique to that album and it's so good it still sounds fucking amazing even today.
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"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." Carl Sagan
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13-02-2008 18:24 |
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BattleDrone
2161... the future.
Registration Date: 30-12-2005
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A track needs a clear identity and if that's done like it should then it doesn't matter all that much if you recycle sounds. Imagine a rock band having to use different instruments for every track because otherwise the audience would complain that it sounded too much like the previous track... this is where the real art of composing comes into the game.
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13-02-2008 23:36 |
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brucifer
Making all the tunes your mum loves
Registration Date: 23-10-2007
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14-02-2008 02:09 |
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Greyone
Master Producer
Registration Date: 01-04-2005
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| quote: |
Originally posted by BattleDrone
I've had tracks that contained good ideas but were not going to be finished, then I took a part of it and started to rework it and something completely different came out, liquid turned into techstep or jump up, whatever...
Recycling can be cool and does not have to lead to samish tracks. It's just that some producers try to create a "sound" for themselves.
This is also very present in some non-dnb productions (Some albums from Prince have this typical prince-snaredrum all over the place, guitar from Queen or Dire Straits, Technotronic Synths,...) |
yeah well thats + recycling
but when i hear CV using the same bleeps over and over , and Donny using the same basskick over and over , and so on ...
everybody does a bit too much recycling but that makes a persons style ...
but i ment more like REUSING the samples in the same way.. :s
sleeptight zzz
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14-02-2008 22:22 |
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