I decided not to use any preset and just synthesize them for being original.

Discussion in 'Our Music' started by foster911, Jan 14, 2017.

  1. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    there are still endless soundscapes to explore that never became mainstream but the commoners won't like them unless it's played at a certain tempo, style, mix, etc.
    the average clubber is stuck in its small sonic bubble and rarely ventures outside.
     
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  2. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    yes, it's how you use arpeggiators that makes the big difference.
    i never use them as i play arpeggios by myself but if used properly it's great especially in the initial workflow when you sketch rough ideas.

    but you won't go too far if you're using arpeggio as a substitute for playing music yourself.
    either you know exactly what you're doing or you don't.

    i listened to at least 20 songs by deadmouse and not a single one had any remarking musical quality, in the best cases he used arpeggios, in the worst cases he played himself 3-4 notes over and over and then using filters to make it less boring, i won't even comment on how he uses 808 drums ... the most simple and obvious 4/4 with kick, snare, clap, and 808 hihats .. someone shuold explain us why we should be impressed by that ?? it must be the very first rhythm i did with a drum machine when i was 13.
     
  3. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    again, there's no need to ever use arpeggiators if you can play a few chords on piano.
    chaining 3-4 arpeggiators together instead can be creative as taht's something you can hardly play by hand, but it's not something deadmouse is doing or ever did, it must be our of his reach i guess.

    loops are an even lazier way to make music, and totally unflexible.
    can you easily make a non-boring 20 minutes song just with loops ?
     
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  4. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    it's not a bare mix, it's what i call an "initial draft".
    all my songs start with a rough initial draft too, nothing wrong with it, but i would never publish them on soundcloud, they're drafts ! :)

    in this case the sounds are OK because they're still not mixed, you can start from here and making whatever you want with those sounds, just be creative.
    the problem lies in the melody, or lack of it.
    we can't say this draft is not melodic, but neither we can say this melody is appealing or inspiring, it's very flat and predictable, soulless ... of course this "mellow" genre must have its fair share of fellowers but personally i can't see what's so good about it, anyone can do it with little effort, and it's been already done over and over since the 80s in several different flavours, in my opinion it fits a lot better in the stock/licensing library industry than as EDM.
     
  5. foster911

    foster911 Guest

    Wow! You're having the same and serious issue with loops and repetition that I had but I got convinced that repetition is the best, most effective and pleasing factor for making music. If you're interested please read this book. It's unique on the net I think. It will persuade you to change your mind but if you're not a book reader, you will be on oversight and aberration for the rest of your life.:bleh:

    [​IMG]
    On Repeat- How Music Plays The Mind
    http://ul.to/dpoxxvjc
     
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  6. Aliens

    Aliens Guest

    Of course boring is in the ear or the beholder, but please do go ahead and post up one of your own 20 minute songs, with or without loops, and set a benchmark to work against.
     
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  7. Kloud

    Kloud Guest

    You see it's closed minded statements such as those maybe? :dunno:

    Whilst I agree with some of what you say and of course you have the total right to like whatever you like you shouldn't simply write of genre's or bit's of equipment etc based purely around your own personal experience of say a few select artists.

    By doing that your only limiting your own outlook & creative potential?

    There's always going to be exceptions to the general rule that find hugely creative outlets for equipment or stereotypical content utilised in certain genres?

    Example -



    :bow::)
     
  8. Zenarcist

    Zenarcist Audiosexual

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    I always untune my guitar so that I know I'll never sound like anybody else.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2017
  9. Von_Steyr

    Von_Steyr Guest

    [​IMG]
     
  10. foster911

    foster911 Guest

    @Avenel if you call this song mediocre, I'll be sure you're listening in to Justin right now.

     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 22, 2017
  11. tulamide

    tulamide Audiosexual

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    @Avenel it could have ended right after my post. Why did you insist of going a step further? There's a difference between artist and genre, and I really hoped you meant the artist. But it seems to be genre bashing after all.

    What has this to do with Deadmau5, for example? The average clubber listens to whatever she's presented. Blame the DJ. Furthermore, who tells you that they don't see the bigger picture? For example, I like music, not genres. If some song is good, it is good no matter the genre. And I don't think I'm an exception, but the rule.

    You never worked with loops, I guess? I don't use loops neither, but I saw what today can be done with loops in realtime using the right tools, and it is as creative as setting notes in a context.

    I'd say yes. So let's do it this way. Just like @Aliens said, present us with a 20 minute song, then I'll do one with only loops. But I guess you didn't even think of what can be done with loops, right? You just saw Garageband in your mind.
     
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  12. G String

    G String Rock Star

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    How could a listener even tell whether something was made entirely from loops?
     
  13. Kloud

    Kloud Guest

    loop detector :yes: coupled with the ad verbatim factoid as stated by those who know that if it remotely uninspiring or boring on any level gotta be loops and\or written by Deadmau in his own personal sonic bubble when he on drugs and that :unsure:
     
  14. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    it's simple.
    if it's a loop it usually won't evolve or change at all.

    this is obvious on drums especially but often also on vocals, actually in extreme cases the entire song is made of 7-8 loops but the commoners won't notice that because there's a gazillion FXs going in and out.

    all the major hits by The Prodigy were an assembly of samples and little more, there's even a dude who remade their song on Ableton picking up the original samples, search for his videos it's great.
     
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  15. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    i like it, nice Ambient/Downtempo.
     
  16. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    thank you, i'm reading it right now !

    very interesting topic.
    are we naturally "wired" for loops and repeats ?
    time will tell ..
     
  17. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    i'll show you a practical and classic example from 40 years ago, anyone doing electronic music should know this LP :

     
  18. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    poor orchestra !!!!
    years of hard study to master an acoustic instruments and then he comes with his loops and 909 beats on it ??

    yeah, interesting to watch but he's a performer, not a musician, i can barely stand 30 seconds of his videos.

    as if it was something new ... what about this 90s classic ?

     
  19. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    loops can be very entertaining when used for live performance and i'm OK with that, but we were talking about studio music not live gigs.

    using modern VST FXs you can definitely do wonders with a bunch of loops but this was true already in the 80s if you had the right gear and lots of money.
    there are some interesting examples of that but whats the point ? if you have good sounds you never need loops anyway, and a musician is supposed to play his keyboard, not to rely on loops or samples unless we talk about vocals and acappellas.

    should we be impressed by a song made out of just loops ? no, i see no reason for that, at most i will say that the author is technically skilled in the use of loops but so what ?
    using samples and loops of YOUR music is one thing and i could even like it but stealing loops from somebody else is bad, it only shows you can't make your own drums and your own sound, at best you're a good remixer but not a good musician .. sorry but respect must be earned, it doesnt grow on trees just because you sampled a famous acappella with a 909 beat on it.

    going further, we could say loops are used in any modern song as Wavetable synthesis is nothing but looped waveforms, and same goes for Impuls Reverbs and much more, i'm using Omnisphere a lot and it's mostly made of wavetable synths and IR waves, should i give up because my sound is "samples/loop based" ?

    as for Deadmouse : he's probably a star because it's perceived as a performer, with that mouse dress and all, but it's impossible for me to be impressed by his tunes.
    no matter the musical genre or sub-genre, yes it can be Mellow or whatever buzzword, that's not the point.
    yes, i tend to divide in sub-genres for practical reason, i listen to any music from indian folk to death metal, so ...
     
  20. Avenel

    Avenel Kapellmeister

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    @foster911 :

    talking about using barebone waveforms ... not much else to say but remember this field has been already explored to death in the 80s and 90s, just listen to any decent Chipmusic track (many example in R2R keygens) , what about this classic using wavefoirms and arpeggios from the mid 90s ?

     
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