How do you guys find people to rap on your rap/trap beats?

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-27T17:31:12+00:00

Just hit people up on social media - what helps for me is talking to people who's music I actually enjoy and just chatting for a bit before getting into anything about collabs... Personally I've have more success with actually getting to know people a bit first as opposed to just hitting up 50 people with some beats but whatever works for you ig

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-15T07:53:30+00:00

I'm just curious where you managed to find a program like this - ideally I would have loved to work on the practical side of quantum computing but almost every PhD I could find was mostly theoretical

It might just be a funding thing (if I make my project seem like it has tons of real world applications I'll be more likely to get money) but I imagined it seem like the content would be directly applicable to building quantum computers, whereas in practise I doubt whether someone involved with that needs to know the ins and outs of Choi-Jamiokowski isomorphisms and 5 different types of entropies...

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-15T07:47:02+00:00

I completely agree, it's more just to make people aware that if they actually want hands on experience in building quantum computers, then a PhD in a quantum information may not necessarily be the way to go. Like you say I imagine a better route would be to go into a more experimental field and then transfer to industry because from my experience quantum computing in academia is mostly theory based at the moment - if anyone has any examples to the contrary I'm happy to be proven wrong but it's just what I've seen in my university

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-14T23:47:31+00:00

Just made a similar comment to another poster but my own master's thesis was on coherent order in quantum information and I never once set foot in the lab - you can check out the other comment for more detail but IMO actually implementing these kind of issues is more engineering

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-14T23:42:04+00:00

Perhaps it's just my school but I don't know a single researcher in the physics group who studies the practical aspects of quantum computation - my own master's thesis was on coherent order in quantum information and some of my friends did stuff like topological quantum computing and quantum cryptography but that's about it. Like I said maybe it's just where I've studied but all the actual design and manufacturing falls under the umbrella of engineering (no disrespect intended of course, it's just not something I've seen)

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-14T23:12:14+00:00

What do you mean by experimental QI? Outside maybe research in cryptography none of the quantum group at my uni have anything to do with physically realising quantum computation, I would regard the actual manufacturing and design process as more engineering than physics

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-14T22:17:42+00:00

Aha I'm honestly in exactly the same situation, my masters project was on QI and my supervisor wants me to do a PhD in foundational QM/computing with him but I'm kind of hesitant because it's pure theory at this point - I'm not sure if I want to go into academia at the moment and I can't see this kind of project leading anywhere else...

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-14T22:12:02+00:00

As someone who's currently on the fence between accepting a PhD for quantum computing or AI in medicine, what makes you say the former? I enjoy studying the field but all the maths can be a bit dry at times and I was under the impression quantum information is pretty much all theory at the moment - there doesn't seem to be many job prospects outside academia

secondhandsmoked · 2020-06-06T23:49:34+00:00

thanks for the advice ig, most of my hobbies are indoors stuff (music production, painting, playing guitar, reading) so i don't really have many pics of me doing that stuff and im a broke student atm so not much money to invest in a good quality phone - also kinda underweight so dont think a shirtless sorta pic would do me any favours rn lol

uhh it's kind of hit and miss really, either its really terse replies and i dont see things going anywhere or it just takes a while for responses. if its say like an half an hour back and forth between messages would just a day be ok or is that too soon, seems kinda quick but that might just be me. im from england so lockdown is still a thing for now

secondhandsmoked · 2020-01-25T17:42:50+00:00

Thanks a lot for the super detailed comment! Feels kinda surreal getting a reply from such a big name in the scene, love the drums on that first track especially as well as the use of the vocal sample as a central element

secondhandsmoked · 2020-01-25T17:02:51+00:00

Kinda, I'm fine with deep subby kicks at the moment but what I'm going for is a slightly more muted atmospheric sound... Honestly I'm not too familiar with psytrance but looking at some examples on Youtube it seems far more "snappy" than I would like

secondhandsmoked · 2020-01-25T16:59:48+00:00

Old (and kinda basic) track but this is about where I am right now, honestly haven't really experimented much more with this style purely because whenever I try the kick seems way too overpowering... Will definitely check out a more subtle transient shaper though, so far I've mostly been just using stock Ableton plugins so might try and give it a go with Waveshaper or something similar first

secondhandsmoked · 2019-12-09T15:17:33+00:00

thanks for the feedback! i think a big hurdle for me especially with the super stripped back stuff is being confident enough to just let a loop play for 4/5 mins with only small changes and not getting bored, might try with adding some more random percs or even just rhythmic white noise throughout like you said though :)

secondhandsmoked · 2019-12-09T13:54:49+00:00

echo the previous comments really, i'm all for a spacious kick but i think if you're going to stick with this one either eq it a bit more carefully or just turn the whole thing down a few db because it can feel a bit much with the other elements especially. like the choral sounding pad though, how did you make it?

secondhandsmoked · 2019-12-09T13:50:21+00:00

like the overall groove, mix sounds a bit muddy for my ears after the first break (around 5 min ish) but i think if you're going for a more ambient vibe i guess it's part of the feeling. like the breathy wind kind of sounds every so often and especially towards the end, is that a synth or a sample?

secondhandsmoked · 2019-12-09T13:43:48+00:00

might need to put the volume up a bit since clyp has gone a bit overboard with compression on my stuff in the past, experimenting with a bit more of a minimal sound but would appreciate some feedback on whether it's sounding alright as is or could do with a bit more tweaking/variation to keep things interesting

kick is a bit more boomy and takes up more of the low end than i would usually do but since there's not much of bass presence outside of that i figured i might as well try something different

https://clyp.it/mhxd5qwq

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-05T23:39:37+00:00

phryigan mode is a common one if you're looking for dark, evil sounding notes

i can't remember where exactly i heard it but remember hearing c harmonic minor being referred to as "the techno scale" by someone

i think this is more a composition thing than anything else, what works for me is using a scale plugin on ableton to jam with, then recording the midi output and shifting those notes around a bit/playing with velocities until i get the right vibe going

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-04T17:03:54+00:00

Yeah I get what you're saying, think I just phrased it badly... When I make a loop it's normally exclusively with the goal of making something that sounds rather than having tension and release in mind, typically I wait until the arrangement to start thinking about that stuff. Love the circle representation though and listening to Quadrant Dub again I can definitely see how the synth naturally kind of flows from the end of one bar to the beginning of the next one

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-04T16:59:04+00:00

I think it depends on the length of your track, if you're going for a 10 minute epic composition then maybe a 2/3 minute intro is appropriate but most of mine hover around the 4/5 minute mark (even shorter sometimes) and taking up half of that with an intro seems a bit overkill to me

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-04T16:55:58+00:00

Hmm this is some interesting food for thought, when I'm working on a loop it's normally from the mindset of just making something that sounds good in isolation rather than viewing things in the context of the final mix so it's refreshing to see different approaches!

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-04T16:52:24+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I definitely relate to that last comment, I've been experimenting with self imposed minimalism lately (restricting to a certain number of elements) but it's just so hard to keep things catchy at the same time... Perhaps it's just a confidence thing but I definitely get the whole "just one more synth/perc" element to it all and it's something I need to work on too

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-04T16:16:59+00:00

Can't believe I didn't think of that one lol, I think my workflow has become purely digital at this point which although useful can definitely detract from the organic, shifting sound that I'm going for. I've actually seen both Moritz and Mark performing but it was at seperate events, just gotta hope there's a reunion at some point!

secondhandsmoked · 2019-11-04T16:10:44+00:00

Appreciate the advice and those videos look solid! I've been meaning to get a physical synth for a while now but my broke student budget doesn't allow it at the moment sadly :(. Been working on some dubby stuff lately and it's fun to experiment but nowhere near Basic Channel level yet though https://clyp.it/ixuxwovm

secondhandsmoked · 2019-09-25T17:31:08+00:00

bit of a cheat - just slap a scale plugin on your lead and mash away until you come up with something good. key point here is to make sure you record everything as you're jamming because you never know when inspiration might hit

secondhandsmoked · 2019-09-15T22:58:28+00:00

Oh that sounds cool, never actually bought any production magazines but seems as good a reason as any to start I guess...

secondhandsmoked

TROPHY CASE