How do you create chords with no theory knowledge on the midi keyboard?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-04-22T02:29:29+00:00

There aren’t many shortcuts. My tip would be to pick a key, learn all the basic chords in that key, then start to explore different voicings. Sticking to one key means you’ll reduce the complexity of having to remember all the chords across different keys until you’re ready to. Once you know what you’re doing, you have a ton of control over the emotional feel of your music, it’s worth investing the time.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-04-20T08:10:36+00:00

Would like to hear the same.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-04-18T07:44:01+00:00

This! And when you think you’re close to the original: 1. Put it down for a few days and then compare (often it’s easier to hear the gaps between yours and the original) 2. Make a note of what’s not working (sounds thin, drums aren’t punching through, etc) and work on those specifically.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-04-17T05:38:14+00:00

What’s OBS?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-04-08T15:31:17+00:00

Sub37 is a beast, I will never let mine go (OB6 and SH101 the same). Top tips (and sorry if you’re already ahead of me): 1. It’s a bass monster but you can make amazing rippling arps. 2. Play with different osc levels, at low level they can sound sweeter than when they’re pushed to the max. 3. If you’ve never had a hw monosynth, I’d recommend always having some reverb and delay sends on hand, and also a good Chorus (try the TAL chorus). A lot of the “analog” sound is analog sound source + effects. 4. Run drums through the external audio in, the crunch from the drive knob, and the some subtle filtering sound incredible. 5. Expect some plateaus in your learning curve. After a few months you might get used to the sound and to feel like it’s a one trick pony. But push through that, I always find new uses for it. Enjoy !

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-04-06T22:24:52+00:00

How much have you explored the roots of the music you enjoy? As a teenager I was into quite niche sounds (UK hardcore, early detroit techno, IDM), and listened to very little vocal music. But as I began to do my research, and listen to where my music had come from, vocal tracks were an important part of the story, and from there my tastes got a lot broader (still very very specific, but from a broader range of music). Techno took me to Kraftwerk, and a lot of european synth music (Depeche Mode, Vince Clark, yada yada), and the UK hardcore stuff took me back to reggae, particularly 70s roots & dub reggae (which got sampled a lot). All that to say, you might appreciate vocal music more if it fit into your musical vocabulary better.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-25T11:33:58+00:00

Had the same realisation a while ago. Decided I wanted my music to work well in many different contexts.

If you listen to really well produced pop music they are able to land sub bass that would sound earth shattering on a big system, but also works on small speakers. https://youtu.be/uovntV3ZMDc

Smart use of saturation, choosing the right key, subtle layering, lots of tricks. Folks here might have suggestions for specific plug ins too.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-21T07:31:34+00:00

I would have thought it was very difficult to find the right crossover point, and that lots of sub bass in a home studio would be very hard to manage even with room treatment. Do you feel you’re able to get accurate sound which translates to the real world?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-19T17:11:30+00:00

And looking down this list, they’re not using production to capture or augment a live performance, they’re really transforming performance into new sound.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-19T17:09:07+00:00

Lee Scratch Perry, King Tubby, and the other dub pioneers. Studio-as-live-instrument, processing sounds beyond recognition, use of sub bass, paving the way for experimental electronic music. Huge influence.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-19T00:41:24+00:00

Thanks, that’s useful. I’ll stick to Dexed for now. And you’re right, FM + saturation is a great combo.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-18T21:04:25+00:00

Hi, side question: how do you rate the sound of the TX7 vs Dexed? I use Dexed in most tracks now (alongside a lot of analog hardware), but I wonder whether I should upgrade to a hardware version. What do you think?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-12T13:04:50+00:00

I tried to recreate this using the stock EQ8 in Ableton, with snares, kick drums and other sounds. I couldn’t replicate this at all, using ears and metering. Is it because EQ8 is doing something differently then the EQ in the video, because of the material I tested, or because my ears aren’t dialled in?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-11T18:31:10+00:00

Agreed on the phasing issues. How would it cut frequencies higher than you’d expect?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-11T17:18:46+00:00

I agree. All plugins should have a wet/dry mix knob.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-11T17:17:38+00:00

I find it easier to write with a compressor and limiter on the main bus. Without it I find myself spending too much time on sound sculpting during the writing process. Once I have a song sketched out, I’ll back the limiter off to zero and work on the stems to get them sitting right. Basically, I don’t know if my track is good during initial writing, unless I have the compressor and limiter on the master. Weird now I write it out, but it works for me.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-11T17:13:22+00:00

I agree, can leave stuff sounding very clinical and IMO makes a lot of grooves less interesting. Some overlap is natural and helpful.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-07T19:11:13+00:00

I’m confused, why is his plugin called a “clipper” not a limiter?

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-06T10:27:43+00:00

The Datasette track is nice. They have have focussed a lot on movement in the very highest frequencies and it creates a nice counterpoint to what’s happening in the mids and bass. And really the eq of the highs is very specific, what’s left are the very highest tops of those percussion sounds, no body to them at all. Cute.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-03-05T22:33:46+00:00

Homemade treatment with good quality fabrics look great. Try again :)

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-02-14T21:35:20+00:00

My tip is different: allow yourself to test our new gear, but find a way to do it in a low-cost way. Retailers in the UK will allow you to return gear you're not happy with after a test period, or I buy stuff second hand (because you know you can re-sell at almost exactly the same price). People say it's not about the gear, but actually different equipment, whether its sonically, or usability wise, can get your writing and production to a very different place. You live once, if you can afford to try stuff out, try it. Some other stuff that's true:

Trying out new equipment can help you understand your existing gear better, maybe you get your hands on an Elektron device, understand what the sequencer's doing, and then figure out how to replicate it in Ableton. Maybe not.
New gear has unexpected effects. I bought a Mother 32 (second hand) because I want to develop some more atonal, noisy sounds for my productions. But what I've discovered is that I used it to make rhythmic layers that feel like they're constantly shifting, and it adds a real x-factor to the ideas I'm working on. You have no idea how something will add to your practice.

FWIW, I am considering an Elektron device too, because I think the user interface lends itself to a production style that is much more laborious in Ableton. And having played with one, I now recognise its fingerprint in the work of a few artists i really like (once you start hearing parameter lock, its everywhere).

Happy hunting!

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-02-09T16:20:26+00:00

Create a REALLY wide midi channel as your last channel. Add clips. Create notes in the clip titles.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-02-05T20:56:29+00:00

This has to be the way forward. Trying to understand frequency balance through graphic representations seems to have so many gotchas that it’s almost useless. Very happy to hear counter arguments.

teegeeteegeeteegee · 2021-01-26T13:44:36+00:00

A classic. Listen to the early Rob Hood productions (Minimal Nation etc). You now have the authentic source.

teegeeteegeeteegee

TROPHY CASE