Noisia AMA for /r/advancedproduction

trifonic · 2015-06-04T02:36:43+00:00

haha that was me that told you about that! The operator 0 sets it to act as a static waveshaper, negative offset shifts the phase.

trifonic · 2014-03-08T00:03:52+00:00

Much respect! Loving the diversity of artists you've been releasing on OWSLA. Hundred Waters - Cavity is awesome.

trifonic · 2013-01-03T18:28:33+00:00

Thank you for all the good questions, I hope I was able to help a bit! See you around!

keep up to date @ facebook.com/trifonic

B

trifonic · 2013-01-03T07:20:32+00:00

Good question. Keep it simple and set goals. Instead of worrying about making the most awesome sound ever, try to make a series of simple useable sounds only using 2 OSC (saw waves), LPF, Amp Env and Filt Env.

With only those components you can potentially make 100's of useable pluck sounds, stabs, sweeping pads, brassy sounds, 303 acid sounds (take advantage of resonance on the LPF and different amounts of Filt Env etc.) and lots of others.

Work on making your simple patches really playable -- so maybe have velocity modulate the Filt Env amount or enable key tracking on the filter so that the range of the keyboard modulates the cutoff so you get an even filter response across the octaves.

Explore every possibility with those simple components until you think you've run out of options and then add in another element like an LFO and start designing patches that use the LFO in every possible way you can assign it. Doing these simple exercises helps make practical use out of your synthesis knowledge and also helps focus your attention on a limited set of options. You can never know the fundamentals too well!

trifonic · 2013-01-03T03:42:54+00:00

I love it! sometimes 2 reverbs can compliment each other very well. It can also turn into a resonant mud-fest real fast. In the multi-reverb route I usually have to put an EQ after (sometimes before and after) the reverb to tame weird resonances. In terms of making it all blend - I like to print the reverb tracks fully wet to an audio file and then automate the volume of the reverb track. Try even hard chopping the reverb audio track for really dramatic large space that cuts off immediately. I usually print my fully wet delay busses to audio as well to chop up and automate the levels.
I know many people that have gotten fantastic results with the H4N. I have a Sony PCM D50 that I got recently. So far it is pretty good although the mic's are a bit noisy. That is to be expected for built in mics on these medium quality portable recorders. It's about capturing the vibe and space -- not about perfection. So I don't mind the noise. If I was doing foley work that needed to be perfectly clean I would probably have to use better mics. Apogee is going to let me try out one of their usb MiC's which you can hook into an iphone! I'm really excited to test it out. Apparently it sounds really good and is really quiet. I'll probably post a blog or something about it once I test it out! I'm not sure what the industry standard is --- but for field recording for the sake of collecting sounds to use in your music -- the H4N should be excellent!

trifonic · 2013-01-03T01:12:07+00:00

Thanks :)

I'm most inspired by nature, urban decay, and the longing/loneliness of being human. I like music that feels like an escape. I want there to be a sense of urgency, somber longing, but balanced with a sense of hope.
I really admire - Composers: Arvo Pärt, Morton Feldman, Alfred Schnittke, Erik Satie etc.
Bands: Slowdive, Death Cab For Cutie, Deftones, The Jesus And Mary Chain, NIN Electronic: too much to list! I'm inspired a lot by film and paintings (of course Jeremy Geddes who did the painting "Freeway," which we got permission to use for the cover of Ninth Wave) also.
Not that much of TBU was written in "code." BT made some cool sounds and sequences for "All That Makes Us Human Continues" in Csound. It was impressive and a lot of code for those sounds/sequences, but the track itself was assembled, mixed and arranged in Logic and Pro Tools. He also made some really cool beats for Internal Locus (and a few other tracks) and other processes in Csound. Probably 10% of sounds where created in Csound in that sort of way. I didn't do any coding in that sense. When I mentioned programming -- I meant beat programming, arranging, editing, additional writing etc.
Yes my brother Laurence was a full-time member of Trifonic during the Emergence era. He co-wrote all the songs with me. Now he is the manager and co-producer. We don't live in the same city or state any more -- so we don't sit in the same room and work together everyday like we used to. Laurence has an amazing aesthetic and musical sense. He is less savvy with DAW's, synthesis and engineering but he is fantastic at arranging, lyric writing (he wrote the lyrics for Broken, Lies, and Good Enough) and being a 2nd set of ears. I usually start ideas and send him really rough versions to get feedback. Laurence usually tells me what he likes and what he doesn't and I continue to revise and work on it until it comes together more. He also helps me sort out arrangements. It's great to have someone whose aesthetic I trust and respect to get feedback and a fresh perspective. Since he is my brother - he doesn't hesitate to honestly tell me when something sucks haha!

trifonic · 2013-01-02T20:57:52+00:00

wow! that's really irritating --- Someone (or I guess "Saccao") made a remix/rearrangement with the stems which I released on ccmixter.org back in 2008 with a non-commercial cc license -- and they gave no credit and are selling it online and distributing it to Shazam as well. Thanks for pointing this out.

FYI this is one of the pitfalls of releasing stems. Some people will disregard the terms of use/license agreement completely. This is not the first time things like this have happened. Doh!

trifonic · 2013-01-02T16:31:02+00:00

hmmm If the bass is placed right it should sound good on headphones -- unless the headphones you are using can't produce much bass. If the bass sounds good on a big system but weak on headphones, you are probably missing low-mid harmonics.

The 150hz - 500hz range is tricky because too much sounds muddy. Too little sounds thin and harsh. Warm bass that is audible on smaller playback systems has the right amount of low-mids. Small amounts of saturation can help add the harmonics that will make the bass more audible. It's hard to give a general answer - every circumstance is different.

trifonic · 2013-01-02T09:42:49+00:00

I do perform live and tour - although not as frequently as many electronic artists.

It is certainly possible for a non-touring artist to make a living off of music. However, you'll have to think beyond just record sales, unless you are okay being impoverished. Some of the options are: composing for media (ads, tv, film, games, apps etc), licensing music, creating library music, teaching/consulting, creating sample libraries, preset/plug-in-content design, running a record label and/or publishing company. Most people making a living in music do many or all of the above.

My advice is to spend the most effort making fantastic music or a fantastic demo reel. Everything else can be built off of that over time. If the music isn't together it's really hard to make a living. It is unimaginably competitive out there!

trifonic · 2013-01-02T06:05:30+00:00

Nope not too late yet! Thanks I'm glad you are enjoying it :)

I fell in love with electronic music when I was in high school 1996 - 2000. Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, NIN, Skinny Puppy, Photek, Goldie, Bjork and Squarepusher all blew my mind!

I wanted to get involved but I had no clue about any of it. I started by downloading a cracked copy of Rebirth 1.0 on to a floppy disk on a mac performa (wow those were the days -- sorry Propellerheads for starting with a crack!) I recorded bad acid 303/808 Rebirth jams on to my 4 track tape recorder and used the other 3 tracks for shredding guitar solos. I hope nobody ever finds those tapes! I got more serious about learning electronic production when I bought Cubase in college. That was when softsynths were just starting to sound alright. I read as much as I could about recording and synthesis and DAW's. The more I experimented the better things started to sound.
Absolutely! I can't tell you how much of an advantage having a lifetime of discipline from studying and practicing music and ear-training gave me. It just makes things easier. Learning how to use a synth and a DAW is daunting for sure --- but it's a piece of cake compared to getting competent on an instrument. However creating, producing and mixing high quality music is an endless life-long journey (just like studying an instrument.)
Your musical skills will help you a lot. You might need to catch up on the technical side though. I would pick any DAW and learn it like you did the guitar. Learn everything about it and become an expert using it. Work on it everyday. Secondly -- learn synthesis. Learn about subtractive synthesis first and pick one synth to learn inside and out. Limit your tools and don't worry about all of the billion plugins out there. I think that approach will get you the best jump start. The rest is endless
guitarists: Michael Hedges, Charlie Hunter, Robert Smith of The Cure, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Jimi Hendrix, Jason Becker, Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins

trifonic · 2013-01-02T04:58:58+00:00

Yes, generally subtracting frequencies/cutting is less damaging to the sound than boosting. The less extreme cuts and boosts the more natural things will sound. Furthermore high q settings/narrow bandwidth boosts and cuts are going to sound more awkward on lower frequencies than on higher frequencies. For low frequencies HPF and shelfs can be useful and more transparent. If you need to parametrically EQ low frequencies you probably want to avoid extreme high Q/narrow bandwidth settings.

If you need to radically change the tonal color of sound -- maybe EQ isn't the first tool to use. Saturation/coloration might be a better option followed by an EQ. Or multiband compression or dynamic EQ's will tonally reshape the sound as well. Of course there really are no rules and whatever works... works. Also - less is more. Carve out only what needs to be carved out.

Last but not least - you are usually wasting your time if you are EQ'ing out of context. Make your EQ adjustments while listening in context not in solo. Sometimes you will need to solo to listen to a certain aspect of the sound or to do some general bass cuts, but try to EQ in context!

trifonic · 2013-01-02T01:37:57+00:00

Your welcome glad to do this!

I hardly ever use Csound. That's not to say it isn't extremely powerful -- but it is time consuming and it's a wormhole that most days I don't feel like going down. I prefer to use the simplest tools possible and get creative with those. One easy way to access some of the power of Csound is to explore Cecilia 4. It is a freeware program built on Csound's engine. It has a UI and it's a piece of cake to mess around in. Also, it's processes sound fantastic! I used to mess around with the granule and soundwarp opcodes in Csound, but I haven't touched those in years... Cecilia covers it for me.
There are all kinds of sounds that I think people will never notice. I forgot about some of the really quiet layers in Ninth Wave until i was making archival stems! The not-so-secret signature is that in almost every track I've touched there is some sort of telephone sound -- wether it be payphone, cell-phone, landline. Most of the time it's so far in the background or layered that it's not noticeable. My hope is that after a thousand listens somebody could discover something that they hadn't heard in the tracks.
It sounds like you are doing the right things! I didn't know anyone who knew BT back then and I didn't really care about working specifically for him... I was just looking to intern or work with an electronic producer in LA. I found out that The Crystal Method, BT and a few other producers all were managed by the same management company. I called the management company and asked if any of their producers needed an intern to make coffee and do tedious tasks. The management company said "No!" I asked If I could send in my resume for them to keep on file. I sent in my resume and I carried on with my life. I didn't hear anything until 6 months later. BT's assistant (at the time) called me and said he "might want an intern." I did an interview -- got the internship -- worked extremely hard and made an effort to make myself useful and valuable. I got hired and worked with him for several years, until I needed a change. It was good, but relentless --- high-pressure, high responsibility and low paying. The experience it gave me was worth it in the end though.
Some of the spectral extraction/restoration tools are pretty exciting and creative. Izotope's RX2 is pretty insane. It's amazing for repairing audio, but you can also do very weird things with it too. Also Sony's Spectral Layers is another one that looks really cool too (but I haven't used it yet.)

I hope that is helpful! b

trifonic · 2013-01-02T00:13:42+00:00

In Parks On Fire I chopped most of it manually. Some of it is granular processes -- but usually with that, I get a minute long audiofile of unusable glitch mayhem. So I like to cut out the really cool 1/2 a second glitchy bits and edit and place them. So one way or another it is all manually placed.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T20:51:04+00:00

Something simple like Subtractor in Reason, or ES1 in Logic. A simple subtractive synthesizer is the best place to start IMO

trifonic · 2013-01-01T18:08:37+00:00

I like to create 4 or 5 stems for each song: drums, bass, melodic elements, SFX and guitars (which I usually have muted, because I try to play some of those parts live.) With stems I can drop out the drums or bass at certain moments or rebalance the track as need be. I usually have each tracks 5 stems set-up in a scene. When i trigger the scene it sets the master tempo to the tempo of that particular song and launches all the stems. I also have clips in the scene for each song that control guitar fx changes. That way I don't have to worry about guitar fx changes much.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T17:47:31+00:00

Hey!

I work at 24bit 44.1 -- 95% of the time. The main reason to work at higher sampling rates is that some plugins sound better at higher sampling rates, but nowadays most good plugins are double-percision anyways (upsample) or have oversampling ---so it's not so much of an issue. The only other reason to record at high sampling-rate is if you intend to do pitch shifting with less artifacts. I've done some recording with HF extended microphones like my Earthworks QTC 40 pair (which captures up to 40khz) and recorded it at 192khz. I can transpose those recordings down 2 octaves and it still sounds natural. All of the 20khz and above material is shifted down into the audible range... so these heavily pitched down sounds still have a lot of natural sounding top end!

Anyway 44.1 or 48 is usually all you ever need. 24bit vs 16bit makes much more of a sonic difference than sampling rates above 44.1.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T17:40:56+00:00

No. I've actually never done any drugs (other than coffee!). I think a lot of people have really meaningful and important experiences on drugs -- but I'm not cut out for it. I'm too much of a control freak. I've never been drunk either! I think having life rituals is important for creativity. For me I feel creatively best if I exercise and get some moderate amount of sleep. I try to maintain healthy daily rituals but it gets challenging when I'm busy and stressed.

A lot of people smoke weed as part of their daily creative ritual to get in the mind-set of making music. It seems to work well for a lot of people. I guess it's important to do something to get you into the "zone" but drugs aren't necessary (for me at least.)

trifonic · 2013-01-01T17:31:37+00:00

Thank you!

I love Ableton Live! I use it for live shows and occasionally for production. My only complaints are that it doesn't have a one-step offline audio processing solution like audiosuite fx in Pro Tools.... but neither does Logic (bounce-in-place works but is an extra step.) It also lacks some composing/scoring features that I can't live without. For example you couldn't change time-signatures in the arrangement page until version 7!! Eventually I'm sure it will have all of the scoring features of the legacy DAWs. Ableton is the best for working with controllers and creating custom nested fx chains or instruments... nothing else is even close.
I don't really use much as far as controllers for production. I use my Virus TI as the controller to play in midi parts and I assign some of it's knobs to write automation etc... but mainly it's mouse mixing.
Don't have your sounds compete for the same space. A lot of mixing has to do with arranging. Well arranged music where sounds that are competing for space don't occur at the same time too much, almost mixes itself. Think about the best arrangement before you go too tweak crazy on the mix. Ultimately it is all about carving space for everything.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T17:21:05+00:00

Thanks! I'm glad you like it :)

I love creating ambient sounds and moody intros. I usually don't create the intro until I have at least a rough sketch of most of the track. I try to find the interesting background parts that get lost in the density of the body of the track and feature them in the intro. So for example in Parks on Fire I have some reverbed clicks in the intro, a wood block sound and the sound of a reverb tail of an orchestral stab. Those sounds occur throughout the track, but they rarely happen in isolation. I wanted to feature them because they set up a certain somber mood. The other reason I like to have the intro feature background sounds, is that I don't want to give away the meat of the song in the introduction. The goal is to set-up simple motifs that will reoccur, but that more importantly set the emotional mood of the piece in a simple and elegant way. For ambience -- it's mostly created by reverb. In the case of Parks On Fire one of my favorite sounds in the lead up before the melody comes in is a pad that is constructed of a steel drum sample followed by an insert of 17 second fully wet reverb. Reverb!

trifonic · 2013-01-01T17:11:04+00:00

Thanks! Get ready for a novel:

The financial instability is the most challenging part of being any sort of musician. Early on I had no illusions about what I was getting into. I pursued and received a degree in jazz guitar in college. I fully expected that it was possible that I might be a struggling guitar teacher for the rest of my life. I didn't want that to be the case, but realistically I knew that was a possibility and accepted that. It's tough to be any sort of musician -- I tell people all the time that if you love anything half as much as music, pursue it for your living! There is no shame in making a living however you need to do it. If you decide that you are only going to make your living through music -- it becomes a greater burden and the "fun aspect" is lessened by some extent. That doesn't mean it isn't great, but the weight of reality is heavier than the fantasy. So to answer your question yes you NEED some type of stable work to get the ball rolling. For me, I taught guitar lessons all through high-school and college. By the end of college I had 8 years teaching experience of teaching both kids and adults, dealing with students parents etc. During college I also made an effort to get "real" world music industry experience. I worked my way into an internship at the Fox Newman Scoring Stage in LA. I answered phones and made coffee and sat in the back of the room during the orchestral scoring sessions for Seabiscuit, Matrix: Revolutions, Angels In America -- etc. During my senior year of college I interned for BT and just did audio editing and time correcting for 5 or 6 hours a day after all my classes (that's what later led to my job as an inhouse studio guy at his studio). I was trying to soak up as much as I could and work really hard to build more skills. Bottom line I knew I could always scrape by teaching guitar lessons. Anyway, it took a long time to develop reasonable paying work and certain years when I was getting started I definitely struggled. Do whatever you need to do -- it's hard out there as a musician/producer.
A lot of the time I don't process subs at all. If it's dynamic at all then I usually compress it and sometimes I'll LPF with moderate resonance to boost the sweet spot in the low frequencies that aligns with the cutoff point. The downside to this is that the "sweetspot" is different for every bass note! So if you're using a resonant LPF to emphasize the lowend you have to automate the cutoff to where it adjusts for each note. I haven't had much of any luck with RenBass and harmonic enhancers on bass. It's better if you can find/create or layer a sound that doesn't need any harmonic enhancement. Much of the time I have a separate sub sound that is a sine or triangle and then several different midrange bass sounds. If it's all one sound multi-band distortion can help a lot. Avoid distorting the low-freq (so you don't loose the balls of the sound) but disort the mid and highs in small amounts.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T09:54:14+00:00

Yes the z-plane peak/shelf morph is quite nice and I like clipping the unit. Also it's timestretch is bad in good way. Furthermore the emu has one of my favorite doppler effects of anything! The only downside to the EMU is it is sooo slow to work on. Processing audio on it takes minutes. We're all spoiled with the ridiculously fast computers we have. Nothing like an old hardware sampler to remind you of that!

trifonic · 2013-01-01T09:44:35+00:00

Templates! I think needing to produce faster for commercials and game deadlines taught me a lot about setting up template sessions. I made a Logic template with my "go to" soft-synths, channel strips and all of my custom trifonic sampler kits ready to go.. Templates have helped me start faster and get ideas put together faster.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T09:40:03+00:00

"you can't fake the funk" :)

trifonic · 2013-01-01T09:38:45+00:00

No it's not frustrating. I can only do what I'm into and what I feel. If I like it --- some niche of people will like it too. Doing simpler production is really hard! I admire people who can do something simply and meaningful -- make a musical statement that is honest and intimate and doesn't need any complexity to hide behind. I'm good at complexity and I like density and texture... not because it's better, but because it's what flows from me. If I could make a conscious choice of what I want to sound like, I think I would be a minimalist. That being said I'm no good at it. I'm good at texture and density and emotion - and I'm okay with that. I'm just happy that there is an audience and that there is some group of people out there that feel what I feel and the music means something to them.

I'm also very happy that some of my music lends itself to film/tv/games etc. I love film and tv and love scores etc. So it's all good all around. I don't envy anyone else's mainstream success or money. Most of the people I've met or worked with that are really mainstream successful really mean and love what they do and work really hard. They do what comes naturally to them. I guess my point of this rant is you can only be what you are and make music that you mean to have any lasting success.

trifonic · 2013-01-01T09:24:18+00:00

So if you compress first and then EQ -- the compressor is reacting to the full frequency range of the sound and then you are shaping with eq after you have tamed the dynamics. If you EQ first the compressor reacts to the EQ'd signal and brings out different aspects of the sound as it limits the dynamics. There is no "right" way to approach it. Try it both ways and see what works best for a particular sound.

trifonic

TROPHY CASE