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How to get further than just a Kick and Bassline?
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Djones
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
267
Posts :
1766
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 13:43
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I hope I'm not the only one here, but last night again.
I think I was tweaking the kick and bassline for at least 2 hours, without any decent satisfying result.
Sometimes I do get the nice mix of kick+bassline, but I really get trouble with adding anything else.
Also, I just can't decide which basslinesound to go for.
When I have something 'reasonable' and I wanna move on, and I happen to hear a track with a bassline I like very much, I usually go back to my project and try to change everything again:-)
It's really bugging me!
How should I move on?
Start making the intro?
Adding more percussion?
Adding some FX, stabs, hooks? |
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scobbah
Kiriyama
Started Topics :
35
Posts :
991
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 13:55
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I'd advise you to try and give a listen to something different (i.e. non-trance music) if it affect you that much that you feel ought to change your original project. There's a thread by the way about getting stuck here, when you can't get any further... Have you checked it out yet? Another thesis of ideology that I've tried to use lately is: "if it doesn't sound bad, keep it". Many times the most "neutral" sounds can be brought to life when they are combined with others, so keep the sequences and such that you make that doesn't sound ultra-poor and try to combine/implement them later and perhaps you'll find some use for them when you hear the full-range result.
Good luck and happy tweaking...
 Aural transmissions from the deep forests of Sweden
www.dvsmrecords.org - 'Patterns II EP' by Silent Horror out now! |
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
Started Topics :
282
Posts :
3394
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 15:08
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fuzzikitten
Annunaki
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
603
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 15:33
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Quote:
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On 2006-04-10 13:43, Djones wrote:
...Also, I just can't decide which basslinesound to go for.
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Bounce your kick and bass down to audio files. This will help remove the temptation to endlessly tweak them.
Then go for percussion. Lots of percussion. You can never have too much percussion. |
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sy000321
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
46
Posts :
1142
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 15:49
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this weekend i discovered janis joplin
it's more psychdelic than psytrance
i think listening to it will bring me more ideias that will become tracks
roll a joint or STFU :) |
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FluoSamsara (Oxygen)
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
84
Posts :
1164
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 18:02
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Quote:
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On 2006-04-10 13:43, Djones wrote:
I hope I'm not the only one here, but last night again.
I think I was tweaking the kick and bassline for at least 2 hours, without any decent satisfying result.
Sometimes I do get the nice mix of kick+bassline, but I really get trouble with adding anything else.
Also, I just can't decide which basslinesound to go for.
When I have something 'reasonable' and I wanna move on, and I happen to hear a track with a bassline I like very much, I usually go back to my project and try to change everything again:-)
It's really bugging me!
How should I move on?
Start making the intro?
Adding more percussion?
Adding some FX, stabs, hooks?
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Well first off all, no you´re definetelly not the only one facing such problems....
About 2 hrs mixing kick and bass is way too much , you ears are a very sensitive thing, you loose sensibility very fast, specially when listening to repetitive things, your ears get tired of listening to a sound repeating constantly and you end up cutting some things too much and boosting others too much to make up for your tired ears. Doing 5-10 min breaks out of the studio to "reset" your hearing is very recomended. Go make a tea and you´ll see you´ll hear thinks much more clearly when you get back
This is what I do when I´m getting lost, maybe can help you out:
I load a track with a kick-bass similar to the one I´m looking for, I sample a loop where just kick-bass are playing (not in all tracks) and I work with it for reference. Once I´m done, I delete the reference and never go back to it so that It won´t mess up my mind... 
Also, when I´m working on a track, I normally don´t listen to other tunes, it just makes me go back and change things around...and stay in this never ending loop doesn´t take me nowhere....So I try not to do it while im in a producing stage of a track
When I finish it, then I A-B again with released stuff, to get to know whats missing and whats too much....I try to fix a bit the mix, but more importantly, It will give me a valuable lesson when starting a new tune (triyng to learn from mistakes)
When I finish a tune, then I spend a day or two listening to a lot of stuff carefully, to give me some inspiration for next track....
And the cycle starts again
boomz |
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undertones
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
25
Posts :
165
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 19:41
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very well said flousamsara, couldnt agree more..: )
one exercise in school was to import a tune which one really liked, and follow the arrangement, levels,mood and sound texture in making ones own tune...this would help getting into perspective what one requires to do, and in general get the feel of making a complete track...good for ideas as well... |
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Dharma Lab
Started Topics :
8
Posts :
342
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 21:00
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Hehe, I've run into this problem too....just this weekend.
I've tried to train myself to just move on. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my music, and the urge is to sit there until I get it right.
The truth of the matter is that I always end up making changes as thing progress anyways. I struggle to remember that I'm only arranging & composing at this point, and not mixing or mastering. It helps me to realize that I'm working on the track in stages, not everthing all at once. Whenever I think I'm done arranging & composing, I try to give it a day or more, and then I go back. You can always go back & rework something.
So the next time it happen, talk to yourself, literally. Tell yourself a few times that your just going to move on, then do so. Only when the bass & kick are juxtaposed with the rest of the elements does the track really take shape.
Keep The Faith,
Christian K. |
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S.D6 (Yakir .B.)
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
66
Posts :
575
Posted : Apr 10, 2006 21:31
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Pleaaaaaassssssss.......
are you serious????
man,
this is what's mean's to be a musician...
================
S.D6 & Iron Madness- Dinak Production - Acidance Rec.
S.D6 Vs. Iron Madness- Blues Mystery - Doof Rec. & Yellow Sunshine Explosions rec.
Deepsky and Marc .M.- Lost In the moment (Deep Six remix) - Iboga rec. (Soon) |
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jivamukti
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
21
Posts :
342
Posted : Apr 11, 2006 13:39
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Don't get obsessed with them at an early stage of your project. Just build an OK foundation and then move on to make the rest of the track and then later on tweak them. And if you have so many ideas for a bassline, save them for other tracks.
When I was a beginner, I used to get stuck in details like you and spend hours tweaking something miniscule. Then, after I had built more of the track, I often found out it didn't even fit in the track.
In addition remember that the two usually sound different when there are other elements playing at the same time.
It takes quite a bit time to be able to make something that actually sounds music, if you have no experience in composing. Just persevere and learn music theory and synth programming, and it will come.
Whichever way you go, it will take a long time to learn how to get them right. |
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Conny
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
224
Posts :
149
Posted : Apr 11, 2006 15:12
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I agre this is an difficult task.
I´ve also experienced this problem.
But i believe it´s important to move on with the songs and when the complete arrangement of the song is done you fine tune the sounds.
What if you get stuck with a kick and bass you have spended a day with and then you can´t find any melodys or percussion to this, that´s not funny
it only enhance the headache.
I have more difficulties with the length of the different part, like how many bars the different elements should be.
I remember i read somewhere that you can make the arrangement of a popsong but have the different parts much longer, anyone who knows more about this ? |
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orca
Orca
Started Topics :
5
Posts :
281
Posted : Apr 12, 2006 13:13
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use brain triggers:) (and i dont meen lsd:)
what i meen is-put some snars just for not hearing just kik n bass.you dont need to use them..put some pads or simple sounds that flote..open vst or whatever you use and add sound you like.
you dont need to use what you put in the prject for start.. but youll find that it trigeers your mind and if you will listen hard between the music youl start hearing leads,pads in you mind and this is just the begining:) |
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undertones
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
25
Posts :
165
Posted : Apr 12, 2006 20:07
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hehe...that what i call undertones! |
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jivamukti
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
21
Posts :
342
Posted : Apr 12, 2006 20:20
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Quote:
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On 2006-04-11 15:12, Conny wrote:
I have more difficulties with the length of the different part, like how many bars the different elements should be.
I remember i read somewhere that you can make the arrangement of a popsong but have the different parts much longer, anyone who knows more about this ?
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Choose songs that you feel have a good structure in terms of the parts' lengths and count and write them down while you listen. However they shouldn't be taken as unbreakable holy dogma. |
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