| Author
|
There was this site...
|
aciduss
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
112
Posts :
1490
Posted : Jun 10, 2009 19:05
|
Oh well... some years have passed after all. On those days, I remember reading your site and not understanding a *!"# about it. Now i have little more experience with synthesis and music production in general i was thinking in reading those techniques again, see if i could get any nice timber from your described procedures.
But since they are not loger availabe i guess you could be kind enough to tell us what have you learned in these years specially about psy leads and the acid sound design. Just a word or two about what have you improved and how.
 boom |
|
|
Zoopy
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
44
Posts :
538
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 03:33
|
|
Yeah can you just upload your brain into pdf format? that'd be killer, thanks. |
|
|
|
aciduss
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
112
Posts :
1490
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 04:46
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-11 03:33, Zoopy wrote:
Yeah can you just upload your brain into pdf format? that'd be killer, thanks.
|
|
I laughed but im really trying to get some advice and conversation do you have to be that sarcastic? |
|
|
|
Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 16:27
|
I can't possibly put down what I've learned since then in a thread, I generally do that by answering random threads in the production forum.
Peace out.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
|
|
|
aciduss
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
112
Posts :
1490
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 19:06
|
|
I was talking just about leads and psy flavored sounds but ok... i get it, i'll look for the random answering then, sorry to bother u. |
|
|
|
Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 19:30
|
I'm not bothered mate  Just saying that there's alot of stuff to write for such a general question.
Like I have said before, all I use are the Logic synths, ESM, ES1, ES2, Ultrabeat, Sculpture and a lot of the analog synth sampler instruments in EXS 24 (favourites are Jupiter 8/6/4, TB-303, Minimoog, Prophet 5, Korg Monopoly, MS-20, Juno 60, Oberheim...etc).
My sound design is generaly simple, I look for strong riffs that are often layered over the same midi file I use on the bassline, maybe changing the odd note here and there to spice things up.
I love a good high passed distored saw, a good 303 resonant acid line, stuff that is common in old techno and goa tunes, just try to focus on the actual music, i.e. the notes I am going to play. And I generaly don't like the one note kbbb pattern, our first album is full of basslines that go up and down...i.e. Its Good To Be Alive has a bassline pattern that is 16 beats long.
I also experiment with non 16th saw basslines...Clear Skies and Easy To Get Lost have layered basslines (mixed square and saw oscillator wavefors) that have varying note lenghts, pitch bends, glides and coinside with the kick.
I also make all my kicks from scratch in Ultrabeat to fit the bassline...stuff like that.
Hope this helps.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
|
|
|
shellbound
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
14
Posts :
601
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 19:56
|
so is this now an offical DH Q&A?
i read a lot of your old posts about hardware and seemed like you (used to?) own quite a few synths. so did you sell them all, since it seems like you are strictly ITB nowadays?
i think you mentioned that you used to have an MS2000. what did you think about it? i'm curious, since i recently picked up one of these mainly for the hands-on approach with 37 or whatever knobs and not so much menu-flipping. it's my first synth.
https://soundcloud.com/dead-end-dance
https://soundcloud.com/shellbound |
|
|
|
Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 20:05
|
I used to have a lot of hardware when I was in the UK, but I moved back home in Athens, Greece now and the cost to bring it all back was silly. So I just sold 90% of it, bought a Mac and went all software.
I did not have an MS2000 in my studio, but worked on it in my mate's studio. Its fine, not better than some soft synths, but not worst either. Personaly I would not spend money on something like that, with the soft synths that make the rounds these days, unless I really needed to stop looking at a screen the whole time to make a synth patch.
The only two things I am planning on buying again, are my Doepfer and Analog Systems modulars, other than that, I don't see my self ever getting a Nord, a Virus b, an A6, Waldorf XTk, Waldorf Pulse, Triton, Evolver, Supernova 2, although I do miss the Juno 60 and my housemate's sh-101 when I had it in my studio.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
|
|
|
shellbound
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
14
Posts :
601
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 20:46
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-11 20:05, disco hooligans wrote:
Personaly I would not spend money on something like that, with the soft synths that make the rounds these days, unless I really needed to stop looking at a screen the whole time to make a synth patch.
|
|
i'm guessing that should read "would not spend money," yeah? that makes sense, if you are purely looking at it sound-wise. based on a fairly short time i've spent with it, it doesn't sound amazing, but it's pretty decent. the appeal is more of a psychological nature and the way it affects inspiration. having dedicated knobs for all the major functions is just awesome. plus, i do a lot of sound-on-sound looping in ableton with guitar/bass, midi drums. so i wanted to have something for this that i could instantly tweak and layer on top, without touching the mouse or getting near the computer table, while i have a guitar hanging on my neck (the recording/navigation is done with a footpedal while i'm continuing to play). plus, it has a vocoder and i can plug shit into it for more hands-on fuckery (haven't explored this much yet, though). so that was mostly the appeal for me. plus, i got it very cheap.
um....anyway. do you still produce/release breaks records? did your overall approach to music-making change when you switched from breaks to mostly psy (and your techy stuff)? or did you start doing them all kind of at the same time, switching depending on mood or whatever?
https://soundcloud.com/dead-end-dance
https://soundcloud.com/shellbound |
|
|
|
Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 20:56
|
My first encounter with music was acid house in 1990, then trance in 1994, but the first stuff I started producing was drum'n'bass in 1999. then moved to the UK, went to Uni and sat next to Vigi with whom we started making breaks. I have released a couple of trance tunes with Pan Papason as Unison, on Etnicanet and Harmonia Records, but they were both shite.
Then got on the techno-4/4 stuff and now that I moved back to Greece I am making trance music with my best mate Jordan, who we said that one day we'd sit down in the same room and make trance music. took us like 10 years, but we finally got there 
I like a lot of different kinds of (electronic) music and just do whatever my mood commands me to do...some times I sit at home writting trance basslines, some times I jam with my tenor YTS 275 saxophone to some soft 909 kick and double bass jazz loop for hours, sometimes I slap my Ibanez Soundgear bass guitar over some funky drum loop, some times I grab my SG and play some old Santana tune.
The only consistent thing I have done was our first Disco Hooligans LP, cause usually, I just sit and fuck around, playing music, without "working towards a goal".
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
|
|
|
aciduss
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
112
Posts :
1490
Posted : Jun 11, 2009 21:25
|
|
Wow some conversation and interesting points all over. How nice, thanks ! That's all i was looking for. |
|
|
|
shellbound
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
14
Posts :
601
Posted : Jun 12, 2009 00:08
|
i'll continue then, i guess...
do you ever record these jams or have completed more instrumetal tracks? i'd be interested in checking some of that out, since i've only heard dance-y tracks from you.
i know you used to do live sets with a drum pad. did you (frequently) use it while working on tracks? what about playing/coming up with synth lines via a midi keyboard? i have a feeling you prefer to simply draw everything in with a mouse.
how do you guys work on tracks as a duo (passing tracks back and forth or switching who drives, specialization, etc)?
https://soundcloud.com/dead-end-dance
https://soundcloud.com/shellbound |
|
|
|
Psy_Clone
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
30
Posts :
398
Posted : Jun 12, 2009 01:58
|
damn septa you have good questions, cant wait for the answer allready.
great discussion  as already been writen here.
Now say the magic words: Bleep Bleep Deep Deep Wham..... |
|
|
|
Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Jun 12, 2009 11:11
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
i'll continue then, i guess...
do you ever record these jams or have completed more instrumetal tracks? i'd be interested in checking some of that out, since i've only heard dance-y tracks from you. |
|
**WARNING-EXTREME-CHEESE**
We still have the myspace from our pop project "Gentlemen Of Fortune" http://www.myspace.com/gentlemenoffortuneakathepjs
where an agency hooked me and my mate Alex-The AVD up,with this pop "star" from Hong Kong, Yennis. So we wrote some tunes for her to sing, wrote the lyrics and coached her on the way she should sing.
I've played all the instruments there, sax, guitar, bass guitar, random live percussion.
It was great fun making pop music, I wanna do it again at some point. The best thing about writting pop music, is that absolutely ANYTHING goes, there are no rules, no bassline patterns to follow, anything can be used for anything.
That project burned down in flames when we sent the demo to the agency that passed it on to some major label heads, so instead of getting us all a record deal, they got her a part in some TV series in the UK.
That was the end of The Gentlemen Of Fortune
I also did the demo for The Defiled http://www.myspace.com/thedefiled that got them a sweet deal with various companies, although the tunes I produced in the studio with Alex (same guy we did the pop tunes with) are not on their myspace, but there is the Red Tape remix me and Alex did, kinda Nine Inch Nails style.
All the stuff I have released on vinyl though, is breakbeat though. Some tunes did well on Mixmag (Phoenix went to #1 spot in the breaks chart), DJMag (Guru went to #1 spot in the beat 'n' breaks charts), and generally lots of the breaks tunes I've done got plays on BBC Radio1, Kiss FM, Capital...etc. I guess my biggest moment was when Phoenix went on the Hybrid's Y4K compilation and Electrogirl went on General Midi's Y4K compilation, as well as Guru going on Fabric Live compilation. Them CDs were quite big at the time...I mean you don't get a tune on a compilation with the Chemical Brothers everyday, innit.
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
i know you used to do live sets with a drum pad. did you (frequently) use it while working on tracks? |
|
When I was doing breaks I was using it in the studio to trigger drum sounds and percussion, not for the trance stuff though...although I should dig it out again.
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
what about playing/coming up with synth lines via a midi keyboard? i have a feeling you prefer to simply draw everything in with a mouse. |
|
I always play lead lines/stabs, live over whatever part of the tune I am looping. Then I just quantise stuff and maybe move the odd note around to make things perfect. I do draw a lot of automation with the mouse though, even if its the cut-off knob, I always fine tune things with the mouse to get the best mix I possibly can.
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
how do you guys work on tracks as a duo (passing tracks back and forth or switching who drives, specialization, etc)?
|
|
I do all the engineering, jordan has been DJing for ages and is more like the producer who sits in the back seat. We have a common idea of what is good, so there is no arguing in the studio, which is on of the reasons Clear Skies was done in a relatively short time. We just got on with things, we barely got stuck on anything really.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
|
|
|
cyclone
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
46
Posts :
101
Posted : Jun 12, 2009 14:54
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 11:11, disco hooligans wrote:
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
i'll continue then, i guess...
do you ever record these jams or have completed more instrumetal tracks? i'd be interested in checking some of that out, since i've only heard dance-y tracks from you. |
|
**WARNING-EXTREME-CHEESE**
We still have the myspace from our pop project "Gentlemen Of Fortune" http://www.myspace.com/gentlemenoffortuneakathepjs
where an agency hooked me and my mate Alex-The AVD up,with this pop "star" from Hong Kong, Yennis. So we wrote some tunes for her to sing, wrote the lyrics and coached her on the way she should sing.
I've played all the instruments there, sax, guitar, bass guitar, random live percussion.
It was great fun making pop music, I wanna do it again at some point. The best thing about writting pop music, is that absolutely ANYTHING goes, there are no rules, no bassline patterns to follow, anything can be used for anything.
That project burned down in flames when we sent the demo to the agency that passed it on to some major label heads, so instead of getting us all a record deal, they got her a part in some TV series in the UK.
That was the end of The Gentlemen Of Fortune
I also did the demo for The Defiled http://www.myspace.com/thedefiled that got them a sweet deal with various companies, although the tunes I produced in the studio with Alex (same guy we did the pop tunes with) are not on their myspace, but there is the Red Tape remix me and Alex did, kinda Nine Inch Nails style.
All the stuff I have released on vinyl though, is breakbeat though. Some tunes did well on Mixmag (Phoenix went to #1 spot in the breaks chart), DJMag (Guru went to #1 spot in the beat 'n' breaks charts), and generally lots of the breaks tunes I've done got plays on BBC Radio1, Kiss FM, Capital...etc. I guess my biggest moment was when Phoenix went on the Hybrid's Y4K compilation and Electrogirl went on General Midi's Y4K compilation, as well as Guru going on Fabric Live compilation. Them CDs were quite big at the time...I mean you don't get a tune on a compilation with the Chemical Brothers everyday, innit.
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
i know you used to do live sets with a drum pad. did you (frequently) use it while working on tracks? |
|
When I was doing breaks I was using it in the studio to trigger drum sounds and percussion, not for the trance stuff though...although I should dig it out again.
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
what about playing/coming up with synth lines via a midi keyboard? i have a feeling you prefer to simply draw everything in with a mouse. |
|
I always play lead lines/stabs, live over whatever part of the tune I am looping. Then I just quantise stuff and maybe move the odd note around to make things perfect. I do draw a lot of automation with the mouse though, even if its the cut-off knob, I always fine tune things with the mouse to get the best mix I possibly can.
Quote:
|
On 2009-06-12 00:08, septa wrote:
how do you guys work on tracks as a duo (passing tracks back and forth or switching who drives, specialization, etc)?
|
|
I do all the engineering, jordan has been DJing for ages and is more like the producer who sits in the back seat. We have a common idea of what is good, so there is no arguing in the studio, which is on of the reasons Clear Skies was done in a relatively short time. We just got on with things, we barely got stuck on anything really.
|
|
which university did you go in the Uk?and how you go there?i mean exams?by paying? |
|
|
|
|
