The Musician's Gig Room Chat V1 - Songwriting and Sound Design for all!

[paindoc]

Managed to pick up 12.5 hours of work in my first week on the job and get paid on the 15th. With my wages and taxes I'll have enough for a Launchkey 49... So now I wait and keep playing with mouse and keyboard ableton :D

[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]

So excited for faders and knobs and velocity sensitive drum pads oh my

Not to mention a chance to learn to play piano on my kids keyboard, and the relative I'm living with is buying a real piano shortly and already has several guitars

[Number-41]

[QUOTE=thisispain;47867377]Just drop your fat cat on your piano and see what she does.[/QUOTE]

In all honesty just doing random shit can really make you discover new things that you'd never have thought of in a "theoretical" way.

[Ms. Gyroscope]

[QUOTE=Zoran;47867100]I love your jam. Out of curiosity, what DAW did you use to make this? This type of music has always interested me to make, so I was just curious.[/QUOTE]

I use Renoise its my favorite.

[Warship]

[QUOTE=redBadger;47866826][media]https://soundcloud.com/redbadger/track01_1[/media]

Update[/QUOTE]

The synth that comes in at 0:24 is a bit too loud imo, but I really like the drums and the piano. The track has a pretty good structure as well.

Here's some house, it has been a while since I made a track this long. Hopefully it doesn't get boring to listen to before it ends.

[media]http://soundcloud.com/thedanielholt/cant-wait[/media]

[XP_Static]

[QUOTE=paindoc;47863745]The launchpad includes a free copy of Ableton light i believe. Most novation products do. I'd consider something like a Launchkey first, personally. It has some sample queuing pads that are also velocity sensitive drum pads, and some faders and sliders and stuff too. Midi keyboard also allows you to learn a bit more music theory with programs tread read from your keyboard[/QUOTE]

How important is it to use a keyboard? I'm not really interestet in keyboards.

[editline]What is the editline supposed to do?[/editline]
Also, how useful is it to try to recreate tracks by ear for learning more?

[Warship]

Using a Midi keyboard helps a lot, even if it is something like a two-octave one.

[redBadger]

[QUOTE=Ms. Gyroscope;47866903]I like that blopy sounding kick. makes me think of a pancake. thats good.

[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]

that fucking production and panning god fucking damn everything has its own little place now doesnt it.

Holy fuck how are you're sounds so lush and clean sounding???

Anywho HERE IS MY NEW 225BPM BREAKCORE BOOTY JAM!!!

TELL ME IF U LIKE THE JAM

[media]https://soundcloud.com/corn-mouth/a-song-for-kit-katarine-stay-happy-girl[/media][/QUOTE]

1:08 on is really when it starts to mold well together. Very nice job.

[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]

On June 16 to 18th I'm going in for my level 2 pro tools certification. I'll be taking 201 and 210M which is a focus on music production. Very excited! The 100 levels taught me so much I can't wait to see what 200 has to offer.

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=XP_Static;47869470]How important is it to use a keyboard? I'm not really interestet in keyboards.

[editline]What is the editline supposed to do?[/editline]
Also, how useful is it to try to recreate tracks by ear for learning more?[/QUOTE]

the keyboard makes it loads easier to produce music, butnit is by no means necessary. you can consider a launchkey mini 25 if you like, its about the same price as a launchpad. Midi Keyboards are great for learning music theory basics as well.

in terms of copying songs, i dont see anything wrong with this for early tracks. ive been doing it a bunch and its been quite helpful

[Warship]

I usually take elements from songs I thought worked well and go from there.

[redBadger]

[media]https://soundcloud.com/redbadger/track01_2[/media]

Another small update, lower the lead when it comes in.

[despair3173]

[QUOTE=killerteacup;47864596]The link to that sample pack was the first thing i added to the OP lol[/QUOTE]
oh right fair, I didn't think the OP really would have changed from the old ones that much

[chaz13]

Noisia AMA

[url]https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedProduction/comments/38e8ba/noisia_ama_for_radvancedproduction/[/url]

[Korra]

-snip-

[brooklynlord]

[QUOTE=Zombie Dude;47871926]Making something with the Touhou soundfont

[video]https://soundcloud.com/alzheimerpenguin/hmmm[/video][/QUOTE]

Please read the #1 rule for posting in this thread.

[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]

[QUOTE=XP_Static;47869470]How important is it to use a keyboard? I'm not really interestet in keyboards.

[editline]What is the editline supposed to do?[/editline]
Also, how useful is it to try to recreate tracks by ear for learning more?[/QUOTE]

The most important thing that the keyboard provides you is the insight to see future notes and chord progressions, and it makes seeing chords and other chord possibilities much easier (granted you know how to play a keyboard instrument) instead of having to base it off of bars/notes.
Another really nice thing about keyboards is that it makes note input (especially chords) much easier (at least for me, since I use Sibelius which is a notation program, not really a DAW).

Recreating tracks by ear is a good way to learn general tricks of the trade. The problem with doing so is that it won't teach you anything new and won't lead you to new places, but it's a good way to start so you know what is considered 'normal' / popular and what kinda isn't.

[killerteacup]

[QUOTE=Zombie Dude;47871926]Making something with the Touhou soundfont

[video]https://soundcloud.com/alzheimerpenguin/hmmm[/video][/QUOTE]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/qlFuRED.jpg[/img]

Thanks :)

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=brooklynlord;47873392]Please read the #1 rule for posting in this thread.

[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]

The most important thing that the keyboard provides you is the insight to see future notes and chord progressions, and it makes seeing chords and other chord possibilities much easier (granted you know how to play a keyboard instrument) instead of having to base it off of bars/notes.
Another really nice thing about keyboards is that it makes note input (especially chords) much easier (at least for me, since I use Sibelius which is a notation program, not really a DAW).

Recreating tracks by ear is a good way to learn general tricks of the trade. The problem with doing so is that it won't teach you anything new and won't lead you to new places, but it's a good way to start so you know what is considered 'normal' / popular and what kinda isn't.[/QUOTE]

Depends on the variety of tracks and genres as well, for listening and recreating tracks. Combined with a keyboard I imagine it could be quite effective in further learning effective and fun chord progressions and possibilities. I know I learned many things about building a good sounding bassline and how to better use audio effects by following a tutorial. It wasn't the most innovative approach, but it was an educational one.

But yes, I'd say a keyboard should be one of the first hardware purchases you make if you're going to commit to this. I'd say a launchpad should come later, as it's really meant more for live performances and stuff. Not a bad purchase, but I think the keyboard just leaves much more learning opportunities open to you.

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=Zombie Dude;47871926]Making something with the Touhou soundfont

[video]https://soundcloud.com/alzheimerpenguin/hmmm[/video][/QUOTE]

This is quite nice. I like your little percussion thing you have going on, and how that intros the rest. The synth is nice and energetic and almost has a funky sound to it, and the strings are real smooth and bright in the background. They sound more realistic and articulate than most synth strings. The whole track feels bright, if that makes sense. I'm still sorting out how to listen for all the layers and instruments, but I think I hear a bass guitar or something guitar like in the background? It might be neat to see if making that louder and more forward would do something nice for the track. I think it might sound good but what do I know. Overall, its a fun little track and I can't think of much to improve it.

Okay guys just a really quick little snippet, any comments would be appreciated. I've been playing with drum loops following a tutorial for a "future house" bassline, I just thought it sounded neat so I've been playing with it. I created this first version here:

[video]https://soundcloud.com/keegan-jones-23/first-drum-loop[/video]

Immediately I thought the actual kickdrum needed more "impact" and it felt very one dimensional and didn't have much texture so to speak. I also felt the clap just wasn't as good of a sound as it could be, and in general I thought there was a lot to improve here. So I dug into my huge sample pack and found better kick drum sounds and a better snare sound for the main drum track, and layered two drum sounds. I added one that has a very bass-y punch as the main one, and then something a bit crisper and higher to give it some dimension. So thats actually two kick drums playing there. I also changed out to a clap that I think sounds a lot better. Here's the fix'd one, let me know if its actually better;

[video]https://soundcloud.com/keegan-jones-23/richer-drumline[/video]

I don't expect much good but I've been having fun just trying to make better sounds. Or what I think are better sounds. I will admit that I could balance the second one better, but I really like pounding bass and funky synths and I feel this second track works for that. I do have a synth chord thing to go with both of these, but that needs even more work than the first drumline. Thanks for any criticism or directions. nothing is too harsh at this stage, I'm just dicking around in Ableton. I only spent about two hours making the changes, and a fair portion of that was testing different samples and modifying them high/low. Sorry if posting two loops breaks any rules.

<3 thx

[editline]edit[/editline]

already I think I may change the clap again to something with less "noise" or at least cut the high even more. Maybe less overall reverb and down the volume slightly as well, and increase the volume of the less bassy drum while dropping the heavy hitter. I don't know what I'm doing though :D

[editline]edit[/editline]

I changed the clap and filtered the annoying high-end noise using an EQ-eight and a nice reverb that I like too much. I feel it really made it even more crisp and I was NOT a fan of that tshhhh noise sound. Now to fix my hihats! Also maybe I should study for my math final. Maybe. Its not until Sunday at 5pm ;p

[video]https://soundcloud.com/keegan-jones-23/drumloop3[/video]

Also you can see how much the waveform changed. I made the attack and decay much higher while lowering the sustain on everything except the heavy kick

[hentie]

What do you guys think are the "core layers" to any track, or an EDM track if I want to be more specific?

I usually have: Drums, Bass, Lead, and Backing Synth.

Sometimes when producing music I feel like there's an empty void between certain instruments, and I try to spam a bunch of random instruments in between to see if it makes the song sound "fuller" and this sometimes work, but most of the time it doesn't. I heard from some of my friends that I need to "widen" some of the synths if I want that, but I don't know how to do that.

Thanks.

[KmartSqrl]

Woop! Sam Binga played a tune of mine on rinse today :D

[Zoran]

[QUOTE=Ms. Gyroscope;47868387]I use Renoise its my favorite.[/QUOTE]

That's neat. I tried Renoise once. I liked the whole idea, it's just that I can't really use it that efficiently without glasses and leaning up close to my screen.

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=XP_Static;47869470]How important is it to use a keyboard? I'm not really interestet in keyboards.

[editline]What is the editline supposed to do?[/editline]
Also, how useful is it to try to recreate tracks by ear for learning more?[/QUOTE]

Hey so I'd say start hopping right into your daw. I've learned loads just tonight by just trying to improve my drum loop! I started with an outline from this tutorial here and started tweaking it and making it my own. My drum loop is "darker" than theirs I guess and more poundy I'd say. I'm just having fun though, but the whole experience has been ridiculously informative.

Have some resources. Some of these may have been posted earlier and some of the vets in this thread may enjoy the samples and the patches pack:

[url]http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/[/url] <--- music theory and interesting links

[url]http://promusicproducers.com/[/url] <--- good early tutorials for your first songs and stuff. They use ableton

[url]http://www.cosm.co.nz/learn[/url] <--- excellent source for learning Ableton and early production stuff. He breaks down some of the fundamentals of waves and shit that others skip. A slight background in wave physics can be helpful tbh

[url]http://producertuts.com/[/url] <--- new-ish site with info coming bit by bit. Wide spread of stuff, but all decently good reading imo. Fairly active on /r/edmproduction as well.

[url]http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2015/02/26/free-resources-for-music-producers/[/url] <--- free shit galore

[url]https://soundcloud.com/officialparameter/3-700-free-audio-samples[/url] <--- 3700 samples, all of them sorted. All pretty decent actually and a really nice amount of variety! I've really only used the drum sounds so far.

[url]http://blog.wavosaur.com/synth1-presets-chris-bank-volume-2/[/url] <--- pile of neat patches for Synth1. Some decent and some wubstep dubstep ones you'd probably like.

[url]http://blog.wavosaur.com/chris-bank-synth1-reup/[/url] <--- more patches from same guy. Haven't tested these yet, jsut found them.

I'll post anymore stuff I find. When I hyperfocus on shit like this I can dig into the internet really deep really fast and find some decent shit. Probably nothing good here but hey might as well share what I got, if it helps anyone slightly it was worth it :D

[editline]edit[/editline][QUOTE=Warship;47868504]The synth that comes in at 0:24 is a bit too loud imo, but I really like the drums and the piano. The track has a pretty good structure as well.

Here's some house, it has been a while since I made a track this long. Hopefully it doesn't get boring to listen to before it ends.

[media]http://soundcloud.com/thedanielholt/cant-wait[/media][/QUOTE]

So I don't know how I missed this, but this is really neat. I can dig the slow easy synth transition. The backing wave reminds me of CLU from Tron: Legacy. That or another song, but its a really neat sound. I also liked the little pulse at 3:55, reminded me of the countdown sound from pole position haha. Its a nice easy listening backing track, and the synths are well rounded with the main one having a solid bassy feel that I like too much. I liked how you brought in each element of the percussion bit by bit, and played around with them and when they played as the track progressed. Gave it a nice sprinkling of variety.

Anywho I finished my first official loop. Could undoubtedly use some tuning, but it feels nice to have SOMETHING to show as progress. I saved each iteration separately as well, so I can go through and listen to how I changed the composition and slowly built up the track. Had fun doing it and can't wait to keep going at it and improving.

[video]https://soundcloud.com/keegan-jones-23/close-enough-loop[/video]

Melody could use work but oh well.

[XP_Static]

[QUOTE=brooklynlord;47873392][I]useful tips[/I][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=paindoc;47875708][I]more useful tips[/I][/QUOTE]

Thank you guys! You are very helpful!

[MrJazzy]

[QUOTE=Hentie;47875361]What do you guys think are the "core layers" to any track, or an EDM track if I want to be more specific?

I usually have: Drums, Bass, Lead, and Backing Synth.

Sometimes when producing music I feel like there's an empty void between certain instruments, and I try to spam a bunch of random instruments in between to see if it makes the song sound "fuller" and this sometimes work, but most of the time it doesn't. I heard from some of my friends that I need to "widen" some of the synths if I want that, but I don't know how to do that.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Which DAW are you using? Widening from what I undertand is basically splitting the sound up into 2 (or more) tracks and having them panned (ex 1 left 1 right) and then making them play at very slightly different timings, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]

[QUOTE=Warship;47868504]The synth that comes in at 0:24 is a bit too loud imo, but I really like the drums and the piano. The track has a pretty good structure as well.

Here's some house, it has been a while since I made a track this long. Hopefully it doesn't get boring to listen to before it ends.

[media]http://soundcloud.com/thedanielholt/cant-wait[/media][/QUOTE]

I really dig this one, don't really have anything to add except that it's great.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/messier-51/night-drive[/media]
Here's one I made a while ago, but I really don't feel like the stuff I make is interesting enough. This one might be especially boring cause it's so long, but I don't really know that much about mixing and electronic stuff in general and have for the most part just played and made acoustic music, so I'd really appreciate any tips.

[lawlavex]

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;47875382]Woop! Sam Binga played a tune of mine on rinse today :D[/QUOTE]

maaan that's crazy! i love sam binga and the whole critical music crew, they're like a dream label

[Consciousness]

Hypothetical question; I was wondering how people would feel about a straight-to-the-point, no bullshit tutorial series on specific production techniques

I'm not quite at an advanced level myself yet, far from it, but what gets me considering doing simple videos of basic concepts is more out of frustration with the fact that yes, there's a fuck load of video tutorials out there but almost all of the easily accessible ones are fleshed out, lengthy pieces of work for what is often a simple 10 second concept

there's certain concepts I know I could cover so so much faster to get a person straight into it

"How to make a simple pluck sound in massive" for instance;

why does everyone spend 10 minutes explaining this concept with the actual how-to part being god knows where in the middle, when you could literally show how to do it in like 10-15 seconds, then spend the rest of the time going into potential tips, tricks, variations, more in depth concepts. it'd save so much time and trouble for people looking to get into production and seeking to better their own technique, make it more easily accessible as a whole. I swear half the time it's just people rambling on endlessly about the software or why they choose to go about it the way they do, when i'm trying to learn new techniques or ideas myself, I don't want to sit there for ages listening to someone ramble, I just want to see the process straight off the get go, I don't mind hearing the more in depth stuff once I get the idea and i'm looking to expand on it, but why, why why why why is it always the case that people never make tutorials in that way

[paindoc]

[QUOTE=Consciousness;47882716]Hypothetical question; I was wondering how people would feel about a straight-to-the-point, no bullshit tutorial series on specific production techniques

I'm not quite at an advanced level myself yet, far from it, but what gets me considering doing simple videos of basic concepts is more out of frustration with the fact that yes, there's a fuck load of video tutorials out there but almost all of the easily accessible ones are fleshed out, lengthy pieces of work for what is often a simple 10 second concept

there's certain concepts I know I could cover so so much faster to get a person straight into it

"How to make a simple pluck sound in massive" for instance;

why does everyone spend 10 minutes explaining this concept with the actual how-to part being god knows where in the middle, when you could literally show how to do it in like 10-15 seconds, then spend the rest of the time going into potential tips, tricks, variations, more in depth concepts. it'd save so much time and trouble for people looking to get into production and seeking to better their own technique, make it more easily accessible as a whole. I swear half the time it's just people rambling on endlessly about the software or why they choose to go about it the way they do, when i'm trying to learn new techniques or ideas myself, I don't want to sit there for ages listening to someone ramble, I just want to see the process straight off the get go, I don't mind hearing the more in depth stuff once I get the idea and i'm looking to expand on it, but why, why why why why is it always the case that people never make tutorials in that way[/QUOTE]

Sounds like a great idea. Maybe emphasize the details in such a way its adaptable to other DAW's, maybe by going over what type of wave and effects to use instead of the EXACT way to do it in your DAW?

[editline]edited[/editline]

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;47876659]Which DAW are you using? Widening from what I undertand is basically splitting the sound up into 2 (or more) tracks and having them panned (ex 1 left 1 right) and then making them play at very slightly different timings, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]

I really dig this one, don't really have anything to add except that it's great.

[media]https://soundcloud.com/messier-51/night-drive[/media]
Here's one I made a while ago, but I really don't feel like the stuff I make is interesting enough. This one might be especially boring cause it's so long, but I don't really know that much about mixing and electronic stuff in general and have for the most part just played and made acoustic music, so I'd really appreciate any tips.[/QUOTE]

Okay, that was really good. I [I]really[/I] like the synths, all of them. The slow intro was super neat, I liked how you sorta faded everything in. Gave the track a nice atmosphere- the name is [I]perfect[/I]. Has that 80's Synthwave vybe, if you ask me. Around 2:52 though the synths there seem a bit out of place though, too strong or stabby for that part of the song maybe? And I wouldn't worry about your mixing skills, they seem pretty good here. The change aroudn 4:20 was neat and not what I expected at all.

This may be a comparison you hate based on your opinion of him, but your mixing of your background "dirty" drum/wub/synth whatever you want to call it was really well done and reminds me of Deadmau5's slower tracks and stuff.

tl:dr I wish I could make this level of stuff

I made another quick little thingy as a break from studying for math final. Took me about 45m but now I'm stuck. Not sure where to go with the melody or what other kind of instruments to add. I can't think of any instruments that I have that would be appropriate, tbh. Completely stymied.

[video]https://soundcloud.com/nofuchsgiven/tropical-house-ocarina-thingy[/video]

Also ignore last two bars forgot to modify record setting in ableton and had my extra drum loops that I have saved for later out at the end :v

[Unkle Dada]

[QUOTE=Hentie;47875361]What do you guys think are the "core layers" to any track, or an EDM track if I want to be more specific?

I usually have: Drums, Bass, Lead, and Backing Synth.

Sometimes when producing music I feel like there's an empty void between certain instruments, and I try to spam a bunch of random instruments in between to see if it makes the song sound "fuller" and this sometimes work, but most of the time it doesn't. I heard from some of my friends that I need to "widen" some of the synths if I want that, but I don't know how to do that.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

If you're using the backing synths to fill the void, consider this:
A nice fat synth pad is very filling, some strings on top will fill out whatever's left.
Arpeggiated sequence elements are viable alternatives if you don't want the sustained tones of pads and strings, but they also go well together
Also, always add a little reverb to your synth tracks. It makes them sound more like a real instrument in a room than just waveforms coming out of your speakers.
You can also use stereo spread to widen a sound.

[MrJazzy]

[QUOTE=paindoc;47882794]Okay, that was really good. I [I]really[/I] like the synths, all of them. The slow intro was super neat, I liked how you sorta faded everything in. Gave the track a nice atmosphere- the name is [I]perfect[/I]. Has that 80's Synthwave vybe, if you ask me. Around 2:52 though the synths there seem a bit out of place though, too strong or stabby for that part of the song maybe? And I wouldn't worry about your mixing skills, they seem pretty good here. The change aroudn 4:20 was neat and not what I expected at all.

This may be a comparison you hate based on your opinion of him, but your mixing of your background "dirty" drum/wub/synth whatever you want to call it was really well done and reminds me of Deadmau5's slower tracks and stuff.

tl:dr I wish I could make this level of stuff

I made another quick little thingy as a break from studying for math final. Took me about 45m but now I'm stuck. Not sure where to go with the melody or what other kind of instruments to add. I can't think of any instruments that I have that would be appropriate, tbh. Completely stymied.

[video]https://soundcloud.com/nofuchsgiven/tropical-house-ocarina-thingy[/video]

Also ignore last two bars forgot to modify record setting in ableton and had my extra drum loops that I have saved for later out at the end :v[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the input, yeah I could definitely have made that whole mid section 2:30-3:20 a lot better to be honest. I don't really mind Deadmau5 at all, I don't listen to him a lot but he makes some really good stuff!

I would maybe add a soft sounding (like triangle or sine wave) synth to that with a long release, widening it and putting a bit of reverb on it and make it play single notes occassionly (like on the same timing as the open hat, once every 4 kick beats or something). But you'd have to be careful so the note you're taking doesn't clash with the chords when they change cause you got a pretty unconventional chord progression going there. You could also maybe do a synth that slides between notes.

Here's an idea for a tune: [url]https://soundcloud.com/messier-51/hmmmmmmm/s-FgPmv[/url] (sorry about no embedding, it's a private link) I want to make a song with vocals and I'm trying to figure out if I could do it on this one and what I would have to change to make it work well. I'm thinking about taking the end and making it the intro instead, but I don't know.

Also while I'm at it may aswell share something totally different of mine, I may or may not have been high when making this:
[media]https://soundcloud.com/giggleblizzard/too-white-to-sing-play-the-blues[/media]

[editline]5th June 2015[/editline]

Also, for anybody who wants to learn how to program synthesizers from scratch (or atleast understand what it is that makes the sounds sound the way they do) this video series is really good. I realized I had previously had no idea what a synthesizer actually was until I watched it. Yeah it's long and kinda old but to be honest that just makes it even better in my opinion!

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atvtBE6t48M[/media]
There are 3 parts I think.

[XP_Static]

Are wireless headsets worth getting?

[Number-41]

[QUOTE=Consciousness;47882716]Hypothetical question; I was wondering how people would feel about a straight-to-the-point, no bullshit tutorial series on specific production techniques

I'm not quite at an advanced level myself yet, far from it, but what gets me considering doing simple videos of basic concepts is more out of frustration with the fact that yes, there's a fuck load of video tutorials out there but almost all of the easily accessible ones are fleshed out, lengthy pieces of work for what is often a simple 10 second concept

there's certain concepts I know I could cover so so much faster to get a person straight into it

"How to make a simple pluck sound in massive" for instance;

why does everyone spend 10 minutes explaining this concept with the actual how-to part being god knows where in the middle, when you could literally show how to do it in like 10-15 seconds, then spend the rest of the time going into potential tips, tricks, variations, more in depth concepts. it'd save so much time and trouble for people looking to get into production and seeking to better their own technique, make it more easily accessible as a whole. I swear half the time it's just people rambling on endlessly about the software or why they choose to go about it the way they do, when i'm trying to learn new techniques or ideas myself, I don't want to sit there for ages listening to someone ramble, I just want to see the process straight off the get go, I don't mind hearing the more in depth stuff once I get the idea and i'm looking to expand on it, but why, why why why why is it always the case that people never make tutorials in that way[/QUOTE]

I usually don't like video tutorials because you have to pause & unpause them. Also I don't have a sound card and when I use Ableton I have to use the ASIO drivers, and they restrict all audio to just Ableton so any other application cannot play any sounds. A text/screenshot/sound clip tutorial lets you do it at your own pace. It is more effort for the tutorial creator, I guess. Also because (like you said) there's lots of yapping about stuff I don't want to know about (at that moment).