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

Makes sense then. Your equipment just lends a certain tone really to what you're doing

[QUOTE=thisispain;47962258]That compressor has too many options. I just want one knob called "Compression".[/QUOTE] SIGH [editline]15th June 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=thisispain;47962572]I'm joking of course, I've done pro stuff in a pro studio. I'm a producer, I'm behind the boards and I'm all up in the video. It's just when you're working with stuff that has little dynamics in the first place, a lot of compression has little effect. That stupid slap bass comes out of the box with like barely 5 db's worth of dynamic. I just need to study more of that good FM shit. The mushiness is probably 50-75% composition.[/QUOTE] LOL took me a second to get the joke i was like "whoa, tpain just got so serious"

After many years, I still really struggle to play two completely separate rhythm patterns with separate hands in piano. Does anyone have any advice on how to do it? I can do it with sheet music, but if I do something by ear, I can't do it for the life of me.

I've been using Synthesia to work on that. Its got really basic stuff and some advanced shit in the demo version, how or if you get the full version is up to you.

[QUOTE=Zoran;47964555]After many years, I still really struggle to play two completely separate rhythm patterns with separate hands in piano. Does anyone have any advice on how to do it? I can do it with sheet music, but if I do something by ear, I can't do it for the life of me.[/QUOTE] I still struggle with this but as you said I can do it with sheet music, or I could, I don't play sheet music anymore.

[QUOTE=Zoran;47964555]After many years, I still really struggle to play two completely separate rhythm patterns with separate hands in piano. Does anyone have any advice on how to do it? I can do it with sheet music, but if I do something by ear, I can't do it for the life of me.[/QUOTE] I'd say group each part of the pattern into parts where you hit notes at the same time (in other words, break it down to the smallest timescale). For example, if you want to do LH eighths and RH triplets, you will first notice that for each beat the first notes (the LH first eighth and the RH first triplet note) will sound at the same time. So you first have a simple pattern that's just each hand playing a note on each beat. This example occurs in [URL="http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/e/e2/IMSLP08461-Brahms_-_Paganini_Variations_-_Book_2_-_Breitkopf.pdf"]a Brahms variation (p3)[/URL]: [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/HUNGs7X.png"]http://i.imgur.com/HUNGs7X.png[/IMG] Then you look at the sequence that comes after (for each beat, as in this case the pattern repeats with each beat, getting one beat down means getting the entire pattern down). The first note that would sound then is the second note of the triplet. So you can then try playing the first eighth and the first and second triplet. Get this down too. Then you see that the second LH eighth will sound after the second RH triplet. Practice that pattern. Finally you add the final third RH triplet. The trick is to be aware that in each beat, both left hand and right hand play notes that are [I]equally spaced[/I], it requires lots of concentration. You somehow have to be aware of the entire pattern, not what each hand does, because then you'll lose control of either the RH or LH. You can also just tap the pattern for each hand. That's a prerequisite, if your hands can't tap it, they sure as hell won't play it with several notes because that's an additional difficulty. So in short, break the pattern for both hands down to its smallest entity, then identify and group the notes that sound at the same time (be it a beat, or any smaller subdivision). Given that pattern, you can then gradually add in other notes that fall in between those groups. Try to hear the pattern in its entirety instead of thinking "left hand do this and right hand you do this". It kinda comes down to writing it down mentally, I wouldn't know how to really split both hands and do a solo in the right hand [URL="https://youtu.be/p6D2NLiDgUk?t=200"]like some crazy pianists can[/URL]. After practising it a lot, it will hopefully become muscle memory.

someone I know with a pretty large reputation in the local scene, someone i've known for quite a long time now, has asked to do a short EP with me, says he could get us pretty well known, I don't doubt that he could get our names out there, it'd definitely better than how i'm going on my own in terms of self-promotion (not that I really have much to 'promote', but you know what I mean) guess this is where all that time spent grinding away at production skills may potentially /pay off/, but we'll see, as much as I've been hoping for this sort of thing, it could so easily fall through and not really end up happening at the same time, but on the off chance it actually works out? might as well take that shot, even if it only ends up resulting in a small following, it'd be a head start into the game the risk here is that he could potentially take all the credit and leave me in the dust; if he did, I wouldn't be any worse off, but I've known the guy since I was a little kid and we've always gotten along more or less so I don't think that'd be the case

[QUOTE=Number-41;47966381]I'd say group each part of the pattern into parts where you hit notes at the same time (in other words, break it down to the smallest timescale). For example, if you want to do LH eighths and RH triplets, you will first notice that for each beat the first notes (the LH first eighth and the RH first triplet note) will sound at the same time. So you first have a simple pattern that's just each hand playing a note on each beat. This example occurs in [URL="http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/e/e2/IMSLP08461-Brahms_-_Paganini_Variations_-_Book_2_-_Breitkopf.pdf"]a Brahms variation (p3)[/URL]: [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/HUNGs7X.png"]http://i.imgur.com/HUNGs7X.png[/IMG] Then you look at the sequence that comes after (for each beat, as in this case the pattern repeats with each beat, getting one beat down means getting the entire pattern down). The first note that would sound then is the second note of the triplet. So you can then try playing the first eighth and the first and second triplet. Get this down too. Then you see that the second LH eighth will sound after the second RH triplet. Practice that pattern. Finally you add the final third RH triplet. The trick is to be aware that in each beat, both left hand and right hand play notes that are [I]equally spaced[/I], it requires lots of concentration. You somehow have to be aware of the entire pattern, not what each hand does, because then you'll lose control of either the RH or LH. You can also just tap the pattern for each hand. That's a prerequisite, if your hands can't tap it, they sure as hell won't play it with several notes because that's an additional difficulty. So in short, break the pattern for both hands down to its smallest entity, then identify and group the notes that sound at the same time (be it a beat, or any smaller subdivision). Given that pattern, you can then gradually add in other notes that fall in between those groups. Try to hear the pattern in its entirety instead of thinking "left hand do this and right hand you do this". It kinda comes down to writing it down mentally, I wouldn't know how to really split both hands and do a solo in the right hand [URL="https://youtu.be/p6D2NLiDgUk?t=200"]like some crazy pianists can[/URL]. After practising it a lot, it will hopefully become muscle memory.[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;-g3GeSOeRtY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g3GeSOeRtY[/video] 0:07 6/8 0:40 6/10 0:45 6/4/10 1:15 9/3/6/4 1:49 6/6'/16/2 2:05 3/9/16/2 2:12 6/12/16/2 Crazy stuff. Of course, this is composed by a guy who was a crazy virtuoso pianist so he 'improved' upon Chopin's etudes, this one specifically for cross-rhythms. Anyway, I want to hop in and just show a quick trick for the 3:2 pattern [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/PcQKNXj.png[/IMG] Those are all the same. For the last one: The slurs indicate that the note is held for that length.

One that has me stumped for ages is the tumbao (salsa) piano rhythm where the LH plays the bass and the RH the melody pattern (4:52): [media]https://youtu.be/iS1U64s6ijY?t=292[/media] It breaks my mind, although she seems to attack the problem similarly to how I described it :v:

[QUOTE=Number-41;47974149]One that has me stumped for ages is the tumbao (salsa) piano rhythm where the LH plays the bass and the RH the melody pattern (4:52): It breaks my mind, although she seems to attack the problem similarly to how I described it :v:[/QUOTE] For some reason, the rhythm of that is slightly more tangible for me than some. For some context, as a project, I've been working on playing some of my favorite songs by ear. Just simply like transcribing them. So I was working towards trying to play this for example: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4uZ4mkIFp8[/media] It seemed like it'd be relatively easy at the time, but for me, I really just can't grasp how to play the guitar part and the keyboard part (at 0:05) at the same time.

[QUOTE=Number-41;47966381] So in short, break the pattern for both hands down to its smallest entity, then identify and group the notes that sound at the same time (be it a beat, or any smaller subdivision). Given that pattern, you can then gradually add in other notes that fall in between those groups. Try to hear the pattern in its entirety instead of thinking "left hand do this and right hand you do this". It kinda comes down to writing it down mentally, I wouldn't know how to really split both hands and do a solo in the right hand [URL="https://youtu.be/p6D2NLiDgUk?t=200"]like some crazy pianists can[/URL]. After practising it a lot, it will hopefully become muscle memory.[/QUOTE] I did it honestly just by using exercises. Practice each division with a simple chord progression and you'll get it down and strengthen your hand at the same time. There's also a great and simple piece called "Opening" by Philip Glass which is all triplets up against eights and its fun to play while also great practice for really locking the rhythm down. You can learn the piece in no time and get to playin'. I really wish I kept up my piano chops. When I was 'lil I did concertos but now I can barely do my goldberg variations.

fats domino

I can play piano to some degree (basic chords with the least amount of black keys) and I'd like to get better at it. Unfortunately I only have a cheap synthesizer with soft keys which isn't very realistic.

I've got a Privia PX-100 keyboard, but it only has MIDI. Is it possible to get new voices on it?

designed some more atmospheric bird/insect synths and put together an ambient tune with jungle beats. [media]https://soundcloud.com/anax-1/eksiv[/media] thoughts?

[QUOTE=Anax;47985089]designed some more atmospheric bird/insect synths and put together an ambient tune with jungle beats. [media]https://soundcloud.com/anax-1/eksiv[/media] thoughts?[/QUOTE] this is pretty cool, I like the ambience of it, but i'm not really sure about those pads being in that octave, I feel a little deeper would be more 'jungle' feeling like the ones towards the end, but I suppose that depends on what you yourself are going for getting a semi tropical semi tribal semi jungle vibe from it over all, but it's neat, some really nice use of samples also after spending some time getting to know the ableton push, I can say it's a complete game changer, if you guys ever think about getting one or something similar (i.e. maschine or the slightly cheaper novation launchpad series), do it, performance pads are a great bit of gear to have in your arsenal and makes production over all so much more fluid, i tend to get caught up just jamming out on it bit more than I produce at the moment but that's cool, gonna try putting some new tracks together soon after a bit more study into mastering techniques and ways to streamline production I've set myself up with a template project set up, basic sort of thing with a drum rack, instruments, compressors/side chaining and eq work in place on my channels to save the hassle of doing that whenever I start a new project, and i'm starting to take advantage of midi clips on an empty track as measure markers so I don't just get caught up in individual loops not knowing where to go from there but instead have the project laid out visually for me more or less before I even start; from there it's more or less 'ad libbing' with room to alter anything at any time, seems to be a good way to go about it, it's definitely not a 'one size fits all' template, probably have to make a few depending on genre, but it's flexible enough that I don't have to worry as much about where to go with structure whenever jumping in to a new production for now

[QUOTE=Ott;47984954]I've got a Privia PX-100 keyboard, but it only has MIDI. Is it possible to get new voices on it?[/QUOTE] I don't think so. It's a piano, not a keyboard. I believe the difference between those two is a piano is designed to simulate the sound and feel of a classic piano, and a keyboard does all kinds of sounds and stuff. But, like you said, it's got MIDI compatibility. So you could use it as a controller and let your computer make the sound. You just need a MIDI to USB adaptor or something. I have a Korg i3 from 1993, and I sometimes use the MIDI out going to my UR22 USB interface.

Hey guys, I got a Kawai K1 for free a few days ago, the only problem with it apparently being that it had no AC adapter. I found one and it starts up as it should but has zero output, the only time I hear anything from it (got my headphones plugged in since it has no internal speakers) is when I start it. It does that typical soft bass click, the same speakers make when you switch them on. Other than that there's nothing at all. Any ideas on what to try? I don't know how long it's been sitting but it looks pretty much brand new. My plan was to use it as a MIDI controller for FL, is there a possibility that would still work even though it makes no output on its own?

could be many many different things, blown transformer, fuse, whatever, maybe its not getting enough power [editline]19th June 2015[/editline] sorry I suppose a kawai wouldnt have any transformers or fuses really. [editline]19th June 2015[/editline] have you actually tried running the midi into your computer/mbox?

I haven't, haven't got a cable for that yet. I'll try to borrow one from a friend and check.

Dunno if it's the right place to ask but what acoustic guitar chords should I use to play this song? [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfT-3j1QXpM[/media]

actually kinda tricky sounds something like Bbadd6 - Bb - d - d then every four measures or so it will be Bbadd6 - Bb - d - F [editline]20th June 2015[/editline] the chord voicings are weird too. the add6 is sometimes ---- ---- -9-- -8-- -10- -6-- Other times its simply --- -8- -7- -8- --- --- and then the F is sometimes simply --- -10 -10 -10 -8- --- other times --- -6- -5- -7- -8- ---

[QUOTE=Clovis;47948782]it sounds like you have a flanger on the snare, did you put one over the drums? try eq'ing the snare, if you dick around with high frequencies on a snare any snare can sound decent its not bad though, sounds pretty cool near the end [editline]13th June 2015[/editline] 404? [editline]13th June 2015[/editline] are you still using the same amp from years ago? or plugging guitar into pc [editline]13th June 2015[/editline] im aware this sounds shit (overcompressed, half assed "vocals", machine drums), but does my guitar eq sound okay for this sort of music or is it really out of whack? [media]https://soundcloud.com/yamiproject/piss-christ[/media][/QUOTE] it just sounds really muddy, could use a stronger bass. [QUOTE=thisispain;47954710]This is super-good actually?? Instantly evokes a mood. You didn't have to say Oddworld, it comes up with its own landscape. Please extend it, it wants to go somewhere. [editline]14th June 2015[/editline] [media]https://soundcloud.com/smogcat/gotcha[/media] I hate the sound of this but I guess the composition is alright. Pretty boring Emadd9-D6-Bm7-E9.[/QUOTE] I really like the leads in this and that vocal sample was nice. [QUOTE=MrJazzy;47956733]You make it sound really funky and I love how much complexity there is to the stuff you make, so many little details! [editline]14th June 2015[/editline] a [media]https://soundcloud.com/messier-51/sib-theme[/media][/QUOTE] I really like it man, it gets pretty bland when only the bass is playing but when all the elements are playing it meshes really well and sounds super good like at ~2 mins. That synth that comes over the top is awesome. ______________ started work on a dnb thing [media]http://soundcloud.com/philmaah/dubas2[/media]

[QUOTE=Hobo4President;48016796] started work on a dnb thing [media]http://soundcloud.com/philmaah/dubas2[/media][/QUOTE] Sounds really good man. The vocal samples mesh really will with it! ____ Something I've been working on for a very long time and have just recently gotten to a point I like. Looking for feedback/comments. [media]http://soundcloud.com/dedo678/summer-rain[/media]

[QUOTE=Hobo4President;48016796]started work on a dnb thing [media]http://soundcloud.com/philmaah/dubas2[/media][/QUOTE] Sounds like you've got something pretty decent here. I like the overall groove and the vocal sample fits well with it. The only thing I can suggest is that the synth during the first drop could come down and the bass, kick and snare could come up more. Also something I like to do for hi-hats/rides is find a second one to layer it with and then pan them left and right. When done well, it's subtle but it fills up a lot of the empty spectrum. Here's a track that I wrote well over a year ago, ended up submitting it to a compilation album or else I would have never released it. [media]http://soundcloud.com/resistance-edm/wake-the-phantom-in-our-moment[/media]

[QUOTE=dedo678;48020404]Sounds really good man. The vocal samples mesh really will with it! ____ Something I've been working on for a very long time and have just recently gotten to a point I like. Looking for feedback/comments. [media]http://soundcloud.com/dedo678/summer-rain[/media][/QUOTE] Really digging this! The melodies and sound design of it all is really nice and airy. I think the drums are kind of cheesy sounding - the sound of that snare just sounds kind of out of place. [QUOTE=killa101;48020421]Sounds like you've got something pretty decent here. I like the overall groove and the vocal sample fits well with it. The only thing I can suggest is that the synth during the first drop could come down and the bass, kick and snare could come up more. Also something I like to do for hi-hats/rides is find a second one to layer it with and then pan them left and right. When done well, it's subtle but it fills up a lot of the empty spectrum. Here's a track that I wrote well over a year ago, ended up submitting it to a compilation album or else I would have never released it. [media]http://soundcloud.com/resistance-edm/wake-the-phantom-in-our-moment[/media][/QUOTE] Actually pretty dope. I feel like the reese bass could have been EQ'd more to fill out the low end some more. Other than that the whole track is pretty solid. - Made this last night and dropped it today. Let me know what you guys think. [media]http://soundcloud.com/26carat/majesty[/media]

where are the drops boys?

[QUOTE=MonkeyFun;48020569]Really digging this! The melodies and sound design of it all is really nice and airy. I think the drums are kind of cheesy sounding - the sound of that snare just sounds kind of out of place. Actually pretty dope. I feel like the reese bass could have been EQ'd more to fill out the low end some more. Other than that the whole track is pretty solid. - Made this last night and dropped it today. Let me know what you guys think. [media]http://soundcloud.com/26carat/majesty[/media][/QUOTE] the kick seems rather loud in comparison to the rest of the track, maybe turn down ratio/threshold a little on your comp but other than that this sounds like a pretty solid beat that said here's my first attempt at producing anything for a while [media]https://soundcloud.com/geogzm/buck-up[/media]

[QUOTE=geogzm;48082202]the kick seems rather loud in comparison to the rest of the track, maybe turn down ratio/threshold a little on your comp but other than that this sounds like a pretty solid beat that said here's my first attempt at producing anything for a while [media]https://soundcloud.com/geogzm/buck-up[/media][/QUOTE] This sounds pretty frickin' rad man! I feel like you should add a part where it's very relaxed and quiet and then get back to the music. Could fit easily since the song isn't that long. The ending was the only part that I found meh, other than that it's awesome man. What did you use for the synthesizers? I started working on a new song, I might create a small EP called Unfortunate Lies. The lyrics are freestyled thus gibberish, except for the unfortunate lies part. Haven't mastered it or anything, just a set up at this moment. I was wondering what you guys think of it: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H00syh6nX_Q&feature=youtu.be[/media]

[QUOTE=geogzm;48082202]the kick seems rather loud in comparison to the rest of the track, maybe turn down ratio/threshold a little on your comp but other than that this sounds like a pretty solid beat that said here's my first attempt at producing anything for a while [media]https://soundcloud.com/geogzm/buck-up[/media][/QUOTE] Digging the reggae vibe! I think the drums kind of get a bit too start&stop starting at 0:39, I think if you added a kick drum on the upbeat on the 4th beat it would become more flowing and then transition a lot better to the kick n snare, kick snare beat you have going. [editline]30th June 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Rago;48088363]This sounds pretty frickin' rad man! I feel like you should add a part where it's very relaxed and quiet and then get back to the music. Could fit easily since the song isn't that long. The ending was the only part that I found meh, other than that it's awesome man. What did you use for the synthesizers? I started working on a new song, I might create a small EP called Unfortunate Lies. The lyrics are freestyled thus gibberish, except for the unfortunate lies part. Haven't mastered it or anything, just a set up at this moment. I was wondering what you guys think of it: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H00syh6nX_Q&feature=youtu.be[/media][/QUOTE] Your voice, so beautiful! I think it would be so cool if you built the surrounding rhytmic instruments with only your voice, like Imogen Heap Hide&Seek or Lorde with Royals. What's the plan with the track? I hope you're having some grand Pink Floyd-esque tracks too, or just massive rock'n'roll wall of sound type of tracks with that voice of yours :) I'm working on some house-technoish thing where I'm remixing Adele's someone like you: [url]https://soundcloud.com/skriket/someone-like-you-wobbl-remix/s-ObJ1L[/url] I can't mediatag because it's in private right now, and I'm a bit lost of both mixing and production. I think I got some sort of skeleton right now to continue on, but there's something lacking y'know?