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

[QUOTE=pdp;49163453]Anyone have any tips for making glitch music? Illformed Glitch2 is great, but I feel like it's lacking in a couple of features.[/QUOTE] FabFilter Saturn is a really useful distortion/saturation plugin if that's what you're looking for

If anyone is interested btw, one of my friends released his first Album not too long ago and just recently came out with a single. It's kinda folk-pop ballade kinda music. Here's one of his songs [media]https://soundcloud.com/user-571406737/hundra-ar[/media] he also has his stuff on spotify

I've found an MS-20 Mini for $360: [url]http://www.interstatemusic.com/970644-Korg-MS-20-Mini-Monophonic-Analog-Synthesizer-Demo-Model-MS20MINI.aspx[/url] Good buy? [editline]23rd November 2015[/editline] It comes with the 10 patch cables.

[QUOTE=Ott;49172560]I've found an MS-20 Mini for $360: [url]http://www.interstatemusic.com/970644-Korg-MS-20-Mini-Monophonic-Analog-Synthesizer-Demo-Model-MS20MINI.aspx[/url] Good buy? [editline]23rd November 2015[/editline] It comes with the 10 patch cables.[/QUOTE] I'd do more research into the company itself but otherwise that's an excellent deal. What's your budget for a synth anyways? If you have a keyboard in the price range there are a number of nice modules

Behold, a new Chiptune song! [i]"Abducting the World Wide West"[/i]! [img]http://wauterboi.com/img/album_art/2015/abducting_the_world_wide_west-t.png[/img] [media]https://soundcloud.com/wauterboi/abducting-the-world-wide-west[/media] Looking at all the music posted so far right now - a wild double-post may appear. [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=chaz13;49160699]Hah this is pretty cool, wasn't expecting that percussion to come in and it was a pleasant surprise. The melody is nice too, especially the bit that comes in around 1.16. I don't really have any criticism! Pop punk cover of Lean on, pretty rough at the moment and not finished but hey. [media]https://soundcloud.com/prizymmusic/lean-on[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqeW9_5kURI[/media][/QUOTE] The biggest problem is everything going out of sync, and the minor problems are mixing-related (I feel like the lead guitar is a little too dominant and overpowers everything else in a way that sounds a little too muddy, if that makes sense.). Conceptually, everything else is totally fine, and I'm looking forward to hearing your final version! [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=pdp;49163453]Anyone have any tips for making glitch music? Illformed Glitch2 is great, but I feel like it's lacking in a couple of features.[/QUOTE] [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=the+finger&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8]The Finger[/url] [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Mech Bgum;49159578]Hmm I never listend to glitch hop much, so I don't really know how to judge it, I find glitch effects irrating myself personally. It sounds alright I guess, but a little monotone. I can make some crits notes about the snare drum tho. I loove the sample, but I think it was butchered somehow in the mixing, maybe overcompressed or buried? I don't really know how to describe it. It sound plastic, the punch sounds "fake". Like if there was limiter or something. I haven't produced in this style much, but yeah - I think sample is great, but needs better adjustment in the mix. Sounds really nostalgic, neat throwback to the 90s. I remebmer being fascinated by this kind of music. Can't really think of any crits. Oh and happy 20th! --- So ugghh, I'm stuck with this compostional block, so here's another beat with melodies that go nowhere. My mixing gets better tho I guess. One thing I realized is that I should learn to use pads more, for some reason I can't make them sound right in my tracks, so usually I don't bother and use leads as pads. [video]https://soundcloud.com/mechbgun/mb-some-kind-of-loop-decease[/video] Edit: 2 more [video]https://soundcloud.com/mechbgun/mb-november-sunset[/video] [video]https://soundcloud.com/mechbgun/mb-llll[/video][/QUOTE] I don't really have very much to say about these, unfortunately, because I already listen to your stuff regularly! :P I think that you just need to flesh out the first a little more and everything will be fine. That's probably totally useless advice, but I'm just trying to say you're on the right track - take a break and return to it later.

[QUOTE=wauterboi;49176778]Behold, a new Chiptune song! [i]"Abducting the World Wide West"[/i]! [img]http://wauterboi.com/img/album_art/2015/abducting_the_world_wide_west-t.png[/img] [media]https://soundcloud.com/wauterboi/abducting-the-world-wide-west[/media] Looking at all the music posted so far right now - a wild double-post may appear. [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] The biggest problem is everything going out of sync, and the minor problems are mixing-related (I feel like the lead guitar is a little too dominant and overpowers everything else in a way that sounds a little too muddy, if that makes sense.). Conceptually, everything else is totally fine, and I'm looking forward to hearing your final version! [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=the+finger&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8]The Finger[/url] [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] I don't really have very much to say about these, unfortunately, because I already listen to your stuff regularly! :P I think that you just need to flesh out the first a little more and everything will be fine. That's probably totally useless advice, but I'm just trying to say you're on the right track - take a break and return to it later.[/QUOTE] You're getting really good at chiptune music! All the effects, the synths you're using are 100% true to the genre and I love it. You should make more music like 2:00+ and beyond with the really intense midi progressions, I really liked that part, plus the outro was really slick. [media]https://soundcloud.com/user-546421060/jamsesh[/media] I started working on this yesterday with my new guitar and somehow turned it into a J Dilla sounding instrumental. Any thoughts?

I wondered for like a month why FL studio is killing my cpu with medium sized projects.. I didn't have multithreading on, imagine how fucking dumb I felt

Is it a bad method of learning more about writing for piano by acquiring tons of midi and wav "loops" of piano melodies/chords and analyzing them? I'm not directly using them but I'll usually download the pack, run through the wavs, play the midi's through my instruments, and then choose the 2-3 I like most and deeply analyze them. I'll usually try to play them out on my keyboard and analyze the cadence, harmony, and note length;s/intervals to see how they correlate to the feel of the piece. I'm hoping to not build a bad habit, and feel its productive, but I wonder if I should instead just use actual sheet music. I do know that it is agreed that stuff like this is good, but I feel like using loops and sample packs is cheating or the easy way out. [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] melancholy piano is my favorite, so I'm really trying to improve my ability to write that type of stuff and arrange that type of stuff.

[QUOTE=Mech Bgum;49181377]I don't think it's bad. Reading from sheet can also develop a bad habit of not thinking about what you're playing. If you feel like you're cheating, maybe you feel like you're not putting enough of your hearth into it?[/QUOTE] Good point on that last bit. I think my problem is worrying too much about doing something the "wrong" way when chances are I put enough thought into what I was doing that I'm okay- and instead of constantly searching for the right way, or the right samples, or the right vst, i should just make some shit already goddamn paindoc. So yeah, I do like it and I love this sort of music so why the fuck am i worrying I do it when it comes to studying too, lol.

[QUOTE=Llamalord;49177024]You're getting really good at chiptune music! All the effects, the synths you're using are 100% true to the genre and I love it. You should make more music like 2:00+ and beyond with the really intense midi progressions, I really liked that part, plus the outro was really slick. [media]https://soundcloud.com/user-546421060/jamsesh[/media] I started working on this yesterday with my new guitar and somehow turned it into a J Dilla sounding instrumental. Any thoughts?[/QUOTE] as a hip hop head, really getting that dilla vibe with some of his more electric-y sounding beats, as a rapper i cant say much cause i dont know much but id play around with the bass and drums in the song, they dont really give me that chiptune crashing wave of a single snare hit. alltogether a really nice sounding clip though. [media]https://soundcloud.com/fordzje/fordz-fast-half-arsed-murder-death-rap-shit[/media] been writing some raps, made this tune for the sole reason of giving you that hyped up wanna punch someone obnoxious rap (without actually being limp bizkit). uk underground hip hop highly inspired by Lee Scott and Dirty Dike to name a couple. (tips on sound quality would help, im self mixing in audacity with a usb studio condensor mic lol, im no whizz with sound programs on pc)

[QUOTE=Llamalord;49177024] [media]https://soundcloud.com/user-546421060/jamsesh[/media] I started working on this yesterday with my new guitar and somehow turned it into a J Dilla sounding instrumental. Any thoughts?[/QUOTE] So good. Reminds me a lot like Animal Crossing's soundtrack, but a bit darker. I love it when the sub bass kicks in occasionally. And, as always, electric piano makes everything more jazzy. Great job. The only thing I can think of for criticism is that I'm not really one with odd key changes, but that's probably just me. --- I made this in like a day. It could be called chill down tempo EDM, but I'm not that good with genre naming, especially with my own music. What do you guys think? [media]https://soundcloud.com/relaxedcreeper/sand-and-snow[/media]

[QUOTE=RelaxedCreepr;49185929]So good. Reminds me a lot like Animal Crossing's soundtrack, but a bit darker. I love it when the sub bass kicks in occasionally. And, as always, electric piano makes everything more jazzy. Great job. The only thing I can think of for criticism is that I'm not really one with odd key changes, but that's probably just me. --- I made this in like a day. It could be called chill down tempo EDM, but I'm not that good with genre naming, especially with my own music. What do you guys think? [media]https://soundcloud.com/relaxedcreeper/sand-and-snow[/media][/QUOTE] A side note on the genre thing: me and my buddy Hamst3r do not like explicit music naming for the sheer purpose that something like music and art shouldn't have to meet "guidelines", and ours often break those barriers. It makes it hard to do explicit naming. Taking a gander at his Soundcloud, he chooses the best descriptor he can personally ascribe to it, but it's not a big deal. Focus on the music before the genre label, and spend the least of your energy classifying it. With that said: [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/965202/ShareX/2015/11/2015-11-25_18-41-35.png[/img] Your song is cool, and it's in my regular Soundcloud rotation now. My only complaints aren't really complaints (obviously), and more of like, "What would I do to this track?" I'd probably add more reverb and what not with emphasis on the Tycho-style ambiance that I know and love, but it's not necessary.

[QUOTE=wauterboi;49176778]Behold, a new Chiptune song! [i]"Abducting the World Wide West"[/i]! [img]http://wauterboi.com/img/album_art/2015/abducting_the_world_wide_west-t.png[/img] [media]https://soundcloud.com/wauterboi/abducting-the-world-wide-west[/media] Looking at all the music posted so far right now - a wild double-post may appear. [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] The biggest problem is everything going out of sync, and the minor problems are mixing-related (I feel like the lead guitar is a little too dominant and overpowers everything else in a way that sounds a little too muddy, if that makes sense.). Conceptually, everything else is totally fine, and I'm looking forward to hearing your final version! [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=the+finger&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8]The Finger[/url] [editline]24th November 2015[/editline] I don't really have very much to say about these, unfortunately, because I already listen to your stuff regularly! :P I think that you just need to flesh out the first a little more and everything will be fine. That's probably totally useless advice, but I'm just trying to say you're on the right track - take a break and return to it later.[/QUOTE] Alright. Listening to your song reminded me about one of the things in counterpoint, specifically about fifths and octaves. Pretty much if you have two different parts playing different things and suddenly they jump to a fifth apart or an octave apart out of nowhere, it'll stand out. Similarly, if they're both going in the same direction (both going melodically down or both going melodically up), they shouldn't have a moment where they're a fifth or an octave apart. There's a rule prohibiting two different voices going up or down in fifths and octaves mostly because one voice gets lost in the sound of the other. Of course once you get to some crazier composers they completely disregard this, though sometimes it's for other reasons (Debussy sometimes has chordal melodies, for example). Essentially, if you have two different parts and they end up on a 5th or octave apart, usually it'll stand out. NOTE: Two voices doesn't mean doubling. Doubling is where you have two different instruments or sounds playing the same notes (either at an octave or a 5th or 3rd or whatever). This is talking about two completely different parts.

[QUOTE=brooklynlord;49195730]Alright. Listening to your song reminded me about one of the things in counterpoint, specifically about fifths and octaves. Pretty much if you have two different parts playing different things and suddenly they jump to a fifth apart or an octave apart out of nowhere, it'll stand out. Similarly, if they're both going in the same direction (both going melodically down or both going melodically up), they shouldn't have a moment where they're a fifth or an octave apart. There's a rule prohibiting two different voices going up or down in fifths and octaves mostly because one voice gets lost in the sound of the other. Of course once you get to some crazier composers they completely disregard this, though sometimes it's for other reasons (Debussy sometimes has chordal melodies, for example). Essentially, if you have two different parts and they end up on a 5th or octave apart, usually it'll stand out. NOTE: Two voices doesn't mean doubling. Doubling is where you have two different instruments or sounds playing the same notes (either at an octave or a 5th or 3rd or whatever). This is talking about two completely different parts.[/QUOTE] Nah. That sounds way too restrictive and theoretical for something I don't want to be academic. I think my song is fine, unless you're willing to point out specific examples of parts that don't work. And even then I might object if it's something not glaring.

[QUOTE=wauterboi;49198090]Nah. That sounds way too restrictive and theoretical for something I don't want to be academic. I think my song is fine, unless you're willing to point out specific examples of parts that don't work. And even then I might object if it's something not glaring.[/QUOTE] Well, technically it isn't actually all that restrictive. Most people don't have two different parts playing the exact same things anyway, so most of the time this isn't an issue. Two parts playing the same thing in 5ths is even rarer mostly because it's very prominent. Again, the reason why it's prohibited is because the two voices aren't distinguishable. The reason why I bring it up is because I'm unsure if these random accents (which aren't prominent but definitely noticeable) was intended or not, and all of that was just the background and reasoning behind it all. And as a last note, these rules can be broken. They aren't strict laws to follow, but rather possible constructive guidelines. (One example of these rules being broken are horn fifths; because the french horn used to be incredibly limited in the notes it could play, they were allowed to play a fifth while both going the same direction).

Could you point out specific portions of the song where this is prominent? I'm having a hard time understanding what you're trying to say or which instruments are doing this.

0:16-0:18 is the first "clash" between the melody and chords, trying to hear which tone(s) it is specifically [editline]28th November 2015[/editline] It sounds like you're playing the Bb or Eb or E or something while playing that

just got a great new computer, so i'm moving off of my ipad and i've gotten cubase and i don't know what the fuck i'm doing any good tutorials out there for a beginner with zero patience? or maybe a more idiot friendly DAW than cubase?

[QUOTE=inebriaticxp;49201692]just got a great new computer, so i'm moving off of my ipad and i've gotten cubase and i don't know what the fuck i'm doing any good tutorials out there for a beginner with zero patience? or maybe a more idiot friendly DAW than cubase?[/QUOTE] ableton and fl studio are more intuitive imo i use ableton but many use fl studio

[QUOTE=inebriaticxp;49201692]just got a great new computer, so i'm moving off of my ipad and i've gotten cubase and i don't know what the fuck i'm doing any good tutorials out there for a beginner with zero patience? or maybe a more idiot friendly DAW than cubase?[/QUOTE] Cubase can be pretty dense. I don't even know of any resources to recommend for it tbh. Reaper is free and easy to get, but I do agree that Ableton and FL are more immediate. Also easier to find material for them imo I bought a sample pack I hadn't really thought about, impulsively, with my birthday dosh and I have deep regrets :v [editline]28th November 2015[/editline] Hopefully $99 Reaktor helps. I should have just got the sci-fi or liquid dnb sample packs instead of the electro house shit I got. I don't even produce anything near this goddamnit [editline]28th November 2015[/editline] Should have explained that- show NI your uni ID and get a 50% discount on Reaktor

[QUOTE=paindoc;49202058]Cubase can be pretty dense. I don't even know of any resources to recommend for it tbh. Reaper is free and easy to get, but I do agree that Ableton and FL are more immediate. Also easier to find material for them imo I bought a sample pack I hadn't really thought about, impulsively, with my birthday dosh and I have deep regrets :v [editline]28th November 2015[/editline] Hopefully $99 Reaktor helps. I should have just got the sci-fi or liquid dnb sample packs instead of the electro house shit I got. I don't even produce anything near this goddamnit [editline]28th November 2015[/editline] Should have explained that- show NI your uni ID and get a 50% discount on Reaktor[/QUOTE] [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/965202/ShareX/2015/11/2015-11-28_00-22-26.png[/t] I'd love for a discount on Komplete! :(

[QUOTE=fordzje;49185188]as a hip hop head, really getting that dilla vibe with some of his more electric-y sounding beats, as a rapper i cant say much cause i dont know much but id play around with the bass and drums in the song, they dont really give me that chiptune crashing wave of a single snare hit. alltogether a really nice sounding clip though. [media]https://soundcloud.com/fordzje/fordz-fast-half-arsed-murder-death-rap-shit[/media] been writing some raps, made this tune for the sole reason of giving you that hyped up wanna punch someone obnoxious rap (without actually being limp bizkit). uk underground hip hop highly inspired by Lee Scott and Dirty Dike to name a couple. (tips on sound quality would help, im self mixing in audacity with a usb studio condensor mic lol, im no whizz with sound programs on pc)[/QUOTE] maybe a little reverb on your vocal would be good, you could try and get cheeky with send/return effects to blend yourself in to the beat a bit more confident vocal though, nice to see some british rap in here [editline]28th November 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=RelaxedCreepr;49185929]So good. Reminds me a lot like Animal Crossing's soundtrack, but a bit darker. I love it when the sub bass kicks in occasionally. And, as always, electric piano makes everything more jazzy. Great job. The only thing I can think of for criticism is that I'm not really one with odd key changes, but that's probably just me. --- I made this in like a day. It could be called chill down tempo EDM, but I'm not that good with genre naming, especially with my own music. What do you guys think? [media]https://soundcloud.com/relaxedcreeper/sand-and-snow[/media][/QUOTE] very professional sound, quite loud but honestly i can't think about gain staging any more today :v: good levels, maybe a tad overcompressed? i'm nitpicking to help you out here really, otherwise it's just solid man - [media]http://soundcloud.com/geogzm/ragga-moontown[/media] new electronic dub-reggae from moi [sp]the mix is a bit rougher than i usually do, it got complicated as fuck and i ended up with more problems than i could solve without creating more and more. gotta practice more :([/sp]

If anybody is interested im working on something spoopy [url]https://soundcloud.com/corn-mouth/scary-waow/s-4ejFQ[/url] The drums will probably be different when im done but i thought i'd share

So uh, passing curiosity here. How do people typically get started with making music? You usually need some familiarity with music theory right? Is that something typically self taught later in life, or learned in school, or? I never took band or choir or any of that. Just listening. Completely clueless there. I was listening to some dark ambient type stuff and just wondered how approachable creating that sort of thing is.

[QUOTE=mastermaul;49210552]So uh, passing curiosity here. How do people typically get started with making music? You usually need some familiarity with music theory right? Is that something typically self taught later in life, or learned in school, or? I never took band or choir or any of that. Just listening. Completely clueless there. I was listening to some dark ambient type stuff and just wondered how approachable creating that sort of thing is.[/QUOTE] Get yourself a DAW, learn a synth and the basics of some effects and how to use them and then just experiment. You really don't need music theory, but it helps if you're gonna do more melodically complex stuff.

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;49210577]Get yourself a DAW, learn a synth and the basics of some effects and how to use them and then just experiment. You really don't need music theory, but it helps if you're gonna do more melodically complex stuff.[/QUOTE] Which DAW would you recommend for someone who learned the definition of the acronym like 30 minutes ago?

[QUOTE=mastermaul;49210606]Which DAW would you recommend for someone who learned the definition of the acronym like 30 minutes ago?[/QUOTE] Fruity Loops, cause that's the only one I know and have used apart from cubase and logic but I'm not a big fan of those - and I imagine it's pretty easy to learn since I started using it when I was like 12 or so.

I started with muLAB ([url]http://www.mutools.com/[/url]) because it was free but I'm not sure if that's any good or not.

[QUOTE=mastermaul;49210606]Which DAW would you recommend for someone who learned the definition of the acronym like 30 minutes ago?[/QUOTE] Watch SeamlessR on YouTube of you are going with FL. FL and Ableton are the two daws with the most online resources

Can't reopen saved projects? That's one hell of a demo limitation :v: I'll give it a shot.