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

[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;50784788]why is everyone trying to avoid giving feedback to my shit track reeeeeeeee[/QUOTE] Missed it sorry about that!! I'm not into the whole "EDM" craze so take my opinions with this in mind: Your song has pretty good energy, a little over compressed for my tastes, but then again, I'm not your target audience, but then you have two points of silence which kind of threw me off. Also the voice seems a bit too clean for big festival EDM type stuff. Through some reverb on it!! Also right before the first breakdown (like the mid point) the whole "TELL ME WHAT I NEED" overtop the "love is a cureee..." part kind of conflict with each other. Try running the "TELL ME WHAT I NEED" through slight fuzz and stuff to break it up, and put it more in the background. I'm not that big of a fan of your orchestral stabs either. Like it's a good idea, but the choice of sample pack or whatever is kind of too classically for the vibe. (Again this might be commonplace or desired in this genre, and if it is then disregard this comment.) A really minor thing at the end is you can hear a click as she stops singing. Idk if that was in the vocals or something but you should probably take that out. Your track seems to fit in with the whole festival vibe so if that is what you were going for then good job!! The production is pretty good as well! Other than the two voice thing, there is nice separation between all the instruments. (not going to lie and say I loved it or whatever but that is just because it's not my genre of choice!)

[QUOTE=splenda;50784717]I can hear the sub fine on these shitty headphones I'm currently using (too lazy to route web audio to my normal monitors/sub) so I don't think you need to transpose anything. [editline]27th July 2016[/editline] Tried it with my subpac, again, still lazy, and the bass is pretty clear so it seems fine for 2.1 setups and fuller range headphones. [editline]27th July 2016[/editline] [/QUOTE] Thanks for checking it! Although I mean by transposing it I'll be able to saturate the sub less, and maybe turn it down a little, giving the rest of the mix a bit more room to breathe. I think I'll give it a go and see what I think :smile:

I don't know if this the right place to ask or not but does anyone know how to create the synth sound like in this track? [video=youtube;EQbf9oyyGjc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQbf9oyyGjc[/video] I love these kind of psychedelic synth sound

[QUOTE=TheXbriteEco;50788684]I don't know if this the right place to ask or not but does anyone know how to create the synth sound like in this track? [video=youtube;EQbf9oyyGjc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQbf9oyyGjc[/video] I love these kind of psychedelic synth sound[/QUOTE] sounds like, from my limited experience, a saw wave ran through a chorus effect and a low pass filter, then modulating its gain for that wavy effect [editline]28th July 2016[/editline] its 100% more complicated than that but thatll give you some ground to work with i hope

[QUOTE=TheXbriteEco;50788684]I don't know if this the right place to ask or not but does anyone know how to create the synth sound like in this track? [video=youtube;EQbf9oyyGjc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQbf9oyyGjc[/video] I love these kind of psychedelic synth sound[/QUOTE] To get that basic sound, ie not as drowned in effects, you just run a few detuned saw waves through a 24db low pass filter with high resonance and have a lfo modulate the cutoff frequency. Also they seem to have an envelope modulating the cutoff too with a medium attack and full sustain. Then obviously there is some delay, reverb, chorus, and stuff on it too. [editline]28th July 2016[/editline] If you are using all digital stuff though you may run into the problem of your sound not being fat enough but that is just a case of digital not being as warm and big as analog.

[QUOTE=chaz13;50779237]This is really nice. The guitar parts are chill and the rhythmic elements are nice. I won't comment on the mix as I'm listening with headphones and not my monitors I'm used to, but it seems pretty decent, although the background claps could perhaps be a bit more present. Speaking of mix, turns out this trappy thing is both incredibly fun and incredibly challenging to mix well. I'm getting so close to where I want it, but I really want to get a tiny bit more clarity and perhaps punch in the drums, but it's about as loud as it's going to get I think. Working out the sweet spot for the reverb on the synths is an artform all of itself, I think. I cut it down a little just before the export and now I feel like a tiny bit more would be nice, but I've been back and forward on that for hours now!# I'm considering transposing it up a semi-tone or two as that might let me get away with less saturation and gain on the sub, but I'm not entirely convinced. [media]https://soundcloud.com/prizymmusic/intro-wip2[/media][/QUOTE] Sounds really awesome!! You nailed all the trap/dubstep tropes while adding a wee bit of dnb, super neatoooo thought the kicks at the beginning could use just a smiidge less volume though [media]https://soundcloud.com/tropicalgod/tropic-i-can-help-it[/media] heres just a random fun 1 day thing, sampled from my favorite song of all time

[QUOTE=splenda;50791869]To get that basic sound, ie not as drowned in effects, you just run a few detuned saw waves through a 24db low pass filter with high resonance and have a lfo modulate the cutoff frequency. Also they seem to have an envelope modulating the cutoff too with a medium attack and full sustain. Then obviously there is some delay, reverb, chorus, and stuff on it too. [editline]28th July 2016[/editline] If you are using all digital stuff though you may run into the problem of your sound not being fat enough but that is just a case of digital not being as warm and big as analog.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=splenda;50791869]To get that basic sound, ie not as drowned in effects, you just run a few detuned saw waves through a 24db low pass filter with high resonance and have a lfo modulate the cutoff frequency. Also they seem to have an envelope modulating the cutoff too with a medium attack and full sustain. Then obviously there is some delay, reverb, chorus, and stuff on it too. [editline]28th July 2016[/editline] If you are using all digital stuff though you may run into the problem of your sound not being fat enough but that is just a case of digital not being as warm and big as analog.[/QUOTE] thanks for the reply and tips guys! I'm still having trouble making the sound but I'll keep trying. And yeah I'm using all digital and I still can't get that warm sound out of it.

What direction would you guys give to a newbie in music production? I just got my hands on Logic Pro X and I've been playing around with it for a bit. Do I really need to put myself through hours of video tutorials in order to make good music? I've heard that a lot of the learning process is just self trial and error. It's not like i'm completely new to music though, I've played piano for about 9 years and I already made a simple chord progression in Logic. So I can usually tell what "sounds good" i guess

[QUOTE=thefreemann;50801611]What direction would you guys give to a newbie in music production? I just got my hands on Logic Pro X and I've been playing around with it for a bit. Do I really need to put myself through hours of video tutorials in order to make good music? I've heard that a lot of the learning process is just self trial and error. It's not like i'm completely new to music though, I've played piano for about 9 years and I already made a simple chord progression in Logic. So I can usually tell what "sounds good" i guess[/QUOTE] I think the most important for you right now is to just learn your DAW. Music production is a really, really big monster to tackle so what you should ask yourself right now, is the following ; What's your goal with your music? You can start with thinking a month in advance. What do you hope to accomplish in that time? Maybe half a year, what's the plan? A year? 5 years? Having 9 years of experience playing piano is a really great head start :) Something that is incredibly important as well is setting up your work flow. When you get ideas you usually want to be able to as smoothly as possible get it in print, and if you don't have to spend 10-15 minutes just setting up so you can record your ideas. I think this is an incredibly interesting topic so I'll write a big post about this as soon as I have time to really dig myself in, I'll write a small list now though on some things I wish I had known when I first started out: 1) It has to be fun to make the music. This is probably the most important when it comes to music, because music is just emotions and you'll probably never get any good* music if you're not enjoying yourself. (*this is purely subjective of course, good in this case meaning music YOU the artist think is good.) 2) Create or analyze. Never do the two things together. When you start making music, you can't afford to secondguess yourself. Play and record, then start analyzing what works and what doesnt. 3) Creativity comes to those that put in the effort. Waiting for inspiration to come to you rarely works, you have to go out and find it. That means either exploring new music, new places, new people, or putting in the effort and playing your instrument/s even if you feel there's no creative juices. This is a point that sort of contradicts point 1, because if you're forcing yourself to play, it can get boring. The point is however, that creativity comes when you push yourself. Sometimes, it has to get boring before you can find the fun. :) 4) Explore all options, then limit yourself. A pitfall for the digital era is that you're no longer restricted. You can literally record a guitar track a hundred times, and stack them all on top of eachother. Music is sound, and sound to the human ear ranges from 20hz to 20khz. This means you have limited space for instrumentation since you're going to have to, in the mixing phase, find spots for all the instruments. Limitations also forces you to explore the boundaries even more. 5) Put restrictions on yourself. Set deadlines, tell yourself (and if it helps, others) that you have to do things within a certain time limit. It is incredibly easy to just sit and fiddle with shit for hours, and that is bad. The ear gets exhausted, we get used to how things sound, unless the sounds are incredibly harsh, you start to comply with how it sounds. And worst of all, spending too much time on something means you'll start tweaking with what works, in an endless chase for something that is perfect. And perfect doesn't exist. Remember, music is emotions, and emotions are raw, they don't give a single fuck if everything is perfect. 6) Listen, read, learn as much as you can. Think of everything as a lesson. Listen to every song, enjoy it. Think about it, dissect it, why do you like it? Is there something you would've changed? How? What can you use from that song in your own creative process? Music is, as I once point out, not perfect. It is an integral of humanity, and you can never become fully learned in something. There's always something more to learn, as humanity makes progress, music does too. There's always going to be somebody who is better than you, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is good, that means you can learn, and make your own progress. And there's always going to be people who would do a LOT to be as good as you. Music isn't a race, there's both good and bad to be found in comparing yourself with others. Look at it as objectively as possible, because it is really easy to compare yourself too much with others and put yourself down. 7) Play with others. This goes hand in hand with the previous point, because every human being is unique in how they express themselves. And there's always something to be learned from how others view music, and how they express it. 8) Fuck the rules. Learn them, break them, rules are great because they give you a solid foundation, but you can never really reach above the horizon if you keep your feet firmly planted on the ground. Still, the rules are there for a reason so don't feel bad if you ever have to rely on them. 9) Most of all, have fun! These tips are some stuff I've come to learn in my few years of producing music and they are far from universal truths, in fact some of them may even be outright lies. If people think I am wrong in some of these points I would absolutely love to hear your own opinion, it is awesome to hear how other people think about music. Nothing of these points matter one bit however if you don't have fun, so if you ever feel one of these points ever stop you from having fun, then stop listening to it. :) If you have any more specific questions about music production I'd be happy to answer them, I am in no way a pro but I like to think that I at least know a little bit about what I'm talking about.

A few more things to expand on Skeeter's list (which I thought was excellent btw :smile:) Tinker around with what you have! Instead of spending 2 hours playing a videogame, spend those two hours messing around in your DAW (or other musical stuff) without the intention of making a track. Not everything you need to do has to turn into a finished project, and most of the time you will find cool new ideas that can be used in your tracks. The two most effective ways of going about this from my experience (I have been producing music since I was a toddler) is either to focus on one detail of the process, such as getting all you can out of a 2 osc FM synth, or exploring all the sonic characteristics of a compressor, or to force yourself leave the new era of conventions, like turning a delay into a soundsource ala [url=https://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus/papers/digitar.pdf]Karplus Strong[/url] or synthesizing all of your drums by hand. Get your music out there and play gigs! I feel this point is not essential, but it does add a lot of enjoyment to the process. Hanging out with some friends and you got your laptop near? Hook it up to the nearest speakers and just start jamming out. Even if it's not very good, getting others to hear your music has always been an euphoric and otherworldly experience, and can really help keep the flame lit. Don't be afraid to get out of the computer realm! Even if it is just as simple as doing field recordings on your phone, moving the music making experience away from a screen for a bit will allow you to refresh your ideas, whilst at the same time giving you cool, new, organic sounds to implement in your songs! For real one of the beefiest kick drums I ever made was a combination of me flopping a record, the sound of me hitting a tree with a drumstick, and the inside of a chair that I then sat on. Even just going outside with a notebook and making notes of the thoughts in your head can help a lot! Don't take this to mean "you need analog synths" but more of "computer fatigue is a real thing and it is a creative drain on many people." Finally, and most importantly, don't be discouraged if your first few songs are not very good. Music production is hard, and everyone has to start at square one. Whenever I feel down about my music, I pull out the first "EP" I made when I was 6 or 7 years old and listen to it. Sure it's really bad, but it shows me how far along I am in my craft and it always boosts my confidence. The only way to get better is with practice and hard work, so don't give up! Whenever you finish a song be sure to post it in this thread and we will give you feedback on what is good and what can be improved, and as Skeeter said, do not hesitate to ask questions here!

[QUOTE=Colteh;50793424]Sounds really awesome!! You nailed all the trap/dubstep tropes while adding a wee bit of dnb, super neatoooo thought the kicks at the beginning could use just a smiidge less volume though [media]https://soundcloud.com/tropicalgod/tropic-i-can-help-it[/media] heres just a random fun 1 day thing, sampled from my favorite song of all time[/QUOTE] Thanks. Your track is really cool, love all of the elements, really. My only complaint would be the drums, snare especially, seem to lacking quite a bit of high-end and maybe overall volume. Did the transposing and worked on the mix a little more. Plus an animated video! Thoughts? EDIT Newer version [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IicdNiYNs8&feature=youtu.beBett[/media]

[QUOTE=thefreemann;50801611]What direction would you guys give to a newbie in music production? I just got my hands on Logic Pro X and I've been playing around with it for a bit. Do I really need to put myself through hours of video tutorials in order to make good music? I've heard that a lot of the learning process is just self trial and error. It's not like i'm completely new to music though, I've played piano for about 9 years and I already made a simple chord progression in Logic. So I can usually tell what "sounds good" i guess[/QUOTE] Splenda and Skeeter pretty much covered all the basics, but I'll add a few additional, more concrete tips of my own. Some of these tips are for more advanced producers so don't obsess too much over them to begin with, but they'll come in handy in the future. - Whenever I'm working on a track, I like to add elements and sections until I feel like writer's block is starting to set in. At that point (often late in the night), I stop working, turn off my computer, go to sleep and listen to what I made first thing in the morning. This way you're listening with a fresh state of mind, and that often kickstarts my creativity and motivation into continuing working on the track. - When I'm recording MIDI with my keyboard I like to quantize the notes to about 40-60%. It fixes most of the obvious fuckups while keeping the "human" element intact. I quantize audio recordings manually using Logic's Flex Time, and only fixing the most vital transients. - Logic has these "producer kit" presets, which use the same drum samples as the regular drum kit presets, but they have way more channel strips and allow you to individually control the volumes and pans of way more parts of the drum kit (such as individual channel strips for the snare drum top and the snares themselves), emulating how drum kits are often micced in professional production environments. I recommend using these if you want more control over your drum mix. You can also control way more aspects of the drum samples themselves by going into the drum kit designer. - Logic also have the best string section samples I've ever heard. The presets come paired with the "space designer" reverb which makes them sound proper real. If you know how to properly arrange for a full 5-piece string orchestra you can also have individual tracks for violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello and contrabass. It makes for some real nice sounding strings. - The "vintage keyboard" physical modelling synthesizers that come with Logic (Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, Hammond Organ) sound pretty damn good when they're processed right, and they give you a lot of options to change the sound. Use them for all they're worth. - [URL="http://freesound.org/"]freesound.org[/URL] is a great place to find free, CC-licensed samples. - Free virtual instruments and effects in AU format can be easily found with some googling. I personally recommend: -- Dexed (FM synth that can load DX7 patches, relatively easy to learn as far as FM synths go): [URL]https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/[/URL] -- Combo V and Combo F (emulates the Vox Continental and Farfisa trasistor organs of the 60's): [URL]http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1004[/URL] and [URL]http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1365[/URL] -- MiniSpillage (3-piece drum synth): [URL="http://www.audiospillage.com/minispillage.html"]http://www.audiospillage.com/minispillage.html[/URL] -- Crystal (semi-modular synth): [URL="http://www.greenoak.com/crystal/dnld2.html"]http://www.greenoak.com/crystal/dnld2.html[/URL] -- Cheeze Machine (string synth, sounds Solina-ish): [URL="http://www.bigtickaudio.com/goodies/cheezemachine"]http://www.bigtickaudio.com/goodies/cheezemachine[/URL] -- OttoPhormant (formant filter): [URL="http://www.musicunfolding.com/ottophormant.html"]http://www.musicunfolding.com/ottophormant.html[/URL] -- ArgotLunar (granulator/granular delay effect) [URL="http://mourednik.github.io/argotlunar/"]http://mourednik.github.io/argotlunar/[/URL] Put your AU components in HDD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. After restarting Logic, you should be able to find them in your channel strip settings, in the instrument section, under "AU Instruments". Effects are located under "Audio Units" in the audio FX section.

Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel a lot better about going into this now. [QUOTE=UnknownDude;50807559]Splenda and Skeeter pretty much covered all the basics, but I'll add a few additional, more concrete tips of my own. Some of these tips are for more advanced producers so don't obsess too much over them to begin with, but they'll come in handy in the future. - Whenever I'm working on a track, I like to add elements and sections until I feel like writer's block is starting to set in. At that point (often late in the night), I stop working, turn off my computer, go to sleep and listen to what I made first thing in the morning. This way you're listening with a fresh state of mind, and that often kickstarts my creativity and motivation into continuing working on the track. - When I'm recording MIDI with my keyboard I like to quantize the notes to about 40-60%. It fixes most of the obvious fuckups while keeping the "human" element intact. I quantize audio recordings manually using Logic's Flex Time, and only fixing the most vital transients. - Logic has these "producer kit" presets, which use the same drum samples as the regular drum kit presets, but they have way more channel strips and allow you to individually control the volumes and pans of way more parts of the drum kit (such as individual channel strips for the snare drum top and the snares themselves), emulating how drum kits are often micced in professional production environments. I recommend using these if you want more control over your drum mix. You can also control way more aspects of the drum samples themselves by going into the drum kit designer. [/QUOTE] Kind of a weird question I guess but, regarding quantizing, in a finished piece are the notes in the piano roll (drums and melody) and stuff supposed to end up exactly on the beat lines? Or are the errors in timing with the exact beat usually just really minuscule? Is that what you mean by the "human element"? Also some of the tutorials I watched basically said that the drums in Logic aren't that great (at least for electronic stuff I guess) and that most of the time I should be using samples for my kicks and stuff, is there any truth to this?

[QUOTE=thefreemann;50807629]Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel a lot better about going into this now. Kind of a weird question I guess but, regarding quantizing, in a finished piece are the notes in the piano roll (drums and melody) and stuff supposed to end up exactly on the beat lines? Or are the errors in timing with the exact beat usually just really minuscule? Is that what you mean by the "human element"? Also some of the tutorials I watched basically said that the drums in Logic aren't that great (at least for electronic stuff I guess) and that most of the time I should be using samples for my kicks and stuff, is there any truth to this?[/QUOTE] Humans are not robots. If a robot was playing a piano, the notes would perfectly fit into the grid, whilst even the most rhymically precise person will be off the grid a bit. That bit off the grid is what gives genres like reggae and funk their flavor, but is also what separates a pro progressive drummer from a novice one. So if you are making house music, you want some offbeat notes, aka groove or swing, but if you are making Berlin school you want to be as on point as possible. [editline]31st July 2016[/editline] In terms of drums, you can go out and download all the vengeance sample packs like every other edm producer does, you can use the inbuilt logic ones and add compression/other stuff yourself, or you can synthesize your own drums. There are pros and cons to each option, so do whatever you feel is best. There is no correct answer here.

[QUOTE=thefreemann;50807629]Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel a lot better about going into this now. Kind of a weird question I guess but, regarding quantizing, in a finished piece are the notes in the piano roll (drums and melody) and stuff supposed to end up exactly on the beat lines? Or are the errors in timing with the exact beat usually just really minuscule? Is that what you mean by the "human element"? Also some of the tutorials I watched basically said that the drums in Logic aren't that great (at least for electronic stuff I guess) and that most of the time I should be using samples for my kicks and stuff, is there any truth to this?[/QUOTE] Quantization snaps the midi notes to the closest pre-determined beat. Most electronic music is made with sequencers so in that case you would want the notes to be as on time as possible, but in more expressive genres like jazz and classical music, the fact that the notes aren't 100% on time adds a lot to the expressitivity, that's what the "human element" is about. When it comes to Logic's drums I'm talking about the acoustic ones, although Logic also comes with its own drum machine with a wide variety of samples and kits available too. How good they sound depends on your own standards and processing, but in my opinion, the acoustic drum samples in Logic can sound pretty good and real as long as you put in enough variation and "human element" into the beats themselves with a realistic variation of velocity. Especially if you add a bit of compression, EQ and reverb. It's not perfect, but if you don't have a drum kit, enough mics or space it can be a viable alternative. Obviously if you're doing electronic music you will want to use synthesized drums or breakbeats in most cases. I make a lot of different music spanning various genres which are often fused together in unusual combinations, so I often end up with a combination of breakbeats, my own samples, synthesized drums and Logic's own drum kits. I can probably give you some more genre-specific tips if you tell me what kind of genres you want to produce, but I really recommend just trying out everything and combining everything.

[QUOTE=Colteh;50793424]Sounds really awesome!! You nailed all the trap/dubstep tropes while adding a wee bit of dnb, super neatoooo thought the kicks at the beginning could use just a smiidge less volume though [media]https://soundcloud.com/tropicalgod/tropic-i-can-help-it[/media] heres just a random fun 1 day thing, sampled from my favorite song of all time[/QUOTE] Sounds like something Q-tip, of the tribe called quest, would produce

If any of you need a rompler for some reason [URL="http://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/64-Virtual-Instrument/1560-Xpand-2"]Xpand!2 is $1 on pluginboutique from now until August 31st.[/URL] For a dollar it's a steal, since it has all of those bread and butter sounds that are always useful, but you might not have. Also it has a whole bank of orchestral hits so you can live out your 80s hiphop dream. [sp]This may or may not be the only reason I bought this plugin.[/sp]

[QUOTE=Colteh;50793424]Sounds really awesome!! You nailed all the trap/dubstep tropes while adding a wee bit of dnb, super neatoooo thought the kicks at the beginning could use just a smiidge less volume though [media]https://soundcloud.com/tropicalgod/tropic-i-can-help-it[/media] heres just a random fun 1 day thing, sampled from my favorite song of all time[/QUOTE] The hihat triplet thing sounds like my audio is stuttering, it's really offputting. Nice beats overall, this definitely puts me in a productive mood.

I'll stop being so offtopic soon I promise, but.. Noisia's album got leaked so they just released it early. EIGHTEEN TRACKS. And this fucking thing is absolutely off the fucking chain ridiculous: [media]https://soundcloud.com/noisia/get-deaded[/media]

[QUOTE=chaz13;50806653]Thanks. Your track is really cool, love all of the elements, really. My only complaint would be the drums, snare especially, seem to lacking quite a bit of high-end and maybe overall volume. Did the transposing and worked on the mix a little more. Plus an animated video! Thoughts? EDIT Newer version [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IicdNiYNs8&feature=youtu.beBett[/media][/QUOTE] This is pretty awesome, man. This style is the type of music i love listening to, love the huge basses and overall very nicely mixed big sound. You're really good with FM stuff like that, really good syncopation. very nicely done, suited very closely to my tastes. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thehoyticus/unknowns123[/media] something something i dunno

[QUOTE=splenda;50808446]If any of you need a rompler for some reason [URL="http://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/64-Virtual-Instrument/1560-Xpand-2"]Xpand!2 is $1 on pluginboutique from now until August 31st.[/URL] For a dollar it's a steal, since it has all of those bread and butter sounds that are always useful, but you might not have. Also it has a whole bank of orchestral hits so you can live out your 80s hiphop dream. [sp]This may or may not be the only reason I bought this plugin.[/sp][/QUOTE] [img]http://i.imgur.com/qUpKizV.png[/img] oh my god is the world of legitimate software really this bad

[QUOTE=Ott;50812026][img]http://i.imgur.com/qUpKizV.png[/img] oh my god is the world of legitimate software really this bad[/QUOTE] I don't use any pirated software but that is kind of because I know people in the business of music programs so I would feel really bad if they learned I "stole" their program. But yea its only that bad with iLok stuff which is the bane of my existence. But I've been buying more and more analog synths recently so hopefully my days of having PACE on my computer are numbered.

ilok is a nightmare

[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;50812281]ilok is a nightmare[/QUOTE] At least their iLok Manager thing is not as ridiculous as "spend $50 for literal hardware DRM pls." No matter how cool a plugin is, nothing is worth the shame of shelling out $50 and a valuable usb port for an antiquated attempt at copy protection.

just bring denuvo to vsts everything will be fine

So what are your guys' influences for writing music?

[QUOTE=Hoyticus;50812002]This is pretty awesome, man. This style is the type of music i love listening to, love the huge basses and overall very nicely mixed big sound. You're really good with FM stuff like that, really good syncopation. very nicely done, suited very closely to my tastes. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thehoyticus/unknowns123[/media] something something i dunno[/QUOTE] I love the sound of this one, especially the sounds that start with one instrument and ends with another, as well as the plucked strings. I also enjoy that it evolves as it goes on. HOWEVER, I think this would [I]hugely[/I] benefit from the bell-sounding instrument occasionally changing a bit as the song goes on. I feel that it's wasted potential holding the song back to have it play the same 4 notes throughout the entirety of the song without a few fluctuations. [media]https://soundcloud.com/riftskan/full-calm01[/media] I'm still hugely unaccustomed to calm songs, but I think this one ended up pretty nice.

[QUOTE=Minelayer;50813275] [media]https://soundcloud.com/riftskan/full-calm01[/media] I'm still hugely unaccustomed to calm songs, but I think this one ended up pretty nice.[/QUOTE] I like the ambience. really nice effects around 0:55. I like the big reverb-y pads going on there, they change around like colors in a kaleidoscope. Maybe it could benefit from a slightly slower bpm, since you were going for the calm style. overall, very nice work. Made some changes, went in a different direction. Kind of a more wub-wub direction. Didn't really change anything from the previous version until about 1:40 [media]https://soundcloud.com/thehoyticus/unknowns[/media]

[QUOTE=Perman00bJr;50813273]So what are your guys' influences for writing music?[/QUOTE] My biggest personal influences, in term of what sort of energy, vibe or how my songs are structured I would say are the following people; Andrew W.K, for his eternal spirit of joy and for the raw, unbridled energy he has in his music. Kip Winger, the dude wrote some really killer songs with his band Winger and he writes some killer classic music as well. Dee Dee Ramone, he wrote almost all of the songs for The Ramones and he is probably one of the better songwriters of his era. I dig a lot of music so there are influences from a lot of artists but the three above I think are those that I consider guiding lights in my own music. There is one song by Pendulum upon which I've built most of my own music and which I probably consider my currently biggest inspiration even though my music is nothing like it. It's Witchcraft and it inspired me to start the progress of crafting my very first album, all I need now is to pop out 3-5 more songs and I'll have enough material for around 10 songs. A few of the people posting here are huge influences as well, some which have left us and a few which thankfully still churns out some really kickass music that I one day hope to be able to hear on the radio, in movies/games or even commercials.

Man, I missed this thread and the like five awesome posters in it. I wish I had music to post, but I made Loss and that's about it lately. I've been working on the score for a short film for an FP'er, and that's been really stressful (my fault) and I wouldn't do it again. Turned something fun into a job, tbh. I'm pretty proud of how Loss turned out though, I'll post it when I get home tonight and have time to give some criticism. Can definitely think how I could improve it, but spent a lot of time on mastering. Multiband compression is just about the best thing ever, btw. Sometimes works like magic after reverbed snares too.