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T O P I C R E V I E W
MusicILove
Please read all of this I promise I will get to the point eventually
I have for years wanted to produce music. I did media production at college and I have almost completed the digital DJ tips dance music formula course. I have actually been making music for years but always start something and never finish it. I have started over 30 things that never got very far. I have only ever finished 1 remix. It's awful and will never see the light of day. I have recently been enjoying freeform and I have decided it's where I want to start, But I don't know much about the genre and so I want people to post their top 5 freeform tracks to get inspiration. Old / new doesn't matter. I also want to know what you like about those tracks. How do I know I'm going to finish this? Well every Monday I spend my time working on production related stuff and at the end of every Monday I will upload it and post it for you all to critique, No matter what I got even if its just 2 notes or 2 seconds of audio I will upload it. It will be an originally written track No remix. The other thing I want from you is to make sure I keep my promise to finish this track. Bug me every Monday if I don't upload something. I'm going to pre warn you this will be my first proper attempt at production so please don't expect much. By hopefully finishing my first track it will start me on a journey to make more. One more thing if I get unwell during this project I won't be able to upload for a while. A simple cold can take over a month to get over before I'm well enough to start again. I will let you know if that happens but if I'm not unwell then bug and poke me until it's done. (Soft pokers please.)
Thank you for your time.
I shall start this project on Monday. Looking forward to hearing you'r top freeform tracks.
Si Thompson
Have a listen to this set for Freeform. ****in' Amazing!
bonus Eclipse - Distortanord, which doesn't seem to be on youtube. Can think of a million others I would put as a top five.
Two thoughts.
As another person who also starts lots and doesn't always finish I find that the best and sometimes only way is just to push through the barrier, even if it means putting stuff in there that doesn't quite fit *at first*, often that leads to something else, better happening, and you can back track later and fix whatever it is (melody or arpeggio, whatever) you put in there temporarily.
I like to work from the breakdown outwards, and I spend an absolute arseload of time on the breakdown. Just looping the background strings over and over and plucking out new melodies and arpeggios over the top of it. Copy them as a block, drag them out of the track/passed the end. Then go back...repeat..before you know it you have a ton of melody lines you can add wherever you need to...perhaps find the final two parts to the end of your track.
I find that with these two things 'Happy accidents' happen, and they make production far more fun.
bonus Eclipse - Distortanord, which doesn't seem to be on youtube. Can think of a million others I would put as a top five.
Two thoughts.
As another person who also starts lots and doesn't always finish I find that the best and sometimes only way is just to push through the barrier, even if it means putting stuff in there that doesn't quite fit *at first*, often that leads to something else, better happening, and you can back track later and fix whatever it is (melody or arpeggio, whatever) you put in there temporarily.
I like to work from the breakdown outwards, and I spend an absolute arseload of time on the breakdown. Just looping the background strings over and over and plucking out new melodies and arpeggios over the top of it. Copy them as a block, drag them out of the track/passed the end. Then go back...repeat..before you know it you have a ton of melody lines you can add wherever you need to...perhaps find the final two parts to the end of your track.
I find that with these two things 'Happy accidents' happen, and they make production far more fun.
Thank you. One of my issues is that I always try to start a track from the beginning working on the drums first. I am going to try starting from the break and melody this time. I have never tried writing my own melody but I learned a lot in that course. Hopefully I can have something down by the end of Monday. I have lots of ideas just struggle to get the sounds out of my head.
I will start with 1 for now and add the other 4 later, because it's actually really hard to list my top 5, and i doubt i will be able to, and instead just list 5 of my favourite. Eclipse vs Force Mass Motion - Brighter Future comes to mind first!
9oh9
quote:Originally posted by Triquatra:
Two thoughts.
As another person who also starts lots and doesn't always finish I find that the best and sometimes only way is just to push through the barrier, even if it means putting stuff in there that doesn't quite fit *at first*, often that leads to something else, better happening, and you can back track later and fix whatever it is (melody or arpeggio, whatever) you put in there temporarily.
I like to work from the breakdown outwards, and I spend an absolute arseload of time on the breakdown. Just looping the background strings over and over and plucking out new melodies and arpeggios over the top of it. Copy them as a block, drag them out of the track/passed the end. Then go back...repeat..before you know it you have a ton of melody lines you can add wherever you need to...perhaps find the final two parts to the end of your track.
I find that with these two things 'Happy accidents' happen, and they make production far more fun.
Also, I've found "working to a template" helps once I've got a basic idea down. I.e. copy in another track to your DAW that's similar to what you're aiming for, duplicate the structure, roughing out the shape of the track in terms of breakdown/buildups, then work from there. Really listen to what's going on in the template track in terms of percussion, buildups, sound effects at transitions. It's all these little details that make the difference between a professional/finished sounding track, and a bunch of 16 bar loops.
I've definitely struggled finishing things too. My new years resolution (last year) was to finish 12 tracks I had kicking around on my hard disk before starting any new projects. I almost hit that target by the end of last year but other stuff got in the way and I'm just finishing off the final one now!
As for five tracks, Triquatra's given a nice selection of 90s stuff, so I'll go a bit later:
Ephexis - Raise Alarm (Freeform mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkW3YNtkfR8 I love the relentless driving sound of this, but it's also got nice drum edits, lots of glitchy noises, the two vocal parts are different but complement each other very well.
Marc Smith vs Safe n Sound - Identify The Beat. Absolute stormer, ravey sounds, big kickdrums, trancey drum & bass breakdown, ridiculous cheesy buildup.
Sharkey - LoTek (Oli G remix) - A solid update (itself 10 years old now haha) of an older track.
Kevin Energy & Proteus - London Helsinki Underground (K-Komplex remix). It's still got that driving ravey acid quality, but with lush synths over the top giving a nice contrast.
Arkitech - Dehumanize 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCwL-FyIU5c I like the variation within the track, same idea, but different variations on it. Production is tight,
MusicILove
quote:Originally posted by Hard2Get:
I will start with 1 for now and add the other 4 later, because it's actually really hard to list my top 5, and i doubt i will be able to, and instead just list 5 of my favourite. Eclipse vs Force Mass Motion - Brighter Future comes to mind first!
Thank you.
MusicILove
quote:Originally posted by 9oh9:
quote:Originally posted by Triquatra:
Two thoughts.
As another person who also starts lots and doesn't always finish I find that the best and sometimes only way is just to push through the barrier, even if it means putting stuff in there that doesn't quite fit *at first*, often that leads to something else, better happening, and you can back track later and fix whatever it is (melody or arpeggio, whatever) you put in there temporarily.
I like to work from the breakdown outwards, and I spend an absolute arseload of time on the breakdown. Just looping the background strings over and over and plucking out new melodies and arpeggios over the top of it. Copy them as a block, drag them out of the track/passed the end. Then go back...repeat..before you know it you have a ton of melody lines you can add wherever you need to...perhaps find the final two parts to the end of your track.
I find that with these two things 'Happy accidents' happen, and they make production far more fun.
Also, I've found "working to a template" helps once I've got a basic idea down. I.e. copy in another track to your DAW that's similar to what you're aiming for, duplicate the structure, roughing out the shape of the track in terms of breakdown/buildups, then work from there. Really listen to what's going on in the template track in terms of percussion, buildups, sound effects at transitions. It's all these little details that make the difference between a professional/finished sounding track, and a bunch of 16 bar loops.
I've definitely struggled finishing things too. My new years resolution (last year) was to finish 12 tracks I had kicking around on my hard disk before starting any new projects. I almost hit that target by the end of last year but other stuff got in the way and I'm just finishing off the final one now!
As for five tracks, Triquatra's given a nice selection of 90s stuff, so I'll go a bit later:
Ephexis - Raise Alarm (Freeform mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkW3YNtkfR8 I love the relentless driving sound of this, but it's also got nice drum edits, lots of glitchy noises, the two vocal parts are different but complement each other very well.
Marc Smith vs Safe n Sound - Identify The Beat. Absolute stormer, ravey sounds, big kickdrums, trancey drum & bass breakdown, ridiculous cheesy buildup.
Sharkey - LoTek (Oli G remix) - A solid update (itself 10 years old now haha) of an older track.
Kevin Energy & Proteus - London Helsinki Underground (K-Komplex remix). It's still got that driving ravey acid quality, but with lush synths over the top giving a nice contrast.
Arkitech - Dehumanize 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCwL-FyIU5c I like the variation within the track, same idea, but different variations on it. Production is tight,
Thanks for the ideas. I planned out the structure on Saturday to make sure I was ready for today. I have a blank project in front of me apart from a Marker track.
MusicILove
OK so todays the day. I am looking at a blank project time to start. I shall say again this is my first attempt at writing music, and my first attempt at finishing something that's not just a drum beat with a bass from MIDI I got off the internet.
Whatever I have at 5 PM I Will upload.
I'm so nervous.
3.2.1 GO.
MusicILove
Freeform project update day 1
Some notes
1 Drums are 100% temporary just wanted a beat to test bass lines to.
2 Trying to decide between the 2 styles of bass line
3 Need to learn how to use an arpeggiator I went through the presets and found one I liked but would like to try doing more with it. It has lots of sliders that I don't understand.
4 The build section is also 100% temporary.
DJ_FunDaBounce
quote:Originally posted by MusicILove:
Freeform project update day 1
Some notes
1 Drums are 100% temporary just wanted a beat to test bass lines to.
2 Trying to decide between the 2 styles of bass line
3 Need to learn how to use an arpeggiator I went through the presets and found one I liked but would like to try doing more with it. It has lots of sliders that I don't understand.
4 The build section is also 100% temporary.
Sounds good. My suggestion: Just keep doing more of that!
What DAW are you using, btw? Maybe I could help you with the arpeggiator.
MusicILove
quote:Originally posted by DJ_FunDaBounce:
quote:Originally posted by MusicILove:
Freeform project update day 1
Some notes
1 Drums are 100% temporary just wanted a beat to test bass lines to.
2 Trying to decide between the 2 styles of bass line
3 Need to learn how to use an arpeggiator I went through the presets and found one I liked but would like to try doing more with it. It has lots of sliders that I don't understand.
4 The build section is also 100% temporary.
Sounds good. My suggestion: Just keep doing more of that!
What DAW are you using, btw? Maybe I could help you with the arpeggiator.
I?m using cubase 10.
DJ_FunDaBounce
quote:Originally posted by MusicILove:
quote:Originally posted by DJ_FunDaBounce:
quote:Originally posted by MusicILove:
Freeform project update day 1
Some notes
1 Drums are 100% temporary just wanted a beat to test bass lines to.
2 Trying to decide between the 2 styles of bass line
3 Need to learn how to use an arpeggiator I went through the presets and found one I liked but would like to try doing more with it. It has lots of sliders that I don't understand.
4 The build section is also 100% temporary.
Sounds good. My suggestion: Just keep doing more of that!
What DAW are you using, btw? Maybe I could help you with the arpeggiator.
I?m using cubase 10.
nice! Though I should've asked if the arp was part of the synth you were using. Either way they usually share some of the core functionality. upward/downward motion, octaves, chords, speed, etc.
Try playing around with the direction (up,down,random) and octaves, meaning: the range of notes the arpeggiator will play. Another important one to keep in mind is the speed.
as the name suggests it has to with the speed/timing of the notes.
quarter notes (1/4) Eighth (1/8) and sixteenth (1/16) are probably the most common values.
Aside from this just keep in mind that all of this production stuff takes time to sink in. The important thing is to be constant in your study routine. (If you don't have one, I suggest you make one!)
Explore and have fun!
;)
MusicILove
quote:Originally posted by DJ_FunDaBounce:
quote:Originally posted by MusicILove:
quote:Originally posted by DJ_FunDaBounce:
quote:Originally posted by MusicILove:
Freeform project update day 1
Some notes
1 Drums are 100% temporary just wanted a beat to test bass lines to.
2 Trying to decide between the 2 styles of bass line
3 Need to learn how to use an arpeggiator I went through the presets and found one I liked but would like to try doing more with it. It has lots of sliders that I don't understand.
4 The build section is also 100% temporary.
Sounds good. My suggestion: Just keep doing more of that!
What DAW are you using, btw? Maybe I could help you with the arpeggiator.
I?m using cubase 10.
nice! Though I should've asked if the arp was part of the synth you were using. Either way they usually share some of the core functionality. upward/downward motion, octaves, chords, speed, etc.
Try playing around with the direction (up,down,random) and octaves, meaning: the range of notes the arpeggiator will play. Another important one to keep in mind is the speed.
as the name suggests it has to with the speed/timing of the notes.
quarter notes (1/4) Eighth (1/8) and sixteenth (1/16) are probably the most common values.
Aside from this just keep in mind that all of this production stuff takes time to sink in. The important thing is to be constant in your study routine. (If you don't have one, I suggest you make one!)
Explore and have fun!
;)
The one I'm using is called the arpache SX. Although I'm thinking I might do my own thing and write it in manually. I know it's slow but it will give me more control as I can't get it to do quite what I want.
MusicILove
Day 2. I have already been messing about for half an hour. today I want to decide on which bass to use and spend more time on melody. If I have time I also want to add more melody with a different sound & start working on drums.
I'll upload around 5PM today.
MusicILove
Need Help!
For one of my synth sounds I'm using Nexus 2. I'm trying to get it to play the same note twice. I have 2 16th notes next to each other and it plays them as 1 note. I also have the same melody going in massive and its working fine it plays both notes instead of just a long single note. Interestingly if I have 2 different 16th notes it works but if they are the same it doesn't. any help appreciated.
Thanks
OP'S
It turns out I left the arp on. I duplicated the channel and had one with the arp off but I copied the melody to the wrong channel.
My fault.
Lesson learned.
MusicILove
Freeform project update day 2.
Here is my progress for today. I'm tired so I'm just uploading it with no notes.
MusicILove
I have decided to cancel this project.
As I said previously I have been trying for years to produce music and I haven't been able to do it. The honest truth is I don't enjoy it I thought finishing 1 track would make a difference but I have been dreading today. I like doing quick edits, making intros & outro for tracks that don't have any & fixes but writing and producing from scratch is not for me. I have been blaming my lack of knowledge or lack of equipment for ages but it's not that I got everything I need it's just me. I find producing very tiring and not rewarding.
Thank's to those who responded to this thread. I'm going to carry on mixing music.
MusicILove
Ok I should explain.
I have Many medical problems most of them are unknown so when something goes wrong or I get unwell the answer is always we don't know what's going to happen and we have to experiment to get things better again. This has been a huge hindrance in my life because I can't do anything there is always the possibility everything could come crashing down. As has happened over the last month or 2. At the time of my last post saying I didn't enjoy music production I really didn't. The reason being the amount of pain and energy it was taking to sit at the computer was outweighing anything I was doing. Minus the pain I do enjoy it and was quite proud of what I had done it's the furthest I had ever got. Today has been a good day first one in a long time I have been able to use the computer for short amounts of time. I will resume this project when I'm able I don't know when that will be. I may recover or something else might come along. We just don't know. I'm one of the oldest people surviving with my condition so it's a complete unknown. In future I shall work a little on this at a time. I won't try and dedicate a day to it I shall just spend an hour or so when I can. I really want to finish this and more. It honestly drives me insane sitting in bed all or most or the day. However I often try and get up when I shouldn't and make things worse it's like being on a constant slippery slope. Anyway short version
Project not dead
Only short sessions
Will finish.
FABIANAN
As someone else who likewise begins parts and does not generally complete I find that the best and now and then just way is simply to push through the boundary, regardless of whether it means placing stuff in there that does not exactly fit from the start frequently that prompts something different, better occurring, and you can back track later and fix whatever it is.
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