April 2021 - Pheek's Mixdown and Mastering

Ableton-Hardware Hybrid Setup

April 26, 2021/in Coaching, Performance, Production, Products, Tips/by pheek

Producers often get comfortable in the computer and feel they are not getting enough, so they decide to invest in hardware.

Once you get good at something, it’s only natural to want to upgrade to the next level. You may get that feeling that you aren’t getting enough out of it, or that the medium is limiting in some way. With my students, often this feeling means leaping from a DAW like Abelton to a hardware-based setup.

They often think that by doing so, they’re going to unlock a richer sound, and a more intuitive, instrumental interface. They believe they will be liberated, able to just jam out compositions without having to rely on an “unnatural” mouse click or MIDI mapping inside a DAW.

The truth is that once they make this leap, and ditch Ableton for an Electron Octatrak, and a modular, they often find themselves being even more limited by the foreign user interface and the fact that modular doesn’t have an “undo” button, or patch saves.

That’s why I always recommend that they use an Ableton-hardware hybrid setup that incorporates the best of both worlds, where the tactile, plug and play nature of hardware meets the convenience of being able to easily save, and revert back to settings on the computer.

Over the years, I think I have a pretty rounded philosophy of how to tackle this integration, which I would like to share with you in this post.

However, let’s talk about hardware first, so that you can understand its strengths and weaknesses.

Myths About Hardware

It automatically Sounds Better

Just because something is hardware, doesn’t mean that it’s going to mythically sound better. In some cases, analog summing can fix some issues and enhance certain things but it can also be sounding different than digital and since our ears are used to the digital realm, it might be misleading. It’s not 2005 anymore; virtual instruments have grown leaps and bounds over the years. Even to a trained ear, it’s hard to tell the difference between an emulated TB303 and the Roland Cloud version. Analog does have charm and specific texture but it’s different than digital. Some people get confused once in front of certain pieces of gear.

However, there are things that happen with the sound in hardware that is difficult to emulate in software. For instance, the “ghost in the sound’ – that almost invisible hand that creates random, happy accidents due to the fact that you are working with pure electrical current, rather than a binary representation of it.

This “hand” often results in sounds that are impossible to replicate, existing for only as long as they project from the speakers. To me, this is the magic of hardware – that unpredictability that exists for a fleeting moment, until it’s gone, never to be heard again, unless you capture it.

In other words, analog has a sound that digital doesn’t have and that’s an aesthetic that pleases many people. Believe it or not, some people really do prefer the digital sound, mostly because our ears have got used to it.

However, what is this capability worth, if you can’t capture it properly? That’s why it’s imperative when buying hardware that you also buy a solid audio interface to be able to record the sound at the highest fidelity. Because at the end of the day, your hardware will only sound as good as the weakest part of the chain.

It’s More Intuitive

This is another fallacy. If anything, analog hardware can create a new set of problems, with the main problem being that you can’t just pull up a setting or patch. You also can’t revert back to a previous setting if something gets all messed up.

Instead, you have to work backward in order to figure out where it went wrong. And if it’s analog, chances are that due to the “ghost in the machine” you won’t be able to get back to where you were. This results in endless hours of fruitless tinkering.

This also poses problems for live performance as well. I remember when I was performing at MUTEK with a modular setup. I was in the middle of soundcheck, jamming on my modular, getting lost in the frequencies. Then at the end of the check, I realized that I had to repatch everything back to where I wanted it for the beginning of the set. It was frustrating, to say the least. On a computer, I could have just reloaded the project.

If you’re allergic to the mouse and sceen, perhaps hardware might be closer to your needs but it doesn’t mean it will be easier.

It’s DAWless

What is an MPC, Octotrak, Deluge if not a Digital Audio Workstation? They are digital, process audio, and they are a workshop. If anything, you are just substituting an intuitive interface that looks like a laptop, for a complicated interface that looks like a box with buttons on it (wait, isn’t that what a laptop is; just a box with buttons?).

If you can’t stand the aesthetic of a laptop and want something sleeker, then that is your right as a creative. Just know, it’s way harder to drop a drum sample into an MPC than Ableton assisted by a Push or Maschine. If you hate the look of a laptop on stage, disguise it in a case.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Hardware

Learn One Piece At A Time

People will often buy a lot of gear all at once without understanding their needs. Unless you are copying someone’s setup exactly from a YouTube video, and want their exact same sound, chances are people want their own thing to fit their artistic vision.

So people will often be like ok, I need a synth, a drum machine, a set of effects, and a “brain” that I can route this all into. Then they set this all up, and realize that they are totally overwhelmed and have no idea how to use it, because there is no blueprint for it.

That’s why I recommend starting out with one piece of gear and getting really good at it. Once you know how it plays, then you can start thinking about the next part of the chain.

So, let’s say you start with an analog synth. First, you must understand where all the filters are, and what they do. Understand how the oscillators sound, and how you can route them. Then you can consider your next addition.

So if you got a synth, the next thing you’re probably going to want is a way to sequence it. That is often a drum machine with a VC gate that can signal the synth to play (or not play) certain parameters. I recommend Beatstep Pro (Arturia) or Pioneer DJ Toraiz Squid. Of course, there are many you could add but those 2 are very versatile and fast to learn.

Once you figure that out, maybe you want an effect in order to get some more character out of the synth. Make sure that the effects that you buy are exactly what you want by testing it on the sequenced synthesizer. If they don’t create exactly what you want, then get new ones. No need to move on until you figure this out.

By moving on too soon, you may just get tangled in your new setup, and not realize how to use it. Now you’re $5,000 deep into a headache, and not any more or less creative.

However, if you understand your pieces inside and out before expanding the chain, then you will run into fewer obstacles.

Record Everything

Remember, often with analog hardware, what you made will only exist at that moment. You may never be able to record that again. Therefore, make sure that you have plenty of space on whatever device you are recording onto because you should be recording nearly everything.

This works especially well if your creative process is to create a bunch of loops, and then assemble your loops into a song.

Truth be told, hardware doesn’t require endless MIDI mappings, and clicking, and is more instrumental, in a lot of ways. The knobs are properly dialed in with the circuits, and the keys are weighted to interact with the synth in ways that a standard MIDI controller may not be. Therefore, the loops that you create may very well be more interesting than anything you could have made with a soft-synth.

Make Sure Your Recording Is Clean

Like I mentioned before, you need a good audio interface. I recommend Focusrite Scarlett or SSL2. These record at a high sample rate, and will capture the purest representation of what’s outputting from your setup.

Also, you have to record it properly. Therefore, the signal has to come as close as possible to 0dB because the noise floor will always be the same on hardware. So if you’re recording at -6dB as you would with digital instruments, when your hardware recording is loaded into your “brain”, it will not seem loud enough in many cases.

That’s because -6dB in the physical world is quiet. So, naturally, you will turn it up. However, when you turn it up you add 6dB of noise to the recording. Maybe you want this noise, but it won’t be accurate to the fidelity of your original recording. Therefore, always make sure that when recording, that it is as close to 0DB as possible.

Realize You Will Be A Noob, Again

Just because you were a proficient Ableton user, doesn’t mean you will be a proficient hardware user. You will have to pick up the user manual again and start watching copious YouTube videos in order to get back up to speed.

Your first stuff will probably sound terrible. This may be discouraging, but this is the reality you will have to accept. Just because you made electronic music “in the box”, doesn’t mean you will be able to “out of the box”

How To Get The Most Out Of An ABleton-Hardware Hybrid Setup

For the sake of this article, we’re going to assume you’re proficient with your DAW. In this article, we’ll use Ableton as our primary example.

Play To Each Other’s Strengths

The goal with a hybrid setup is to buy what the computer can’t give you, and/or compliment what you’re doing on the computer with hardware.

As you know, the process in Ableton is pretty intuitive, and not destructive in nature. If you screw something up, you can always undo, or revert to a previous version of the project.

It’s also way easier to visualize a song’s arrangement on Ableton than it is on an MPC.

However, perhaps you like the playability of the MPC. Well, there is a solution to that – it’s called Ableton Push. I use it for basically everything; it’s amazing. It adds that tactile instrumentation that’s missing when dealing with a mouse. Additionally, all its MIDI mappings are designed to be standardized and intuitive with Ableton.

Use Ableton As A Band Member

A good way to use Ableton in conjunction with your hardware is to use it as a session musician/band member. Write out a basic structure of a song on Ableton, MIDI clock it with your hardware, and then route your hardware into channels, and start jamming. Inside Ableton you can also create some complex effects chains that can modulate the hardware in unexpected ways, giving you something entirely fresh.

Use Ableton To Preserve Sounds

Another way you can use Ableton to compliment your hardware in an Ableton-hardware hybrid setup is to be able to have multiple versions of the same project that contains all the hardware loops that you recorded. Since Ableton’s environment isn’t destructive to waveforms like something like the MPC would be due to its limited hard drive space, you can modify the waveforms, without having to have multiple large files. Instead, you just have individual projects for different versions of the recording.

Split Your Time Into Technical And Creative Sessions

This kind of works whether you are pure hardware, or using an Ableton-hardware hybrid setup. The fact remains, whenever you are integrating analog gear, there will be a setup process. You can’t just load settings. So you have to get all your patches set up, your effects set up and properly bypassed, your sequencer running, and your patterns in order. You then have to make sure that everything is playing back close to 0dB to avoid the dreaded noise.

This will consume a good amount of brainpower.

Therefore, once this is all ready, make sure to take a break. Go drink a beer, meditate, exercise, or do whatever you do to reset your mind.

Then come back and start jamming and being creative with your Ableton-hardware hybrid setup.

MIDI Controllers Are Your Friend

MIDI mapping is really easy on Ableton. Sure, it takes a little bit of time to set up, but it’s often nothing compared to the amount of time you will be tweaking hardware to get a similar result. Therefore, get some MIDI faders and knobs to control some internal processes in Ableton.

MIDI will create that tactile sensation that hardware provides. The Push is, once again, a great way of accomplishing this, since it’s intuitive with Ableton. However, some people don’t want to spend that much money on a MIDI controller. In that case, there are dozens of great controllers out there that allow you to essentially create your own instruments on the fly.

Some suggestions: AKAI midimix, Novation Launch Control

These mappings will also affect your hardware as well, since you can map them to different internal faders that change the sound of the hardware, such as channel volume, or surgical EQ parameters.

Ultimately, do what works best for your creative process. These are just my recommendations from my experiences using both exclusively, and then integrating the two. Just remember, there is a learning curve with everything, and things that were true for one, will not be for the other. There is no magic bullet when it comes to making music. Hardware won’t make you amazing, software won’t make you amazing. Only talent and dedication will.

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Difference Between Art Music And Commercial Music

April 2, 2021/in Blog/by pheek

I often get asked what the difference between art music and commercial music is. And while there is a lot of subjectivity in music, I think I have a pretty good answer for it.

Before I get into it, I would like to note that all musicians are artists. However, there is a difference between art music, and commercial music.

People have different reasons for why they make music. Some do it because they want fame, or at least relative fame within their niche or region. Other people do it because they have an insatiable desire to innovate. And when they innovate, they often take risks. And it’s this risk that separates the two.

I would hypothesize that the majority do it for somewhere in the middle, where they desire to be noticed, but at the same time have an innate desire to create something groundbreaking. Then from that middle, it skews to either side, depending on the individual.

While it is possible to be artistic and commercially successful at the same time, often one has to make concessions depending on what their motives are.

First, let’s define what I mean by both.

Commercial Music

In my mind, commercial music doesn’t necessarily mean Top 40. There is tons of commercial music that you will never hear on pop radio. But you may hear it on a genre specific radio station. And to get on these stations, typically songs have been focus grouped to hell; where consultants, and market research have determined what the winning formula is for a song. This could be length, song structure, instrumentation, and lyrical content, among other factors.

In other words, it’s template, or formula based music.

Since this is primarily a dance music blog, let’s concentrate on techno. If you look at the Beatport Top 100 Peak Time Techno songs, the prevailing techno sound nowadays is 130 BPM +/-3 BPM.

They all have some sort of “DJ intro” for easy mixing, usually a kick drum, or repetitive synth line. Additionally, their breakdowns happen at roughly the same times – 2 or 3 shorter breakdowns in the first half of the song, followed by an extended buildup and breakdown somewhere in the final third of the song.

There isn’t much variation in the composition, because it’s music designed to be mixed by DJs, and the second you change up the composition, it becomes harder for a DJ to mix.

Basically, this sort of music, no matter what the genre, is designed for people to understand quickly.

Music Can Still Be Commercial, Even If It’s Underground

So you made a Rominimal track, which is undoubtedly an underground genre. However, underground doesn’t mean it’s not commercial. If it’s a Rominimal track that follows the same formula as what came before it, borrowing sounds and structures from groundbreakers like Raresh, Petre Inspiresu and Rhadoo, then chances are it exists to be sold to other Rominimal DJs, rather than the art. A producer who is taking an artistic approach would take the Rominimal framework and turn it on its head, just like those three pioneers did when they reimagined Minimal.

Art Music

Art music is music that doesn’t try to be anything else, more or less. It’s music that comes from a place of authenticity, rather than a desire to be heard, or understood. It involves unconventional song structures, reimaged timbres, like a trash can lid for a snare, stream of conscious lyrics, odd time signatures, key changes, etc. In other words, art music takes risks.

The Balance Between Art and Commercial

One thing to note is that art music can also be commercially successful, and even sound popular. There are plenty of uber successful artists whose music is artsy. Classic examples include The Clash, The Talking Heads and Pink Floyd. More modern examples include Radiohead and Billie Eilish.

So, what makes these musicians art focused, rather than commercial? While they have their commercial hits, these aren’t what define their entire catalog.

Classic Examples

Pink Floyd, with their hit “Money” is in ⅞ and uses extensive folly sounds. However, this song is probably played thousands of times a day and has been for almost 50 years. It’s this time signature, and use of sound that is the difference between art music and commercial music.

Another good example of this is “Losing My Religion” by REM. There is no discernable chorus in this song. It’s only verses, with a repeating melody. It also heavily features a mandolin. However, this is still one of their most popular songs, despite it kicking convention in the face. When evaluating the difference between art music and commercial music, looking at the structure is a good place to start.

Modern Examples

An example of a modern art pop song is Blood Orange’s “Uncle Ace.” What’s interesting about this song is that it sounds like something that would be written by Prince. It also has parts that sound like a chorus, but in reality, it has no chorus.

The song structure instead goes intro>verse>bridge>verse 2>bridge/hook>pre-outro>outro, with no part being discernible similar to each other besides maybe the verses. Once again, it’s this structure that empathizes the difference between art music and commercial music.

Another contemporary artist that does artistic commercial music is Billie Eilish. Her hit, “Bury A Friend” is a shuffled, syncopated song that samples a dental drill, Easy Bake oven, glass and a staple gun. Its song structure is equally as odd. It goes hook>verse>pre-chorus>drop>hook>verse 2>alternate verse 2>bridge>pre-chorus>drop>hook. Most modern songs with that level of fame are verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus.

In electronic music, art music becomes a little more apparent than most. Good examples are Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Arca, SOPHIE, and Burial. However, they are all successful, and this is often by design.

What Makes Art Music Successful?

Popular Themes and/or Lyrics

The late SOPHIE is a great example of this. One of her most popular songs, “Immaterial,” is almost an off kilter tropical house and reggaeton song. However, it’s peppered with atonal sounds, and vocal yodels. Ultimately it’s a pretty jarring song. However, the song repeats the same simple lyrics over and over again, and those lyrics are about materialism, something we can relate to. Additionally, it uses R&B, auto tuned vocalizations that are common in contemporary pop music.

Same can be said for artists like Arca. While most of their music sounds like an ambient, distorted dystopia, the beats are largely hip hop beats. That’s why they have worked with mainstream artists such as Kanye West.

Standout Marketing

Good examples here are Boards of Canada and Burial. Both have cultivated a sort of mystery around their work. Neither perform live, and while their identities are known, they are shrouded in mystery. Take Burial for example. Even when he was up for a Mercury Prize, his identity was still speculated. However, despite being up for one of Britain’s most prestigious cultural awards, his music was hardly pop. It was lo-fi, future-garage made from samples from YouTube videos and video games. Placed up against songs at the time, it sounded thin. But that didn’t matter, because of the questions around his identity.

Boards of Canada are all about mystery as well. When they released their latest album, Tomorrow’s Harvest, they built a cipher for fans to figure out, slowly revealing details and further ciphers until fans realized it was a new album.

Having Commercial Success And Then Doing A 180

The best example of this is Radiohead. They blew up with their post-grunge, Brit-Pop single “Creep”, which followed traditional song structure. They then followed that up with their album, The Bends, which featured the similarly Brit-Pop-esque song “High And Dry.” Then they started to get bored.

Their next album, Ok Computer, still had its rock oriented structure, but started to rely more on timbre, and texture instead of traditional rock sounds. They introduced more pedals into their array, and concentrated on using the studio as an instrument, taking cues from early British artists like The Beatles. They even had experimental vignettes such as “Fitter Happier,” a jarring, Speak-And-Spell driven, ambient hellscape of a track that criticizes the numbing of society by commodities and pharmaceuticals.

While Ok Computer had one foot in commercialism, one foot in experimentation, it was with Kid A that they went a full 180, replacing guitars with synthesizers, drum kits with drum machines. Their songs started to have less of a discernable structure, concentrating more on themes, and timbre. However, Thom Yorke’s voice still remained a constant, allowing their previous fans to find grounding in their new, forward thinking sound. Sure, it alienated some fans, but Radiohead still continues to release albums, and sell out stadium tours. If you want a good example of a song off this that sounds like one of their more commercially viable rock songs but in reality has a complex, and unique arrangement, check out this video about the arrangement of “How To Disappear Completely.”

Intention Matters In The Difference Between ARt Music And Commercial Music

Ultimately there is no right or wrong way to create; it’s all about your intention. If you want to make music that’s easy for people to understand, so that it gets wider acceptance, then you should absolutely do that. This is probably the most surefire way to make money as a musician, and you will ultimately have more people listen to, and appreciate your music. You may even find some fame.

If you want to make abstract, ambient, noise music, go for it as well! There is no shame in that at all. You are making art for art’s sake, and nothing else. You are being true to you, and nobody else. While you may not find fame and fortune in it, you may at least feel creativity fulfilled.

Just keep in mind, while it can be done, it’s hard to square the two. So when creating, it’s all about your intention.