Tag Archive for: challenges

Make Music Faster: Self-Imposed Limitations for Expanding Creativity

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“I think we need to go backward now”, is what I said to a friend who was asking what was ahead for the year—referring to a view I had years back about recognizing when it’s time to go with the flow, and when it’s time to reverse or deflect it to move in another direction. I was thinking back to the mp3 revolution of 2001; geeks downloaded all the music they wanted thanks to Napster or other software. There was a continuous debate about music being copied and shared. Back then, it was mostly pop and commercial music taking the biggest hit from file-sharing. In underground culture, Netlabels became a mysterious movement, sharing music for free. Now free music is common, but back then it was really seen as a nonsense approach to a label, “backward thinking” even, and often talked down and ridiculed.

Back then, Dennis De Santis (who now works for Ableton) and I were approached to be part of a compilation for a German Netlabel called Thinner (which eventually became fairly well-known netlabel). Why did I do it? There were two main contributing factors:

  • I wasn’t putting releases out at that time, and I was a yes-man to whatever would come my way.
  • There was a huge new audience flow of people who wanted music for free…so why not just give it to them?

I decided to go with the flow. In doing this, you get pushed in a direction and accept that you might not control where you’ll end up. In my case, I’d say it only led me to great things—meeting people, getting gigs, and a lot of attention.

It was no surprise that when I started my own label, Archipel, in 2004, I kicked it off as a netlabel as well. But in 2006, I decided to go against the flow and do what many didn’t really approve of, which was sell music on Beatport. It was the beginning of digital music sales and many people thought it wouldn’t work, but it did really well.

My point is, there are times when it makes sense to keep going in a certain direction, and there are other times when changing directions is more sensible. Keeping this in mind, being flexible is something that can applied to many spheres, such as your music aesthetic, or even a song itself.

As I’ve mentioned, I recently joined Weeklybeats—a challenge to create one song per week, for the entire year, and I’ve experienced a great feeling of freedom. Normally, I impose a very rigorous workflow on myself when I make music, and often it can take me months to finish a song. Switching up my approach to a faster pace forced me to think less. Yes, there’s a risk of reduced quality with increased speed, but at the same time, with the experience I’ve gained over time, I know I can at least make sure that the production is solid.

I also realized that my number one distraction is that I’m constantly bombarded with new music tools promising tons of new features and spend a hell of a lot time going through them and waiting for a sale to buy them, but never really pushing the stuff I already own to its maximum potential. With this weekly challenge in mind, now that I have self-imposed limitations, I feel like I’ve exprienced a huge breakthrough.

Time

Deadlines make you creative and productive. A friend who is a father of two told me recently that he realized that he was creating his best ideas in moments where he’d squeeze a quick session of music, knowing that he’d be limited to maybe 10 minutes. So, let’s say he had to go to the grocery store; while people were getting ready, he’d open Ableton and would test a new macro he made, or would try to make temporary arrangements. The time-constraint made him more efficient than when he’d have a full evening to himself to make music, which often led to nothing interesting.

My theory is that with too much time, you can spoil what you make. This is why I think 5 hours of studio time spent on one song is not the best idea—a thought I have proven to be correct for myself while taking part in this weekly challenge. Now, I take a few hours to create an idea, save it, and later will expand it—the next day I add a layer, and so on. I’m limited in time and I do multiple things at once, but I’ll squeeze in 20 minutes here, 40 minutes there, then 10 minutes before going to bed.

Try this fun Max patch that will time your work and give you an idea of how much time you’ve spent on things.

Tip: Give yourself a due-date for wrapping up a song and accepting that it is what it is, once you hit it. It’s more important to move on than to try to reach some illusory perfection. Use your agenda alarm as a reminder.

I decide the length of my song before trying to speed things up. This is a tip discussed many times in the blog but I will insist that doing this is a strong limitation that clarifies a lot of things.

Tools

If you’re a reader of this blog, you’ll remember that for one song I encourage you to focus on one main idea supported by two minor ideas. It’s really easy to get lost trying to find an idea to start with. My take is to try to use what comes out fast.

Synths: Know what you have—cycle through synths that came with your DAW, and some that didn’t. I encourage people to get at least one synth that is an analog emulation of a classic model (Arturia does a great job at these) and another that is focused on a wide range of sound design options (I’m a big fan of Rob Papen and encourage you to test his products).

Samplers: Honestly, Ableton Live’s Sampler does the job for me. There are a few more alternatives out there but in the end, they all do a similar job except some have more bells and whistles. I always come back to the stock sampler because it’s simple and extremely versatile.

Once you have decided if you’ll generate a sound or use a sample, it’s time to play with it. Mapping a MIDI controller is very useful for playing different notes. Sometimes I see people in front of their keyboard and they are not sure what to do. This might sound obvious but when jamming, I test:

  • different pitches by playing higher and lower notes.
  • harder or softer hits to see how the velocity influences things.
  • listening to the sound a different volume. Sometimes a sound at very low volume is much more interesting than loud.
  • alternating between short and long notes. Depending on your preset, it can play differently.
  • playing fast and slow notes to see how they feel.

Keep in mind that you can make a song out of any sound if you how to use it. The reason why we discard sounds is because we’re after something else. We’re not paying attention to the sound and its potential. Limiting yourself of only one tool per song eliminates a lot of exploration time. It also forces you to do something with what you have.

Same goes for reverb, compression and EQ. I’ll only use one or two, max. When I’m in mix mode, I usually explore different compressors.

Composition

If you use a modular, or hardware, you have your gear in front of you and you’ll just start working with what you have. This limitation forces you to be creative. But on a computer, you’ll have many ways to make music.

Templates. To speed up my work, I created a main template that I use to create macros and techniques, while recording everything. I mostly jam and will not spend too much time going into detail—raw on purpose. When I have something potentially interesting, I make a channel called “ideas” and put my clips in it. Later, when I start working on a song, from the left side browser, I can open the template and import the “ideas” channel in my new song to select from it. Have multiple templates that you import your sounds to, and in that other template, create sound modifiers. For instance, I have a dub template filled with tons of reverb modulators and delays. I can drop anything through it and something dubby will emerge.

Jam. I try to invite people to jam their song as much as possible. Whenever I have a loop as a main idea, I’ll automatically start recording and will mute it, play it, change volume and try different combinations. This lets me explore ideas I couldn’t discover if I just mouse-edit the clips in arrangements.

Sound

For the longest time, we wanted to have access to as many samples as possible, but now that we have them, we’re completely lost. Try to decide which snare or clap you want. Swapping out a sound isn’t super easy but I found this amazing step sequencer that fixed this problem. It’s made by XLN and it’s called XO.

If you want to make music quickly, you need to find your favourite sounds and create drum kits. Import them whenever you start a new song. Back in the day you’d have a 909 or a 808, and that would be your drum kit, end of story. So create a good main kit, then add a few different ones, and that’s it.

And for crying out loud, stop thinking that you need to do everything from scratch, all the time! Yes, it’s cool, but it slows you down a lot.

I mentioned that I’d “go backwards” this year. What I meant by that is that all my habits have to be upgraded or changed. Habits keep me safe and comfortable, while feeling uneasy forces me to be creative and think outside-the-box. Join me in this approach; I’m sure there’s magic waiting for you too!

SEE ALSO : Reverb Tips to Boost Your Creativity

When life is hard, make more music

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If you’ve been following the news since the beginning of 2020—what’s happening in Australia (the fires and political situation), Iran and USA, etc.—it’s clear that our lives are all effected by things we feel like we have very little control over. For many, global events and news may increase feelings of helplessness, anxiety, or frustration.

Feeling a lack of control is not alien to musicians, who constantly deal with the feeling of not being able to control their path or destination. Notable situations are, for instance, not knowing if a label liked your demo, not knowing sales figures of a release, waiting for news from a promoter that booked you, not knowing if people are really enjoying your music, not knowing how to really have the mix you want, etc.

“Not knowing” becomes an uncertainty that musicians face daily, and it can haunt their thoughts. Some people also feel like the world is spinning out of control, so what, exactly, can we do about it?

For those of you who are musicians and going through a tough time, once piece of advice I can give you is make more music. To people who complain that they don’t have time, I say, find and make time for it as if your life depends on it. I know this sounds like an exaggeration, but I’d like to explain you why, in my case, it really, really helped, and I wouldn’t be exaggerating in saying it almost saved my life. As a musician or creative person, making time for making music is incredibly important.

Grieving, mourning

In a span of 3 years, I lost both my parents. My father passed away first in 2016—a huge shock as he was very healthy. I was left completely destabilized and felt a deep void which I couldn’t see the end of. The only thing that was really helping was to listen to ambient music when I’d be home. I would play music by William Basinski, which is lofi and loopy as hell, but very comforting in a way. In 1998, just before I decided to make music as Pheek, I had a rough separation from my girlfriend at the time and I was basically invalid, at home, not doing anything but listening to the same CD over and over. Music was the only thing that made sense at that moment, and made my path through life seem less negative. Listening to familiar music was a need for me, and my brain demanded that I listen to a specific sound. Nowadays, with the power and reach of what Spotify can do (or even YouTube), you can get suggestions based on what you listen to, and while being soothed, you also discover similar music. There’s an endless amount of music, and as a musician, you have the power to add to it, and to be inspired by it.

That break-up and these intense listening days led me to want to make my own, healing music. Plastikman’s music led to the creation of my Pheek moniker. The loss of my father caused me to make ambient music for 8 months, mostly creating soothing loops that I would listen while commuting or at home. What’s the use of making music if you don’t do it for yourself first?

I find that this is something people I work with sometimes seem to miss. It becomes more of a dispensable thing—the focus becomes where your song will end up instead of making music for oneself. I don’t mean to be judgemental, but this is something I often see.

Now, when it comes to immersing yourself in music creation and dedicating time to spend on it, it gives your brain something to focus on. To combat my own fears about climate uncertainty, I decided to register to this website called Weeklybeats, where artists are asked to make one song per week, for the entire year. I feel that I need to completely push myself to do more music for myself. I’ve been at the service of others for the last year, but recently I felt like my music was too low of a priority in my life and that my skills as a producer had suffered.

When the brain is on a mission, it will focus on resolving problems, being creative in new ideas, and finding inspiration everywhere. If you can swap the hopelessness with a creative flow, even if it doesn’t bring any solution to the world’s problems, at least you’re not being a problem yourself: you are making music and music brings people together.

Making time for making music

“I don’t have time” is the number one excuse I hear when I talk about making more music. I make it myself regularly, and also suffer also from the “I don’t know how I’ll do that” excuse. You get a better sense of free time when you become a parent. When you have a child, all your time and energy is focused on the family and you’ll forget about yourself and your own needs. A 5-minute moment of free time can feel like gold. I felt a shift in my music production when I had my son in 2010. I couldn’t just wake up and make music anymore, there were other responsibilities to manage, and everything felt out of control. I managed to use every 10-minute moment I could find to have some work done on music projects.

How did I do it while raising a child? I’m not totally sure, but I can recommend some ways to dedicate more time to making music in your own life that helped me:

  1. Move a “lighter” setup of your studio closer to your routine. This one might be difficult to figure out, but 100% of the people I talked into doing this came back to me with positive feedback. Most of the time, people have their studio in a far-off portion of their life. That means, studio either out of their apartment or in a room that is in the back of it. It’s slightly disconnected physically from you and it won’t have a place in your life, apart from being a image in your mind. I often encourage people to bring a simpler studio in the living room, kitchen, or the place they hang out the most. I also suggest to leaving your computer or gear on so that you can, without any delay, just pass by and play with music. You can leave a loop playing while cooking/cleaning. Having music as a physically proximal part of your life is a huge eye-opener for new methods of production.
  2. Go mobile. This might sound a bit weird, but making a bit of music on the go is quite fun. Don’t forget that a lot of people use Airpods to listen to music or will listen to it while commuting. I’m not saying that you’ll make a masterpiece this way, but if you can start a few ideas on your way to school or work, then you have something that keeps you busy and creative. I would also recommend to record some moments of your life. We see a lot of pictures on social networks, but not enough audio; recording moments and listening to them later is a surreal experience, plus you can use parts of those for songs, too. There’s nothing more surprising than adding a bit of random conversation into a song.
  3. Don’t wait on perfect conditions to work. The number one procrastination excuse that comes up for a lot of people is that they need certain “acceptable” conditions to make music. It can be with regards to the setup they have, missing gear, missing software, or time of day. Some people believe they can only make music at a specific moment of the day. If you are giving power to these conditions, you are not in control of your creativity and believe that external forces influence you. Sorry, but not sorry, this is false. You, and only you, can make it happen, and it starts by sitting down and just doing it. If it feels overwhelming, then commit to 5 minutes of music and see where that leads you.
  4. Commit. This is why I decided to take on the challenge of doing 1 track a week for 2020. Instead of making an album this year, I’ll make tons of music, on a regular basis. You can commit in many other ways. It can be by partnering with friends to swap music, or making music for local DJs or for your Bandcamp.
  5. Let yourself and your process be free-form. The biggest enemy of creativity is a mold or formula, and if you always follow the same patterns, you will forget that music can even be a simple few notes repeated. Try to listen to 60s-70s neo-classical, minimalist music to redefine how you perceive what you do. Let yourself explore random ideas. A song can be a simple idea and you don’t always need to make a template or a track. It can be something imperfect, recorded out of the blue. There are no rules, be free!

SEE ALSO : Music Making Is Problem Solving

The next big thing?

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During a conference I was recently invited to talk at, I was speaking with a group of people @ College Du Montreal and was asked a question I couldn’t answer quickly. The question that came up was what I’d consider “next level”, which I responded by saying “chances are, you’re going to be disappointed by my answer.” And in many ways, it wasn’t the answered they wanted, and I could see that a few were puzzled, hoping to hear about something new, exciting, and truly ‘next-level’.

Now that that moment is behind me, the concept of genres, and what’s the next big thing has had time to linger in my mind and I’ve thought about it more.

Can you remember a time before Soundcloud? Before iTunes playlists, a time where you literally dug deep through record bins and spent time chatting up record store employees about what was new? Have you bought records without even listening to it simply because you connected with the artwork and knew this was something you needed to have?  Whether the music was next level or not you had the feeling you discovered something special.

In many ways, the overwhelming amount of content we’re exposed nowadays can make us lose track of what’s going on. Musicians can post a track the second after finishing it, and the whole world can potentially hear it within minutes. Yet the tidal wave of self-released music is so frequent that it can also be harder than ever to get noticed. If you’re attentive and curious, you can catch people’s new ideas, yet the question now is – how can one really can keep up?

Here’s a fact to keep in mind: One doesn’t know he/she is making next level music until afterward, and it’s seen as next level.

If you focus on making music that sounds good to you, your skills and confidence will naturally grow. If you have fun making music, you’ll fall in that mind state named the zone. In that mindset, you’re able to achieve the best of yourself with little effort. This concept isn’t esoteric or religious, it’s a known experience studied in psychology and a state within the reach of everyone. But this post isn’t about that.

Most commonly new genres are created when an artist creates a bridge linking different musical styles together – think Jungle which brought Jamaican MC influences and sound effects with faster beats, and thundering sub bass. Think about underground mashups and artists like Girl Talk, which can’t be released legally but borrow music from anywhere as long as it works melodically. Think about the latest genres of dance music to emerge with significant popularity – tropical house, future bass, etc.. can you explain to me what those genres represent?

On a sound design level, I think of Serum, a wavetable synth hugely responsible for creating the growling and murderous monster bass sounds in electro/dubstep. Do entirely new sounds or production technique make that music next level?

What is next level, exactly?

For me, next level comes from one’s point of view. My perspective of what’s next level has dramatically changed in the last 10 years. My interest in sound is continually shifting, and what I feel about it today might be different next week. Sometimes I love music with low-production quality but filled with originality, sometimes I love over-produced generic pop for the crazy slick techniques in the mixing and sometimes I go back in time to revisit classics by Miles Davis to acknowledge the true masterful skills he had in performing his art.

To me, the real question is, what and why are you looking for that?

Rarely will my next level tracks make it to my day-to-day playlist I can listen to in my car. Next level music is usually something I can connect to its world/melody/content. I believe this is also what most people are connecting to with once they pick to make a playlist that moves them. It’s not always something big, loud, or obvious, often it’s a musical element already known, just done really really well, or a touch differently. If the arrangement of a song is smart and tight, often time any tricks happening in the mix won’t be the first thing the listener will hear, but more generally will feel as a whole.

To wrap this post up, focusing on sound design is critical to any producer. Your sounds are your words and your voice as an artist and remember that this is what can get the attention of your listeners more than your technique or tricks.

 

SEE ALSO : Using and Choosing an Alias

The Modular Trap

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The modular synthesis game is a big one right now, and for good reason. Sound designers and synth heads that want to take their sound design to the next level will find no shortage of fantastic modules to collect, and nothing is stopping you from patching together the tweaked out system of your dreams.
That being said the road to modular isn’t without its problems, and before you rush out and get started building a rig of your own I want to share some insights you might find helpful before you dive into the Modular Trap.

Intellijel Rubicon

I’ve spent a good while lately test driving a modular system of my own. I’ve been using the Intellijel Rubicon, and I can attest to many of the uniquely modular things people get excited about – all the hands-on messy fun that make modular such a unique experience, the unique, fat, and rich sound, the many fun surprises that come along with a somewhat unpredictable modular environment. Even with software like Reaktor, Reason, or Softube Modular, the sounds you can generate just can’t be done the same way without real life patch cords and eurorack modules. In my opinion, these are some of the pros about using a modular setup:
The quality of the sound coming from modular is somewhat different and pure. The Intellijel Rubicon I’ve been using seems to have a unique and pure sound, quite different than that from any sine waves I’ve heard from a soft synth. It’s hard to describe but I can honestly feel it more deeply – just like an analog mixdown will be slightly different than a digital one. If like me, you really are fascinated by sounds, you can easily become seduced by this.
Hands-on material plunges its user in a state of flow that can be addictive –. To get anywhere within Modular setup you must be actively involved in every step – patching one module to another, over and over, in different ways requires your full commitment and attention – it’s very engaging. Time can be lost easily when creating music this way, and being so focused on sound feels amazing, it’s truly addictive.
Community – You don’t have to look hard to find helpful, and engaging modular communities online.  You’ll soon learn how to use your modules in creative ways you hadn’t known were possible. Take the time to be a part of these groups as the knowledge shared within these discussions will be precious to you if you’re just starting out.
Knowledge – In educational terms, I feel working with a modular system of any size is one of the best ways to teach yourself how sound can be altered and modified. With automatic results you will train your ears to understand how one module can significantly affect another, and how combining several modulators can create truly strange and trippy sounds

So far it’s all good and fun, but when the initial buzz wears off, you’ll likely find yourself surprised by a few things you might not have anticipated earlier. Here are a few drawbacks to working with a modular setup.

Cost can be a limiting setback. Building a modular rig of your own can and will get expensive. Just the price of patch cords needed for every module alone could very well make you sweat, and you’ll of course also need a case, output, input, VCAs, modulators, oscillators, LFOs, filters…, and that’s just the beginning.
Time Investment. I can’t complain about losing yourself for hours in synthesis, but it’s pretty easy to do with a cool rig begging for your attention. Like any other tool in your arsenal you’ll want to be productive and useful with it, so knowing how to create the sounds you need quickly will take some getting used to.
Steep learning curve. For many producers used to creating sound entirely within software, getting things up and running can be a little more complicated to set up.
Overwhelming options – with dozens of companies producing filters, effects, and everything in between for Eurorack, you might get the feeling that you’ll never have enough for what you want or need.

All that being said, I recommend taking an opportunity to get hands-on with a modular system. But before you build a rack of your own do yourself a favour and ask yourself this ~

Exactly what you want out of this?

What I mean is, are you performing live? are you a sound designer looking for unique and original sounds for your projects and work? are you creating a rig for your enjoyment during your off hours? Those questions are important to know because you can then begin planning with help from a site called Modular Grid – a website and resource that will prove to be incredibly helpful in answering questions about getting started.

One last note – I feel like there are many ideas about ‘going modular’ that are quite misleading, and not at all true. I often hear

“how much easier it is to make music using modular synths, how you’ll be taken more seriously as an artist, and how so many more opportunities will come to you if you can build the ultimate rig…”

Reaktor Blocks: A killer alternative.

As I pointed out earlier, setting up a modular system is going to take a lot of time, plenty of money, and a steep learning curve you wouldn’t anticipate at first. Look at software systems like Reaktor where you can patch together virtually anything you can do with the same modular components. Reaktor is just $199 usd, and requires a modest computer, that’s it. Many people love the look of their ever-growing systems, but many less so are becoming well-respected musicians using modular gear. There are a few role models out there who have accomplished a lot with their analogue toys yet on the flip side there are way more people who are only spitting out random bleeps and farts, feeling mid-ground between fascination and frustration. That’s all fine if bleeps are your thing but the tidal wave of fan mail probably isn’t coming in as fast as you hoped it would. And lastly, building the ultimate rig is in many ways a never-ending race. As soon as your newest filter or VCA arrives you’ve already decided you need another component to make it even better, and you’re almost never satisfied with what you have.

Other possible alternatives: Softube Modular, Reason, Bitwig, VCF Rack (Free).

The consensus is in – Modular is awesome, addictive, and a great way to learn about synthesis. Its also true that building a rig of your own is extremely pricey and not necessarily more productive in the end. Since this blog is about productivity, creativity and tackling anything that stops us from getting there I hope my impressions about going Modular will help make your experience getting started a positive one.

I want to hear about your experiences, hit me up about your thoughts, impressions, or anything else by leaving a comment below.

Cheers ~ JP

SEE ALSO :   What is the Electronic Music Equipment Needed to Start Producing?