Tag Archive for: learning from experienced producers

How To Prepare To Make Music

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When I was 10 I was invited to be part of the track and field crew at my middle school. While I always considered myself a proficient runner, one thing that we started to do more was stretch. At first, it seemed like a huge waste of time, since all I wanted to do was run. Instead, we were spending all this time doing these exercises that, to me, had nothing to do with running. However, after months of stretching, I started to realize that I was getting significantly faster. This is because I was warming up. Just like you have to warm up to prepare for running, the same goes for music. In this post, we’re going to discuss warm-up techniques that help you prepare to make music. 

 

Your Tools Aren’t That Important

I’ve talked about this frequently in previous articles, but it deserves to be reiterated. In music production, clients often think that they can buy all the equipment they want, and somehow, miraculously, they will be inspired to create. However, more often than not, they get stuck and the most productive thing that happens is my client cleans the dust off their wall of useless gear. 

Just buying equipment doesn’t do anything if you’re not intimately familiar with it. Imagine buying a nice guitar and thinking you can play it right away despite not knowing how to play guitar. Sounds ridiculous, right? Of course, it does! It takes time to learn a new instrument. It takes frustration. It takes commitment. However, sometimes they do know how to use this gear, and still, nothing happens. More often than not, their problem is they don’t know how to prepare to make music. And just like I was warming up for track and field, so must a producer. 

 

Come Up With Your Own System When Preparing To Make Music

Now people think there is a uniform way to prepare, however, everyone is different. The mind is not a quadricep, where there are standardized stretches that make it more functional. So what we do in coaching is to come up with a system that works for them. I start with figuring out what their current habits are because one thing we do know is that what they have been doing isn’t working. 

So once we figure out what they have been doing it’s time to figure out a system that works for them. Like I said earlier, everyone is different, so everything I’m about to make is a suggestion, not a catch-all. 

 

Actively Listen To Music To Prepare To Make Music

a photo of preparing to make music by actively listening to musicThe first thing producers can do is listen to music before they make it. This might be a huge “duh” statement, but how many people actively listen to music? How many people come home, crack a beer, put on a record, and then just sit there, doing nothing else, except engaging with the music? 10%, maybe? However, it’s this 10% of people who have set themselves up for success if they are music writers themselves.

When listening to music actively, it’s best to think of it as a reference track, in a way. Listen to the song over and over again. Note the timbre and structure of the song. Like actually note it in a notebook. This will get your mind prepared to make music by actively engaging it.

When actively listening to music, make sure to concentrate on the appropriate parts of a song. Lots of producers obsess over the kicks, hi-hats, and the bass, but at the end of the day, it’s the melody that people remember. So do yourself a favor and try to concrete things that you can easily absorb. You will probably not remember the exact timbre of a hi-hat, but you might remember the melody enough to replicate something similar later.

 

Listening To A DJ Set Will Help You Prepare To Make Music

Many students tell me that they find inspiration while they are in the club, and can’t get home quick enough in order to harness it. A solution? Listen to a DJ set for 20 minutes to an hour. The longer you prepare the better. 

An image of someone DJing, which is a great way to prepare to make music

You can take notes on the transitions and compositional intricacies, something that you couldn’t do while in a club. While not exactly the same as a club, I often find that my students say that all the ideas they had in the club start manifesting themselves again.

One thing I like to do is put on a mix while scrolling through and listening back to the samples on my hard drive. By doing so, you can hear when a sample fits nicely into the mix, which you can categorize, and use later. Just make sure the volume levels match what you’re doing in Ableton. You want your samples to vaguely fit inside the mix, rather than being the predominant sound. This is a helpful way of managing samples as well, because otherwise when you’re just scrolling through samples, and not comparing it to music, you’re just comparing the samples to air.


DJing To Help Prepare To Make Music

I think DJing is a great way to prepare to make music. Similar to the other suggestions, DJing is a powerful form of active listening. DJing trains your ears to deeply understand the structure and mix of a song. You can easily add or subtract frequencies to see how they modify the song. You can also hear where transitions happen, allowing you to build your tracks out to be more DJ-friendly (if that is one of your goals). 

 

Build Categorized Playlists To Help Prepare To Make Music

I know earlier I said that it’s easier to concentrate on the melody of the song, rather than the rhythm of it. So what are you supposed to do when you want to work on a specific aspect of a song? Well, as you’re listening, throw the songs into playlists that are labeled based on the aspects of the song that are inspiring. So have one for the melody, have one for that really specific hi-hat or kick. Have one for a bassline. Then when you want to prepare to make music, you can go back to those playlists and warm-up actively listening to those.

 

Take Inspiration From Your Inspiration’s Inspirations

Another way to prepare to make music is to learn from the people who inspire your inspiration. For instance, I’m inspired by Ricardo Villalobos, so I often read articles about him. Through these articles, I found out that he’s inspired by pianist Keith Jarrett. Jarrett does not make electronic music, however, he’s clearly had a large influence on the genre, whether he knows it or not. So, naturally, I listen to Jarrett to see if I can’t harness some of that inspiration.

 

There Are Many Ways To Prepare Your Brain

At the end of the day, the goal is to get your brain engaged. You can play video games while listening to music, read a book, or go for a run. You can also paint, or write. These are all just suggestions and you should find the one that gets your mind warmed up, since as I stated at the beginning of the article, a mind is not a leg – there is no uniformity.

 

Is It Best To Produce One Style, Or Many?

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Why do people keep producing the same kind of track when there are others who have a wide palate of styles? I’ll admit, I’m a victim of the former. I’ve been producing the same type of music forever. Sure, often they sound different, but overall, I use the same formula and workflow, which translates into a bunch of songs that sound somewhat identical. This results in some people questioning why I don’t expand my palate. 

In response, I try to break out of the mold and create something entirely different. Then, the people who listen to me because of my consistency get annoyed and start complaining. There is no victory here, which is why I always suggest just making music for yourself. At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is be satisfied with your finished product. However, let’s explore the advantages of disadvantages between the two.

 

Producing A Similar Sound

Ok, let’s first talk about making the same song over and over again. In an era of algorithms and playlists, this is a sensible approach if you want to build a brand. With streaming, listeners have infinite choices nowadays. They can go on Spotify or YouTube and build their own playlists that fit their mood. And when they want to augment their mood, they often go and grab songs from familiar artists that satisfy that emotion. If you’re an artist that produces a bunch of different styles, they may not go check out your new stuff, because they know that it won’t fufill that emotional anchor. However, if you have a palate of sounds, tempos and styles that fit into a similar trope, then listeners can reliably count on you to produce something that satisfies their need. 

 

The Benefit Incremental Improvements On A Sound

Another reason for producing similar-sounding tracks is because the artist wants to keep on improving on something. Often they believe if they keep on working in the same vein that their tracks will get progressively better, which may lead to some sort of breakout moment. If they decide to take a tangent into other realms, then that may cause them to lose sight of that goal. They may even start making more predictable, cookie-cutter stuff since often when artists explore new genres, they start watching tutorials that thousands of other producers have watched. Often, this regresses their sound, when by staying the course it may have led to new, exciting sounds, even if they fall inside a stereotypical frame that they defined throughout their years of producing.


What To Do With All Of These Similar Tracks?

When you have 100 songs and they’re all the same, what do you do? Is that a waste? If you release all these 100 songs, you’ll burn yourself out because not all are worthy of release. I usually recommend making bundles of 3 or 4 and seeing which ones work by passing them to DJ friends who can play them. They’ll let you know which ones work, and what doesn’t. 

Also, don’t forget to store all of your projects. You never know when you can go back and finish a track with the new skills you have acquired. 

 

How To Change Your Sound, Without Becoming Cookie Cutter

However, there are ways for producers to keep a template and still change their sound. For instance, they can change the key. Each key has a different mood associated with it, and while the timbres and samples may be the same, the new pitch can redefine the emotional impact. You can still retain the mood that listeners expect if you switch the key to something harmonically relevant to a previous song’s key. Just check the Circle of Fifths to find out what works harmonically.

Another thing composers can do is time signature changes or add polyrhyms in their music. In dance music, it’s often hard to do something outside of 4/4. Sure, there are some tracks that work, like Jon Hopkin’s “Neon Drum Pattern,” which is in 5/4, or the rave classic, Jakatta’s “American Dream.” However, those are a pain to mix, and are a rare breed of dance songs. What I suggest is things like using triplets, or doing things like making your song half time or cut time. Another thing you can do is make your rhythm 4/4, and your lead 6/4, since they are both common time. However, if you don’t care if your songs are mixable, feel free to make songs in 9/8 or 17/4. Who cares? Like I said, it’s about feeling satisfied with your music, and nothing else.

 

Producing Many Different Styles

Ok, so let’s talk about artists who have a bunch of different styles. I would also say that I do this too, as I release dub techno, minimal, ambient, and more. However, with my sound, it all comes from a similar root, as I mentioned before.

Then there are artists that are all over the place, and cannot stay tied town to one process. A good example of this is the band Underworld. You might now them for their song Born Slippy, but they are way way more than that. They were originally an ‘80s rock band that evolved into the techno juggernaut that we know today. However, if you go through their catalog, you will hear many genres of music. There is house, techno, and breaks, for sure. But there are also ballads, and ambient pieces. Sometimes there are big beat songs as well. Then occassionally, they’ll return back to their roots and make a more rock oriented song. 

Another good example is Radiohead. Pretty much every album they change up their style. Ok Computer does not sound like Kid A, Kid A does not sound like In Rainbows, In Rainbows does not sound like King of Limbs, A Moonshaped Pool does not sound like King of Limbs. This process all started with Kid A when they wanted to make an anti-album that was intended to alienate their fans by switching things up dramatically, replacing drums with drum machines, guitars with synths, and normal vocals, with distorted ones. In other words, they were sick of stardom. But that backfired, and it became arguably the most critically acclaimed album of that decade.

 

Having An Artistic Signature To Tie It Together

However, if there is one thing that Underworld and Radiohead have in common is that they have an artistic signature, whether they like it or not. With Underworld it’s the timbre of the sounds they chose, paired with Karl Hyde’s spoken word vocals. With Radiohead, it’s the production veneer and Thom Yorke’s distinct crooning. This keeps the fan grounded in familiarity, even when the styles change. 

 

We Live In A Different Era

Keep in mind that Underworld and Radiohead are from a different time though. They existed in a time when I believe labels were looking for artists that pushed the limits of their creativity. Nowadays, with algorithmic streaming, labels are often looking for consistency, because they have artists put into boxes that they can market to said demographic. If you’re going to take this route, you may have to self release, or do a lot of research in finding a label that still has this old ethos. 

Frank Zappa has this great interview where he laments that cool kids running labels ruined artistic expression. He says that in the ‘60s, the reason why so much amazing, forward-thinking music broke into the mainstream is because the label heads were just old businessmen who didn’t know anything about music. They were like, “what do I know? Put it out, see what happens.” Then some of those records had great success, so they hired young, long-haired hippies to come in to advise. Those hippies became smug and decided they knew what was best, because they had taste, and thus began the decline of forward-thinking music, because often, they had no idea, despite thinking that they did. 

This has progressively became worse, and now these label executives have developed formulas for what should be released and what shouldn’t. Luckily, we live in an era where self distirbution is possible, and with the right marketing, and luck, you really never know where your multigenre music can go.

 

Whatever Route You Chose, It Doesn’t Matter 

Whichever route you choose, there is no right and wrong. Releasing the same sort of song can be fulfilling from a commercial standpoint, but from an artistic standpoint, it can become dull. Chances are most musicians are not going to be touring with thousands of adoring fans, so it might behooth you to make whatever you want, rather than trying to placate a potential audience. But, if you have a sound and know how to market it, then by all means, refine it. God knows that’s what I did. But I also expanded into other genres too. So perhaps, somewhere in the middle is a solid approach

Do You Love Your Track? Or Are You Just Overly Committed?

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  • The creative process involves a lot of fantasizing. You fantasize about the reaction you’ll get from crowds, and the reaction you’ll get from promoters. You fantasize about the reaction you’ll get from their creative peers, and the reaction you’ll get from your friends. Perhaps the person you have a crush on will like it. Perhaps you’ll get it signed to the label of your dreams, and it will break your career as a musician. This often creates a deep level of love for your track. 

However, the caveat is that many people feel this adoration in that euphoric phase of composition, where you’ve discovered an amazing loop or a basic structure of a song that enraptures you. 

This is that moment when you pull the hammer back on the metaphorical pinball machine and bounce your idea into the summit of the board, where it starts bouncing off the bells, whistles, and fixed, flashing bumpers, sending it careening into a space of infinite possibilities. 

Then after a while, it slows down, and you begin to see that the ball is falling deeper and deeper towards your flippers and that if you don’t hit it just right, you may destroy your track forever.

This is that moment of self-reflection and doubt that most creatives have. It’s in this period that you might think that you messed the whole track up by adding a part that doesn’t elicit the same joy as before, almost like chasing the high the first time you took a drug. 

The problem is that you’ve committed so much time to this track that you may be convinced that it’s still incredible, and become stubborn about any suggestions. 

Or it could go the other way, where you’ve committed so much time to this track that you feel like you need to do something with it, but you don’t love it like you used to. There are solutions to both conflicts, resulting from the same emotion – love for your track.

 

A photo of Ableton next to a cup of coffee.

 

A solution to loving your track too much

This is a hard one because people often get stubborn about their art. They love it so much that they can’t absorb any feedback or rejection from their peers about it. Often that’s because their love for it is built on the cognitive heuristic of commitment, rather than them actually believing it’s an incredible track. 

Therefore, often this fallacy is built on eggshells and critique may seem like a personal attack, and therefore the creator protects it from opinion and rejection, lest they be rejected too. This sometimes leads to people not putting their track out at all, always “waiting for the right moment.”

The way to get over this fear? Truly don’t give a shit what other people say. Most great artists didn’t. We always hear stories about the albums that critics lambasted or art that sat obscurely for decades before being dusted off and appreciated. Or there is the opposite, where their art’s controversy was appealing to some, and appalling to others, creating a maelstrom of press. 

This is what happened to John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, who made some of the most challenging music in modern history, where to this day most people don’t understand it. But they are both considered important in the canon of music. 

They knew their music was threatening, but they probably didn’t care, because they thought it was important, and thus put it out there. 

If people want their music to get out there, especially if they still hold onto the original fantasy of other people listening to it, then they need to put it out there for critique. Whether that’s your friends or a marketing campaign that goes out to media contacts and DJs, you’re going to feel rejection, even if it really is brilliant. That’s because music is subjective. 

 

A photo of Deadmau5, who understands that his love for his tracks can often be misguided.

Credit: Wikipedia

A solution to not knowing if you still love your track

If you got to the point where you can put the song out, but are still having doubts about it, keep in mind that you really have no idea how it will sound to others. Remember, when you first started the track, there were elements about it that sent your brain bouncing off the proverbial pinball machine. Therefore, there is a good chance that other people will love it too. 

Deadmau5, love him, or hate him, knows how to finish tracks, and has released some of the most seminal modern rave anthems. With his hit, Strobe, he was having this conflict. He liked it enough to finish it, but not enough to be confident with it. 

Since his label hadn’t seen anything in a while, he decided to send it over to them, suggesting that it could be a B-side to a record; another piece of content to whet the appetite of his fans. Then, to his surprise, it blew up in 2009, right at the advent of the EDM explosion, helping to propel his career into the stratosphere. 

If you listen to Strobe, you might be able to see why he wasn’t confident in it. It’s at least two minutes longer than any other song on the album, clocking in at 10:33, and it takes a few minutes before the kick drum comes in. It’s not necessarily a radio anthem. 

But believe it or not, people like challenging music, because it gets them thinking.

A less mainstream example of this is from one of my clients who had a song that they sent me that I thought was pretty good, but they were having doubts about. I was like “Look, how about I send it to some labels and see what happens.” 

So I sent it out to some labels, and it didn’t just get signed, it got picked up by a bunch of different places. They were having doubts, and their doubts were squashed when it became as successful as anything else they’d released.

You also don’t know who tracks are going to resonate with. While they might not vibe with your primary (often fantasized) audience, they could resonate with an entirely new audience. 

A good example of this is a client of mine who sent me over some ambient tracks they made, which was surprising based on his previous work. What was also surprising is that they had all these Indian-sounding names. 

Well, it turns out those Indian names were actually holy words in a religious sect, and when people searched for those on Google in regards to the sect, their songs would come up. With this, their music, in a way, became holy music and ended up performing better than any of the other, more branded tracks that we worked on together.

 

A Note On Expectations

As I get older, I realize that the desire to be understood, or liked by others is a trap for the creative process. The real joy should come from if a song is technically solid, or if you changed your style to something that you’ve never done before. These are both something to be proud of as they show an improvement in your abilities as an artist.

I like to think of each track as journaling, and it’s a capturing of an idea, rather than trying to make something that will please thousands of people. The most frustrated artists are the ones who have high expectations for their music and where it goes, the least frustrated are the opposite. 

A note on collaboration

As many of you know, I do track finalization. Whether you do it through me, or another session musician, I think what I’m about to say rings true for both. Basically, I only like to work with people who have a realistic expectation of their art or don’t view me as some sort of savant. Just like they have high expectations for the track, they might also have too high of expectations for the session work, especially if they have both. Because whether people realize it or not, they might have subconscious ideas of how their track should go without consciously knowing how it should go. 

Then when I or anyone else goes in and makes edits, these sorts of clients expect it to sound like something completely different. Also, if they’ve heard a track a couple hundred times, any alterations to it are going to be glaringly noticeable, and might not jive with the congruency you have programmed in their head. Therefore, if you have these sorts of expectations, it’s best to forgo them, as they diminish the creative potential of a track. Remember, it took something like 27 people to write “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer. Did they all agree? Did it diminish the value and impact of the track?

The best people to work with are ones who are about a 6 or 7 out of 10 on their love for their track. These people tend to keep an open mind.

 

A reflective look at music creation: how to know if you truly love your track and why emotional connection matters in production.

 

Electronic Music Coaching Lessons

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There is this attitude in electronic music that if you share your secrets and techniques that somehow an essence of it will get lost, and some of the magic will dissipate. Additionally, people may take that advice, utilize it, and somehow outgrow and surpass the teacher. And nobody wants to feel like they dug their own grave. This philosophy about electronic music coaching took me some time to overcome, and I’m glad I did. 

Instead of the relationship between teacher and student becoming parasitic, instead I have found it to be purely symbiotic. Sure, some students have surpassed me in many aspects, but I find that they are reciprocal about their newfound knowledge. Now I have many people who are happy to help me with aspects of music making that I don’t enjoy doing as much as they do.

A photo of George Martin coaching the Beatles.

George Martin helping The Beatles. He would have been excellent at electronic music coaching.

Success Takes A Team

As I’ve harped on in previous posts, it makes sense to delegate some of the tasks of your music making, as this is what happens in every other genre of music, yet, for some reason, seems to be stigmatized in electronic music. Think about it, The Beatles had George Martin, Miles Davis had Herbie Hancock. Michael Jackson had Quincy Jones (as did Frank Sinatra). It doesn’t make you less of a musician to be the teacher and embolden your students; it empowers you and propels you to greatness.

That’s why, around Spring of 2016, I announced on my Facebook page that I’d do free electronic music coaching to anyone who would come to me. Back then, it was just a pure invitation to share my knowledge to people and using Mailchimp’s newsletter technology, I was hoping I could send emails to people and guide them in exercises. 

Initial Experiments In Electronic Music Coaching And The Lessons Learned

My initial attempt kinda failed pretty quickly as my lack of understanding of the email technology drove some of the participants mad and I had more damage control to do than coaching. So I closed that option and decided to open an electronic music collective / Facebook group with a precise goal – to provide a safe space for anyone who was unsure about their music before posting it publicly or sending it to a label. Of course, any question would be welcomed and we would have a hive mind to answer questions from various people.

As I’m approaching 5 years of free electronic music coaching, I’ve learned a lot from this. From giving feedback and to seeing mentees grow into solid musicians, these are the scenarios I saw play out.

Common scenarios In Electronic Music Coaching

Pretty much everyone who came to me to get some help had one thing that was blocking them from something. A minority would come to perfect their skills and some would come to have guidance in different situations but in the most part, people come to me because they’re blocked. In our electronic music collective, the more specific questions are usually searching for a specific effect used to replicate a sound or getting feedback on a song. These are quickly answered by the community that share a few ideas and hints. Often, it might not be exactly what the person needs but it often guides them down a path that may lead them to something more proactive.

However when doing one-on-one electronic music coaching, I often am presented with the same problems:

  • People who are experiencing a major writer’s block and are feeling helpless.
  • Aspiring artists that have worked really hard and are feeling stuck, not seeing improvements.
  • People who have the loopy syndrome, having countless loops but not being able to finish songs.
  • People who have deep love for what they create and are stubborn about any criticism, or conversely, they have intense hate towards what they create, and beat themselves up over it.

How Evolution Impacts Knowledge

If you look in hindsight at what happened in the world of electronic music production in the last 20 years, the software world paired with the internet has made it much simpler. 20 years ago, we were limited to a few resources and we’d always be in stasis waiting for our answers to come (if they ever did). We are now living in a world where we are constantly having our attention pulled in multiple directions, with each direction espousing that “this is the true way,” when there is rarely a “true way” for anything, especially in art.

It’s these conflicting statements that seeds a ton of doubt, or unnecessary confidence in their practitioners. This doubt, or this overconfidence that my one on one sessions seek to remedy. 

There is nothing wrong with being confident in your work, but overconfidence creates barriers to learning, and conflicts with progress. Sometimes I wonder why these people want electronic music coaching at all, but the fact that they get it, shows they at least have a conscious understanding of its importance, even if their subconscious confidence conflicts with it. 

Conversely, the doubt that many musicians have creates a similar problem. They may be in coaching to become more confident, but their lack of confidence results in that sort of barking little dog syndrome, where any bit of critique damages their already delicate creative ego, even if they consciously know it’s necessary. This can be likened to something like physical therapy; it’s going to hurt to walk again if you broke both your legs, and you’re going to hate it, but you know it’s necessary.

Successful Students

After coaching for over 15 years total, I had noticed that some people did better than others. At the beginning, I was working with a plan, and would teach all the people the same things but I quickly adapted that because it was not working well. Some were learning fast and would provide some interesting challenges or questions while others had some of the same questions but were always struggling on basic issues.

I understood one thing which is, you can’t really teach electronic music theory and music production training from a rigid approach because what makes it successful is to understand someone globally and then, as a team, find strategies to build a routine and work habits. More importantly, I tried to help the person find its own way of learning through the internet jungle.

Here are common points that people who succeeded had:

  • They had a clear direction: People that I see with a clear intention and direction, such as “wanting to sound like X”, are the easiest to guide. If you have a target and goal, you can always try to push what you do and technically study how it is done with music you have on hand.  With my help, we can reverse engineer some songs and try different things. Once that target is mostly reached, what’s interesting is how it leads them elsewhere. The fact that they know how something is done allows them to discover other artists or songs that are itching their curiosity. But working with targets, is always a clear indication of improvement.
  • They showed consistency: Anyone who works on a regular basis, over a constant time, has shown great improvement. More than people who started really strong but couldn’t keep up the pace. Working hard isn’t always smart. It’s more about knowing what you can do and try to consistently learn something new, practice it and then putting it into context of a song.
  • They asked a lot of questions: Often creative success and inquisitivity go hand in hand. Asking for advice and technical guidance is a must if you wish to go far. You can do everything yourself but you’re not giving yourself the chance to grow adequately. Even if someone thinks otherwise than you, there’s some part of his view that can be useful.
  • They stayed humble and always wanted to learn. If you come with the idea that you’ll learn something everyday, you won’t be stagnant in whatever you do and will always be looking forward.
  • They were not afraid of rejection and criticism. Because each song is an experiment in itself and anyone’s point of view is arbitrary.

electronic music coaching photo

Struggling points

These are individuals who have been facing a number of problems in the learning and while have learned a lot and improved much, they unfortunately haven’t rolled out as much as they wished. These are what commonly hinder them.

  • The student focuses on the success of a specific song.
  • They work in a linear fashion and won’t change.
  • Insisting on doing everything themselves.
  • The musician is often convinced they know more than they do.
  • Their expectations are set really high.
  • The belief that hard work brings success is deeply ingrained in them.
  • They see music in a hierarchical way.

 

What I’ve Learned In Electronic Music Coaching

The Latin proverb docendo discimus translates to “by teaching, we learn.” These are some of the lessons I’ve learned by teaching others.

Free isn’t always a good thing

If you give something for free, it doesn’t always have value. Free advice is cheap advice. Unless people pay for it, there is less of a chance that they will anchor said advice. Not saying that giving free advice is bad; that’s what these blog posts and the group flourishes on. It’s just that they can be easily dismissed. However, if you paid for advice, there is a greater chance that you implement it.

Consistency is key to development

Think of it like training for a sport. If you are training for a marathon, and decide to take a month off, you’re going to have to spend time ramping back up to that level. Additionally, the longer you put something off, the more chance you have to disregard it.  

Not be afraid of making mistakes

The comic strip artist Scott Adams has a really poignant quote about mistakes in the creative journey. He says, “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” I find this statement to be very true. Many of my favorite parts of my works have come unintentionally, or are a result of seriously messing something up. 

Bob Ross would have been great at electronic music coaching.

Being part of the community

No man is an island. Civilization was built by teams, and communities, not individuals. Teaching has allowed me to be part of a vibrant community, and for that I am extremely grateful. It has taught me at least as much, and provided me as many resources, as I have provided others.

Other Benefits of Electronic Music Coaching

Since my music is pretty esoteric, I learned over decades of performing that the people who attended my shows were cut from a similar cloth. They were musicians, and sound designers, eager to absorb some of the essence of the performance in order to translate it into their own creations. 

This gave me the realization that in order to grow and keep my fan base engaged, I had to give the people what they wanted. Therefore, electronic coaching became not only empowering creatively, it became a solid marketing channel. 

If you’re interested in becoming part of our community and getting some free coaching, join our electronic music collective, Pheek’s Coaching Corner. We also have a bunch of tutorials on YouTube as well. If you want more personalized coaching, I offer that as well.

The “sous-chef” experience

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I’ve been reading a lot about music arranging lately, mostly to see how the big players in the music industry approach it. It’s not that I love how things are made in that scene, but more because I want to see what I can take in and transpose to what I do. There are major differences to what the underground music producer will do in an arrangement.

  • Majors work with a team. You can’t make it on that level without a full team looking into making sure that each step is taken care of. This implies song writing, project management, recording, editing, arrangements, and mixing. Nothing will be done half-way.
  • They want the best in every sphere. To make great things, you need the best. Therefore, they will rent the best studios, hire the best musicians, and make sure that every player involved has a strong list of credentials.
  • Nothing is made quickly. Sometimes things go fast but they won’t take things in an easy way.

(Photo by frankie cordoba on Unsplash)

The average release on Beatport is a one-man band, but more than often not if equipped properly, will still get some attention. The main difference is the song’s longevity. Most underground songs won’t have a long life, and might not get many plays and if it sounds like a lot of music out there (eg. it’s a tendency that people will imitate the top 10 to be part of it), chances are that in 1-2 years, it will be forgotten.

Where I think we can learn from the majors is about team work. The main issue with this is, most semi-pro musicians or aspiring ones have to put some life priorities first. We started a community project with my Facebook group that is called Cosmic Relay, where we would work as a team to make songs. We did a first EP that made it to the top 3 on Beatport (Minimal) without trying to copy anyone. The potential is there indeed, but on the second batch of songs, we struggled to rally everyone to make things move with a good flow.

I’ve been experimenting a second approach, which is inspired by how restaurants work. I’d be the “chef” and I’d be working with one or multiple “sous-chefs.” One of my strengths, available as a service through my Track Finalization product, is to make arrangements and finish music. Finding the elements to start often takes me ages to create, mostly because I work primary with randomly generated music (ex. from little jams, tool/demo exploration or simply using randomization on plugins). While this generates a lot of original content, it also requires me to go through a lot of recording to find the little gems in there.

Working with a “sous-chef” is most probably the best thing for my workflow. I send them on a quest to gather material based on my suggestions and then I’ll compose with what I have. Facing some limitations bring a flow of high creativity in me. I usually find ways to find how to use the elements to create a timeline and then something that gets me excited. Usually the direction of the project is decided by the people I work with. We agree on a reference and decide where to go with it.

I’m not sure if you have watched Chef’s Table on Netflix, but for me it’s been a source of inspiration. I see parallels between the chefs starting a restaurant and musicians opening their studio.

One thing all music producers all have in mind is to remain playful, open and to reinvent themselves.

So back to our project: if we continue to take inspiration from the majors, asking for help for the parts where you feel either slow or less solid, is a great way to complement another artist. Collaborations are the best way to do things you could never do alone, every time, for the best.

“Yeah but I want to learn how to do everything by myself!” I hear you say. Then be ready to be a jack of all trade, which is a master of nothing. That’s not a bad thing, but then you might never shine at what you’re supposed to be great at, simply because you’re spreading your precious time on different tasks that others could do better. The thing is, you’ll get better at everything if you also work with other people who are better than you at what they do.

I’m a good example of that. It took me a long time to get better at mixing and I’m still learning. Same for sound design. But talking with other people was more fruitful than spending time on Youtube. Using and buying quality samples have also been incredibly useful in the process. As well as getting quality tutorials.

For best collaboration tools, here’s my favorites:

  • Splice for getting samples and sharing projects.
  • Native Instruments Sounds.com for more samples.
  • ADSR for presets and tutorials. A fast way to have your basis and kick start quickly any project.
  • Dropbox for sharing anything and everything.
  • Reaktor’s community for getting new patches ideas.
  • Our Facebook community to meet new people in the same mentality as me. We have a label that we then release the music on.

SEE ALSO :  Tips on how to pick your EQs and use them (Pt. I) 

The Inspiration Cycle

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Most people enjoy discussing music technically in terms of production as we all wonder where to start and how to handle ideas in order to make a song. I also follow many magazines and articles which cover how the brain perceives creativity, where it starts, and how to invoke it and keep it alive. However, even if you know the techniques to make music, remaining inspired to make music can become a challenge.  I struggle with musical inspiration as well, but also have a few tips if you’ve been struck with writer’s block that I find always work.

How is your inspiration cycle working?

This video about using flow is tightly linked to the experience of inspiration. Let’s dive deeper.

Through reading and my own personal experience, I’ve noticed that inspiration comes and goes through a number of phases, in a cycle:

  1. The stimulation and satisfaction of the mind.
  2. Conceptualization.
  3. Struggle.
  4. Release and creativity.
  5. Project completion.
  6. Transmission, validation.
  7. Celebration.

In the above video, the discussion is around flow, which is an important state of mind for a high level of creativity that can be reached by athletes and musicians during a performance. You can also access this level of creativity by making music, in your studio. But before a studio session, you need an idea and concept to make music around. Let’s examine the phases of the musical inspiration cycle I outlined above:

The stimulation and satisfaction of the mind

To sum up this phase, think about falling in love with something. For the writer, it’s a book or a scene description. The photographer gets excited about a landscape; the gardener, about the perfect trees; and the musician, sounds or a song. This can stimulation can occur anywhere at any time; in your car for example, or in many cases, during a “celebration” of some kind. The cycle becomes evident here, because the last phase is the celebration of completing your work, but this phase can also restart the cycle and restart the first phase of stimulation.

For example, many people feel that they want to become a DJ after a special night in a club. This is an example of musical stimulation kicking off the cycle of inspiration. People also like to celebrate art, in search of some sort of new stimulation for the mind; to be inspired to create.

Describing his creative process, Mozart observed, “Those ideas that please me I retain in memory, and am accustomed, as I have been told, to hum them to myself. If I continue in this way,” he writes, “it soon occurs to me how I may turn this or that morsel to account so as to make a good dish of it… All this fires my soul” (Harding, ).

The mind will feel satisfied by certain things that will inspire it to bring different elements all together, into a collection that will lead to the creation of a concept.

Tip: Before investing and diving into production, try to make a personal collection of music that moves you. It could be a secret playlist on Youtube, Spotify or Soundcloud, for instance. The richer your collection, the more you are investing into potential sources of inspiration.

Conceptualization

Understanding your concept is key here; it’s about putting to words what you have in mind. The main writer’s block-inducing trap in electronic music is facing the limitless options of where you could go in a creative sense. Ideas and concepts help to box you in, and to create your sounds into a palette that matches your idea. For instance, knowing you want to make “banging techno” already provides you with a direction as to what you’ll be doing. The challenge in this particular case would be educating yourself and understanding how complex sounds are recorded as well as other technical details. Conceptualization leads to the next phase which is the struggle; an unavoidable part of the creative process necessary when trying to apply your concept.

I’ve always found there to be two main things that will help with conceptualization:

  • Finding real life equivalent to what your vision is, such as finding songs that contain your idea or a part of it.
  • Finding resources to help you understand what your idea actually is.

The more clear your initial idea or concept, the best you can explain it. From there you can find someone who has the experience or tools to help you get your there if necessary.

Tip: Using voice memos to record something you hear or to leave yourself notes is a very useful practice. If you can invest in a microphone to try to reproduce sounds with your mouth or found objects; this technique can lead to very interesting results.

Struggle

The struggle is the phase in which many people feel like they want to stop making music altogether and even sell all the gear they have in extreme cases. Perhaps you’ve been through this struggle before – it can manifest in many ways – but the best approach to handle a struggle effectively is to moderate what you like doing, by reducing the length of time or efforts you’re inputting into developing your concept.

For example, instead of being in the studio for four hours, how about going for just one? How about you go for a walk when you have negative ideas coming to you? There’s no rush in making music.

I’ve seen so many artists struggle through this phase by falling victim to substance abuse which is by far the most risky way to deal with writer’s block. If you need an external substance to make you creative, you’ll quickly become dependent on it.

Tip: My drug is jogging.

Release and creativity

This phase can be when the “aha!” moment hits you full effect; all the technical details fall into place and you can express yourself entirely. I’ve had this moment with two albums I made, Tones Of Void and White Raven. However in previous albums, I’ve worked and worked to eventually find a pace that just made me feel unstoppable. I would finish songs in a day, which would normally take me months. Find a recipe, a patch, a series of effects that give you wings to turn anything in the sound you’re looking for.

For me, the “aha” moment is easy to hear on Tones Of Void. I had found the right series of effects that I loved and I was digging in my library, then could easily turn 1-2 sounds into a full song. I would record it live, do minor edits and felt entirely satisfied with whatever I had. I’ve also seen people using modular synths to make self-generative patches where songs are just written on their own and it’s really beautiful to see.

Tip: This phase isn’t linear and comes in moments. Find ways to save your tools and understand what uplifts your work.

Project completion

Finishing projects is something many people struggle with. The real question is when is it really done? Recently, I made a list of items to check to give yourself an answer but you can also give yourself certain criteria. I like the idea that something is never actually totally done, and that is part of the charm of it. Knowing the next project will be better is a way to let go of anything that has been revisited too often.

Once you can save your file and are happy with it, do a backup and call it done, this phase is simply done; it’s something you don’t want to drag on.

Transmission, validation & Celebration

You know when you love your song so much you want to share it with the entire world? That’s what the celebration phase I mentioned earlier is about. We want validation for our work, but there’s a part of ourselves that also wants to pass on our ideas to others. This creates the desire to have “the celebration” and to provide musical inspiration to others.

There are some people, however, who fear sharing their music. It’s no secret that most musicians seek validation from their community and music is a way to do it. What stops some people from sharing their work with others is the fear of being criticized. However, transmission and validation are necessary to move on to “the celebration”, which is the end of a cycle, but also the beginning of another.

I’d love to hear your stories about your inspiration. Please share!

 

SEE ALSO :   Where to Get Fresh New Ideas for Tracks 

Playing Electronic Music Live – How to Prepare Your Live Set (Part 4)

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Following up on the previous post in this series, I’ll outline some final tweaks and advanced clip settings for your live set. There’s a lot to cover here but I’ll try to condense it down to the essentials.

Final Tweaks

As your set is likely now taking form, you should have different songs organized into scenes. You can think of this as the minimum you will need to play live but if you want the best result, there are still things to tweak. Personally, when I listen to a live set, I really want it to feel live; the artist can interact with the energy of the room and build around it. You should avoid playing each scene one after the other, without surprises. Again, this is my opinion and you might think otherwise, but what I’d like to explain is how to add a bit of “live” life in the last tweaks to your set.

1st – Rehearse and record.

This is pretty much the ultimate test to see if your live-lab is working properly. You’ll need to rehearse, play with your session, move things around, and test, again and again.

Don’t ever fall back on the idea that what you have is ready for the big show without rehearsing, because trust me, you’ll learn the hard way that if wait until being in club to test your set, it will hurt. That said, hit the record button and then start playing the clips, try to take you time as well to create a proper intro, then see how it goes when you launch scenes, fade-in some sounds, and add effects. The most important part of rehearsing your set is recording what you do.

You can then listen to see what you recorded and if you like a part of a moment, you can then drag it back into your set.

 

 

 

 

Since you only have two hands but you want each of your clips to have a feeling of “live”, you can pre-record certain subtle details you want to be played while you tweak other knobs. You’re not totally playback everything as-is, you’re interacting with other played elements you recorded. This can be particularly useful for creating unique and complex moment or breathtaking breakdowns.

You can also use ⌘+J (ctrl+J on Windows) to consolidate moments you like.

2nd – Add variations.

In my sets, I rarely have one scene repeating without having variations of it. The variations can be used for many things, such as having a more energetic variation of the same scene, one that has a little pause, or space for inserting a fill. Here are a few quick tips you can use to make creating variations easier:

Legato: This is probably the most useful thing to activate for clips in variation. Basically, the Legato option will let the selected clip to take over the one that was previously played, based on the quantization you have set. So for instance, let’s say you play a hihat clip, then press the first clip of the variation. It will stop the activated clip and immediately switch to the other one you just started. On the image, I have set it to 1/16, meaning it will be played on the next 1/16th, keeping it on tempo. Keep in mind that the variation clips are “in sync” with the one playing so that it will continue at the same position in the clip. If legato wasn’t activated, it would start at the beginning of the clip.

Follow Action: Once played, what do you want the clip to do? You could just play that clip but it could go back to the first clip or even randomly play something else. I suggest you experiment with this and find ways to surprise yourself. Don’t forget to record yourself playing them as you can go back to the arrangement section to seize the best part and create new ideas you didn’t even know of.

Intensity Variation: If you want to quickly go from open hihat to closed one, one of the fastest way is to play with the “Preserve” section and set it as in this image. Playing with the percentage will let you adjust how much of the end of each sound can be preserved. Having it at 100% is fully open and let’s say 25% is more closed, building tension. So one variation can be set low at first and then the other ones can be more open. If you see the need to boost the energy quickly, then you can go in one of the variation.

Reverse: this one can be fun but in a live context, if you do it at the wrong time it’s awfully awkward; perhaps introducing it in a variation instead would be a safer idea.

Transpose: This can be nice for melodies and basses. You can have them move in pitch in a variation.

Envelopes: Super useful for variations as well because you can create automation on a very small scale or a longer one. Many artists will use this on EQ to give life to a clip and making sure it feels like it is alive. The important part is to make sure that the envelope isn’t linked and then you can decide of the length of the automation, on one attribute. Tip: make sure you select “Clip” in the first drop down to make sure the changes are made in the clip itself.

Try: Using this with a filter to create fun swooshes.

Also try: Use this technique to create melodies and textures out of a stall pad.

 

 

3rd – Transitions.

This part is the final preparation needed to play live but is also the trickiest one. Mainly because this task will imply some practice. My approach and advice here might not totally work for you because your music is different than mine. In other words, doing transitions is something personal and each musician tends to develop his or her own way to do it based on what feels like the best flow possible.

How do transitions work?

In theory, a transition from one song to another is exactly like a DJ mixing one track into another. The puzzle with live transitions is – whereas the DJ only has one fader and EQ to do the trick – you have multiple channels to blend one into the another.

Whenever I teach people how to play live (yes, I do Ableton Live training), a first exercise I give them is to create a playlist with a few DJ sets they like and tell them to study the track transitions. Some people like very fast and abrupt mixing (i.e Jeff Mills-like), while others prefer something more subtle and blurring the lines one where a song starts and the other stops.

The other thing to know beforehand is if you want your live set timeline to be fixed and fluid, or if you will chunk which tracks to play as you go. This can also be a huge factor in how you prepare your transitions. Personally, I want to have the entire flexibility to be able to play track X as an intro then switch to track Z. No order will be established until the last minute when I hit the play button to start my live set.

Once this is clear, you’ll be able to decide how to bridge songs. The first row of each song is your intro bridge and the last one most probably your outro, but you could also start mixing the next track at any moment if you want. Here a few rules of my own for transitions:

  • Only one kick at a time is played. For a while I was mixing the kick of the first track and the other, but the results weren’t so great. I decided to stick to one channel for the kick and would switch when appropriate.
  • One bass unless its a call/response. Same as kick, 2 basses is most usually a set up for disaster so I’d play one or the other. Some bass have only a few notes, especially in dub techno, so it could work that I have one bass of a track talking to another (eg. call/response).
  • Bridge is usually atonal. I would try to stick to rhythmical elements but if I would use a melodic element, I thought it could be tricky as it can clash with the bass or other elements.
  • The bridge can be a song in itself. This one is interesting but not a necessity. But if you can play with your variations well enough, you can create a new song out of two songs. This is basically the techno approach of 1+1=3 (Listener hears track A, B but also a third track which is the meeting of both). I often would record my sets and sometimes noticed that the strong moments were sometimes when I’d bridge two songs.

Because of the number of channels you have in Ableton, you might be stuck with the fact that only one instrument at a time can play. This problem led me to organize bridges differently on occasion. For example, if I want 2 layers of hi-hats, I would have to “cheat” and have a layer of hats in the clap channel.  Quite often I found myself organizing this while playing, and it’s not the best because you can get lost easily in the arranging. I prefer having a few options in the intro with extra layers of claps, hats, percussion. Sometimes even some duplicates in different channels.

In the next post, we will talk about sound checking and performing, which will also conclude the series!

The creative burnout no one is talking about

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Around 2008, as I was coming back from the doctor’s office, I felt completely lost. He told me that I had to change what I was doing because I was heading straight for creative burnout. At that time, in my career, I felt like it was in its peak: I was touring, releasing music, making remixes, was invited to great festivals, and had an occasional part time job as a teacher. I had nothing to complain about; I felt I was pretty much living my dream.

So what was going on exactly?

Before I explain, I want say that this post is about sharing what I’ve learned the hard way. I’m talking about an important thing no one will tell you:

It’s not because you do what you love that you’re shielded from your limitations. It’s mostly because by doing what you love, you may overlook that it remains a form of work.

When you do what you love, you feel invincible. This might be related to the feeling of flow, explained by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, which is a state you get into when you create or become really focused. The thing about music is, it’s about inspiration, and inspiration doesn’t come about “when you need it”, it just happens.

How do you recognize the signs that could announce you’re on the verge of crashing?

  • Negative output in discussions. Do you observe yourself talking negatively to your friends or on social medias? It’s interesting to look at a week of posting on Facebook and see if you’ve been more positive or negative.
  • Lost of interest for music or anything you used to love.
  • Desire to announce you’re “retiring” (from DJing or anything), selling all your gear, deleting projects, quitting.
  • Cynicism towards the music world, what you do, others who make music.
  • Jealousy, envy, feeling discouraged when being around other artists who are doing OK.

Keep track if any of these are persistent.

These obstacles may lead to burnout:

Overworking

Going from a “normal” full time job to transforming a hobby you love into a job involves a pretty steep learning curve. There are multiple things to take in consideration . Money in the artist’s life is the source of a huge amount of stress. Not only can you not predict when things will work, but when they do, you don’t know how long the ride will last Since there’s no obvious relationship between the creative work you do and what you harvest, it becomes very easy to overwork. Pair that with the pleasure of making music, and at first you’ll feel you have too much time on your hands to know what to do with. As I described in a previous post about how spending a long time in the studio is counter-productive; you can easily ruin a lot of your own music. During the early years when I was making music full time, I felt I didn’t create music that was as meaningful as when I was working and doing music on the side; this realization has changed my way of making music for the better.

In my case, with my label (Archipel), mastering, touring, and everything else, I really was working up to 60 hours per week. I forgot to take care of my health. No wonder I couldn’t keep up the pace after a few years went by. When you do what you love, it never feels like work, but it is.

Expectations

Managing your expectations is extremely tricky in the arts domain. The ultimate goal is to get recognition, because many things unfold after that. Or do do they?

It’s very difficult to tell, and it messes up your zen. For instance, if you believe that this release on a specific label will give you certain opportunities, or you think that playing in a gig will lead you to get better gigs, or working with an agent will give you more visibility, etc, all these things – in theory – could be true. You admire specific role models who’ve made it to a level you want to reach, but you might never seem to get there even by doing the same things.

Why isn’t there a recipe that you can follow that will guarantee results?

The arts are a big gamble; a lottery where the turn out is not determined by anything rational other than – most probably – timing and networking. And even if you have those right, it might not lead to anything at all.

The only thing you can control is your patience and resilience. That’s about it.

Some people will tell you that hustling hard might make a difference, but you might get to the opposite of what you want; people don’t like artist who are constantly “pushing their brand”. Knowing when and when not to have expectations is certainly incredibly healthy, especially if you can reduce them to be realistic.

In conclusion, what I’d recommend based on my experiences with creative burnout:

  • If you can live a healthy life of work/music making, try to keep doing it as long as possible. It’s not only good for you, but you will have money to invest in your craft. Balance is everything.
  • If you are brave enough to try to live off music making, treat it as a job. Give yourself time to not work – that’s equally valuable.
  • Find a new hobby. Since music used to be yours and now it fills your whole time, try doing other things.
  • Sleep long nights and nap. Avoid partying on a regular basis.
  • Collaborate, delegate, ask for help. Connecting with other humans is always amazing for recovery!

 

SEE ALSO : Mindfulness for Creatives

Playing Electronic Music Live – How to Prepare Your Live Set (Part 1)

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Playing electronic music live is a huge topic and I could dedicate an entire blog to it; this is the first in a series of posts outlining some advice to help electronic and computer-based musicians perform a live set. My goal here is to cover everything you need to know to perform live.

Prior to writing this post, I talked with MUTEK Festival’s director Alain Mongeau about how the festival has been sticking to prioritize live acts. I asked him if live acts were still popular compared to when the festival’s debut in 2000. He said that while it is an important thing for them to promote live expression of music, there’s still confusion on what it really implies.

Firstly, we need to answer the essential question which has been debated for years:

What is a “live set” and why would you do it?

I’m not going to explain this in a ton of detail, but let’s clarify one thing, no one person has the right to say what a “correct” live set is. You should have your personal opinion about what a “live set” means in electronic music, which will then in turn be the foundation of your own approach to creating a live set.

Before I offer any answers to this question, let me share my personal interpretation of the phrase “live set” which has defined my own sets since the very first one I performed in 1999.

To me, a live set of electronic or computer-based music:

  • implies playing your own music.
  • is not playing songs as is. Nothing pre-recorded unless live tweaking is involved.
  • involves some improvisation; experiments and an element of risk taking.
  • means that there are some possible interactions with the audience; therefore the timeline of songs played shouldn’t be planned in advance (like they often are in a DJ set).
  • should be unique every time you play it. But I understand this is difficult and/or not important to everyone.

While I’ve always felt that these should be the basic “rules” of live sets, I’ve come across so many well-established artists who don’t follow any of these points and would argue that “live sets” are something different. Like I said previously, it’s not up to me to decide how “live sets” should be. Picture your own interpretation of a good “live set” so you can build your session accordingly.

This series of posts will address certain ways to prepare a live set in Ableton Live, mainly from my own perspective but I will also cover other points.

Why do you want to play live? This is an equally important factor to consider. I feel that live sets in electronic music are very important and meaningful to both the artist and the audience. It’s a rare moment for an artist to share, connect, explore and be creative with a lot of other people. I don’t believe it approaching live sets lightly unless, well, you’re music is light-hearted perhaps! But even then, I still think devoting time and love to your set can do great things.

Live set preparations

I’d like to cover three main types of live sets to start to help you decide on a direction you want to take for your own sets.

Live Set Type #1 – Playing close reproductions of your own tracks

This type of set is what I’ve been doing most when I play live, but I really make sure that no matter how I’ve prepared my set, it has room for improvisation. I remember a tour where I had one person see/hear my set three nights in a row and told me years later that each night was pretty different, and each felt like a different trip – that really made me happy!

  • The logic of this set type: You have songs that are done or halfway done and divide them into scenes and groups in Ableton (note: the new version of Ableton gives this approach crazy potential). I do not like the idea of an artist simply playing one scene at a time, one after the other until he/she gets to the end. I find there are no risks taken here but understand some genres are limited to this approach.
  • How much of a base should I use? I would say that an average song should have about 3 to 10 scenes and groups, and audio channels are more effective if you limit yourself to 6 to 12. Think of CPU too as you don’t want it to stutter in the middle of your set. A MIDI controller is often limited to 8 faders so if you have more channels, it gets a bit complicated, but more complex arrangements are still doable.

mutek 2008

Live Set Type #2 – Playing mainly improvisations with little-to-no preparation

In the early years of my live sets, this was how I approached live sets, but I came back to the first method as I find that for me type #1 is the most fulfilling. This method however, will definitely result in completely new versions of your music each time you play.

  • The logic of this set type: In my early live sets (circa 1998-2002), I would prepare the core of each important moment of the set at home; I would treat these moments like songs. I would know what the melody would be, a bit of the drum sequence, effects, etc. In those days I’d have analog gear alone, and I would save the melody in the piece of hardware I was using. The narrative of the set would be that I’d go from one song to another, in no precise order, sort of similarly to how you can now do this in Ableton Live. You can keep it simple and go from one scene to another in no particular order, which also opens doors to improvise or add new ideas on the fly. I call this approach the elastic live set.
  • How much of a base should I use?  In Ableton, contrasting to the approach I outlined in type #1, using this type (#2) I have only one scene but have 12-15 channels. In a live set of this type, I jam around one scene using the clips I already have saved, going from one scene to another in no particular order. In the past I would need to make sure all my hardware would be on the appropriate settings.

Live Set Type #3 – Playing with analog gear or hybrid with A laptop

This type of live set is fun and looks good on stage but is also very tricky, mostly because of the sync problems you might have between gear and the laptop. But if you make it work, it can be pretty damn epic.

  • The logic of this set type: There’s no formula here, as uses either of the type #1 or type #2 approaches, simply complemented by a piece of gear such as a synth, drum machine or modular stuff. You can use the computer for sequences or as a potential helper to handle things you can’t do alone. Bitwig is actually really really powerful if you are using modular because of the way it’s built. I’d consider running Ableton Live and Bitwig, sync with Link. I find Bitwig to be a bit more tight on the sync and Ableton to be more easy on playing sequences.
  • How much of a base should I use? The mistake you might run into with this type of live set is wanting to do too much, to cover too many aspects of your music and potentially to never be able to do it all in live set. I find that the less you have to do in terms of sync’ing and parameter tinkering, the more focused you’ll be, which means you follow the flow of your improvisations and music more easily.

 

mutek_2017_YoureMeBand_TRUNG-16

Other Live Set questions you might want to address

  • Are you going for one representation of your music or do you plan to play it multiple times?
  • Does it matter to you if you can repeat the same set exactly or do you want it to be evolving?

These two questions can also influence what type of live set you decide to build and play.

Concluding thoughts on live set types

Think ahead; think about which direction your live set might go. For instance, if you want to play your own tracks, think of which ones you’d want to use, and try to have them all in a folder (use the “collect all and save” from Ableton to make sure you have everything on hand ready to go). As for the improvisation and hybrid sets, think about what kind of setup you might want and feel comfortable with. And lastly, the audience you are performing in front of is important. You should never play the same set in a club as you would at an outdoor festival.

Stay tuned for part two of this series of posts on playing electronic music live.

 

SEE ALSO : Playing Electronic Music Live – How to Prepare Your Live Set (Part 2) 

Equipment Needed to Make Music – Gear vs. Experience vs. Monitoring

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This post follows a previous one I made regarding the minimum equipment needed to make music; due to the popularity of that post and the number of questions I had afterwards, I wanted to dive deeper into my thoughts on this.

I’m often asked what matters the most between equipment, experience, and monitoring, and I  give someone the following advice on those three topics:

The Role of Experience

There is absolutely no doubt at all that someone’s experience, more importantly than anything, will have the biggest impact on the quality of the music he or she makes. A producer with years of experience knows what works and what doesn’t. Even without the proper equipment, he or she will find ways to maximize the tools they are limited to in order to get the make the most of their gear, and sometimes can even turn something very insignificant into a piece of art. What’s also something to understand is that experience can also guide you to make strategic decisions based on past experiences. For example, someone who has made high quality products knows that reaching out to others who can help is a valuable, essential part of the process. Also, if you’re faced with limitations, the internet is filled with information about how to make the best of your situation. Lacking sounds you love? Find a sample pack and buy it. Lacking ideas or technique? Look stuff up on YouTube. There’s an abundance of information that is either free or cheap. Investing in little things like personal connections is not only a great way to build support among people who can help you later, but it’s also a way to stay on top of new and better tools that come out from people who and work with develop them.

Studio Monitors Matter

The biggest mistake I see in people who are just starting out, is to invest in cheap studio monitors because of their budget limitations. I know this one is tricky because many people have small budgets. Monitors are something you want to have for the next 10 years minimum, and you want them to be the best pair you can afford. Though experience is the most important thing to consider, but you can’t start with it if you have none, monitoring is to me, what’s you need to focus on as a close second. Studio monitors are your “eyes” in music making: if you can’t “see” what you do, your music will not be precise and the end result might be difficult to appreciate after it leaves your studio. Having proper speakers is like having access to glasses when you can’t see: all of a sudden, everything is clear and you’ll know exactly what’s not working.

  • Tight budget? I find that if you can’t invest in good monitors, it’s worth waiting. There are many ways to raise money, from getting a loan or asking relatives, or whatever. But investing in cheap speakers will only benefit you in the short run and will be a major problem in the long term. In the meantime, try getting good headphones that feel good for you when listening to your favorite songs. Go in a store and spend some time comparing models. Comfort is also important.
  • What if music production isn’t for you? If you want to produce, it’s probably because you’re a music lover. If you give up on production after buying monitors (note: contact me before doing that!), you’ll still have great speakers to DJ on or to just to listen to.
  • Having a subwoofer is a game changer. To me this is an indisputable fact; you’ll see what I mean if you get one or if you get to hear a setup that makes use of one. Thin walls? Angry neighbors will love you if you get a Subpac instead.

The takeaway here: music equipment is a useful but luxurious tool.

One of my friends came to my home one day and showed me a stunning album he made which totally blew me away. We quickly started talking production and he explained me that he was using Cool Edit (a very simple sound editor which in the early 2000s wasn’t even considered a DAW!) and no equipment whatsoever. None. Everything was made from scratch and with a lot of patience. Honestly, he changed my perspective on gear forever. Every time someone tells me they “need this” or “need that” to start working on their music, I have to yell “bullshit!” because I know and have heard otherwise.

The Role of Additional Gear

“Yeah but I love the feeling of touching knobs to produce!”

So, where should you start if you want to explore the tactile dimension of producing? If you still feel the need to buy equipment beyond a good pair of monitors, I would recommend the following:

  • Explore to know what you love doing and invest based on what you decide you like. Don’t fall for the classic “If I just have the [insert trendy piece of gear name here], then I will be okay.” Try to understand music on your computer first: play with synths, make beats, see what you like, and after a few songs, maybe you’ll notice you love synths that sound like a Moog. Learn to understand what kind of sounds you like, just like how you find out what labels an artist releases with. The more you know, the more you’ll be able to invest properly.
  • Buy used, rent if possible. Or go hang out with someone who has gear you can try. Make a song with their gear to see if it feels good for you.
  • MIDI controllers are always a good investment no matter what but aren’t essential.

Truthfully, there is no such thing as minimum equipment needed to make music, but the things I’ve outline here are things that will help you get started. I hope this helps!

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

Intuition for decisions in music production

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In a sense, musical intuition is what defines someone who can bring a bit of creative magic into something, in comparison to someone who sticks to truly technical application of software. I’ve often had the chance to watch experienced producers make music, either while I was visiting one’s studio or on the spur of the moment of a jam. For instance, we once had the infamous Narod Niki experience at Montreal’s MUTEK in the early 2000’s where Zip, Villalobos, Dan Bell, Akufen, Cabanne, Dandy Jack, Monolake (even Cassy sang for some minutes) all synced their laptop and gear to improvise a show for us. Our local festival gave us many opportunities to watch, what I would call, masters in what they do, play in front of a crowd to present how to create and perform. The live act itself, when done properly, should sort of represent what the artist is doing in his or her studio, but in a way that can bring the crowd on a journey.

When I state a live set done properly, I refer to something that is partly prepared, partly improvised: a set that relies partly on musical intuition. Musical intuition is the happy combo that allows for “happy accidents” and creates a sense of risk-taking. There are a lot of pre-recorded performances that I don’t get the point of. What interests me here, is the topic of musical intuition. Ever since I started teaching, this one question is often brought up:

How does one teach musical intuition, or intuition at all?

There are 3 points about intuition that we need to discuss first. Intuition can be:

  1. immediate apprehension or cognition without reasoning or inferring.
  2.  knowledge or conviction gained only by intuition.
  3. the power or faculty of gaining direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference.

What I refer to by using the word intuition is a bit different from those three points. For me, intuition in music is how someone does something that seems to be random, but is actually done in a very effective way. Partly unpredictable, partly guided by experience, but entirely guided by a personal vision to arrive at a specific result. This is musical intuition.

A notable example would be an artist, during a live show, dropping some sounds or a musical idea that was unexpected but works with what’s happening at the current moment completely. Another example could be a musician proposing a random idea and having that incomprehensible idea make total sense after 2-3 minutes or development.

Can musical intuition be learned or developed in music making?

I firmly believe it can be. Some ways to get there would imply:

  • Listening to a lot of music genres, be diverse in the selection. The best way to get new ideas for one song and bring a wind of freshness into something is to translate an idea from somewhere else. The number of ideas I get from free jazz or Indian music are too large to count, but I find a lot of depth into these genres; they have been around for so long that they have developed so much maturity. Try to dig into realms that seem obscure or spend time listening to folkloric music as a starting point.
  • Knowing your tools. This one is overwhelming as there’s always something to learn. I often say to people, what you need to know about your DAW should be just enough to make blocks and build tracks. The rest of it, you learn as you go. But the main part is that you should be at ease with the DAW, and using it should be second nature to you. Moving blocks around, copying & pasting, and arranging basics must be something you can do fast so you never lose your flow. It’s when you start looking for how to do something very simple when you struggle too much and lose your initial idea. Imagine you couldn’t explain to a friend how to get to the nearest grocery store because there are too many details to explain; it would be confusing for him and you.
  • Be attentive to your routines and things you don’t like. We get caught up in what has previously worked, and will tend to repeat it ad nauseum. While part of what attracts people to our music sometimes one specific sound, if we become a slave to ourselves and to people’s expectations, we will fail to grow as artists. Musical intuition progresses with your personal dedication to grow and stepping outside your comfort zone. The easier it gets for you to explore, the more easily you can express yourself. The sense of becoming fluent in music-making will allow you to become more spontaneous and able to come up with new ideas.
  • Nurture technical curiosity. Spend tons of time reading about music, but also, non-music related topics. I have had so many ideas come to me by reading sci-fi novels, watching dancers, reading about architecture, drawing with my son, running in the woods, etc. Your brain needs to do other things other than spending time in the studio. You can only learn to a certain extent in there, you open yourself up to new ideas by doing other things.
  • Rehearse alone and with others. If you can jam on your own to get comfortable in your art, that is one important thing. But when you can then play with a friend, it becomes very interesting as the dialog forces you to interact/propose/listen/adjust. This will improve your communicative music skills by a few notches.
  • Play for friends. I used to do intimate, living room concerts where I would play for 3-4 friends, sitting on the floor, sipping tea, drawing, dancing, chatting but mostly, listening carefully. Those moments are where I’ve learned the most and this is often overlooked as people think playing in front of a lot of people is where the fun is at; it can be, but it’s not the only option. The advantage of playing for a handful of guests is about getting intimate and instant feedback, which can be a very rich experience.

Experiment with these ideas and you should slowly develop your musical intuition. Let me know if you have questions or join my mentoring service to explore your music more deeply.

 

 

SEE ALSO : What Is A Mature Sounding Track? 

When The DIY Becomes An Obstacle

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I want to talk about DIY – that is, the do-it-yourself approach to making music. Some people have the desire to begin massive projects where they create everything themselves, from scratch. They hunt for samples, they record bits of this and that, they spend days writing and re-writing melodies, they do everything themselves and more, and it takes forever if they don’t become overwhelmed by it all first and end up scraping the project altogether. This is when the DIY becomes an obstacle.

It reminds me of the video that went around the internet about this guy who decides to make a sandwich from scratch and create all the elements needed all on his own. He’s collecting salt from the sea, milking the cow himself, learning to bake bread. etc. Spoiler alert – when the guy finally eats the sandwich (which cost him nearly $1500 in expenses) the result was somewhat mediocre, and disappointing.

People who specialize do ‘their thing’ better, faster, with better ingredients, tools, finesse, and experience that more than often makes a world of difference. In the studio, it’s the same thing. I’m sure there are areas of music writing and production you don’t look forward to and others you could do all day. If we let every obstacle along the way frustrate us and chip away at our mental energy, the effect can be quite damaging.

The path doesn’t need to be cleared from obstacles. Obstacles are the path. (Buddhist Proverb)

You might have a feeling where I’m going with this as I’m a big fan of collaboration in music and productivity in the studio. It’s a great feeling to push ahead quickly in your productions when one person can lead with his/her strengths in an area and vice versa, so the question is – how do you make the most of your skills while taking advantage of help?

Find what you love doing. Identifying your strengths will make a big difference in the confidence, and understanding of yourself as an artist. It’s a task many people I coach and speak with overlook. Is your thing sound design, mixing, searching for the perfect set of samples? The production-oriented tasks where you’re the most happily active and engaged is where you’ll find your strength. On the flip side, it’s important to understand the areas you’re less happy and skilled at doing, and make a mental note of this when collaborating with others. If you can specialize at what you do best, you’ll be a great asset to anyone who is struggling in that department.

Invest in yourself. In whichever area you are strongest in, consider acquiring the best equipment and knowledge in that specialty. For example, if mixing is your strength, you should definitely follow Pensado on Youtube to learn as much as possible about mixing, and learn about kick-ass plugins used by the pros. Find your role model in that department and study what he/she does, what gear they use, how they use it and also go above them, and find out who are their mentors. If you get to know who influences your role model, you’re gaining critical influences.

Check your ego. Have you ever observed yourself snubbing a technique or tool just because you think it’s not for you? How many times have you counted out something great without even giving it a chance? If you can, think if you’ve been avoiding some plugin such as channel strips or a specific compressor, perhaps even a DAW without any evidence for doing so. Also, if something is considered ‘bad’ it’s important to understand the difference from that which is regarded as good and make your own judgment after accessing the facts. Things I’ve read people shouldn’t use have drawn my attention to tools such as multiband compression, which is one of my favorite tools for sound design now. For some reason, rock producers seem to dislike multiband compression, yet I can’t understand why if you imagine what’s possible in the right hands.

As always I want to hear your opinion and look forward to keeping the discussion open ~

JP