Tag Archive for: minimalism

Minimalism in Music Production: Drawing Inspiration from Arthur Russell, Brian Eno, and Terry Riley

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Minimalism is an approach that emphasizes simplicity and a reduction in the number of musical elements. This approach can be applied to many genres of music, but it has been particularly influential in electronic music, where technology and sound design can lead to overwhelming complexity. In the end of the 90’s, minimal techno had a huge bloom in popularity. It was in reaction of maximal music such as trance and hard techno. This is when I started making music because I felt a strong connection with minimalist music.

 

In this article, we will explore how minimalism has been used in music production, drawing inspiration from three influential artists: Arthur Russell, Brian Eno, and Terry Riley.

 

The Power of Minimalism

 

The essence of minimalism in music production lies in the ability to create a focused and spacious sonic environment. By using fewer sounds, producers can create a clear and uncluttered atmosphere that allows the listener to focus on the details of each individual sound. This approach works well in electronic music, where sound design and texture are often the main focus. 

 

Modular and eurorack synthesizers, in particular, are great tools for exploring minimalism in music production. With their limited number of modules and limited space (but also their costs!), these instruments force the producer to be creative with fewer resources. This constraint can be a great source of inspiration, leading to innovative and original compositions.

 

One of the most important differences between now and the late 90’s is the accessibility to music production tools. Back then, you’d be caught to use only a few things you’d have, such as a drum machine and a sampler. Now we have so many things that it is hard to focus on what to pick. Minimalism starts with fully embracing limitations one has to impose to themselves.

 

 Simple, Constantly Evolving Phrases

 

One of the key challenges in minimalist music production is to create variation and development with limited musical material. A useful exercise for developing this skill is to focus on creating simple but constantly evolving phrases. These phrases can be created using a limited number of notes, rhythmic patterns, or sound textures. 

 

I also like to think about picking up to 4 different sounds i love and will try to make phrasing out of them.

 

Arthur Russell was a master of creating evolving phrases in his music. His use of repetition and subtle variation created a hypnotic and mesmerizing effect. In his track “Lucky Cloud,” for example, he uses a simple four-note bassline that repeats throughout the track, but he gradually adds layers of percussion, synths, and vocals, creating a rich and complex texture. He would rely on reverb, delays and use of panning to create all the tension and variations necessary to create engagement.

Brian Eno is another artist who has explored the possibilities of minimalist music. His approach is often characterized by the use of ambient textures and drones, creating a meditative and introspective atmosphere. In his album “Music for Airports,” he uses a limited number of simple chords and melodic fragments, layering them to create a constantly evolving soundscape. He is known for developing generative tools to create his music. He will let the machines come up with ideas and then will cherry pick the moments he loves.

Terry Riley is a pioneer of minimalist music, known for his innovative use of repetition and improvisation. His piece “In C” is a landmark work of minimalist music, consisting of 53 short phrases that can be repeated and combined in different ways, creating a virtually infinite number of variations.

 

 Exercises for Minimalist Music Production

 

Here are three exercises inspired by Arthur Russell, Brian Eno, and Terry Riley to help you explore minimalism in your music production:

  1. Arthur Russell Exercise: Create a simple four-note bassline and add layers of percussion, synths, and vocals to create a rich and complex texture. Focus on reverb and delays, panning. Challenge: use your voice (yes, do it).
  2. Brian Eno Exercise: Create an ambient soundscape using a limited number of chords and melodic fragments, layering them to create a constantly evolving texture. You may try to generative melodies scaled to a key and then keep what you love. Challenge: record 30 minutes of music, unedited.
  3. Terry Riley Exercise: Create a short phrase consisting of a few notes or a simple rhythm. Repeat and vary this phrase, gradually adding layers of texture and improvisation to create a complex and evolving composition. Challenge: Face ultimate repetition and stick to it.

 

Tools you can use:

 

Synths I love: I seem to always come back to Pigments as one of my favorites. It features multiple possible options when it comes to modulation and it makes it a very versatile tool. What I love is to start from a preset (it has a shop in the plugin!) and then tweak it to taste. The ones that are included are lovely starting canvas that are in tune with current genres. Quanta 2 and Diva would also be great here, for the quality of their sound.

When it comes to reverbs and delays: I’m a big fan of anything that comes from Valhalla’s effects. They are perfectly priced and the quality is trusted by top producers for a reason, because they sound amazing. Otherwise, if you want something solid, you could consider Fabfilter Reverb and Neoverb for a cheap option. Both are often used on my side.

Generative tools are numerous in the Ableton live environment. You could use simple max patches like Snake or Rozzer and have some LFOs mapping that make them evolve through time. Otherwise, the good old Riffer comes handy. I would recommend Alexkid VST Seqund that really wonderful as well. Otherwise, dive in VCV.

 

Conclusion

 

Minimalism in music production is a powerful tool for creating focused and spacious sonic environments. By using a limited number of sounds and musical elements, producers can create innovative and original compositions. Drawing inspiration from Arthur Russell, Brian Eno, and Terry Riley, we can explore the possibilities of minimalist music and develop our skills in creating simple but constantly evolving musical phrases.

 

Tips for better clarity in your mixes

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Clarity in mixes is not something people understand or perceive well when they first start mixing, but it’s a magical part of a song that often distinguishes professional mixes from amateur mixes. Clear-sounding mixes instantly grab your attention because they feel precise, open, airy and easy to understand. While clarity in a mix might seem easy to create, it’s actually very difficult to achieve.

I can say that I’m starting to better understand clarity myself. If you’re familiar with my music, you know I like busy music and my songs are generally quite full, with multiple layers of sounds. It’s a challenge for me to get a clear mix because of the number of sounds I use, but for me this is also the best way to practice mixing clearly, as it’s more difficult than if I were only using a minimal amount of sounds.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned when creating clarity in my own mixes.

Less is more, and less is clearer

The less you have going on, the clearer your song will be. Nothing clashes and there’s less to try to find an appropriate spot for. When mixing, you need to find a fitting place for every sound you use. If you have 5 hihats, 3 claps, and 5 melodies, this can become quite a challenge.

How can you clean up a mix and make it clearer?

I see a lot of clients struggle with cleaning up their mixes. Most artists suffer from a strange thought process that goes something like “I’m afraid the listener is going to get bored, therefore I will fill my mix with as much as possible so the listener never feels let down.” To this I would reply that there’s a remedy in your DAW…the mute button! Let me explain:

1 – Loop a section of your song, the part where it’s the busiest.

2 – Mute everything, then start by un-muting your essential sounds. What are the fewest number of sounds that can communicate your song’s idea clearly? Toggling mute on parts of a song sometimes create interesting perspectives and can reveal things you didn’t realize about your arrangements—it often takes fewer sounds to create a clear mix. This can mean no fills, no decorations, no backgrounds, just the essentials.

3 – Are your essential sounds sharing space in the frequency spectrum?

Technically, if you have less, sounds are most likely to occupy less space and clash with one another less frequently. Generally, there are a few areas where your sounds can clash:

  • Frequency: If you divide the spectrum into 4 or 5 bands, you want each band to have the same number of sounds. Low-end would be under 100hz, then 100 to 1k for mids, 1k to 3k for high mids and then 3k to 10k for highs, then 10k+ for the air/transients. If you have a hard time muting your sounds, you can also isolate a few different sounds in different bands.
  • Amplitude: Also known as volume, amplitude is often not understood properly. People want everything LOUD and are afraid that secondary sounds won’t be heard. Everything gets heard in a mix and sometimes, things that are less loud are way better. Some sounds should be the loudest, then the others should be mixed in relation to those. The greater the amplitude distance you have between your sounds, the more they’ll feel like they’re breathing instead of fighting. This is your dynamic range, a concept that’s often misunderstood. I would recommend playing with levels here and there as well. Having modulation on the amplitude of a sound is a good way to create a breath of fresh air in a mix. You can use a tool like MTremolo to give you a hand with that.
  • Sample length: This is something many overlook but is very important when it comes to samples. In many cases, samples people use are too long (too much decay) and that can cause a lot of noise, especially once compressed. Take kicks, for instance; people love big, badass kicks but don’t realize how problematic a long kick is in the low-end, especially in mastering. It bleeds in the bass and everything becomes mushy. I often use Transient Shaper (by Softubes) to shorten kicks or other percussive elements. You’d push the attack if you want and reduce the decay. You can also reduce the decay of a sample in Ableton if you go in the “Preserve” to be switched to “Trans” and then make sure it’s one-way, and play with the percentage to remove the decay.
  • Stereo space: I’ve explained this before and will refrain from repeating myself, but stereo clarity is crucial. If your sounds are spread wildly, you might get into phasing issues which means, you’ll end up with holes and sounds ghosting when they should be heard. I know that discovering phasing issues might be a bit of a mystery to many new producers, but with a good metering, you can see them. You can also listen to part of your song in mono to see if everything is coming out properly.

Chaos-inducing mixing errors

There are a number of tools and habits that can create chaos in a mix—I run into them often, and here are a few I see regularly that I can provide some advice for:

1- Using loop samples: There’s nothing wrong with using a pre-made loop or sampling something from source, but you won’t be able to access the loop’s sounds individually, and can get trapped dealing with issues that already exist within the loop or sample. If you’re using a loop, make it the centre of your song and make sure that you work the other samples around it. Tip: Using busy loops can be a bit of a problem, but you can use a multi-band compressor to control them, or put them in mono and use a multi-band stereo tool like the Shaperbox 2 to decide on the position of each sound.

2- Auto-panning nightmares: Making things move can feel exciting, but it doesn’t help mix clarity if you overdo it. Using multiple auto-pan effects on sounds can be cool, but the human ear can only handle a certain number of complex things going on. If on the first listen, one can’t understand the movement clearly, there are chances the modulation isn’t helping. TIP: Use just one auto-panning effect per song, max.

3- Delays and reverb: Reverb and delay multiply or make sounds longer, songs busier, and therefore, potentially more confusing. Reverb can be useful, but a type like Hall can make things sound a bit messy. I would recommend to have your reverb set to a short decay and low wet/dry. Darker reverb can also help preserve the highs in your song. Tip: Using reverb with a Chamber/Room at the beginning can help to know how much you should use. Also, if you can use a delay instead of reverb for creating wider sounds, use an EQ to tame the clashing frequencies.

4- Intense compression: Compression glues and adds body to sounds, but a compressor with a slow release and high ratio can also mess up the precision of a sound. Keeping some transients intact can really help a sound to pop out of a mix. If you compress, perhaps using the magic 1:1.5 ratio with slow attack to help the transient snap. TIP: Parallel compression is always useful for clarity.

My last general tip is to always check your mix in mono…it really helps!

I hope this was useful.