Tag Archive for: sound design

Slice Everything

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After a few years of pausing teaching 1-2-1 beginner’s classes, I took a few lately to get back in touch with how it feels when you start making music. One of the reasons I wasn’t taking beginners was that it became redundant to me, and I preferred taking intermediate to advanced producers instead because of the challenge and because, at that level, different problems require some creative approach. Beginners require guidance, help with navigation, workflow, and debunking myths about music making and basic concepts. At the same time, I now realize that I take the challenge differently; I aim to teach them the most with as little as possible.

 

One approach I take is to see their progression with levels, like video games or Dungeons and Dragons (if you know me, I’m a big D&D fan, playing weekly). In this post, I’ll approach one technique people are constantly overlooking, and whatever level you are, it is undoubtedly something to apply: Slicing.

 

Sampling, Resampling and Hip Hop

 

At a beginner’s level, people are looking to familiarize themselves with the tools and navigation of Ableton Live (or DAW). I always insist that if you focus on hardware, you go back to a DAW, as there are a lot of concepts to learn first, and using a computer is far simpler than learning gear. Part of that navigation includes using clips, loops, and simple sounds and building songs with those to understand how arrangements work and simple theory.

 

At that level, you can’t yet aspire to sound like what you hope for, nor does someone who plays the piano for the first time practice scales. If you want to make songs, you need to practice making songs out of whatever you find. But sampling, resampling and remixing can go a long way. Some producers make a career out of those techniques.

 

Everyone wants to make songs but no one want to learn how to make them. They all want to skip the practice because they think they have it all figured out.

 

Hip-hop is a good example. The philosophy and basis of production include sampling old records or any music whatsoever and arranging them, often on an MPC. The logic comes down to “grab and juggle, rearrange to taste.”

Creatively, it is the ideal ground-breaking approach: You take what you love and then arrange it in your way.

 

I’ve been following this artist, Jon Makes Beats, who applies this efficiently. He often samples records, usually quite corny (apparently many of them were bought at a Salvation Army for a few bucks), rearranges them, adds beats (often from rearranged loops), plays some notes on top, and then booms (usually presets, which he says he’s okay with)—all that is recorded in one shot. To me, this feels like perfect, successful studio time.

 

Watch all his videos, and it’s impossible not to get inspired by the simplicity of his approach. But also, he has some good, down-to-earth tips that are aligned with mine.

 

The central concept is simple: once you have your samples, you have the material to tell your story in another way. I’ll share some points and ideas for you to try.

 

Numerous notable artists have made amazing things with samples, but two who come to mind are the Beastie Boys and Daft Punk. In the Apple TV documentary, The Beastie Boys share how one of their early hit songs relied on three samples as the basis; the rest was a drum machine and their rapping. On the other hand, Daft Punk layered multiple little samples from various records to achieve a song. Those 2 are good opposite examples, but both did so much with taken ideas used creatively.

 

 

Creating your own Slicing preset

I wasn’t super happy with the sampling presets in Ableton Live, so I created my own. When I slice a loop, I want, by default, access to a specific macro mapped to what I usually use.

 

First, if you’re unfamiliar with slicing, you can do so by taking any loop you have, and then, when you right-click, a menu will appear. From there, you pick “Slice to Midi Track.”

 

 

Then, you’ll be prompted on what preset to use for the slicing.

 

You’ll then get a drum rack with each sample (slice) assigned to the rack’s pads. A Midi clip will also be generated with a note pointing to a specific slice. If you play the clip, you’ll hear your original clip, but now you can rearrange the clip so the notes come in a different order. You can also pick one sample.

 

 

They’re all OK for vanilla slicing, but the rack’s macros feel underwhelming. Making your preset is so easy and fun that I’ll explain how I made mine so you can do your own.

Create your slicing preset

First, open an empty MIDI channel.

Second, place a Drum Rack and add a Simpler on the C1 pad.

 

 

Third, you can map some parameters of the Simpler to the Macro-knobs of the Drum Rack. This means that when you slice your clip, each slice will have its own Simpler, but a simple mapped knob will control all of the same parameters. This has pros and cons. On the positive side, this means that you can, for instance, maintain the length of all the slices, making them short or long. But if some clips are intended to be short while others are long, that can be tricky.

Some of my knobs are controlling these parameters: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Volume on the lower right side. Then, the Filter’s Frequency and Resonance. Make sure that you uncheck the Loop and Snap options.

 

 

 

The last step is to save this new preset in the right folder so it can be used in the slicing option.

You drop the drum rack in the User Folder, under Defaults, in the folder “Slicing.” You can then rename it whatever you want, like mine below, “My Basic Slicer.”

 

 

If you slice a clip to midi, your new preset will appear in the list.

 

You’re now set to go!

Now, let’s do a few little experiments.

 

Slice the Ugly Into Beauty

 

Sometimes, you might have bizarre and ugly recordings of a synth or perhaps a dissonant effect. I’m particularly interested in those because you can get some unusual melodies or percussion once you slice them. I find there is something poetic in transforming something you’d automatically discard and finding a new, unexpected life.

One issue might be that it might not have transients to be detected, so you might want to slice it into forced regions. I’d encourage you to try different settings, but it could be 1/4 or 1/8, depending on your desired size. Ensure the sample you’re slicing isn’t too long; otherwise, you’ll end up with too many slices, which won’t be interesting to work with.

 

 

From there, you can see what slices came out, modify the length, and discover new patterns.

TIP: You can try a sequencer before the drum rack to generate sequences without the MIDI clip. Some fun sequencers exist, such as Rozzer and Snake.

 

Slicing Melodies

This technique comes from Hip-Hop. They usually slice a melody into more extended regions and then, by playing a MIDI instrument, play the song with a different articulation or change the order of the notes. But you can also take a more abstract approach, have shorter notes, play them randomly, and see if it makes sense.

To do this, people would select a region size that is 1/2 or 1 bar long. But if you’re into Micro-House music, you’d go for tiny regions.

TIP 1: Get a MIDI controller to experiment with playing the regions.

TIP 2: Use the internal LFOs of the Sampler to add some life to your sequence.

 

 

Swapping Sounds

In Ableton Live 12 (if you have it), the drum rack has a new option that allows you to swap all sounds for a new selection of similar ones. This can be a rabbit hole because you’ll start with a few sounds, and then you’ll end up discovering plenty of alternatives. You can lock some sounds you like and then dice roll the other out.

To do this, you’ll first need to go into the sample list and consolidate the slices; otherwise, they won’t be detected as single slices.

 

 

TIP: Whatever slicing you do, if you use transient mode, mainly for anything percussive, you’ll have a midi DNA of where each transient falls on the grid. You can also use one slicer’s midi and pass it to another. This means that the rhythm of one slicing pattern can trigger the order of another. This leads to rearranged sequences and a fun, unsteady swing.

 

Third-Party Samplers

 

It’s also fun to explore third-party VSTs beyond Ableton. There are quite a few out there, but I’ll share my favourites. Not that you won’t be able to create a slicing preset with those. The slicing presets can only be made with the native sampler/simpler from Ableton.

 

Life / XO

This plugin is XO’s little perfect companion. If you don’t know about XO, it’s probably one of the best drum machines and samplers. XO excels at creating percussive sequences, giving you variations with sounds and patterns. It also visually organizes your collection of samples by category and family, allowing you to find similar samples quickly. Life takes this to another level where you can resample your samples internally and then create new sequences out of them but with many variations options. It also has this option as an app on your smartphone to record sounds anywhere and then link them to your DAW. It is awe-inspiring.

TIP: Use both with automation to really bring your sequences to life.

TIP2: These are essentials if you have the budget.

 

Serato Sample

For DJs to play their sets digitally, Serato has been around for a while. It started with a Vynil encoder where they could beat-match music from their computer. This evolved in 20 years, and now digital mixing is a standard for many. DJing for hip-hop artists who do DMC scratching competitions is an art, and Serato developed a sampler version for artists who want to explore sampling parts in production. This plugin is highly rated because it offers simplicity and easy workflow.

 

 

Loopmix

The guys at AudioModern have a series of excellent studio tools I use regularly. Loopmix is quite fun as it’s designed to be used with loops. The idea is to use multiple loops (ideally, it works better with percussion), and then it will slice them to recreate new sequences, blending the different sources. It’s pretty impressive what you can do with this live but also in the studio if you want to recycle the loops you have.

 

Dawesome Novum

I’m not too familiar with this one, as I only saw demos, but from what I understand, it decomposes the samples into layers. Instead of slicing them in time, it does it on a spectrum layer. This means you can decompose your sample into layers. It’s on my wishlist, and I’m resisting trying the demo because I know I’ll buy it in a glimpse. This is the kind of tool you’ll want if you love drones, textures, moods and anything ethereal sounding.

 

I look forward to hearing what you’ll do with this technique. Please share your experiments.

 

 

Photo by MW on Unsplash

 

 

 

Music Timbre Essentials

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(Photo by Ayush Kumar on Unsplash)

 

When we dive into electronic music, one concept continually shapes our audio landscape, and you might not even know what it is: timbre.

Often described as the “color” or “tone quality” of sound, timbre is the characteristic that distinguishes one instrument or sound source from another, even when they’re playing the same pitch at the same volume. In this article, we will approach what I have learned about timbre in electronic music, focusing on how synthesizers and envelope design play pivotal roles in its creation.

Why is it important to understand what Timbre is about?

Well, if you’re interested in sound design, this should be your entrance to that world. If you know how it works, then you’ll have an understanding of how sounds are made. This means you can then extrapolate your imagination’s bleeps into real-life bloops.

Pigment from Arturia

Understanding Timbre

 

At its core, timbre is on a multi-axis, covering the aspects of sound. It has various factors such as harmonics, dynamics,  overtones, attack, decay, sustain, and release. These elements collectively shape the fingerprint of a sound, allowing us to discern between a piano, a trumpet, or a synthesizer.

To give you an example, you can play the same C2 on all those instruments, but your ear would be able to identify both the notes as well as what are the instruments. That is because the ear understands timbre’s multiple elements as unique.

In detail, those elements that will determine a sound’s color would be:

  • It’s the head. The very beginning of a sound will contain dynamic information that will let you understand what it is. For example, a drum and a piano are both percussive instruments but sound completely different.
  • Spectral profile. The way a sound is composed will be a collection of different tones, harmonics, and overtones. That also involves noise and inharmonicity. The last point, also known as noise, defines a certain amount of non-linear components, that are random and don’t follow a precise pattern.
  • Dynamics. This is how the sound changes over time. Of course, this is related to the envelope of that sound (ADSR).

Synthesis and Timbre

 

In early 2024, I decided to join the Synthesis class of Sarah Belle Reid. I was a bit doubtful at first because since I started making music, in the early 90’s, I’ve learned everything by myself and continue learning every day as well. Being under the impression that you can have access to all knowledge gives you a lot of drive but also creates a blindsight where you also have information you didn’t know you don’t know.

These are some of the things people consult me a lot for: lack of vocabulary, lack of understanding of concepts that are badly explained online and being pointed at what a specific sound, sounds like.

Back to Reid’s class. It starts with the basic knowledge of sound itself and goes through each element related to sound, then proceeds with a demonstration. Seeing, hearing, and being explained these concepts, helps being able to perceive sound from a very technical point of view. It’s one thing to understand it but it’s another thing to have vocabulary.

Timbre was one of the most important points of the class for me. It’s not with a simple blog post that I can go through all the main elements regarding timbre but I’d point out that the aha moment was to review how I use a spectrogram.

Seeing the sound from that angle helped me understand what timbre is about. It’s a concept that felt easy to read about but not necessarily easy to grasp.

 

Here are my 2 tips:

  1. Check the frequency response of the beginning of a sound’s information.
  2. Observe how the sound fades out and how the frequencies shape slowly.

Knowing that the beginning shapes an important part of your sound, this is a direct inspiration on how to use your ADSR envelope to shape or alter the shape of sounds you have. The amplitude of your sound can be shaped by a first envelope and a second one may shape filtering or other elements.

 

As for creating the timbre of a sound, you’ll have to combine multiple oscillators, noise, and modulations to mimic the spectral content.

 

Let’s go deeper into the envelope and content synthesis.

Envelope Design and Dynamic Techniques

 

At the heart of timbral manipulation lies envelope design—an important point of sound shaping in electronic music. You might use it with compression but it is also there for design. Envelopes lead the evolution of a sound over time, dictating its amplitude, frequency, and spectral content. Understanding envelope parameters, particularly attack, decay, sustain, and release (ADSR), is crucial for crafting dynamic and expressive sounds.

 

Attack: The onset of a sound, characterized by its initial transient, sets the stage for our auditory perception. A sharp attack imbues a sound with immediacy and presence, while a gradual attack imparts a softer, more ethereal quality.

Decay: Following the attack, the decay phase determines how quickly the sound’s intensity diminishes. A longer decay sustains the sound, while a shorter decay yields a percussive or plucked character.

Sustain: Once the decay phase concludes, the sustain segment maintains a constant amplitude until the sound is released. Adjusting the sustain level allows for sustained or staccato articulations.

Release: As the sound fades into silence, the release phase governs the duration of its decay. A shorter release yields a crisp, abrupt ending, while a longer release imparts a lingering decay.

Sounds of the real world or from instruments are rarely static. They often are never the same thing when played a few times, but they’ll be changing a bit too on different aspects: spectral variation, amplitude modulation, pitch. In the modular world, the use of LFOs and envelopes is handy to modify those aspects. You will want to use them to have slight variations.

The soft synth Pigments is very well made in that aspect where it will have a lot of different modulations possible which can then be routed to a lot of different parameters.

Dynamic Use and Filtering

 

In addition to envelope design, dynamic use, and filtering contribute significantly to timbral variation. Dynamic modulation techniques, such as velocity sensitivity and aftertouch, introduce expressive nuances to performances. Meanwhile, filtering—via low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, or notch filters—shapes the spectral content of a sound, emphasizing or attenuating specific frequencies to sculpt its timbre further.

A good way to push the filtering is to use colored filters such as MS20 emulation or vactrol. To understand LPG (Low Pass Gate) is also another option.

 

 

Ever since I got myself a Freak Module from Vult, it brought my sound elsewhere. It has multiple filter emulation, some saturation, and a duplex mode where you can have chained filters or different filters in stereo mode. It’s pretty powerful.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving world of electronic music, timbre is something to understand if you want to define your sound and personal signature. By understanding the power of synthesizers, mastering envelope design, and employing dynamic techniques and filtering, musicians and producers alike can unlock new creative possibilities. Through this article, we’ve partly covered into the heart of timbral exploration in electronic music, uncovering the intricate interplay between synthesis, envelope design, dynamics, and filtering.  With this knowledge, may you define on your sound design skills, sculpting timbral tones that redefine who you are. Continue searching for more details and let me know if you have questions.

Miniature Songs Concept

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Sometimes I find really lovely videos with production techniques that I love and after practicing it, I thought I’d share it with you so you can benefit from this finding. In this case, it’s about the concept of miniatures and also how this pairs with some sound design principles I’ve been applying. Recently I joined Sarah Belle Reid’s Sound and Synthesis program which turned out to be insightful. Once I started diving into sound design and its mechanics, I not only started understanding sound’s DNA from a different angle but also in the context of a song.

 

 

What are miniatures?

I was recently browsing YouTube when I found this video that got me excited. Miniature is a step back from making songs and has the perspective of using a sound in a tiny bubble concept. Think of it as a 10-second to 1-minute idea. Nothing more. It’s not about trying to cram in as many elements as possible but more of taking one sound and see how to you can pull out the most from it.

When I teach music production, there is more exercise that I like to suggest to students which is to take a very basic sound (sample) and to turn it into a “main idea.”

To do so, I’d suggest picking first a random sound, preferably something you consider boring, and then playing it repeatedly to find a pattern from it. Change the pitch perhaps, but sometimes, leaving it to its original pitch will be enough. See how you can make a phrase from it and make a song (1-2min) from that alone. Sometimes I see an eyebrow being raised in doubt but then I explain that any sound, on its own, can be a song.

For example, John Cage made a song for hand clapping:

 

So back to miniatures.

Think of tiny ideas that work, ideally with 1 to 2 sounds. Watch the video below:

 

The clickbait title, at first, had me roll my eyes but then I checked it to find something that was pretty fun. To summarize it, he suggests that you write down ideas on a card, which will create a little challenge, as a miniature idea. Those prompts have certain criteria:

So this would be an example:

 

We often forget that songs are a collection of sounds and sounds that evolve on their own, maybe for a short lapse or during the entire song. The idea of creating miniature becomes useful because you’re creating ideas that can later be included in a song. Thinking of music production in a modular way (not modular synth) can help you work on different elements of your songs before diving into arrangements.

One of my principal sources of guilty pleasure is to find fun loops on Splice as a starting point so building my loops is valuable for making songs later.

 

Envelopes and macro envelopes

One element that we approached in sound design is how envelopes shape sounds as their shape. But when thinking of miniatures or songs, it can be useful to think of a macro envelope. What I mean here is how you have an evolution within the entire song.

One exercise Sarah gave us for a performance is to draw the shape of how your song or pattern evolves over the entire experience. It could start abruptly, then fade, and then increasingly get louder until the end. If you’re a Shaperbox user like me, you know you can use its internal envelopes to shape amplitude or filter over a long period. It becomes handy if you want slow modulation repeating.

 

If you want some Miniature ideas, I’d encourage you to watch the video up there. I got some instant inspiration for my sounds.

 

Recycle Your Old Projects

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Sometimes I’m baffled by two things when I work with clients:

  1. They start from scratch each time they make a new song.
  2. They let finished projects asleep once over (and never reuse them).

In both cases, there’s a huge loss of time and energy. But when I explain them that each of their projects are a gold mine of opportunities sleeping on their hard drive, I see their faces lighting up. If you think about it, a song has often a lot of leftover material that won’t be used plus, think of all the common elements all your songs have, so why do one person not create a way to have the computer use resources to create that material.

The way I approach making music, ultimately speaking, is to be able to first find a very original idea and then put it in context quickly so you can work to give it a timeline.

 

Why speeding up your workflow?

 

Interestingly enough, as an artist and coach, I often teach that creativity is a super slow process and that trying to rush things might not be a best idea. But there’s also the paradox that it’s important to grasp an idea and make the most of it, then to move on. The idea of speeding your process is to ease your expression in order to not get lost in technicalities. One of the place many people loose time is in the details, clarifying technical details and such.

If a song is an idea, put on a timeline, it is also easy to get a lot of distance from this idea if you are more technical than artistic about it.

 

The strategies below are meant to ease the technical part by focusing on organization.

 

Strategies

 

The first way to speed up your process is to think forward. Just like this movement where people would pay for a coffee for a future client who would be low on cash, the best way to speed the next session is to organize it in the one you’re working on. I’ll explain habits and strategies that will be helpful down the road.

 

One effective method is to utilize the import feature from the Ableton Live browser. For example, if you’ve developed a compelling chain of effects in a previous project, save it as a macro. These macros can then be easily imported into new projects, giving you a head start with tried and tested sounds.

 

Template Creation

 

Beyond importing specific elements, consider creating templates based on your most successful projects. These templates can include your preferred routing, default effects chains, and even placeholder instruments. Starting a new project with these templates can dramatically reduce setup time, allowing you to dive straight into the creative process.

  • If you notice a routine and habit, turn it into a template where you can import what’s needed.
  • Useful arrangements or mixing templates are essentials.
  • Templates are basically like a recipe that you can reimport channels or arrangement section, adjust to taste and then, save again as a new template.
  • See them as “Global Presets.”

 

 

TIP: There are different types of templates to start with. Analyze your last 10 projects to see what’s always there de facto.

 

Creating a Channel of ‘Leftovers’

Another innovative method is to create a special channel in your DAW for ‘leftovers’ – bits and pieces from previous projects that didn’t make the final cut but still have potential. This could be a half-finished melody, an interesting sound effect, a discarded vocal pattern or a unique drum pattern. By saving these leftovers, you create a personal sound library that’s not only original but also infused with your signature style. Whenever you’re stuck or need inspiration, dive into this channel and discover elements that can spark new ideas.

There’s always been a non-written rule that one shouldn’t use presets and should re-invent themselves for each projects. While this answers a need to always have non-repetitive ideas from song to song, it can also be extremely time consuming. A good way is to use your leftovers as a starting point for a future project.

  • Leftovers are basically what you want them to be. I tend to hoard on anything unused. You’d be surprised the uses I’ve found for some sounds.
  • Instant inspiration comes from ideas you thought silly: re-pitch, stretch, slice, filter, EQ wildly… or heavily process them.
  • Decide of your own inner rules on how many times you use a sound. There’s no right or wrong.

 

TIP: Export your leftovers normalized so they sound full and ready for future projects.

 

Remixing Your Own Tracks

 

Sometimes, the best way to recycle is by revisiting your own tracks. Remixing a track you’ve previously produced can be an enlightening experience. Isolate individual elements that stood out and reimagine them in a new context. This not only breathes new life into your existing work but also expands your creative boundaries.

I always smile when a client tell me they can’t decide if one decision is best or another, regarding their track. Perhaps both ideas are good so why not make 2 versions?

You can have as many versions as you wish from your songs. In the 80’s and 90’s, some songs would sometimes have 3-4 variations which was really playful for DJs in how they could use and re-use a song.

Some ideas for new remixes could be:

  • Instrumental or with a vocal
  • Change of scale
  • Beatless or with different percussion set.
  • Collaborate with a musician for adding live take.

TIP: Try combining 3-4 songs into one.

 

Systematic Sound Design Sessions

 

Allocate specific sessions solely for sound design, separate from your songwriting or track-building sessions. During these sessions, focus on creating unique sounds, textures, or rhythms without the pressure of fitting them into a current project. Save these creations in an organized library.

Spending time organizing your sounds is also a useful way to make it easier for later on.

When working on new music, you can tap into this library for inspiration or elements to incorporate, significantly speeding up the creative process.

  • Take the time to understand complex presets on sounds you love.
  • Cross-pollinate the preset parameter of one synth to another.
  • Test demos of a synth you would love to acquire and record your tests to audio.

Collaborative Workflows

 

Encourage collaboration with other artists or sound designers. Sometimes, a fresh perspective can lead to unexpected and inspiring results. Collaborations can result in a shared library of sounds and ideas, offering a wider palette of elements to draw from when starting new projects.

  • I love to share a Dropbox folder with someone. As both of us can share projects there, you can see them being updated on each other’s sides.
  • Ask someone who has musical knowledge to revise and reinterprete a melody of yours with an acoustic instrument.
  • Befriend producers from other genres and see what they can provide for feedback.

 

TIP: Share a Dropbox or Google drive with friends.

 

Regular Review and Curation of Existing Projects

 

Schedule regular sessions to review your past projects that aren’t released. This is not just to reminisce but to actively search for reusable elements – be it a catchy hook, a unique synth sound, or an effective drum pattern. By doing this, you not only remind yourself of your past work but also build a readily accessible repository of ideas and sounds.

People who work with me knows I love to bring all my projects to 90% of completion instead of 100%. The logic behind this is simple: I like to gather a bunch of songs on a specific day or upon a need and then wrap them all up at once. This resolves multiple issues: coherence across a release, avoiding repetitive structures, better originality, etc.

  • Revise the kick of a project for a whole new approach on the direction of a song: harder, smoother.
  • Mute all channels that aren’t part of the hook to avoid clutter. This is easier to do if you are emotionally distant from your project.
  • Try a shorter version of your song to keep it straight to the essential (eg. radio ready mixes are 3 min long).

 

Incorporating Field Recordings and Unconventional Sound Sources

 

Sometimes, the most inspiring sounds come from the world around us. Regularly record sounds from your environment – these can be anything from street noises to natural ambience. These unique sounds can spark new ideas or add an original flavor to your music. There’s a beautiful plugin named Life which comes with a mobile app that sync up with the software on your computer. Not only you can grab sounds from everywhere but the software will chop it, while giving it a structure. The results are impressive.

  • When you are someone public such as a restaurant, pay attention to the music in the background. What do you hear when in a new context? Think of how your music would translate.
  • Try to listen to melodies from your environment. There can be hidden melodies from a street performer, from people talking around you or from a car passing by.
  • Explore noise and shape them to percussion.

 

 

Routine Exploration of New Tools and Habits

 

While it’s important to have a familiar toolkit, regularly experimenting with new plugins, instruments, or software can bring a fresh perspective to your work. This doesn’t mean always buying the latest gear, but rather exploring different tools, perhaps through demos or free versions, to keep your creative approach dynamic.

Exploring new tools means, perhaps, exploring mobile apps that can do sounds. There’s a large myth over those as many things they’re not good enough but you’d be surprised how many of them are extremely solid enough to make ideas. Not only the interface is lovely but the fact that you’re not in front of your computer is a different outlook on what you do. You can explore on your mobile shop to check apps that are tagged as music related and you’ll see synths, drum machines or weird DAWs. You can also check on VR headsets for the same kind of tools to explore.

 

 

Mind Mapping and Conceptual Workflows

 

Sometimes, the block isn’t in the production but in the conceptual phase. Employ techniques like mind mapping to outline the themes, emotions, or stories you want to convey in your music. This pre-production step can provide a clear direction and help in choosing or creating elements that align with your vision.

For this year, Mind Mapping is all rage for me. I’ve been starting to put down to image concepts, how I work in audio. Sometimes to mind map what you do gives you some insights you can’t think of when you only always do music on it’s own.

One method I learned is named “Sticky Steps.” Basically you start with the end and then roll back with little steps on how to get there. I like to think of it as a reverse engineering method. It’s possible that some steps, you will lack the knowledge to explain or know how to do it which is why you can contact me for instance, or ask friends.

 

I hope this kickstarts your new year in good manner. Don’t hesitate to leave comments or questions below.

Reverse Engeneering Sounds

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Every now and then, you might be like me and stubble on a song that either wow or confuse you for the different sounds it has or for a particular effect. You might be spending a few hours or days listening back to the song wondering how it was done, perhaps search online. But then you face your first limitation: your vocabulary. Yes, that part of yourself that hear a specific sound, might not know exactly how to name it. Then, this creates a gap in how you can explain it to someone or search for its nature, through search engines. In my case, I’m lucking enough to know enough about sound processing to be able to name it and so many times, someone booked me for an hour to ask me about a specific sound but then felt disappointed that I explained it in less than 2 minutes. I swear this happens a lot. But then I see them feeling a relief that what they thought impossible becomes something they can now add to their song in the making.

 

The first rule of audio reverse engineering is to be curious and open. But also, persistent and patient.

The second is to not be afraid to ask for help.

The third is to understand that it often takes 9 fails (in average) to succeed (the 10:1 ratio).

 

That said, It took me a while but I compiled how I work when I try to reverse engineer sounds so that you can consider this as a way of understanding more how you work. The more you understand sounds, the more control you’ll have over your own sound design.

 

Understanding the Sound

 

As simple as this sound, understand the sound starts with paying attention, isolating a moment within a song and be able to name which family it belongs to. In terms of families, there are a few that I use, which are related in how I label sounds (or how most online sample stores as Splice or Loopcloud use).

Drums: kicks, snare, hats, claps, toms, cymbals, breaks, fills, acoustic. These can be electronic based or acoustic. You’d see them on drum machines quite often.

Percussion: Shakers, conga, tambourine, bongos, djembe, bells. This is mostly the large amount of world traditional percussion related sounds.

Synths: Pads, stabs, chords, leads, arp, analog, fx, plucks. Basically, the sounds are the results of synthesis from a synth through sound design.

Vocal: All the types you can imagine and think of, that aren’t synthesis related.

Effects: Noise, risers, sweeps, impact, textures, atmosphere, field recordings. In general, they don’t really have a tone/recognizable root key but they might have one.

Brass/Woodwind: Sax, trumpet, trombone, flute, harmonica. Wind based instruments, mostly not synthesis related.

Guitar: Electric, clean, acoustic, distorted, riff.

Keys: piano, electric piano, wurtlizer, organ, classic, organ. Anything sounding close to a piano.

Bass: Sub, acoustic, analog, synth, wobble, saw, distorted, acid. Anything mid-low or low in frequencies.
Strings: Violin, cello, orchestral, staccato.

Some family overlaps, especially in electronic music, as many of the sounds can be created with a synth in one way or another but to name the base, perceived family is usually where it all starts.

 

Listening Carefully: The audio engineer will first listen to the sound repeatedly to understand its characteristics. This includes identifying the pitch, timbre, duration, and envelope (attack, decay, sustain, and release phases) of the sound.

Once you have the family, you need to define it’s nature through these characteristics. These will be helpful to either recreate or modify a specific sound. Whenever you start by designing a sound, these elements are the basis of where you start.

Example: Simply zoom on the isolated sound to start with can reveal some of those details: duration and envelope are very clear.

 

In this example, we see this sound has a fast attack, pretty high decay and sustain but super short release (as there are no tail).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sound also has a fast attach and a high decay, the sustain is fairly short and it seems the release is mid point. We see there is some sort of texture on the sound as there’s some noisy looking texture that stretches. This could mean that this sound was made by adding a layer to the original sound design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spectral Analysis: Using spectral analysis tools, the engineer can visually inspect the frequencies present in the sound. This helps in understanding the balance of fundamental frequencies and overtones.

 

In this example, the sound has a root key of C1 that is this huge bump in the low end area. After that bump, we see the complexity of the harmonics and overtones.

Understanding the overtones and harmonics is a strong indication of the content of the sound. It’s also telling us that this sound isn’t filtered. If it is, it might be in parallel otherwise we wouldn’t see the harmonics going up all the way there. If you don’t have a good one, I’d recommend getting the free SPAN.

Replicating the Sound

 

Identifying the Source: The engineer tries to determine the source of the sound. Is it a natural sound, a synthetic sound from a synthesizer, or perhaps a processed sound with effects?

This is where it gets complicated, especially if you’re new to sound design. Whenever I teach sound design, I encourage people to spend some time testing different oscillators and synthesis method. Each companies who build synths also work on having a particular sound and sometimes it’s just not possible to find out what it is. So the best attitude possible at first is to remain open and to try multiple iterations. But it won’t be possible to understand the sound if you haven’t exposed yourself to many of them. Spending a lot of time playing with various synths, emulations and checking online demos of synths can be a very essential activity to train your ears.

Using an oscilloscope is also super useful to “see” the sound if the wave form wasn’t clear enough from the file itself.

Consider foleys! This type of sound is what you see with sound artists that create the effects for movies by manipulating items in order to create a new sound. Perhaps you could be creative and use items in your kitchen to recreate the sound or even with your mouth, try to “say” or imitate the sound in order to see how it sounds like. Maybe you’ll feel silly but it can be pretty interesting in the end.

Synthesis: If the sound is synthetic, the engineer may use synthesizers to recreate it. This involves selecting the appropriate waveform (sine, square, triangle, sawtooth), setting the envelopes, and modulating the sound using LFOs (Low-Frequency Oscillators) and filters.

We saw on this blog that LFOs and envelopes are related to movement in sound so once your have worked on finding the possible sound source, the next is to hear the movement in it. This will let you know how to organize your movement settings.

One of the most useful and powerful tool you can use for modulation is Shaperbox. It has all the different tools for modulation. It has provided me a lot of insight on modulation and sound just by playing with it so it is not just useful for sound design, it is also educational.

 

Sampling: If the sound is natural or too complex to synthesize from scratch, the engineer might resort to sampling. This involves recording the sound, if possible, or finding a similar sound and then manipulating it to match the original.

Sometimes sampling the sound you want to replicate and play with it within a sampler can reveal details that you initially missed.

 

Processing the Sound

 

It’s rare that a sound as is gets our attention. It often is the case that it will have a color. We can process the sound by adding some effects that can twist the phase or open up the spectrum.

 

Effects Chain: The engineer will then use an array of effects to process the sound. Common tools include equalization (EQ) to adjust frequency balances, compression to manage dynamics, reverb and delay for space and depth, and possibly distortion or saturation for character.

Handy tools are multi-effect tools. Lifeline is one fun effect that can drastically or subtly alter the dull sound into a new one.

 

Layering Sounds: Often, the desired sound is a combination of several layers. The engineer might blend multiple sounds together to create a complex sound.

When it comes to layering, I like to use the arrangement side of Ableton to do it. You can also use an envelope follower to use the envelope of your desired target and apply it to the sound layers you’re working on. When layering, EQs and filters are your best assets.

 

Iterative Tweaking

A/B Testing: Throughout the process, the engineer will frequently compare their recreated sound to the original (A/B testing), making small adjustments to get closer to the desired outcome.

Some useful tool to understand the composition of the sound can also be an oscilloscope. Melda has one here for you for free otherwise, again in Shaperbox, you can find one which is very useful to have hands on the design.

 

Resampling over and over: The engineer might create “feedback loops”, where the processed sound is re-recorded into the system and processed again for more complex effects. What we mean here is not a literal feedback loop which is pretty hard on the ear but more of a resampling of a resampling into something new. This approach is a good way to hunt down variations of what you work on and go further down the rabbit hole of variations.

 

 

Final Comparison and Tweaking

 

After doing A/B testing for a while, you should at some point closer to the target in mind. One thing in mind as for searching for your ideal replication is to come up with something close and also be open to variations to it. Save as many presets as possible by turning multiple effects into a macro. You want to be able to recall your processing into future sounds and if you applied some processing, that is “make-up” that you can apply to other sounds of yours, which will open a new array of possibilities.

 

Fine-Tuning: Even once the sound seems close to the original, additional fine-tuning is often necessary to capture the nuances that make the sound unique. Sometimes that means to swap some effects (swap reverb X with another) to get subtle new outcomes. Even a musical EQ can change the identity in a little way. A lot of the best outcome is the sum of multiple tiny tweaks.

Environment Matching: The engineer also considers the environment in which the sound will be used. A sound in isolation might seem perfect but could require adjustments to fit into a mix or to match the acoustics of a particular space. Using a convolution reverb can be giving an idea what the sound could be like elsewhere.

Reverse-engineering a sound is as much an art as it is a science. Audio engineers need to have a keen ear, a deep understanding of audio synthesis and signal processing, and patience to iterate until the sound matches their goal. It’s a challenging but highly rewarding process that often leads to the creation of innovative sounds and effects.

Crafting Club-Ready Tracks

/in /by

It’s no secret that I’m an engineer for mostly electronic musicians but whoever comes to me for mastering, one of my main task is to make sure their music sound solid in club/festival context. In the last years, it’s been impressive how bedroom producers, not just pros, will have their music played in a context where the music is loud. This is due to the rising number of people who turns themselves into DJs and then this opens door to play in a local pub, party or club.

But it’s the same for producers. There’s been more and more people making music and for a lot of them, their hopes is to be played by DJs, not just in a podcast, but in moment where it can be heard by more than a handful of people. That becomes a test of the quality of their production and mixing.

But it can also be falling flat if the track isn’t following some basic standards.

I’ve been asked to go through a checklist of points that can help anyone to avoid feeling frustrated with their music.

 

1. Tone: The Foundation of Sound

When preparing music for clubs, tone is paramount. Many producers overemphasize certain frequencies because it sounds good at home, leading to mixes that are either too shrill or too muddy. Having the wrong music references, not understanding that all clubs are different can lead artists to pick some bad decisions.

Aim for a more balanced, flatter tone.

While there’s room for experimentation, avoid excessive highs, which can sound harsh, and overly pronounced lows, which can leave your track sounding hollow or muddy. A balanced tone ensures your track will work across various sound systems and club environments. This would apply to home listening as well.

TIP: I love to put an EQ on the master bus to see the tone of my track. If it tends to have one section higher than the rest, that is not always a good sign. If there are some peaks over 10k, this can be pretty harsh on a big sound system. If your low end is louder than your mids, by more than 4dB, you can expect your song to lack presence in a club. The melodies will sound behind.

 

2. Loudness and Density: Power Without Overpowering

 

Loudness is undeniably crucial in a club setting, but it’s a balance as well as a double-edge sword. While ensuring your track has punch, remember DJs need some wiggle room for gain staging during transitions. The goal isn’t just about raw volume, but rather the density within specific frequency areas, especially the low end. While a track that’s slightly quieter isn’t an issue, it should have the right energy and weight in crucial frequency areas.

DJs should know how to do gain staging. When they complain the track isn’t loud enough because they had to turn the gain up, I’d suspect that they might know that this is absolutely normal to have differences. Tracks that aren’t as loud will have more dynamic range, giving the track more details, punch and ultimately, life.

To reach a certain loudness level, the mix will need gain staging done right and then, in mastering, compress and limit more. Loud music means sounds bleed into one another.

TIP: After years and years of mastering, playing and attending, I find that -10LUFS is sort of the ultimate sweet spot. Some will argue that music should be louder but I believe not.

 

3. Mono Signal: The Unsung Hero in Club Tracks

 

While stereo spread adds richness and dimension to tracks on headphones or home systems, the mono signal is a powerhouse in a club setting. Songs that rely too heavily on stereo spread without considering their mono compatibility often lose potency on club systems. Prioritize the main elements in your mix to be mono-compatible, ensuring they drive the track without muddying the sound.

Sounds that should have some presence in the mono signal: Kick, Bass, clap/snare and melodic content between 200 and 800hz.

TIP: Create a return channel, add a utility plugin set to mono and then send your different sounds towards that channel. This will solidify your mono signal as you’re either doubling or enhancing your sounds’ presence.

 

4. Resonances: Subtle Saboteurs

 

High resonances can wreak havoc when played on large sound systems, turning subtle tones into screeching sounds. I often say that as a mastering engineer, I hunt those. Resonances can come from various sources such as resonance on a filter or the use of sine waves. I won’t get into details about what they are exactly but they’re sort of the type of sound, just like distortion, that sort of sound amazing at the right dose.

It’s vital to control and tame these, ensuring that your track remains pleasant and consistent across various volume levels and systems.

I’d add in parallel to this, as a 4-B, transients. Those are also to be careful with.

TIP: Using an EQ, you might want to tame the resonances but if you can’t spot them because this concept is not easy for you, don’t hesitate to start by putting in solo each sound and find the ones that have a “eeee” sound in it (it can be pitched high or low). We often find resonances into synths, because they often have either a sine wave oscillator or a filter with resonance.

 

5. Clarity: Space is the Place

 

Every sound in your mix should have its designated space, both in the stereo field and in the frequency spectrum. Overcrowding with prolonged decays or excessive reverb leads to a soupy, unclear mix. By ensuring that each element has room to breathe, your track will retain punch, definition, and that coveted dance floor energy.

TIP: Gating is your best ally in mixing. You can remove tails and reduce the decay of sounds with it which helps much.

 

6. Phasing: The Silent Song-Wrecker

 

Phasing issues can lead to essential elements of your track disappearing, especially during mono playback. This phenomenon is exacerbated by phase-inducing effects like flangers, phasers, chorus, delays, and reverbs. By understanding and addressing phasing, you ensure that your song’s core elements remain consistent across all playback scenarios.

 

A good way to find out if one sound is phasing in your project is by using a Correlation Meter such as SPAN (it’s free!). You’ll see this moving meter and basically, you want it to stay from 0 to +1. If it goes into negative, you’ll have phasing. Another way is to put a mono utility on your sound to see if it loses a lot of power or disappear completely.

TIP: How to fix is a bit tricky but you can start by lowering the stereo width, remove effects or make them drier.

7. Low-End Clarity: Making Your Bass Dance

 

The relationship between your kick and bass is akin to a dance. These elements should groove seamlessly, complementing rather than conflicting with each other. Using techniques like gating or side-chaining can ensure that these foundational elements coexist harmoniously, driving the rhythm without muddying the mix.

In the recent years, I have been enjoying shorter kicks beyond long powerful ones. There’s too many issues with using long kicks and in a club, they eat up too much space to be interesting enough. Short kicks support well a song and leaves you plenty of space for lower notes of a bass.

Rumbles, depending of the genre you’re making, might be a problem. You might have a DC Offset as well so I would highly recommend cutting (highpassing) at 20hz to block the garbage down there. Most clubs but at 30hz anyway but cutting at 20 is a good safeguard and will also provide some headroom for your mix.

Align the phase of your kick and bass! Simple trick that does a good little difference in some cases.

TIP: For people that heavily rely on side-chaining for making both work, I always say that arrangements are the root of mixing. In other words, if you program/design your kick and bass properly at the beginning, then it will be cleaner and you won’t have to fix it with gizmos.

Club environments pose unique challenges for electronic music producers. By taking into account these seven pivotal factors, you can ensure your tracks not only sound great in the studio but also shine on the dance floor. Remember, a club-ready track is a synergy of balance, clarity, and energy. Aim for these, and you’ll have club-goers moving to your beat in no time.

LFO Shapes: A Guide to Modulating Sound with Different Waveforms

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Are you getting to the point where you’ve been playing with many samples and feel like that you want to tweak them a bit so you can give them character?

As you know, I teach music production and the “level 1” of music production involves playing with samples, loops and turn them into songs. Once you get good at it, you can start to to tweak those samples. But where to start?

Well, the main issue with samples is that they’re… dead. By dead, I mean they’re static because they’ve been recorded and if played in loop, there will be no variation, no changes. Music why, this repetition can be challenging to listen to as the brain gets annoyed by an idea it understood because it expect it to change. For people with ADHD, it can even be torture and since a lot of musicians have that condition, you can expect them to want something to happen.

 

“I’m concerned the listener will be bored by my song”, is one challenge I hear a lot when I training people.

 

The answer to that is to dive in sound design. One of the main point is to teach yourself to be able to hear changes in sound, because that is movement is what makes a sound always change. There are 2 main types of movement: one that is in sync with a tempo and one that is not.

 

To relate to how to bring movement to your music, let’s talk about a tool I abuse of and couldn’t see myself without it: Low Frequency Oscillators.

 

Why using it?

A Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) is a fundamental component in the realm of audio synthesis and sound modulation. Operating at frequencies below the range of audible sound, an LFO generates waveforms that serve as control signals rather than sound sources themselves. These waveforms—such as sine, triangle, square, sawtooth, and random—ebb and flow in a repetitive manner, influencing various parameters of sound, including pitch, amplitude, and timbre. By imparting rhythmic or cyclical changes to these parameters, LFOs breathe life into static sounds, imbuing them with movement, texture, and complexity. Widely used in electronic music production and sound design, LFOs are pivotal tools for shaping sonic landscapes, adding dynamics, and creating evolving patterns that captivate the listener’s ear.

When you write your ideas/melodies, you can draw your automation for more precision, but the idea of using LFO’s, is to delegate some movement to the machine. Fast paced movement will bring some textures, while slow movement will blur the lines between where modulation starts and stops. Mid-speed will allow ear spotting changes.

LFO

In this blog post, we’ll dive into the world of LFO shapes and how they affect sound design. We’ll explore the characteristics of different LFO waveforms and how they sound when used to modulate a filter, both in fast and slow modulation scenarios. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a better understanding of how to use specific LFO shapes to achieve desired sonic effects.

Movement Uses:

 

1. Sine Wave: Smooth and Subtle

The sine wave is the simplest and most fundamental waveform, producing a smooth and gradual oscillation. When applied to modulate a filter, a sine wave can create gentle and subtle shifts in the sound. At a slow modulation rate, it imparts a calming, almost breathing-like quality to the sound. As the modulation rate increases, the sound becomes more pronounced, adding a sense of movement without being overly aggressive.

 

Sine movement are also the closest to nature.

  • Sine Wave: The Essence of Smoothness

The sine wave is a fundamental waveform that closely resembles the natural oscillations found in various phenomena, from the movement of pendulums to sound waves. Its smooth, rounded peaks and troughs replicate the behavior of many naturally occurring processes, giving it a sense of organic elegance.

  • Harmonic Content and Complexity:

The sine wave has the simplest harmonic content of all waveforms. It consists of a single frequency with no additional harmonics or overtones. This lack of complexity contributes to its inherently soothing and gentle quality. When the sine wave is used as an LFO shape to modulate a filter, it imparts a gradual, almost seamless movement to the sound. This characteristic is akin to the subtle changes in nature, such as the gentle ebb and flow of waves or the gradual shifts in wind patterns.

  • Emulating Natural Phenomena:

Many natural sounds, such as the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and even human vocalizations, exhibit a certain level of smoothness and continuity in their vibrations. By using a sine wave LFO shape, you’re essentially mimicking these naturally occurring patterns of movement. This can make your synthesized sounds feel more in tune with the environment, adding an organic touch that’s often difficult to achieve with more complex waveforms.

  • Subtle Dynamics:

The slow, gradual modulation provided by a sine wave LFO can be likened to the subtlety of nature’s changes. Think of how the rising and setting of the sun or the changing seasons bring about transformations that are gentle yet noticeable over time. Similarly, the use of a sine wave LFO can introduce subtle dynamics to your soundscapes, creating an impression of evolving environments that are familiar and soothing to the ear.

  • Organic Aesthetic:

When crafting music or soundscapes, an organic aesthetic can be particularly appealing. It resonates with listeners on a subconscious level, invoking a sense of calm and comfort. By utilizing the natural sound qualities of a sine-shaped oscillator as an LFO shape, you’re infusing your compositions with an element of authenticity that can enhance their emotional impact.

The innate smoothness, harmonic simplicity, and resemblance to natural phenomena make the sine wave a powerful tool for creating organic and natural-sounding modulations. By incorporating sine-shaped LFOs into your sound design, you’re tapping into the essence of nature’s subtlety and fluidity, giving your compositions a more authentic and emotionally resonant quality. Since electronic music is often cold and very artificial sounding, to include something more organic can be a nice contrast.

 

2. Triangle Wave: Balanced and Versatile

The triangle wave combines the smoothness of the sine wave with more defined edges. This waveform is often used to achieve a balanced modulation effect. When modulating a filter with a triangle wave, the result is a sound that moves gradually between its highest and lowest points. At slow rates, it creates evolving textures, and at higher rates, it imparts a rhythmic quality without being too sharp.

 

3. Sawtooth Wave: Building and Dynamic

The sawtooth wave has a sharp ascending edge and a smooth descending edge. When used to modulate a filter, it produces a building and dynamic effect. At slow modulation rates, the sawtooth wave can create sweeping changes, gradually opening and closing the filter. When the modulation rate is increased, it generates an aggressive and impactful movement, ideal for creating dramatic transitions or evolving textures.

 

4. Square Wave: On-Off Intensity

The square wave alternates between two levels, creating an on-off pulsating effect. When applied to filter modulation, it introduces a distinct rhythmic quality to the sound. At slow rates, it produces a gating effect, with the sound fading in and out. As the modulation rate increases, the square wave generates a clear pulsating rhythm, suitable for adding rhythmic complexity to the sound.

Like any shape of an LFO, you can play with the depth of it’s output. If you keep the depth low for a square shape, you’ll have a nice variation but in two stages.

 

5. Random/Noise Wave: Chaotic and Experimental

The random or noise waveform introduces an element of chaos and unpredictability to modulation. When modulating a filter, it creates a sense of randomness and texture. At slower rates, it can add a subtle layer of complexity to the sound, mimicking natural variations. At faster rates, it produces a glitchy and experimental effect, making it perfect for unique soundscapes.

I recommend the use of random on sounds you never want to be the same twice such as the velocity of a sound, the length of a percussion, the tone of a pad. It is very useful to add variations, slow or fast.

TIP: Use the smooth option to have less abrupt changes.

 

6. Binary output: Computer Language

As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, Ableton Live’s “Binary” form might refer to a specific device, feature, or concept that was introduced after that time. However, if we’re discussing a feature related to binary operations or manipulation, here’s a general explanation of how binary operations might be used in a music production context:

1. Binary Operations:

Binary operations involve manipulating binary data, which consists of sequences of 1s and 0s. In music production software like Ableton Live, binary operations can be used to generate rhythmic patterns, create variations, and add complexity to your music. They can be particularly useful for creating glitchy, syncopated, or experimental rhythms.

2. Step Sequencers and Binary Rhythms:

Step sequencers are commonly used to create patterns of notes or events over time. In the context of music production, a binary step sequencer might allow you to turn steps on or off, creating a binary pattern. Each step represents a binary digit (1 or 0), which corresponds to a note or event being active or inactive.

For example, if you have a binary pattern of “101010,” it might translate to a repeating rhythm of long-short-long-short-long-short in a musical context. This can be a great way to generate interesting, irregular rhythms that deviate from traditional quantized patterns.

3. Creating Glitch Effects:

Binary manipulation can also be used to create glitch effects. By toggling certain bits on and off, you can introduce unexpected variations and unpredictability to your sounds. This is especially useful for genres like glitch, IDM, and experimental electronic music.

4. Sound Design:

Incorporating binary patterns into your sound design can lead to unique textures and timbres. You can use binary patterns to modulate various parameters of your synthesizers and effects, producing evolving and dynamic sounds.

5. Automation and Control:

If Ableton Live introduced a feature named “Binary,” it might also involve binary automation, where you can use binary patterns to automate various parameters in your project. This could add a layer of complexity and movement to your music over time.

Since my knowledge is based on information available up until September 2021, I recommend checking Ableton Live’s official documentation, user guides, or online resources for the most up-to-date and accurate information about the “Binary” feature in Ableton Live. This will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to use it effectively in your music production workflow.

 

TIP: To hear better how a modulation is affecting sound, map the LFO to a Utility so you can hear amplitude (volume) modulation, which is easier to the ear since it is very obvious.

 

 

LFO Modulated LFO

The concept of using one LFO to modulate the speed of another LFO is a fun technique that can yield intricate and non-linear modulation patterns. Let’s explore how this works and why it leads to non-linear results:

 

LFO Modulation Basics:

Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) are typically used to modulate parameters such as pitch, amplitude, filter cutoff, and more. They generate waveforms at frequencies lower than those of audible sound, resulting in modulation that occurs over time. These waveforms include sine, triangle, sawtooth, square, and random waves, each with unique characteristics.

Modulating LFO Speed:

When you use one LFO to modulate the speed of another LFO, you’re introducing a layer of complexity to the modulation process. Instead of directly affecting the sound parameter itself, you’re altering the rate at which another LFO oscillates. This means that the rate of change in modulation becomes variable and dynamic.

Ever heard the sound of a bouncing ball? This can be achieved with this technique.

 

Non-Linear Effects:

The key to understanding the non-linear effects lies in how the modulation rates interact. When one LFO modulates the speed of another LFO, the resulting modulation pattern becomes intricate and less predictable than simple linear modulation.

Consider this scenario: Let’s say you have an LFO (LFO1) modulating the speed of a second LFO (LFO2). As LFO1 varies its speed, it introduces fluctuations in the rate at which LFO2 modulates the target parameter. The result is a complex interplay of modulation speeds that can lead to unexpected and non-linear outcomes.

For example, if LFO1 oscillates between fast and slow speeds, the modulation from LFO2 will speed up and slow down accordingly, leading to irregular and evolving modulation patterns. These irregularities create a sense of unpredictability and complexity in the modulation, which can add a unique and experimental flavor to your sound design.

Applications:

  • Texture and Movement: Modulating an LFO’s speed with another LFO can add layers of texture and movement to your soundscapes. The constantly changing modulation rates can create intricate sonic textures that evolve over time.
  • Dynamic Rhythms: The non-linear modulation introduced by this technique can result in dynamic and evolving rhythms. It’s a great way to inject rhythmic complexity into your music, perfect for genres like IDM, ambient, and experimental music.
  • Experimental Sound Design: If you’re aiming for experimental or otherworldly sounds, using one LFO to modulate the speed of another can lead to unconventional and unpredictable outcomes that can set your sound design apart.

In summary, using one LFO to modulate the speed of another LFO introduces a layer of complexity and unpredictability to your modulation patterns. This technique can lead to non-linear results that are rich in texture, movement, and dynamic rhythms. It’s a powerful tool for sound designers looking to push the boundaries of conventional modulation and create unique sonic landscapes.

TIP: How many LFOs should be used in a project isn’t important. But you’ll have more cohesion if you use a few “master LFOs” that control multiple parameters across the song as they will move all together elements, creating an orchestral effect.

 

LFOs as Melodies and Compositional Tool

 

Certainly, LFOs combined with a sample and hold module in the modular synth world can produce intriguing and unique melodies. The type of LFO waveform used in conjunction with the sample and hold module directly influences the character of the generated melodies.

If you look at a melody in the piano roll, you’ll see that notes go up and down or perhaps go up then down. Those are shapes an LFO can do.

How to set it up?

Send the output of the LFO to a Sample and hold. You can ping the sample and hold at the moment you want a note to play. The sample and hold will look at the data sent by the LFO at the moment it was pinged and then output the note which can be sent to an oscillator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s see how different LFO shapes contribute to specific types of melodies:

1. Sawtooth LFO: Progressive Ascending Melodies

Using a sawtooth LFO with a sample and hold module can create melodies that ascend progressively. As the sawtooth LFO ramps up, it triggers the sample and hold to capture and hold the voltage at specific points. The resulting melody will have a rising, stair-step quality, with each note being slightly higher than the previous one. This combination is well-suited for building anticipation and tension in a composition.

 

2. Square LFO: Stepped and Rhythmic Patterns

A square LFO paired with a sample and hold module generates stepped and rhythmic melodies. The square wave’s on-off nature causes abrupt shifts in the sampled voltage, creating distinctive steps in the melody. When used at different rates, the square LFO imparts a rhythmic quality to the melodies, making them danceable and syncopated.

 

3. Triangle LFO: Smooth and Flowing Melodies

A triangle LFO combined with a sample and hold module produces melodies with a smooth and flowing character. The triangle waveform’s gradual rise and fall influence the sampled voltage, resulting in melodies that transition between notes in a less abrupt manner compared to square or sawtooth waves. This combination is ideal for creating melodies that evoke a sense of fluidity and motion.

 

4. Random/Noise LFO: Chaotic and Experimental Melodies

Pairing a random or noise LFO with a sample and hold module leads to chaotic and experimental melodies. The unpredictable nature of the random waveform causes the sample and hold module to capture varying voltages, resulting in melodies that seem to wander unpredictably. This combination is perfect for generating avant-garde or ambient melodies that challenge traditional musical expectations.

 

5. Sine LFO: Serene and Ethereal Melodies

Utilizing a sine LFO with a sample and hold module produces serene and ethereal melodies. The sine waveform’s smooth undulations translate into gentle fluctuations in the captured voltage. The resulting melodies are subtle and soothing, with a dreamlike quality that’s well-suited for ambient or meditative compositions.

 

Thanks for reading my tribute to a often overlooked tool in music and now you know why I’m in love with all the possibilities behind it.

 

Noise In Music

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In the realm of digital music production, there exists a fundamental concept known as the “noise floor.” It represents the level of background noise present in any audio system or recording environment. Interestingly, our world is never entirely silent; there is always a gentle hum of ambient noise surrounding us. Human hearing has evolved to appreciate and find comfort in these subtle noises, making them an integral part of our daily lives. 

 

If you record with your phone or a handheld device some sounds on the street, you’ll hear this smooth white noise in the background. Listening to the recording afterwards will have this reality with a blanket of noise that we get familiar with. Through the history of music recording, depending on the era and medium, the noise differed. If you grew up with a certain sound, there might have been a typical noise you associate with it.

 

Noise in music can be nostalgic.

 

Not to forget that some people actually love sleeping with noise in the background as it blocks outside sounds. With ADHD, some noise (like Brown) can help with focus.

 

The concept of noise finds a captivating application in the world of modular synthesizers. Modular synths offer a playground of endless possibilities, where musicians and sound designers can manipulate and harness different types of noise to create lush and music landscapes. In this blog post, we will go through the world of noise in modular synths, exploring the different types of noise available and the creative opportunities they offer.

 

White Noise – A Hissing Foundation:

 

White noise, resembling a gentle hiss, is one of the most common types of noise found in modular synthesizers. It features a consistent amplitude across all frequencies within the audible range. Embracing white noise in your patches can introduce exciting possibilities. For an exercise, patch a white noise generator to trigger an envelope, and use it to create rhythmic bursts of noise at irregular intervals. This technique can produce percussive and glitchy elements in your music, adding a touch of randomness to your compositions.

 

I also like to introduce a noise floor of white noise, slightly filtered, to create a feeling of proximity. It’s hard to explain, but sometimes clients feel their music is empty and will drown everything in reverb. Adding some white noise is a good alternative to that as reverb can also introduce various mixing issues.

 

Pink Noise – A Softer Alternative:

 

Pink noise, also known as 1/f noise, is characterized by equal energy in each octave. Unlike white noise, pink noise contains more low-frequency energy, resulting in a warmer and softer sound. To explore pink noise, connect it to a filter module and use an envelope or an LFO to sweep through the filter’s frequency cutoff. This exercise will help you understand how pink noise can add depth and character to your sounds, particularly in filter sweeps and ambient textures.

 

There’s also some theories about mixing with noise. Some people put a pink noise as a background and then will mix it over. The idea is that you want to mix each channel through the noise and when you hear it, then you know it’s levelled equally (since pink noise is full range). I’m not too keen of that approach but it can be useful to try it.

 

Gaussian Noise – Emulating Natural Sounds:

 

Gaussian noise, also known as normal distribution noise, features a bell-shaped amplitude distribution, mimicking natural sounds found in our environment. It is particularly useful for simulating wind or water sounds. Experiment with this type of noise by using it in a sample and hold module to generate random voltages. Then, patch the random voltages to various parameters in your modular system, such as oscillator pitch or filter cutoff. This exercise will demonstrate how Gaussian noise can add an organic touch to your patches.

 

Any noises passed through a quantizer will offer random melodies. A technique to generate random melodies is to to send noise through a sample and hold, then trigger a moment where the note should be played. The sample and hold will pick a note from the noise, which then you can pass through a quantizer to make sure it is set to a scale. The result will be musical.

 

 

 

Digital Noise – Infinite Possibilities

In the context of modular synths, digital noise refers to the generation of noise using digital algorithms and processes, as opposed to analog noise generated by analog circuits. The term “infinite possibilities” refers to the vast range of creative and unconventional sounds that digital noise sources can produce. Unlike traditional analog noise sources like white or pink noise, digital noise allows for extensive manipulation and sculpting, leading to unique and experimental textures.

Digital noise generators in modular synthesizers often provide various types of noise algorithms that can emulate natural or chaotic phenomena, simulate environmental sounds, or create entirely new sonic landscapes. Here are some examples of what digital noise can offer:

  • Granular Noise: Granular synthesis is a technique where sound is broken down into tiny grains, and these grains can be randomly rearranged and manipulated. Digital noise sources can implement granular synthesis algorithms, producing a vast array of grain-based noises that can range from glitchy textures to ethereal pads.
  • Custom Noise Algorithms: Some digital noise modules allow users to upload or create custom algorithms. This feature empowers sound designers to craft noise with specific characteristics, opening up possibilities for entirely novel soundscapes that push the boundaries of conventional synthesis.
  • Sampled Noise: Digital noise sources can incorporate sampled noise recordings, allowing for the recreation of real-world environmental sounds, machinery, or other interesting textures. These sampled noise sources can be creatively combined with other elements in the modular setup to create evocative and immersive sonic experiences.
  • Noise Modifiers: Digital noise modules often come with various modifiers and processing options. These may include waveshaping, filtering, amplitude modulation, and more, giving you the tools to sculpt the digital noise in unique ways and tailor it to fit your artistic vision.
  • Randomized Algorithms: Some digital noise sources have algorithms that introduce a degree of randomness into the sound generation. This stochastic nature can lead to unpredictable and evolving textures, which can add an element of surprise and excitement to your patches.

As you experiment with digital noise in modular synthesizers, you’ll discover a wide range of creative possibilities. Whether you seek to create atmospheric soundscapes, experimental textures, or unique percussion elements, digital noise sources offer a playground of sonic exploration. The ability to customize and manipulate noise algorithms within the digital domain gives you unparalleled control over the sounds you generate, making digital noise a powerful and indispensable tool for innovative sound design.

 

Noise as a Modulation Source – Adding Life to Your Patches

 

Noise can be a versatile modulation source in modular synthesizers. Use a noise source to modulate parameters like oscillator pitch, filter cutoff, or LFO rate. Adjust the amount of modulation to understand how noise affects the timbre and movement of your sound. This exercise will demonstrate how noise as a modulation source can introduce dynamics and unpredictability into your patches, bringing them to life.

This is not something you can do with Ableton Live, sadly and this is why sound design in modular contexts open up new options that are complementary to Live.

 

Noise-Based Percussion – Unconventional Drum Sounds

 

Create unique and unconventional percussion sounds by utilizing noise sources to trigger envelopes that control VCAs or other sound generators. This exercise will help you craft snare drum-like sounds, hi-hats, and other percussive elements with a distinctive character, setting your compositions apart from traditional drum kits. From a Pink Noise, you can easily build percussions with all octaves being covered so if you pair it with a filter or two, there can be very powerful results coming from that.

 

Noise in Feedback Loops – Chaos and Creativity

Create feedback loops involving noise sources and various modules. By adjusting the gain and routing of the feedback, you can explore chaotic and unpredictable sounds. Be cautious with the volume levels to prevent potential damage to your speakers or hearing. This exercise will challenge your creativity and inspire you to push the boundaries of sonic exploration. 

  1. Feedback Loops in Modular Synthesis: In a modular synthesizer, feedback loops occur when the output of a module is routed back into its own input. This setup creates a self-sustaining loop where the output continually feeds back into the input, generating a chain reaction of sound. Feedback loops are known for their potential to generate unique and evolving sounds, often characterized by self-modulation, harmonics, and sonic complexity.
  2. Noise in Feedback Loops – Unpredictable Oscillation: Introducing noise sources into feedback loops can lead to chaotic and unpredictable behavior. When noise is fed into the loop, it injects random variations into the signal chain. As the noise interacts with other elements in the loop, it produces intricate patterns of oscillation and modulation. This generates a sonic landscape that is ever-changing, with an array of dynamic textures and tonalities.
  3. Harnessing Chaos – Musicality from Disorder: While noise in feedback loops may seem disorderly, skilled sound designers and musicians can find musicality within the chaos. By carefully adjusting parameters, such as gain, frequency, or filtering, you can sculpt the noise-induced feedback to create musical tones, harmonics, and rhythms. This process requires experimentation and an intuitive understanding of your modular setup.
  4. Non-Repeating Patterns – Endless Exploration: One of the most intriguing aspects of noise in feedback loops is the creation of non-repeating patterns. Due to the chaotic nature of the feedback system, the resulting sounds may never repeat in the same way twice. This opens the door to endless exploration, where every patch becomes a unique sonic journey, allowing you to discover new sounds and compositions with each iteration.
  5. Sonically Evolving Patches: Noise in feedback loops can lead to sonically evolving patches that morph and transform over time. These patches are akin to living organisms, constantly changing and adapting. By letting your patches run and evolve, you can uncover unexpected and inspiring sonic discoveries that may serve as foundations for your musical compositions.
  6. Creating Textures and Soundscapes: Beyond musical tones, noise in feedback loops is an excellent tool for generating rich sound textures and atmospheric soundscapes. By tweaking the feedback parameters and manipulating the noise source, you can create immersive sonic environments that add depth and complexity to your music.
  7. Cautions and Limitations: While noise in feedback loops can lead to exciting results, it’s essential to be mindful of potential pitfalls. Excessive feedback or high gain settings can lead to uncontrollable and overwhelming sounds that might damage speakers or cause discomfort to listeners. It’s advisable to approach feedback patching with care and gradually increase parameters to explore the sonic boundaries safely.

 

In the world of modular synths, noise is a captivating element that adds depth, complexity, and a touch of unpredictability to your compositions. From white noise’s rhythmic bursts to pink noise’s warm textures, and the experimental possibilities of digital noise, each type of noise serves as a powerful tool for sound design and artistic expression. Embrace noise in your modular synth patches, and let it take you on a sonic adventure where creativity knows no bounds. Remember, in a world that is never truly silent, noise holds the key to unlocking your unique musical voice.

 

Applying Da Vinci Principles to Music Coaching

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As you already know (well I hope, at this point), one of my speciality is to work with young or veteran music producers and remove struggles so they can create freely. Recently I’ve been studying how Leonardo Da Vinci was learning and creating, so I saw a crossover to what I do. After all, each song we make is basically a creation in itself, an innovation and a prototype for future project of ours. If it’s not already, I invite you right away to think of each song you make as a step taken in a direction that will lead you to greater things.

Leonardo da Vinci, mastered the art of innovation and interdisciplinary thinking, modern musicians and producers can draw inspiration from his principles to unlock their potential in the realm of music production. In this blog post, we will delve into each of the seven principles from the book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” and explore how they can be skillfully applied to music production, enabling you to become a true maestro in your craft. If you’re seeking to enhance your music coaching journey, embrace these principles as guiding stars to navigate the musical cosmos.

 

Curiosità – Embrace Musical Diversity

 

Leonardo da Vinci’s insatiable curiosity fueled his passion for knowledge and exploration. As a musician and producer, nurturing curiosità involves delving into various musical genres, styles, and cultures. Too often, as a producer, we get obsessed by a genre, a song, an artist and we focus on it for a while, forgetting anything else. Sometimes, the answers to our questions and inspiration pitfalls come from another unexpected source.

Break free from creative boundaries and venture into new territories to experiment with new sounds and musical elements. Diving in genres you dislike, switching to past eras of time, exploring the roots of another country are good places to look into. Drum and Bass took loops from funk. Hip hop samples jazz, while dub techno is inspired by reggae, which has roots in old African music. All genres taps into another culture and this means you can softly break rules by doing the same, whatever genre you’re doing.

TIP for inspiration: Find a genre to explore, pick any song and isolate an instrumental moment where you can hear the main melody then convert it to midi in Ableton.

 

Attend music festivals, workshops, pay attention to street artists and listen to a wide array of musicians from different backgrounds. Learn who inspired your heroes such as Villalobos’ love for Keith Jarrett. This diverse exposure will not only enrich your musical palette but also infuse your productions with unique flavours.

Dimostrazione – Hands-on Learning and Experimentation

 

Da Vinci’s approach to learning through practical experience resonates with music production. Aspiring producers should engage in hands-on experimentation with different instruments, digital audio workstations (DAWs), and audio effects. There is different projects one can do such as DIY reverb units, foley ideas or simply recording percussion out of anything at home.

A fact that I share to clients all the time: practice, practice, practice and make mistakes.

Practice creating diverse arrangements, experiment with modulation and synthesis, and explore various mixing techniques. By consistently practicing dimostrazione, you’ll build a deeper understanding of music production that theory alone can never provide.

TIP: I am curating a Youtube list of experiments you can try. That list is growing everyday and is filled with ideas to try.

Sensazione – Developing a Keen Ear and sharp vision

 

Sensazione refers to the sharpening of one’s senses, and for a musician, this means cultivating a keen ear for music. Train yourself to listen actively to various musical compositions, both old and new. Pay attention to the nuances of melodies, harmonies, rhythm patterns, and the subtle production details that make each piece unique. Regularly practicing ear training exercises will help you identify and appreciate intricate musical elements, allowing you to apply them creatively in your own productions.

 

TIP: Write some few notes and test all music scales to see how it sounds for you. Try all different chords as well. Spending time to know them will help later to understand melodies.

 

While we know music is about the hearing and that ear training is important, I also encourage to train your eyes as well. One thing I disliked when I used to work in a music school was that all teachers were telling students to only rely on their ears and from what I was seeing, that tip was frustrating for them. This is why I tell people to first learn to trust your eyes when you use sound analyzers and then train your ears to make the link with what you see.

As we work with visual tools such as a DAW, training yourself to know what happens when you click here and there or where to find your tools comes with practice but the visual organization is essential for speed. The faster you are with your tools, the more you’ll be in the flow when you think of an idea and want to execute it. This speed and understanding can only happen with practice… yes, once more and now you know it. I notice that even for myself, if I skip a few days of not practicing, I forget some ideas I have.

One thing I invite you to do is to learn and practice critical listening. That skill is extremely important for whatever you want to achieve and you’ll thank me later.

 

Sfumato – Embracing Musical Ambiguity

 

In the realm of music production, Sfumato encourages you to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. This is where many producers struggle but also, the average listener. In the psychology of music listening, people can be on various modes. One is about listening to a song to reconnect with the mood, emotion, idea because of the emotional craving of having the song inducing that. An other is about discovering something new. Even when someone is open to listening to something new, they’ll have a bunch of personal filters that will make them decide if they like it or not: sounds used, tones, density, speed, scale, etc. If you come with expectations, you’ll most likely be not enjoying it.

Understanding that your listener has it’s own personal story once they listen to your creation will help you understand how you want them to hear it. Finding the right balance of ambiguity is the key to educate your listeners to be able to deal with more.

 

Music is an art form where unexpected twists and creative risks often lead to remarkable breakthroughs. Allow yourself to explore unconventional chord progressions, atypical song structures, and unorthodox sound combinations. Question what others tell you that you can’t do. Of course, some technicalities are essentials but if it’s purely arbitrary and personal tastes, it might be worth exploring the why behind anyone’s discomfort. Embracing the uncertainty will open doors to uncharted musical territories and give your productions a distinct, avant-garde charm.

But uncertainty is also the path of the musician. We don’t know if people will like our music, we don’t know if what we do will be understood, what kind of reaction it will bring us and ultimately, open or slow down our ascension as an artist. To develop ambiguity endurance is a good investment.

 

TIP: Consider that there are so many songs that have technical imperfections that eventually became seen as a risk, that they set the path to new standards. Accepting ambiguity means to accept imperfection, which is hard for perfectionists.

 

Arte/Scienza – Balancing Artistic Vision with Technical Expertise

Leonardo da Vinci famously harmonized art and science, a practice that resonates with music production, especially in electronic music. I firmly believe if he was around, he’d certainly be interested in how electronics can mimic sounds. Balancing your artistic vision with technical expertise is essential for achieving a polished and professional sound. While artistic expression fuels creativity, understanding the technical aspects of audio engineering, mastering, and sound design empowers you to bring your musical ideas to life with precision and finesse.

Some classes, courses and technical knowledge you could look into that would be beneficial could:

  • Studying computer science. I often say that if you’re computer challenged, it will be a hurdle to make electronic music for all the technology needs behind it. Studying how your computer works, hard drive, files management, hardware optimisation and also, coding, will definitely help in one way or another, especially if you have to troubleshoot.
  • Signal flow. Understanding the basics of sound with phase, polarity but also basics as what is loudness, how speakers/monitors work will help. You don’t need to study engineering in itself. But if there’s one concept I find essential, it’s gain staging. Especially for DJs, since so many are completely clueless on how to use a DJ mixer properly, which leads them to misunderstand how music is made. This would also cover bits and sample rate, two concepts essential for basic quality upgrade of your music.
  • Music theory. Maybe not that much needed as one can go a long way with little knowledge but to know the basics will certainly help.
  • Computer logic. If you’re not familiar with Boolean maths, logic (If, Then, etc), I would encourage you to look into it.
  • Sound synthesis. Looking into envelopes, LFOs, MIDI, signal rate, etc. There’s a lot to learn but getting the base will help you across many tools you’ll use because those ideas are general and used across many plugins, synths.

If you want to break rules, you need to understand them first. It will be also useful to be able to criticize all the misleading feedback you’ll read online.

 

Corporalità – Nurturing Physical and Mental Well-being

In the fast-paced world of music production, it’s vital to prioritize your physical and mental well-being. Long hours in the studio can take a toll on your health and creativity. Make time for regular physical exercise, meditation, and activities that rejuvenate your mind. A clear and focused mind leads to enhanced creativity, allowing you to channel your emotions effectively into your musical compositions.

Over the past 30 years, the rave scene and electronic music world has built a lot of glorification upon drugs consumption and many artists received royal treatment for how poorly they’ve treated their body. While I value the importance to celebrate and do experiment, I also think that all the self care possible will do justice on the long run. If your art needs years to be recognized but your health won’t let you see it, then you’re failing your success.

In my case, I see how running, doing workouts and lots of yoga has paid off. The days where I run 10km are extremely productive and more creative than any evenings I spend partying and trying to accomplish something. Finding the balance helps much. I’m happy that in the last few years, there are more importance for healthy lifestyles and I totally see the point of that.

TIP: Learn to spot inner tensions when making music which should be a cue that you need to stop, go for a walk to think about whatever is happening and then come back.

Connessione – Uniting Musical Elements

Finally, embrace Connessione, Leonardo’s principle of recognizing interconnectedness. Music production involves various elements like melody, harmony, rhythm, and texture. Learn to see the bigger picture and identify how each component contributes to the whole. Effortlessly blend diverse musical influences and genres, making your productions a testament to the beauty of unity within diversity.

One exercise I’m doing much these days is to listen to melodies in any song and then pay attention if the notes are going up or down, what is the pattern. Then I pay attention to the rhythms of those notes and see if they come at the same time or not. That kind of attention is a way to observe how music is made across genres in order to see how I can create my own melodies. Any notes can then be applied to my music, maybe also reversed engineered in modular terms, such as a way to use an LFO to create regular melodies.

 

 

As you embark on your music production journey, channel your inner Leonardo da Vinci and embrace his timeless principles. Cultivate curiosity, experiment boldly, and listen attentively to the musical world around you. Embrace ambiguity, balance artistry with technicality, and prioritize your well-being. Recognize the interconnectedness of musical elements, blending diverse influences into your unique compositions. By applying “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” to music production, you’ll unleash your creative genius and pave the way for a remarkable musical legacy.

Max For Live Gems For Ableton

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(Updated June 23rd 2023)

I’ve been wanting to cover some of my favorite Max patches for a while. There are so many and sometimes, some are just meh and others, will be quite amazing. Since I’m basically hoarding digital tools for my studio, I thought I’d compile a list of some patches that feels like it’s hacking the production flow to the point where it’s like cheating.

 

Every now and then, I’ll be making music and whenever it feels too easy (it doesn’t happen enough though), I always the impression that it’s wrong. 

 

In coaching, I teach that it’s never a problem. My take on this is to harvest ideas when it feels too easy because you might have found a hack and if it sounds good, then it means you found a way to express yourself.

 

This is why I never have enough tools that ease my creativity but I don’t rely on them as a quick fix for something I can normally do. If there’s a shortcut to something that takes a long time, which provides the same results, I’ll always go with the shortcut. Decision fatigue is something that ruins many studio sessions, and the meter goes down whenever you need to fix something or run into a complicated workflow.

 

In terms of tools, I have a few categories and I’ll present them based on a need or problem.

 

I like to think of the different needs related to music coming from different spheres. 

 

Melodies: Sequencing, hook building, not harmonies, slicing/rearranging, generating.

 

Sounds: Design, harmonic/inharmonic, quantized, envelopes.

 

Effects: to be paired with sound sources so there can be variation and alteration.

 

Rhythms: generating, rearranging, unorthodox patterns, familiar patterns, ratcheting.

 

If you read my article about VCV and how the brain, the heart work, you’ll have one central source of sequences in one channel and then, you’ll have other channels that are the sounds who will receive the signal from. This is why I separate my sources and receivers. When you hunt for new ideas, you might have a nice melody but not the right sound or vice versa, so you want to be able to swap between them.

 

This is why I love VCV and modular because you can have built systems of melodies generating tools that send to multiple sound sources.

 

1- Sequencing : I want to create different rhythms or find patterns out of my usual flow

 

When it comes to sequencing, there are multiple ways to do it. You can use a note pattern from a midi clip if you want precise ideas. This is useful to lay the main idea of a song and to have direct control over the development of a pattern. But when it comes to generating ideas, I find that step sequencers that have random options, probabilities, phrase length adjustments to name a few, are super useful. It turns your machine into an idea maker and then you can cherry pick what suits your idea.

 

Drum sequencers that come top of the list for me are XO by XLN and Atlas. Both are quite similar but they offer in-context sample swapping, as well as sample organization, so it becomes really easy and fast to swap a sound to see what it would be like. Both offer different complementary ideas which is why I often use both but they’re not cheap.

 

Otherwise, if you want a quick fix, the Alexkid Instant Haus max patch is a free alternative. It will create some different rhythms for all your percussion instruments but you can use it to sequence notes or swap percussive for musical elements. Sadly there is no Max patch to hear percussions in context like Xo does. If you like that one, he also made other bundles that are pretty badass here, with more generating ideas for percussion.

 

I saw this patch here that is quite interesting. It is there to generate ideas so there are some nice potential. Also super powerful, comes Polyrhythm by Encoder audio, which is one of my favorite developers.

 

I also like Eucledean Pro because it uses the classic Euclidean approach to create beats.

 

Not long ago, a new max sequencer came out and it’s named Opal. It’s very influenced by Elektron machines. It’s really dope and can achieve so much for drums but also just for textures and even melodies. Powerful.

 

2 – Sequencing Melodies : Generate hooks, phrases and musical ideas

 

There are many ways to create a hook. You can use sampling (we’ll get there later), play melodies, extract melodies, combine sounds to make something catchy, record instruments or sounds… All those pretty much cover the main ways to find a hook. Depending on a specific genre, a technique might be used more frequently. 

 

For ambient and electronic music, in general, sequencing ideas/notes to a synth or sound source is quite popular. Basslines, pads, chords and melodies are often coming from the piano roll. But you could use a melodic sequencer to do so.

 

I’m obsessed with melody sequencers. They’re fun but they also feel like you have a partner which you can tap endless ideas from.

 

Here are some of my favorites:

 

Pattern Generator by Manifest audio. Solid for creating complex or simple melodies as well as can be used for drums.

 

Snake: Brilliant patch for quick sequences.

 

Ask and answer: Works for creating call and answer hooks.

 

Turing Machine: inspired by Allan Turing, this device spits out sequences randomly and then you can loop the parts you like.

 

Aisle: This complex generating tool finds original sequences and patterns based on repetition. I find that this is excellent for percussions and evolutive percussive melodies.

 

On the more experimental flavor, Dillon Bastian has been a hero. It’s hard to explain in a few words what they do but he’s basically creating patterns and sounds through a visual context. For instance, with Rhythmorphic, he uses visual maps that shape how the patterns happen and what notes are triggered. It’s a bit hard to explain but it’s something quite unique and you can shape some very unique patterns. This can be very organic sounding, sort of like a chime. Or you can also use it to trigger percussion.

 

3- Sounds: I want to have sounds that are new to me but still not too crazy (or not).

 

When it comes to making sounds, I often deal with 2 kinds of mindset. On one hand I often find myself wanting to emulate sounds from songs or artists that I really like. I will try to reverse engineer how it sounds and will noodle around a bunch of different presets, pick the one that is the closest and then try to tweak it to something close to the target. 

 

This is where “instruments” get handy. While you have a lot of options already with Ableton’s internal synths which are excellent, I compile a few ones here for you.

 

Chiral: Named holographic synth, it creates unreal sounds, based on multiple synthesis approaches. Hard to describe, these textures will sound very artificial, in a good way. Think of the ultimate synth for scifi score.

 

Iridescence: This is a delay unit that turns simple sounds into arpeggios. You can basically turn any sounds into a melody.

 

Grain Forest: The opposite of Chiral. It creates super organic sounds and environment. Bastian built an evolutive instruments with visuals of wind, seeds, trees that grow and die. It’s very relaxing and mesmerizing on its own.

 

poly-Plaits: The Plaits module is from Mutable Instruments and while this is an open source synth, it made its way to Max for live. It’s a synth with models. It sounds lovely.

 

Rings: Another take on Mutable instruments but this one is with the module of the same name. It’s a resonant synth with beautiful chime, bells sounds.

 

Copy Machine: This sampler takes a sample you pick and creates copies of it. The results are a bit mind boggling. Imagine you take a clap sample and turn it into a bunch of people who clap at the same time.

 

Fortrek: Inspired by the 4 tracker tapes of the 70’s and 80’s, this takes multiple recordings and scrubs through them. Really lovely for lofi feelings.

4 – Effects: Adding spices and colors

 

Never judge a boring sound as not useful because sometimes, adding the right effects can bring a whole amount of fun to it.

 

Granular Mirror Maze: A granulator that spits out super nice textures out of percussion or synths. Ideal for pads and backgrounds.

 

Maze: A looper, tape style with pitch. It is quite fun for creating off the grid ideas and have more of a musique concrète style.

 

Nube: a take on Clouds, an all time legendary modular effect that is a combination of delay, reverb and granulation.

 

Muse Concrète: This super advanced tool is not for everyone. It’s the ultimate tool to record and mangle sounds around. Big ups to my bro Offthesky for that one.

 

All effects from Encoder Audio are amazing.

 

I recently discovered the work of Robert K / Groov Mekanik and his vast collection of patches impressed me. Not only most of them are free and those who are for sale are at super low price, but the tools he has covers some needs that new and experienced producers want. I was appealed by the High Frequencies limiter that many artists should use as many often boost the highs too much. One patch I’d recommend getting right away is the Note Probability that is super useful for generative patches, adding flow and performances. It simply remove out some notes due to probability. Go have a look, there are some lovely tools in there.

 

But honestly, I think the most of what you have is by adding modulation to what you already have. This is why modulation options are useful. Here are some of my favorites:

 

Auto-Slider: Another brilliant essential tool from Offthesky. It records your movement and make turn it into a LFO or super long function signal.

 

Strange Mod: Dillon Bastian drops this amazing modulator that I use everywhere. Ideal for unusual random modulation.

 

Source: Inspired by the Buchla 266, it creates random signals.

 

All LFOs by Kentaro: Advanced and sophisticated, these can bring any modulation to the twilight zone…

 

I will update this page when I find new things so you might want to bookmark it. If you have suggestions, please share them!

 

Mid Side Processing Explained

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Often when I listen to tracks in my coaching group, I notice that the mid/side processing is often really off. Not having a solid M/S mix makes mixes sound thin, and muddy, rather than expansive and crisp. It’s often the M/S that is the make or break between an ok mix and a radiant one. Therefore, it felt prudent to write an article on what mid/side processing is, and how producers can have it done properly in the mix. Therefore, without further ado, here is Mid / Side processing, explained. 

 

What Is Mid/Side Processing? 

So what is Mid/Side processing? Basically, if you want a wide-sounding mix, you’re going to have to concentrate on mid/side processing. Often these sort of mixes sound “better” to the listener, and allow the producer to throw more sounds in their mix, without it sounding cluttered. While a wide-sounding mix can be accomplished through a bunch of different panning and stereo processes, mid/side is a strategy that can really dial that in, and create a spatial mix.

 

Mid in Mid/Side Processing, Explained

The “mid” part of the mid/side process is basically mono. It’s the sound(s) that sits in the center of the mix. Kick drums, snares, melodies between 200 – 500hz (like a pad), and any other “static” sounds can, and often should be placed in mid. Sure, there are artistic exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb. 

Also, bass below 100hz. This is best practice. Why? If you print a vinyl, and if the bass is in stereo, the needle will jump. Also, in clubs, they do serial summing, where anything under 100 will be summed into 1 mono signal, but if your bass is in stereo, and it’s summed, it can quiet phased parts of the mix.

 

Side in Mid/Side Processing, Explained

The side-channel is the edges of the mix. Note: This is not to be confused with panning, where you can move sounds specifically into the left or right stereo field. Side processing is strictly hard to the right, or hard to the left, and is technically a mono signal.

When the side’s amplitude is increased, the listener hears a wider, fuller sound. A good way of using it is to increase the width of leads, or strategically move a percussion bus to the sides of a mix to create a fuller listening experience.

You can even get creative with this, and widen parts of the mix at different intervals in the song. For instance, whenever the chorus comes in, you can widen the leads on it, to give it a more present feeling, allowing it to become more expressive to the listener.

Pads are great for the sides as well, since it’s audio that “hugs” you, in a way. Other things that work well on the side are background noises, like field recordings, or weird ambiance -, that stuff works well on the side, it’s not present. Only present stuff should be in the middle. All decorative percussion can technically be on the side – swingy hi-hats, bells and whistles.

 

Side Processing May Cause  Phasing

Once mid/side processing is explained to many newbies, often they just go out and start messing around with it. However, side processing can reveal one of electronic music’s most dastardly foes: phasing. Basically what happens with phasing is when you have two of the same sound, on opposite sides of the stereo field, they cancel each other out. That means, we have to be judicious with the sounds we put on the sides. Generally, “less is more” is a good approach when dealing with phasing since there are fewer chances of frequencies canceling each other out. 

 

How To Correct Phasing

If you want to correct phasing while keeping them in stereo, the trick is to have one of the sounds reveal itself immediately after the other, so they don’t phase. This can be done with a very short delay. When dialed in, the sound will perceptually happen at the same time, but be delayed ever so slightly, allowing the other sound to peek behind the other one and be heard.

A more immediate, definitive way to correct phasing is to make the sound more mono. There is a tool you can use, called SPAN. This plugin allows you to see in yellow, mono, and in red, side signal. When the red goes beyond the yellow, you have to reduce. The tool you use to fix this is the utility plugin, native to Ableton. You can control the width in this. If you want it more mono, you just adjust the width down, and then turn the volume up. 

mid side processing can be explained well with the VST SPAN. Here's a photo of it.

However, let’s say you have a purely mono signal that you want to add some subtle stereo width to. There are certain effects that can impact this. You can use reverb with little decay (otherwise it will be too loud). 

You can also use a chorus. Eventide made a harmonizer that is beautiful for that. It’s two delays – left and right – and when you play with the delay of each other, it creates a weird signal/shape, and then you can play with the wet/dry to add degrees of stereo. However, if you don’t have the money, you can use the echo delay, and control the left-right, and create a very short delay to create a little more phasing and the width you can play with opening and closing it.

 

EQing in Mid/Side Mode Is A Must

In my opinion, all EQing should be done in MS mode. Sometimes people hear things that they don’t like in the mix, and if you just cut, you are cutting both the left and the right at the same time. However, sometimes you want a sound to be EQ’d differently, depending on the channel that it’s in.

For instance, let’s say you have a synth in your left channel, and it doesn’t exist as much in your right channel. When placing decorative percussion, there will most likely be a crossover in the panning.

But since the synth is primarily in the left channel, the percussion in the left channel is going to have to be EQ’d different to not conflict with that synth. However, since there is all this open space in the right channel, there is no need to EQ out some of the frequencies, allowing that sound to better express itself.

Fabfilter ProQ3 allows you to easily enter MS mode for EQing, and make precise cuts to the sound. If you don’t have ProQ3, you can unlink the left/right in Ableton as well. On EQ 8, there is a mode called stereo, but you can unlink left/right by clicking edit and then selecting left or right. You can also switch it to MS (Mid/Side), where you can edit either the mid or the side or you can treat left/right independently. When you do this, your sound feels more organic, because you’re not cutting in one place. 

A photo of ProQ 3 which has a mid/side processing mode.

More Plugins That Impact Width and Phasing:

 

Panman

mid side processing explained through the vst Panman. This is a photo of that VST.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PanMan really splits open the possibilities of panning. First and foremost, it’s a hardware emulation, which allows producers to mimic the syle of vintage hardware panning gear. You can also trigger panning if the track hits a certain parameter. The automation allows you to generate complex rhythms and stunning sweets.

 

Microshift 

This is an image of Microshift, a great plugin for modifying your stereo field

Need some width? Well Microshift’s got width. It provides you 3 separate kinds of stereo widening in just a single button push. It uses a specific algorithm to pitch shift and add delay to your sound, that morphs over time to generate brilliant stereo width. It’s very easy to play around with and can be used to give more flavor to instruments, or create nice blends.

 

MStereoGenerator

an image of MStereoGenerator, an excellent plugin for stereo imaging

With MStereoGenerator, you can convert mono recordings into stereo (or even surround). MStereoGenerator is a unique natural-sounding mono to stereo (or even surround) expander, which makes your tracks sound wider, stronger and punchier.  It’s especially good for acoustic instruments. 

 

Panshaper 3 by Cableguys

An imagine of Panshaper, which allows you to do crazy stuff with MS Processing and panning.

PanShaper 3 takes control over your stereo field to another dimension. The real-time LFO that can be drawn on every band and the envelope follower allow you to design evolving, dynamic pan patterns and make dialed-in stereo edits in seconds.

 

Energy Panner

an image of Energypanner which allows for dynamic panning responsiveness to inputs

Energy Panner reacts to the sound intensity by moving in response to it. A drum kit that moves to the beat, synth notes that move on attack, and many other behaviors are possible. Whether it’s stereo or Dolby Atmos, Energy Panner is a plugin you shouldn’t be without.

 

Width Shaper 2 by Cableguys

an image of the vst WidthShaper 2 which allows for amazing stereo mid/side processing.

With WidthShaper 2, you can fine-tune your stereo image to the finest detail. With three mid/side stereo adjustment bands, each with its own drawable LFO and envelope follower, you can gain precise control over the sound. It is perfect for sound design, mixing, and mastering, and can be used on single tracks and buses.

Once you have mid/side processing explained to you, you can see there is way more to stereo than just left and right. With M/S EQing you can surgically cut into sounds, and make them fit precisely in a mix. You can expand and retract sounds at different points in your mix, creating those illusionary, almost psychedelic effects in music that are almost inexplicable, since they are best described as space, rather than music.

However, with this power, comes the responsibility of not phasing your sounds out, and destroying the punch of your songs. Keeping in mind space, and how sounds relate to each other is a paramount skill in music production, and often an overlooked aspect.

I understand this can be complicated. If you need coaching or you just want to delegate this process to me, I’m available to help. Check out all of my services here.

VCV Rack Ideas And Meditations

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If you’re not familiar with VCV Rack you should be. While modular synthesis is an expensive hobby, usually reserved for people with cash flow, the open source, mostly free VCV rack is democratizing people’s access to this amazing creative tool. VCV Rack acts as a Eurorack DAW, allowing you to build complex patches using a variety of free, or premium modules, often based on existing hardware. In this post, I won’t talk so much about how to use VCV Rack, as there are tons of tutorials already on it. Instead I will talk more about how it has inspired me, VCV Rack ideas, and how you can use it to inspire yourself.

 

VCV Rack Ideas Are Meditative

The first benefit I noticed from VCV Rack was how meditative it is. I have been an avid practitioner of traditional meditation for many years now, and the similarities are striking. It forces me into a state of flow, one that often results in the dissolution of all outside distractions. A state where time and space become irrelevant, and I am concentrated on a singular purpose. 

A lot of people conflate meditation with a silencing of thoughts, when that’s far from the truth. We’re human; we’ll never be able to silence our mind. Instead, we have to funnel those thoughts into a singularity. A singularity where you accept you have no control over what happens, both of which VCV Rack ideas do for me.

 

The Random Beauty Of VCV

That’s the beautiful thing about modular. These electrical circuits are so finicky that often what you aim to create and what comes out are often vastly different. It’s that sense of unpredictability that makes it so wonderful, and thus, meditative.

Surprisingly this sense of randomness and unpredictability isn’t lost in a digitalized version of modular. Somehow the community of open source developers have kept this aspect true to form, demonstrating the increasing dissolution between analog and digital as technology advances.

Many of you probably don’t know this, but I was an actor, before I was a musician, and even went to school for it. While you have a script, the fine art of acting was always in the slight improvisations. Lines often wouldn’t come out as intended, and you would have to react in the moment. This would often lead to beautiful accidents, far superior to the original script. 

In a sense, the life that exists in modular is very much like a fellow actor on stage. It may have its lines, but ultimately, it will improvise, and it’s up to you to harness this improvisation and redirect it to something evolutionary.

 

photo of vcv rack ideas

 

VCV Rack Tutorials Are Fun

The second thing I noticed about VCV Rack was that it made me appreciate tutorials again. If you’ve been a power user of Ableton for as long as I have, you may find that Ableton tutorials an get super cookie cutter, and formulaic. This often results in stale music that sounds like everyone else who watched the same tutorial.

This may be one of the reasons why the sound we hear is becoming more and more homogenized, and less innovation is seeping through the cracks. This is despite an exponential increase in the number of musicians. However, with VCVRack, the tutorials seem more personalized. Even if you try to recreate something precisely, you’ll almost never get the same result, due to the nature of modular. The sheer amount of VCV Rack ideas you can get from these tutorials is incredibly exciting, and constantly motivating.

 

VCV Rack Tutorials Help You Build Existing Hardware

Another fun aspect of tutorials is that there are some people out there, like Omri Cohen, who build faithful reconstructions of existing pieces of hardware. The one that I linked to is for the Moog DFAM, a semi-modular percussive sequencer that allows you to build really wild, synthesized patterns. 

Normally a DFAM runs for about $700 USD, which isn’t a small investment. While following these tutorials, you not only learn the ins and outs of the DFAM by building it piece by piece, but you also get to try it before you buy it, in a sense. 

This allows you to figure out your setups and configurations for your hardware studio, without having to buy things, and send them back if they don’t fit. Also, since it’s fully modular, you can in theory connect multiple recreated devices together. This allows you to see how they will perform as a hardware version. So let’s say you wanted to see how a DFAM would interact with a Moog Subharmonicon. This is now possible through VCV Rack, for the low low cost of zero dollars. These are just some of the hardware VCV Rack ideas found in tutorials.

photo of the dfam vcv rack ideas

VCV Rack emulates the Moog DFAM

VCV Rack Changes How You Listen To Music

The third thing I learned while formulating VCV Rack ideas is that it changed how I listened to music. Normally I have a nerdy way of listening to music from a sound engineer point of view, where I analyzed EQ, compression, stereo spread, etc, but now when I listen I notice the changes in the patterns, and how things modulate. 

While toying around with VCV Rack ideas, I start thinking about the patches that make the sounds. For instance, what waveform is controlling the FM, or how the envelope routes to the VCA. Or what hooks up to the clock, or how many VCOs are in play. Still, super nerdy, but it adds another dimension to the whole thing, which in turn, stimulate more VCV Rack ideas.  

 

VCV Rack Ideas Help You Build Your Real Modular Setup

The fourth benefit I got from playing with VCV Rack ideas is that just like it allows you to build existing pieces of hardware to test in your setup, it also acts as a way to test modules for your real modular setup. There are a bunch of faithful emulations of existing modules. For instance, the Audible Instruments line is a software emulation of Mutable Instruments. There, you can get clones of things like their Clouds or Tides modules and test them in your setup.

Other examples include:

 

  • Lateralus: Hybrid diode/transistor ladder. This models itself after the Roland filter circuit where they added a few alterations to get close to the Moog circuit.
  • Vorg: Single segment of the filter circuit of Korg MS-20.
  • Ferox: CMOS filter based on the circuit of the CGS749.
  • Nurage: The Nurage bases itself on the circuit of Thomas White LPG which bases itself on the Buchla LPG.
  • Vortex: this bases itself on the circuit of the Polivoks (Erica Synths version).
  • Tangents: This bases itself on the Steiner-Parker version of Yusynth. The three models are variations of the same circuit.
  • Stabile: based on the textbook Stave-Variable filter circuit (linear version).
  • Unstabile: Nonlinear State-Variable filter with low voltage simulation

 

vcv rack ideas real clouds

The real Mutable Instruments Elements

vcv rack ideas photo

VCV Rack that includes Mutable Instruments emulations, aka Audible Instruments

 

VCV Rack Is Constantly Improving

Since it’s community supported, it’s constantly evolving, with new modules being added frequently. Most are free, too! 

Some people will complain that it doesn’t integrate into other DAWs in a smooth fashion, but VCV has heard the complaints and in 2.0 the rumor is that they will have this integration. 

These are just some of my observations about VCV Rack and its amazing ability to spark creativity. In truth, the sheer amount of VCV Rack ideas and inspirations you can get from those VCV Rack ideas are quite staggering. If you have any questions about it, or want to share your experiences with it, feel free to contact me, or make a post in Pheek’s Coaching Corner and let the community know what you think!

Sound Design and Arrangements Series Pt. 3: Repetition

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This post is part of a series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

This post focuses on how I approach repetition in my music, as well as how I perceive it when working on clients’ music. While this is a very obvious topic for electronic music oriented towards dance, where patterns repeat, I understand that as an artist, it can be a very personal topic. Each genre has a way of approaching repetition, and if you’ve been browsing this blog, you will recognize some concepts previously covered that I’d encourage you to look into in more detail. I’d like to approach repetition in music by reviewing your workflow to avoid wasting time on things that can be automated.

Tempo

Using tempo to deliver a message is a very delicate subject. Often before I played live in a venue, I would spend some time on the dancefloor and analyze the mood and the dancers’ needs. I’d check out what speed a DJ’s set was, how fast he’s mix in and out, and the reaction of the crowd. It has always surprised me how playing at 122 BPM vs 123 BPM can shift the mood; I really can’t explain why. But when I’d make a song, I’d keep in mind that DJs could speed it up or slow it down—an important factor affecting energy. I find that increments of 5 make a huge change in the density of the sound in the club. If you slow down very complex patterns, the sounds have room between themselves which also gives the listeners to perceive the sound differently.

Whatever tempo you’ll be using, I highly recommend that you look into using gating for your short percussion or use an envelope maker like Shaperbox 2 to really shape the space between your sounds and have some “white space” between each of them. If you go for a dense atmosphere, I would recommend that you use very fast release compression and make use of parallel compression as well to make sure you’re not over crowding your song.

Sound Repetition

Once we find something we love, we tend to want to repeat it for the entire length of a song. This is, of course, a bit much for someone who listens to it. People expect change—for sounds to have variants and to be sucked in with perhaps something unexpected from the sound. Also, John Cage would disagree and suggest that an idea could be repeated for 10 minutes and the listener would be liking it, but I honestly haven’t heard many songs (through experience or work) that kept me that interested for that long.

The question is, how frequently can an idea be repeated?

It depends of a lot of factors, and while I don’t claim to know the truth, there are techniques to keep in mind. I’d like to teach you how to learn the best way for your music. Let me explain some of my own personal rules—my “reality check” for the validity of a song and the questions around repetition.

First impressions never fail: This is really important. 99% of people I work with start losing perspective and trust in their song’s potential by doing extended sessions on production. This means, when you first open a project you worked on, what hits you at first is what you should fix in that session. Once this is done, save it under another name and then close it. If you can space your sessions out by a few days or weeks (best option), then you can check your first impression of the song again and see if there’s something new clashing.

Hunting for problems will haunt you: There’s always something to fix in your song. Even when you think it’s done, there will always be something. At one point, you have to let go an embrace imperfection. Many people fall into the mindset of searching for problems because they think they missed something. Chances are, they’ll be fixing unnecessary things. What you actually think you’re missing will be details that are technically out of your current knowledge. Usually I do what I call a “stupid check” on my music which is to verify levels, phase issues, clipping and resonances. The rest is detail tweaking that I do in one session only. After that, I pass it to a friend to have his impression. Usually, this will do it.

Listen with your eyes closed: Are you able to listen to all of your song with your eyes closed upon first listen? If yes, your repetition is working, otherwise, fix, then move on.

Generating Supportive Content and Variations

In music production mode, if you want to be efficient and creative, you need to have a lot of different options. So let’s say that your motif/hook is a synth pattern you’ve made, what I would suggest is to have multiple variations of that.

In this video, Tom showcases a way of working that is really similar to how I work (and how many other people work). It’s something that is a bit long to do but once you switch to create mode, it becomes really fun and efficient. The only thing is, I personally find that he’s not using repetition enough, and while this is super useful for making short, slower songs that have a pop drive like in the video, it is not great for building tension. Too much change is entertaining, but you really have to flex your creative muscles to keep it engaging. I would rather have a loop playing to the point where the listener goes from “it should change now” to “I want this to change now.” So perhaps there will be a change after 3-4 bars in your loop. This is up to you to explore.

How do you create variations?

There’s no fast way or shortcut, creating good variations takes time and patience. It also take a few sound design sessions to come up with interesting results. To do this, randomizing effects is pretty much the best starting point and then you tweak to taste.

  1. MIDI Tools – The best way to start editing, is to start by tweaking your MIDI signal with different options. The MIDI tools included in Ableton at first are really useful. Dropping an arpeggio, note length change, or random notes and chords are pretty amazing to just change a simple 2-note melody into something with substance. One plugin that came out recently I’ve been very impressed with is Scaler 2. I like how deep it goes with all the different scales, artist presets (useful for a non-academic musician like me) and all the different ways to take melodies and have templates ready to be tweaked for your song. One way to commit to what you have is to resample everything like Tom did in his video. Eventually, I like to scrap the MIDI channel because otherwise I’ll keep going with new ideas and they’ll probably never be used. If you resample everything, you have your sound frozen in time, you can cut and arrange it to fit in the song at the moment it fits best.
  2. Audio Mangling – Once you have your MIDI idea bounced, it’s time to play with it for even more ideas. There are two kind of ideas you can use to approach your movement: fast tweaks or slow. When it comes to fast event, like a filter sweeping or reverb send, I used to do it all by hand; it would take ages. The fastest way out there is to take a muti-effect plugin and then randomize everything, while resampling it. The one that I found to be the most useful for that is Looperator by Sugar Bytes. Internally you can have random ideas generated, quick adjusting, wet/dry control and easily go from very wild to mellow. It’s possible to make fast effect tweaks (common to EDM or dubstep) but slower too. Combine this with the Texture plugin to add layers of content to anything. For instance, instead of simply having a background noise, you melt it into some omnipresence in the song so it can react to it, making your constant noise alive and reactive. The background is a good way to make anything repetitive, feel less repetitive because the ears detect it as something changing but it constantly moves its focus from foreground to background.
  3. Editing – This is the most painful step for me but luckily I found a way to make it more interesting thanks to the Serato Sampler. This amazing tool allows, like the Ableton sampler, to slice and map, and rearrange. You can combine it with a sequencer like Riffer or Rozzler (Free Max patch) to create new combinations. Why Serato instead of the stock plugin? Well, it’s just easy—I just want to “snap and go”, if you know what I mean, and this demands no adjustments.

Editing is really where it you can differentiate veteran from rookie producers. My suggestion to new comers would be a simple list of different ideas.

  • Decide on internal rules: Some people like to have precise rules that are set early in the song and then that will be respected through the song. I do it because it helps me understand the song’s idea. If you change too much, it may fall in the realm of “experimental” and maybe this isn’t what you had in mind. Every now and then, when booked for track finalization, people have a problem with the last third or quarter of their song. They lose focus and try to extrapolate or create new ideas. If you create enough material in the beginning, you’re going to make the last stretch easier. But when people are lost, I usually listen to the first minute of the song and go “let’s see what you had in mind at first” as a way to wrap it up around that logic. Basic rules can be created by deciding on a pattern and a series of effects that happen, more or less, at the same time, or a sequence of elements or sections. Pop has very precise rules for sections, while techno “rules” are more related to the selection of sounds and the patterns created.
  • Process, process, process: If I have one channel of claps or a different sound, I want to have variations of it, from subtle to extreme. Why? Because even simple ones are going to make a difference. It’s what makes a real human drummer feel captivating (if he or she is good!), because their playing slightly changes each time, even when playing a loop. Looperator is a good tool but you could also use the stock plugins and just use the presets to start with and resample, move knobs as you process and you can get some nice effects already.
  • Duplicate everything: Each channel should have duplicates where you can drop all your wet takes. You can put them all on mute and test unmuting to see how it goes.
  • MIDI controllers for the win: Map everything that you want to tweak and then record the movements of yourself playing. Usually will give you a bit of of a human feel compared to something created by a mouse click. You want to break that habit.
  • Use your eyes: I find that working with the clips visually and making patterns is a good way to see if you are using your internal rules and see if you use too many sounds.

Now, after all this, how do we know if a song’s repetition is good enough, and how do we know if it’s linear?

Validating with a reference is quick way to check, but if you take breaks and distance your sessions, that would be effective too. But the internal rules are, to me, what makes this work properly. I think the biggest challenge people face is that in spending too much time on a track they get bored and want to push things, add layers, change the rules and what perhaps felt fresh at first will be changed to a point where you’re not using the repetition principle to its full potential. The best example of someone being a master of repetition is Steve Reich and his masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians. There’s nothing more captivating of how one can create so much by playing with repetition.

Some effects in here would be reproduced with delays, phasers, the delay on the channel and such. You can also use the humanize patch to add a bit of delay randomly. I would strongly encourage you to listen to this a few times to fill yourself up with inspiration.

Sound Design and Arrangements Series Pt.1: Contrast

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I’ve been wanting to do a series of posts about arrangements because I’m passionate about this aspect of music production, but also because I noticed many of the people I work with struggle with arrangements in their work. There are so many different approaches and techniques to arranging—everyone has their own, and that’s sort of the goal I’d like to drive home in this series. I invite you to make a fresh start in developing a personal signature, aesthetic, vocabulary, and personality.

This post is not for people who are just beginning with arrangements, but if you are, it still contains information that could be interesting to consider down the road.

What do I Mean by “Contrast” in the Context of Arrangements?

In design, contrast refers to elements (two or more) that have certain differences, and their differences are used to grab attention or to evoke an emotion. When I teach my students about contrast, the easiest example to understand and summarize this concept is a difference of amplitude (volume). In movies, to create surprise, excitement, or tension, the amplitude will be low, and then rise either quickly or slowly, supporting the images in the emotion that is present.

In many electronic music songs, we have heard (too often) noise used as a rising element to create a tension. Noise builds became a caricature of themselves at some point given their overuse—but it’s a good example, nonetheless.

How is Contrast Used in Sound Design?

I spend my days working with musicians—contrast comes into play in different circumstances.

Within a single sound, it can be fast or slow changes from one extreme to another. I like to visualize this by analyzing a sound through different axes to help me understand what can be done to it.

  • Attack: Does it start abruptly or slowly?
  • Decay/Amplitude: Does it get really loud or is it more subtle?
  • Frequency/Pitch: Is it high, medium, low?
  • Release/Length: Short – Medium – Long – Constant?
  • Positioning: is it far or near? Low or higher in front of me?

Good contrast, generally, is to have two extremes in some of these domains. Think of a clap in a long reverb, as an example of how a super fast attack with a long release can create something unreal, and therefore, attention-grabbing. A sound that changes pitch is another form of contrast, as we go from one state to another.

Another way of thinking about contrast is to think about how pretty much all complex sounds are the combination of multiple sounds layered. When done properly, they feel as one, and when it’s done with contrast, the contrasting layer adds a movement, texture, or something dynamic that revives the initial sound. Of course, short sounds are more difficult to inject contrast into, but if you think of a bird’s chirp, which is basically the equivalent of a sine wave with a fast attack envelop on the pitch, it’s sounds are short but incredibly fast moving, too.

If you think about using contrast within a sound itself, the fastest way to make this happen is to use a sampler and really take advantage of the use of envelops, mod wheel assignment, and of course LFOs, but it’s really through the use of the envelops that you’ll be able to produce a reaction to what’s happening, sonically.

As I mentioned, the easiest way to produce contrast is by using two sounds that different characteristics, for example, short vs. a long, bright vs. dark one, sad vs. happy, far vs. close, etc. When you use two sounds, you give the listener the chance to have elements to compare, and the ear can easily perceive the difference.

When you select sounds to express your main idea, think of the characteristics in each sound you’re using. Myself, I usually pick my sounds in pairs, then in batches of four. I’ll start by finding one, and the next one will be related to the first. I’ll keep in mind the axis of both sounds when I select them and usually start with longer samples, because I know I can truncate them.

In the morning I usually work on mastering, and in the afternoon, I’ll work on mixing. The reason is, when you work on mastering, you get to work on all kinds of mixes; they have issues that I need to fix to make the master ready for distribution. By paying attention to the mix, I often deal with difficult frequencies and will spend my time controlling resonances that poke through once the song is boosted.

When I’m mixing, often I deal with a selection of sounds that were initially picked by the producer I am working with. The better the samples, the easier will be the mix and in the end, the better the song will feel. What makes a sound be great comes from different things:

  • Quality of the sample: clarity, low resonances, not compressed but dense, well-balanced and clear sounding, open.
  • High resolution: 24 or 32-bits, with some headroom.
  • No unnecessary use of low quality effects: no cheap reverb, no EQ being pushed exaggeratedly that will expose filter flaws, no weird M/S gimmicks.
  • Controlled transients: nothing that hurts the ears in any way.

You want to hunt down samples that not too short, because you want to be able to pick it’s length. You won’t need a sample that covers all frequencies—you’ll want to feel invited to layer multiple sounds all together without any conflicts or have one shelf of frequencies to be overly saturated.

When I listen to a lot of mixes, the first thing that I look for is the overall contrast between the sounds. If they lack contrast, they will be mostly mushed together and difficult to mix, and harder to understand.

In theory, a song is a big sound design experiment that is being assembled through the mix. If everything is on one axis, such as making everything loud, you lose the contrast and make your song one-dimensional.

How is Contrast Used in Arrangements?

If contrast in sound design is within one single sound, it’s through and entire song or section that we can approach contrast in arrangements. A song can have different sections—in pop, think “chorus”, “verse”, etc., which are very distinct sections that can be used in any context as moments through the song. You can move from one to another, and the more of a distinction between one another, the more contrast your storytelling will have.

Is this type of contrast essential? No, but it can engage the listener. This is why, for a lot of people, the breakdown and drop in electronic music is very exciting, because there’s a gap and difference and the experience to go from one to another, is intense and fun (especially on a big sound system).

In techno, linearity is a part of the genre because songs are usually part of a DJ set and made to be assembled and layered with other tracks, to create something new. Huge contrast shifts can be awkward, so it’s avoided by some—tracks emit contrast very slowly and subtly, instead of a sudden drastic change.

So, what makes a song interesting, to me, or to anyone, is the main idea’s content, based on the listener’s needs. What do I mean exactly?

  • A DJ might be looking for song of a specific genre and want its hook to match another songs he/she has.
  • Some people want to have a song that expresses an emotion to be able to connect with it (ex. nostalgic vibes).
  • Some other people might want to have some music similar to songs they like, but slightly different, while others, to be exposed to completely new ideas.

When I listen to the songs I work on, my first task is to quickly understand what the composer is trying to say/do. If the person is trying to make a dance-oriented, peak-time song, I’ll work on the dynamics to be able to match music of the same genre and make sure all rhythmic elements work all together.

The precision in the sound design is quite essential to convey a message, whatever it might be. Sometimes I hear a melody and because of the sample used, it makes me frown—a good melody but weird selection of sounds results in an awkward message.

It’s like you trying to impress a first date with a compliment/gift that doesn’t make sense—you wouldn’t tell someone his/her nose is really big…?!

The combination of good sound design and supporting your idea, is executed by arrangements. The whole combination of multiple sounds through a mix is what creates a piece.

Some examples of contrast use within arrangements could be:

  • Different intensity between sections, either in volume or density.
  • Different tones, emotions.
  • Changes in the time signature, or rhythm.
  • Changes in how sounds move, appear, or evolve.
  • Alternating the pattern, sequence, or hook, adding extra elements to fill gaps, holes, or silences.

One of the biggest differences between making electronic music 30 years ago and the present, was that back then, you’d make music with what you could find. Now we have access to everything, so how do you decide what to do when there are no limits?

I find that when you remove all technical limitations like sound selection from your session, you can focus on design and storytelling. Same goes for if you feel like you have managed to understand your technical requirements and now want to dig deeper—then you can start with contrast.

To summarize this, use contrast within a sound to give it life, either by slow or fast movements. Create contrast in your arrangements by having differences between sections of your song—play with macro changes vs. micro changes.

Tips to Keep a Loop Interesting for an Entire Song

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To keep a song built mostly on a single loop interesting, we need to discuss how you work and your perceptions. I can’t just recommend technical bells and whistles that will solve everything. You need to think about how you see your music, and from there, there are certain things that I think can make a difference in helping to keep a listener engaged, even if your song is built around a single loop.

There are two main things you need to consider with regards to listener engagement when making a song:

  1. How someone listens to a song.
  2. How your song can engage the listener in his/her experience.

Meeting Your Listener’s Expectations

If you read this blog, you’ll know that this topic has been covered in other posts, so I won’t deeply go into this again but I’d like to remind you of a few key elements. The first and foremost important point here is to understand what you want to do in the first place. From the numerous talks I’ve had with clients, this is where many people get lost. To know what you want to do with a song has to be clear from the start.

Is a plan for a song something set that can’t be changed afterwards?

Of course you can change your mind, but this can open a can of worms, as the direction and vision of what you want to do becomes less clear. Music is about communicating some sort of intention.

When, in the music-making process, should you set your intention?

You don’t have to about your intention explicitly, of course, but doing so helps if you’re struggling with a lack of direction or when you feel you can’t reach goals. I find there are two important moments where setting an intention can provide significant benefits. The first is when you start a project—when you start a song, you can think of something somewhat general, such as “an ambient song” or “making a dance-floor track”; but the more precise you are, the more you are establishing some boundaries for your wandering mind. Many people don’t feel this approach helps and may skip this aspect of writing music, but for others, it can be a leveraged to maximize your efforts in what you do.

For instance, I often make songs without a precise goal because I just like to let things flow and to see how it’s been made affects the end-product. But when I’m asked to make an EP, I need to focus the results.

For me, for example, to meet my client’s expectations, I need to know what they want. It helps if they work in a specific genre or can reference an artist they like so I can help them deliver music that will appeal to people with similar tastes. When working with a clear intention, one needs to study how the music is made, more or less, in terms of variations, transitions, number of sounds, duration, tones, etc.

The objection I always get to this recommendation is “yes, but I want to have my own style.” I feel this a bit of a erroneous statement. We always are influenced by other artists and if you’re not, then you might have a problem in your hands: who are you making music for?

I know some people who make music for themselves, which is great. But when they tried to sell it or promote it, there was no way to know who it was for because we had no model to reference. Can you be original and still be heard? Yes, but I think a certain percentage of your songs need to have some sort of influence from a genre that people can relate to. For example, a very personable version of drum and bass, or house—then your music will fall under certain umbrella.

Meeting Your expectations and Your Listeners’ Expectations at the Same Time

The number one problem I hear is of the producer being bored of his/her own music, rather worrying that the listener might be bored, and that’s quite normal, considering the amount of time one can spend making music. Personally, I make my songs with a meticulous approach:

  • 1 idea, 2 supporting elements.
  • Percussion, limited to 5 elements maximum.
  • Bass.
  • Effects, textures, and background.

That’s it.

The main idea rarely evolves more than 2-3 times in a song. If it changes more frequently than that, you might want it to evolve on a regular, precise interval, i.e. changes every 2 bars.

When Writing Music, How Can You Keep a Single Idea Interesting?

I use design principles that are used in visual content and apply them to my music. If you learn about these principles for music-making, you’ll develop a totally new way of listening to music. In searching for these principles, you’ll see some variety, but generally these are the ones that usually come up:

Balance: This principle is what brings harmony to art. Translating this to music, I would say that, mixing wise, this could mean how you manage the tonal aspect of your song. If we think of sound design, it could be the number of percussion sounds compared to soft sounds, or bright vs dark. I find that balanced arrangements exist when there’s a good ratio of surprises versus expected ideas.

Contrast: Use different sources, or have one element that is from a totally different source than the others. This could be analog vs digital, acoustic versus electronic, or having all your sounds from modular synths except one from an organic source. If everything comes from the same source, there’s no contrast.

Emphasis: Make one element pop out of the song—there are so many ways you can do this! You can add something louder, or you could have one element run through an effect such as distortion, and so on. Emphasis in music is often related to amplitude, dynamic range, and variations in volume. In a highly compressed mix, it will be difficult to make anything “pop”.

Pattern: This is about the core idea you want to repeat in your song. It can also be related to the time signature, or an arpeggio. It could be the part you repeat in a precise or chaotic order.

Rhythm: This is the base of a lot of music in many ways, and this, to me, can directly refer to time signature, but it can also mean the sequence of percussion. You can have multiple forms of rhythm as well, from staccato, chaotic, robotic, slow-fast…it’s really one of my favourite things to explore.

Variety: This relates to the number of similar sounds versus different. This is a bit more subtle to apply in music compared to visual design, but a way I see this is how you repeat yourself or not in your arrangement. If you make a song evolve with no variety, you might lose the listener’s attention…same thing for if you have too much variety.

Unity: This is what glues a song together. To me, the glue is made from mixing, but there are things you can do that makes it easier, such as using a global reverb, some compression, a clean mixdown, same pre-amps (coloured ones) or a overall distortion/saturation.

To wrap this up, I can’t recommend to you enough to space out your music sessions, set an intention and pay attention to your arrangements. If you know what you want to achieve with your song, you can refer to a specific reference, and then build up your ideas using some of the design principles I have discussed in this post. Good luck!

Make Music Faster: Self-Imposed Limitations for Expanding Creativity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time

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

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

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

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

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

Tools

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Composition

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

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

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

Sound

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO : Reverb Tips to Boost Your Creativity

Creating a music sketch

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In this post, I’d like to explain how making a music sketch can help you to stay on track when creating a song or track, much like how a painter creates an initial sketch of his/her subject. I’ve explained in previous posts that the traditional way of making music goes something like this:

  1. Record and assemble sounds to work from.
  2. Find your motif.
  3. Make and edit the arrangements.
  4. Mix.

Here we’re talking about a way of making music that was popularized in the 1960s and is still used frequently today. But what happens when you have the ability to do everything yourself, and from your computer alone? Can you successfully tackle all of these tasks simultaneously?

When I do workshops, process and workflow are generally questionable topics to address because everyone has different point of view and way of working. However, to me it always comes down to one thing—how productive and satisfied an artist is with his or her finished work. Satisfaction is pretty much the only thing that matters, but I often see people struggle with their workflow, mostly because they keep juggling between different stages of music-making and get lost in the process (sometimes even losing their original idea altogether). For example, an artist might start working with an initial idea, but then get lost in sound design, which then leads them to working on mixing, and then sooner or later the original idea doesn’t feel right anymore. For some people, perhaps its better to do things one at a time; the old before-the-personal-computer way still works. But what if breaking your workflow into distinct stages still doesn’t work? Is there another alternative approach?

In working with different artists and making music myself, I’ve come to a different approach: creating a music sketch—a take on the classic stage-based process I just mentioned. Recently, this approach has been giving me a lot of good results—I’d like to discuss it so you can try it yourself.

Sketching your songs and designs

I completed many drawing classes in college because I was studying art. If you observe a teacher or professional painter working, you’ll see that when they create a realistic painting of a subject, they’ll use a pencil first and sketch it out, doodling lines within a wire-frame to get an idea of where things are. Sketching is a good way to keep perspective in mind, and to get an idea of framing and composition. The same sketching process can be used in music-making.

When I have an idea, I like to sketch out a “ghost arrangement”. Sometimes I even sketch out some sound design. The trap a lot of people fall into when making a song—particularly in electronic music—is to strive to create a perfect loop right from the start. Some people get lost in the process easily which is, honestly, really not important. People work on a “perfect loop” endlessly in the early stages of making a song because when you are just starting a song, the loop will have no context and it will be much more difficult to create something satisfying. By quickly giving your loop a context through a sketch-type process by arranging or giving the project a bit more direction, you’ll hear what’s wrong or missing.

I’m of the belief that having something half-done as you’re working can be acceptable instead of constantly striving for perfection. I think this way because I know I’ll revisit a song many times, tweaking it a little more each time.

Sketching a song can be done by understanding at the beginning of the process that you’ll work through stages of music-making more quickly and roughly, knowing you’ll fix things later on. This is more in line with how life actually goes: we live our lives knowing some problems will get solved over time, and that there are many things we don’t know at a particular moment in time. In making music, some people become crazy control freaks, wanting to own every single detail, leading them down rabbit hole of perfectionist stagnation, in my opinion.

Creating a sketch in a project is simple. Since I work with a lot of sound design, I usually pick something that strikes a chord in me…awakens an emotion somehow. Since this will be my main idea, next I’ll try to decide how it will be use as a phrase in my song. In order to get that structured, I need to know how the main percussion will go, so I’ll drop-in a favourite kick (usually a plain 808) and a snare/clap. These two simple, percussive sounds are intentionally generic because I will swap them out during the mixing process. You want just a kick in there to have an idea of the rhythm, and the snare clarifies the swing/groove.

Why are the basic kick and snare swapped out later?

I swap out the snare and kick later because I find that I need my whole song to be really clear before I can decide on the exact tone of a kick. A kick can dramatically change the whole perspective of a song, depending on how it’s made. Same thing goes for a snare—it’s rare I’ll change the actual timing of the samples, but the sound itself pretty much always changes down the line.

For the rest of the percussion, I’ll sketch out a groove with random sounds that may or may not change later on, but I use sounds I know are not the core of my song.

With bass, I usually work the same way; I have notes that support the main idea but the design/tone of the bass itself has room to be tweaked later.

As for arrangements, when creating a music sketch I will make a general structure as to what goes where, when some sounds should start playing or end, and will have the conclusion roughly established.

Design and tweak

Tweaking is where magic happens—this is where, in fact, a lot of people usually start their music-writing process. Tweaking and designing is a phase where you clarify your main idea by creating context. I usually work around the middle part of the song; the heart of the idea, then work on the main idea’s sound design. I layer the main idea with details, add movement and velocity changes.

  • Layering can be done by duplicating the channel a few times and EQing the sub-channels differently. Group them and add a few empty channels where you can add more sounds at lower volume.
  • Movement can imply changes in the length of the sound’s duration (I recommend Gatekeeper for quick ideas), panning (PanShaper 2 is great), frequency filtering, and volume changes (Check mVibratoMB for great volume modulation). The other option is to add effects such as chorus, flanger, phaser, that modulate with a speed adjustment. Some really great modulators would be the mFlangerMB (because you can pick which frequency range to affect—I use this for high pitched sounds), chorus (mChorusMB) to open the mids, and phasers (Phasor Snapin) for short length sounds. Another precious tool is the LFO by XFER—basically you want the plugin to have a wet/dry option and keep it at a pretty low wet signal.
  • Groove/swing. This is something I usually do later—I find that adjusting it in the last stretch of sketching provides the best results. The compression might need to be tweaked a bit, but in general the groove becomes much easier to fix once everything is in place.
  • Manual automation. Engineers will tell you that the best compression is done by hand, and compressors are there for fast tweaks that you can’t do. Same for automation, I find that to be able to make your transition and movement using a MIDI controller is a really nice finishing touch that is perfect in this stage.

Basically, the rule of finalizing design is that whatever was there as a sketch has to be tweaked, one sound/channel at a time. Don’t leave anything unattended—this can manifest from a fear of “messing things up”.

When tweaking specific sounds from the original sketch, you should either swap out the original sound completely, or layer it somehow to polish it. I always recommend layering before swapping. I find that fat, thick samples are always the combination of 3 sounds, which make it sound rich. When I work on mixing or arrangements for my clients and I see the clap being a single, simple layer, I have to work on it much more using compression, sometimes doubling the sample itself, which in the end, gives it a new presence. Doubling a sound—or even tripling it—gives you a lot more options. For example, if you modulate the gain of only one of the doubles, you not only make the sound thicker but also give it movement and variation.

All this said, I would recommend making sure your arrangements are solid before spending a lot of time in design. Once you start designing, if your arrangements have a certain structure, you’ll be able to design your song and sounds specifically according to each section (eg. intro, middle, chorus, outro) which gives your song even more personality. Sound design completed after a good sketch can be very impactful when the conditions are right.

Try sketching your own song and let me know how it goes!

SEE ALSO : Creating Timeless Music