Tag Archives: electronic music

Posted on by

Halcyon Sky (debut EP) – Day 4

Screen shot 2014-02-16 at 7.55.23 PM
Photo Credit: Leland Melvin/Instagram
ND/HS

Greetings…

Sunday evening, sitting in “Studio B”, noticing it’s just about time for the NBA All-Star Game tipoff. Today was pretty quiet in The Lab. Last night, I sent a track, in progress, to two of my partners that we’ll colloborate on. Another track is still with my sax player who, as I previously mentioned, is working on a horn arrangement and possibly additional keyboards, so I’m satisfied with how the development of the EP is going so far. I did start work on a new track (the photo above fits the title and concept of the song). That said, it will be minimal in composition, but I’m finding that I’m going to take some time in programming the drums and percussion. The choice of other elements will be equally as important, as I’m trying to convey to the listener what the title of the song is. Evoking the essence of a song can involve a fair amount of time conceptualizing different things, but in my experience, I’ve found the time taken often brings the success originally hoped for.

Currently I’m deciding on a mix of digital soft synths and the one bit of analog kit I have in the studio – which will require some processing. It’ll be interesting because I first used this piece of equipment back in 1987 :). I -think- I may be also using NI Maschine on this song as well. In any event, I’m hoping this will end up as a mood piece.

As said before, production always starts in Logic. The track is open as I type this, so I think I’ll develop it a bit more, then catch some of the game at some point.

I’ve read, and continue to read, a lot of stories of artists, globally, that compose music (especially electronic) in a myriad of ways, some purely analog, some purely in the box (digital), some a mix of the two, some only with hardware. I get to see their studio setups (anything from a corner of a bedroom to huge control and recording rooms). Either way, it’s always exciting to read about the journeys the take and how descriptive they are along the way. It’s continually inspiration and and is one reason why I’m doing the same.

Enjoy the evening….

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

Halcyon Sky (debut EP) – Day 3

halcyonsky_day3_640

1:15PM. Woke up this morning to at least find the sun shining, which means snow removal assistance, so that’s a good thing. After getting the day started, I found some more inspiration for this collaboration track. After listening back, I like how the synth bass sits in the track so far, so I think it’s a keeper.

This particular track is a conceptual in that I’m composing it with certain elements to invoke that conception. One way I like to do that is via the use of samples. Every music composer who does so, via the use of their favorite DAW or sample based instrument, uses samples in various ways. I like to use small samples to insert certain aspects into a track, especially if the samples are vocal based or sound effect based. This particular track is using both. This morning I dug into my vocal samples folder and found a few that work nicely. The key to composing chillout tracks is to remember that often times, “less is more”. A particular song can have a mix of many audio and MIDI (software instrument) tracks, but still end up with a nice minimal feel – this is the approach I specifically plan to take with this track. Being an avid listener of chillout and downtempo, and producing podcasts that reflect those genres makes it even more exciting when composing these tracks.

As mentioned in the last post, I think the project as it stands, is ready to go out to my C3 partners in AL and CA… I’m interested to see what they’ll add to it and how it will drive the final composition. I’m now contemplating what kind of guitar tracks I’l record. If what I’m hearing in my head is pretty much translated to track, I think it’ll work fine….stay tuned.

Ok, once again, it’s time to don the boots, etc. Have a great day.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

F!

Posted on by

Hardware vs Software: Tools of musical composition

Hey crew…

Hope all is well. It’s been a minute since I posted a blog, but I’m back. Been pretty busy between various music projects, work, fam, life, etc. This post is sorta related to the last few as its on the subject of how we, as musicians, compose music and the tools we use. Two days ago I happened to be reading an article on world renowned electronica musician, Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher in Future Music Magazine #235. He has a new release entitled “Squarepusher presents: Shobaleader One”. I’ve featured a track or two of his on my podcast The Sunday Soundtrack.

Being a solo artist until this new release, he’s greatly relied on hardware to produce his tracks. He’s relied on the Yamaha QY700 up to now to handle all his sequencing. Even with the employment of actual musicians for this release, he’s still using it for that task.

The interview is actually pretty good. In it he talks about his use of samples (or lack thereof) in his compositions. He said the following:

“With a modern sequencing package, I get four pages of snares, a hundred kick drums and a giant screen. That’s my idea of hell”

That, ironically, reminded me of a thought I had just a day prior… about a hip-hop producer I connected with on Twitter that graciously shared with me a slew of drum kits and samples. One file alone contain 1600 snares….1600! I thought to myself…”How would I ever be able to audition all of those snares in a somewhat timely fashion to find “the right one” for a tune?”. Ever since getting Logic Studio and an MPC shortly after that, I’ve been collecting samples and loops on the net (from the vast majority of free ones offered) for quite a bit of time how. So far to the tune of about 5GB alone. This doesn’t include the sample CDs that come with my monthly purchase of Future Music Magazine, and occassionally Computer Music and Music Tech.

I’m in a moment of time where I am seriously enjoying using Logic Studio as my DAW of choice, but at the same time, there’s something about pressing buttons, turning knobs, and seeing the glow of LED and LCD screens in the studio, that makes it all part of composing music (not to mention picking up one of my guitars or my bass guitar as starting points).

The hottest composition tool that, in my mind, is a mix hybrid of hardware and software is NI’s Maschine. I won’t even begin to get into this right now, but it is what’s on point right now. Tons of videps all over the net, big time artists using it. Many have made the jump from the MPC to this unit.

That being said, I think Squarepusher shares the following mindset with many artists who have been composing music in the digital age. He sums it up quite nicely:

“My advice to anyone who’s reading this would be: Don’t worry about what I’ve got. Don’t worry about what anyone else has got. Take whatever’s in your studio and make music. The most important thing is that you keep the free flow of ideas. Keep pushing your imagination. If you can only afford two bits of gear…fine! Use them, push them as far as they’ll go”.

Am I an advocate of the above quote? Yes, definitely… but at the same time, I am hardly against buying new gear at all. While I had enough hardware in my studio to make music without a Mac, I found that using a computer easily made the process and workflow MUCH easier and quicker.

I often key my eyes on everything coming out that’s new, but with Logic Studio and a rack full of synths, a MPC, and an MC-808, I find myself hard pressed to purchase anything new. What I am beginning to find exciting (again) is to breath life into some of my older modules (even the stock sounds) and combining them with Logic to come up with tracks that are….”Fresh”! 😉

Thanks for the read… now go make music. Peace.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

twitter|soundcloud: mrfresh
facebook: AfterSixProductions