Archive for the ‘sound design’ Category
How I Write Songs
How I Write Songs
I wanted to share my process for writing a song from scratch. I’ve gone pretty deep into this with my 30 day Ableton Production Journal but those of you who haven’t purchased it are still left in the dark. Plus I figure if I could give a breakdown of my process, it might help people save some time making their own songs. Some of this might be a bit technical and understanding it might push you to research further in Ableton or google. I’m not purposely trying to confuse anyone but rather wanting to go through my basic process in an unedited way. I’ll do my best to be clear.
Blank Slate:
This is pretty much how it all starts. For me, I rarely have “go to” sounds or templates set up. I probably should in some cases, but I usually can’t be bothered. Besides, it doesn’t take long to set things up. I’ll usually drag a reverb and a delay onto the 2 default return tracks. I’ll add another return track for Compression. This will be used for Parrallel or “New York” compression, which is basically mixing the fully compressed sound with the original. This has the advantage of adding punch and fatness without losing the transients. You also have control over how much you want to add to any of your tracks.
After adding the return tracks, I’ll usually drop a Drum Racks kit into a track to make a basic beat. I dial the sounds in as I go but I usually want to find a groove with a good set of sounds. Again, although I do have custom kits, I don’t have any “go to” sounds. I just keep testing sounds until something catches my attention. Once I have a working beat, I’ll dial in the volumes, attack, decay and release on each sound. I’ll use compression to try to get the most out of kicks and snares. I’ll also drag in a reverb as a return within drumracks. What is great about Ableton is that I’m able to do anything with each sound within drumracks as I would be able to do on any regular track (and that is ALOT).
I also have Drum Racks kits that are strictly hi hats, or snares, or kicks. I may find myself dragging several more tracks or drums to layer with the original kit. Usually 2-3 sounds make up a kick or snare that I’m happy with, typically choosing which sound has the best low end and which have the snap or high end. I’ll then EQ out the low end of the sample that doesn’t need it. Sometimes I’ll use a low pass filter as well to purposely take off some of the high end frequencies, giving the drums a darker or more dubby sound. Other times I’ll enhance the the highs for a more agressive sound. It all depends.
Bass
Next I’ll dive into bass. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m looking for, but usually I haven’t got a clue and I need to find the right sound before I know what to do with it. Depending on whether I want a more analog or digital tone I may look toward a virtual Moog, Juno or Ableton’s own Operator or Analog. Since I know Operator pretty well, it’s easier for me to dial in a sound from scratch than with most other synths. With the other synths, I rely a bit on presets as a starter point and the tweak to taste. Another great bass tool is Spectrosonic’s Trilogy. A huge range of great acoustic and electronic sounds. With some groove quantizing and good programming, you can get some pretty believable sounds. If I am not already using a simple sine wave, I’ll usually add an Operator just for the purpose of Sub bass. Then I’ll back off the low frequencies of the other synth. I may also back off the highs of the bass so it’s not too aggressive. If i later need more “bite” I may duplicate the synth and pitch it up an octave, knock out most of the lows and mids and add a bit of distortion or saturation. I usually can keep this layer quite low and it’ll still have an impact on the overall sound. You can duplicate again and add another layer pitched up 3 or 7 semitones to create a harmonic if you want. I’ve found this to give me a far more exciting sound at times.
For drums and bass, I’ll usually create a group for each and add a subtle compression (2:1 or 2.5:1) just to make things gel together. I rarely add reverb to my bass or the kick drum, but certainly use it lightly on other drum sounds if it helps to add depth. With Drums, I find it important to have a combination or wet and dry sounds. The dryer sounds being the ones you want to stand out while the others play more of a support role. I’ll also try to remove any “mud” in my bass or drum sounds. I use a highpass filter to knock out anything unneccesary. I also will put a dip in the 350hz-650hz range to sharpen some sounds. This range tends to by where “mud” lives. A little subtractive EQ goes a long way.
Tuning
The next step I might take after getting my bass sounding good is to tune my drums to the bass. This is easier than it might sound and there are a couple approaches that work for me. The one I use most is using an EQ8 effect and sweeping the frequency with a thin Q and alot of gain until the sound rigs in harmony. Then I’ll back off the gain so that the tuning is a bit more hinted instead of in your face. I may add a 2nd or 3rd harmonic on the same sound if it seems to work. Another approach to tuning drums I learned from Ableton guy Dennis Desantis’s misuse of the Frequency shifter. Using the fine tune can give some great results without ruining the sound.
Sidechaining
Sidechaining can be a godsend for much more than just making that dancefloor “pumping” sound. Used more subtly it can really help sort out places where the low frequencies of the kick drum and bass interfere with eachother. I typically decide whether the low end of the bass or the kick is more important and sidechain the other. By layering an instrument rack you can sidechain only the low frequencies and leave the higher frequencies untouched. This makes the effect much less noticeable but improves the clarity of the mix. I may sidechain the hi hats to the kick for that typical pumping sound as well as atmospherics and reverbs. This can really clean you mix up. Another use is in mixing. Instead of automating one part down everytime another part comes in, I’ll just let the sidechain compressor push the sound down automatically whenever it hears the other sound coming in. I may duck a pad to make a lead or vocal sound more clear. I highly recommend you look into this.
Stab
Then next step I will usually attempt is some sort of Stab sound. Something with a fast attack and decay. This is the part that will play of the drum and bass rhythm. The goal is to get a good sound that cuts through the mix and doesn’t screw up the momentum of the track. For an idea of a stab that really drives a dance song, look no further than Lil Louis – French Kiss. People have been ripping this off for ages because, quite simply, it works! If you have an arpeggiated bassline, you might not need a stab. I’ll usually create a 4 bar stab-like part just so there is a bit of variation in the pattern. Be careful not to lose the hypnotic quality of the part by changing things up too much (unless that is exactly what you are going for).
Pads, stretched tones
I’m a bit lazy when it comes to making pads and they are typically an afterthought even though they can be incredibly important. They give a track that loops alot of movement and keeps the song sounding too clean, which can often make things sound too mechanical or even unprofessional. A great way to get a good pad or drone is to stretch the hell out of a sample or play it on the low note of a sampler. Stretching vocal samples it a favorite of mine. It can sound so good so easily that it almost seems like you’re cheating 
I will typically add delay and long reverb to make it sound nice and wet and to smooth the edges. This is a fantastic way to add some much needed atmosphere and movement to a track. Just make sure you are in the correct key. A simple pad layered with a stretched vocal or sound effect can give you excellent results.
Sometimes chopped up pads can make a very good stab or melodic hook sound if done correctly. Sasha’s – Xpander is a perfect example.
Hook/Lead
At this point in my songwriting I usually have to make a decision. Either let the song cruise along as is without an obvious hook or lead riff, or realize that it would seem lacking without it. In my 30 Day Ableton Journal. I attempted several leads but in the end, decided it was better without them. This is a completely subjective thing as your musical goals might be different than mine. As long as you are using your best judgement and you aren’t just throwing parts in because they are “supposed” to be there, you should be in good shape.
Crashes/effects/reverse/cut ups
This is where I do a bit of filling in the blanks. I’ll usually drop crashes and reverse cymbals in their logical places. Sometimes I just use these as markers to possibly be replaced by another sound. These will usually be placed at 8 or 16 bar intervals. Pretty obvious stuff, but definitely makes a difference. Some artists don’t use crashes at all. Listen to Daft Punk for example. If you can make it work for you, go for it. Personally I’ve tried, but it’s deceptively difficult to do what they do and still keep things interesting.
Once I’ve got the basics crashes and reverse sounds in place, I’ll put atmospheric sounds with a good amount of delay, reverb or both in spots throughout the mix. Especially when a build or breakdown is needed. Without overdoing it, I just filled in the gaps. I check to make sure the intro part of the track isn’t too empty. Although it’s nice to save the good part for later, you don’t want any of your track to be boring. Using cut edits of parts that play later with some delay can give good results, especially if you are lacking hi frequency content.
Structure
This part is always tough for me. I know it shouldn’t be as I’ve been making songs since 1988, but structuring club music can still be challenging. One example of a song structure may look like this:
Intro: 16 Bars
Bass dropp: 16 bars
Added layers and elements: 32 bars
breakdown: 4/8/16 or 32 bars
Full on track with hook or lead: 32 bars
short break: 4/8 or 16 bars
groove with less elements: 16 bars
outro: 16 bars
Although it’s good to have a fairly solid structure, sometimes using odd times can create some nice tension and make your track less predictable. Otherwise, straying from multiples of 4 bars will just sound off. Use your own judgement and don’t be afraid to “borrow” the structure from another song. People have been doing this for ages, it’s not a big deal.
Panning/EQ’ing/Mixing
Next I go through the mixing stage and dial in the panning for each sound. I may add an auto pan or automation to some sounds to give some random movement. This works well on atmospherics while subtle panning is good for drum sounds. I like to use Ableton’s auto filter to give subtle movement as well. I may do a stereo spread of the upper frequencies of the Bass while keeping the subs mono. Keep in mind the panning is also important for sounds with the same frequencies. Often times panning is more effective than EQing to bring out a part’s clarity. Unless I’m going for an artificial sound, I try to avoid extreme EQ’ing. For a more natural sound start with panning and then attenuate unwanted frequencies instead of boosting frequencies. If you are using extreme boosting to try to bring out the bass in a sound, you probably should rework the source sound. You can’t bring out something that isn’t there to begin with.
When it comes to mixing, it’s a good practice to listen to all the other parts besides the one you are mixing. It’s very important to concentrate on how a part effects the totality of your song. If you do find yourself focusing on the part you are mixing, take it to where you think it sounds good and then drop it back about 10-15%. If you don’t get this habit under control, you’ll end up with the newbie mistake of having the first parts you mix buried by the last parts you mix.
Mono mixing
Once I have a basic mix I like to switch to mono. In Ableton it’s easy. Just drop a utility effect on the master track and change the stereo spread to zero. Then turn off 1 of your monitors and get in front of it. I have written a whole blog post of mixing in mono, but in short, mixing in mono reveals phasing issues, if your effects are overdone or if your panning is making a part less clear than it should be. Another great thing is that in mono, there is no “sweet” spot. Wherever you are sitting, you’ll get the same results. If you can get things sounding great in mono, you can be sure it’ll sound excellent when back in stereo. Don’t forget to turn off your utility before mixdown!
Editing for groove
Once I’ve made it this far, the first question I ask myself (when making music for clubs) is “is this danceable? Does this make me want to move or just stand in one place and nod my head”. There is nothing worse than a well produced track that doesn’t move you… or your audience. If I find that it isn’t giving me the results I was hoping for I inspect what part is slowing the track down. I first make sure the drums and bass alone get me excited, then I add parts one by one until the track sounds less danceable. Once I find it, I’ll consider changing the rhythm or even pulling the whole part out. Then I’ll continue adding parts going through the same process. This can be frustrating after all the work you’ve put into each part, but it’s important not to be married to any one part. If it’s not improving your song, it’s making it worse. Also it’s not a bad idea to experiment with groove templates. They can make a pretty drastic difference in the vibe of your song.
Final tweaks
Some of these final tweaks can make the biggest impact on whether your song sounds great or just ok. Typically at this stage I’ve made a pretty safe mix. Everything has it’s place and nothing is taking up too much attention. That’s a good place to be but not a great place to end. It’s important that you let certain parts have their chance to shine, so for each important part, find out where that is. Once you introduce it loud enough to grab the listener’s attention, they will hear it throughout the mix even when it’s lower in volume. These little moments for each instrument gives your song more dynamics and constantly keeps your attention. A little boost goes a long way, so don’t try to make ears bleed here, just make sure the listener knows when something new has arrived.
Once I’ve gone through this process, I’m usually pretty happy with my mix and I mix it down. Of course you want to make sure to burn a CD and play this on a few systems and do some a/b tests with some songs you like the production on and if necessary fine tune your mix. I’ve been known to be “happy” with my mix and still go back 3 or 4 times for final tweaks. Luckily this isn’t all that bothersome because you know you are very close to finished and that’s a great feeling.
Conclusion
Well folks, generally speaking, that’s my process. Everyone has their own approach and all are valid if they work for you. Hopefully this has given you some ideas which I encourage you to borrow or steal.
Happy music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
10 newbie mistakes when writing in Ableton
10 Newbie mistakes in Ableton
Here are some common newbie mistakes people make when writing in Ableton. This isn’t all Ableton specific as some tips apply to music production in general. It also isn’t in any specific order and doesn’t necessarily assume to be the Top 10 of newbie mistakes. These are just some mistakes I’ve seen people make over the years and are certainly some mistakes I have made as well. If you are new to Ableton or cumputer music production, these should be of some assistance.
1. Assuming Ableton’s auto-warping will warp your songs perfectly :
This is a fairly common but huge mistake when working with Ableton. Although Ableton is excellent at warping loops without much trouble (as long as the loop is already seamless), a full song is a different animal altogether.
I suppose it can be pretty misleading to see an option called “Auto-warp” and wonder why your songs aren’t syncing up to tempo perfectly. While the auto-warp function does do a lot of the work for you, it’s your job to fine tune it so that every thing is 100% on. Learning this process is the single most important thing you need to master if you want to unleash 95% of Ableton’s true capabilities.
Here’s are a few videos to get you started.
For Ableton 8:
For previous versions of Ableton:
2. Recording parts on the same track in both arrange and session window:
A common mistake for people who are new to Ableton is assuming that the session window (the window with all the boxes for clips and scenes. Also home to the mixer) and the arrangement window (the window the most resembles other audio recording software) are separate entities.
For example you will have a clip on audio 1 in your session window but audio 1 in your arrange window is empty. If you are new to Ableton it is easy to assume that it’s fine to record on that track in the arrange window but that would be a big mistake. You will quickly find that one of your parts is no longer playing.This is simply because you have put 2 parts on the same track at the same time.
Once you understand how the session and arrange windows are intertwined, it will make complete sense what is happening. The simple rule to follow is:
1 instrument per track.
Think of each clip in a track (audio or midi) as representing what 1 instrument will be doing in different sections of your song. For example, one clip might be for the intro, the next for the verses, another for your bridge and another still for a chorus.
If you have ever programmed a drum machine, clips are similar to patterns on your drum machine. When you want to chain those patterns together to make your complete song, you would do that in the arrange window.
If you are recording something start to finish (like a full vocal take), you would also want to record in the arrange window. The important thing to remember is that at the end of the day, everything will need to go into the arrange window before you mixdown (render) your song. If you are arranging your instruments from loops or recording separate parts of your song to arrange later (like with drums) you would most benefit from starting in the session window and then chaining those parts together in the arrange window.
*As a sidenote, some would argue that you can do everything in the arrange window, and I wouldn’t disagree, but i’d suggest you learn the basics of both windows and then decide what works best for you.
Here is a video that might make the concept a little easier for you:
3. Too many loops or parts fighting for the same frequencies:
If you are building your songs with loops and samples, a common mistake is to think that the more loops you add, the more full and complex your song will sound. You are only half right though. It’s true that more layers can give your song more complexity and depth, but the downside is it can easily make your composition sound muddy, off pitch or just plain not right. Keep an eye on your fighting frequencies when choosing your loops. A good way to finding these conflicting frequencies is to use a spectrum analyser. Ableton 8 has one built right in, but if you are using an older version of Ableton, you can use one of this free plugin.
4. Not removing needless frequencies – Keeping on the subject of your EQ’s and frequencies, it’s really important to keep in mind what is the most important part of a an instrument and cut out the frequencies that aren’t needed. You won’t want 2 or 3 parts all playing a deep, heavy kick drum. You’ll need to choose which one has the best lows, and remove the low end from the other loops. Same with your hi frequencies. You’ll want to make sure your hihats are coming through clean by removing the highs from your othertracks. For snare and percussion in your mid frequencies, you may need to attenuate certain frequencies so that each part has it’s own space and doesn’t sound muddy. In most cases, you’ll find that popular music doesn’t have too much going on in any given frequency. Everything is balanced and that is what you want. The goal of this blog isn’t to tell you exactly how to dial in all of your EQ’s but rather to point you to where you should look if your songs aren’t sounding as good as you had hoped.
This video might give you the basic idea:
You can also read this Blog
5. Not arranging your songs in multiples of 4 :
Now I know that there are many other time signatures than 4/4 time but I just want to give some basic tips here for people struggling with producing songs. If you are struggling, it’s probably best that you learn to write in 4/4 timing before getting into complex time signatures.
That said, it’s very important in popular music and club music that you create your parts on multiple of 4 bars. For example, if you have a verse that goes 7 bars instead of 8 and then you jump into a chorus, it’s most likely going to sound all wrong. This multiple of 4 predictability in music seems very natural. Don’t try to get too tricky until you’ve successfully got this down. Once you know how things are “supposed” to sound, you can tweak the timing to create more tension successfully.
6. Doing your songwriting and sound design in the same session:
I’ve written a whole blog on this subject if you want to get deeper into this, but basically, you don’t want to be fumbling around trying to get THAT sound when you have a melody or bassline in your head. In the time it takes to create this amazing sound in your head, you will likely have lost the original idea that inspired you. It’s best to work fast with a template of sounds or presets that you have found to work for you and touch things up after the rough idea is saved.
7. Adding parts to compensate for bad sounding parts:
Each part in your song should be able to stand on it’s own. It shouldn’t sound crappy when you solo it. Of course I know that sometimes it takes a couple layers to get that certain Bass sound. It’s totally ok and even encouraged to layer your sounds but at the end of the day those sounds need to all stand together as 1 Bass or 1 Stab sound or whatever.
If you find yourself adding melody on top of melody in an attempt to make something sound “right”, you might be better off redoing your melody.
Make sure your drums, bass, pads, melodies and vocals all sound great on their own. You aren’t going to make good tracks by burying so-so parts deep in your mix. If you can break your song down to 6-8 elements, it will keep you focused on if you are adding too much stuff. You may end up with 40+ tracks in your song, but you definitely don’t want all those elements playing at the same time.
If you have 3 different melodies, you should only have one out front at any given time. Even complex songs should come across sounding fairly simple and there should be empty space between the parts. Put on a CD and listen to how many elements are going on at any given time. Notice how each sound has it’s space to come across clearly.
The less you have going on in your song, the bigger each sound is able to be. That’s why with a 3 piece band like Nirvana, each instrument can sound so big.
Regardless of the style of music, we are all limited to a certain frequency range. When you have parts fighting for the same frequency, both parts are bound to have to sacrifice something in order to fit into the mix.
Another way to look at building a song is to ask “What frequency am I going to fill in now?”, then you want to use a spectrum analyzer to find what works in that range. If you have 2 parts you like but they are taking up the same frequencies, perhaps you can take one up or down and octave so it has it’s own range. Once you have filled up your full spectrum you can see how strong each element is before adding any extra layers.
8. Too many options:
Having too many choices with instruments and plugin’s without having made yourself a “go to” collection can become a huge time and energy waster. It’s far better to have a few “go to” plugin’s and instruments that you know really well than it is to have 100′s that you aren’t familiar with. Using unfamiliar software can really slow you down and give you below par results.
Find 4 or 5 synths (or even less), 2 compressors, 2 or 3 reverbs, a couple delays etc.. Then take some time to find out what each one is really good at and build some “go to” presets. This will make things much easy and you’ll be getting the sound you are looking for much more quickly.
It’s fine to have lots of plugins in your arsenal but it’s best to find out what each one does before you start your songwriting process. Believe me when I say that I am writing this for myself as much as for you!
Before the days of free plugin’s and fast computers, we pretty much had to make due with whatever equipment we had. Given those limitations, it’s easiest to get to the process of making music instead of trying to fiddle with every toy in the toy store.
Another thing that you’ll find is that when you get comfortable using certain equipment, those limitations become your sound and gives you some consistency. Get your “go to” collection started asap.
9. Not making a template:
Templates are a saving grace when it comes to songwriting. When you have a setup that works with your favorite effects settings or your send/returns, drumkits, synths etc take the time to save it as a template songfile or to drag it to your presets for later use. This will save you loads of time trying to figure out how to get that certain sound you had before.
Fumbling through presets and setup takes time and can easily distract you from your goal: To get your ideas down while you are inspired.
Templates give you a basic setup with all your “go to” stuff included. You can even make different templates for different styles of music. Having several options will allow you to be ready to go regardless of what creative mood you are in.
10. Using low quality samples:
Using low quality samples with the intention to “fix it in the mix” is another big mistake. Now I’m all for lo-if and I’ve been known to use less than optimal quality sounds to great effect, but you need to make sure it works for your track and that you aren’t building your track off a bunch of lo quality sounds.
If you have to doctor it up with tons of effects and eq to make it sound decent, you should probably use a higher quality sound that has most of the tone you are looking for from the get go. For example, a kick drum that doesn’t have good low end from the start is never going to sound deep,punchy and professional.
Using a lower quality sound might not seem like it will make a noticeable difference, but just wait until you have a whole song full of these sounds and the overall quality will become pretty apparent to you.
Using mp3 quality is something I wouldn’t recommend. Generally speaking 16bit 44.1 should be the minimum you accept. If your computer can handle 24 bit recording at 96kbps you will likely hear a difference, just keep an eye on your hard drive usage. I personally stick to 16bit for most of my work and I get good results.
I hope this has been helpful for you. Feel free to email me your newbie mistakes and I’ll consider updating this Blog to perhaps 15 newbie mistakes.
Happy music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
Is technical talent truly inspiring?
Is technical talent truly inspiring?
I watched a live performance of Shadowplay by Joy Division from 1978 on Youtube the other day. The performance was raw, the playing was amateur and the vocals were out of key and..
it was still amazing.
I proceeded to read the comments below and was pleasantly surprised that 90% of the comments were also praising the performance. Only one person mentioned the lack of technical skill and everybody jumped down his throat.
Then of course everyone was dogging the Cover version of this song by The Killers basically calling them a bunch of hacks. Now technically speaking, The Killers version could easily be considered better. It was sonically recorded and mixed better, the instruments were well played and the vocals were on key.. but nobody cared. Now I’m not here to say The Killers are shit, but rather I want to explore why bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus and The Cure are practically worshipped despite their lack of what some would call musicianship.
Why are bands like these so well respected despite(or perhaps even because of) a lack of technical talent? What is that magic formula? Why is it that we excuse their lack of technical talent and in fact rate them much higher than bands that clearly have better musicianship?
Some of you reading this will simply say these bands are completely over-rated or popular for being popular in the underground. I’m going to have to say that I believe there is more to it and I would like to explore this a bit deeper.
Being a proud non-musician myself, I enjoy the idea of mucking about on an instrument like a curious child. If I already felt I knew everything there was to know, I probably wouldn’t be very interested in making music. I suppose what I do mocks people that slave over their instrument of choice, but I don’t think that is the whole picture. I, in fact, have slaved over music, but the things I am interested in are how to convey a vibe.
Sometimes pure talent shows little humanity.
Often times talent is something you hide behind. Nakedness and vulnerability can evoke much more emotion. I personally think it takes bravery to stand up on a stage with little but a handful of chords and some ideas that you want to get across.
Don’t get me wrong, there are times when you need talent to convey a complex idea and those are amazing moments, but those moments are not driven by the desire to “show off” talent but rather to get across your message as accurately as possible.
There is also something to be said about having pent up emotion and being a bit frustrated that you can’t express it accurately. I think I can hear this in bands like Nirvana and Joy Division. Those bands were very vulnerable and spoke for so many who were afraid to speak for themselves. Those who were afraid of their own normality. We can see ourselves in those who show themselves, warts and all.
It might be safe to say that those who are true fans of music don’t base what is good on pure talent but rather on how the music hits them whether it be Mozart, The Who or Velvet Underground. I think it’s likely that “musicians” might get off on complexity for complexities sake because having the skill to learn it can be an ego boost in the same way as mastering a difficult video game. However, music is in a completely different field altogether. Some of the best music defies logic. Sometimes the words are nonsense and the simple parts that construct the song is laughable yet we still find something intriguing about it.
I like to think that there is more that goes into music than just the instruments and vocals. I think there is something that gets recorded between the notes that weaves through the empty gaps. A sort of “ghost in the machine”. I believe emotion and intention comes through the music and those subtleties are picked up by those who really “listen” and “feel” the music.
Although all of my examples in this blog are talking about live bands, I think the same “ghosts” can come through in electronic music as well. All instruments whether played by hand or programmed are soul-less until the soul is injected into it.
I am beginning to get into another tangent, so I will simply leave you with this Joy Division video. I hope it intrigues you to reconfirm or re-evaluate your attitude towards music and the shallow definitions of talent.
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Happy Music Making
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
Musical Mediation
Musical Meditation
As I’ve said in previous posts, I can’t read or write music notation. However I do have something that I think makes up for it.
Let’s call it “Musical Mediation”
I have the ability to build a song idea in my head. It can start from a riff, a drum pattern or a lyrical phrase. I can “hear” inside
my head what works and what doesn’t.
For example I can try out certain vocal harmonies in my head. and hear how slight variations can create a better or worse result.
I can tell if something will sound too full or too empty before I’ve physically played or sung a note. Sometimes I don’t know exactly
what is missing but I know it’s not quite “right”.
Although I have this ability, I don’t actually use it as often as I should.
The main reason is that I find it works better for me when I’m making guitar based songs. I figure electronic songs are more difficult
because the soundscape is largely unfamiliar. I think many great composers are so great at dreaming up symphonies because they are
so familiar with each instrument that would make up a symphonic piece of music.
I was thinking about this today and pondering how I could develop this skill of mine and perhaps help others develop as well.
Here is an approach that I’ve come up with:
Dreaming up sounds:
In order to accurately get a unique sound that is in your head into your computer or recording device, you are going to need to
understand the fundamentals of sound.
*Try going into a synth and only use 1 oscillator.
*Turn off the filters and effects and just listen to each type of waveform, Sine, Square, Triangle, Saw.
These are the basic sound palates to every sound you will create. Understand these basics and you have the fundamentals to
dreaming up great sounds and being able to put the sound in your head into an actual song.
Although getting sidetracked can lead to some wonderfully surprising sounds, for this exercise it’s of utmost importance that
you see this process through without losing focus. I think it can be argued that this loss of focus is one of the leading causes
of not completing songs.
Here’s the scenario:
You had an original idea in your head but lost focus early on and just went with whatever interesting sound jumped out at
you first. Soon you are listening to a loop or collection of sounds over and over without anywhere to go. You have essentially
lost your steam.
It’s no wonder you get bored with the idea so quickly. You aren’t creating anything close to what inspired you in the first place!
What if you were able to quickly get the ideas out of your head accurately before you lost focus?
My guess is that you would probably find more satisfaction in your work.
Then of course once you got the basic idea out of your head you could allow for more experimentation and happy accidents.
Remember, this isn’t a lesson in inflexibility but of focus.
Having trouble dreaming up your own sounds? Try dreaming up someone else’s.
*Pull out a CD or pull up a song in your computer.
*Listen to just one tone that attracts you.
*When you find a sound you like, listen to it as closely as possible.
*Listen to how the sound characteristics change with each note.
*If there are volume variations, take note of those too.
Breaking it down:
If the sound you are trying to recreate in your head is complex, break it down into the separate parts that make the sound up.
If you have a hard time doing this, think of it as 3 different sounds. One sound in the lower frequency, one in the mid frequency
and one in the high frequency. In the same way you might break down a harmony into each separate voice, many sound designers
and musicians break down sounds to their most basic elements. When you can mentality break sounds down to their basic elements,
you can better predict how to build your own complex tones as well.
Now that you have that sound in your head, close your eyes and try to vividly recreate that sound in your head. Try to hear it
all by itself instead of in the context of a song. You may want to give this sound a name so you can mentally access it more
easily.
Recreate the part you heard in your head in as much detail as possible.
Variation:
Next try changing some notes around and creating variations. Try not to lose the image in your head and don’t change the sound in your head. It’s very easy to get bored and wander off, but what we are trying to do is ingrain this sound into your memory as vividly as possible so you can add it to your mental palate.
Imagine changing the eq, or filtering out the high frequencies, then the low frequencies.
Imagine the sound with a bit of distortion, flange,delay or reverb. If you can’t vividly imagine these effects, you may want to spend some time adding these effects to some basic sounds so your mind has something to work with.
Practice makes perfect:
When you are able to do this with some proficiency, You will be able to add more and more instruments in your head and know how to get exactly what you want before you’ve even played a note. You’ll be able to build and arrange full song ideas in your
head and work out the kinks before you waste any time in the studio.
In the same way that it takes a while to become good at meditating and blocking out all of the days thoughts, it’s also difficult to start using “musical meditation” to focus on an idea without distractions. You may not get it right immediately, but with practice I am confident you will have an amazingly powerful tool that will just continue to get better and better.
Happy Music Making,
Jason
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