Welcome to Day 5 of my 30 Day Journal experiment. In this Video I work further on the melody, rearranging midi notes until I find something I like. I also create some filter sweeps using Operator, run it through a chorus effect and resample it while automating the chorus a bit. These filters will later be cut up and placed throughout the song arrangement to add a little high frequency drama to breakdowns, buildups and places that just need something interesting to happen.

If you miss a video, the previous day’s Video/s will be at the end of this blog. To watch Day 1, go to http://vimeo.com/14687113 and then continue back here.

Be aware that due to the volume of video material I’ve recorded (20 or more hours), there are no zooms or tricky video effects. I am also aware that there may be some imperfections & volumes may fluctuate with my voice from video to video. In this case I’m going for a wealth of content instead of perfection. It is recommended that you enlarge this video to fullscreen for best results. Enjoy and please share this with your friends through word of mouth, email, Twitter & Facebook. I’d like to share this free content with as many people as possible for the next 30 days. Understand that each video will only be available to stream for 48 hours or until the next video goes up.

For those who are interested, I will be making all the songfiles, samples and final mixes of the songs available immediately if you decide to  Advance order this full collection   (you’ll need version 8.1.3). I will want to do some final work on these videos before sending them out. The full collection will likely be priced somewhere between $59-$79 but will be drastically reduced during the next 30 days.

I’ll also have all my collections available at a 20% discount through the duration of this Video Journal. Just use the discount code: 30DayDisc

* The comment section of my site is screwy at the moment but feel free to email me at MusicSoftwareTraining@gmail.com if you like.

I hope you enjoy this 30 day experiement. Happy Music Making

Jason

30 Day Music Production Video

If you've ever wanted to look over my shoulder while I make songs, THIS is the collection for you! In this collection you get me producing 2 full songs and a DJ mix from start to finish over a 30 day period. I take you through the good the bad and the ugly. It's the most honest video collection I've ever made. It includes every Ableton songfile for each day, every sample used and about 20 hours of Video. It also includes mixdowns of the 2 completed songs and DJ Mix.

Ultimate Ableton Collection 1

A must for anyone new to Ableton or wanting to dive deeper into the depth of this program. Over 4 hours of the most in depth yet easy to follow tutorials on the market!

Ultimate Ableton Collection 2

This collection makes an incredible companion to the first collection and gets into the newest features in Ableton. There are also 20 professional custom drum kits and a full Drum Racks replication of Roland's famous R-70 drum machine.

Advanced Warping Collection

This collection is a must for DJ's and remixers! If you find yourself warping full songs on a regular basis, you are going to run into warping issues that can really bring your production to a halt. These simple secrets will get you past that with ease and back to doing what you do best.

Dj'ing and Performance Collection

A must for anyone wanting to DJ or perform live in Ableton. Includes 17 in-depth Videos on Warping, Organizing files, Setting up midi controllers (including APC40) and lots more! As a Free bonus, it also includes my Ebook "Mixing with your Mind - Make your best DJ Mix".

Ableton Remixing Walkthrough

For those who want to see exactly how I approach a remix. From editing the original sounds, to dropping them into Ableton and building ideas. Then adding to these ideas to compliment the original material and finally working it all into a song. All edits, effect settings, automation, and arranging procedure is included in the information packed video collection.

Producer's Deluxe Collection

Get all 3 of my full video Collections (Ultimate Collections 1 and 2 and Advanced Warping Collection) Producers Deluxe Collection

Previous Day’s Video if you’ve missed it:

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My 30 day video producing Journal

For those of you who are following me on Twitter over the last 30 days, you may have seen me tweet about an experiment I started on the 1st of August.  This idea has been running through my head all year and I kept putting it off because I was honestly a bit afraid of embarrassing myself publicly by agreeing to let you watch my songwriting process for 30 days straight.

One major hurdle was the fact that I have never produced music everyday for this length of time and wasn’t sure what the outcome would be if I forced myself to create when I wasn’t particularly inspired. Would inspiration show up or would I be left showing you 30 days worth of “go nowhere” ideas? That can’t be good for anyone’s ego.  :-)

Another fear was that you might not learn much from this process. I don’t purposely do complex things just for the sake of it, so most of my process is experimenting with layers of simple ideas until I find something that works. I didn’t want you watching me use the same techniques over and over and thinking “I thought he was gonna show me some crazy stuff” and being disappointed.

Then I had a thought…..

These excuses were the exact reason nobody else has done something like this before and if that’s the case, this must be common with most everyone that creates. Maybe by showing my strengths and weaknesses I might be able to pull others outside of their comfort zone. Maybe this will show you some of the essential things to learn instead of you feeling like you have to know everything before allowing yourself to start.

Through this process I’ve been motivated, unmotivated, grumpy, anxious, unorganized, inspired, bored, confused and slightly embarrassed at times. Despite all that I was able to complete 2 songs & a DJ mix I am pretty happy with. That has got to count for something. I’ve also become that much better at fighting through resistance and getting to the other side. I may talk more specifically about my struggles as I share this 30 day process. If I can create in the state of mind I was in on some days, you definitely can too!

So here’s how this is going to work…

At some point soon I will be posting 1 video on my blog a day for 30 days. Almost all the videos are 30 minutes of longer, while some are well over an hour. Each day 1 video will be up to watch for free for 24 hours (or until the next video takes it’s place). So for 30 days you will have a new video to watch. I’ve edited the videos a bit to keep them more focused so you don’t watch me go off on tangents that are unnecessary. You will however see me do some things that don’t get used at all in the final process. I figured it was important to include that so you can pretty much watch the whole creative process.

For those who find value in this collection, I will later make it available if you want to purchase it. It will include all the samples used and all the Ableton song files from each day as well as the 2 completed songs and DJ mix (obviously seperated tracks from my DJ mix will not be included).

Don’t call this a tutorial

Although there is alot to learn from this collection of videos, it was put together without any planning and therefore is not like any other collection I have made. This isn’t a “how to make a (choose your style) song” but rather an relatively honest approach to some ways I approach making music.  I do however limit myself to just Ableton’s internal effects and instruments. These limitations take me outside my comfort zone which I thought was a good challenge. I wanted to be working with tools that all Ableton users have access to so everyone can not only follow along but stop thinking they need more stuff before they can start creating professional sounding music. In another track I built the song just using samples and internal effects. I also go through the process of preparing a song to play live in Ableton and build a DJ mix.  Do to the 20ish hours of footage, I haven’t done the type of editing I usually do. Sometimes you’ll find me in the “zone” and I stop talking about what I’m doing and I just DO, although I try my best to fill you in or why I’m doing what I’m doing and what I am thinking at the time.

I hope this lets some of you inside my head creatively and shows you some building blocks, techniques and tools that you can apply to your work. I certainly didn’t invent any of the techniques, so it’s only fair that I pass along what I know so you can take it and figure out a way to do it better. … Then I can learn from you  :-)

Keep your eye on this blog and make sure to follow me on Twitter if you want up to the moment updates.

Til then,

Happy Music Making,

Jason

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Are you a creative consumer or producer?

Let’s face it. We’ve all become information junkies. We constantly feed our faces with new tricks and new toys. We are constantly looking for the next thing. The new synth, that new effect, the new, well… anything.

Here’s the problem folks, it’s slowing you down from the real goal. If you aren’t finishing songs, soundtracks or projects, now you have your culprit.

In an attempt to become more productive you read blogs, watch videos and buy whatever seems to give you more power than you already have. The problem is that the appetite is never quenched. I’m of course referring to myself as well. I’ll use information gathering as an excuse to not create and then I’ll convince myself that without this new tool I can’t create. You end up in a constant cycle of upgrading instead of finding a consistant workflow.

Have you become an addicted consumer instead of a creative producer?

Now I am all about new technology, no doubt about it. I am also all about finding new information that I can put to use, but that is where the flaw is. We watch the videos, we read the blogs, we download the new plugin but we are pulling in more information than we can possibly put to use?

A change in thinking

If this behavior is going to stop we need to accept that too much information works against you. It gives you too many choices. It also takes away your sense of discovery when you are in a creative mode. By the time you have a situation that would benefit from a certain technique, you may already be bored by it or paranoid that this trick isn’t modern enough or is overused.

I think this behavior happens with a lot of musicians (something I’ve already stated that I am not). The reason for this is that many musicians learn how to play before they just start playing. They learn all the rules and they learn all the chords. By the time they actually start making music, they are trying to reach outside their current level of skill because they are bored to tears of all the things they have already learned. They restrict themselves from many of the basics in search of that magic, but rarely find it.

When I started playing guitar I tried learning from a chord book but tossed it after only a few days. I had learned a few basic bar chords and I was off and running. I had confidence in simplicity and wasn’t afraid to do something just because it’s easy. Luckily for me, I was drawn to bands that used simplicity to their favor. If I had something in my head that I couldn’t play, then and only then would I hunt for a new skill, technique or expand my chord knowledge. This gave me the ability to feel the magic of every new discovery and tool. I didn’t feel forced to grow any more than my natural pace. I rarely heard a song and had to rush home to learn how it was played. I was just doing my own thing and developing my own sound.

Now I find myself getting into the trap of information gathering. I’m constantly working on skills that I’ll never put to use. another downside is that I rarely have the exciting feeling of discovery when I finally use a new trick. Being a blogger and a producer (and a DJ), it’s easy for me to get caught up with what is new, but I feel it would be more beneficial to myself and my readers if I put to use each new thing I learn or each new tool I access before hunting for the next thing. I also think it’s going to be important to wait for a problem before I go hunting for a solution.

Ask yourself, is this a tool I am going to use today? Does the project I am currently working on require this tool or information to complete it? Does filling my head with this new information make me more productive now or less productive? What information and tools do you have right now that you still haven’t put to use? Might it be more beneficial to implement some of those one at a time? Maybe you would benefit by removing several tools to open up some space to new ones.

Just because a tool is great for someone else and has them super excited doesn’t mean it’s going to work that way for you. Realize your addiction might be to someone’s excitement and  not necessarily the information being presented. Another trap is trying to fit this new tool or idea into your work. This can be frustrating and slow you down because in your head you may be thinking “this is supposed to be amazing, what am I doing wrong”?, when the real issue is that it’s not a match for your way of creating.

A challenge

Make a deal with yourself. If you spend 30 minutes learning a new trick, you’ve got to spend at least 30 minutes putting it to use. If the skill requires more time, decide whether you will dump the new trick or take the time to perfect it. Don’t make the mistake of putting this on the backburner while hunting for new information or tools.

I hope this brings you closer to a very productive 2010.

To your continued joy and productivity in your creative works!

happy music making,

Jason

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Follow me: http://twitter.com/AbletonVids

Website: http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com

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A minimalist approach to songwriting

A common situation many people fall victim to is that the more tools that you use for your songwriting, the more that can potentially go wrong. This is not to say that tools can not be incredible time savers, but they can also be huge time wasters as well. What I want to share with you is a new way of thinking when it comes to writing and completing songs.

Preparation

How long does it take you to “prepare” to make a track?

Do you plan this out beforehand or do you just fumble around for the right sample, plugin in, effect, synth, or synth preset during the songwriting process?

Besides all the sounds and effects, how many controllers are you setting up (or attempting to set up)?

Are you struggling with getting hardware up and running in order to simplify your songwriting process?

Are you working with a midi controller or 2? How often does it speed up your songwriting process rather than just giving you a prettier button to push to do pretty much the same thing?

I’m not trying to talk you out of using hardware or software tools, but rather warning you against trying to make everything “look” pretty and “professional” before you get started. This is a mistake myself and many other producers have run up against. Hopefully it will start to break this cycle for those who read and share this blog.

Remember: This is your songwriting time, this isn’t your “sound design, muck around with effects you’ve never used, try to get this damn controller working because everyone says how badass it is” time.

All that stuff needs to be set aside for another time, a time that isn’t devoted to writing and completing songs.

A DJ’ing Analogy

Think in terms of a DJ on stage, with a crowd ready for a great show…

Does a DJ get on stage and then start trying to learn new tools?

Does he think “wow, I think i’m going to read the manual on this new effects unit I just bought”.

Does a DJ think “wow, this is a perfect time to listen to all those tracks I bought on beatport to see what is worth playing”?

Does s/he decide that now is the best time to warp those songs in Ableton?

Of course not!

A proper DJ presents a set using the tools and the songs already familiar to him/her. Even though there are 1000′s of great tools available for DJ’s, common sense tells us that regardless of how amazing some tool might be, it will only take away from the performance to use tools that are unfamiliar to you and probably get you some strange “what the hell is this guy doing?” kind of looks.

This is exactly the way you should look at songwriting….

Only look to tools you are familiar with

Although there are a TON of choices out there (and probably on your hard drive), your best results are dependant on using the tools that are tried and trusted to you. This is not the time to learn a new skill. This is a time to put the skills you have already learned to use.

This one habit will help to build your production vocabulary and also force you to put to use what you know instead of filling your head with more techniques that you aren’t likely to use.

Another huge benefit is that when you hit a roadblock, you have just been shown exactly what it is you need to learn next!

Don’t bother reading manuals or watching videos that you don’t plan on putting to use right now. Why fill your head with information that is likely to be useless to you in this moment? Doesn’t it make more sense to only gather new information when you have run into a problem that needs solving?

This is powerful for 2 reasons:

1. Your focus stays on your music and it’s completion

2. When you learn a new technique that you put to use right away, you get this great feeling of discovery. For you, this is a new world you have opened up. You haven’t let it sit in your head and get stale.

How to get started…

Have a direction

This might seem obvious, but I can’t even count how many times I’ve convinced myself to just “go with the flow”. This, although it can create some magical moments and happy accidents, it’s usually a bad idea when you are in “song completion” mode. Going with the flow is much more of a sound design type mentality. A practice of open minded improvisation. Believe me when I say that this is a powerful way to get inspiring nuggets that can become songs, but a mind in that mode tends to want to continue on that path instead of actually finishing anything. If you do this type of thing during your songwriting time, make sure to set a time limit (i’d say 15 minutes at a time), and make sure you are using a tool you are familiar with. You don’t want to get caught up trying to teach yourself a new skill when you should be using the skills you have to finish songs.

Repeat after me:

“I know enough right now to finish a song”.

Now believe it..

Your “to learn” list

You may not be perfect, and it’s possible your song can suffer on a technical level because of it, but those are technical things that can always be revisited. A song can always be revised, but there is nothing quite like listening back to something you’ve done from start to finish and thinking ” I made this”. When you find limitations in your song, take note and put it on the list of “things to learn”. Keep this list to 3 things tops and make sure to tackle those and put them to use before you add anything new to your list. This should become a sacred practice. Use what you learn as soon as possible. If you don’t plan on putting a new technique to use, take it off your list. “This is really cool” is a completely different list, so don’t get hung up on that. It only stands to overwhelm you with choices and lower your confidence in the tried and true techniques you already know.

Take inventory

What works right now?

I’m talking about things that don’t need to come out of the box and be set up. Once again, What is working right now? What tools are you already comfortable with? If you are an ace at using Ableton’s Impulse, don’t jump onto Drum Racks or Sampler. Yes, those tools are amazing, but they aren’t going to be amazing for you until you’ve learned them. Put it on your “to learn” list and use those new skills on your next project.

During my last remix project, I bypassed all my controllers because they weren’t making my life any easier with completing the track. I even bypassed my studio monitors because my sound card was acting up on me. This just left me, my laptop and a pair of good headphones. I wasn’t even using an asio driver (low latency driver for pc). Although this wasn’t the idea situation, it was liberating to solve technical issues by simply not using what wasn’t working. I worked at using my limitations to my advantage by cutting myself off from too many choices and forcing myself to get to the business of completing my remix.

What do you have that works right now? Use what you’ve got and keep working until you simply have no more workarounds. Only at that point should you take a break from writing and teach yourself the 1 new technique or tool you need to move beyond your roadblock. I guarantee that this new tool or technique will become part of your vocabulary of production resources instead of just idly sitting inside your head filling up space.

Visualize

I can’t stress this enough. Give yourself the time to get a rough idea of what you are attempting to accomplish. Find some songs that you’ll want to use as references for the mood and arrangement you are looking for. Even if you have a 16 bar loop that you are happy with, being able to reference a completed song will serve to keep you on track and get you past several roadblocks.

If you don’t have any direction, then you are simply sound designing and experimenting. You aren’t songwriting. I am not denying the incredibly importance of experimentation, but rather attempting to keep you from losing focus and ending up with another unfinished idea that will never be heard or enjoyed by others.

Minimize your choices

Once you have a direction and know the basic sound and mood you are going for, it’s time to prepare the tools for the job.

Ask yourself “what is the fastest and easiest way to get the results I want”. Limit yourself to a couple reverbs and delays. Also have your drumkits, swells, reverse cymbals and “go to” fx sounds all ready to go (I personally lose a lot of time by not preparing this stuff ahead of time.. trust me on this one). Layout and name your tracks ahead of time with words that will give you direction (drums, bass, strings, melody, percussion etc..). Only use the tools you are already familiar with. Want to learn a new synth or plugin? Put it on your “to learn” list and take the time to learn it after your current songwriting session.. For now, only use what you know. You can bring your new skills into your next session.

Presets

For many, the word preset is a bad word. I don’t see this as the case. Presets are your friends, not your enemy. There are literally thousands of presets available to you and your own tastes dictate which ones you will gravitate towards.

There is an unlimited amount variations in classical music composers even though they are building their pieces from the same template f sounds. Don’t get caught up on the idea of every sound having to be home brewed. Think of all the great original music constructed from sampling other people’s music exclusively. Or think of how a great DJ takes the works of other producers and combines it together in a way that creates a new experience. In essence, the artist is working with already made presets. Of course you are free to make your own effects and synth presets on your off time, and I highly encourage that, but you want to have some “go to” sounds at your disposal for quick access. You shouldn’t have to mess around with a sound for too long before it sounds “right” to you for your project. You can always come back later to modify your work or introduce a new technique that you previously didn’t have available to you but whenever you are in songwriting mode, use what you know. Ableton makes some fantastic instrument and effects racks that give you a wide variety of results that you can make your own with some simple knob twisting. Don’t overlook those resources for sounds and effects. Take some time to explore these during your off time and you may discover they have solved some of your challenges for you.

As you build your own custom sounds, make sure to save these to your presets for quick access in other projects. A great way to build up some custom presets is to simply name and save all the sounds you use in your other finished and unfinished song ideas. You already know that these sounds are attractive to you, otherwise you wouldn’t have used them in the first place. This can really come in handy and start you building your own “sound”.

It’s completely ok to have your own formula for songwriting. You will always expand and evolve but you’ll be building from your past knowledge. Don’t abandon your current skill sets just because you saw somebody do something really cool on You Tube, instead pick up a couple of tricks that you can incorporate into what you are already doing. By holding to your own identity, you won’t run the risk of becoming a copycat artist that is always jumping on bandwagons but never developing your own personality.

The path of least resistance

Songwriting itself is already a path of a lot of resistance. It takes quite a bit of determination to complete something you started. Completing a song forces you to own your creative decisions and the best decisions you can make are educated ones. Let your past experience guide your current creative flow and let your current roadblocks drive you to new solutions, tools and techniques. Always aim for the solution that doesn’t slow you down. Completing songs is a skill above and beyond all others. You will likely find that many of the guys with the coolest and craziest techniques lack the ability to actually finish something. Don’t get caught up in thinking there is anything more you need to know in order to finish a song right now. Like with any skill, you will improve with consistent repetition and fine adjustments.

Happy Music Making,

Jason

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Follow me: http://twitter.com/AbletonVids

Website: http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com

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