Making music on a computer sucked for me until I understood this
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- Опубліковано 17 кві 2024
- Do you dislike the music you make on the computer compared to your DAWless setup? Well in this video I am sharing my thoughts on why this happens and how to overcome it.
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After 25 years of producing I'm now struggling with this because it feels like I have so much knowledge that it gives me endless possibilities and it kills my creativity.
you have just occupied the analyzer mind identity with your life energy and stopped your being in the creative playful identity mind
So true, with too many choices there is sometimes paralysis analysis happening
I absolutely feel this sentiment.
I hear you It’s the little kid at the cereal Isle ..20 versions of the same one cereal to choose from or the endless choice of movie channels to pick from syndrome. Don’t fall into this endless yes creativity killer trap. Forget about all the bells and whistles at the beginning , lay your track two to four instruments “tops” including drums make sure it’s clean and “tight” before you even attempt adding any type of plugging or embellishment. Chances are that once you are happy with the consistency of the steak 🥩 you will find the it might just need a little peeper and that’s it , if you cooked it correctly. A good musical idea should sound great with the piano or guitar on its own.
@@RandomNoiseMusic Ive also found that creating a maximim of 15 patches or presets of your sound and limit yourself to only use them gives you a unique sound. Force yourself to create tracks not using anything else.
Funny isn't it, when people first started talking about making music on a computer they would say the possibility is endless and now people are saying limit yourself.
I know, the irony, right? 😄
Limitations keep you sane.
True that!
"the only limit is YOUR imagination" - please go away marketers
The difference I think is that now you're in control of the limitations
I’ve always felt the danger of the daw is your more likely to compose with your eyes than your ears.
True
@@RandomNoiseMusic im also saying that because im much more adept with hardware than daws!
Reckon the trick is to record a jam, select a bit with some soul. Then use that as a building block in your daw. Can see the benefits been able to see your composition.
You should use both, when playing music in a band eye contact is key.
@@b00ts4ndc4ts true. Im not dismissing daws just used to recording to tape so battling with the transition! Plenty of great albums were recorded before computers.
Hahh good onee 😅
My english isnt the greatest but i wanna share a tip that really helped me. I caught myself creating uninspiring melodies and drums based on how i would react after i added a note or a sample. i wasnt feeling/improvising i was reacting. what changed for me is litterally recording my melodies by singing them and beatboxing the drums. after that you replace that with midi and samples. the entire process becomes way more organic.
Great tip! and nothing is wrong with your English btw! It's perfect ♥️
Never delete anythng. Especially if you're new to producing. The more you learn the better you get. I went back two years and listened to some tracks I made that sucked, but they had good bones so I polished them and made them better.
100% agree, disk space is dirt cheap these days but those kernels of inspiration are priceless, no matter how rough they are. I recently rediscovered some project files dating back to my high school days that were just abysmal; stuff I was far too inexperienced to take any further and had probably meant to delete. But listening to them again was like looking 15 years into the past, and they ended up being the framework for an entire album that would otherwise never have existed.
THIS. Those aren't failures. They are stepping stones.
How big a drive do you have to have these days
There's a formula I use now to do all sorts of things with computers - not just music, but art, writing, programming, everything: I have to keep a journal nearby and some pens. I have a whole supply of those things, different formats, sizes, colors. As soon as I feel stuck or have trouble continuing, I rely on the process of transcribing, simplifying, and commenting on my work by hand, turning those notes into a little art project by using the different colors to mark things up. It doesn't *have* to be the paper medium, it could be, in the case of music, having an instrument nearby and trying to perform it. But it has to get me away from just choosing options from a menu, and towards making the work move through my hands.
If I'm still stuck, the big guns that I bring out next are more philosophical - figuring out what the Venn diagram I want to end up with is, and then making work that fits into that diagram. Sometimes stepping back and looking at the high concept and saying "am I doing something contradictory" is all that's needed to break through a creative block: a lot of projects fail because there are some fundamental contradictions, and we avoid acknowledging those contradictions by adding technical scope to the project. When I do the Venn diagram the aim is to eliminate that and get to a nice overlapping space where all the elements work well with each other.
I love this!! Such a wonderful way not just to fight creative block, but to grow as an artist. thanks for sharing! 🙏
That has very probably been extremely helpful to many people, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Can you make a video on this? Thanks.
Thank you, brother!
yeah, I don't even write it a letter, I communicate with my dx7 by a bird.
Duplicate your 8 bar loop x 20 . Now Mute all parts. Hit play and unmute clips on the fly. Pausing not allowed. limitation and constraints are key. I actually bounce to audio asap to commit and move forward. You will get totally different and usually better results.
That is some good advice right here!
loving this idea!!
Bounce to audio and move on!
Yep i cook on bandlab and do this with treble midi patterns i make, convert it to audio then turn unmute and remute it as i please. My problem in this area is making a nice run but then when i try to actually create that by removing the clips where i muted it i usually find myself first landing on whole new options before i can track down the exact spots i was hearing it
Exactly what I was thinking... it was either the repetition or the mix was changed
Great video. Honestly I think a lot of it is that with the DAW it’s easier for us to make unfair judgements about the arrangement with our eyes. To us, seeing all the blocks in a formation might make us think something is “boring” or “lifeless” when our eyes are unfairly telling us “Hey, there’s the 16 bar intro, then an 8 bar break…” etc.
It’s almost like giving us the ability to see the future. We think DAW is boring but maybe only because we are seeing when the changes are going to happen. With hardware or the electribe in your case, you often don’t see when exactly those changes are going to happen. So you do it by feel. But I’m willing to bet that if you multi-tracked out that performance and saw the blocks on a timeline again, you might be more harsh on the track then what’s really fair.
What has helped me in the past was this: when listening back to a track, *DO NOT* follow along with your eyes. Minimize the DAW, look somewhere else, do anything. But the second you start following the playhead with your eyes you kind of take the magic and mystery out of your own creations that way.
You got a point! Music is more about listening and feeling it than seeing it as blocks of information
absolutely and wholeheartedly believe this theory of yours is true!
BRO!! That's so completely true! Audiowise I'm meltin on a stack of flap Jacks but visually I feel like I'm playing with the two year old version of lego's
Great comment and totally true, some of my most basic beats that i almost can get sick of within the daw over a few hours actually end up becoming my favorite later when i remove myself from the visuals and all memory of the work creating it and simply listen then ill realise i like the audio more than i did the visuals of the beat compared to some beats im crazy about and can listen to in the daw for hours, those seem to be the ones that arent always as timeless.
A good test for me is have a beat buddy u can send ur progress to along the way, just the act of sending it to them and listening there in the inbox will let me hear lile TEN mistakes i couldnt hear while watching the videos that mislead me to seeing "well everything looks alright"
Def send your stuff to a trusted friend they aint even got to listen but it will help you hear it from a new perspective
Thanks for the tip, gonna give this a shot
This is why I practically never work in the arrangement view. I lay out everything in session view, map the most relevant parameters on the midi controller and play it in live with automation. I might tweak from there, shorten certain bits or or replace single clips, but the bones and automation stay for the most part. It just feels more organic that way and like I'm actually playing music. Keyboard and mouse just feels so ... removed? Another thing that really helps for me is to work on a laptop on the sofa when I'm working on the arrangement. When I'm at a desk it feels like I'm at the office, even if it's a fancy desk with outboard equipment.
So true about the desk feeling like being in the office lol
Can’t agree more. I WFH and have to consciously limit working in the room with my music gear or I never want to write anything in the evening.
Thanks for this tip LillyS...As an Ableton noob, I don't know how to use Session view to compose, yet. Currently, I'm seeing if using Looper as my composition tool, works.
The best way to stifle creativity? Too many choices.
So true.
Exactly!!!! I created more music on my Tascam Porta One and 688 MKII than I do using Cubase Pro 13…… That is why I now use dice/s to make my decisions now…… creating more music now…
The world is full of infinite possibilities .. but you are able to shut them out and just start.
There are NO limitations in reality - it is entirely a matter of your own thinking.
Personally, I find it very easy to keep things simple and to not be thinking of every possibility at once.. it is entirely under your control.
But, whatever works for the individual - if one has to pretend there are limitations to feel free, that's fine too.
Turning vst synths directly into audio as fast as possible helps me a lot! Whether that's bouncing the midi data or playing it directly into a bus that's recording, it helps me move along and keep focus
This is so true! I've experience that myself too many times, once I commit to wave, I have less reason to try to "perfect" the sound and just move on with ideas
Exactly my method
Reason is the only DAW that has that harware feeling for me. It has the healthy speed.
So true, agree to that!
I used to use Reason and abandoned it in favour of Live which, with Live Looping and Push is unbelievable for creating fluid beautiful music. Session view for live looping is killer for creating electronic music. I agree with @RandomNoise though, limitations are the source of creativity. I try to stick to the rule of only having three sounds playing at any point in the track and that also makes for a lot of creative limitations that add clarity to my tracks.
Using the cardinal plugin in ableton is the move. Reason is also a great but imo it’s better as a plug-in. Reasons sequencer is a bit of a headache
Reason is my favorite DAW by far. It’s the easiest in my opinion for working on the fly. It’s also incredibly stable.
All I've ever used. Downloaded a cracked reason 5 in ~2007 and never looked back.
(I did eventually pay for it [2 years ago 😂])
Take any track by any band or producer and repeat sections of it hours and hours again and it is quaranteed that at some point you start to notice mistakes, and besides that, your ears get so tired of repeating digital audio that your brain literally sends pain signals and stress hormones around your body to stop you doing that.
Your ears getting tired is the main issue when working with music on computers, since evolution has not yet cached on how to properly handle digital audio.
Best practises I've learned is to take breaks every 30min, and make tracks with very low volume.
Also detaching yourself from your own productions help tremendously.
So true, also many times when I take a break from a piece I am working on I come back to it much more fresh and with more creative energy
That's why it is important to have a certain speed and make quick decisions while producing. The longer you just listen to your loop and keep changing unimportant things the more tired and annoyed you will become, which will eventually lead you to change the important parts/ main ideas of your track, because you got bored by it.
this is really all it is. i cant listen to my absolute favorite songs more than ~5 times in a row before i get tired of it, so at most that might be like 25 minutes. now imagine being an amateur producer (especially those that make some kind of repetitive 4-to-the-floor/EDM genre of music) working on the same poorly mixed, mediocre song for 4 hours. with my music ive found 1-1.5 hours is the sweet spot of working on something. if im not done by then, its best to take a long break, work on something entirely new, or just stop for the day. otherwise i feel just like the guy in the video, it feels like the track has lost its energy, but its really not the track, its just me/my ears being fatigued from listening to the same thing for way too long.
This is why the majority of music today is so painfully boring. We need more melody driven tunes.
Never quit though! If it gets stale, save exit open another and start fresh. Come back to old idea later with new perspective/mood
Option paralysis is very real.
You are absolutely right. It takes centuries to process the instant bursts of energy or emotion we experience into machine language with a mouse. *But inspiration and emotion can come and go very quickly. While we are trying to enter logical data into the computer, we may even forget what we are working on.* If you don't understand this, record a crazy cutoff session with the real knob first, then draw the same excitement and ups and downs with the mouse.
It's nice to see lineer rises, perfect curves, beautiful geometry and symmetry in the automation line, but in reality it robotizes the dynamics of the music. Real recordings, which put hundreds of nodes on the automation line and create ugly shapes, make the real music. Thanks dude. _(I'm Turkish bro sorry my bad english)_
Thanks for watching! and exactly, working on the computer can make the process much less human if we try to makes thing "prefect"
@@RandomNoiseMusic Totally agree 👌
Nothing wrong with your English mate, and I understand exactly what you mean.
@@b00ts4ndc4ts Thank you very much my friend, you are very kind.
+100 about automation. I always prefer to hit REC and then turn cutoff/resonance knobs by mouse. Thing is that impossible to take both knobs same time, which gives me opportunity to actually feel how it goes and how it grooves and when exactly to change etc. etc. Gut feeling not visual abstraction.
Much better than putting straight ascending line in automation track.
Same way it's quite hard for me to put notes on piano roll comparing to very simplest midi keyboard where i can trust fingers
Having been in bands I find that the playing live mentality helps - drums, bass, guitars, keys/ second guitar, vocal - you only have what you have so you have to use texture, ebb and flow, groove and performance to make a song work for an audience.
One downside of getting to know more and more about production/mixing overall is the fact that it will slowly kill your creativity.. you will end up not producing exactly how you envisioned in your head ... another thing that I´ve noticed my dudes is the fact that having a lot of different plugins DOES NOT help aswell because by the time you pick 1 of the 50 compressors or 1 of the 25 limiters you have, you already forgot what you were doing, it really is a massive distraction... So in conclusion, keep it up boys, if it sounds good, RELEASE IT
😄 First thing i did when i bought Logic Pro four years ago and started to make music more seriously : DELETE ALL THE LOOPS! I've never used any loops of any kind… I make pop and electro-pop music, and i just program and play everything… This keeps my brain from feeling too secure or over-confident. I keeps me "on the edge"…
That's a good tip and strategy!
I often remove factory presets in synthesizers. I prefer to sit longer and create my own sounds.
The popularity of ‘music’ loops always confused me, esp vocal chops. I’m fine with drum loops all day but making the music melodies, harmonies ,vox etc myself is kinda the point of making music.
Totally agree with you. I've walked the same path.
It's about having fun while creating!
💯
I usually play piano inbetween to get back to the musical side of producing.
We need that balance in between the modes, don't we?
it probly helps if u play an instrument.. rather than everythin being digital.
This is the video i absolutely needed now. Levaving DAW for a few days to only focus on my hardware gear for new inspirations
just finding out that I am not alone after seeing your video helped with my block...been doing it since 1985...thank you.Really.Thank you...
Glad it was helpful, and thanks for watcing! You are definetly not alone in that!
Since I'm a bit older I feel free to throw in my two cents. In the early 80s I started recording with analog gear (what else😂) i.e. a Tascam 4 track tape recorder. Even though it served the purpose (for a while) I always thought/hoped that there must be a better medium for recording stuff. A few years later the digital revolution kicked in and I embraced it full heartedly. I got my first digital 8 track recorder and then switched to Cubase. For me it was manna from heaven and I haven't looked back since. But having that said: the best equipment is what you're most comfortable with!
This is a tough but important topic, im strugling a lot with it. You clerifiyed it very well for us so thank you friend:)
Tough and imporatnt indeed, thanks watching!
Time to put this in practice, thx you so much!
Glad this is useful, thanks for watching!
Great insight, I think this is very true.
I think you really have a point!
I cant believe you accurately described my music hell for the past 12 or so years. Thank you
😅
My experience too! On my spiritual path I learn that under the form there is content. You put in something (love) that is not visible, but everybody feels it (unity).if you make music from thinking/in the head it is not created from the heart and people feel that.
Back in the days you just had one synth, one sampler and a drumcomputer and could make hits. ❤️❤️❤️
I think the 8 track challenge is a great idea! That is my personal “go to” for starting a track these days. 4 percussion + 4 midi tracks. It makes starting a new idea feel a lot less pressure, and a lot more simple and fun. Great video mate 😊
Exactly, it takes out the pressure from the process and focus it on what matter most. Thank you!
Problem with DAWs is that you are musician/performer, producer, sound designer and mixing engineer at the same time. It helps to kind of separate these things and not try to do them all at once.
Interesting thought, you make a very good point!
Absolutely agree. Limitations creates inovation/inspiration on another level. Too many possibilities/choices limits the creativity in some strange way.
Very balanced take, inspiring, thank you!
♥️
I think a lot about this when away from the studio , every once in a while I get an idea. Sounds good on the groove box, make up some tracks to go with it. Export to daw and then it loses the vibe and energy . Unlike when your jamming out and feeling the music. I have been thinking about this lately ,now after watching this video it resonates well. Thanks for the chat bud, good luck with this channel. One of the best videos for music producers right here .
Thanks for watching and the kind words!
Well said, sir
thx for sharing your worthy insights
Thanks for watching!
right on, thank you for sharing!
and awesome music too :)
Thank you, appreciate the kind words!! 🙏
Great video and concept, well explained
Thank you, I appreciate the kind words! 🙏
This adds a whole new perspective in music production. I will definitely consider a more kinesthetic approach. Thanks for your "Random Noise". :)
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for checking it out 😊
I just got an launchcontrol xl to add it to my launchpad, yesterday i had a jam session with both of them and really experienced what you are saying. And now YT gives me this video 😅.
I think it will really work for me
haha the wonders of YT algorithm 😄 glad this was useful!
I totally agree with what you are saying in this video. In fact I've been thinking the very same thing this past couple of weeks. I remember when I was all hardware and it seemed like the beats just hit harder and no matter how many times I listened to the track that energy was always there. So I will try your suggestions and see if I can find a happy medium between me an my DAW.
Excellent video, thanks for sharing
Thank you! and thanks for watching 😊
Yes so true !
It's crazy how true this is! I remember playing this game on PC called CokeMusic like 20 years ago, where you could create a virtual character and make music using only their one shots in their mixer, and you could only make 1 minute instrumentals that you could perform to other people in the game. It sounds weird but I feel like I was better at making music when I was kid playing that game than I am now with a DAW lol It frustrates me because I know I have good ideas, but every time I open up a DAW, I'm back to going blank and stuck. Great video, I'm gonna try using my Maschine MK3 more instead of FL Studio and see how it goes. Thank you!
well said 🙏
great vid!! thanks much.
Thank you!
omg thank you... that is exactly what I do with the mouse and keyboard - make a ton of lifeless and forgotten tracks and just fills up the hard drive. I dots were there - just never connected them. Thank you for this video.
Thanks for watching and glad it was useful! ♥️
I have searched for 1000s of videos but I heard it from You damn
Wise words ❤
🙏
I make alot of decent beats and I understand sometimes it sounds simple. When it gets dull I immediately start adding eq parameter presents and compression. The new amplification add color and inspiration
You are correct ✅
Weirdly, today was the first time I thought more like this and used session view in Ableton + hit record. I tried to treat making a track like Dj-ing (once I had enough good ingredients ready). Then hours later watched this and I think this is very true. Thanks for all the great content 😊
Thanks for watching! Session view in Ableton Live is amazing for jamming ideas and recording into the arrangement!
I agree completly. And I work this way, with only a few synths (only real ones and actual emulations of existing synths, not inspired by, but from the same manufactures.
And I blend in hardware sound modules to be able to bring those sounds anywhere.
Yooo I've been stuck with this for years and sort of going through it right now. I just couldn't understand why I can't make music the same way I used to when I was working on my mpc or slow as windows 95 or 7 with all its limitation. Now listening to your explanation makes more sense to me
Glad this was useful and yeah man, the struggle is real!
True. One way I solve it, is I still play DAW, but only one hardware synth. With only one “sound” to make different part of the song. Otherwise, yes, it’s too easy to make full track by copy/paste, and it stays one looooong idea forever.
Same goes if I play DAW and single sw plug-in but treat it as a hw synthesizer.
One easy trick to turn off a screen, play blind one another computer (I keep work computer screen on, music computer is different, an only accessible thru push or controller). Or just put another window on top of the DAW 😊
These are some good tricks! never thought about playing while the screen is turned off lol
Keep going each of us has had our down falls
👊
I have tried to make my computer into a groovebox, like an electribe. And refusing to use the timeline. Sequencers controlling sequencers. I use the hy-sequencers and bluearp. But what a job to map all the buttons. Work in progress never ending. But the human feel is everything totally agree.
Exactly! same experience - that's why I love to start with my Electribe EMX (which I bought 2010) and add some analog sequences which I play on top and record. Most of my tracks which I really like were created with some live playing parts.
Electribe EMX is a legend gear! I hope they will revive that thing again at some point
Congratulations! You just reinvent the wheel! 😅🤣
Thanks, I always need new ideas to combat this. I've actually been planning my melodies from whistling more recently which gives me the forced control of needing breath.
Thanks for watching! I am jealous in your ability to whistle, I can barely make a sound when trying to haha
Great advice to consider laying out some constraints or limitations. I also agree that jamming out with hardware and assigning certain parameters on a controller is a lot more organic and fun at the end of the day. You can play your automations live in real time as well as play certain keys and drum rhythms live. I produced strictly in a DAW and then started rethinking hardware. ✌️🇨🇦
Exactly!
Thank you, very interesting! Now I finally understand why I like Bitwig so much. Because it makes the workflow that you described so easy, e.g. using a MIDI controller to control various aspects and you have like „global macros“ where you can control parameters of multiple tracks with a single knob.
Interesting, maybe I should check out Bigwig one day, never used it before. thanks for watching!
I never deleted a single Cubase project. When I Begin, I pull it through and it sounds great. I also often begin with the intro and have a clear idea of my music.
This is some good advice. I only have one drum machine, headphones and that's my studio. I start with a loop (kick, bass or hi-hat) and just about 16 steps in all of them. I have to make it work there (experimenting patterns I like or ideas) and it works. I extend my steps so I can add some variation and sometimes I leave them like that. It drives a message I have for that track.
You have put it so well, make a loop and try to expand it. Thank you.
I made music in my daw.....You know ...alot of Random noise.....then I realized....damn....I have a Harmonica....a microgranny....and I never looked Back....now Hardware Years later....I Feel more Satisfied with Music....and It All started with DAW. Maybe someday I might visit just for nostalgia. 😊.❤.
I did a "less is more" thing on my last project. Kept it to about 3 VST instruments and 2 effects suites.
Album turned out much better. I've kept that mindset going forward... not saying I won't look at new things though! :)
How can we not look at new things, right?! haha and congrats on getting that album!
I agree!
You nailed it with the working in limitations, that was how all the old school greats did it. It is surprising how effective it is, being spoiled with too much abundance and choices can be oddly crippling I find.
How ironic and paradoxically, isn't it? the more we have, the less we make out of it
Yes. i realized similar things and adjusting my workflow now also to be more recording the track and modulation live. its more fun and sounds more interesting
Definitely more fun and interesting!
I’ve been making music on computers for 32 years. Started with mod trackers and then midi to VSTs. It’s been great.
Wise !
This is a great topic! I'm a guitarist who uses Garageband and I often get caught in the loop monotony when I get lazy and just use virtual instruments. I've been trying to figure out a way to make my productions less "perfect" and give them more of the human feel and I think when I do more with the guitar, that helps break out of the robotic nature of using somebody else's loops. So, I'm still trying to find that happy medium and your video will help me stay focused more on that. If everyone is doing the same thing, nothing really stands out.
Thanks for checking it! 🙏 It sounds like you are getting closer to your ideal workflow, so keep doing your thing!
I like the way you are thinking. With Ableton I have using this way for years. Recording the track while using the mute button bringing in different sounds on 8, 16, 32. This way you get a completely different track which sounds more live. I also use the Akai Mp40 and it’s great for recording automation while you’re playing the track. Great video.
Thank you and thanks for watching! 🙏
I'm just getting back into producing after a 20 year hiatus. I was often facing the scenario you describe and thinking back, my most memorable tracks were ones where I had left the most to performance. Getting back into it now, I'll be looking at ways to highlight that aspect. Cheers.
🍻
Good ideas. Another thing you can try is take elements of a DAW track and bring them into a sampler to remix/rework. This has worked well form me when a DAW idea gets stale but there's still good elements. I recently constructed a DAWless set up and it's really fun. I start the ideas outside of the DAW and then import them to finish the track.
perfection is in imperfection)
Totally!
wow! subscribed
Thanks!
100% to this video! I have been trying for many years to write a track in arrangement view. But when I go into sessions view, and jam with the music, it feels way more real to me. I really struggle in arrangement view. I was a Dj for many years, and creating something as it's playing feels like it gives the track way more energy. thanks for this video, it's just what I needed.
Session view does feel more like playing! Thanks for watching 🙏
"Whatever works for you is the best" is the one thing I can agree on in this video :)
I'll take it 🤝
That’s why I ended up making sound design stuffs than making music. If I ended up making several sound in one session and like it enough and think it might fell under the same art direction, I’ll just started with some of the cool sounds to make a music. I dont have hardwares or instruments in my hands now so that’s the only way that amuses me to making music. Other trick is I change DAWs. I know it’s handy to learn new DAW but each DAW has its different workflow that forces you to see the music making in another perceptive. Now I’m using bitwig and the nature of bitwig forces me to do more sound design and that makes me inspiring to start a song from cool sounds I made.
These are good tips! thanks for sharing and thanks for watching!
I'll use the daw to put everything together but I have to change up the devices that I use to make myself continually feel the freshness & spontaneity the device provides. I've kept a solid keyboard from the 90's a sampling drum machine a turntable/dj setup all going into a usb mixet to daw. I can go in any direction in and out of each device and ultimately collect and arrange into my daw. It's great having a touch of old hands on gear and the daw/pc power. It keeps me from getting stagnant. ***Great informative video btw. Thanks.
Thank you and thanks for watching! And that hybrid way of working is exactly what I've learned to appreciate most and works best for me as well
separating the **writing** process vs the **arrangement** process is a constant struggle for me. The discipline is the hardest part.
That muting is actually the fundation of the dub music workflow, dating 60 years ago now!
+1
I learned the hard way to keep my demo track at the top of the project and refer to it constantly. in going from the demo to a more polished song, I was killing the feel and energy right at the start. Getting caught up in what I thought was the correct timing and losing all the feel. I’m now learning about Cubase’s features that allow you to directly use that material in a DAW-friendly way, like adjusting the tempo to track to follow my own timing and extracting midi from audio.
The other thing that sinks a project for me is editing or tweaking, while still building the song, trying to dial in sounds and making mixing decisions before the full song structure or arrangement is there. The DAW allows you to do all of that at the same time and I’ve heard others who work this way. For me, it’s a sure-fire way to get lost in the woods.
I think you have a point here. 👍
That's a good point, I usually do things on my own and just share it after. Maybe I should consider that 👍
I'm still a bit inexperienced in producing but I've always had a love for DAWLESS. Currently I only work with my groovebox. The live performance brings more life to the music and more joy in making music.
Guys the best advice I can give u is don’t do full beats/tracks. For 2 days maybe do only drum loop ideas the other day only melodic. Then one day you can mix those ideas. The output with this method is immense and the good part is you can send those ideas to other producers for a nice collabo. Win win
Nothing technical But I think is important for a UA-camr (UA-cam business):
Add some smiles or different mimics (mostly smiles and little bit of energy), I believe that doubles your views at least.
You are putting time into this btw. Let's try to increase the results of that time and energy. ;)
Goodluck mate!
Great video. Subscribed
Thanks! 🙏
@@RandomNoiseMusic No problem 😉
The inventor of the floppy disk said, he would jump in to water and stay there until he struggles for breath and the solution for his technical problems would automatically come to mind.
As you said, struggle with the limitations and you could perform better. Regards.
Treating my virtual setup like it was a physical one has always helped me. One great advice I got in a music shop when I started getting some gear and software was to just buy Logic Express, which didn’t have most of the fancy plugins from Studio (remember when Logic was a small or huge box ?) and get two Arturia synths instead, and I got the ARP and Jupiter. Well since then I got Logic Pro and the whole V Collection but I always try to start with the idea that I’m in a physical studio with a finite number of available tracks and I only have a bunch of these synths lying around. Reason is great for that too.
I use Reaper as my DAW of choice. I do everything via computer keyboard. But I also have a Yamaha PSRE463 keyboard hooked up to my computer. I use the sounds and midi capabilities of my keyboard to start with. Then I branch out into third party VSTs and sound effects. I feel at home with the sounds and midi capabilities
of my PSRE463 keyboard. And it does limit me in someway. And then if I don't like the sounds of my keyboard for a certain part, then I move into VSTs to help with that. I think the problem is, with all the cool stuff out there, sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. And that in turn, causes us to choke on our ideas. And I am certainly guilty
of this myself. So just starting slow and simple before branching out if need be, is a better way to go about making your compositions.
I found this helpful. I made a few tracks DAWless, now I'm trying to learn the DAW...still trying to find the right balance between both strategies. No idea what to do about drums, before I was just recording a live performance on my analog rytm, and that worked alright, although it does have limitations...but I guess I should come to view those as more of a good thing in this realm.
A subscribe and a like I shall give.
Literally was me this whole week. The track i just posted I made today but started 16+ hours ago of straight deleting and starting from scratch.
The thing that helps me is not having time. It focuses the mind. And having mixdowns and listening to them to the point that i really want to make changes to the arrangement.
I'm the opposite- I've come alive with DAWS. I found having hardware, cables, mixers/recorder clunky and uninspiring. On the DAW I usually just start with one or two elements, then build from there.
Because youre a sound designer, and video author is performer. These are two basic pruduction modalities. I would also guess you are good at other arts and designs too
Exactly my realization I had a few days ago. Instead of creating a track per drum element (kick,snare etc...) put them all into a Drum Rack like you would do on an MPC.
Yes i agree i bought an MPC Live2 for thar very reason. I started of making music on keyboards back in the day. Clicking a mouse seem to stiffle my creativity. So i decided to go back to what i know. Making music on keys and samplers. Best best move i could have made.
I had my eyes on the MPC Live 2 too, it looks like a nice balance between power and experience