Berlin School: An Uncomplicated Approach
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- This video covers what I think is a very simple recipe for experimenting with Berlin School style music. It's a supplement to the short lecture I gave at New England Synthfest 2023.
00:00 - Start
01:35 - Prework!
04:52 - Making a Pluck
10:16 - Making a Voice
11:23 - Pattern #1
14:03 - Pattern #2
15:44 - Making a Bed
19:52 - Adding Bass & Lead Melodies
26:57 - Adding "Space Chatter"
- • Berlin School Electron... (sound design)
- nesynthfest.alt-mode.com
- www.hooktheory.com/cheat-sheet
- www.lukestark.com/intervals/
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MUSIC FROM ME AND FRIENDS
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☁️ Soundcloud: / lukestark (weird ideas and experiments)
🎹 / @synthseeker
DISCORD/PATREON
Want to hang out with us synth nerds on Discord? We talk Berlin School, Prog Rock and A LOT around synthesizers (hardware and software.) Check out the Patreon page for access...it explains what you get and why the heck our Discord server is private.
Visit us at: / synthseeker
BACKGROUND
Hi! I'm Luke Stark and I'm creating videos here as Synth Seeker because I like to share the things I find fun or useful as I make music! Here you will find techniques, discoveries and distractions. Have fun!
If you like what you find here, please subscribe to the channel!
Where else to find me:
🕷 Web: lukestark.com
If you want to speak to me directly about opportunities, feedback or questions:
📧 info1 (at) lukestark.com
Here is a link to a video on Berlin school plucks and leads. ua-cam.com/video/7THqiyUS4UA/v-deo.htmlsi=lyICzWRTthcw_1xa
This is the gentle parenting flavor of eletronic music tutorial and I'm here for it! 🙏🏻
I’m a dad. :) certainly got the bod.
I read a couple of comments about the "Bob Ross style": brilliant analogy
“Tiny little LFOs.”
Happy little accidents.
It's your world
This a fabulously informative tutorial! I've watched a fair few since becoming a subscriber and the speed and style of your delivery are exemplorary. Thanks so much!
Awesome, thank you! I appreciate it when people say a video was helpful!
❤ I learned a metric shit ton from this video on my drive home, very excited to get into the Synth cave. Thank you Synth Seeker 😊
lol thanks…I’m glad you have things to try out!
Master Luke shows us the way. I love this type of video. Thank you for taking time and energy to help others grow.
Any time Rich. See you on the discords!
See and hear soon I hope!
Fantastic thank you so much for such a simple to follow guide, will be giving it a try for sure. Love the old skool stuff by TD, JMJ, Vangelis, Kreftwerk etc now I can try my hand at it.
I’m happy you’re happy. :) let me know how it goes!
Highly useful and very pleasant!
I hope it helps you make something you enjoy!
This idea of leaving empty space when arranging for multiple monophonic voices is so simple but I'd never even considered it. I have a feeling its the foundation for everything from Berlin school (as evidenced here) to 80s synth pop and beyond.
“Less is more.” ;)
I'm a big retro synth fan. This is great! Thank you so much for taking the time to share! Bloody brilliant steps which I will try to emulate at some point 😀
I hope you have fun with it. :) thanks for visiting!
i love u man
Really a stellar little introduction to making this type of music. Thanks so much for putting this out.
Any time! Have fun and share what you create!
The bass, arp, delays, and lead intersecting to form evolving chords is where the actual music happens.
That is true, and actual music can happen in solo lines as well...and even pure rhythm. It's all perspective. Where do you publish your stuff? Love to hear what you make! Have a great weekend. :)
That's the best tutorial! Thanks for compiling the list.
Thank you! Have fun!
Lovely little "Bob Ross style" tutorial. I enjoy hearing you smile all the time while you teach this. BTW the most compact and yet basically complete tutorial on Berlin style I have ever watched. Thank you so much and you have earned yourself a new subscriber now.
Well thank you and welcome aboard!
Lovely introduction that was super easy to digest. Wonderful job.
As long as you don’t get indigestion. ;) thanks!
Digging this! Thanks!!
Hope you make something you like. :)
Thank you great idea -🙏🙏⭐⭐
You’re welcome 😊
Epic Track 🎶
Thank you!
this was hella fun to do my own in ableton along with you. you have a talent for making the demo digestible and straightforward. thank you!
As long as you had fun! :)
Great inspiring Videos. Walk on master of Berlin😁👍❤️
Probably more “jester” than “master”, but thank you for the kindness.
I will try this out today. Thanks for sharing.
Great video - thanks. I'd be interested in seeing a similar one for more high-octane electronic pieces by the likes of Tangerine Dream or Loom, where it's more than what is presented here. In such pieces these seems to be 'intent' in opening sequences - as if the artist knows where they are going to drive such opening sequences and indeed opening themes toward a later development / climax. So in such pieces form and structure is more important, as is - intent - and they are different to what you present here for such reasons. I intend doing some in-depth analysis of some of TD's and Loom's better such pieces, but if you were inclined to make a video of such pieces that would surely be widely appreciated.
I’ll consider it, do you have more specific examples/track titles? TD certainly has different eras of development…which do you mean specifically?
Thank you for introducing me to Berlin School in such a practical way. I think anyone could start making music with this approach and feel rewarded fast. That's the best way to teach and you've nailed it. Kudos!👏
Thanks Rob! I hope you’re having fun!
Very inspiring!!Thanks for sharing
Share what you make!
Thank you! This is an awesome guide!
No thank you! Go have fun and make something you like. ;)
Very nice and understandable. This will help a lot of musicians trying Berlin School.
I'd like to add one more step though: do an occasional transposition, i.e. either switch from C minor to another similar scale (like D minor or F minor) and maybe another one, before returning to the initial scale used.
I agree but tried to keep it as simple as possible. But your suggestion will inspire others, so thank you!
😊 Thank you! This feels like you made this video on my request!
Share what you make!
Nice! thanks
Any time. :)
Nice tips. Thanks for sharing.
Always happy to share!
Berlin School is my final destination for all my gear and myself! Thank you for this awesome channel
Hey thanks! Welcome to the channel! :)
Thank you 😊
Any time!
What a lovely and refreshing music tutorial. Thank you, Synth Seeker.
I’m glad you thought so! Be well!
Brilliant vid SS!
Glad you enjoyed it ;)
Thank you for this inspiring video!
Thanks for the kind words! I hope you make something amazing!
Nice, thanks for that.
You betcha.
Thanks so much!
You're welcome!!!
i dig business card compositional tasks that don't assume too much. i can figure out scales and simple sound design, but the recipe for starting and structuring the track, very useful. i would love more of these for different old styles
Great presentation, well explained, nailed to the minimum and the result is fascinating. Thanks a lot for sharing the simple but effective basics. Well appreciated! 🙂
Anytime. :) glad you enjoyed it!
My eyes and ears have had the veil lifted on berlin school by you. Thank you.
Love and blessings!
Thank you kindly! Have fun!
Nice! Great teaching. Subbed
Welcome to the show! ;)
Wow thank you to share this technics to us. I love it
Thanks for the kind feedback!
Finally, someone took the time to explain these mysteries on a DAW. Thanks man!
Happy to help! Solved I hope!
I really enjoyed this - thank you.
I’m glad and hope you make something you enjoy!
Great vid!
Thank you!
So cool to see this! I've been experimenting with creating recipes for the kinds of tracks and sounds I make as they help me get going on those days when I'm stuck! As you mentioned, I don't take them as rules, or "the way", but a distillation of my approach based on the fundamentals of the genre or the type of sound I'm working on. And I've been having lots of fun with that. So cool to see other recipes and what folks choose to include (or not!)
I’ll have to go look at your recent work…your music is great and checking out your recipes sounds fascinating. :)
Back in the 80s, I didn't realise that I was making Berlin School. Makes me want to revisit some of the old tunes I did back then. I wish I still had the tapes I made, but a house fire took care of most of them 😞
I read up on the history of Berlin school. Very cool. I’ve been messing around with the MC707 lately. This gives me some ideas. And I was never into this. Yet once I understand the history and the genres it paved, being a big fan of techno, why wouldn’t it be interested?
Great recipe to follow. Again, thank you.
Thanks Wabbit. :D
Great video and tutorial! Looking forward to your talk at Synthfest this Saturday.
See you there! :)
This is exactly what I needed to get me started. Thank you so much! You have a new subscriber.
I'm glad to have you around. If you make music, share it! I'd love to listen.
This is useful. Thank you
Any time. :)
Worth watching every minute
Thanks! I hope it was clear.
Cute. Very cute. Cheers.
Thanks! If you want to really see cute, you should meet my dog…he’s in some of the other videos. ;)
i love your videos stimple and easy to follow thank you so much
Glad you like them!
Very informative and concise. It'll be of great help to me - it's nice to systematize knowledge to the very basics. Thank you for the video :)
Not a problem, enjoy your music-making!
A lot of useful information and a lot of fun. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great presenter! Love your approach.
Thanks! I try to make it simple. :)
sounds like quality, excellent
Glad you liked it.
Awesome tutorial. Had a great Jam with this tonight. friggan cool.
Glad it flows for you! :)
exactly, what I was looking for, just play around with my modular, this is a good starting point for the berlin school tracks :-) Thanks, enjoyed as always. 👋
I’m glad! Anything to give people exploration options. :)
Cool 😎
Thanks Uncle Mick! You’re not old at heart, right? 👍
@@synthseeker no, I'm only old in the mirror! 😀
I’m in love
With Berlin School?! Me too! :)
Super video. Never really understood tonal centre but you made it make sense, so cheers!
I’m glad it was helpful. :)
Thanks for the tutorial. I'll be Klaus Schulze-ing in no time 😂
Have fun!
Grazie veramente di cuore, Amo, Adoro... TD. proverò a seguire queste semplici regole suonando Synth e Sequencer, non da p con PC. 🙏❤️
Thank you! PCs is ok too, but use whatever tool you enjoy! ❤️
Thank you - nice and easy - more please 🙏
Workin’ in it! :)
@@synthseekerjust headed over to Apple Music - Luke Stark - :)
I’ve been found! Argh!
That NASA part, it sparked delight. Thanks for sharing you opinions and knowledge!
Any time Maltas. Who can resist spaces dialog samples?!
Really enjoyed this video ... simple but great starting tutorial which still gives you room to experiment. I'll try to cook something up starting from this.
Put it up on your channel when complete so we can hear it! ;) have fun!
@@synthseeker that isn't going to happen anytime soon thouhg. I always fail badly at making rythms / droms.
@@synthseeker still know nothing about Ableton or anything I've used, but played around a couple of hours today using your tutorial ... ua-cam.com/video/KLZivTmhBn4/v-deo.html
I am baffled, how easy you made it look, to make something that completely pleases me.
Just a comment on the voices: Using a Delay to the plucks make them sound like multiple inputs.
I just learned that on one track Kraftwerk starts playing interchanging C - C+1 which is so supersimple. Actually he delay makes it sound like multiple inputs, when its "just" an Echo of the same note, which fills the longer breaks.
Also something i like: the Math behind music. 4 Beats, 6 Beats and 8 Beats "meet" early since the are even numbers. But a 7 Beat will be even when repeated multiple times.
4 * 7 is 28: After 4 Beats is repeated 7 times and 7 Beats are repeated 4 times, both start from their beginning at the same time. "They meet again".
And of course the "count" of Halfsteps between the notes of a chord.
I’ve tagged this for further exploration this weekend. Thanks for the tips!
I love this piece. Would love an MP3 but without the NASA chatter. Just the musice itself.
Maybe one day...
Love This - a lot of stuff I have been doing but not mapped out in such a coherent way. Especially helpful was the idea of the bed made up of looping melodic lines of more than one length. I'd done this with beats but not melodies - I definitely need to experiment with this. A loop doesn't have to be 1,2 or 4 bars. That is my mental limitation not a limitation of my tools (Ableton+)
I’m glad if you found it helpful! Love to hear what you cook up! ;) Welcome.
Please allow to save video. Great instructive video.
Just bookmark it. :)
Haha thanks. I love saving videos I love in a playlist called tutorials so i come back when i need them and they're there. Organized as heck 😂@@synthseeker
Fantastic, just hooked my Roland D-110 and Kawai K1 up to my DAW for just such a project and your video was a very welcome nudge in the right direction! I'll be playing lead over the top with my Yamaha SHS 10 keytar playing through my Yamaha DX-21 for some seriously 80's soundtrack vibes. I'll let you know if I post the results...
Do do! Have fun!
Berlin is the simplest style to compose. Any analogue synth VST + simple delay SFX. Can be made even with ancient 32-bit VST plugins (any tube saturation recommended on entire track for analogue feel). The same fun with famous minimal DAF-sound (songs like 'DAF - Prinzessin' and so on) - simple mono synths, simple VST clipper for aggro sound and similar simplicity.
Or even plain hardware oscillators with simple processing! I agree! Everyone should try it. :) Where do you publish your music? Love to hear what you do!
When dialing in the decay stage of pluck sound's envelope... sometimes you can change the curve of that decay stage. The shape parameter might go from logarithmic to linear to exponential. That changes the decay curve... flat, convex, or concave. Listen while you adjust the parameter.
Agreed!
You scored major points for dropping the name, Jean-Michel Jarre in the middle of your video!
He’s one of my favorites! ;)
Love this. Reminds me of Jon Hallur Haraldsson’s score for EVE Online back in the 00s. Now wondering if Berlin School was a major influence
I lost waaaaay too many hours to EVE. ;)
@@synthseeker Ha! You understand then!
not so uncomplicated when it comes to practice, though) thank you for inspiration
🙏
Practice is practice. ;)
Thank you for the always informative content! Your voice is always pleasant to the ear and ideal to learn from. Btw, where did you find that thumbnail art? Looks like heaven on earth, haha.
That is actually AI generated using the prompt “sleeping on a bed of synthesizers” ;) thanks!
@@synthseeker ah, gotcha. Thanks!
Great video, very high signal-to-noise ratio. Thanks!
Recipes tend to be that way...or did you mean the audio itself? ;)
Thank you, great video and explanation 👍
Now, to find that tune you made at the end 🤔
That was just a one-off. :)
👍👍👍👍
❤️🧛🩸🤔
The folks at the NESF will really appreciate this...
If only I could invoice them! ;)
Love the recipe. Analog/Digital synthesizer (or emulation) / sequencers-sequencing / arpeggios / modulation (!!! very important too) / sound design (timbres, textures, effects) / gotta love impro / space & atmosphere / long compositions don't hurt / minimalism (which can be complex too, but it's not a must) / experiment / rules? what are rules? --- Berlin School is rather a style, an approach... And it offers a lot of individual possibilities for the musician, which I think is extremely interesting. And, you, Luke, brings all this in a very accessible presentation. Thank you!
I live but to serve. (Insert random Cylon noises.) ;)
@@synthseeker "By your command" processed through a vocoder ;-)
Great video mate, I play Modular Synth so looking forward to translating some of your tips to my hardware. I use a pretty powerful step sequencer so should be able to recreate what you have going on, anyway feel free to have a gander at my efforts (I have no musical training which is what makes modular so fulfilling).
I JUST decided to get back into modular so after Xmas look for more modular stuff on the channel. ;)
Great stuff. I don't know how to get to that View mode in Abelton though.
Which view mode? The clip view?
Lovely video explanation! "You can use any delay you like" - ummm, yeah, but you're most likely going to want a TRIPLET DELAY that matches your tempo (eg: 120bpm = 167msec).
Or a dotted eighth delay. But I encourage you to try an unsynced delay and explore a bit too.
I love this kind of thing - We all cant be mini Mozarts but we can all get really good at the craft of constructiong a good piece of music. Youve taken away the need to reinvent the wheel everytime, freeing up creativity and allowing one to focus on sound and emotion rather than structure.
There are many roads to Rome, this is just a well-paved one. Once you understand it you can try others if you like! :) Have fun!
@@synthseeker I'm working on my own outline for making berlinesque space ambient - adding in asynchronous pad crossfades, different drone types, sequences, etc
I’ll check your channel!
@@synthseeker I probably should, but I don't post music that much anymore. Ive never been happier making music since Ive decided to make it for myself!
@@GrootsieTheDogEven if you post your music, you're pretty much making it for yourself anyway. Not much difference there!🤣 So, it's no big deal to post.
Haha nice. The early Tangerine Dream and also Klaus would be proud of you if he would still be with us (rest in peace)…and as you wish to know. I also make music and am heavily influenced by Berlin School, 90s Ambient, 80s/90s electro and the gear Waldorf makes. Even got like 3 jams on YT if you’d like to listen to them? But I am on SC for the most part though. Cheers 😊
I’ll go look you up! :)
Great tutorial, you are a gifted teacher. Ableton question: when you placed the midi tracks of the different instruments in the same window to view together, is that a Max For Live feature? Thanks
It was a feature added in Live 11. Its native. Just hold shift as you select the clips they will stack together . :)
Thank you
Hi Ulf! Yes! That is possible to do both with software and hardware. I’m working on a video to show just that but I’m sure you can figure it out before I finish. :)
It works with lofi too, I have a private example piece I made :D
Glad to hear it. :) have fun!
This is an amazing tutorial. thank you for a lesson in a way so easily approachable! You deserve my instant subscribe!
One question I have is about chord pad. I'm not sure if it's typical to include pad in Berlin school style, but if it is, what is your method to develop the chord pad in terms of notes or chord progression? Do you just combine all notes used in bed+lead+bass in the clips and play polysynth?
I tend to use a two note chord made from notes within the scale. Sometime just one sustained note. I tend to keep the chords sparse because the plucks fill that role when they have a lot of delay and reverb. ;) I’m doing Berlin school streams every day in January, and will mention the chords in those videos :).
@synthseeker thanks for replying. I gotta try producing this Berlin approach! I'll definitely seek out chance to join your streaming. Happy new year!
Yes a new post folks are missing out …
I was due for a new Berlin School video. :)
Thx man! Which artists would you consider examples of this aproach?
Some pieces by early Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Steve Reich for example. :)
His voice is so pleasant that I forgot I had clicked on this sarcastically to see how bad it was. Because 99% of all Ableton-related videos are really bad. But this is great. It's like if Bob Ross made melodic techno. The world is a better place because of it.
Lol, thank you? I used Live because illustrating the little clips us easier visually. Glad you liked it. ;)
What an excellent video.
I'm inspired to have a go at this. But because I'm comming from a "conventional" musical harmony background, I'm aware that as the two patterns in the bed shift in and out of phase they will create dissonance and it will be impossible to pin down any regular chord progression.
Therefore when adding a lead melody and Bass line, should you try to ignore or mute the bed to avoid distraction?
Also how do you get to sleep at night with all this going through your head?
Well, depending on the notes in your pattern and the difference in loop lengths that create phasing it is possible to use phasing patterns where the dissonant notes just miss each other throughout all the variations, but it take some offers and validation. It's easier to find those in a DAW and harder using pure hardware...but it can be done. I'll try to do a video about that exact thing this weekend. :)
Chemical refreshments- I need a refill over here…
You’ll have to talk to your distributors. :)
I absolutely love this tutorial ! It is very clear and to the point, in a very noob friendly way!
I was wondering if you could clarify the relationship between the sequenced plucks and the timing of the echos? This was always something I never could wrap my head around justby hearing it. I know that the oldschool Berlin people and folks like the guitarists from Pink Floyd and U2 are using some special magical relationship between the notes they are playing, and the timing of their delays, but for the life of me, i cannot figure out what they are doing to nail it
To “nail it”, the most common way is to make your notes fall on 8th notes and use a dotted-eight (aka three-16ths) delay. If the delay you use doesn’t allow exact note-duration values (also called “synced” delay), try to dial in the timing so the delay matches the note timing you are using, then sloooowly increase the delay time till you hear what you are looking for. There are actually many “good” timing values and experimentation will help you learn them. :)
@@synthseeker Thankyou ! I am going to set up some sequences in my daw with this formula when I get home.
The 3/4 over 4/4 feel with simple1/8note phrases playing with the dotted 1/8 delay time makes SO much sense. It "sounded" to me like intricate short polymetric phrases ,but i never would have thought that it was just what was happening emergently from the interplay of the simple sequence and the dotted delay.
As a young noob, I had spent years trying to program what i heard in old Tangerine Dream sequences by ear, without realizing there was an echo effect involved......
You are a lifesaver!
Also, as a fellow Masshole synth nerd, please enjoy the #$%@# out of the New England synthfest. I wont be able to attend this year, but i have gone to it when it was in Western MA and I loved it!
Have fun!
Will do! See you some other time!
I’ve been trying to do this in modular rather than on pc, and sometimes it works, sometimes not). There are some useful tips here which I will no doubt steal- sorry, use…
Sharing is caring…welcome!