"Every time I use a different process, I get different results." Ben Levin, Philosopher. I love this observation so much. You'll never bake anything but an apple pie if that's the only recipe you follow.
Ben, super cool. you are just a volcano of creativity! O.O Shawn! oh man, I am deeply in love with sungazer (and I'm learning Japanese...xD ) you guys are awesome... if the occasion should arise, please: a project with you Adam and Ben would be my joy. Much appreciation for you all fine folks and a ton of good vibes from Italy.
My music rarely fits on an evenly distributed grid anymore, the grooves you can get are mind blowing. You can make stuff feel looser or tighter, make it sound like it pushes the groove or makes it just kind of fall into place. I love even stretching samples so there's no flam, and usually keep the asymmetries consistent over a half a bar or maybe 1 bar loop, with occasional dramatic moments.
Your best quality, for what I can see after all this time, is your creativity and imagination. I'm sure im not the first person who tells you such thing. You're not afraid of taking risks, and that's awesome.
I love going off grid! Usually results in the tempo falling down the stairs when I do it, so it's nice to hear someone with rhythm! Really cool video, thanks for sharing.
After watching your videos for a couple weeks straight I finally decided to give your actual music a try and I am shocked at how much I love it. It has been on repeat all day. I am sad I had never given it a chance before. Please keep making music and these kinds of wacky youtube videos Ben. It is inspiring me to be the best musician I can be and they can really put a smile on my face after a shitty day. :)
Wow, the end result was beautiful, and very original. The song made me feel like something at once strange, slightly frightening, and really exciting was about to happen... or just happened... or is presently happening. Bam!! Thanks! (Really useful/helpful to see your process as well. Double thanks.)
This sounds so good. I used to do this in audacity before I got my first DAW (10 years ago) and I've been wanting to try it again. I think today might be the day because of this video.
I've thought about doing something very similar for quite some time, nice to see that it's possible and actually really, really rewarding: cool music and groove!
Hey Ben! I’m unfamiliar with Reaper, but if it offered something similar to beat mapping like in Pro Tools or Logic X then you would be able to quantize your midi to the organic tempo of the beat-map. At the end of the day you may spend more time beatmapping than you did lining up the midi here but if there Is such a feature in Reaper it could help your workflow for production like this some day :)
Hey Ben! Great video. Gives a good perspective, like the democratic chord approach. However, could you also share the plugins you use in your production?
There's lots of ways really. Essentially all you have to do is create your own reference point that's outside of the grid. You could even draw lines with permanent marker on your monitor! I wouldn't recommend that, though.
@@INADRM I guess I should have said SOME of their stuff is. I know Steroids, Giving Bad People Good Ideas, and Lil Boy fluctuate a little because I've done projects with these tracks.
@BEN LEVIN UA-cam UNSUBSCRIBED ME:( I was like I haven't seen Ben in weeks and then I bought concert tickets for you in Lakewood Ohio and resubscribed! I'm sorrrrry lol
this is a redundant experiment for 2 reasons 1. you didn't actually play anything over the guitar part, it was all programmed 2. none of the other parts subdivided at a smaller note rate than the riff (8th notes in this instance). If you had, you would discover how it is very hard to get things to groove without a grid reference (even if you don't quantize the part).
1. That's literally the point of the video. It's called "Electric Production with No Click Track." It's seeing if he can make electronic music well without a click track or any other sign of the exact tempo like built in measure marks. You don't need to record to make electronic music. 2. How does this make it redundant? It's still an interesting experiment. I don't see any need to make it unneccesarily harder. He did exactly what he said what he would do.
After watching your videos for a couple weeks straight I finally decided to give your actual music a try and I am shocked at how much I love it. It has been on repeat all day. I am sad I had never given it a chance before. Please keep making music and these kinds of wacky youtube videos Ben. It is inspiring me to be the best musician I can be and they can really put a smile on my face after a shitty day. :)
"Every time I use a different process, I get different results." Ben Levin, Philosopher. I love this observation so much. You'll never bake anything but an apple pie if that's the only recipe you follow.
Awesome workflow and can't wait to hear the new album!
Ben, super cool. you are just a volcano of creativity!
O.O Shawn! oh man, I am deeply in love with sungazer (and I'm learning Japanese...xD ) you guys are awesome... if the occasion should arise, please: a project with you Adam and Ben would be my joy.
Much appreciation for you all fine folks and a ton of good vibes from Italy.
“That’s Just What Humans Do,” The Ben Levin Story
Should be the name of an album.
My music rarely fits on an evenly distributed grid anymore, the grooves you can get are mind blowing. You can make stuff feel looser or tighter, make it sound like it pushes the groove or makes it just kind of fall into place. I love even stretching samples so there's no flam, and usually keep the asymmetries consistent over a half a bar or maybe 1 bar loop, with occasional dramatic moments.
Nice to hear from you Fake Dr Levin. Love your work.
Oh my God that final product is so dirty. Thanks for the inspiration FDrL!
At 8:01 when the formant shifter goes from high back down to your normal timbre, straight chills
"The easiest way to produce this would probably be to play it on a keyboard... but i don't wanna plug it in!" yes. The struggle is real
Your best quality, for what I can see after all this time, is your creativity and imagination. I'm sure im not the first person who tells you such thing. You're not afraid of taking risks, and that's awesome.
I love going off grid! Usually results in the tempo falling down the stairs when I do it, so it's nice to hear someone with rhythm! Really cool video, thanks for sharing.
Really really reminds me of many of Archive's songs... So this is therefore an absolute banger!
Holy shit, I was already loving it and then you added those vocals. I can’t wait to hear the finished track!
After watching your videos for a couple weeks straight I finally decided to give your actual music a try and I am shocked at how much I love it. It has been on repeat all day. I am sad I had never given it a chance before. Please keep making music and these kinds of wacky youtube videos Ben. It is inspiring me to be the best musician I can be and they can really put a smile on my face after a shitty day. :)
I like how you hit three times the same note on three different strings, sounds awesome
Wow, the end result was beautiful, and very original. The song made me feel like something at once strange, slightly frightening, and really exciting was about to happen... or just happened... or is presently happening. Bam!! Thanks!
(Really useful/helpful to see your process as well. Double thanks.)
Nicely done... nothing beats the human feel !
Dude that vocoder is EPIC.
Dude, the ending blew my head
Hope the new album has all these songs on it!
This sounds so good. I used to do this in audacity before I got my first DAW (10 years ago) and I've been wanting to try it again. I think today might be the day because of this video.
This sounds like a trippy version of the band Elbow (which is kinda fun cos your band is called Bent Knee- there's something about limb joints, huh)
Wow this is super cool! Another great job, Ben...
The simplest things said by you are so profound and I dont know why but I love it 😂
I've thought about doing something very similar for quite some time, nice to see that it's possible and actually really, really rewarding: cool music and groove!
New album? Ooooh yes
Genius.
This is such a cool approach. Excited for the new album!
can`t wait for the new album
Thank you for NOT QUANTIZING
Nice! Things shouldn’t have to be “just so” to get down and be creative!
It's amazing what you can produce with a humble piece of software like Reaper.
all you need is just add your favorite VST plugins
you can do it in any software
I agree with Peter M's comment, working on the sound design could really push anything you make further. This sounds like a Suuns track!
Awesome end result!
Thanks for doing the stuff everyone else is too lazy to do! Love it :)
Beautiful as always
❤️
around 2:30 it literally sounds like an intro to an exmilitary song lol
Dude you are so amazing
damn i kinda got a prince vibe from the vocals that's wild
Awesome idea. Now I wanna try this myself!!! Luv your channel :-)
Very interesting..
What shortcut are you using in Reaper to jump the cursor to the next transient like that?
Man you read my mind? Cause I made something like this with my guitar and I'm still working on it! 🤔👏👏☑️
Love it venc
Hey Ben! I’m unfamiliar with Reaper, but if it offered something similar to beat mapping like in Pro Tools or Logic X then you would be able to quantize your midi to the organic tempo of the beat-map. At the end of the day you may spend more time beatmapping than you did lining up the midi here but if there Is such a feature in Reaper it could help your workflow for production like this some day :)
Hey Ben! Great video. Gives a good perspective, like the democratic chord approach.
However, could you also share the plugins you use in your production?
Ey! Nice God Mother shirt! :) Greetings from Sweden.
You.Are.Awe.Some!
I really like the output :D Thanks for sharing Ben!
Maalem Ben Levin XD
Where is the finished tune? I want to hear it!
The Flombus Lives 1:49
Yeaaah!
oh, that's just sick. I had a guitar arp in mind for some time now and considering trying the same...
btw, what vst do you use for formant shift?
Taras Omin i’ve seen him use Soundtoys Little Alter Boy in the past I think it’s probably that
I write my music like this, mouse and shortcuts
Any idea how one could do this without the use of markers?
In Ableton, you can extract a groove from a clip and quantize other clips to that timing. Of course, different method -> different results.
you could probably mask out the high volume peaks and convert them to midi to use as the base for your rythm
Zer0 ayyy dillinger
There's lots of ways really. Essentially all you have to do is create your own reference point that's outside of the grid. You could even draw lines with permanent marker on your monitor! I wouldn't recommend that, though.
Come on guys, he needs more Patreon money so that he can buy a mic stand and a pop filter! :P
What is this "click track"?
please, _please_ listen to Public Strain by Women
You should totally do a video writing without the defining major and minor intervals
You should create a production course in Udemy, I'll buy it without hesitation
Interesting how this embraces human feel in a traditionally robotic medium. Sounds very Trent Reznor-esque
Death Grips does the same thing, except they follow Zach Hill's drumming.
Try loading a death grips song in a DAW. It is very much to a click.
@@INADRM I guess I should have said SOME of their stuff is. I know Steroids, Giving Bad People Good Ideas, and Lil Boy fluctuate a little because I've done projects with these tracks.
(And on Steroids, I mean within individual sections, haha.)
Ben Carpenter
What "chimey stuff" is that?
I think it is hi piano with reverb
@BEN LEVIN UA-cam UNSUBSCRIBED ME:( I was like I haven't seen Ben in weeks and then I bought concert tickets for you in Lakewood Ohio and resubscribed! I'm sorrrrry lol
seems like a tool song
this is a redundant experiment for 2 reasons
1. you didn't actually play anything over the guitar part, it was all programmed
2. none of the other parts subdivided at a smaller note rate than the riff (8th notes in this instance). If you had, you would discover how it is very hard to get things to groove without a grid reference (even if you don't quantize the part).
Does it matter? It’s just a cool youtube video/songwriting tool
1. That's literally the point of the video. It's called "Electric Production with No Click Track." It's seeing if he can make electronic music well without a click track or any other sign of the exact tempo like built in measure marks. You don't need to record to make electronic music.
2. How does this make it redundant? It's still an interesting experiment. I don't see any need to make it unneccesarily harder. He did exactly what he said what he would do.
After watching your videos for a couple weeks straight I finally decided to give your actual music a try and I am shocked at how much I love it. It has been on repeat all day. I am sad I had never given it a chance before. Please keep making music and these kinds of wacky youtube videos Ben. It is inspiring me to be the best musician I can be and they can really put a smile on my face after a shitty day. :)