Yeah man Reaper is good and the price is right too. When it comes to DAWs itās whatever you jjve with and brings out the creativity along with a solid workflow. Yeah I pretty much love all electronic music with a 4 on the floor beat.
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Iāll have a go at making anything but I have two Drum and Bass albums and a few singles and EPs out. I guess you could also call it jungle techno but defining genres is an exercise for fans of the music that donāt want to make the music but discuss what they like and why.
I spend a lot of time randomly automating soft synths and running those sounds through a variety of plugins ( I have go-tos and favourites) that I will also automate randomly and manipulating pitch bend, assigning plugin parameters to knobs and moving and recording them. Iāll also audio hijack Reaper because I like the sounds that all these plugs make when they glitch and make strange electronic distortion sounds which you wouldnāt capture otherwise on itās own in the DAW. So sequences of sounds that are moving all over the place will be resampled and played over other moving sounds. I also layer drums so Iāll have an array of kicks with different or good gelling dynamic properties. One might have a good click transient, another a good decay, another some good thump and Iāll try those in different combinations to get a groove going and a unique kick sounding. Then Iāll build on that. Iāve made some hiphop acapellas. I have a good friend who is a scratch DJ who did the same degree I did in sound technology. This year I plan to start my own digital label and build it up slowly so I can release vinyl. I have friends who do graffiti who will do the artwork and Iāll sell their art work as tees and canvasses. I spent years learning to beat match and am good at it.
Anyway, going back to the way I sample, itās a big puzzle and through practice, trial and error, I developed a way to arrange and finish tracks in an interesting and unique enough way for me to listen to and be able to say āI would buy that because it gets my musical juices flowing and Iām feeling itā If it doesnāt have that, the track will be scrapped but some of the parts may be used again in other big amassed amalgamations of sounds that ultimately become an arranged track.
I love creative approaches and communicated understanding of electronic sounds. It doesnāt all need to be pigeon holed or explained as genres. If it gets me or the vibe is good, that really is all that I need. Obviously smoking the herb is a big plus for the journey of creating. I like real world sounds also. Other sampled musical instruments but I will try to distort them so that they are far removed from what they were originally but wonāt beat myself up if they drop straight in to a track.
Lastly however sounds are made is good with me. Like growing herb, there are no set rules. Everybody has something to offer and chances are if it vibes with you, it will with one of the other 8 billion people on the planet.
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Just had another thought. Is the sort of preoccupation or standard of music producers these days to be as loud as possible. Creative squashing. Itās particularly the case with drum and bass music but seems to be creeping in to other genres. The idea that louder is better doesnāt always mean it is better, for me anyway.
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Would I be crashing this thread and showing poor posting manners if I asked folks for music recommendations? I am not a musician or producer and barely qualify as a connoisseurā¦ Iām one of those people for whom there is Radiohead and then there is āother music.ā I would love to expand my universe. I also like Philip Glassā¦ anything oceanic, textural, rhythmically complexā¦
Yeah. The loudness war has been going on for a long time(search on gearslutz, or google), and some music folks have been screaming about it for a long time too.
I donāt think itās getting better anytime soon, since home/low-budget recordings do their own mastering with simple push-button plugin setting. Which typically over compress everything.
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Very interesting. so beyond creative ways to develop samples ( I always liked dirty-sounding beat-up horns as samples) mixing, what about getting recorded vocals just right. Although my experience listening when I am around people who listen to the vocals when present are usually quite affected as well and not really front and center always. digital label cool. now I can draw better than average always could but never once called myself a real artist, I know people out there who are as efficient as laser copiers and fast. BUT I have some mastery when it comes to a broad style of hip hop lyrics if any of your instrumentals ever calls for one, I got you. My set up lol a 40 dollar USB mic, no external interface and I think 8 gig ram, is an issue, but perhaps some knowledgeable mastering could solve for x. lol Check out if you dare lol Aesop Rock from one of the better labels out there Rhymesayers Entertainment Atmosphere also an artist on his label not bad. Aesop is a killer. been around since I was in high school 90ās get better every day. the newest album called Spirit Guide" instrumentals are not what you would expect from a hip hop guy. Labour Day was Aesops Rockās first album way back, great as well. Youtube has a lot of people who break down his music. he is a complicated fella lol even in the Gueniss book of records for vocabulary.
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A little late, but hay better late then never.
I use Ableton & Reason plus out board gear in my productions.
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Yeah. Gearslutz is now Gearspace right. I never really went in too hard on that forum. Reaper also has itās own forum and Iāve found that quite helpful. I agree over squashing and 100% side chaining makes music less musical, for me anyway. Hurts my ears.
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Love dirty horns. They donāt get used enough imo.
It is funny thinking of yourself as an artist but once thereās a catalogue of musical work out there that people can listen to, youāve spent a considerable amount of time on, youāre definitely an artist.
I do know Aesop Rock. Had some friends that were massively in to.
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Aesop Rock is my go to artist.
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Niiiiiice. Thanks man.
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