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NEOGAF's Official Music Production Thread: calling all producers

neos

Member
holy wow fusebox, that is an impressive lineup you got there!


I gathered this: Developers make the DSP core functionality, provide vector graphics and send that to Propellerheads who compile it for integration in the new Rack Extension format. That way it will work in future Versions. Then you can buy it or get it for free in the Reason shop. u-he said that they want to provide discount for VST buyers, but the Rack Extensions will be a bit cheaper than the VSTs. There will be 30 day trials for all REs as well and they are cross platform.

It's sandboxed, so it can't crash Reason, has full copy paste / undo functionality and integrate the cables, Audio as well as CV!

Well, this seems to be an amazing improvement to Reason.I love Reason, but sometimes you really feel something is missing, i.e. a decent spectrum analyzer.
however, shocking news!:)
 

Fusebox

Banned
New single: One Way Out

Tell me what you guys think. This is my first go at dicking around with Massive settings.

I dig this man. Really love that thick saturated Massive patch with the obvious stepping. Terrific little risers too. It's like hard trance combined with a piece from an action video-game, very cool.

Here's my latest house tune, feels like I'm slowly getting closer to locking in my style lately but damn my tune sounds slow and sluggish after listening to yours lol...

http://soundcloud.com/kaarma/steam
 

BobDylan

Member
This was something I put together quick today. Its just a feel good song I wrote recently and had the time today to actually write it all down. It was a beautiful day and I was in the mood to record. Forgive the drums, I know they are not the best.

For The Mother Of Nature
 

neos

Member
New single: One Way Out
Tell me what you guys think. This is my first go at dicking around with Massive settings.
last 40 seconds are the best part, love that lead
I dig this man. Really love that thick saturated Massive patch with the obvious stepping. Terrific little risers too. It's like hard trance combined with a piece from an action video-game, very cool.

Here's my latest house tune, feels like I'm slowly getting closer to locking in my style lately but damn my tune sounds slow and sluggish after listening to yours lol...

http://soundcloud.com/kaarma/steam
Scary aliens track, sounds great to me

I'm still working on this track, but i have nothing clear in mind so i don't know what it si going to be in the end, i'm just putting things together without thinking too much
http://soundcloud.com/blindzoom/the-void-1
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
Good all around, but I'd choose a different kick drum sound.
Where do you usually get your kick sounds? I have a set of them from the Vengeance sample packs but they're not doing much for me. I need beefier kick sounds and making them on my own is something I'm not too familiar with at the moment.

I dig this man. Really love that thick saturated Massive patch with the obvious stepping. Terrific little risers too. It's like hard trance combined with a piece from an action video-game, very cool.

Here's my latest house tune, feels like I'm slowly getting closer to locking in my style lately but damn my tune sounds slow and sluggish after listening to yours lol...

http://soundcloud.com/kaarma/steam
Thanks man! I'll check out your latest as soon as I get the chance.

last 40 seconds are the best part, love that lead

Scary aliens track, sounds great to me

I'm still working on this track, but i have nothing clear in mind so i don't know what it si going to be in the end, i'm just putting things together without thinking too much
http://soundcloud.com/blindzoom/the-void-1
Thanks neos! :) I haven't heard your track yet but it's never a bad thing to not have a clear vision of where your track is going. Just be wary of proper transitions and pacing. I try my best not to let any riffs overstay their welcome as I think that's a big part of maintaining the listener's interest.
 

Fusebox

Banned
Where do you usually get your kick sounds? I have a set of them from the Vengeance sample packs but they're not doing much for me. I need beefier kick sounds and making them on my own is something I'm not too familiar with at the moment.

Don't you have Komplete 8? Battery should have a fairly decent selection of kicks and you can use the compressor from Guitar Rig to fatten them up even more.

I'm still working on this track, but i have nothing clear in mind so i don't know what it si going to be in the end, i'm just putting things together without thinking too much
http://soundcloud.com/blindzoom/the-void-1


Very cool man, I like tough sounding trance. Where did you get "the void" sample from? It's creepy, I love it. Also the track seems nearly complete to me, just needs a breakdown and a build-up and then back to the main riff, the outro will write itself.

In other news, I just changed my Moog Minitaur preorder to a Studio Electronics Boomstar 5089 preorder:

http://www.studioelectronics.com/products/synths/boomstar/#crumbs

For $200 more it has way more features and I still get a Moog filter with audio-in.
 

neos

Member
Very cool man, I like tough sounding trance. Where did you get "the void" sample from? It's creepy, I love it. Also the track seems nearly complete to me, just needs a breakdown and a build-up and then back to the main riff, the outro will write itself.

Well thanks Fusebox, glad you think it's complete, but to me this sounds as a good intro to semething else, i dunno what's happen next:)
The vocal sample is actually me recorded with the crappiest mic you can ever immagine,i had to eq it quite a bit in reason and add several effects, but surprisingly i like how it sounds
 

Fusebox

Banned
Yeah it sounds like a good intro... to that song. :p

It just sounds like it'd work with the typical trance formula, you already have the intro and a verse completed, now all you need is the breakdown, the buildup and then drop back into the verse with a bit more energy to make it the bridge and voila, tune!

And no wonder that vocal sample sounds so creepy! Lol, it's a very cool sample.
 

Yasae

Banned
Where do you usually get your kick sounds? I have a set of them from the Vengeance sample packs but they're not doing much for me. I need beefier kick sounds and making them on my own is something I'm not too familiar with at the moment.
That's usually where I draw from, but rarely the distorted or uptuned samples. Those sound very Dutch - gabber and hardcore.
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
Don't you have Komplete 8? Battery should have a fairly decent selection of kicks and you can use the compressor from Guitar Rig to fatten them up even more.
The amount of kicks in Battery was overwhelming haha. I gotta go back and give it another shot.

That's usually where I draw from, but rarely the distorted or uptuned samples. Those sound very Dutch - gabber and hardcore.
Ah, I see. I'm not familiar with those styles haha. Thanks for the clarification.

last 40 seconds are the best part, love that lead

Scary aliens track, sounds great to me

I'm still working on this track, but i have nothing clear in mind so i don't know what it si going to be in the end, i'm just putting things together without thinking too much
http://soundcloud.com/blindzoom/the-void-1
This is awesome. We really need to do a proper G.A.M.E. now that monchi's abandoned us.
 

Fusebox

Banned
New master keyboard!

7029206167_2e4950430d_c.jpg


7029206821_1702271c00_c.jpg


Keys feel wicked, sounds so 80's.
 

Rubixcuba

Banned
Yes! I can't believe I didn't see this thread earlier.
I only just started recording and with the most basic setup, it's only:
Macbook Pro 13"
DAW - Garageband (Don't laugh, I'll be getting Cubase or Pro Logic soon)
And a Steinberg CI 1

Very simple and easy to use, I'm still learning though. I plan on getting a set of KRK 6400 headphones, my room isn't practical for monitors.

I've done some recordings with my friends solo project, you can listen here: http://eurmusic.bandcamp.com/album/bear-lion
 

Fusebox

Banned
It makes some surprisingly modern and beefy sounds too! Sits really well in the mix alongside my analog synths and the FM is much brighter than my Blofeld, I'm loving it.

I got this yesterday to go with it:

6895705080_63aa9109cf_z.jpg


Getting some huge sounds out of this setup now but have been having too much fun just mucking around and playing with it all to focus on tune making..
 

Fusebox

Banned
I'm checking it now, love the tags man "Saudi Electronic Badass Leopard Underwear" lol!!

Really nice intro, thought I was gonna get a big 4/4 trance drop but you tricked me with the offbeat drums and quick arp. The kick and snare are quite soft compared to the rest of the percussion, not sure if that's intentional to give all the other percussion more focus though. Very cool track man, you've really nailed that video-game vibe.
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
I'm checking it now, love the tags man "Saudi Electronic Badass Leopard Underwear" lol!!

Really nice intro, thought I was gonna get a big 4/4 trance drop but you tricked me with the offbeat drums and quick arp. The kick and snare are quite soft compared to the rest of the percussion, not sure if that's intentional to give all the other percussion more focus though. Very cool track man, you've really nailed that video-game vibe.
Thanks man! Didn't even know you responded to this haha. I knew the 4/4 wouldn't work with this beat from the get go so I never factored it in. I added some tape delay to the kick to give it that cool double-bass type vibe.

May as well put my latest up:

http://soundcloud.com/kaarma/dx7-bounce

Just jamming with the DX7 and I was watching Ghostbusters on Netflix so decided to hook my amp to my mixer and grab a few samples. :p

Heard this when you posted it originally on Soundcloud. Very chill vibe. Just out of curiosity, do you record everything physically or do you take advantage of sequencing? I'm probably going to run into some issues when trying to play some of my stuff live haha.
 

Fusebox

Banned
I do a mixture of the two. I'll usually play all the parts in by hand on the keyboard and record them into Ableton as MIDI which I'll then tighten, chop and adjust manually where needed. Then I'll play a clip and while it's rolling I'll record automation as MIDI straight from the synth, and then I'll adjust the automation where needed. Then I'll arrange all the parts and automate them as much as possible, and if there's any external hardware that can't be automated I'll dial it in by hand as the track is recording. Often I'll bounce those manual parts down to a separate track first so I can get it right before exporting all the audio as a single track for review.
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
I do a mixture of the two. I'll usually play all the parts in by hand on the keyboard and record them into Ableton as MIDI which I'll then tighten, chop and adjust manually where needed. Then I'll play a clip and while it's rolling I'll record automation as MIDI straight from the synth, and then I'll adjust the automation where needed. Then I'll arrange all the parts and automate them as much as possible, and if there's any external hardware that can't be automated I'll dial it in by hand as the track is recording. Often I'll bounce those manual parts down to a separate track first so I can get it right before exporting all the audio as a single track for review.

Man, the way I do it is so tedious. All 3 albums and singles were written by my Mac keyboard and I automate the slowpoke way. I do that primarily because i'm not entirely sure how to automate via MIDI keyboard or Maschine in Logic. It probably has to do with the Write, Read, Latch options but I've been too lazy to look that stuff up. I've always told myself I should take production seriously but it just doesn't click with me as easy as songwriting does. I just record my idea via Mac keyboard and modify it heavily in the sequencer. If you have any tips you could share, please do. Thanks!
 

Fusebox

Banned
I've never used Logic sorry man, I wouldn't even know where to start.

I got a new toy though, MINITAAAAUUUUR!

7090058071_2869637839_c.jpg


6943988400_8b6e3896f5_c.jpg


It has a big fat ass.
 

Cidfox

Neo Member
Man, the way I do it is so tedious. All 3 albums and singles were written by my Mac keyboard and I automate the slowpoke way. I do that primarily because i'm not entirely sure how to automate via MIDI keyboard or Maschine in Logic. It probably has to do with the Write, Read, Latch options but I've been too lazy to look that stuff up. I've always told myself I should take production seriously but it just doesn't click with me as easy as songwriting does. I just record my idea via Mac keyboard and modify it heavily in the sequencer. If you have any tips you could share, please do. Thanks!

Are you talking about automation on the fly? I use a midi controller to record everything and then I just tighten it up/add automation afterwards. Just press A to view track automation and manually do it. I find it to be the best way to really get what you want.
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
So guys, I'm starting to get offers to play live and I'm sort of freaking out about it. I'm very much used to playing live as I've played all around the world with my band Creative Waste but I've never performed Agent Whiskers music live before - mainly because I seriously don't know how I'd do it. I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

All my songs are MIDI tracks from either Logic or Native Instruments software and Sylinth1. I want to perform my music live considering it's all fully composed but there are too many tracks in a given project that it overwhelms me. I apologize for being a total noob and this may sound like a dumb question but would using Logic Pro live to have some tracks running in the background while I perform (via MIDI keyboard) a single track of my choosing work? My problem with that idea is what if my laptop gets the System Overload warning and stops the track midway? And how do I move on to the next song? Do I have to keep opening up projects while the audience stands there waiting for my computer to load? I researched MainStage but it seems like I can't upload full Logic projects into it. If anybody can help, I would seriously appreciate it.

Are you talking about automation on the fly? I use a midi controller to record everything and then I just tighten it up/add automation afterwards. Just press A to view track automation and manually do it. I find it to be the best way to really get what you want.

That's how I do it (pressing A and doing it manually). Is there a way to record an idea down and then manipulate the automation via a MIDI controller in real-time using Logic?
 

Tr4nce

Member
Respect, Fusebox :)

It reminds me too much of some real life version of Reason. That's why I could never use that kind of stuff. Ugh.
 

Fusebox

Banned
I hear that, it's definitely a fine line between fun and fiddly. I'm finding the Moogerfooger isn't something I go to when trying to dial in a particular sound, it's more for when I'm just dicking around and experimenting to see what comes out. I can't imagine it being an essential part of my rig, I'm going to hang onto it until I get the Minibrute so I can test it with a DAW-synced CV source but if it still doesn't become a proper tool I might let it go.

In other news I've just bought a second-hand Eventide Modfactor and an OTO Biscuit, can't wait for them to get here. The Eventide Timefactor has been terrific so far, I expect the Modfactor to be as good, and the Biscuit sounds totally bad-ass in demos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh97DbT2uKQ

and the latest update even turned it into a synth!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJbvk_EXe1s
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
So guys, I'm starting to get offers to play live and I'm sort of freaking out about it. I'm very much used to playing live as I've played all around the world with my band Creative Waste but I've never performed Agent Whiskers music live before - mainly because I seriously don't know how I'd do it. I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

All my songs are MIDI tracks from either Logic or Native Instruments software and Sylinth1. I want to perform my music live considering it's all fully composed but there are too many tracks in a given project that it overwhelms me. I apologize for being a total noob and this may sound like a dumb question but would using Logic Pro live to have some tracks running in the background while I perform (via MIDI keyboard) a single track of my choosing work? My problem with that idea is what if my laptop gets the System Overload warning and stops the track midway? And how do I move on to the next song? Do I have to keep opening up projects while the audience stands there waiting for my computer to load? I researched MainStage but it seems like I can't upload full Logic projects into it. If anybody can help, I would seriously appreciate it.
No one with experience playing live and using Logic can help out? This question is probably better suited for dedicated music production forums. Thanks anyway, dudefriends.
 

Fusebox

Banned
No one with experience playing live and using Logic can help out? This question is probably better suited for dedicated music production forums. Thanks anyway, dudefriends.

I've never heard of anyone playing live with Logic. You'd be better off learning how to use Ableton. Considering you use soft-synths it'll be quite easy to import your tracks as a mix of audio loops and midi clips which you can then rip up and mix together in a live setting.
 

Kad5

Member
Ok guys i'm considering getting the ableton launchpad.

Is the launchpad edition sufficient enough to make music with or would it be recommended for me to upgrade it at some point?

As of now I don't have anything to make music with besides a laptop and I have a keyboard downstairs with no way to connect it as of now.

I have no software and I have virtual DJ for some very basic mixing.
 

Fusebox

Banned
I'm gonna need more info but it sounds like a big no so far. You said you have no software, do you even have Ableton? Launchpad is just a controller and is more designed for launching clips and loops than it is for actual music production.

What keyboard do you have, why can't you hook it up?
 
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