Produced some tunes + mix page

Make some music, have some musical tips or questions ? Well, why not bung them in here !
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Concept
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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On that note, I just challenged myself to do a track all about the beats. : D

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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A late nighter. One that builds as it progresses.



An ambient, in a place in my head one.



Breaks, beat-focused techno.



The companion piece to the first video posted in this message.

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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A very funky tune. Had fun doing this one. : )

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Three more.

Minimalist breaks meets tribal rhythms. On the Modus Operandi tip



Dark, nostalgic ambient.



My go at epic breaks/techno/trance.

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Dude, you're making all these from scratch ?

Wow...
You're doin' too much, do less.
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Cheers. : )

I'm currently staying with family sobering up and there isn't much else do but to get my head down with the music. I've always wanted to get back into production after decades and I finally have a device that I can wrap my head around and is powerful enough for flexible expression (I know Ableton probably isn't that hard to use but I've entered a comfort zone with this/audacity).

The drum samples aren't my own (no loop though). After the 1.6 update I've gotten them from sample packs by searching online, but you can modify samples in audacity and the circuit allows you to shape them with various oscillations too. I'm going to get some kind of recording device at some point and start making my own though. Patterns and synth shaping are prepared in advance. Choosing to switch between them and adding FX on the fly is generally all live.
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Abstract piece, thinking of a lost, underground city.



Tribal breaks with several rhythmic changes.



A piece that makes me think of refracted light at night time.



A progressive melancholy track.

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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My second album is done. Since updating the Circuit and having more options at my disposal, the production quality has increased. I'm quite happy with the feel of it. What a week.

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Took a slight break. Not the best tonight. Screwing about with abstraction.





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Ross
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Thought I’d have a proper dip in here - the music making board is a pretty quiet place these days, but wanted to write something as encouragement when you’re starting off is always important. Only commenting on the YouTube tracks so far, but here are some honest thoughts…

I’m really impressed with how you’re doing for somebody who’s only just really beginning with your current setup. I don’t know much about the Circuit, but it’s obviously a nice box to get some good chunky sounds out of, which you’re doing well with. Overall I’d say the limited palette doesn’t always help, which is something you admitted yourself in the opening post, so I’m sure as you gradually pick up more gear over time that’ll be ironed out. I’d say some of the tracks are maybe a bit overlong too, which I find is very common with people starting out. Loads of my early tracks were seven minutes when they should have been three. I spend as much time chopping stuff out of songs and albums these days as I do actually creating the music.

Typically the more ambient and strangely structured stuff is a lot more up my street than the mid-tempo, breaksy beaty type stuff - although there’s an Orbital vibe in some of those tracks that I dig. The Ambientwerks pieces were nice in their kind of intuitive, jamming way - I do enjoy tracks that just seem to go off in strange directions like that. 03 is my favourite of those.

Enjoyed the strange textural nature of Into the Forest a lot. Ground Cover is similarly engaging. I think maybe I just like delays a lot. Spaces in Places has a wonderful atmosphere to it. Corridor and Rust are really good.

For single tracks, I’d recommend uploading to SoundCloud rather than YouTube. Although SC is a shadow of what it used to be, there’s still the option for more interaction, especially if you’re following people, commenting on their tracks, sharing etc. It can feel a little like shouting into a void at times, but you have the chance of being discovered by strangers on there.

All this said, I’m not really a single track kind of person, so I’ll give the albums a listen soon. Similarly with the above recommendation, try uploading to Bandcamp for album releases. Again, you always have the chance of being discovered - everything I’ve put on there for free has been downloaded plenty of times simply by people browsing new releases or through tags. You can also build up a discography in a nicely structured, visual way on there.

You’re obviously doing well with programming the Circuit and getting tracks out of it, which is a great first step. In terms of what I was saying about editing, this is all part of finding your own musical ‘voice’, which is something that comes over time. I churned out a lot of material back in the day before I came up with an album that felt completely ‘me’. You seem to be able to cover a lot of musical ground well, so it’s likely you’ll find a way to tie that all together with a certain consistency that allows your tracks to be recognisably ‘you’ over time.

Anyway, that’s my take on it all based on my experiences as a musician and listener, but your perspective might be totally different anyway, in which case you can ignore me all together!


btw the SX-1 is likely to be a very expensive box, but it'll be followed shortly after by the very affordable HALia which looks set to be a staggeringly versatile bit of kit.
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Ross wrote:Thought I’d have a proper dip in here - the music making board is a pretty quiet place these days, but wanted to write something as encouragement when you’re starting off is always important. Only commenting on the YouTube tracks so far, but here are some honest thoughts…

I’m really impressed with how you’re doing for somebody who’s only just really beginning with your current setup. I don’t know much about the Circuit, but it’s obviously a nice box to get some good chunky sounds out of, which you’re doing well with. Overall I’d say the limited palette doesn’t always help, which is something you admitted yourself in the opening post, so I’m sure as you gradually pick up more gear over time that’ll be ironed out. I’d say some of the tracks are maybe a bit overlong too, which I find is very common with people starting out. Loads of my early tracks were seven minutes when they should have been three. I spend as much time chopping stuff out of songs and albums these days as I do actually creating the music.
Thanks : ). I've been messing about with synth patches lately trying to get better sounds which hopefully the second album reflects. I was hamstrung with the drums sounding too 808 in the initial album, which is something I tried to get around with by including shorter ambient pieces in there (27 tracks in total on it). There have been a few breakz-y, more dance-orientated tracks which go on too long (hello In the Zone), which were probably included for the emotional high one gets when they've been jamming for several minutes and it all just clicked. I wasn't impressed by the loudness/sharpness of the drums in Break the Techno either in retrospect. My greatest weakness at this stage is in EQing and getting the levels right. If I'm going to go for long again, then I'd probably try to go for what I did with Into the Forest (which features the Circuit sampled several times over and messed about with in audacity) and get that textured, aquatic feel going (did the same for Featherstone). A lot of the editing on the more beat-focused tracks was experimentation regarding effects and waveform editing rather than trying to layer tons.
Typically the more ambient and strangely structured stuff is a lot more up my street than the mid-tempo, breaksy beaty type stuff - although there’s an Orbital vibe in some of those tracks that I dig. The Ambientwerks pieces were nice in their kind of intuitive, jamming way - I do enjoy tracks that just seem to go off in strange directions like that. 03 is my favourite of those.
I guess some of the later tracks are more a personal response to some of the earlier stuff, due to having access to several sample banks to mess around the drumming with since I enabled sample-flipping. A lot of it's just me experimenting. A drawback to that is perhaps a lack of cohesion or melodic variety.
Enjoyed the strange textural nature of Into the Forest a lot. Ground Cover is similarly engaging. I think maybe I just like delays a lot. Spaces in Places has a wonderful atmosphere to it. Corridor and Rust are really good.
Cheers : ). I felt I overused the delay a tad on Ground Cover. Something I need to be wary of overusing (reverb/delay)
For single tracks, I’d recommend uploading to SoundCloud rather than YouTube. Although SC is a shadow of what it used to be, there’s still the option for more interaction, especially if you’re following people, commenting on their tracks, sharing etc. It can feel a little like shouting into a void at times, but you have the chance of being discovered by strangers on there.
What's been keeping me away from Bandkamp are wavs. I've been recording MP3's at 260kbps instead of recording files as wav and I read in their terms and conditions that that's not really recommended. Another thing is that I don't think my stuff is good enough to sell quite yet, and I'd like to offer it for free. SoundCloud is something that I've been interested in, and I had an account when I was doing mixes but I find their free version didn't allow for long-form posting (or it didn't at the time I tried uploading). When I find the time (and patience) I'll start uploading there.
All this said, I’m not really a single track kind of person, so I’ll give the albums a listen soon. Similarly with the above recommendation, try uploading to Bandcamp for album releases. Again, you always have the chance of being discovered - everything I’ve put on there for free has been downloaded plenty of times simply by people browsing new releases or through tags. You can also build up a discography in a nicely structured, visual way on there.
I find the albums work at making the tracks seem more cohesive there because I tried to get a rhythm going by patching together slowly shifting tones (pockets of genres). The first is probably more successful than the second in that regard because I was just focused more on composing than trying to experiment with different sounds/styles, though I feel production improved on the second when it comes to drum programming/layering some of the ambient pieces.
You’re obviously doing well with programming the Circuit and getting tracks out of it, which is a great first step. In terms of what I was saying about editing, this is all part of finding your own musical ‘voice’, which is something that comes over time. I churned out a lot of material back in the day before I came up with an album that felt completely ‘me’. You seem to be able to cover a lot of musical ground well, so it’s likely you’ll find a way to tie that all together with a certain consistency that allows your tracks to be recognisably ‘you’ over time.
Yeah, at the moment it's mostly about learning. I think sooner or later I'll play about with Ableton because what I'm finding with audacity is while it's good for editing recorded pieces together and layering stuff, it feels like I'm trying to do sequencing in it (lining up things etc.) that a more dedicated program it'd be easier to achieve.
Anyway, that’s my take on it all based on my experiences as a musician and listener, but your perspective might be totally different anyway, in which case you can ignore me all together!
Thanks for taking the time out to listen and provide feedback. I don't mind criticism as it helps me learn and approach music creation from an ear other than my own. : )
btw the SX-1 is likely to be a very expensive box, but it'll be followed shortly after by the very affordable HALia which looks set to be a staggeringly versatile bit of kit.
Any idea on when the HALia is supposed to be out? What other gear would you recommend at an early stage to accompany a groovebox/hardware sequencer that's in the sub-£500 range?
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Concept wrote:What's been keeping me away from Bandkamp are wavs. I've been recording MP3's at 260kbps instead of recording files as wav and I read in their terms and conditions that that's not really recommended. Another thing is that I don't think my stuff is good enough to sell quite yet, and I'd like to offer it for free.
You can offer it up for free download on Bandcamp, or set it to 0.00 and allow people to pay if they like.
A LOT of my music was either originally rendered to mp3 or samples a lot of mp3s. Most listeners aren't going to tell ;)
Any idea on when the HALia is supposed to be out? What other gear would you recommend at an early stage to accompany a groovebox/hardware sequencer that's in the sub-£500 range?
Depends what you're after. The Korg Volca series are all pretty nice - the FM has basically the same workings as the classic Yamaha DX-7, and you can even use patches from it, so it's pretty versatile. The MicroKorg XL is a nice synth for pads and general playing that's not too expensive - I picked up mine second hand for about £150.

The HALia will follow the SX-1 - typically with FSOL everything is taking longer than originally predicted. But I reckon probably the end of the year. Last thing I heard it will be very affordable. And given that Symphony for HALia was made entirely on it, it's going to be a wonderful little box.
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Ross wrote:You can offer it up for free download on Bandcamp, or set it to 0.00 and allow people to pay if they like.
A LOT of my music was either originally rendered to mp3 or samples a lot of mp3s. Most listeners aren't going to tell ;)
Cool : ). I'm going to knock out a few dozen more tracks out in the next few months and then condense them into something I can put on there.
Depends what you're after. The Korg Volca series are all pretty nice - the FM has basically the same workings as the classic Yamaha DX-7, and you can even use patches from it, so it's pretty versatile. The MicroKorg XL is a nice synth for pads and general playing that's not too expensive - I picked up mine second hand for about £150.
A Korg sounds like a good idea. I was this close to picking up the Electribe before I went for the Circuit. What's the gear that you most return to? I read in another thread that you're mostly hardware-based these days?
The HALia will follow the SX-1 - typically with FSOL everything is taking longer than originally predicted. But I reckon probably the end of the year. Last thing I heard it will be very affordable. And given that Symphony for HALia was made entirely on it, it's going to be a wonderful little box.
Are there ever going to be any articles as to the working process? How deep are Brian and Gaz involved with the technical design/developing synth patches and the like?
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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Took a break, but back.

Penny and the Well

A collab between fellow forumite Xerkon and myself (Xerkon provided drum rhythms on his Djembe).



And another.

The Brain is a Synth

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Re: Produced some tunes + mix page

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Concept wrote:A Korg sounds like a good idea. I was this close to picking up the Electribe before I went for the Circuit. What's the gear that you most return to? I read in another thread that you're mostly hardware-based these days?
I was almost entirely hardware-based for a couple of years, but where I'm living at the moment there's no space - I have to unpack it and pack it away every time, which just takes the fun from it, so I'm mostly back on my laptop at the minute. But almost every album I've ever made has had a different working process, different software, different hardware... I'd love to be one of those people have has a fairly consistent approach but frankly I just get bored easily. I'll open up a DAW and work on a track and just go "oh God not this again" and scrap the whole thing and go "nope I'm just going to play my guitar this time around".
Are there ever going to be any articles as to the working process? How deep are Brian and Gaz involved with the technical design/developing synth patches and the like?
I would imagine we'll get something from Gaz and/or Brian when the boxes come out. Brian is definitely a big synth nerd so I'm sure he's heavy on the ideas and recommendations. Gaz will probably be hovering around telling them to make it sound more vaporous or to add a more feminine side. :lol: I'm sure the exact details will never be known. Digitana are doing the building and developing the concepts and sounds themselves with the band, but that's probably as deep as we'll get. They wouldn't want to ruin the mystery.
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