My music stuff

Reaktor4 said:
There is faaaar too much compression on that one (on the whole mix, not on individual instruments i mean).
Also, do you use presets?
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Yeah I tried getting a pumpy feeling but together with my limited knowledge of compression and mastering and reason's lack of professional compression, it turned out kind of crappy. I didn't EQ alot of the instruments either which you can hear later in the mix.

I try to use presets as rarely as possible. For that song I used a loop I've found and some sounds from a particular refill from www.combinatorhq.com (Lizard's microkorg refill , the trancy trumpet and the high pitched trancy sound you hear in the second verse. Everything else was made from scratch.

I love synthesis and creating sounds from scratch, but sometimes there's just some sound that you absolutely love and want to use, for that song I felt this especially for that stomping synth sound that pans around the stereo that you hear in the beginning of the track.

Now I play around a whole lot with reaktor 5 and I think it beats reason's soft synth systems by miles (especially the beat slicing programs), but it's very time consuming recording stuff as wavs and using them in reason, and I don't have any VST program that works. I tried sonar 5 out but couldn't get the midi to work before the program stopped starting up, and cubase had similar problems.
 
Well, of course Reaktor's synths are going to be more comprehensive. That kind of goes with the territory of open-ended soft synths.

You can use ACID as a VST hub, but I don't know how well that works since I really only do that rarely.

Reason still works very well for me. I found that I learn some new trick/method at least once a week. The challenging aspect is just finding a good way to implement them.
 
I agree with you about Reason, it is versatile as hell.

What matters is the ideas, in my opinion. If you're a good musician you can make great stuff with reason. And I mean, it's all the limits that have made electronic music what it is today.

Most professionals that use reason use it as a "sketchbook" for their ideas before they record the whole song with live synths, proper mastering tools etc etc.

Plus, if you do an amazing track in reason and get signed by a major label, you can redo the whole song professionally in a studio.

There's tons of artists that have made beautiful music with simple sounds and stuff I'm 100% positive you can create in reason. (Carbon Based Lifeforms and Global Communication come to mind in particular, as well as the brilliant soundtrack of tiberian sun. And most of Aphex Twin's music) Would like to link to this guy on reasonstation too, he makes sexy as hell music, really is an amazing musician: http://www.reasonstation.net/users/profile.php?user=6686 (I really recommend the track "Sorry I caught the flu overnight")
 
I dunno if I'd think of it as a sketchbook program any more than I would any other programs. A lot of artists use a multitude of gear and programs, some as primary workstations and others as support.

Naturally, I wouldn't use Reason for mastering because it's really quite limiting due to the way the Reason interface is set up.
 
I've read about something called max/msp used by lots of people including autechre, you know anything about it Absinthe? It seems to require c++ programming skills.
 
Ah, that.

Autechremax.jpg


Yeah... I can totally see Autechre using that program. O_O
That's the kind of program I could never use in a million years.
 
Why not? I mean, can't be THAT difficult to learn if you're dedicated. Plus the whole hardcore factor. But i*ll probably try and learn reaktor thoroughly before i go delve into something like that.
 
Because Max/MSP is a far more technical program than I am a person. Sure, I have creative ideas and all, but when you start adding complex math, algorithms, and all that crap, I'm lost completely. That's why a program like Reason works well for me.

Autechre's work is pretty much based around mathematical and geometric patterns.
 
Just got a hold of analord. Christ that's some kickass stuff. and i thought i'd heard the best of aphex...
Damnit, now I want to get some hardware.. :D
 
I find Analord to be hit and miss, but when it's good, it's real good. That he can manage stuff like that on hardware is amazing, and some if it is ridiculous to program. And he uses the 303 like nobody I've ever heard before.

I think I like "I'm Self Employed" and "Fenix Funk 5" the most.
 
CrazyHarij said:
Yeah I tried getting a pumpy feeling
Click to expand...
The main problem here is that when there is no kick everything else gets much louder. Im not sure how much of what im about to describe is possible in reason but what i would do in logic is this:

First of all, your kick should never peak louder than around -7db, and the full mix, around -3. This is so you have enough headroom for mastering.

Anyway, duplicate your kick. This new kick (kick 2) will be used to control the compressor. You wont be able to hear it but it will have to play throughout the whole track so that even when the audible kick stops, your chosen instruments will still duck/pump. Set kick 2s output to one of the busses (say, bus 1). Mute bus 1, or set it to have no output. Now you cant hear kick 2.

Set the outputs of the instruments that you want to duck, to bus 2. Put a compressor on bus 2. Set the compressors side chain input to bus 1. You will have to experiment with the settings, but start with a low threshold, high ratio, low attack, low release. Mess with it and see how everything affects the sound but be careful because things can get very loud if you play anything going into bus 2 without the muted kick playing.
Btw, if you duck everything, you will squash all the dynamics from your track. I would recommend only doing this to some hats and the bassline.

Alternatively, you could automate the volume or velocity of your instruments instead of compressing, or use an enveloper.
my limited knowledge of compression
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http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/pages/Compression.htm
I agree with you about Reason, it is versatile as hell.
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I found that I learn some new trick/method at least once a week
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You guys havent used logic before, have you? ;)
max/msp
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Its pretty much just an ugly, less user friendly reaktor alternative.. afaik
Naturally, I wouldn't use Reason for mastering because it's really quite limiting due to the way the Reason interface is set up.
Click to expand...
Its always best to master in a wave editor. There you can see the changes to the waveform, and do spectral analysis etc. You should avoid putting anything on the master channel in your sequencer.
 
some more music, enjoy http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=444719&songID=3342130
Thanks reaktor, i'll look into that. Only problem is that good compressing/mastering tools etc like Wave VST's and such cost quiiiite alot of money so to speak.

I find Analord to be hit and miss, but when it's good, it's real good. That he can manage stuff like that on hardware is amazing, and some if it is ridiculous to program. And he uses the 303 like nobody I've ever heard before.

I think I like "I'm Self Employed" and "Fenix Funk 5" the most.
Click to expand...

I love everything on Analord 02. Pissed up in SE1 is my absolute favourite. Just love the feel.
 
Reaktor4 said:
You guys havent used logic before, have you? ;)
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I actually used that right when I was starting out. Well, tried to use it. Had no idea what the hell I was doing, naturally. So then I went straight to Fruity Loops.

I'm sure if I gave it another shot I'd find use for it.
 
Logic = Mac.

Mac = Evil.

Using my refined math abilities, this automatically means: Logic = Evil.

Can't really be arsed to get a mac just for logic anyway.
 
Only problem is that good compressing/mastering tools etc like Wave VST's and such cost quiiiite alot of money so to speak.
Click to expand...
Well there are lots of good free plugins. look on www.kvraudio.com. The waves plugins are probably overrated, they really arent the untouchable holy grail of plugins as some people make them out to be.
Most of the plugins i use now are the logic effects and synths (theyre the best plugins that come with any sequencer). And for mastering, the sound forge plugins are fine. If your sequencer and wave editor has good enough plugins youre all set.
Logic = Mac.
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No, there is no need for a mac... The pc version is more than capable of just about anything you would ever need to do as a producer. Tbh if i had the choice of uninstalling shiney new reaktor 5 or 4 year old abandonware logic platinum 5, reaktor would lose every time. If you ever want to change sequencer, logic should be first on the list to try, imo.
I actually used that right when I was starting out. Well, tried to use it. Had no idea what the hell I was doing, naturally. So then I went straight to Fruity Loops.

I'm sure if I gave it another shot I'd find use for it.
Click to expand...
I tried logic and cubase and got lost too years ago. But a switch from fruity to logic is actually quite natural. I use logic in more or less the same way as i used to use fl. There are differences here and there and of course logic is a hell of a lot more powerful and has many more features, but the workflow isnt very different most of the time.
 
I've learned how to sidechain bass and drums together and the "pumping" effect is much cleaner but at the same time more noticeable, since it's only between the bass and drums and doesn't affect anything else.

Before i just drove the output gain on the mastering compressor to the max and took the treshold down really low. Great fun doing benassi-style beats and bass :D
 
Wow another non-pro music addict :D :D I listened to some of your stuff, it isn't my taste in music but that doesn't mean I cant appreciate the skill and effort that went into that, I genuinely thought they were good..


I think its now mandatory that I should put up one of my tracks ;p
http://www.tightbeatz.com/download.php?fileid=39437

Bit of context: this is my 4th song in Reason, I made about 9 beats in Fruity Loops before this. Just because I used samples, doesn't mean I hardly did anything, in fact, that beat took ages ;_;
 
Heh thanks cool, tell me what you think - also feel free to browse my other past beats :)

Wow I was quite impressed with that trance thing once it all kicked in.. I am quite amazed with the nice subtle effects too, I don't know how to do any of that lol...

It reminds me, I made a dance track - BTW BARE IN MIND, I hardly ever EVER listen to dance music, and this has been my first and only dance type of track :)

Click here to listen
 
I actually really liked that track as a concept. Sorta like "Flim" (by Aphex Twin) meets Autechre. You should try extending upon it! :)

I've tried piano in a lot of my tracks and it's surprising how difficult it is to get right. I always associate a sort of feel to it that I've never quite gotten right. Although I think my last attempt has been the most successful.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=243400&songID=3329139
 
Thanks for the comment, yeah in retrospect it kind of reminds me of "Flim" (always thought it was "film", but then again aphex never seems to name anything that makes sense), maybe should making something more close to that. Merry melodies with subtractors could be really fun.

Yeah, I really like the piano but it's hard to get progressions and all the stuff properly, let alone coordination to play what you really want to play. Feels like it's just a whole lot of practice.

I've done some work with learning all the major and minor chords and they flow pretty well now. One thing I think seems to be the hardest is using practically all keys but it still sounding magnificent. I always feel limited to one scale, but when you watch and hear some professionals improvise they seem to vary a whole lot between feels.

Here's a kind of short idea for a techno track that i kinda like the feel of, particularly the arps I've done (really powerful combining several synths and using several waveforms): http://media.putfile.com/techno170106
 
Reaktor4 said:
Did you use z3ta+ in that?
Maybe ill post something of mine here sometime.
Click to expand...

No, all in reason. Used different matrix devices to modify the frequency cutoff on subtractors in a combinator.
 
been reading alot of music theory, counterpoint, fugue, tec. really useful knowledge. feel alot more motivated now. working on an IDM track, but I wanted to post this short piano thing I did.

Some kind of fairy tale-ish theme with a 4/4 beat. Imagine a hobbit or fairy or something running through a forest.
http://media.putfile.com/chasepiano
 
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