Producer Talk

leamas

Well-known member
i listened to all your tracks leamas - liked the deep house stuff, particularly the recent one with the stonehenge chatter..

nice one barry, been enjoying your work also.

Most people so far have preferred the acid dub, actually. I used have a real problem making tracks too complicated, so now my preference is for keeping it simple.

I listened to 'Are You Here' - you're pretty good at having a track do lots of stuff without losing focus. Better than me anyway! I like the plonky FM synth sounds and the jazzy stuff.

I'm guessing you did this pretty quickly though, is that right? Because the mix is a little unbalanced. You could drop the trebley drum sounds back a bit, that would help it groove more.

definitely with you re keeping it simple. the more you can do with fewer elements the better.

listened again on headphones and i really like the bit where it breaks down in the acid dub, reminds me of Carl Craig 'Just Another Day'. my instinct is that the percussion in the intro would benefit from dropping a kick now and again, or adding a 4/4 for a few bars, as if it was being sequenced live or something. it has definitely grown on me since the first listen. out of interest are you using a hardware 303 or is it all in the computer?

re the mix on 'are you here', agree that it's not quite there. i reckon a decent mastering engineer could sort it if i decided to press it up, though i've got no plans at the moment. have changed my setup since i wrote it and keep putting off rebuilding it so i can go back to the mix.
 

hurricane run

Well-known member
meant to add. what kit are you all using? i've been resisting the temptation to add to my computer and midi controller, because where do you stop? a trident desk? U87 mics?
 

barry_abs

lil' beyutch
find it impossible to offer constructive crit of other peoples stuff. sorry
just say what you think.. i always find any thoughts better than none.. i liked your track, thought it went on a bit too long without a break, drop, bridge etc. though.

gabba said:
Something just occured to me, were you guys listening on built in laptop speakers? Cos I just tried that and you can't hear the 303 til about a minute or so in.
i listened on imac built in speakers and i think you're right about the 303..

hurricane said:
what kit are you all using?
kit list here. i want an external controller for Logic.. any recommendations?
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Almost-came-out-on-Sinuous derivative drum and bass soundtracks spazzed-out what-does-this-button-do quiz machine word gaming video nasty shocker. Enjoy. :eek:

 

Gabba Flamenco Crossover

High Sierra Skullfuck
Just listening to some of these now.

Slackk: nice moody tracks, kinda kitsch in a good way... like the stuff that Crippled Dick Hot Wax put out. The finished version should be great if you get a good vocalist on there.

Qwery South: I liked this, especially the first one. I dig this kind of wonky hip hop. Your drum sounds are a bit weak though - in hip hop you have to get the drums sounding right. If you can, try lowering the sampler bit rate to 12 bits, or maybe 8 - that can be a nice quick fix for fatter drums.

Hurricane Run: this has more ideas and personality than 90% of minimal techno. Unlike Barry, I like the way it unfolds slowly. It would be good to have a countermelody maybe - you could get a nice mellow pad-type sound and do something around the chord change. This is my favorite track out of any of those listed so far.

listened again on headphones and i really like the bit where it breaks down in the acid dub, reminds me of Carl Craig 'Just Another Day'. my instinct is that the percussion in the intro would benefit from dropping a kick now and again, or adding a 4/4 for a few bars, as if it was being sequenced live or something. it has definitely grown on me since the first listen. out of interest are you using a hardware 303 or is it all in the computer?

Cool! Carl Craig is a don, his 90s stuff is a massive influence with me. I really respond to the emotion in his music, cos techno generally isn't big on that.

I played around with some breaks in the percussion, but in the end I decided to leave it running as a straight loop. It's an unusual drum pattern anyway, and I wanted the track to have a meditative feel, with the listener focussed on the synth sounds and the drums in a supporting role. I'm experimenting with different loop lengths in my drum tracks at the moment, so that each bar has a different pattern, but I didn't use that technique here.

The acid line is actually from a Syntechno Teebee, which is a 90s analogue synth designed to mimic the 303's sound. I always refer to it as 'the 303' because it sounds practically identical to a 303 (which I've used in the past), and it's easier to type. The pad sound in the track is from Reaktor.
 

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
OK here's a question.

I've been thinking about getting a workstation (to replace a computer) - Alesis Fusion 6HDs are around £600 now.

Can you talk me out of it?

The specs look pretty good - lots of scope for making mad sounds and a decent sampler. Also you'd hope it would all just work without any driver / compatibility issues.

So why do I get the feeling it might be a bad idea?
 
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noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
linkage? what's your budget?

I'm just curious really. I suppose the idea of an all-in-one doobry is what's attractive and these are dead cheap now for what you get, on paper anyway. I'm interested to know how it would feel for producing music.

This thing does sampling, analogue modelling, physical modelling and FM I think. Also a sequencer, arp and 8 track audio recording. It's got a lot of DSP for EQs and effects and so on. Blah blah blah. I think it basically flopped at first so Alesis have ended up selling them very cheap. I guess the thing would be to try one huh? Just wonder what you'd miss from using a computer.

Here, have a look:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may06/articles/alesisfusion.htm

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Keyboard+And+MIDI/product/Alesis/Fusion+6HD/10/1

It's best if gear is fun and doesn't get in the way too much. Also limitations are good sometimes.
 
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barry_abs

lil' beyutch
well, it looks excellent but i'd find the following computer-based features irreplaceable
* the big screen
* infinite supply of "free" software / plugins off the internet
* Logic.. consolidate your project, burn to dvd, send to a mate to mix/master/remix.. no tangible hardware to carry.
 

bnek

Well-known member
i don't know anything about the alesis fusion, but i would say even though it has a few dif. forms of synthesis, it would all have the same 'sound print' if you know what i mean. like how native instruments stuff all sounds kind of the same, even their samplers have a distinct sound (to me anyway). so i think the 'all in one' thing, though it may be more convenient, is not such a great option - different synths (and samplers) have their own texture and quirks, and a combination will make your music more interesting, sonically at least.
 

Gabba Flamenco Crossover

High Sierra Skullfuck
Yeah the synth models probably aren't all that but try it anyway, if you connect with it then give it a go. I know a few people who don't use computers for music and they get along OK.
 

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
Most of my stuff is done away from the computer these days. Generally just use it for recording, mixing and editing, but it is nice to layer in a few VSTs and do some processing and what have you.

I think the weak link in that Alesis thing is going to be the sequencer. The VA engine should be pretty good though as it's an enhanced version of what's in the ION / Micron.

I do love using loads of hardware boxes and stuff but I also want things to portable and manageable, until I build my studio in the country that is. Then it's time for the big modulars and vintage desks.
 
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Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Think you're better off with a computer.

i have some stuff up on myspace, and have a cd coming out on an obscure japanese label.

everyone please big up narcossist, i love his stuff.
 
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