How do I stop twirling synth knobs and actually start making music
March 26, 2016 3:43 PM Subscribe
I have spent a small fortune investigating and purchasing the right gear but I have a simple question. How to get started? I want to make ambient, evolving pads but I seem to spend all my time tweaking nobs and not actually knowing where to start or how to get there.
a) what are some resources for making ambient music and b) what are some concrete things I can do to get better/start now?
This is a big step away from what you want to make, but ... you might consider getting a book on counterpoint (the style of music that Bach wrote in) and learn how to write it. It's highly structured, so it gives you a solid framework to work within (rather than the completely open realm of possibilities that a stack of synths and no musical structure offers). Once you learn how to write music in a structured way, you can start branching out and breaking the rules and finding what pleases you and what doesn't. The book and accompanying workbook I'm most familiar with for the subject is Counterpoint by Kent Kennan, but I'm sure there's many others.
It's also worth duplicating or nearly duplicating tracks that you like, so you can see how they tick. Subtract things you don't like from them and try adding new things.
If you're noodling around on a keyboard, always be recording the MIDI and/or audio, as you never know when you'll play something brilliant that you'll want to use down the line. It's fine to delete it at the end of the day if you don't like anything that you did, but it's better to have it and have to delete it than to miss it.
posted by Candleman at 4:11 PM on March 26, 2016
It's also worth duplicating or nearly duplicating tracks that you like, so you can see how they tick. Subtract things you don't like from them and try adding new things.
If you're noodling around on a keyboard, always be recording the MIDI and/or audio, as you never know when you'll play something brilliant that you'll want to use down the line. It's fine to delete it at the end of the day if you don't like anything that you did, but it's better to have it and have to delete it than to miss it.
posted by Candleman at 4:11 PM on March 26, 2016
Check out
Ableton's Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers.
posted by cocoagirl at 4:56 PM on March 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Ableton's Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers.
posted by cocoagirl at 4:56 PM on March 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
First of all, what kind of ambient? The kind of process required to do something straighter like Eno, minimalists like Glass or even bands with traditional instruments like PCO or Durutti Column, is vastly different for some derivative genres, such as Chillout/Downtempo or Ambient House/IDM.
Picture what is the ambient and mood you are trying to pass also helps. Then think layering. Drop a basic ambient loop, then start experimenting to find what sticks on top of it. Once you have that, keep repeating it. Add some samples that match that vision. And when it's a mess, start stripping down.
Most of my tracks closer to the ambient spectrum usually have a repeating, bass-ey pad (I lost count how many are based on C Dm Am, I think), with other tracks added on top as the thing goes, be it another sequences, same notes on a different length, octave or instrument, the same track but panning on top of the other or with effects added on top, etc.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:58 PM on March 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Picture what is the ambient and mood you are trying to pass also helps. Then think layering. Drop a basic ambient loop, then start experimenting to find what sticks on top of it. Once you have that, keep repeating it. Add some samples that match that vision. And when it's a mess, start stripping down.
Most of my tracks closer to the ambient spectrum usually have a repeating, bass-ey pad (I lost count how many are based on C Dm Am, I think), with other tracks added on top as the thing goes, be it another sequences, same notes on a different length, octave or instrument, the same track but panning on top of the other or with effects added on top, etc.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:58 PM on March 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
So I've noticed this is your 5th question in a row on this (broad) subject. It sounds like you need to learn about synthesis, and audio production as well. This is a long-term project with no simple solution, but there are tons of free resources on the internet. Check out the sidebar of /r/synthesizers where it says "Learning Synthesis." The Sound on Sound Synth Secrets series is highly recommended.
Syntorial is a very neat piece of software designed to teach synthesis. It costs $130, but there's a free demo.
Similarly there are some good resources at the audioengineering subreddit.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:29 PM on March 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Syntorial is a very neat piece of software designed to teach synthesis. It costs $130, but there's a free demo.
Similarly there are some good resources at the audioengineering subreddit.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:29 PM on March 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
I strongly suggest booking a gig. Find some kind of open mic night, give yourself a month or so lead in and just show up and make music. It will probably be chaotic and terrible, but you might surprise yourself, and having to think about how you'd fill a ~20 min slot with music might really help to concentrate your mind.
posted by Sebmojo at 6:44 PM on March 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Sebmojo at 6:44 PM on March 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
With ambient music it's really easy to get stuck in loops and to lose the organic feel. I'd recommend trying to record what you're doing live. Set a track recording in your DAW and then just noodle around doing what feels good for a few minutes. Then listen to it back, set another track to record and overdub some more experimentation trying out different sounds. A couple of those and you'll have some long form tracks to listen to to see what you like and don't. Getting some full length tracks down can be a real confidence boost and will also give you a good starting point to examine what you like and what you don't. It's fun and there's no limit to how many times you can do this.
posted by merocet at 6:52 PM on March 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by merocet at 6:52 PM on March 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Have also been noticing your recent questions and am also just getting started in synthesis myself (just got a korg padkontrol for a song...sort of a combo midi drum pad/sample pad/kaossilator/etc, and the microkorg i ordered will be here any day now...also got the arcade micro-synth from teenage engineering...it makes some really great droney noises that i can't wait to run thru the microkorg's vocoder)
2nding the ableton book...haven't picked it up yet, but the samples should give you a good idea of what it's about.
also seconding just record some stuff while you're twirling knobs and whatnot...you never know what sounds good until you listen to it again. then just cut and paste the good parts and add to them.
gonna be pretty busy until around the 10th, but if you want to get together after that, i'm in the nyc area...send me a memail and we'll make some noise.
posted by sexyrobot at 9:14 PM on March 26, 2016
2nding the ableton book...haven't picked it up yet, but the samples should give you a good idea of what it's about.
also seconding just record some stuff while you're twirling knobs and whatnot...you never know what sounds good until you listen to it again. then just cut and paste the good parts and add to them.
gonna be pretty busy until around the 10th, but if you want to get together after that, i'm in the nyc area...send me a memail and we'll make some noise.
posted by sexyrobot at 9:14 PM on March 26, 2016
At the risk of pointing out the obvious, I would suggest taking some music lessons.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:58 PM on March 26, 2016
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:58 PM on March 26, 2016
What merocet said. Recording stuff can be really helpful. It handily answers the how can i start now part of your question. Just start recording. If you're using modular stuff or anything that you might forget what settings you were tweaking, take note of what you did to get sounds so you can do it again.
Then listen back after a day or two, when you're not thinking so much about technique or your gear settings, and can approach it from a bit further away; not wrapped up in whatever your original intent was. I find that it's a totally different experience listening at the time vs. listening later, and often these rough bits become the inspiration for something new, or seem to just magically combine with other things.
posted by LRAD_der at 10:46 PM on March 26, 2016
Then listen back after a day or two, when you're not thinking so much about technique or your gear settings, and can approach it from a bit further away; not wrapped up in whatever your original intent was. I find that it's a totally different experience listening at the time vs. listening later, and often these rough bits become the inspiration for something new, or seem to just magically combine with other things.
posted by LRAD_der at 10:46 PM on March 26, 2016
For me, working with someone else is the difference between just buggering about on my own and creating finished songs at a furious rate.
posted by w0mbat at 12:04 AM on March 27, 2016
posted by w0mbat at 12:04 AM on March 27, 2016
Can you give us an example of an artist or song or soundtrack you'd like to make music similar to?
I work in different genres (House, Trance) but I should be able to give you an idea of how to get started.
posted by mmoncur at 1:22 AM on March 27, 2016
I work in different genres (House, Trance) but I should be able to give you an idea of how to get started.
posted by mmoncur at 1:22 AM on March 27, 2016
If you do want to find music classes, Berklee College of Music has a well respected electronic music department and they have many online classes.
posted by Sublimity at 4:43 AM on March 27, 2016
posted by Sublimity at 4:43 AM on March 27, 2016
My process works something like this:
Create a sound or a pattern or a groove that pleases me.
Add modulation to give it more movement and texture.
Create another sound or pattern that contrasts. If the original sound is low, do something high; if it's slowly evolving, maybe something fast and static. Or the second layer can be complimentary to the first, a harmony or a counterpoint. If the first layer is a bassline, the second could be a kick drum.
Then listen. How do I like the new combination? If it bugs me, I will either massage it or scrap it.
I continue like this for a while, adding and subtracting and massaging layers. This can go on for days.
My next step is to consider overall structure. Development is what I'm looking for and it can come from mixing in layers one at a time or building dynamics and intensity. Does the piece need a second contrasting section? What non-repetitive one-time events or effects can I add?
After that, I go back to the individual layers and improve them in any way I can think of -- adding or removing rough edges, fattening or thinning, adding modulation at different speeds, equalizing parts so they don't bang into each other and create distracting side-effects.
One of the toughest decisions is to decide a piece is finished.
The thing is, the whole process is just playing around with certain vague goals in mind, listening to the sounds and paying close attention to my reactions. If I correct everything that bugs me, I'm often left with something I like!
posted by Jode at 6:40 AM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Create a sound or a pattern or a groove that pleases me.
Add modulation to give it more movement and texture.
Create another sound or pattern that contrasts. If the original sound is low, do something high; if it's slowly evolving, maybe something fast and static. Or the second layer can be complimentary to the first, a harmony or a counterpoint. If the first layer is a bassline, the second could be a kick drum.
Then listen. How do I like the new combination? If it bugs me, I will either massage it or scrap it.
I continue like this for a while, adding and subtracting and massaging layers. This can go on for days.
My next step is to consider overall structure. Development is what I'm looking for and it can come from mixing in layers one at a time or building dynamics and intensity. Does the piece need a second contrasting section? What non-repetitive one-time events or effects can I add?
After that, I go back to the individual layers and improve them in any way I can think of -- adding or removing rough edges, fattening or thinning, adding modulation at different speeds, equalizing parts so they don't bang into each other and create distracting side-effects.
One of the toughest decisions is to decide a piece is finished.
The thing is, the whole process is just playing around with certain vague goals in mind, listening to the sounds and paying close attention to my reactions. If I correct everything that bugs me, I'm often left with something I like!
posted by Jode at 6:40 AM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Do you know what you’re trying to do? What is the finished product supposed to sound like? Record something. Is that what you want? What else does it need? Record something.
posted by bongo_x at 12:51 PM on March 27, 2016
posted by bongo_x at 12:51 PM on March 27, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
Home recording is your friend here, because with not much money and a little time investment you can get up and running on an inexpensive DAW like Reaper pretty quickly. Most electronic music I'm familiar with is pretty heavily edited in recording tools - so getting used to working with them will be a great boon. That being said, you can even use your phone to record pieces/sounds/snippets you like so you can reference them. I would take notes on you how got a particular sound! I've had it happen where I recorded something I really liked but had no idea what knob I turned to get it, so either write it down or speak into the mic when recording (say something like "knob 1 at 12 o'clock, hall reverb setting at 50%", etc). I will say this - I find that with so many options available via software or gear these days for sounds, it really helps me to create some restrictions or limitations that I abide by (like, "only use these two patches and only tweak these parameters" - because otherwise, yes, you spend hours twiddling knobs and making cool noises but not actually settling on anything).
Hope that helps, the short answer (and while it sounds smart-ass, it isn't really) is: just start making sounds and lining them up in order. You'll throw out stuff that ultimately stinks, but you'll also come up with things you really like. Setting goals is the way to go :)
posted by gorbichov at 4:08 PM on March 26, 2016