I need a how to guide for electronic musical departure here. the classical stuff of contrast and variation form as it would relate to electronic music.
I Started working on a track a couple days ago and the first four hours were just magic; but then it happened, just when I thought everything sounded perfect; I noticed If I add any additional sounds I would throw the existing sound's simplicity out the window. And my track doesnt really have a baseline as it does a pulse that goes great with a percussive loop I recorded..so changing the "pulse" is damn near impossible.
components are:
- pulse base
- string progression
- piano arp
- hi hats and kick
- percussive line
What im trying to say here is, that I cant change things up because everything I add sounds too different from the existing sound scape, and if I dont do anything it will be too repetitive!! catch 22 here
few tricks I tried using to avoid this so far are:
1- filter sweep on one of the melody lines (sampled string progression meaning melody cant be changed).
2. small glitch effect on percussive line in some parts.
3. Dropping and adding from the existing sound layers
Creative block tips
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LauraMichelJarre LauraMichelJarre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=158959
- KVRist
- 437 posts since 1 Sep, 2007 from Oz
If the composition as recorded and arranged occupies a certain amount of space in terms of texture and rhythm, then you've probably reached a point where any extra material adds congestion.
One idea is substitution - eg. use a soft pad sound instead of a string pad in a new section.
Another idea is using transposition - move a part up an octave to add variety.
Another idea is using timing - artists like Peter Gabriel go so far into a track then either strip everything away to minimum, or do a half-time (half tempo) bridge.
Another idea is to do an upkey. Show tunes often do this to lift the excitement level without altering anything except for the key (up a half step or a step).
Trevor Horn used to have a basis for a track, then use "feature noises" or "feature parts" for just a few seconds each. He also was a master of matching sharp or strident sounds against a soft sound at every point in the song.
Reduce rhythmic density on the pulse to change the feel.
Arpeggios are quite congestive and attention-grabbing and could be removed and something else subsituted in their place.
Usually there is a sameness when everyone in a garage band plays every bar of every song. Knowing when not to play is an art which adds variety to any track.
Compression as an effect may reduce the dynamic range sufficiently on background instruments to enable the dominant instruments to feature.
Think about dynamics - these are a great way to alter focus between parts.
Careful panning of parts (L-R placement) can decongest a track.
One idea is substitution - eg. use a soft pad sound instead of a string pad in a new section.
Another idea is using transposition - move a part up an octave to add variety.
Another idea is using timing - artists like Peter Gabriel go so far into a track then either strip everything away to minimum, or do a half-time (half tempo) bridge.
Another idea is to do an upkey. Show tunes often do this to lift the excitement level without altering anything except for the key (up a half step or a step).
Trevor Horn used to have a basis for a track, then use "feature noises" or "feature parts" for just a few seconds each. He also was a master of matching sharp or strident sounds against a soft sound at every point in the song.
Reduce rhythmic density on the pulse to change the feel.
Arpeggios are quite congestive and attention-grabbing and could be removed and something else subsituted in their place.
Usually there is a sameness when everyone in a garage band plays every bar of every song. Knowing when not to play is an art which adds variety to any track.
Compression as an effect may reduce the dynamic range sufficiently on background instruments to enable the dominant instruments to feature.
Think about dynamics - these are a great way to alter focus between parts.
Careful panning of parts (L-R placement) can decongest a track.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 177 posts since 3 Jun, 2006
thanks Laura; ill try my best to implement some of your suggestions and see if I can break away from the pattern; I never thought of using compression as an effect sound very promising 
thanks again
thanks again(sig under construction)
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- KVRAF
- 2975 posts since 18 Sep, 2006 from Rosehill Cemetery
Time change works well as Laura mentioned. You could have parts where you use double time or half time. Or if the track is in 4/4, perhaps change part of it to say 7/4 while still retaining the melody/chord changes, but offset the transitions slightly to accommodate the change. Polyrhythms are an option as well.
"a confession without need of absolution, without need of redemption"
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- KVRAF
- 5948 posts since 19 Jun, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
Yesterday I had a nice "happy accident" that might help you out. It's related to what Laura said about the dynamics. The arrangement is very simple, it only has four sounds on top of a very simple drum loop with hats.
It started as a 1 bar loop on a drum machine which I planned on using to test a filter plugin demo. After adding in a bass line and a couple of synth lines to the first recording, I realised the kick decay was too long for the bass notes. For <whatever> reason, it took three attempts to record the drum loop just right for the other elements I added.
When I recorded it the third time I forgot to mute the DAW channel on the mixer which was also routed back in to the computer with the drum machine. The result was that the bass line and synths complete with delay effects got recorded with the drum loop, but at a much lower volume than they would normally be.
Instead of recording it again, I thought I would see how it would sound. The loop is now running on two tracks. One is gated with a lowpass filter and compressed quite heavily, the other copy is high pass filtered with an LFO and delay effect. Mutes bring these effects in an out to create dub like waves of filtered delay.
Now the early part of the track with the low pass filter contains a muted version of the full arrangement, hinting at what is coming up, and when the bass and synth kick in for real (i.e. as originally intended) it really changes the dynamics of the track in a great way that also sounds much fuller than it might have done if I'd had to produce the fullness "manually".
Using mutes at various points on each loop, muting the delay effect and automating the filters in the right spot has created just the right level of tension in the track and I managed to get a five minute track out of a 1 bar loop that I never would have dreamed of, and discovered a very usable technique for future tracks.
Hope that helps!
Peace,
Andy.
It started as a 1 bar loop on a drum machine which I planned on using to test a filter plugin demo. After adding in a bass line and a couple of synth lines to the first recording, I realised the kick decay was too long for the bass notes. For <whatever> reason, it took three attempts to record the drum loop just right for the other elements I added.
When I recorded it the third time I forgot to mute the DAW channel on the mixer which was also routed back in to the computer with the drum machine. The result was that the bass line and synths complete with delay effects got recorded with the drum loop, but at a much lower volume than they would normally be.
Instead of recording it again, I thought I would see how it would sound. The loop is now running on two tracks. One is gated with a lowpass filter and compressed quite heavily, the other copy is high pass filtered with an LFO and delay effect. Mutes bring these effects in an out to create dub like waves of filtered delay.
Now the early part of the track with the low pass filter contains a muted version of the full arrangement, hinting at what is coming up, and when the bass and synth kick in for real (i.e. as originally intended) it really changes the dynamics of the track in a great way that also sounds much fuller than it might have done if I'd had to produce the fullness "manually".
Using mutes at various points on each loop, muting the delay effect and automating the filters in the right spot has created just the right level of tension in the track and I managed to get a five minute track out of a 1 bar loop that I never would have dreamed of, and discovered a very usable technique for future tracks.
Hope that helps!
Peace,
Andy.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 177 posts since 3 Jun, 2006
hey andy that sounds very interesting but its kind of hard for me to visualize or rather imagine hearing the end result, is there anyway you could potentially post up a small clip of your track? if youd like I can pm you my email if its easier... but understand if you decline the suggestion
will try my best to see if I can do what your explaining 
will try my best to see if I can do what your explaining
(sig under construction)