Do you produce music based on..?

[vurt]

nowt wrong with drugs.

[Zexila]

Drugs are bad, m'kay.

[Winstontaneous]

It's funny, I studied jazz bass in college and worked as a freelance bassist/guitarist for many years in jazz, rock, pop, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, reggae styles...the music I write & record now sounds nothing like that.

[Zexila]

It's funny, I studied jazz bass in college and worked as a freelance bassist/guitarist for many years in jazz, rock, pop, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, reggae styles...the music I write & record now sounds nothing like that.

It does, listened your first track on soudncloud, that's your take on house music obviously with really huge non house influences, you brought yourself totally into it, avoided pretty much all of the cliches from any sub genre of house music and did something majority of house music fans would found unconventional, but that's you right there with your vision and taste.

[DJ Warmonger]

Indeed there's a problem in creating EDM track that's not too simple but also not too complex. As EDM features many instruments apart from main melody, the melody itself must be simplified to fit it.
On the other hand, the flow of EDM does not simply come from melody. It's schieved by differnet means and tools. Look, back then many artists had only monophonic synth whcih couldn't play any chords at all, and a 8-step sequencer. The synth had a lot of knobs, though, so they modulated the hell out of it - just like playing live. Then, there are alsom effects. The meldoy itself can be just simple loop going for 3 minutes, but the modulation and effects add teh depth to it.

To sum thigs up, you may want to change your tools and try another wokrflow.

[AsPeeXXXVIII]

do you produce music based on your interest or based on what is naturally come out from you?

Sort of both, but I'd say I produce about 80% of my music based on the skills I already possess.

[JJ_Jettflow]

I think the issues occur when misjudging certain electronic genres as simplistic, even if subconsciously. And I'm sure there's a certain sense that one who is an accomplished musician should easily be able to craft a banger, whereas you just end up 'aping' the genre, and with corny results.

Genres in music can be pretty specialized things, with specialized skill sets, despite seeming simple from the outside. And while I'm not suggesting that becoming fluent with electronic music would be as huge a task as learning to be a good jazz musician, it'd probably be worth approaching the task with the same methodology. And that starts with becoming really familiar with the type of music you want to create, making sure that you at least really enjoy listening to the genre/style. Learn why certain things are done as they are etc. (Youtube tutorials would be helpful, here).

Lastly, I think it's important to step outside your own workflow norms and try to adopt certain 'given' new workflows. For instance, ditch the keyboard. Sitting behind your 88-key controller will just lead you towards certain choices that these producers won't be able to make from behind a XoX-style sequencer. While you may not be interested in spending thousands on a whim for a hardware setup, these workflow 'limitations' can easily be recreated within the software world.

Anyway, this is all just thoughts, opinions etc. that lack real-world experience. I'm just thinking about how I would approach the situation. I imagine the styles I'd find easiest to be convincing with are trance (There's a place for all that melody), and D 'n' B (Many substance-fuelled days and nights with the dark stuff ).

Hope some of this was helpful: to:

Excellent post! I found moving to Bitwig from Pro Tools an excellent way to shift up my workflow.

[tapper mike]

I struggle with EDM. Mostly because I think in complex lines and progressions rather than simply juxtapositioning different instrumentation every few measures. I use the equipment but not the methodology.

Back in the 70's I wrote a lot of pop/rock. I had a band and we could put together things rather well and quickly As my playing skills. number of instruments advanced and I went to audio engineering school I'd write and record Steely Dan / Toto type jazz fusion. I'd score everything starting with the form and then filling in the sections on paper. I had lyrics, lousy lyrics that I couldn't sing which would become the formation of my melody playing. I did have a few bands but there would always be issues communicating ideas no matter how hard I'd spell things out and even played sections for other mates to learn. In the mid 90's I'd joined a rock blues band and decided to simplify things giving them a little more freedom and making for quick production time. They could learn the song in a week and be ready to play live. I have a good friend who plays drums, bass, guitar, keys and also sings. He writes and records folk rock (springsteen, dylan, mellancamp etc) the old fashion way laying down one instrument at a time all the way through. I can't do that anymore but I admire him for his dedication.

Right now I'm between distant ends. I write solo jazz guitar while trying to extend myself from Joe Pass plus tapping to Martin Taylor plus tapping. And then on the other side I'm trying to develop my grid (launchpad pro/linnstrument) skills with house and acid in mind. I don't expect some type of fusion to emerge. I just do each separately.

[foosnark]

based on what is naturally come out from you?

In most cases, guys who fit the above are not musicians, and do not write music. Especially on kvr.

Theory is important, genre rules are important, if you're ignorant of those, where are you going? And then you need the skills, and you need talent.

What a sad view of music.

Yeah, it's good to have some knowledge -- and then use that, intuitively, to do your own thing.

I studied classical violin, music theory, conducting, jazz piano, dabbled a little in Afro-Caribbean drumming, listened to a ton of Celtic and Nordic folk music, and performed with a taiko drumming group. And today I make music with modular synths and software that usually (but not always) comes out as somewhere in a vague cloud of drone - dark ambient - industrial - dark techno (and I don't aim for any of those in particular at the time that I start working on any given song). It is not based on consciously following any of the rules I learned in the past, though I'm sure those have some unconscious influence. I start making sound and follow where it leads in a Taoist sort of way.

But if you want to do a certain style, knowledge comes first. It just cannot 'come out of you'. You cannot just become an engineer, or a doctor... or write poetry in iambic hexameter.

That's a pretty tortured comparison. Science and art are not the same (and frankly, if all you can do is follow rules then you might as well have a computer write your poetry).

[lotus2035]

Drugs are bad, m'kay.

Which ones?

[JJ_Jettflow]

based on what is naturally come out from you?

In most cases, guys who fit the above are not musicians, and do not write music. Especially on kvr.

Theory is important, genre rules are important, if you're ignorant of those, where are you going? And then you need the skills, and you need talent.

But if you want to do a certain style, knowledge comes first. It just cannot 'come out of you'. You cannot just become an engineer, or a doctor... or write poetry in iambic hexameter.

You can have all the formal training you can get but if you lack creativity, it will do little to help. Music theory is one thing, using it creatively is another. Sometimes those with little or no formal training can produce extremely interesting music as opposed to those who know the rules and make dry, boring music.

And yes, music can just come out of you. Where else will it come? Out of learning theory? No . Music Theory will not make you a great composer, just an educated one.

[bbtr]

Tinkering with modulars is not playing a musical instrument, and making drone - dark ambient is not making music.

And my advice was simply what any teacher would tell any student - learn, study, practice, then play. But if you insist that monkey with a typewriter is a better approach to writing something meaningful and leaving a mark, and achieving recognition among peers - SO BE IT.

[donkey tugger]

Tinkering with modulars is not playing a musical instrument, and making drone - dark ambient is not making music.

It is. It's just not music that you like.

[JJ_Jettflow]

Tinkering with modulars is not playing a musical instrument, and making drone - dark ambient is not making music.

And my advice was simply what any teacher would tell any student - learn, study, practice, then play. But if you insist that monkey with a typewriter is a better approach to writing something meaningful and leaving a mark, and achieving recognition among peers - SO BE IT.

No, that is only your opinion as to what is and is not music. Music is an artform and is supposed to a tangible representation of one's personal feelings and is not/should not be restricted by rules. Rules should be there to guide but not be restrictive and are not completely necessary to convey the message of the artist. It is up to the individual to able to connect to it or not.

It is your opinion that ambient music is not music yet it exists, gets composed, gets recorded, gets sold and has been enjoyed by countless listeners for decades.

[vurt]

Drugs are bad, m'kay.

Which ones?

the ones you cant find?
i hate those ones.