How do I ear candy?

[ghostwhistler]

I was listening to this:

(i'm trying to link to the track nine and a half minutes in but youtube is shit so I can't)

Which is a really great track using a bunch of presets someone made for the Repro 5 vst (emulation of the Prophet 5 synth). I think it's a great piece of music and the reverb is just lush.

What I'm interested in is how people write the kind of ear candy you hear throughout the track. Whether its modulating a filtre on an existing arp, or some synth noises washing in and out. I would love to learn the workflow because it seems to me, with the exception of modulation, you would have to create new tracks within the project just to add some noises or sounds like this, which seems a bit tedious (worth it I'm sure as the results speak for themselves).

Now maybe for pro musician's it's a bit easier, but when you're running so many different tracks I have to end up bouncing t down and that makes the whole process a bit harder since, if I want to edit something, i have to revert back to the original midi and delete the audio I've created. So anything that can make this process easier would help, but tracks like this are really what I would love to be creating. Repro 5 is lovely. Thanks

[eLawnMust]

Big fat sounds all mushed together but not much musical as the whole thing sounds the same... I would think that as far as the musical aspect of these segments that most KVR members could do all this perhaps each with their own 'take' as far as mix to have a more vibrant diversity in composition...

Fat sounds & constant ambient reverb & cinematic soundFX do not make great music...

[ghostwhistler]

Fat sounds & constant ambient reverb & cinematic soundFX do not make great music...

Respectfully, that isn't really the issue.

[T-CM11]

Now maybe for pro musician's it's a bit easier, but when you're running so many different tracks I have to end up bouncing t down and that makes the whole process a bit harder since, if I want to edit something, i have to revert back to the original midi and delete the audio I've created. ...

Use your DAW's freeze function.

[ghostwhistler]

Now maybe for pro musician's it's a bit easier, but when you're running so many different tracks I have to end up bouncing t down and that makes the whole process a bit harder since, if I want to edit something, i have to revert back to the original midi and delete the audio I've created. ...

Use your DAW's freeze function.

I am, that's what i said

[knowix]

I was only just recently thinking how vulgar the term "ear candy" was. It's an artefact of formula-sization and industrialisation of the creative process. Basically turning something - which would have had Stockhausen tearing his hair out in the 1950s due to how difficult it was for him to produce - into a default filler ingredient to prevent listeners getting bored of uninspired and formulaic loops.

If it's any consolation to people, the composers of formulaic music will be the first to be made irrelevant, by companies like Spotify using generative AI to produce "vibes" music to grazing listeners. And then even worse things will happen

[zerocrossing]

One thing that always works for me is a bit of stereo widening. For instance, I was recently working on a track with a funk style wah guitar. I couldn’t get it to sound right, no matter what amp or wah sim I tried. I had a good stereo plate reverb on it (Arturia) but it didn’t wake up until I hit it with Eventide’s MicroPitch set up for a wide stereo sound. What’s weird is that I almost always go for something like that. I’ve been using stereo chorus guitar amps since the 80s, but I wanted this track to have a more “old school 60s” vibe. In the end, being authentic to a period was the wrong choice for me.

In synthesis, look for instruments that let you use stereo unison spread, or have stereo offset in their filters. People go nuts for the new Prophet 5, but I’m much happier with my 6 with its voice panning. Omnisphere and Current both have cool stereo offset controls in some of their filters. Don’t use techniques like these on everything, but they work wonders when applied in moderation to an instrument in your track.

[donkey tugger]

Well I do loads of these kind of 'spot effects', but with vocals and guitars in general, but the principle is the same.

First way is, as you've outlined, to render a duplicate '100 wet' track to audio then use clips of this at the relevant points.

Second, and if it's not involving a whole load of changes at once, is to just use automation to turn effects on/off, increase/decrease levels etc. If you go to town with it you end up with an automation track which looks like a spider spinning webs on crack;

automation1.jpg

I like the term 'fairy dust' better..

[donkey tugger]

One thing that always works for me is a bit of stereo widening.

As a spot effect, the reverse is sometimes quite striking too - automate the stereo width to zero for a roll/fill or little section - can really capture the attention, particularly if you combine it with removing the reverb too. Think I first heard in on a Bjork song in the 90s.

[zerocrossing]

One thing that always works for me is a bit of stereo widening.

As a spot effect, the reverse is sometimes quite striking too - automate the stereo width to zero for a roll/fill or little section - can really capture the attention, particularly if you combine it with removing the reverb too. Think I first heard in on a Bjork song in the 90s.

That’s a good idea. I’ll try it in my current track. There’s a short organ solo that might benefit from having the guitar a bit “smaller.”

[vurt]

automation1.jpg

looks like my handwriting

[VOODOO U]

Asking KVRists how to produce anything considered "ear candy" is like asking prog rockers how to be funky.

[donkey tugger]

Asking KVRists how to produce anything considered "ear candy" is like asking prog rockers how to be funky.

I'm sure you can show us how it's done. Or are you going to come over all coy and reticent, again?

[VOODOO U]

Asking KVRists how to produce anything considered "ear candy" is like asking prog rockers how to be funky.

I'm sure you can show us how it's done. Or are you going to come over all coy and reticent, again?

Well, my grandparents were Satanists. Through them I learned the power of manipulating the environment by sacrificing life to the forces that demand offerings.
In return I got ear candy choruses and chocolate covered versus.
It got so good my life was threatened by those hired by certain big name artists who felt their music was jeopardized.
I never got a serious record contract because of it.
In short, be careful what you ask for. Don't take candy from strangers.

[enroe]

...

What I'm interested in is: How people write the kind of ear candy you hear throughout the track.

Whether its modulating a filtre on an existing arp, or some synth noises washing in and out. I would love to learn the workflow because it seems to me, with the exception of modulation, you would have to create new tracks within the project just to add some noises or sounds like this, which seems a bit tedious (worth it I'm sure as the results speak for themselves).

...

Your YouTube link: These are about 5 very pleasing, well-
composed electronic art snippets, somewhere between Jean
Michel Jarre and Vangelis.

The prerequisites for such mainstream ear candies are:

1. Basics of music theory

It's not about filter progressions, modulations or how to use a
DAW. It's about the knowledge of music theory fundamentals,
about what really makes such "ear-candies".

2. Composition already finished in your head

You have to have an auditory vision in your head of what you
want. This means that the composition should be finished in
your head beforehand. A good intermediate step that many
really good, professional musicians do is to write the
composition on paper.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, when you start working on a song with filter gradients or
sounds and think about bouncing or freezing, it's like thinking
about the color of the tiles on the roof when you're building a
house. But you have to start with the foundation and the walls
themselves.