The Studio Log - What Did You Do In The Studio

[mjolnir]

i got Phuturetone GR-8 working again on my Manjaro Linux system.
i failed attempt to fix the wine bug had screwed it up. but now it's mostly working again.
the interface flickers and I have to use REAPER's GUI for certain things, but it's pretty much still usable and sounds good.

[Constructed Identity]

Well I just switched a rough draft off my modular to another DAW-centric, 7/4 time, slow-burner of a track. I think this is going to be my signature style. Probably like everything else I’ve made in my life it will be ignored and forgotten, but I’ll never forget the one professor I had my first quarter at Marylhurst who said 4/4 music is ‘boring’. I don’t think a classical music conductor would ever like techno, but I am influenced by all kinds of music and it’s time to go my own way stylistically.

[mjolnir]

I finally made another tune and also declicked a different one where I had actual audio dropouts in the waveform! yuck!
But I got both tasks done. I'm still not sure if I want to post on SoundCloud anymore, but my composing has made tiny gains.
Also, I installed Tunefish VSTi.

[cryophonik]

Spent some time yesterday and today re-re-revisiting a song I recorded with a singer nearly a year ago. The truth is, I absolutely hate what she came up with because it doesn’t even come close to matching the vibe of the original song idea I sent to her (which I really like), but she loves her vocals and is a little upset that she spent so much time on it and I haven’t finished it. I’ve tried several times now to come up with something I can live with, but I hate even listening to it now. Ugh.

[mjolnir]

I'm recently just doing a lot of listening to my older tunes; I'm trying to decide which ones to remix and how.

Also, I've been deleting some of the naff versions which "didn't make the cut". It helps me to realise which of my techniques worked and which ones didn't.

Also, I'm setting up a portable listening station in my room where I have a different set of speakers and acoustics. It's just a different set of computer speakers, but sometimes I feel like they do a better job representing the music than my main set. They are analogous to Auratones.

[mjolnir]

Today I improved one of my older tunes and uploaded it to SoundCloud:
Pretty much it was some strategic overdubs.
I'm not sure yet how it compares to the original, but it seems okay.

It's called "Developing", and this is the "Folded Space Remix" of it.

UPDATE: Also, I consolidated and compressed my backups of my Windows VSTs, which freed up a GiB of space. I didn't need to keep backups of VSTs which crash, so it freed up my system.

[elxsound]

Spent some time yesterday and today re-re-revisiting a song I recorded with a singer nearly a year ago. The truth is, I absolutely hate what she came up with because it doesn’t even come close to matching the vibe of the original song idea I sent to her (which I really like), but she loves her vocals and is a little upset that she spent so much time on it and I haven’t finished it. I’ve tried several times now to come up with something I can live with, but I hate even listening to it now. Ugh.

Have you tried saying something along the lines of... "I really like it, but I keep getting this nagging feeling, something is missing. I think this could be amazing if we switched it up with a few minor tweaks."

[mjolnir]

I practiced using LMMS today and learned a few more commands.
As a step editor for drum machine programming, it's alright.

Also, I remapped my Yoshimi soundbank into LMMS's listing, so I can load the Yoshimi banks in ZynAddSubFX (built into LMMS).
Most of them are identical, but there's a few extras since Yoshimi is newer.

The auto-quantize of LMMS helps me to record faster when I play in melodies.
But the lack of mixer and full VST/VST3/LV2 support is a bit maddening.

Overall, I kind of reasessed my DAW and personal capabilities.
I'm still dependent upon REAPER.

[Constructed Identity]

Mastered the track I mentioned earlier and played around with recordings I made using the Edge’s internal sequencer out into the new effect pedal. I also got started on a third 7/4 track. I was up until 12 last night and I feel it.

[cryophonik]

Spent some time yesterday and today re-re-revisiting a song I recorded with a singer nearly a year ago. The truth is, I absolutely hate what she came up with because it doesn’t even come close to matching the vibe of the original song idea I sent to her (which I really like), but she loves her vocals and is a little upset that she spent so much time on it and I haven’t finished it. I’ve tried several times now to come up with something I can live with, but I hate even listening to it now. Ugh.

Have you tried saying something along the lines of... "I really like it, but I keep getting this nagging feeling, something is missing. I think this could be amazing if we switched it up with a few minor tweaks."

Sorta, but minor tweaks won't save it. The first time we recorded it, it was just bad (her interpretation, not her singing ability). The song has a very low-key chill house vibe that needed a vocal to match, but she came in with this Maria Carey-esque over the top wailing diva vocal part with all the vocal acrobatics she could throw in, despite me previously sending her examples of what I wanted. I just remember sitting there thinking to myself "how the hell could anyone listen to this chillout piece and think those deafening vocals would fit it?!" So, we had a discussion afterward and she came back a few weeks later with new lyrics and changes to the melody, we lowered the key to better fit the new melody and bring it down to a not-so-screamy register, and recorded a better version, but still way too much diva for my taste and for the song. At this point, I'm just trying to finish the song with the vocals as they are, put a fork in it and call it done. Who knows, maybe I'll hear it fresh and anew in a few years and love it.

As a bit of a compromise, I had also sent her another more soulful and upbeat 90s-ish house song idea that would work great with her style, but she hasn't come up with anything for it yet and that was almost a year ago.

[donkey tugger]

I think, for now, I've managed to sort out relative volume levels for my next, err, album. Doing a relatively varied mixed bag of bollocks in terms of style, dynamics etc, I do make this rather hard for myself.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Rearranged my eurorack drums case. Out went ADDAC noise and toms plus an Erica Synths analogue Hats module, in came the Endorphin.es Blck Noir. Just the hour or so spent playing with it has completely sold me on its DJ style filter, I set up a sequence and then used an offset attenuated random walk CV from Pam’s Pro to drive filter cutoff and suddenly it all sparked to life.

[crimsonwarlock]

Working on a big combinator (in Reason obviously) based on BeatMap, to generate continuous slight variations in my drum tracks. It's getting pretty close to sounding like a human drummer, and it is close to impossible to program by hand what this is doing.

[mjolnir]

I spent a good day working on some new rhythmic phrases and saved them with each BPM in each name.
Also, today I deleted FL Studio (demo) because I only really used the step editor for drums and I get the exact same functionality + ability to save and reopen projects from LMMS. I still export to WAV stems and load them into REAPER for further overdubs.

I'm also trying to get more tonal audio samples so I can use those in LMMS via drag and drop. It already comes with some OGG samples but I'm not really into those sounds very much. Most of the built-in instruments are for Chiptunes, but I'm not really into that either. But the built-in ZynAddSubFX is a good synth that I like a lot. It's especially good at full sounding smooth pads that aren't hidden by reverb.

I also installed a few string instruments for a Dulcimer/Zither type of sound.
In general, I'm making progress but I'm frustrated because I have musical ideas in my head, but not enough instruments yet to pull it off and meanwhile WAY TOO MANY JUNKY PRESETS.

I might delete Surge XT too. It's capable of good sounds, but it's presets are trash junk to my ears.
I already deleted Vital because all the presets sound like Brostep trash to my ears.

[resynthesis]

I think, for now, I've managed to sort out relative volume levels for my next, err, album. Doing a relatively varied mixed bag of bollocks in terms of style, dynamics etc, I do make this rather hard for myself.

Wouldn't that be a scrotum?