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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Music Players, Production, and Experimentation - Part 5

Updated and added a few more playlists to my YouTube account.
  • Alternative-Hip-Hop-23-Dec-14
  • Classic-Disco-24-Dec-14
  • Classical-19-Dec-14
  • Foreign-Hip-Hop-and-R&B-19-Dec-14
  • Lounge-24-Dec-14 overlaps Chillout-4-Dec-14 because style is very similar at times
  • Latin-and-Tango-4-Dec-14 has become Latin-Chillout-and-Tango-4-Dec-14 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwVJG67iHHPbmBxuHVbyOlw/playlists
After the recent end of production of the Apple iPod Classic it's become clear that the total number of options available in the high capacity digital music department have dwindled drastically (everyone is basically going to Flash or SSD based storage). There are some options from Fiio, an extremely option from Sony, plus using smartphones with support for high capacity flash based storage. If you're willing to buy used products other options may be the Tonium Pacemaker or old iPod Classics (they're selling for multiples of what they were selling last at retail now on eBay and Gumtree).

Another option are high storage wireless based devices.

Been struggling with sound engineering of late. Have wondered whether or not it's simply easier to go for transiest shaper VST's across the board.
http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/01/05/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-transient-shaper-vstau-plugins/

Someone questioned why it seemed easy for me to improvise. I was curious about this as well. I think for the most part it's been about listening to heaps of music since I was young.
http://www.perfectpitch.com/perfectrelative.htm
Been having major struggles of late how to relate percussion to melody. The best music I've come across seems to have tracks and sections which blend perfectly  into one another and where the relative complexity and tempo remains roughtly the same. A bigger toolkit (software or hardware) also helps. Look at work of 'Groove Armada', 'Artful Dodger', and 'Kaskade' and you'll understand what I mean.

A lot of software allows for automated scale selection (useful for me because I tend to select notes based on ear rather than selecting a key first). For those who don't who just prefer the old fashioned mechanism please consider the, 'circle of fifths'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths

Think about use of Melodyne and Antares Auto-Tune for easier composition if you're lazy. Record whistling or singing as a 'WAV'. Import it into Melodyne and then convert the notes into MIDI for import into Ableton or other DAW software.

Some interesting stuff I've come across recently. Possibly worth reworking/remixing them (looking around for good stems for remixing but am willing to work with existing songs if necessary).
  • Nice track but could have really done something with some note changes here and there. Strange use of panning at times, bit muddy, could have been clarified a bit in multiple frequency ranges. Could have done with master bus (or simply another layer) over the top to add some common effects to the overall track that are common to Latin and Tango tracks (Vinyl distortion, bitcrushing, equalisation, compression, etc...). Some sections don't blend into one another as a stronger song should, could be interesting for samples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edHXUHTCvBI 
  • Great overall. Some beautiful sections but a little bit disjointed. Bridges (personally, currently struggling with this) into breakdowns use heavy delay, reverb. Breakdowns similarly awkward at times (feel and emotion is just way off). More active strings/harmonica in parts, realy bring out the best in the musician/clip/instrument in question. Rain effect possibly replaced with heavy vinyl distortion effect? Just strange with that muddied sound. Bring up velocity or mixing volume of the piano in some parts? Better use of velocity/dynamics in some parts. Could have used some light scratching in some sections and some glitching if you going for an Alternative Hip Hop and Latin feel to it, made more use of panning and other effects to create better atmosphere. The best tracks that I've come across you can often close you're eyes and you're sitting right in front of the ochestra or band itself. You can't do that here. Ripe for sampling or remixing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOYb9CV2qoQ
  • Ripe for sampling/remix... Heavier percussion in sections. Overlay scratching in parts. Some glitching. Perhaps electrical guitar over top. Vinyl distortion, bitchrushing for greater character. Really bring out some instruments and dynamics of them... Aware that lazy feel is common to this particular style/genre of music though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2dFLlaEaIU
  • Overall nice, downtempo track. Slow down vibrato/tremolo rate on some synthesiser sections. Suffering from distortion in the mix in the lower end bass and percussion area. Could have done with some extra complexity/variation in the percussion/synthesiser pad area. Am using monitor style headphones (Audio Technica ATH-M50X) so believe it may be the mix rather than equipment. Deals with high frequency harshness nicely. Feels like, low pass (or multi-band) filter, EQ, compressed, etc... Extra reverb plus some delay across the board on the bus to emphasise atmosphere? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhskiBuoIiY
  • Lacks oomph, character. A bit lost at times but that is particular to this genre. Greater dynamics across the board. Extra complexity on percussion, staccato shorter, more sincupated rim. Violin string section slightly more active at times. Clarify sound, enhance detail or is that just this particular copy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c1ngk41fm0
Looking to try some remix competitions. Looking for stems...
Note that there may be a lot of restrictions depending on where you get the stems from. Also that many competitions force you to forfeit right to royalties. You may get prizes/recognition though.

Interesting stuff from these guys (from a song that I found elsewhere).
http://www.chilloutmusic.yolasite.com

- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
http://sites.google.com/site/dtbnguyen/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/
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