Aja on 8/4/2019 at 13:25
Seconded. I want to hear them too. Soundcloud is still probably your best bet. It's specifically designed to upload random music to, and it's easy to link to tracks in forums and stuff. I use it for all the songs I've made that don't fit in any specific project.
Gray on 13/4/2019 at 03:13
Ok, I'll try to rework it a bit so it's somehow presentable, strip away the crappy bits like the, um "music", and focus on the drums and try to make them more interesting. If so, I'll post a link.
Failing that, I might post 12 seconds of six different layered basslines I'm quite pleased with, but meh, I might lose faith with that as well. I try to do new stuff, but I have a strong feeling that more clever people have done almost all of it before me, and better.
Aja on 20/4/2019 at 03:34
Quote Posted by Gray
I try to do new stuff, but I have a strong feeling that more clever people have done almost all of it before me, and better.
Most musicians worry about that, I imagine (I sure do), but I don't think it's a good reason to not try.
Gray on 1/7/2019 at 23:29
Ok, after being distracted by real life stuff for a couple of months, I'm getting back somewhat to making music again. I've been using the Android app Caustic lots, and made loads of unlistenable crap on it, and two tracks I'm very nearly almost proud of if I can edit them properly, which I'll probably never do. Caustic will only allow 14 tracks, which is a bit limiting, but it's a great tool to get ideas down fast. Before I research a proper music software tool kit, I'm considering buying some actual new hardware. I have a few old machines in boxes in my parents house in a country far far away, or lended to my brother-the-actual-musician, but after watching a synth documentary a couple of weeks ago I'm quite keen to get a new synth of some type or other with lots of sliders and immediate controls. But I also gave away my guitar, amp and FX pedals to my niece, she's more talented than I am and I couldn't be arsed to travel with it, and now I miss it am I'm considering buying a new one. And a ukulele. That was another quick little thing you may think of as a silly little joke, but it can actually be quite good to quickly get ideas down, so I might get one of those again.
Point being, I can't do all of those things at once, I'm not that rich. I could probably leave getting new software for a while, but I'm still gonna ask TTLG for suggestions. My questions are these:
* What music software would you recommend? I had my eyes on Reason a few years ago, but that has probably been surpassed by something else I've never heard of.
* I'm really very keen to get a new, modern keyboard with lots of sliders or knobs and realtime controls. It has to be very synthetic and not sample based, like a virtual analogue. Many years ago I had my eyes on the Roland JP-8000 or a Clavia Nord Lead (Swedish! I got a Clavia Nord Micro Modular, the coolest bit of gear I own, Clavia was the company that invented the virtual analogue), but there must be better machines out there now. Suggestions welcome. I grew up on the Roland Alpha Juno, and I know its synthesis very intimately, but the only controller you had was the Alpha Wheel. My Juno-60 has all the lovely sliders and direct access, except no MIDI. I never owned a Juno-106, but my bandmate did, and its basslines were almost as good as a 60, AND it had MIDI. Here in Scotland, a friend gave me his old Yamaha CS1x, which can do some reasonably neat stuff, but I haven't had the energy yet to delve into how to actually program the thing, so I've mainly used it as a master keyboard so far, or hooked it up to my Zoom RT-123 for late night drunken and ill-played nonsense.
* electric guitar, cheapest possible piece of crap because I severely lack the talent, I'll have to pay someone to teach me how to do it properly, I already failed spectacularly with my old one. My dist and flange pedals are in a box 1000 miles away, maybe I should get a multi-FX unit, and if so, which one? Definitely needs to have flange, dist and phasing.
* wildcard: the thing I didn't know I need, but you think I should look into. I'm open to unorthodox controllers, if it seems they could be actually useful, and not just for novelty value.
Any opinions welcome, just don't overestimate my ability. If I was any good at this shit you'd have heard it already. It's mainly to entertain myself, so you may have to dumb it down a bit. Thanks.
[Edit]
It appears I may finally have figured out how to upload my crap to SoundCloud. This is not that previously mentioned DnB track, that failed miserably, this is just a short experiment in 6/8 time signature to see if it works. It's a very rough edit, and will probably never be finished, it goes nowhere and does nothing, but it can serve a purpose as a test track, and one I'm not yet ashamed to be associated with, but not really proud of either. It's a "meh". The distorted sawsynth was supposed to be a guitar, but I didn't have the actual thingy, and I couldn't make it sound even vaguely similar, so I just gave up. Sorry. I can't lie, I am pretty smug about one particular second near the very end, where after a fade the music kicks back in. Then I didn't know where to go with it, so it just stops. As I said, lacking talent.
(
https://soundcloud.com/user-188042036/6-to-8-edit-1) https://soundcloud.com/user-188042036/6-to-8-edit-1
PigLick on 2/7/2019 at 14:43
Thats not bad, the first thing that came to mind is the soundtrack to a stealthy Deus Ex level. I really wanted to hear a Windowlicker style breakdown section though, a little bit too tame.
Gray on 2/7/2019 at 16:48
It is a bit tame, because I'm incompetent and severely lacking in talent. I think you'll find that everything else I'll later upload will also sound vaguely like a crappier, cheaper version of something else that someone did 20 years ago. Even when I think I'm being original, I'm clearly not. That 6/8 track has stolen bits of 3 different Depeche Mode tracks, plus a very remedial introduction on how to play drums sent to me by my brother the drummer, added to a melody that I think might be mine but probably isn't. I've not heard the track you're referring to, it may just be accidently similar because we stole from the same sources. Like I said, it doesn't really go anywhere, it's basically just a stolen groove with a melody I like.
[Edit]
Most of the other crap I make tend to be more melodic, and annoying so, almost always in G minor, this 6/8 is probably the only thing I've ever made that does not ever change its key. It's either that, or completely atonal noisy distorted drum machines that makes you want to punch yourself in the face. Or someone else's face.
PigLick on 2/7/2019 at 17:01
stealing is a time honored music tradition
demagogue on 3/7/2019 at 12:21
The answer to all of your questions is it really depends on what you want to focus on.
Re: Software, are we talking about recording other instruments & layering tracks, then Cuebase is fine.
If you want that but more cutting and loops, that's Fruity Loops.
Or are you talking about software that can actually synthesize and play music? Then there's Reason & all of its versions for each instrument type, Absynth (electronic & synthicizing), Band in a Box (good for jazz), and a lot of other things. (Band in a Box is cool for me because it can create completely new tunes and improvised solos so it's an endless stream of completely new music. I like taking one and changing it around to make it my own since then it doesn't really feel like "stealing" considering no one has ever even heard the song before it was generated.)
I use Sibelius a lot because I like to actually write out the sheet music, and that's best for that.
But everybody has their own preferences when it comes to making music.
Uh, keyboards same deal. What do you really want? If you want a keyboard with the best sounding natural instruments (piano and guitar and violin, etc.) that's Yamaha's turf. I have a Mox 8 and I love it. Korg's turf is electronic bloops and bleeps. And if you want to synthesize your own sounds, that's a whole other ball park but a Sequential in your budget is the one I'd recommend. Important factors are the size and weight vs. capabilities. Is this something you're going to keep in a studio that does everything or that you want to lug around to jam sessions and just does the few things you really want, or something in between? One thing about keyboards, it doesn't really matter the voices that come natively on it because whatever software you use, you can link any modern keyboard to play it. So the only thing that really matters is the touch & feel of it and using it away from your computer.
Electric guitar, even more than keyboards what matters is the touch & feel and sound you make out of it. I mean look for things like the action (the strings are a consistent distance above the fretboard), the string distance & fret size, really listen to different models on Youtube videos side by side, and pick the one that you like.
Re: wildcard, I've learned on Facebook that me, Jason Moyer, and faetal are all synth junkies. The two of them in particular are analog synth junkies. I like those too, but I've spent so much time with software synths (Absynth in particular) that I'm fine sticking with them. Synthing is more about the experience of playing with sounds than making music per se. But if you worry about all the discipline of learning to make "proper" music, synthing is a cool alternative because you kind of can't lose. Any cool sound you make is something you've made & can be proud of, and unlike a lot of music you can do it without really understanding what you're doing, in fact it probably helps not to be entirely sure what that button or dial does lol. As for recommendations, if you want go the modular route then they're so specialized and individualized it's almost impossible to recommend anything. But for a general purpose one with keyboard attached, I'd still recommend the Sequential here too.
Gray on 3/7/2019 at 22:42
I just came back from seeing Ministry play live. It was an awesome show. It reminded me of what actual musicians can make, and quite clearly pointed out how shit I am by comparison. As much as I loved the show, it completely destroyed my confidence in my own very limited ability. Dema, you made several very good points and I will reply to them later, once I've gotten over this blow to my confidence. It might take me a couple of weeks, but I do have things to say.
Tocky on 4/7/2019 at 01:18
Quote Posted by PigLick
Thats not bad, the first thing that came to mind is the soundtrack to a stealthy Deus Ex level. I really wanted to hear a Windowlicker style breakdown section though, a little bit too tame.
The piano is what needs to breakdown. Other than that a sinister voice singing a sinister low and sibilant song that builds to the breakdown. I like it. It has potential.