I've been making some music lately

[PyramidHead]

Well, I've been making music all my life, just not for public consumption until recently.

My workflow is to capture samples of audio that I find interesting for whatever reason--in the case of the album commuter, directly from FM radio stations as they were playing--and recombine them with each other in loops and sequences. Sometimes I add my own embellishments, but mostly it's just snatches of other people's music, altered both sonically and by virtue of their new context within each track.

I just released an album in which I applied this approach to the music I grew up listening to: progressive rock, classical, fusion jazz, avant-garde stuff, and various movie or TV soundtracks. It's called "Collector".

If any of this seems like something you'd wanna check out, head over to my page and give it a listen or a download. Everything is name-your-price.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

I'm not a music person, PyramidHead, but I am constantly awed by the creativity and eclectic interests of TFTers. Hope you do well with it.

I liked what I heard.

 

[another1]

Pyramidhead I like those songs. Sampling is fun. Eventually I was recording everything 24/7 through a xonar essence and pro tools or whatever. I'd just jot down the time it was when I heard something interesting. Scroll back, truncate and throw it in. I started with 16bit Roland gear back in 91 and once MOTU was in my hands it was over with. Total creative control. Got me into computers big time. My genre was Gabber. I quit making music but it was very fun while my enthusiasm was fresh. I imagine the tech they have nowadays makes it a blast.

 

[another1]

oh and yoooooo. An external sampler and a sequencer on an actual keyboard workstation is an experience. There is a lot of cool software out there lately and I know a few people using it, but seriously if you would like to add novelty and some more interesting sounds to the songs - workstations, and like those little Akai or Roland samplers are the BEST thing in the world. I'm not talking about the stupid stuff that dj's use on stage or whatever. Well I suppose they do use the same gear, but they don't use it to the max. They use 20% of the capabilities. You can compose a friginn masterpiece if you read the books that come with it, or even take a class. Guess youtube would help, but then you'd be in a bad element. DJ's dwell there. Millions of them, and they can corrupt your imagination.

There are some Kurzwiel or Roland Workstations that are better than a computer. I mean.. they are computers, but bare software on a machine vs a machine designed to do what the software mimics... there is no actual debate there. And what is up with spinning records? We all know by now.. the record is useless if there is a laptop with your gear. And on and on, but I would suggest any songwriter start with an 88 key workstation. I had some Korgs that were bleh. Karma, X3 and something from the (extremely expensive) 0 series that broke. Korg is kinda for chumps to be Frank. But to be Damon ima tell you that a Roland workstation is what all musicians need.

DJ culture mutilated consumer equipment and warped the idea of music altogether. It is really important to ignore DJ's until they go away. You said "I'm making music", which is so respectable. Oh my God you have no idea, because 400x a day, a new DJ is born. "I'm a DJ". If 500 of them would die each day, we'd be out of the woods by 2020, but at this rate it will never end. You've got an industrial touch so I have no complaints on you, and you're not a complete whore like these DJ people out here. That is really the only reason I bothered to discuss my gear preferences, so no offense at all.

But yeah, when I added the computer and Mark of the Unicorn, it was total madness. I may be the person. That guy. The one who created Gabber, dude. I think it was me. Given that nobody knows what Gabber is, it is no great feat, but yeah. I look back in time and notice that the best sounds I came up with were always because of mistakes. My friend would be like hey turn it off, it is sequencing and looping weird sounds and it might break. I denied his request because that was the entire point. I was of the school of cEvin Key but wasn't aware of it until years later when I read one of his interviews. He said his goal was to make electronics do things they weren't comfortable with doing. Sampling the sounds when the keyboard starts moaning in dysfunction is pretty much the point. Understanding why they moan is a whole other level, and that is probably why some people are better at electronic music than others. I never understood, personally. I didn't see why I needed to. The sound was easy to produce. You can stretch a pitch out to sound like the beginning of time. There is nothing you can't do with pitch. That was my main toy on the X3, because it would start glitching up and it made a glorious sound. Sort of like a whale, or a bunch of whales. And a wood chipper?

I bash Korg a lot because they have failed me in the past, but an old school, expandable Korg is all a person needs, IF they're willing to read the manual. The technology has gotten easier but not better. Know what I mean? You could get a used Korg and do everything you ever wanted and more, IF you can read manuals. Most good workstations came with a dvd back in the day, but that still will not teach the intricacies of sequencing without quantizing. Straight sequencing is a hard thing to do but it really gives feeling to electronic music. Today's equipment allow you to choose what level of quantization, which is pretty cool. I'd still choose none. "Hello I am a robot, may I please make your beat absolutely perfect?" It gets to feel stale when beats are not slightly flawed, in my opinion. The flaws are what the brain reacts to. This guy I know can't code to certain music because it isn't absolutely perfect. Like the beat isn't 100% on point so it breaks his concentration. He likes this weird ass Japanese minimalist crap. I think that is the point of music. Interrupting? Why make it perfect?

 

[another1]

Listened to more. Good stuff, thank you for sharing.

You like sampling, which is awesome. Try something sometime. You can probably do it with software. External gear with a lotta knobs is better but I've done it with both.

So you've got a sample of something, right? You can make that one sound clip into an entire song. Album if you want.

You gotta shave the thing down a far as you can. Should be a button that says truncate. That is when more than a few knobs comes in handy. Big, medium and small numbers at the fringes of the sound you sampled. If you have a good workstation you can work them into a square wave. Like a key you can touch when you want to speed up or slow down the smallest numbers.

Eventually you'll get some really rubber-bandish sounds that you can tweek out. Then start stacking new samples into a sequence from that. The numbers are weird because you can go really, really close to nothing, while making a sound that is wider than an entire orchestra. I recommend an oldschool Akai, Roland... and it doesn't matter if it is a 16 bit analog machine when it comes to this effect. You can carry it over and polish it up 24 bit later in your software and through your aftermarket computer gear.

I'm almost wanting to link an example but I know there is nothing on you tube that will do this justice.

It sounds like Plasma or something MOTU you're using but I can't really tell. You're not overdoing things, which I enjoy. I wouldn't be able to listen if it was some bs, and I wouldn't really care to speak about it.

What software are you using? What aftermarket gear? Onboard laptop sound is fine, with some of the advancements in software nowadays. I'd be interested to hear you work with a really well designed workstation keyboard because chances are you're probably able to figure out the manual, given what I take from conversations. It is hard to learn that stuff. Going to a recording class comes in handy but still that is needless given today's technology. Depends on what you want to sound like really.

I'd always start my rig with a KEYBOARD. A Nordlead from 2002 could be the perfect foundation for a completely original sound. Or an old Roland. You gotta get used to hard disk, but hell. Sound is sound. You'd need about $3,000 to build your physical rig. The software part is free but if you plan to pay for it, a virtual moog I'd suggest buying. Native Instruments or something like that would compliment a vicious sample maniac. I bet you'd destroy a Moog on a laptop. Add a lot more to your budget and get a real one if you're feeling crazy. Cool instrument if you like to sample. Coolest instrument on the planet actually. Alesis Air FX is a very original instrument as well. The D-Beam stuff, but before it was cool. Hard to find them but grab one if you see it. Lifetimes of fun. Korg Kaoss is a dream come true but this wanders into the DJ realm. The sounds like "decimator" and all that... you'd have to completely reprogram your gear to get away from those dumb DJ FX and experiment with your own. There are som many cool FX to get lost in if you buy something external to play with while using midi and running another world of sound in another machine. I've never made it past using four machines at once, in any live situation. But Live isn't the point with experimentation. Time, enthusiasm and imagination + a rig is capable of bending space dude. Sound is the SHIT. Problem is DJ culture. Key word culture. They get set in their ways. Experimental noise and whatnot are where it is at, wouldn't you agree?

If you have the money you can build a perfect machine that will make sounds that have never been heard. Some of them may even be melodic. I mean, it would be a collection of devices. The software can be driven insane, I've noticed. You have to reboot. Physical gear is the same. Recording them when they moan out and then sampling and repeating. That I guess is a raw kind of experimental music but it is unexplored for the most part, and worth trying.

 

[Angry Floof]

Good stuff! Your longing is strong enough is mesmerizing me as we speak.

edit: Playing at the hard case is sexy as all get out. Gonna buy the shit out of this album.

 

[Ford]

My workflow is to capture samples of audio that I find interesting for whatever reason--in the case of the album commuter, directly from FM radio stations as they were playing--and recombine them with each other in loops and sequences. Sometimes I add my own embellishments, but mostly it's just snatches of other people's music, altered both sonically and by virtue of their new context within each track.

It reminds me of my old college roommate, who (among his other artistic endeavors) does collage work.

Very interesting stuff you've got there.

 

[WAB]

Well, I've been making music all my life, just not for public consumption until recently.

My workflow is to capture samples of audio that I find interesting for whatever reason--in the case of the album commuter, directly from FM radio stations as they were playing--and recombine them with each other in loops and sequences. Sometimes I add my own embellishments, but mostly it's just snatches of other people's music, altered both sonically and by virtue of their new context within each track.

I just released an album in which I applied this approach to the music I grew up listening to: progressive rock, classical, fusion jazz, avant-garde stuff, and various movie or TV soundtracks. It's called "Collector".

If any of this seems like something you'd wanna check out, head over to my page and give it a listen or a download. Everything is name-your-price.

Cool. I think I recognized some Peter Gabriel in "I don't really hate you". ?

I think I thought I was listening to that song the other night. I mean the PG one.

I will see if I can download some of your tracks if I can rescue my bandcamp account. I had a recent computer crash, and I lost lots of passwords (I forgot where I wrote them down, if I wrote them down) and tons of music - lots of it from bandcamp & Cryo Chamber. I really got into dark ambient music, like Atrium Carceri. I loved to fall asleep to it. I love downtempo, lounge, almost any kind of electronic music, for relaxation.

I've got 30+ tracks on Soundcloud that I hope to try and sell on bandcamp once I get my Sh%t together. Ian Trevor is my rock star wannabe name. (I had hair once.)

Hey PyramidHead - Your avatar has always reminded me of Buckethead. Bucket's a genius if there ever was one. [Here's where things get silly >] When I become a full-fledged rock star and Super-Duper Hyper-Entertainment-Master-Of-Cleveland-Toledo-And-Possibly-Grand Falls (SDHEMOCTAPGF for short: pronounced: shemok-tape, or garglemore, depending on your area) I plan on wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, just to be way different than Buckethead. Ozzy Osbourne will hire me as his axe-man, unless he's at the Assisted Living in Beverly Hills by that time.

[Hi Spikey! ]

 

[PyramidHead]

Well, I've been making music all my life, just not for public consumption until recently.

My workflow is to capture samples of audio that I find interesting for whatever reason--in the case of the album commuter, directly from FM radio stations as they were playing--and recombine them with each other in loops and sequences. Sometimes I add my own embellishments, but mostly it's just snatches of other people's music, altered both sonically and by virtue of their new context within each track.

I just released an album in which I applied this approach to the music I grew up listening to: progressive rock, classical, fusion jazz, avant-garde stuff, and various movie or TV soundtracks. It's called "Collector".

If any of this seems like something you'd wanna check out, head over to my page and give it a listen or a download. Everything is name-your-price.

Cool. I think I recognized some Peter Gabriel in "I don't really hate you". ?

I think I thought I was listening to that song the other night. I mean the PG one.

You're correct! And, for anybody else who might want to know what's in these tracks, click each song individually for that info as well as the "lyrics" such as they are. A lot of artists are really cagey about the samples they use (maybe because it'll bring some legal troubles down on their heads?) but I think spotting them and checking to see if you were right is half the fun.

Many thanks to you, Angry Floof, and Ford, and anybody else who's enjoying my stuff.

 

[another1]

Alright so I looked it up. Congrats. Karplus Strong Synthesis was the actual definition. They did math equations in the early 80's apparently. When I stumbled onto it with my malfunctioning X3 I thought I was onto something. They had it all sewn up already but it was still very fun to create this effect and then midi to a small computer and use old MOTU software's sequencer - then back to sequence on the X3 (probably why it malfunctioned because it was a 32 voice synthesizer). Thrilling. The software wigged out the highly limited X3 and made the string synthesis sound into a whaling sound that I captured several times. Then I repeated. It does get a metallic sound eventually (unless you're quick, lucky or very good at math) but there are ways to stretch it back out obviously. That makes the rubber-bandish sound I mentioned.

This guy in the vid has gone light years beyond anything the X3 and my computer did, but look at what he is working with. Technically a monkey could do this if you locked it in a room of razorblades and made the Karplus formula the key to exit the room. Dang monkey would be turning those little knobs like a maniac. I don't know how they go about those monkey experiments but razor blades have probably been included somewhere along the way so I used that as an example. Maybe donkeys could do it. Maybe any animal could crack that math formula on accident, but over and over. There are supposedly ancient doors in the world that will lock forever if you make the wrong sounds near them. Sounds pretty strange but just vibrations and very bored ancient people.

Get some really, really big speakers. So big you need a crane to set them up in your field. Build them. A speaker is the simplest thing in the world but anyway, there is software to let you do more than this video, right. Looks exactly like that on screen. Don't need the physical gear unless you are working with a team of goofy lookin DJ's in my opinion. When it comes to this anyway. Using physical gear and software in tandem by yourself is ideal. Well, you can probably KILL animals with sound. I figure that is a fun experiment. God only knows what you could do. You could probably take down satellites if you were dedicated enough. Blowing up a cow would be satisfying enough, but why stop there? Even with small monitors you can make cats run away and never come back because they have been hit by a vehicle due to deafness or insanity. Animals are more susceptible because they have super ears. The sounds we don't hear are in the Karplus formula and if you know math you should look at some of the experiments people do with it. Youtube is ripe with people who do not understand it, but using a keyboard, software or a bunch of expensive patching module crap they can make the effect.

This guy is the least annoying and he quickly explains the shortcut to the effect I was describing. He is creating a saw wave and not a square wave, but his modulator says "square wave" on it. Easy mistake. I think he is selling things and he is new school. Everyone has a different approach. I would buy every modular on that channel if I had it like that. I'd build a wall of the things, with absolutely NO idea how to use most of it. The things you could find out on your own.. Even if it is all in stone already, not knowing that fact, and discovering it in your own world is a rush. I'd love to see some monkeys, donkeys, children or even amphibians take a test using a synthesizer. A math formula in the form of sound. Say the tones they're required to make would open the door to freedom, throw them a food morsel, or whatever scientists do in those situations. Not really planning to do that because I can't afford it but it would be neat to see.

You can deafen a cat using a hearing aid actually. That is pretty much common knowledge. You shouldn't have animals around of you're listening to this stuff on your monitors because sound is dangerous, which is just an awesome thing to think about. Am I right? But yeah, keep destroying and please try this effect. There are others, and they are all apparently math formulas, to beat all hell. Buying a synth is fun if you have money. If you are good at math you should buy a Kurzweil workstation and some software will undoubtedly come with it, if it is in the $5,000 range. Seriously I wish I knew math, and had endless funds for gear because the the birds would fall dead from the sky for miles and miles. What would you do musically or experimentally if you had endless funds for some of these toys?

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rODmNS76KHg[/YOUTUBE]

 

[PyramidHead]

Listened to more. Good stuff, thank you for sharing.

You like sampling, which is awesome. Try something sometime. You can probably do it with software. External gear with a lotta knobs is better but I've done it with both.

So you've got a sample of something, right? You can make that one sound clip into an entire song. Album if you want.

You gotta shave the thing down a far as you can. Should be a button that says truncate. That is when more than a few knobs comes in handy. Big, medium and small numbers at the fringes of the sound you sampled. If you have a good workstation you can work them into a square wave. Like a key you can touch when you want to speed up or slow down the smallest numbers.

Eventually you'll get some really rubber-bandish sounds that you can tweek out. Then start stacking new samples into a sequence from that. The numbers are weird because you can go really, really close to nothing, while making a sound that is wider than an entire orchestra. I recommend an oldschool Akai, Roland... and it doesn't matter if it is a 16 bit analog machine when it comes to this effect. You can carry it over and polish it up 24 bit later in your software and through your aftermarket computer gear.

I'm almost wanting to link an example but I know there is nothing on you tube that will do this justice.

It sounds like Plasma or something MOTU you're using but I can't really tell. You're not overdoing things, which I enjoy. I wouldn't be able to listen if it was some bs, and I wouldn't really care to speak about it.

What software are you using? What aftermarket gear? Onboard laptop sound is fine, with some of the advancements in software nowadays. I'd be interested to hear you work with a really well designed workstation keyboard because chances are you're probably able to figure out the manual, given what I take from conversations. It is hard to learn that stuff. Going to a recording class comes in handy but still that is needless given today's technology. Depends on what you want to sound like really.

I don't use any software except for recording the final stereo mix. I do everything on an Elektron Octatrack. Everything is mangled and arranged in there, and then I "perform" the sequence into my computer to record it to a file that I send to the studio for mastering on analog equipment. The sampling technique you're talking about sounds like single-waveform sampling, where you take just the tiniest sliver of audio and repeat it really fast until it creates an oscillation that sounds like a pitch, and then you can "play" that to generate melodies etc.

I'd always start my rig with a KEYBOARD. A Nordlead from 2002 could be the perfect foundation for a completely original sound. Or an old Roland. You gotta get used to hard disk, but hell. Sound is sound. You'd need about $3,000 to build your physical rig. The software part is free but if you plan to pay for it, a virtual moog I'd suggest buying. Native Instruments or something like that would compliment a vicious sample maniac. I bet you'd destroy a Moog on a laptop. Add a lot more to your budget and get a real one if you're feeling crazy. Cool instrument if you like to sample. Coolest instrument on the planet actually. Alesis Air FX is a very original instrument as well. The D-Beam stuff, but before it was cool. Hard to find them but grab one if you see it. Lifetimes of fun. Korg Kaoss is a dream come true but this wanders into the DJ realm. The sounds like "decimator" and all that... you'd have to completely reprogram your gear to get away from those dumb DJ FX and experiment with your own. There are som many cool FX to get lost in if you buy something external to play with while using midi and running another world of sound in another machine. I've never made it past using four machines at once, in any live situation. But Live isn't the point with experimentation. Time, enthusiasm and imagination + a rig is capable of bending space dude. Sound is the SHIT. Problem is DJ culture. Key word culture. They get set in their ways. Experimental noise and whatnot are where it is at, wouldn't you agree?

I don't know much about DJs today, but a lot of my inspiration actually comes from the hip hop pioneers of yesteryear like DJ Premier and J Dilla. The only effects Preemo really bothered with was maybe echo, a filter, and some reverb here and there. As far as keyboards go, I used a Teenage Engineering OP-1 to capture all the samples for commuter and add some synth accompaniment. Still did all the arranging and sequencing on the Octatrack for that one. And I just picked up an old sampling keyboard, the Ensoniq ASR-88, that I'm itching to try out but I need to wait for a repair part to arrive. Those old units had a character all their own.

 

[another1]

Ensoniq ASR-88 sounds oldschool. Like one of those expandable with hard disk machines. Totally the best when you have a computer to work with. Octatrack looks fun and unintimidating. Many never try making music because software is too complex.

The portable wonder looks like a revolutionary device that should be in schools. Was waiting for tech to catch up. Used to be, back in the day, you had to fiddle with knobs for hours. Now it is like kaplow there ya go DJ so and so. I like the idea but not DJ culture. There is a guy went under the title underground resistance and I feel he is a synth hip hop pioneer. It is ALL synth now, even if it doesn't sound like it, but this guy was on par with Pierre and all of the other pioneers of hip hop and electronic music in general.

There is more to the chipping up samples and tweeking some knobs, when trying to explain the effect I mentioned. You have to go to Mars Music or whatever music store in your area that allows you to play with the synths. Turn it up really loud and create that effect. They will kick you out but stumble as they approach you because it is a disorienting noise. It has more applications than music. Some people create light devices. Russians make spy equipment based on the same kind of frequency you can make right there in your home, right now - for free. My old boss said our office had prism windows because of that tech. I really liked playing with it just to annoy animals blocks away. Once you loop it back about a million times it will break your Ensoniq, but I promise it will be worth it.

Breaking musical equipment usually means that you have done something positive, and capturing the sounds of dying electronics - then playing the sounds to new purchases, it sounds like a kind of torture doesn't it? Like hey this is what is about to happen to you. Everything breaks, even the software. You have a split-second choice. Unplug it or document the sounds that come out when it breaks. It is expensive to make electronic music in my experience. Looks like they have the tough parts smoothed out and things are easier nowadays. I'd get lost on the Teenage Engineering OP-1 but it would be fun to see how much it can take before it malfunctions and fries. They put off a smell when they have had enough. Sauder and plastic or whatever. Unmistakable and sweet smell but it means there went some more money.

>>Oh I was closing out the page with the octo on it and noticed that it IS physical gear. It looked like software. Looks like fun. Makes you wish you had more hand huh

 

[another1]

Do you collect busted ass used gear? "Untested" but they donate for taxes and I guarantee it works.