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TraxWeekly Issue 096
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founded march 12, 1995 _| : _____ t r a x w e e k l y # 96
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/ / / / /\ _ The Music Scene Newsletter __ __\__\/
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/ / \ \ \ \_\ \ \ \_\ \ //____/\____\/ / / /
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| TraxWeekly Issue #96 | Release date: 1 May 1997 | Subscribers: 912 |
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/-[Introduction]------------------------------------------------------------
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Welcome to TraxWeekly #96, and boy, you'd better be hungry!
Our feature article this week is from bibby [phluid], covering some
advanced music theory for those of you who are so inclined. In depth
coverage on chords and modulations as well as an analysis on the basic
structure of music are topics we don't often discuss, and I hope you will
all enjoy it!
We welcome Justin Ray (aka Zinc) back onto the TraxWeekly staff this week
after losing him a few months ago to time and educational constraints. As
you all can see, TraxWeekly's staff has shrunk significantly. I would
gladly welcome any new writers who have the time to contribute to the
newsletter on a weekly basis. I know it's a volunteer job, and probably
doesn't garner any major benefits, but hey: we're all in the scene
together, and we might as well enjoy it while we can, eh? =)
Features for next week: The Modsquad will return with their seventh
column on music theory (and associated humor), along with a special #trax
opinion piece by Zinc on music trends. Also, I will have the low down on
Nemesis' musicdisk 'Crimson Waters,' which has been sitting on my hard
drive for almost two weeks now waiting to be experienced. =)
BTW, http://www.citenet.net/noise/it/ has version 2.12 of Impulse
Tracker that came out two weeks ago or something like that. Check it
out, it's excellent. As a side note: please do not pirate Jeff Lim's
registered itwav.drv! I swear, whoever causes Jeff to terminate the IT
project because of illegally distributing the $30 version of itwav.drv
will face some maximum thrash...
Gene Wie (Psibelius)
TraxWeekly Publishing
gwie@csusm.edu
/-[Contents]----------------------------------------------------------------
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_\________\________\\___\____\ \_____\\_______\\___\____\ \_____\_______\
Letters and Feedback
1. Letter from Bojan Landekic
General Articles
2. Modes in Mods!?...............................bibby
3. Studio Tracking Tips..........................Zinc
4. Second Opinion................................Ming
5. Group Synergy.................................Phantasm
6. Second that second!...........................Steve Gilmore
Closing
Distribution
Subscription/Contribution Information
TraxWeekly Staff Sheet
/-[Letters and Feedback]----------------------------------------------------
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--[1. Letter from Bojan Landekic]-------------------------------------------
From fire@globalserve.netSun Apr 27 20:25:27 1997
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 23:07:46 -0400
From: Landekic <fire@globalserve.net>
To: gwie@mailhost1.csusm.edu
Subject: I'm NOT asking about a W3!!!
Hello there!
Just thought I'd say that I am one out of 900 subscribers so what I"m
asking may be irrelevant. I also know you said that "Traxweekly is a
letter not a web site", but I have to ponder a silly little query.
Wouldn't it be easier to maintain and distribute traxweekly if it was on
the web site as WELL as mailed out? I understand that not everyone has
WWW access, that's why you mail them, but for those who do, a TraxWeekly
file online, no graphics, no sha-bams, no fancy-shamancy NS/MS crap,
just a plain .TXT file somewhere on the web would do a job of promoting
TraxWeekly to a wider audience, and it wouldn't require any extra work,
a simple script could just copy the file to "traxcurrent.html" file or
whatever everytime you mail it....??
Bojan Landekic (http://www.globalserve.net/~fire/scavengers)
p.s. Thanks for making this newsletter possible, without it, I wouldn't
be enjoying my spare time as much as I do,... so thanks once again!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You're not the first (and probably not the last =) person to ask about
TraxWeekly in a web format or web based distribution. In response, I wish
to direct all of you to http://www.hornet.org, page of the world famous
Hornet Archive. There, under the section "Information" and the sub section
"TraxWeekly" you will find all the issues of TraxWeekly you will ever need.
The newsletter is released concurrently over the listserver as well as on
ftp.hornet.org (ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/), so you will find the new issue
every Thursday or Friday, depending on whether or not it has been
released. =)
-psib
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/-[General Articles]--------------------------------------------------------
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--[2. Modes in Mods ?!]--------------------------------------------[bibby]--
What an absurd concept!
"I've heard of Modes, but I still don't know what they are, how to use
them, ect.." Well, I'd love to just dive straight into it, but I feel
compelled to help those that have made the above statement before. The
beauty of all the teaching I've ever had comes from applying what you learn
to another situation, thereby making it not new, but realizing that you
knew it the whole time and didn't know it.
How many beginning guitar or piano players out there have made a simple
song involving the movement from a G7 to C? Congrats, you just nailed the
entire purpose behind the Mixolydian Mode! What?! I did?. . . .wow..
To understand fully, I'll have to start from the beginning.
**** But FIRST **** -> I'd like to personally petetion All those that read
this to email Pulse to build a switch in Impulse Tracker that changes all
"#'s" to "b's" to make it easier to track in keys that have flats instead
of sharps. Nothing has annoyed me more than seeing that Cmin triad of
C-D#!-G, . .This will tie into my article by pointing this out:
The whole purpose of a scale is that every next note is of a different
letter.
Maj C-D-E -F-G -A -B-C
min C-D-Eb-F- G-Ab-Bb-C. . .
...all this will come together. Trust me. Ever seen an E# ? a B#? I have.
C#maj scale (7#'s) C#-D#-E#-F#-G#-A#-B#-C#
what the f--- is that? isn't the pitch of an E# the same exact pitch as
an F natural? Yep. But wether it is sharp or flat or natural, anything E
in the key of C indicates a 3rd, anything D in C is a 2nd(9th). So when I
see C-D#-G, I see 1-#9-5 , which all you Jimi Hendrix fans know as Purple
Haze when played in Emaj, 1-3-5-#9.
-side note, that 4-note chord does have a major AND minor 3rd,... but when
thinking theory, it's not a minor 3rd, it's a #9, and THAT's what annoys me
about the C-D#-G traid. Just like C is not the 7th of a C#. 7th means B,
and it's a B#. Get it? Good. You'll need to cuz I'm moving on.
(I don't ever expect Pulse to make IT understand an E#, but I'd like to
track an Eb at least. .. . . .please.. they're only characters to a
computer, right?)
*** 2. ***
Ever play a major scale with triads before? Or have seen it done. It easy.
I'll do it in C, cuz every one knows C. I'm taking my Cmaj triad, C-E-G-C
(adding an octave on the last C , it helps...) ...And inscreasing the
steps, but keeping it in key (meaning don't let any sharps or
flats stick out as long as your in C) Track this: and go through with
the (8) key.
1 C-E-G-C
2 D-F-A-D
3 E-G-B-E
4 F-A-C-F
5 G-B-D-G
6 A-C-E-A
7 B-D-F-B
8 C-E-G-C
There, a Cmaj scale with triads,,, .. . but look at step 3, isn't that
an Eminor triad, and a Dmin, and there's a Amin too, ,, !!! Let me reveal
these. ..
1 C-E-G-C maj
2 D-F-A-D min
3 E-G-B-E min
4 F-A-C-F maj
5 G-B-D-G maj
6 A-C-E-A min
7 B-D-F-B h-dim (b3,b5)*
8 C-E-G-C maj
(*- this a half-dim. Know the difference? A Whole diminished contains a
double-flat 7th, and an extra step is added to the scale to compensate. A
half-diminshed just has a flat 7th. Half diminshed chords are also
sometimes written as a -min7b5. Sometimes a #9 is also applied)
So in the key of C, You can use any of these triads in your song and it'll
fit the key. DON'T STOP HERE. Let's take this one more step further...
...remember that G7?
***3.***
What about the G7?
Well, you take take the info I gave above on a 'real' scale, and learned
the circle of fifths on increasing and decreasing the number of flats and
sharps in a key, you'll know that a Gmaj scale as one sharp, F#.
G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G. Now, look above, according to that scale with triads, I
can use a Gmaj in my song in C. (---severe sidenote--- does everyone know
the difference between a G7 and a Gmaj7? cuz I've ad people stop me before
to explain it, but once I do it's easy to move on, I just don't want to
confuse anyone. A chord with the 7th step of the scale is a major7th chord:
C-E-G-B , G-B-D-F# , E-G-B-D#.<-All major7th chords. But a 'seventh' chord
has a flat 7th: C-E-G-Bb , G-B-D-F, E-G-B-D. HERE'S WHY. In any other kind
of chord, they specify how they the step altered, b5 , #9 , b13, . ... and
such, but what if you saw this: Eb7 . Would it mean (Eb)7 or E(b7) ? Big
difference. So when you see a 7, it means b7 , and when you see a maj7 , it
means add the 7th step.---)
Why choose a G7 chord over a Gmaj7 in the key of C? Let's see.
G maj scale --- G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G
Gmaj7 (1-3-5-7) G-B-D-F#
G7 (1-3-5-b7) G-B-D-F <- LOOK! no #'s of b's! A G chord, but
conformed to fit the key of C! How neat. We just stumbled onto a MODE of G.
Here's a funny way of putting it that let's me know that I need to stop
eating acid. (I just made it up although it sounds like a heard it before,
honest, it's mine) Picture G has a person. G is a nice guy, and he doesn't
want too much in his life, he's got a good on-call job and a fly girl. But
one thing he does want is an F#. Not too many sharps, just one. That's it.
But tonight, he gets a call for a gig by a bandleader named C. Now G and C
are friends, as we have all seen them work together a lot all the time, but
this is a professional situation, and both these players have very
professional attitutes. G understands that if goes to work for C, (or if
a Gmaj is used in a song in C) G needs to do things the way that C wants
them if he wants to keep the gig and get paid. C is not a very pushy guy,
but we knows what he wants to hear, no sharps, no flats. If G wants to get
his money and take his girl out later like she's expecting, he's going to
have to keep that F# back and play an F natural instead. No big deal, they
do it all the time. Cuz when C goes to work for G on a gig tomorrow night,
C knows that G wants him to play an F# instead of an F like he's used to.
An F# in a C scale?! bibby, are you crazy?. . .. .. ...No. (the barriers
begin to break down....)
*** 4. ***
Did G get paid? (Putting it all together)
Sure he did, cuz he's about as professional as they get. And boy did they
have fun. What was explained in that little story about our boy G is
called the Mixolydian mode of G. There are other modes, 7 , one for every
step in the scale.
Ionain
Dorian
Phyrgian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Aeolian
Locrian
These names wered derived from the church, from WAY back in the day, when
not only were people in the church the only ones that could read and write,
a few of those were the only ones can could play.
These are alterations of one scale to fit a particular key. Do you remember
all the tables I've thrown at you? Remeber this one? -triads you can use
in C.
1Cmaj 5Gmaj
2Dmin 6Amin
3Emin 7Bdim
4Fmaj 8Cmaj
Now let's build whole scales off these triads-
(hope you know your minor scales too...)
1Cmaj C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
2Dmin D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D
3Emin E-F#-G-A-B-C-D-E
4Fmaj F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F
5Gmaj G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G
6Amin A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
7B h-dim B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B
There, the scales built off the triads listed above that work in C.
There're all VERY close to fitting in C, but not quite exact. I little
tweaking has to be done first for it to be exact. Now, look at the 5th
step, Gmaj. The Mixolydian mode flats the 7th. Look at the 2nd step,
Dmin. What needs to be sdjusted there to make it conform to C? Seems
aparent to me that the 6th (Bb) needs to be raised to fit, luckily that
exactly what the Dorian mode does... Here are all of the adjustments-
1 Ionain *
2 Dorian #6
3 Phyrgia n b2
4 Lydian #4
5 Mixolydian b7
6 Aeolian *
7 Locrian ~
* - these are neat. They are 'starting' points for the whole table. In C,
the 1st and 6th steps are Cmaj, and Amin, whose scales contain the same
notes, making Amin the relative minor of Cmaj. Just as you have these for C
1Cmaj 5Gmaj
2Dmin 6Amin
3Emin 7Bdim
4Fmaj 8Cmaj
you have the same for Amin, the Aeolian Mode simply states that it is in a
minor key and follows the Ionian scale (which is the one you've been
dealing with the whole time)
6Amin 3Emin
7Bdim 4Fmaj
1Cmaj 5Gmaj
2Dmin 6Amin
The numbering wouldn't start over, cuz if you know the key is Amin and saw
an Emin chord, it's called by name as 'the 3rd mode of the major' , and the
major is still C, and the minor is A.
~ - I put this there because the half diminished scale I use is already
conformed to the Ionian major key. But sometimes a #9 (or #2) is applied,
giving it the same ajustment as the 3rd mode (Phyrgian). It's given a
different name simply cuz you're dealing with the 7th. So either you flat
the 9 or nothing at all. Let's apply them all now.
_Before_ adjustment
1Cmaj C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C *
2Dmin D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D #6
3Emin E-F#-G-A-B-C-D-E b2
4Fmaj F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F #4
5Gmaj G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G b7
6Amin A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A *
7B h-dim B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B ~
Now, .. ....after
1Cmaj Ionian C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
2Dmin Dorian D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D
3Emin Phyrgian E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E
4Fmaj Lydian F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F
5Gmaj Mixolydian G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G
6Amin Aeolian A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
7Bhdim Locrian B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B
Tah-Dah!!!!! No sharps!!!!! No Flats!!!!! Genius!
We did it! Seven scales, all with the same notes but beginning from a
different place. (While piano players have been having fun jamming on
white keys, guitar and bass players have been sweating balls)
***5.***
To the Discretion of your Soul
It fun learning the things you can do within a key, but all this knowledge
is worthless if one does not apply them to the way you play, or track.
After you realize that there are no rules in music, one can begin to
notice when these scales come into play, and your hear gets a pleasant
kick when a composer specifically doesn't follow them.
It's all to one's own personal discretion.
I took mine and made the song, 'Soul Discretion' following these scales.
The key is Dmin, (cuz 9 out of 10 times a song in a minor key starts on
that chord) A Dminor scale (same as Fmajor) has one flat, a Bb-
D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D
F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F
...And that's all fine and dandy, Just about all the heavy metal and rock
songs that involove tuning the low E string down to a D are in Dmin, so
it's a popular key, but look at the progression I used.
Dmin7 | Emin7/D | Cmaj7 | Amin7
Dmin7 | Emin7/D | Cmaj7 | Amin7
Fmaj7 | Cmaj7 | Fmaj7 | Gsus7
I'm going to breakdown these chords into their notes and highlight with
( )'s what I want you to notice.
Dmin D-F-A-C
Emin/D E-G-(B)-D -
Cmaj7 C-E-G-(B) -
Amin7 A-C-E-G
Fmaj7 F-A-C-E
Gsus7 G-C-D-F
A B-natural ?! I thought it was in Dmin ?! It even has an Fmaj in it too?
Where's the Bb? . In fact, there are no sharps or flats in any chord! Is
it in C then?
Nope. No C , . .,,just Dmin in the Dorian mode , which is the same as C.
Neat eh,.?
***6.***
Anything else? (3 example so far)
Sure, I went through a couple of songs that had some pretty decent chord
structure to it to see if they had anything to offer on the subject of
modes.
-6.1 Strangelhold by WAVE (strangel.xm)
-I took a look at 'Strangelhold' by WAVE- a nice 4 chord groove in Cmin.
The voicings are nice to give the progression a moving part and a constant
part. They went (as I saw them) :
Cmin9 | D7 | Dmin7b5/Ab | Gsus7
-that has the notes
Cmin9 C-Eb-G-D (Bb-was omitted but matters little*)
D7 D-F#-A-C
Dmin7b5/Ab D-F-Ab-C
Gsus7 G-C-D-F
(* you can remove 7ths whenever you feel like it really, they are
important in 13th chords though, cuz remembering that 13ths are the
same as 6ths, when you see a 6th chord, it means that the composer
specifically does not want the 7th in there, but with a 13ths, it
is expected. In theory for jazz guitarists, when asked to play a G13,
one voicing I've seen only has 3 notes, E-F-B, (13-7-3), just the
important ones.)
here's what a mean by a constant and a movinig part, by inverting the order
Cmin9 C-D-Eb-G
D7 C-D-F#-A
Dmin7b5/Ab C-D-F-Ab
Gsus7 C-D-F-G
easy movements, ..from a Dmin7b5, the Ab moves down a halfstep turning
the entire chord into a Gsus7, then the F moves down a whole step back to
a Cmin9. But let's get back to modes. The triads you can use in Cmin are:
6Cmin 3Gmin
7Ddim 4Abmaj
1Ebmaj 5Bbmaj
2Fmin 6Cmin
(Cmin = Ebmaj =3 flats)
Remember, becuase we're in a minor key, the 1st triad is Aeolian instead
of Ionian, making the next step (Locrian) a half-diminished chord. Sure
enough, in this progression, with the key in Cminor, we see a Dmin7b5 !
(Thought all this was bullshit didn't you?) But the chord just before that
one, the D7, what's that then? It's WAVE's personal discretion, knowing
that a Cmin leads into a Dmin7b5, he teases the hell out of the listener
with a D7. Very musical, ... that's what music is about. Follow the
guidelines, and then don't follow the guidelines, for there are no 'rules'
as such, .. only guidelines.
The choice of the Gsus7 seems easy to understand too, it's only one note
off from the chord before, and one more note off the next, not to mention
that he wanted to keep the C (4th) still, making it a Bb like the mode it
should be in would throw off the constant feel of the C note.
-6.2 Satellite One by Purple Motion (satell.s3m , bib-sat1.it)
This one is going to have to tie into the next demostration, becuase the
two are in the same key,, ,. .but they're not you'll see. For this
demonstration, I'm going to refer you to my remix of this song, (or cuz I
want you to download it) bib-sat1.it . It's good, but the chords arre
spaced out over 4 channels and there is a specific bass note on a 5th
channel. The first chord is an Amin:
6Amin 3Emin
7Bdim 4Fmaj
1Cmaj 5Gmaj
2Dmin 6Amin
The 3 chords in the first part of the song are Amin, Gmaj, Fmaj. Doesn't
that look like steps 6,5,and 4. No sharps, no flats. It's Amin Aeolian,
or just plain Aminor.
Cool, and that was pretty simple. I could have found those out with the
triads. But this realization just makes this next example even harder to
understand:
-6.2 Clone It by Hunz (clone_it.xm)
The latest great song to bust out on the tracker scene, and my personal
favorite for now. Now the chord structure itself doesn't occur right away.
In the beginning is what is known as a 'vamp' or a 'pedal', which is just
the song or band jamming on a chord of idea until everyone is ready to
move on. Usually in jazz quartets and such with head tunes, the rhythm
section will jam on the last 4 bars over and over until the lead player
comes in with the melody. At any rate, the 1st chord doesn't reallt
establish itself until order number 10 with a strong Amin7. So let's
bring up that Amin table again:
6Amin 3Emin
7Bdim 4Fmaj
1Cmaj 5Gmaj
2Dmin 6Amin
After some little tease chords, the chord actually changes halfway through
order 11 to an Gmin6. At order 13, the chord is a Bbmaj7 to a Gmin6.
So we're looking at : Amin7, Gmin6, Bbmaj7
Strangely, I don't see those on that table.. .. . .that's cuz it's NOT
in Amin! It's in Fmaj!
1Fmaj 5Cmaj
2Gmin 6Dmin
3Amin 7Edim
4Bbmaj 8Fmaj
They fit now. Steps 3,2,and 4. Disect the chords now.
Amin7 A-C-E-G
Gmin6 G-Bb-D-E
Bbmaj7 Bb-D-F-A
only one flat. if there were two flats, the second would have to be Eb and
it's not. The reason why in order 13 that Bbmaj7 lands so good is that
it's the first time an F note (the real key) is introduced by chord in
the song.
***7.***
I'm pretty tired now.. . ..
[editor's note: you think YOU'RE tired? You should try formatting this
damn article of yours!!@!@##$!$! =)]
I hope everyone learned something by this, cuz I learned quite a bit myself
just by trying to explain it at all. I suggest doing that, explain it to
someone else and see how much you learn just by hearing the words come
out of your mouth. Pretty cool.
If you have any kind of question at all that you think I can help with,
or if you want to point me to a song I've never heard that has a cool
chord structure, or If you need help cracking it on your own, email
me (please) at bibby@juno.com. I can't recieve files there directly,
but if you must send me something, mail it to sfb@magicnet.net and I'll
get it. Happy tracking all, but don't forget that what you learn about
music can be applied to other music, ...... and life itself. It's all
the same.
-by bibby / pHluid
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--[3. Studio Tracking Tips]-----------------------------------------[Zinc]--
Feeling the need to contribute something interesting to TraxWeekly, I
dug my way through a heap of magazines until I uncovered Future Music
issue 50. They had the "50 Top Studio Tips" which were actually 100
tips (go figure). Anyways, some of them were also useful when applied
to tracking, so I have adapted a few of them into the following tips:
- No Noise. Keep an ear out for noise when you are sampling with a
microphone. Even a very low hum in the background can be picked up by
your equipment. Try to turn off everything in the room that is not
necessary to record your sample - even your monitor if possible.
- Loop DIY. Anyone can sample a CD for a nice breakbeat, but it's much
more interesting (and legal) to make your own. Using Impulse Tracker,
make a one pattern drum loop. When you are finished, save it, exit,
and reload Impulse Tracker with the WAV Driver. Load the song, and write
a WAV. Tada! You now have an original loop you can use and claim to be
your own. Not only that, but if you know what tempo you want to use the
loop for, you won't even have to fool around with the tuning to make it
fit your song.
- Another System. It can help a lot to tape your song and play it on
a variety of sound systems, especially if you are using a hi-fi system
to track on. You will get a better idea of what your volume levels should
be.
- Note It Down. If you come across an especially interesting trick,
chord progression or sample idea, it may be wise to write it down
somewhere. You'll probably forget if not, and kick yourself later when
you want to use it.
- Whining fans. This may not apply to tracking, but it's a neat idea if
you really want it quiet when sampling stuff. You computer fan can be
an unnecessary evil, and it can be replaced with a temperature controlled
fan which idles at low speed when the temperature in your PC is normal,
and speeds up when the temperature increases. This is a bit of a luxury,
but it may help some people.
- Seperate your HD. If you use your hard drive for mastering, it is
a good idea to have a seperate hard drive for mastering to. If this is
not possible, at least partition your drive appropriately. By doing this
you get maximum performance from your system.
- Keep 'em clean. To maximize your sound performance, try to keep your
contacts clean. Such contacts would be at the back of your soundcard,
your mixer/amp, and any other gear you connnect. If you are going to tape
a song, you can even clean the recording head to improve sound. For
cleaning plugs, use a little wire wool with some isopropyl alcohol.
- No boosting! If you are using a hifi for monitoring, at least keep
all your levels at normal settings. Do not leave Loudness on, or any other
sound boosting.
- Do not buy equipment at Radioshack. (heh, this wasn't in FM "/ )
- Dry voice? Never ever ever leave a voice sample completely dry! There
are a million and one things you can do to a voice sample to make it more
interesting. Dry = Boring. If nothing else, at least add a little warm
room reverb. Remember to always save samples dry, though, and effect it
later.
- Pattern Cloning. Try your best not to repeat patterns in your order
list. Copy the pattern on to a second pattern instead. This way, if you
want to make little changes in your song later, you won't get the same
change in all of the same patterns.
- Change Speeds. When remixing a song, change the tempo. A 6/126 tempo
can become a 4/80 tempo, or whatever. A small tempo change can give a
song a very different feeling.
- Keep In Tune. Buy a tuner. Even a cheap chromatic tuner can tune most
instruments quickly and accurately. Your sound will improve without having
to learn anything! If possible, buy one with a direct line-in, so you
don't have to worry about external noise when trying to tune your samples.
- Reflect Those Mics. When recording a voice sample, experiment by
bouncing the voice off different surfaces. Block the quickest path your
voice wants to take - a straight line to the mic - and bounce your voice
off of something. Even try things like talking through a toilet paper
tube!
- Panning For Gold. Duh, leave your bass in the center. Also, leave your
drums in the center, but not always dead center. Lighter instruments like
strings or guitars can be panned wider.
- Sound Effects. Goof around with the effects. Sometimes you can stumble
across some really cool sounds that you wouldn't have otherwise. Put
'traditional' effects in unconventional places, and try using lesser used
effects with traditional sounds.
- Blind Tracks. To add some nice ambience, and give a more realistic
feel, try recording a 'blind' sample. In other words, just record the
sound of the room. You could even record the crackle of vinyl, although
this is becoming a tad cliche.
- Recycle. If you find yourself unhappy with a track you are working on,
and intend to totally remix it, make a backup first! Months later you may
want to hear the original again, or want to remix it once more, and you
may need it. Plus, it's nice for nostalgia "/
- Keep it busy. Always have something new happening, ESPECIALLY if you
are writing a trance or jungle song.. songs that are usually quite
repetitive. Avoid tired-loop syndrome. If you really can't think of
anything to make it interesting in a part where it goes on and on, you
need to cut the length down.
- Not Enough Room. If you can't fit everything into 64 rows, change
it to 128 rows, and double the speed. This is just common sense.
- Real Instruments?! Unless you want a full-on electrofest, a lot of
music sounds much better when you blend in a real instrument or two. And
while I'm on the subject, try not to track every note. Sample a few
short riffs or melodies. This will improve realism.
- Mono A-go-go. To test your levels, give your songs a listen in mono.
- A/B all the time. Listen to your songs through crappy speakers once
in a while. This can really highlight bad mixing that would have been
handled and disguised if you have excellent monitors. Anything that ends
up sounding good on lousy speakers may sound even better on your regular
ones.
- Be Normal.. If the song is supposed to be quiet, don't normalize it to
100% when you are mastering. Duh!
- Try listening to your stuff at very low levels as well as high. This
way you can see if all the important elements stand out clearly.
- To double-check the mix, leave the room and walk down the corridor.
Still sounds good? You've got a winner!
- Garbage In, Garbage Out. There's no such thing as 'hiding it in the
mix'. If you've got a crap instrument, cheesy phrase or dull note, you'll
hear it wherever it is. Take it out or replace it.
- Special effects like running water or seagulls have been done a million
billion times. Don't bother with them - think of something new.
- If you haven't got a good voice, no amount of fiddling will make it so.
- Thinking about a fade-in intro? Forget it.
- Instant flava: record your drum loop onto cassette, then resample.
- Give your ears a rest! Don't track for hours and hours on end without
taking breaks.
- Don't put overly complex basslines in dance tunes. And certainly don't
ever use slapbasses!
- If a chopped up drum loop is badly edited, adding a little ping pong
loop may just extend the length enough to hide its choppiness.
- Sometimes dropping the kickdrum at unexpected moments can turn a track
on its head. Just think of the 'lager' sequence in Born Slippy.
- Don't always sit in the same place when listening to your tracks. Try
moving about the room, making sure it always sounds good. When was the
last time you stood dead center on the dance floor?
Justin Ray aka Zinc
Chill Productions / Profound Records
rays@direct.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[4. Second Opinion]-----------------------------------------------[Ming]--
A reply to Atlantic's article "Synergy in the Music Scene."
Please don't be decieved by the fact that the reply is directed at the
original writer. You are all allowed to read :)
Due to your very well formulated but oddly approached article in TW
about synergy where you seem to question the existance of music groups,
I felt that I just had to reply.
I am what you tend to call a totalitarian (well you didn't say THAT,
but it's so much more fun to exaggerate a little, right?:) president of
a cheesy, useless, unheard of, sloppy music group (muahahaha) called
DiSC. We may not be the greatest of composers and we may not have the
best of organisation, but that´s not the point. There are reasons for
us to exist as a group.
>"Synergy. n. The possibility that merging two individuals can produce
> a combined operation of greater ability and strength."
Correct so far. And one of the most important parts of being a group
member. DiSC is formed as a small community where you can test ideas,
freely ask the stupidest quiestions and experiment however you want to,
without being treated the way the scene normally treats pepole that
they don't know, that's not "accepted": with either contempt or (even
worse) ignorance. Within the group, you're safe, you're accepted. Maybe
you haven't noticed, but as the newbie I was not long ago, I was met
with the deepest of disbelief and foul names thrown in my face. So it
was the climate of the global scene that made me and some tracking
friends to get together and form one of those groups on our own. And in
some way, hiding behind that prefix, the world didn't seem that hostile
anymore. When turning to my friends (of at least fellow DiSCers - I
can't say I know them all personally very much) with questions and
opinions I don't get "badass lamer" thrown in my face all the time,
which unfortunately is the normal reply when going public.
Strike one.
>Why do we form music groups? Do we seek approval?
Not as much as we seek to get something else than disrespect, yes.
>Do we seek to control or to be controlled?
I certinally hope not. The group of three pepole who runs the DiSC
does it out of nessecartity (now that was not spelled right :). We're
a group, we do things together (if it's only a website, then so be
it), and someone has to do the handywork. Byt everyone is free to
come with initiatives and everyone makes the big decisions.
>Is it all just for distribution?
So, why the "just"? We have gotten ourselves a set of good reliable
distibution channels, and despite what you think of the common
modmaker, he do want his music to be heard by as many as possible. And
that is achieved in several ways: 1.-Get a reputation as a good tracker
by composing good tunes and making as much pepole as possible hear
them. 2.-Get together with other trackers in a group, so that pepole
knows where to get good music from you and many more trackers. 3.-Be
active in the scene. Paticipate in compos, parties, public debate
(which isn't easy, if you're not one of "the gang", a newbie lamer).
A group offers a bunch of channels for distribution, and everyone who
are involved in a group may have yet another channel to contribute with
for the benefit of them all. It's easy when it gets going: Send your
stuff to the maintainer, and it will get spead around and announced
good. Pepole in general and trackers in special do want attention and
publicity. Being in a group gives them more of that. Period.
Strike two.
>Thus the Imperialist groups were formed. And believe me, there were
>lots of them. It's hard for me to tell exactly how they behaved in
>other parts of the world, but I know here in Toronto it was war for a
>while. "Our group is better than yours," "You couldn't compose your
>way out of a wet-paper-bag," etc.
That might have been the behaviour in Toronto, at that time. But it's
nothing I've ever encountered. A good bunch of composers, although not
wearing MY prefix, is still a good bunch of composers. And we all, as
well as we boost out own names, tries to boost other groups too. It's
all in all a community of goodwill, fun pepole and...well...some amount
of quite silly mutual admiration (in less flattering words called
sucking each others dicks ;). The communication and interaction between
groups are today much better and friendlier than the communication
between individuals in this strange thing we call the scene.
Strike three.
>I could name boatloads of imperialist groups. They characteristically
>have a group "leader", the dictator figure, who is always gleefully
>announcing the latest member from Outer Mongolia. In their heads they
>equate "More Members" with "Popularity" and "Success".
Ok, two out of three right.
I'm the Leader. The Boss. The God. (evil laughter) This I would gladly
put in someone elses hands, and I'm sure they'd do a great job, but
since I'm the kind of fellow I am, I get things done, and I gladly do
them. And that's why I run things. Hopefully it's not because I have a
desire for power. (But if I had, I woudn't admit it anyway :) And any
organisation need that some one (or many) runs it. In DiSC it's an
unspoken agreement that anyone who wants to can go in and take care of
the tiring everyday buissness, but there is no reason for all to do.
And that's why there is a leader (or two, me and Tol, in our case).
And yes, I gleefully announces new members, because they need and
deserve all the attention I can draw to them.
But for your third statement, I can't apply it to too many groups I
know of. I've seen one or two groups (no names :) who have concentrated
on More Members, and that's not the most sucessful way of thinking.
Instead, the groups I know of and know how they function are instead
very concentrarted on taking care of and develop the talents they´ve
got. Volume is not Quailty. I have, as the dictator I am, even
suggested ways to keep the quantity down and the quality up for some
members. And with the open and straightforward communication we have,
we discussed, we found solutions, and we're now working on. Creative
Cooperation is the slogan we try to form our behaviour upon.
>Most of the
>members probably know pretty much nothing about the others. These
>days, they are often spread all over the globe.
So? What if they are? Today I can communicate just as directly with a
person in Outer Mongolia as on the other side of town. And the truth is
that you can't be close and personal friends with everyone. What we can
do, is create a climat where everyone is just as involved and
important, and where noone is considered better than the other. Just
different, and have uniquie qualities he or she should use.
>But even if you do happen to care about distributing your music, how
>much of a difference does a group make? Am I more likely to pick
>up Billybob's latest release if it is a "Skull-Eater Productions"
>release?
The chance that you will at all find the tune is so much greater if
there is a group distributing and boosting for your releases. Many
pepole compose good music, but they are doomed to be unnoticed if they
don't get their music spread. e.g I KNOW that the general quality
of...say..Illogik's productions are very high , so I once and again
return to some of their distribution channels for good music. I can
rely on groups not to release shit, because it would be stopped by the
honest feedback within the group. The tag prefix is a mark of
solidarity to the group (and NOT hostility againd other groups), it´s
an insurance for quality (I say it again, my experience of being in a
group is that it develops the artists), and it looks cool too :)
>Ask Basehead if he ever *needed* FM (or any other group) to refine
>his skills. Strike Three.
I'd rather ask Basehead why he is a member then, if it is with groups
as you claim.
My strike four.
(Basehead if he reads this is free to share his opinion with us all,
of course :)
>The seniors of the group were to offer musical and technical support
>and feedback constantly. Ideally, we have just been aiming to mean
>something. The members interract to help each other improve their
>skills.
The main idea of this is very good. The very core of a groups work,
to by feedback and constructive cooperation find each others qualities.
Amen. And this is how most groups seems to work. You're not unique. The
only difference is that you seems to divide the group into Rulerz and
Lamerz, Seniors and Newbies, instead of seeing each members as a talent
and resource of his own.
I may have gotten all that wrong, and please correct me if I have, but
it sounds more like a tracking school than anything else. But in
general you're having the right attitude to all this. Groups are there
for the members, to cooperate in the creative process, as well as the
technical and distibution issues. Within the group we help eachother.
Everybody does what they are best at, and support those who aren´t,
and then gets support back.
It's without obligations, without elitism and with a good climate to
develop and make better and better music. Everybody participates the
way they want to and everybody contribute with what they can to the
common good cause. Being in a group is the thing, that have improved
my scenelife more than anything else.
There. A totally different opinion. Or maybe not?
MING, dictator of the DiSC (mattias.inghe@mailbox.swipnet.se)
+------------------------+
| www.techno.org/disc |
+------------------------+
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[5. Group Synergy]--------------------------------------------[Phantasm]--
I just got TW95, read Atlantic's article, and felt that I should share my
thoughts on music groups. Why do we form music groups? Well, in my personal
experience a group gets more attention than the sum of the individuals. The
strength-in-numbers concept doesn't really have any explanation. Of course
if communication within a group is strong, there will be more opportunities
to do co-op tunes with someone, it will be easier to get feedback on a song
before it's unleashed on the world, and so on.
If a group exists solely for the purpose of slapping an affil on one's sig
and releasing group-*.zip instead of person-*.zip, then someone's missing
the point.
Let's take my group, for example [shameless plug =)] We have five members,
all good friends. Four of us live in the same city and get together now and
then. We all stay in close contact via my board. We share resources, tips,
thoughts, our prerelease materials, and so on. In fact, we haven't released
anything yet, although you might see things cropping up in the near future.
But we just aren't concerned with deadlines. Nor are we, as Atlantic has
mentioned, out for world domination. A *group* is just that. We've grouped
together. If you expect us to branch out from music/demos to international
terrorism or commit mass suicide to follow comets, then you're mistaken =)
Atlantic has also raised several other possibilities. Approval, power, the
"strength in numbers" idea again, and distribution [which, in my mind, is
tied into strength]. Sure we all want to be "approved," but if a new group
is called tH3 eL337 s00p3R d00p3R m0D cLUb, it likely won't be approved of.
No matter *how* good they are. =) Power in the music scene, for what it's
worth [an @ in #trax], is earned. The extent of my own power is to write
our infofile -- and not even all of that :P That power is what other group
members have given me. Power has to be given freely by others, not taken
by force [ie someone else has to op you]. I've already covered the numbers,
which leaves me with distribution. This, I feel, is the real reason behind
a cohesive group. There are many excellent trackers out there that nobody
has heard of. I'm not even going to try and guess how many. A couple here,
a couple there.. on a global scale. Is your music more likely to be one of
a dozen random downloads if you're in a group? The answer is maybe, moving
towards 'yes' as a group becomes better-known. If you have time to snag one
song from the Hornet Archive, will it be the latest FM release or a no-name
tune? ...
So what? Well, if you want your voice among thousands to be heard, perhaps
you'd be better off as one voice in a choir. That doesn't mean you have a
license to suck, now that you're in Famous Group(tm). Atlantic said it as
well as anyone can. "You need to be good to be good." Can't argue with that
kind of logic. In the end, it's *you* that matters, not the group.
A group is not something to really be taken seriously, however. It's not a
society or a cult. "Group" is in fact one of the most general synonyms that
springs to mind. Get together with a few folks. Put out a disk or two. But
above all: *have fun* -- otherwise, there's no point. Lighten up.
...
I'd appreciate comments, replies, ripostes, and so on; I'm almost positive
that I've contradicted myself several times in under three pages of text =)
For clarity, I do agree with most of what Atlantic set forth in TW95 [read
it if you haven't already]. Respect to him for an excellent article.
blessed be,
phantasm^apostasy ["we put the first o in boom" =)]
crose@julian.uwo.ca
------------------------------------------------------------------------------[?. Second that second!]---------------------------------[Steve Gilmore]--
I read with great interest Atlantic's article on synergy and I felt
compelled to comment because I've been having several conversations with
people about this very subject. I joined the 'scene' (such an
overplayed word) in 1992 and founded Rebel Riffs at the end of that year
with three friends who I also worked with musically in real life.
What compelled us most about the early scene was the way in which those
composers kind of 'fed' each other and nurtured each others talents.
*This*, we all thought, is what the Internet should be doing for
musicians who actually wanted to make music simply for it's own sake.
Obviously the MOD market has changed considerably since then, although
as far as peoples tastes go you wouldn't know this.
Rebel Riffs is a cooperative where tracks are ascribed to the individual
who came up with the *idea* or initial track. *Everyone* contributes to
the actual composing and that is the way we always thought tracker
'groups' operated. We've learned a little more since then, and most of
it is depressing.
I personally spend a lot of time talking to people on the 'net and on
Usenet's absm and the one thing that I see time and time again is
composer after composer completely blanking any of the millions of 'how
do I make MOD' questions floating around the ether. I try wherever I
can to respond to these people, as do very few others. But it just
ain't enough. This scene will disappear up it's own ego if we don't
help more people to get involved, and yes that does mean putting
yourself out a bit more. But surely, helping one newbie a week isn't
too much to ask for - I know we could all have done with the help when
we first started. MOD making is a *very* steep learning curve...
>>In their heads they equate "More Members" with "Popularity" and
>>"Success".
Ooops, Rebel Riffs just got their first new member in 5 years...<g>
>>The group has some unsaid goal like: "World Domination through the
>>tracking of PC music".
I believe, as I think most trackers do, that the music we make has
something to say. What it has to say has more to do the the inner minds
of the composers than anything else. World domination through music was
tried in the 60's and look how far that got. Communication is the name
of the game, the transfer of ideas is one of the offshoots and that's
good enough for us. We're waaaaay too busy making music to dominate the
world right now, although we have a free spot next Tuesday<g>
>>how much of a difference does a group make?
That's like asking how much difference MODs make and the answer has to
be slim to nothing. It needn't be that way of course, but if people do
insist on bring real world values to this medium it probably will be.
Composing could be one of the energising forces of the Web of course,
and that's the real tragedy.
>> Ask Basehead if he ever *needed* FM (or any other group) to refine
>> his skills.
Good point. Scratch a tracker and you'll probably discover an
individualist anyway. Most of us do this because we *have* to...
>>nobody was *taking the time*. Nobody was putting any extra effort in.
The same thing is happening to another of my favorite net
hangouts...it's a symptom of the fragmentation of the scene. Everyone
for themselves. Kinda makes you want to scrap the 'puder altogether if
this is going to be the same as 'real life'<sigh>
>>So we put our heads together and decided on a more strict policy
Which is where your crack about 'a group "leader", the dictator figure'
comes into the picture. Not all 'leaders' have to be dictators, or even
'leaders' but someone, ulitmately, has to carry the can. Anarchy never
created anything but more anarchy...
>> In a word, it is laziness that we are fighting.
1000% right on the money but how do you fight a complete unwillingness
to even recognise the existence of another person, let alone their point
of view. This has been the eternal question and we are still no closer
to an answer...
>>is that you don't need a group to be good
Indeed not, and as you already point out it definitely doesn't help some
groups at all...
>>You need to be good to be good.
Agreed again but with a proviso. Good is in the ear of the listener, it
simply isn't up to us. All we can do is follow our own musical tastes
and hope that sometime our tastes will collide with the general
netizen's taste. However, we won't be able to do that if this fledging
world of ours isn't populated with more people of your breed and that's
whats really needed desperately. You *show* your committment, as I
believe do I and that's all that we can do, hoping that by our actions
we can inspire others to follow. Just don't hold your breath....
Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts down for us all to read,
Atlantic. I hope that your effort will trigger some people to respond
and join in but, as always, it's in the balance....
--
Steve Gilmore
rebriffr@netcomuk.co.uk
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