This topic is about efx/drum seq/melody ... general minimal/melody prod. tips./tricks.
1. short delay on hats (about 240ms with low feedback) will give u the "out of tempo" efx, almost every minimalistc song have this trick.
2. some bits/sam. rat. reduction on some instruments
3. stutter/rettriger on some parts (ableton evenlope @ sample offset can help a little bit)
4. weird quantization (1/128 - 1/256) on some "background" instruments (again, ableton can help with this)
let's put some tips/tricks on this topic...
The 'Techniques for making minimal/melodic tracks' thread.
i'm sorry but....
Do you minimal cats actually sit around and discuss how to make minimal tracks like this?
How will there be much variation in your genre if you guys stick to silly rules like these?
You guys are going to kill these tracks using the ableton quantise and swing features. Everybody will sound the same. Sorry to rant in this thread like this. But GOD Dayuuuumm.....
I just went to the DEMF a few weeks ago and i'm sorry to break it to you guys but everybody that used ableton live there sounded too much alike. I'll admit i'm not a minimal guy, i'm a Detroit Techno guy. I do love minimal as a concept but seriously ya'll need to think outside of the minimal box and bring in other elements to make your genre fresh again. No disrespect but i seriously cannot stay in the room for a whole dj set of minimal anymore. The novelty is going to play itself out if you guys make the mistake of inventing a system on how to make it. Seriously...
Do you think Rob Hood (Monobox for the new guys that dont know the m-plant stuff because it's old) sits there and thinks of any of this stuff before he makes a track. He doesn't use quantise for anything because if he did his music would sound too stiff. There is no computer program on planet earth that can make a track swing correctly like a musician can just by playing it right.
I'm not trying to rip on the genre. I would rather try to help by steering you away from a musical trap before it takes over.
so here's my tips:
Use the piano keys in front of you for every part of the music. Even to lay down the drums
Make your sounds from scratch using anything you got
Stop listening to music from your own genre before you make a track because it will subconsiously effect what you do.
Edit the entire track as one file. This sounds like a silly thing to do with all the modern technology we have but if you do this you will notice that when you do the edits like this it will make the transitions in your track jump out more because it will cut the reverb as well as the track itself and will make the changes slam more. It took me a while to actually realise why this sounds better.
Always build in a track into your transitions.
Never just take away one element at a time, when you make a change it should be drastic.
Use compression only when a sound is jumping way to much in volume. If you overuse it it will kill the dynamics in your track and dynamics make people dance.
If you can't hear the note a bass synth is making it's not bass, it's just a rumble. You should be able to hear what note the bass is making on a clock radio speaker if you do it right.
and finally the golden rule:
Forget all the rules and just make the best track you've ever heard, even if it takes you your entire life and if you need help to do it then go get some. Half of the tracks out there were not made by the artists that are credited on the record. If you don't believe me just stick around the buisness for a while and you'll find out.
Minimal is a concept not a rulebook.
Do you minimal cats actually sit around and discuss how to make minimal tracks like this?
How will there be much variation in your genre if you guys stick to silly rules like these?
You guys are going to kill these tracks using the ableton quantise and swing features. Everybody will sound the same. Sorry to rant in this thread like this. But GOD Dayuuuumm.....
I just went to the DEMF a few weeks ago and i'm sorry to break it to you guys but everybody that used ableton live there sounded too much alike. I'll admit i'm not a minimal guy, i'm a Detroit Techno guy. I do love minimal as a concept but seriously ya'll need to think outside of the minimal box and bring in other elements to make your genre fresh again. No disrespect but i seriously cannot stay in the room for a whole dj set of minimal anymore. The novelty is going to play itself out if you guys make the mistake of inventing a system on how to make it. Seriously...
Do you think Rob Hood (Monobox for the new guys that dont know the m-plant stuff because it's old) sits there and thinks of any of this stuff before he makes a track. He doesn't use quantise for anything because if he did his music would sound too stiff. There is no computer program on planet earth that can make a track swing correctly like a musician can just by playing it right.
I'm not trying to rip on the genre. I would rather try to help by steering you away from a musical trap before it takes over.
so here's my tips:
Use the piano keys in front of you for every part of the music. Even to lay down the drums
Make your sounds from scratch using anything you got
Stop listening to music from your own genre before you make a track because it will subconsiously effect what you do.
Edit the entire track as one file. This sounds like a silly thing to do with all the modern technology we have but if you do this you will notice that when you do the edits like this it will make the transitions in your track jump out more because it will cut the reverb as well as the track itself and will make the changes slam more. It took me a while to actually realise why this sounds better.
Always build in a track into your transitions.
Never just take away one element at a time, when you make a change it should be drastic.
Use compression only when a sound is jumping way to much in volume. If you overuse it it will kill the dynamics in your track and dynamics make people dance.
If you can't hear the note a bass synth is making it's not bass, it's just a rumble. You should be able to hear what note the bass is making on a clock radio speaker if you do it right.
and finally the golden rule:
Forget all the rules and just make the best track you've ever heard, even if it takes you your entire life and if you need help to do it then go get some. Half of the tracks out there were not made by the artists that are credited on the record. If you don't believe me just stick around the buisness for a while and you'll find out.
Minimal is a concept not a rulebook.
"should"???Torque wrote:i'm sorry but....
Never just take away one element at a time, when you make a change it should be drastic.
Use compression only when a sound is jumping way to much in volume. If you overuse it it will kill the dynamics in your track and dynamics make people dance.
If you can't hear the note a bass synth is making it's not bass, it's just a rumble. You should be able to hear what note the bass is making on a clock radio speaker if you do it right.
and finally the golden rule:
Forget all the rules and just make the best track you've ever heard, even if it takes you your entire life and if you need help to do it then go get some. Half of the tracks out there were not made by the artists that are credited on the record. If you don't believe me just stick around the buisness for a while and you'll find out.
Minimal is a concept not a rulebook.
using that word subconciously negates everything you were damning the original poster for. there are no should's there are no should not's. you stress having your different music so much but would it be different if every song was so different? difference is only apparent because normality is present.
i am not trying to be mean here man i don't want to start beef with you i am just trying to point out some things.
faith in chaos.
http://66minek.blogspot.com
http://66minek.blogspot.com
I say should because easing into a transition in a track is boring 100% of the time. The only music i hear that does that really is classical, but last time i checked we were talking about dance music. It's a basic technique for production in general and applys to everything from Jazz to Rock to Techno. The reason it's used is because it works. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.....
i would agree in parts with you torque...
many tracks looks the same, but it's not a cause of tech. sharing... the cause is everyone wants to do the same thing...
almost everyone wants to release tracks on mnus or some label like this...
my background is detroit techno too, and i know, who knows detroit good music would almost everytime think that a minimal music sound the same and the track is boring...
like u know, almost no one will put the same emotion in a track like deotroit guys did.
(sorry for my pooooooooor english
)
many tracks looks the same, but it's not a cause of tech. sharing... the cause is everyone wants to do the same thing...
almost everyone wants to release tracks on mnus or some label like this...
my background is detroit techno too, and i know, who knows detroit good music would almost everytime think that a minimal music sound the same and the track is boring...
like u know, almost no one will put the same emotion in a track like deotroit guys did.
(sorry for my pooooooooor english
)
putting a delay on high hats doesn't make you minimal...matter of fact most producers of any genra that know what they are doing pan the hh hard to the left and put it on a delay in the right channel Depending on the delay it can sound like its on a rise or emulate a stand etc. the other things you mentioned are just somethings people use to make tracks... I like what you are talking about but minimal is like other genres of music. You can apply minimal to any genre really...Minimal jazz...minimal funk (although I would say most good funk is minimal) minimal house minimal techno minimal electro etc... It is more about the elements that make a type of sound or feel. I Like minimal because there isn't so much going on that it is rough to the ear (usually). As far a minus and other lables being "dull" boaring etc...sure..if you play a whole set of minus..yeah...but who does that? richie? I haven't heard him play more than 2 maybe 3 minus records recently...maybe a loop or two...some music is dull by itself sure...but thats why djs mix records/music together...they make it something new....but I feel what everyone is saying...It is what it is though.
werd-----^Torque wrote:i'm sorry but....
Do you minimal cats actually sit around and discuss how to make minimal tracks like this?
How will there be much variation in your genre if you guys stick to silly rules like these?
You guys are going to kill these tracks using the ableton quantise and swing features. Everybody will sound the same. Sorry to rant in this thread like this. But GOD Dayuuuumm.....
I just went to the DEMF a few weeks ago and i'm sorry to break it to you guys but everybody that used ableton live there sounded too much alike. I'll admit i'm not a minimal guy, i'm a Detroit Techno guy. I do love minimal as a concept but seriously ya'll need to think outside of the minimal box and bring in other elements to make your genre fresh again. No disrespect but i seriously cannot stay in the room for a whole dj set of minimal anymore. The novelty is going to play itself out if you guys make the mistake of inventing a system on how to make it. Seriously...
Do you think Rob Hood (Monobox for the new guys that dont know the m-plant stuff because it's old) sits there and thinks of any of this stuff before he makes a track. He doesn't use quantise for anything because if he did his music would sound too stiff. There is no computer program on planet earth that can make a track swing correctly like a musician can just by playing it right.
I'm not trying to rip on the genre. I would rather try to help by steering you away from a musical trap before it takes over.
so here's my tips:
Use the piano keys in front of you for every part of the music. Even to lay down the drums
Make your sounds from scratch using anything you got
Stop listening to music from your own genre before you make a track because it will subconsiously effect what you do.
Edit the entire track as one file. This sounds like a silly thing to do with all the modern technology we have but if you do this you will notice that when you do the edits like this it will make the transitions in your track jump out more because it will cut the reverb as well as the track itself and will make the changes slam more. It took me a while to actually realise why this sounds better.
Always build in a track into your transitions.
Never just take away one element at a time, when you make a change it should be drastic.
Use compression only when a sound is jumping way to much in volume. If you overuse it it will kill the dynamics in your track and dynamics make people dance.
If you can't hear the note a bass synth is making it's not bass, it's just a rumble. You should be able to hear what note the bass is making on a clock radio speaker if you do it right.
and finally the golden rule:
Forget all the rules and just make the best track you've ever heard, even if it takes you your entire life and if you need help to do it then go get some. Half of the tracks out there were not made by the artists that are credited on the record. If you don't believe me just stick around the buisness for a while and you'll find out.
Minimal is a concept not a rulebook.
