Having a perfect control over your music

[Dragonsand]

Hello there!

I'd like to talk about something which.. frustrates me sometimes.

I'm still not at a point of total control over my sound design, effects, melodies...

By perfect control I mean : "Okay, I'm going to make this, and that, it will sounds good".

No, a big part of experimentation is still here. "Well, I'll try this, okay, it sounds good that way. I don't know how I've done that but I keep it."

To make music that way is something I still can't accept.

So my question to you is :

Do you, with time, know exactly how to create a sound you want, or do you still create with a huge part of random?

[victorgonzales]

Hello there!

I'd like to talk about something which.. frustrates me sometimes.

I'm still not at a point of total control over my sound design, effects, melodies...

By perfect control I mean : "Okay, I'm going to make this, and that, it will sounds good".

No, a big part of experimentation is still here. "Well, I'll try this, okay, it sounds good that way. I don't know how I've done that but I keep it."

To make music that way is something I still can't accept.

So my question to you is :

Do you, with time, know exactly how to create a sound you want, or do you still create with a huge part of random?

When I am creating a song it is pretty much random but as teh song evolves and I get a feel for where I want it to go I can very specifically make the sound form to get get there.

Id say the main thing is knowing how to use your synths. I only use a few synths for creating sounds but have spend a lot of time learning them inside and out so I know if I want something to sound a certain way exactly what button to push or knob to turn.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

I think that even the most experienced electronic musician is always going to encounter random quirks and new exciting sounds that they did not encounter before and they will choose to play upon them and use them. I dont' think its so much random as discoveries of new methods for sound maniplulation. That being said... I think that once you really get to know your gear and more importantly understand the foundations of the methods you are using to create sound then an experienced electonic musician can create almost anything they want. There are a lot of facets to this process though. There are a lot of technical sounds that can be created using standard industry techniques that have been around for a long time. At the same time there is a whole new world to be explored with all these modern technologies, softwares and instuments. Personally I have become enamoured with synths in general, and samplers... samplers too.

Over the last couple years I have also been delving pretty heavily into musical theory. I grew up around very talented musicians who always tried to expose me to a new and strange musics and ideas but I was never pushed into formaly learning an instrument so I lacked that scholastic musical foundation. Now I have been really making an effort to learn more and I can say that it has really opened up a lot for me. Read all the manuals for your equipment or software, read a lot of music theory and learn about the physics of sound... and musical production practices. The more knowledge you have tumbling around in your head the more likely some neurons are going to start firing and connecting dots that open you to new ideas for your musical endeavours. I feel I am lucky because a close friend of my family runs a recording studio and pretty much any technical question I have ever had he has been able to clear it up for me in pretty short order.

A lot of the music I make is not techno. I would imagine it more like music out of an adventurous fairy tale. I like music that has an asian or native flavour to it sometimes. Sometimes I make music that is just sound scapes. I just made this soundscape all from synths that I created using super small samples of waveforms. I would create the sound and when I felt that I had a sound that had real feeling then I would let the composition be born from the sounds rather then finding sounds to fit a motif.

[AK]

As I am big on FM at the minute and don't understand it, I have no idea how my sounds are going to end up. Strangely, I have had some ideas for noises in my head and I'm getting very close to them - but that's by tweaking but I have no depth of knowledge about FM synthesis.

With Subtractive synthesis, I can usually get very close to the sound I imagine. I kinda like this quirky approach though, for me it brings back the early days when I didn't know anything at all about synthesis and it was all part of the magic and excitement of electronic music.

Ignorance is bliss sometimes and the ability to predict every knob tweak or efx chain must kill every aspect of creativity and spontaneity. At least it would for me.

[tone-def]

When i start a track i have a rough idea of what it will sound like. if i say to myself "i'm going to make deep house" it's very unlikely i'll make something that sounds like surgeon. experimentation and improvisation is all part of the fun, i just go with the flow.

[Roqqert]

just make what you wanna hear. Not soundwise in particular... but in melodys and arrangement. Just dance through your room and make the stuff you make up at that moment.

go wih ur own groove mate.. Don't worry too much. That can be a creativity killer

[cytoplasm]

let it flow, control combined with sprinkling creativity is perfect.
dont limit yourself to have total control,
just open your seq and do it, whatever "it" is.
lotsa good stuff happens by accident.
you might discover quirks you couldnt find through total control
(total control sounds like a hitler term to me )

[Yatmandu]

100% agree with cytoplasm: Total control? As in knowing every detail and nuance of the track when you start working on it? That's horrible. That's like having a sculptor know exactly what the finished piece will look like.

The best tracks are basically Aural Sculptures (thanks Stranglers!) and they are fine crafted along the entire process. This requires a mix of control, inspiration, experimentation, feedback, inventiveness, and lots of playing around.