high fiveJonasEdenbrandt wrote:One way of bringing tension to your music could be to make nothing happen. Make the listener wait for it and keep waiting for it even after the track is done.
How do you build tension with your music?
Uh oh, here we go... Yes, I guess it has to have some rules otherwise you wouldn't be able to define it. There are probably a lot of conflicting definitions but it is definitely a music form and people that make techno are definitely musicians (and producers) IMO.tone-def wrote:there are some rules.Phase Ghost wrote:Post of the year. Techno has no rules.BigPoe wrote:
Techno is what you want it to be.
techno is a fusion between technologhy and funk. if you take away either it's not techno.
-
be~~
- mnml mmbr
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:12 pm
- Location: www.myspace.com/internetyeah
Hello minimalists..
I guess the OP means "tension" like the instrument of "thrill" in a book or the instrument of "suspense atmosphere". This question of how to build up suspense or tension has bothered me since my first days of producing techno music and its a very important question with interesting gems to explore.
Its all about the macro-arrangement (chronology of parts) but must be based on a fine set of micro-arrangement (loop-edits, note-edits).
There are different builds to create "tension". The most used and most-selling/floor-proven technique is just to build up the macro leading it all into a big big break and then just get this kickdrum in again. This works but from point of view its too disco-ish because it all based on kick-off kick-on with some alert-fx on top. This build lacks of deepness and flow and deepness is what its all about. Sure this build got its important position but in a good dj set its should be only 1 track like this per hour. A point where it all comes down to the point of no return. (example: duoteque - logo, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD0LFAHM ... re=related) It also got its niche to be played in the first hours of a party to make people starting dancing (as allready said, its very disco-ish) but to take people into some deep suspense atmospheric experience thoose tracks are not very suitable. Its allways made like this: - Pitch something up, maybe turn up the filter or add some AMP-release, etc.
- add some noise
- turn kick off
- add some reversed reverb
- then make it all mute and re-play kick again
- maybe add some noise again ( and again and again and again
I think its a little bit sad that almost everyone is doing this the last 2 years and I am realy a bit tired of it. (as allready said a good dj just need such a tune only once per hour). This tracks are important, but please not every track - in case you dont want disco.
Anyway the alternative build is way deeper, offers more atmosphere and does not need to depend on Kick-OFF/kick-ON-mechanics to keep the suspension going. Sadly on the more overground-hyped music of techno and minimal this kind of macro got a little bit forgotten. Its also very hard to produce. The idea is to make a loop which is getting more interesting and exciting as longer its rolling (usually its vice-versa). With this loop you make the tension higher and higher, very slowly its all building and lifting up. But how to make a loop getting better and better, usually its getting more boring after a period of time: You need very good micro-arrangement. You need different levels and rythms of straight and sometimes untight loops which are overlapping each other and create a global pattern which needs some longer time to get recognized by the ear.
The key oftenis (someone mentioned here): automation. Every bar must slightly sound a little bit differently. Automate just everything, just a little bit. Artists like minilogue and extrawelt are masters of automation, expecially minilogue is very good a loop-pattern overlapping. surprisingly both had been psytrance-productionteams before, where deepness and flow is an important part of the music. yes I know both acts got a little bit poppy lately but they are still very good examples, like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoArFyov0II (minilogue with superb macro)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CP6DG9s ... re=related (extrawelt with very good micro and automation)
All this automation leads to another important thing and represents a core thing of minimal music: You do not try to allways add something on top to keep the track interesting. You stay by your 3-4 elements and play with them without getting boring. You dont add something on top, if you want to - then this means that your allready-have-elements are not correct. Go a step back and change it until its mind-catching. Minimal is not a set of sounds its a way of working, and intelligent philosophy of production.
I guess the OP means "tension" like the instrument of "thrill" in a book or the instrument of "suspense atmosphere". This question of how to build up suspense or tension has bothered me since my first days of producing techno music and its a very important question with interesting gems to explore.
Its all about the macro-arrangement (chronology of parts) but must be based on a fine set of micro-arrangement (loop-edits, note-edits).
There are different builds to create "tension". The most used and most-selling/floor-proven technique is just to build up the macro leading it all into a big big break and then just get this kickdrum in again. This works but from point of view its too disco-ish because it all based on kick-off kick-on with some alert-fx on top. This build lacks of deepness and flow and deepness is what its all about. Sure this build got its important position but in a good dj set its should be only 1 track like this per hour. A point where it all comes down to the point of no return. (example: duoteque - logo, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD0LFAHM ... re=related) It also got its niche to be played in the first hours of a party to make people starting dancing (as allready said, its very disco-ish) but to take people into some deep suspense atmospheric experience thoose tracks are not very suitable. Its allways made like this: - Pitch something up, maybe turn up the filter or add some AMP-release, etc.
- add some noise
- turn kick off
- add some reversed reverb
- then make it all mute and re-play kick again
- maybe add some noise again ( and again and again and again
I think its a little bit sad that almost everyone is doing this the last 2 years and I am realy a bit tired of it. (as allready said a good dj just need such a tune only once per hour). This tracks are important, but please not every track - in case you dont want disco.
Anyway the alternative build is way deeper, offers more atmosphere and does not need to depend on Kick-OFF/kick-ON-mechanics to keep the suspension going. Sadly on the more overground-hyped music of techno and minimal this kind of macro got a little bit forgotten. Its also very hard to produce. The idea is to make a loop which is getting more interesting and exciting as longer its rolling (usually its vice-versa). With this loop you make the tension higher and higher, very slowly its all building and lifting up. But how to make a loop getting better and better, usually its getting more boring after a period of time: You need very good micro-arrangement. You need different levels and rythms of straight and sometimes untight loops which are overlapping each other and create a global pattern which needs some longer time to get recognized by the ear.
The key oftenis (someone mentioned here): automation. Every bar must slightly sound a little bit differently. Automate just everything, just a little bit. Artists like minilogue and extrawelt are masters of automation, expecially minilogue is very good a loop-pattern overlapping. surprisingly both had been psytrance-productionteams before, where deepness and flow is an important part of the music. yes I know both acts got a little bit poppy lately but they are still very good examples, like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoArFyov0II (minilogue with superb macro)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CP6DG9s ... re=related (extrawelt with very good micro and automation)
All this automation leads to another important thing and represents a core thing of minimal music: You do not try to allways add something on top to keep the track interesting. You stay by your 3-4 elements and play with them without getting boring. You dont add something on top, if you want to - then this means that your allready-have-elements are not correct. Go a step back and change it until its mind-catching. Minimal is not a set of sounds its a way of working, and intelligent philosophy of production.