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Reznik

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    Possibly interesting combinations of software synthesizers with hardware effects

    in Music Making and Production/Industry

    Posted

    Aside from my little cute Korg Monotron Delay, i´ve been working with software only for ten years.

    I used to own a Korg MS-2000, but some bastards broke into my flate and stole it amongst other things. Didn´t have much time to play around with it.

     

    What are possibly interesting combinations of software synthesizers with hardware effects to gain a better quality of sound compared to vst effects?

    A Guide to Music Theory (The Guide formerly known as The Ravenspiral Guide)

    in Music Making and Production/Industry

    Posted

    The Guide formerly known as the Ravenspiral Guide - an informal guide to music theory as it relates to composition.
    Those who want to give themselves a painless introduction to notes, intervals, scales, chords, progressions and so on could do much worse than check out the Guide formerly known as The Ravenspiral Guide;

     

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1650913/rsg-0.8.1.pdf

    • Like 2

    An analysis of why Hallucinogen - "Twisted" is so great

    in General Psytrance

    Posted

    Finally, I just wanted to comment on the last thing you said about melodic structures. What you are referring to is song structure, something that I too agree many artists lack. I can't stand full on, prog, techno, etc because there is no song writing. One of the few artists I can think of that has written really great compositions is RA. The musical structures are so well thought out and it's often not just one thing and then another. To Sirius and 9th and I'll throw Second Phaze in there, are full of subtle musical progressions that perfectly and logically lead from one to the next, providing the kind of focus that a lot of artists don't seem to care about. I mean, sure this is goa trance and not a Beethoven Sonata, but all the same, one of the most rewarding things as a listener for me is to hear where a song goes, how it develops, where it wants to take me. Melodies, harmonies, chord progressions all captivate me far more than big fills, long breakdowns, explosive climaxes, etc.

    I absolutely agree on that. A song needs a concept. This is what seperates good psy from muzak, but it´s a difficult thing to implement and takes a lot of time. You have put your heart and soul into your music, not just scribble down track after track.

    I´m also a musician and it took me about 10 years til i was able to work that way.

    Do you do drugs while listening to psytrance?

    in General Psytrance

    Posted

     

    It's hard to describe really. It sounds somehow distant or detached, but at the same time feels like the sound is surrounding you. It also feels like I can more fully experience every layer of a psytrance/goa track when under the influence of MXE.

    .

    I think, this is what i had two days ago :)

     

     

    You're right though there is definitely a middle ground on MXE that is best for music appreciation. I can take a few tries to figure out what the right dose is for you to reach that place.

    Yes, because when i had my high dose Mxe experiences, i wasn´t even able to hear the music anymore, while on a low dose music experience doens´t really change.

    The forum is still quite inactive

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    radi, i´m afraid you don´t do drugs, cause i know a drug forum with 15.000 members, that is very active.

    Of course this forum isn´t only about drugs, it features sections about consciusness and whatsoever as well.

    There are quite some weirdos you would fit with.

     

    Drop some Acid and join us dude :P

    The Entertaining Thread

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    Ten DO NOT Rules of Psy-Trance Production

    Introducing the new list of Ten DO NOT Rules of Psy-Trance Production. Offenders will be forced to attend a trance party in the desert w/o water, an IV drip of L.S.D. in their arm, while stomping Israeli trance pounds 24/7 for one month, no sleep allowed. Yes, we know there are quite a few folks to whom that would be a dream come true...

    1. Anyone using samples from Terrence McKenna, Jim Morrison, or Hunter Thompson in any track will be shot and killed immediately. Sample your grandmother or someone interesting and more importantly, new!

    2. Drop that same stupid unchanging 4/4 kick w/rolling bass line. If you can't write a sequence where the bass line does a little riff here or there, or drop or double-up one of the kicks every now and then, then may you suffer death by the Chinese Water Torture.

    3. No more samples about acid/L.S.D. There's a lot of fucking drugs out there. Pick any other one! At least Ticon managed to write a track about drinking on their latest. Offenders get 1 full gram of pure liquid poured in their eyes with a power-squirter.

    4. If the only effects used on your album/CD are reverb and the ping-pong delay, please quit now. There are about a zillion plugin effects out there. Reverb/pong have their place, but try something new for a change. If you can't, then you should have your head removed and a real game of Ping Pong played with it.

    5. Learn the idea of "dynamics" in music. The ambient intro, straight full-on tracks with one or maybe two breakdowns, then ambient fadeout formula is old, dead, and crumbled to dust. Suggestion: start it full-on, have it break down to a two minute ambient section in the middle, and finish full-on again. Learn from the prog. and epic trance folks and try doing some buildups, learn to add a little tension to the music, try to make it unpredictable. If you can't, then may you get a desk job at a very conservative bank where you are forced to wear a suit and add numbers by hand 12 hours a day for the rest of your life.

    6. Stop using filters for breakdowns. Great, so your track just keeps repeating itself every four bars, and then you turn up a band-pass filter and squeeze it down until you stop the music. Wow. So very original... not. Try anything else for a break - scramble the music, have four bars in reverse, anything else, please! Those who keep doing this crap will be squeezed to death between a rock and hard place.

    7. Try writing an album that flows from beginning to end, rather than sounding like a collection of tracks on a comp. It seems like most psy-trance producers just lay down the tracks as they write them. Listen to Son Kite's "Colours" and Jaia's "Fiction" if you want to hear what a real "album" sounds like. Remember when you used to put in a CD and it wasn't the same if you couldn't listen to the whole thing, beginning to end, or even leave it on repeat? Pull out "Dark Side of the Moon" if you don't. Those who don't get this deserve to listen to nothing else than the worst goa comp. ever on endless repeat for a year.

    8. Just forget the "trance gating" or at least use it on something other than analog synth melody lines and vocals. Simon Posford & Co. have done it to death. If you must, try running something different through it rather than the same old two standards. If you can't come up with an alternative, then may you be cut into pieces lengthwise and every other one of them thrown in the river.

    9. Get a fucling sense of humour! When the hell did goa stop being fun? It's just music, for christ's sake! It's supposed to be fun and enjoyable. This whole ultra-serious, lifestyle / scene crap has to go. Bring back the funk and the fun, please. Y'all are starting to look and act as pathetic and tired as the Goths. No punishment needed, nothing's worse than being a bunch of psy-Goths.

    10. Last but not least, see rule #9. While this list is trying to make some serious points about how completely dull and boring and formulaic goa/psy-trance has gotten, it's also meant to get a larf. If you didn't smile at least once while reading this, please go see a doctor and ask to have your funny bone replaced or installed. Again, no punishment necessary, it's sad if people can't find humour in trying to take the piss out of things while making a point.

    BONUS: OK, this isn't about production, but to all you goa/psy-trance DJs out there (many of whom are producers) - get off the friggin' big stage, put yourself off in a corner where you can see the crowd, and learn to spin music that makes people dance and party and have fun, and stop thinking you're a bunch of rock stars because you've practised your set for two months straight and it's perfect. The nice thing about goa/psy-trance in the early years was the lack of ego amongst producers and DJ's alike. The former is still mostly true, but the latter isn't, and this kind of music is never, ever going to make a Paul Oakenfold out of anyone; nor should anyone who enjoys it want to become an arsehole like him anyway. Who cares if you train wreck - write and play tracks that move people's bodies *and* minds.

    • Like 2
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