Well, first post, so here’s a basic overview of what I’ve been up to. I’ve been messing around with Ableton Live 6 for a few months, but I just started getting into using it for production a few weeks ago. I’ve got three tracks on the go right now – a trancy, almost horror-movie style track, a dirty electro bassline that sounds absolutely amazing, and a deep, progressive house track with a load of side-chain compression and some trance-y sounds. It’s mostly going great, but the big snag I’ve hit is adding enough elements to create a real crescendo.
So far it seems like finding a hook isn’t too tough (though it’ll probably get worse later on). It’s finding that fourth or fifth instrument or chord to give the track a full enough sound. Obviously it depends on the track, but regardless of how good a bassline sounds, there needs to be something more to call it music, even if it’s dance music. Currently I think I might just be too stuck on those hook concepts, so I’m assuming if I take some time away from them, I’ll get it down. Good news is that I’ve gotten good enough at using Ableton Live that I can use it as a scratch-pad to throw together my ideas without having to worry about the technicalities. I originally wanted Fruity Loops (FL Studio) for that reason, but I’m actually starting to think that Live is easily as intuitive and quick to use as FL, if not more so.
Now, right about here, I’d like to start a couple of big discussions on each of the tracks I’ve been working on, but I just went home for December, which means dial-up internet, so I’m not uploading them. It’s also starting to get late, and I’d like to take advantage of being tired and go to sleep early for once.
Outside of music, I’ve been nerding out like crazy and generally being antisocial – staying up way too late, watching Battlestar Galactica, and playing loads of Half Life 2 (despite the fact that it crashes 1/3 times it has to load anything. I think it’s got to do with some sort of memory errors relating to permission… or my RAM’s dead… or my graphics card needs a driver update). Also baking cookies. We have around 6 inches of snow outside, so I’m going to have to grab my snowboard and head out at some point too.
Anyway, when I get a chance at some high-speed access, I’ll upload my projects, and write a post on the processes I’ve been using to put them together, as well as the individual elements (what makes them sound that way, etc.).
