Only Renoise. And some plugins: Xpand!2 (creating arps), Babylon (first theme), Velvet2 (second theme and this el-piano was totally harcore to mix), Diva (theme from 1:20), Serum (small plucks that starts from 1:52), Union (bass in general, not so complicated, so I needed deep one). And about changes in leads - instrument automation of course and proper settings of them (mono, legato mode) with double track. Effects plugins - except built-in (Delay, Gainer, EQ) also external Wider, FIN-MICRO, Cyclone, Excalibur, Modern Exciter, TAL-Reverb-4. And I donât wanted to adding too much in background, because whole song was only background for lead themes - I donât want it too much wide/deep.
And about âexcitementâ - maybe you understand me wrong. I was talking about themes / solos. Nice themes, even slow and easy, may be excited (if theyâre not too simply and with some idea - I hope I made it in that song).
automating the width of the background elements can also give more movement to the track in general - the same applies for both main parts âin the frontâ. Thanks for sharing the in-depth overview!
i personally disagree. Theme can be interested even if there is only 1 long held note⌠By automating various parameters, thus creating interesting sound picture⌠or by making a movement in the background⌠by elements in the âsecond planâ buuut⌠yeah⌠endless topic
track is great if you ask me, scr*w all the formalities rules etcâŚ
if the whole track has the same width all the time, people most likely arenât aware of the âwidthâ since there are no âmonoâ (narrowed) elements that can get their attention, and they are not aware of what is very narrow (mono-or-close-to-it) aaand the wide elements⌠this can improve overall impression a lotâŚ
I agree (and not in the same time) about one held note and excitement. Sometimes one note can be interested and excited - look at guitar solo in Sepultura âAgainstâ (just one note as you said). But itâs not really a theme, just excited music element. You cannot play it on piano and ask anyone âdo you recognize it?â
so, the piano is the ruler of all themes, isnât it? what about mimicking the instruments that do not have strictly defined pitch notes? how would you play that? What about music that is microtonal? would you tear up the piano tuning just so you can play the melody and say âdo you recognize thatâ? i do not see the logic here by declaring something not a âthemeâ just because you cannot play it on the pianoâŚ
well if we are talking in the classical orchestration manner and form, you are correct⌠BUT most of the music nowadays doesnât involve a lot of âarrangementâ effort⌠Also there are a lot more elements to the âtheme/melodiesâ than in the baroque or any other past period⌠Like automating the bitcrush effect on a single note⌠That can be a âthemeâ by itself too⌠But if we are talking the pure âschooled orchestration music theoryâ then - yes, the theme is only described as in the sheets (pitch,duration)
Admins please branch off this discussion to a new Topic, so we do not choke this one
I try to explain that, because I think we both may agree, just using different words.
For me theme is a theme, music is more than just themes. It can have beat, interesting modern solutions, effects etc. Not everything must be a theme.
So you may create interesting things in music, possibilities are endless, but themes (at least for me) are themes you can re-create on other instrument (different way of course) and they still be recognizable.
Hey people I love you all but here can be such an ego war sometimes. Itâs embarrassing. No one gets better by saying others are worse. if anyone does good then why the need to prove it? Profundity is self-contained. I donât know if itâs pandemie or sth else but everywhere i go people are edgy. Even here on the renoise forum. Iâm like krass!
I totally disagree with the OPâs points here. I think nowadays a solid instrumentation matching itâs genre style is essential. Or finding a coherent instrument set (not that I am that good here ) Also XTD might hate my music tries, but I donât care about that. I often have a prob to add a melody to an existing song. Not because I canât do melodies, more because - I think - that I have a bad approach to do a song. I mostly start with the chords, the harmonics, then already add bass and beat. After a while my brain is so used to the song that it canât imagine a melody anymore, it already feels complete due all those repetitions.
Also I find that Renoise sucks with midi recording. Either it comes too early, or too late (depending on compensation settings, could be a mac version problem only). There is not overdub or whatever either, no recording buffer etc. Makes spontaneos melodic recording pretty difficult. Not everybody comes with a full musicial education and playing an instrument very nicely. I think I also can hear this problem in other peopleâs Renoise-songs. In 95% of all recordings, I end up with a lot of editing the wrongly recording parts, and then the delicate little plant of inspiration is lost. In comparison, when I record midi in Ableton, it will only fail in 5% of the cases. I think Albeton even uses some kind of intelligent quantisation while recording, or it simply is precise as it should be.
For the music thread, I really like that people post their musical journeys, no matter what.
Perhaps it already is.
More melodies could be an addition for some more variation. Just have a look at the âpro stuffâ, itâs not that different. One or the other here in this forum would say ârepetitiveâ, but thatâs the way it is.
Sure, sound design is important. The thing is, it is too easy to hide bad/boring/generic/uninteresting writing behind good sounds. But it is like empty calories or a paper tiger.
A good tune will survive a bad mix and/or poor choice of instruments. Within reason, of course. But when you combine a strong foundation with stellar production⌠youâve got yourself a winner.
Many of the great composers/producers wrote their tracks on piano or acoustic guitar. Simple, easy instruments to start playing on. No effects to hide behind. If, what youâre writing sounds interesting that way you know youâre onto something.
The equivalent for us computer producers is using simple sine waves. Play your rhythms, melodies, harmonies and song structures with just sines. If it sounds good, go nuts with the sound design and effects. It will get even better!
If, on the other hand, the core of your tune falls apart when played with just sine wavesâŚwell maybe you need to put some more time and effort into it. Create some more harmonic, melodic and rhythmic interest. And your tune will start to shine when you get to the instrumentation stage.
Edit:
Just to make sure: Iâm not talking about @ffxâs music here specifically. What Iâm saying is in general and to everyone reading this, including myself.
) Also XTD might hate my music tries, but I donât care about that. I often have a prob to add a melody to an existing song. Not because I canât do melodies, more because - I think - that I have a bad approach to do a song. I mostly start with the chords, the harmonics, then already add bass and beat. After a while my brain is so used to the song that it canât imagine a melody anymore, it already feels complete due all those repetitions.