Malcos

I don't even know what genre I do anymore, I just call everything I make electronica. Influences from techno, dance rnb, jazz and hip-hop. I play everything in with my keyboard, drums and all - then edit it in the piano roll.

Forget the mixing bit altogether lol. I started and realised that a mixing video would take way too long to edit and explain why I did each thing, what effect does what etc. I haven't even finished mixing it, and considering I had a cold when I recorded...bah. I posted the original session on youtube anyways, hope you get something out of it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gntmWX2C26c&feature=youtu.be

Gimme a few more days and it should be up, I'm going to add a video also showing how I mixed it.

I'm working on a video at the moment which I intend to post to youtube soon. It's a video capture of a vocal recording session and mixdown. Only the highlights mind you lol.

Ok put me down for 'Rolling Chaser' for old time's sake!

I am starting work on 'Last audience', WIP will be sent sometime next week...

That's taking the piss, you release it for free, and they try to make money off it, and you get nothing. The nerve of people to do that, it's really maddening.

Yes please, I'd definitely like to take that song. Are there any style/genre requirements?

This is a great idea! I was thinking of doing solar striker, stage 4.

This is very subjective. When you say improve the beat, in what way? What do you want to do with it? What genre are you working from? Do you have any more drum sounds? The sounds used here are very much your standard drum kit. However, it might work in some compositions. To know how this would need to be improved we would need context.

The first thing I do is ask myself whether I feel the song needs a remix or not! Some songs are so awesome I feel that anything I do will just spoil it. That doesn't mean that someone else won't come along and do an amazing remix of it - my point is that you have to be confident that you can do something with the song first. I always play the song by ear, I find that I can get a much better feel of the original song that way. It also means that as I am figuring out the main parts, I will begin to see where I can add my own original parts/style. When it comes to transitions, indeed most of the rest of the arrangement, I usually hum/beatbox it and then go from there. I always ask myself, what do I want to do with this song? Do I want to emphasise the original feel, or so I want to put a different spin on it? Am I trying to tell a story or set a scene? Do I want to surprise the listener or give them a unique experience? The thing about remixing is that if you listen to the original and there is the odd thing that you can't work out, it doesn't matter. You will be doing your own interpretation anyway - play it in a way that you understand it and you will have already remixed that element.

Also don't forget to check out the first pack: http://www.steinberg.net/en/newsandevents/news/newsdetail/archive/2011/11/28/article/model-e-and-vb-1-revived-1776.html For me Model E is by far the best out of the lot released so far. Great interface and fun to use.

Awesome thread! Here's mine: make www.malcosproductions.com a success lose another stone/6kg and keep it off for the whole year get an ocremix or two posted this year finally learn to play the ukulele

I am British...

Yes I agree. Create music as you learn, try to make copies of songs you really like, it will help you break down the style and instruments used to see why it works. It's also very dependant on what type of music you want to make, as a lot of contemporary styles don't require much theoretical knowledge!

You could repeat the parts again, and change one element when the main theme/chorus/melody comes around again. You could change the chord progression, the drum beat, the rhythm. This works well when you've got a groove going. For me, groove is when you never get tired of a piece of music however many times you hear it, it's just so catchy. Like those times when you're making a song and you have a loop going again and again, before deciding to actually flesh it out!

Erm, very important lol. In a lot of cases though, a good noise gate and using a nice loud signal will let you get away with a lot if you're making electronic music. If you want to record the subtle performance of a piano or orchestra though, those quiet sections will expose poor signal to noise ratio HARD.

Yeah, same here. I got win 7 64-bit as soon as it came out, still no proper drivers. Just like Overcoat, I cannot record the output directly back into the card, so I have had to run everything through a usb mixer. I can still record into the card from my microphone though. So yeah the card is good, just crappy support from EMU themselves.

You need to know what kind of sound you want first. When you find a synth sound you like, think of what would enhance it, depending on the sound that you're going for. For example, if you want a distorted lead, you might find a mid range synth and then add the distortion to it. If the distortion is low fi, you might want to look for a thinner sounding high frequency synth that you could high pass filter, and add some light phasing. Then you could add both together with a touch of reverb/delay. That could give you a clean/distorted sound that would cut nicely through a full mix. Panning '10 and 2' helps, especially with pad layers. You don't always need to layer your synth sounds, sometimes all it needs is some processing. Chorus does wonders for lead synths.

There are lots of ways to write nice basslines. Like others have said, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and octave intervals often sound best. I'll use some music examples to try and explain a bit better. In terms of note selection, you can choose to go mostly root throughout, long notes, keep it simplish. 0.55-1.28: You can decide to create a riff/melody with the bassline if the other elements of the song are minimal (jazz and rnb styles do this often). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMrN8wTdAWA Rhythm wise you can follow the kick and snare drums, or you can use the bassline to work with the drum beat to make the rhythm section itself more complex. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-r3If2zwEA&feature=related Cutoff and resonance timed well can also add rhythm. I remember one song I did where I followed the hi hats with the bassline, makes for something very energetic. The length of the notes of a bassline can also make a huge difference. Resonance and cutoff mean that basslines can really fill out the texuture of any song, and a high synthy bass often compliments a simple low sine wave bass underneath. (from around 0.53) You can even use 2 bass like tones in the same song at the same time, just keep one simple and one synth like (check out this tune from around 0.53): In addition you can swap out basslines at some point during the song. From about 1.10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3jmNxGi2xE The bass is really the bit that can get people dancing, and can really make the biggest impact. Just imagine it as a melodic drum, part of the rhythm section.

Sorry if this has been posted somewhere before: http://warbeats.com/Community/Forums/aft/57 I already had a huge collection of drums, but with this...!

This is a mixed orchestral and electronic album, detailing future events that occured in another universe. Music and Narration by yours truly, Cover art by Metin Kolsuk. This album will be available for purchase from June 2011 at malcos.bandcamp.com, and will include 2 bonus tracks as well as the full story. Thanks as always for listening! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=882DB2D8FBF107B6

Well I've messed around with 3 different autotune plugins, all of which give slightly different effects and flavours. The first one is native in cubase based on a Yamaha plugin (which isn't free). Gsnap is quite good: http://www.gvst.co.uk/gsnap.htm KeroVee is also interesting, although much less subtle!: http://www.g200kg.com/en/software/kerovee.html

Currently working on another DnB album, with a twist.