Native Instruments - Massive Sound Creation

I've finally gotten Native Instruments Massive to work in Ableton Live!

Fifth Song - Massive Sound Creation

Nothing complicated, but for a first run through I'd say it sounds cool. I added a kick just for fun. Here is what the sound board looks like:

The highlighted parts are all the adjustable settings I used to create the sound. Basically, you assign the oscillators a sound effect (in this case, I mixed 3) and then you adjust the settings until you get the sound you want. Then, you can run the sound through two filters (I used 1). After I did this, I also played with the Insert effects and used a "Delay." I finally used "Reverb" and "Flanger+" in the "FX1" and "FX2" section. I finished off by creating a heavy bass-like tone by controlling the sounds through the "EQ." This program looks complicated, but once you see how it works, it's not hard. I haven't gotten to the wave customization yet, but I'll save that for another day.

The program is very powerful, I plan on using it in the future to create my own custom sounds. This is among the few programs people like Skrillex use to create their own unique signature to electronic music. I probably won't play with this for a while, I'll be getting back to my song, "ElectroLite." I need to complete the song so that I can understand the entire process, from beginning to end. Then I can start to make other songs.

Added to ElectroLite

This song isn't exactly turning out exactly how I wanted it to, but I suppose it's all part of the learning process.

ElectroLite - Extended

I separated the drum kit like I wanted, and added a bass line. I'm still not entirely convinced on the kick I'm using, perhaps I'll change it later. I'll probably scrap the effects towards the end out, it sounds a little sloppy while I'm typing this.

Not much for screenshots to post today, but I'll post the effects panel for my favorite line (starting around :27)

The "Channel Strip A" effect is what is giving the line a very "trance" feel, as I'm bending the High Cut and Low Cut to create an alternating sound. Here is what the entire song looks like (so far):

I'm not exactly impressed with the progress I've made today. It just doesn't sound... professional? That first line is gold, but the rest of the song isn't flowing like I'd hoped. That's what I get for thinking this was going to be a stroll in the park!

As the song grows increasingly complex, my processor is beginning to show its age. I'm hoping by the time I have several more lines, it won't bug out on me. If I ever do a live set, I'd need a laptop that can handle Ableton. Oh the disappointment for today. All I can do is keep moving forward!

Learning the Drums

My biggest fear of all this musical mayhem was that I'd have to learn the drums, and associate every sample sound I have to a certain instance; literally learning how to play drums.

My fear was extinguished today at work, when my co-worker Steve explained the simplicity of drums. In my last blog, I created a new song, that I shall continue to grow, called ElectroLite. Here is what a simple drum line sounds like with it:

ElectroLite w/ Drum Sampling

Simple, yet course altering for the song. Here is what the drum sampler looks like (called the Impulse):

The beats are simple: kick, snare, closed hat & open hat. I didn't take much time to choose my sounds, I just merely explored the impulse device. The way in which I created the beat was heavily influenced by how easy Steve said it was done. Here is what it looks like:

 

Simple, yet very effective! I want to elaborate on the drumming by separating each drum session into their own lines and supplying proper effects on each individual line to give it more flare. Right now, it's simple. I want it to become complicated as the song flows, as well as the hook-line for "ElectroLite."

As for the tutorial for the drumming controls, you can see the tutorial I used by clicking: Sonic Academy - Lesson 5 Creating a Drum Beat. I learned of the impulse device from this, but in another set of tutorials from Tom Cosm, he showed me how to create a more natural flow to the drum set while individualizing each piece of equipment.

My next challenge, aside from creating a unique drum line, is to create a sustainable bass line. I'm sure youtube has a tutorial for that, as well!

ElectroLite

ElectroLite - 27 second sample (Click)

Firs song I've given a name to. I've created a hook I can finally enjoy. Unsure of the second line I've added, but at least I'm happy with the original line. I'm taking extra care of the line I've made, as I would like to turn it into an actual song; I may abandon this song to learn more stuff just to make it "listenable." Here is what the analog control looks like for the line:

(Click to Enlarge)

To the naked eye, this looks impressive. However, I used a simple effect of controlling the frequency at the beginning of every note to give every note "range." Rinse, and repeat.

Hardest part of the creation process is to constantly drive the song in a direction that nice to listen to. Mastering the audio levels is proving to be difficult, as well.

The hardest part, so far, is mixing in the drums. The beat is hard to create a consistent flow, and I'm having the hardest time making it sound, at the minimum, basic. It usually comes out clumsy and disorganized.

I ordered a 10-hour set of DVDs from Tom Cosm. His first two hours are online, and they've already helped me out tremendously.

Also, I played with Native Instruments Massive. That program is two things: ridiculous to understand, and doesn't run well on my computer. I'm hoping to change that, the program is powerful, but it's frustrating me so I'm going to stick with mastering Ableton first. We can't all be Skrillex overnight!

This blog is ugly... I'll have to change that later!

Anyways, I purchased an Akai APC40:

 

This device is mainly used for live performances, but if I want to make it I'll have to try it out. I mainly want to use the device to play with the effects so I don't have to keep using my mouse to test out how certain sounds work when mixed with a variety of different settings.

My next simple project is to make a live song to test out the equipment when it arrives! the 8x5 controls the live settings:

The highlighted section is the portion controlled by the 8x5 keys. You press a key, and it'll play the beat loaded into the box. My next job is to figure out why it only does one bar, or if that can be changed!

In addition, it looks like some of the big dogs also use a program called "Massive" for synthesizer work:

I too shall learn how this program works!

And so, I've created a blog to document my journey of music making: Blogumentary. I'm already disappointed that "SuperLooper" is commonly taken as it is a fitting "stage name" since my last name is... Looper.

Anyways, Here is the first and second song I've "created:"

Matt Looper: First Song
My first song is bland, but I have just begun

Matt Looper: Second Song
My second attempt is better, showing more range of effects and adding the basics of drumming. I'm not a fan of trance music and that's exactly where this song is heading.

Matt looper: Second Song v2
This is another version of the song above. I cut the long transitions out and cut straight to the good stuff, but I added another line instead. I hate the line I've added, but that'll do for tonight's session of "Playing with Ableton."

I plan on sharing everything I create, whether it be good, bad or ugly. The whole point of this is to share the growth of my music journey. My goal is to have a full-fledged grasp of Ableton, and maybe even have an EP available by the end of the year.

I have two different sound clouds:

Matt Looper
This sound cloud, labeled "Matt Looper" will be where I upload the majority of my stuff, whether it be samples or simple beats/sounds I've created. This will be used to "blogument" what I've worked on every day. My goal is to create something every day, whether it's something useful or just a random soundbyte, just to keep me in track of music creation

SuperLooper
When I feel like a song is ready to share under my "stage name" I shall put it here. Not a whole lot will go here for a long time, but when I make something I want to share with people, I will put it here.

Thanks for playing, see you next time!

UPDATE (4/10/12)
I've actually scrapped the second soundcloud, and made my main one as "SuperLooper." I've built up so much steam on my sample soundcloud that I'm making it my main one, instead.