MusicianERA |OT| Producers and Artists Welcome

[FiveHandsMusic]

Dang, there are some talented people in here, same as the last place! I've come back to production after a really long layoff and I'm having a blast diving back into it. I make retro/synthwave stuff mainly. Currently use FL Studio, various softsynths (mainly Serum, Sylenth, Diva, Legend) and I have a few hardware synths as well. Looking forward to checking out everybody's stuff and griping about how fucking hard mixing is.

Click to shrink...

Awesome man, would live to hear your synth stuff. I really believe proper volume control and leveling are the most important parts of a mix. After that, most things can fall into their place more comfortably. Really excited this topic got made so quickly.

Also, anyone try Reason 10? I am 100% Ableton atm, but I loved Reason waaaay back in the day. Im finding myself very curious.

And just to drop a link. What do you guys think about this track/mix? Wanted to make a Bojack Horseman inspired hip hop instrumental.
https://soundcloud.com/fivehandsmusic/bounced

 

[Nyx]

Yay, I'm here.

Hi fellow producers/musicians.
For any new people that weren't in the other community, my soundcloud page:

https://soundcloud.com/nyx_1978

Work in progress tracks, finished tracks, and some DJ sets.

 

[Kyzer]

Digging the Coheed desktop! :]

Click to shrink...

Good catch!

 

[BeeDog]

Gotta start catching up on people's creations here to get my own inspiration going! After acquiring a Ableton Lite license from Neurochasm here (thanks again man!), it started spiralling and I bought a bit TOO many VST plug-ins... And I have barely started out with producing something of worth :D Damn addiction.

 

[Nyx]

Busy with 3 tracks atm, of which I think this one feels best.

https://soundcloud.com/nyx_1978/george-hefner-ulrike-snippet

Want it to be without a break, as I always use breaks and try something different as much as possible. Means I need to keep the drums interesting and have drum fills at the end of a beat. You guys got any tips for that?

 

[Deleted member 10060]

Have anyone tried the new Joey Sturgis Bus Glue plugins? They look interesting, and that 50% offer is tempting, but buying something before knowing anything is a bit of a no no for me.

 

[Sonata]

Hello y'all! I'm a piano/keyboard and music teacher, now learning how to play the guitar. I applied to a masters degree in music education and I'm currently waiting for the results.

What I usually do is play and teach, but I want to start composing and maybe create game soundtracks one day. I'll try to be around here and listen to your creations! Hope we can get along :)

 

[Deleted member 3465]

Cool thread! Will definitely be contributing soon and I will start by following everyone who has already posted and checking out their tracks as well! I think my biggest downfall as a musician has actually been in terms of networking as I prefer to keep to myself, but I'm hoping to change that as of now. :) I recently decided to make the switch from a vocalist back to a producer and I've been thinking of pursuing making music for games as a living instead. I still would really like to release my own tracks on a smaller label as well! Looking forward to interacting with everyone!

 

[Twenty Three]

It's good to be back. Thanks to Kree and the Gang for keeping me entertained in the discord servers, while waiting in no mans land. It was starting to feel I was stuck on the longest loading screen ever, waiting to start level 2.

By way of intro for any newbies, I was vonstirlitz in the old place. Not really a musician as it's more of a hobby. More into sound design, soundscapes and analog synths. Really into the idea of hauntology, and imagined histories, through sound design. But more interested in what other people are making and are into. So looking forward to hearing people's stuff and sharing ideas. We have some amazing talent in the community.

 

[themoralcenter]

FiveHandsMusic our band has been using reason 4... im guessing any version past that is just gonna be better just with more encryption

 

[Darth Vapor]

My people! I look forward to posting some of my projects and getting some quality feedback.

I also look forward to hearing what you all are working on as well.

 

[Deleted member 10416]

And just to drop a link. What do you guys think about this track/mix? Wanted to make a Bojack Horseman inspired hip hop instrumental.
https://soundcloud.com/fivehandsmusic/bounced

Click to shrink...

This is dope, really dig it.

Gotta start catching up on people's creations here to get my own inspiration going! After acquiring a Ableton Lite license from Neurochasm here (thanks again man!), it started spiralling and I bought a bit TOO many VST plug-ins... And I have barely started out with producing something of worth :D Damn addiction.

Click to shrink...

Dude, the GAS is real. I'm really glad Serum and Sylenth1 both have pay as you go plans. I told myself no more softsynths but of course that doesn't stop me from drooling over hardware that I don't really need.

Busy with 3 tracks atm, of which I think this one feels best.

https://soundcloud.com/nyx_1978/george-hefner-ulrike-snippet

Want it to be without a break, as I always use breaks and try something different as much as possible. Means I need to keep the drums interesting and have drum fills at the end of a beat. You guys got any tips for that?

Click to shrink...

I dig this a lot too, nice groove and it sounds super clean. I dunno about fills for house, the nice thing about making synthwavy stuff is that it's mostly about the synths, so I can get away with tom fills here and there and call it good.

https://soundcloud.com/neurocsynth, https://neuroc.bandcamp.com/ is me. I'll start going back and checking earlier posted stuff out and giving folks a follow.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Yaaaaaas

new era smell.

Subbed.

 

[Brichfield]

Hey everybody! I've been listening to the stuff posted in this thread and you guys are super talented.

To introduce myself, I'm a producer who makes pop/edm music. It's been 5 years now since I picked up FL Studio to make an album trying to impress a girl (Lol).

I'm a vocalist/ukulele player as well!

 

[How About No]

Hi so I'm sorta a lazy hobby soundtrack composer who hasn't made anything I'd call finished in over a decade of tinkering experience, but here's the one I made I'd call "closest to being a full song", like over a year ago (and the version I've been working on in my head is way better but again lazy and working on other hobbies lol)

https://soundcloud.com/neoekamp/project-sidhe-fairy-struck-child-early-wip

This is meant to be the title theme for a game I'm attempting to design

I don't really have a particular style, just whatever fits the scene I'm trying to design or theme I'm trying to follow

 

[superpretend]

Is everyone just focused on doing individual tracks and EPs rather the albums? I've been producing music for around 12 years, but I'm so engrained in the whole album/collection of songs thing that it's hard for me to do the individual song rollout. I mean, it's fine, but obviously the process of getting music out is a lot slower. And also I'm extremely fussy about the music, I guess we all want our music to be perfect!

 

[Deleted member 1248]

Five albums, five EPs, hundreds of beats, dozens of remixes and productions for other artists.

 

[Kogasu]

Heyy everyone! I didn't jump in too much on the other site. May do so here.

I'm a composer/musician of sorts. Kinda terrible at getting things done...or well focusing on one project at a time is not my thing it seems. I got a lot of stuff cookin' at the moment.

Been doin this for a while. I play guitar, bass and keys! Been playin stuff for like 10 years now. I'm hoping to help compose music for more official projects but I get so unsure of myself and so I'm kinda still in my "I need to be able to make music in a timely manner" kind of phase lol! Plus, I'm pretty terrible at mixing and mastering... hmmm :/ Anyway, I tend to compose just whatever comes up. Lots of Jazzy styled downtempo-y stuff recently but I also got some atmospheric stuff, orchestral and metal stuff as well as I'm learning to do chiptune and make it sound ok lol!

https://soundcloud.com/kogasu/music-demo
Got a demo that kinda covers what I've done really the past year.

 

[FiveHandsMusic]

This is dope, really dig it.



Dude, the GAS is real. I'm really glad Serum and Sylenth1 both have pay as you go plans. I told myself no more softsynths but of course that doesn't stop me from drooling over hardware that I don't really need.



I dig this a lot too, nice groove and it sounds super clean. I dunno about fills for house, the nice thing about making synthwavy stuff is that it's mostly about the synths, so I can get away with tom fills here and there and call it good.

https://soundcloud.com/neurocsynth, https://neuroc.bandcamp.com/ is me. I'll start going back and checking earlier posted stuff out and giving folks a follow.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the listen! Ill check back on your music soon!

I was thinking, I know this topic is small atm and there are a wide variety of genres here, but would anyone be up for production contests? Something I always enjoyed were sample flip contests, where everyone turns the same sample into their own track. Cool seeing so many different spins on the same content.

 

[Nyx]

I would join the contest. Have done several in the past and it was always fun to hear all the different stuff people created out of the same sample pack.

 

[SinkFla]

Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Multi Instrumentalist here. Never really mentioned it on the old board but a few people (CrackPebbles in particular) have had heard my work lol. I've finished 2 full albums but got about a hundred songs in the past 5 years I haven't ever fully finished (life comes at you fast). I wanna try to finish some and share them here and see what you all think!

Note: Also, if there are any other musicians in the Gulf Coast FL area... I need a band haha.

 

[kev.wav]

I put this out last year, haven't really made anything as polished as a package since

https://alcovessound.bandcamp.com/album/circuitry

 

[BlueBadger]

Wouldn't enter it myself since I don't do much of the production side of things, but would totally love to be a vocalist for someone's entry.

It's good to be back. Thanks to Kree and the Gang for keeping me entertained in the discord servers, while waiting in no mans land. It was starting to feel I was stuck on the longest loading screen ever, waiting to start level 2.

By way of intro for any newbies, I was vonstirlitz in the old place. Not really a musician as it's more of a hobby. More into sound design, soundscapes and analog synths. Really into the idea of hauntology, and imagined histories, through sound design. But more interested in what other people are making and are into. So looking forward to hearing people's stuff and sharing ideas. We have some amazing talent in the community.

Click to shrink...

Yay! Glad to see you in here :)!!

 

[Deleted member 1248]

Thanks for the listen! Ill check back on your music soon!

I was thinking, I know this topic is small atm and there are a wide variety of genres here, but would anyone be up for production contests? Something I always enjoyed were sample flip contests, where everyone turns the same sample into their own track. Cool seeing so many different spins on the same content.

Click to shrink...

I'm with it.

 

[Rogote]

Hey there production ERA!
I was just working on something that has a lot of sfx going on and my cpu usage is really high, which is nothing unusual with such a high amount of cpu intensive effects, but I was wondering what kind of gear you all rockin'? Mainly the CPU part of the equation. I have a I7-4790k and I feel like it's still a good CPU overall but for my needs it's getting more and more long in the tooth and I'm wondering what CPU would be a worthwhile upgrade when the time comes to cross that bridge? I'm never doing those that costs almost 1k but I'm not gonna cheap out on it either.

 

[Twenty Three]

Hey there production ERA!
I was just working on something that has a lot of sfx going on and my cpu usage is really high, which is nothing unusual with such a high amount of cpu intensive effects, but I was wondering what kind of gear you all rockin'? Mainly the CPU part of the equation. I have a I7-4790k and I feel like it's still a good CPU overall but for my needs it's getting more and more long in the tooth and I'm wondering what CPU would be a worthwhile upgrade when the time comes to cross that bridge? I'm never doing those that costs almost 1k but I'm not gonna cheap out on it either.

Click to shrink...

There is one solution: choose hardware.

Seriously though, I dont have the problem as I use hardware synths and outboard fx, and by the time its in the DAW, it is bounced to audio.

One solution is to bounce to audio once you are happy. Not only will if save CPU for other things, but its also goid practice for workflow to commit to things, so you dont get lost tweaking. Just my opinion, and doesnt mean its right, but every bit helps if you have CPU issues.

 

[BeeDog]

Just saw that the Spire synth is having a Halloween sale (-30%, $132 instead of $189) over on the official page: https://www.reveal-sound.com/

I've heard great things about this synth, but is there any point to it if one already has Serum, Sylenth1 or any of the other usual suspects?

 

[EVOL]

Hey guys, I'm a singer-songwriter who mostly writes 'art pop' with a touch of noise rock and folk music. I used to write rock songs, but I'm a terrible guitar player, and I found out that it's pretty difficult, if not impossible to write rock music without knowing how to play drums, go figure.

These days I've mostly been tinkering around with synths, drum machines and the piano, and I'm trying to self-release an album's worth of material by the end of the year. I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet my deadline, but I'll post streaming links for the album once I'm done with it. Maybe I'll post a single or two before I'm done with the album as well.

As for the contest, I'd love to participate, although I'd probably be dead last lol

 

[Aomber]

Just saw that the Spire synth is having a Halloween sale (-30%, $132 instead of $189) over on the official page: https://www.reveal-sound.com/

I've heard great things about this synth, but is there any point to it if one already has Serum, Sylenth1 or any of the other usual suspects?

Click to shrink...

It depends what kind of sound you're looking for. Spire is a little closer to Sylenth in the sense that it has a decent amount of sound design options but it's also not a complete sound design playground like Serum. Not saying it's exclusive to this genre but it does has a reputation for being a Trance synthesizer, bright and digital, so take that into consideration.

It's a good sounding synth and has a nice user interface, but depending what you're doing you might find it redundant. If what I described sounds good to you try out the demo, check out videos and see if it clicks with you. Keep in mind it can potentially be CPU intensive depending on your usage.

Hey there production ERA!
I was just working on something that has a lot of sfx going on and my cpu usage is really high, which is nothing unusual with such a high amount of cpu intensive effects, but I was wondering what kind of gear you all rockin'? Mainly the CPU part of the equation. I have a I7-4790k and I feel like it's still a good CPU overall but for my needs it's getting more and more long in the tooth and I'm wondering what CPU would be a worthwhile upgrade when the time comes to cross that bridge? I'm never doing those that costs almost 1k but I'm not gonna cheap out on it either.

Click to shrink...

I can't speak much for the AMD side but as far as Intel goes and i5 vs i7, hyperthreading capability largely depends on your DAW. Some use it better than others. That said, depending on your usage a CPU upgrade might only get you so far. Bouncing/freezing tracks is always a good option, seeking out plugins that might use a little less CPU, etc.

If you're looking to offload your CPU altogether there's a couple options. As mentioned straight up hardware is an option, you can get stuff that won't absolutely break the bank, with the main benefit being that hardware never really becomes outdated. There are pros and cons though, the main ones being that they likely sound better than the software counterpart, but at the cost of being a little less convenient than running several instances like a plugin. Another alternative is investing in Universal Audio - if you're not familiar with them, their plugins run off digital signal processors (DSP) instead of your CPU. You do need to buy a piece of hardware with DSPs (which come at different price tiers) along with the plugins, but they easily have some of the best plugins in the business.

 

[BeeDog]

It depends what kind of sound you're looking for. Spire is a little closer to Sylenth in the sense that it has a decent amount of sound design options but it's also not a complete sound design playground like Serum. Not saying it's exclusive to this genre but it does has a reputation for being a Trance synthesizer, bright and digital, so take that into consideration.

It's a good sounding synth and has a nice user interface, but depending what you're doing you might find it redundant. If what I described sounds good to you try out the demo, check out videos and see if it clicks with you. Keep in mind it can potentially be CPU intensive depending on your usage.

Click to shrink...

Thanks a lot for the reply. Suspected it's more trance-oriented based on the gazillion sample/preset packs for the synth along those lines. Will skip it for now.

 

[toku]

I didn't participate in the one on the other forum but Hi, I'm a producer. I've shown up in XLR8R, Thump UK, and [url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/coyote-records-premieres-drain-debut-ep-jamaica-miami-producer-marks]Tiny Mixtapes. Two physical releases under my belt but eager to be doing more.

People throw the future bass sub genre...micro genre? around I'm not sure where I fall in that but is what it is. I started learning production and music related stuff thanks to rap but every year I keep leaning more and electronic/techno/club and score sounding stuff so *shrug*. I'll definitely be watching this thread.

Side Note: Serum is amazing[/url]

 

[AYZON]

I've never been that active on the other site but I hope I can step it up this time.
I dont have a whole lot technical knowledge so I can't give much input on those things, Ill try to contribute to this thread in other ways though.

Picking up one of the terms thrown around, I guess I would call myself hobby producer. I don't really stick to a genre but its all completely electronic and mostly synths, because, if im honest I cant play any instrument nor read notes.
anyways, this is a WiP Ive been working on.
https://soundcloud.com/ayzon/023-3a/s-bqD4J

Feel free to add me so I can follow you back and so on. :)

@CPUusage
Im not sure how much you do with those effects but maybe just try to be more efficient in using them? Routing, Shutting them off when not needed and stuff like that.
Maybe thats amateur level advice, but thats the best I can do.

 

[toku]

Another note on CPU usage, your sample rate will affect that as well. At least it does in Maschine. Instead of working at say, 960000khz and above try going down to 48000.

 

[Aomber]

Thanks a lot for the reply. Suspected it's more trance-oriented based on the gazillion sample/preset packs for the synth along those lines. Will skip it for now.

Click to shrink...

Sure thing, if you're looking for something more analog sounding that would be a genuine upgrade down the line of Sylenth/Spire, try u-he Diva. The main appeal is that it emulates a lot of different hardware synths such as Moogs, Jupiters, and Junos, but you can use different parts of each – for example the filter section from one, the oscillator section from another, etc. They're not dead on emulations of those but that's what makes it a unique synth and it wields some interesting results. It's a notorious CPU hog but it is some of the closest you'll get to analog emulation on a computer, sounds incredible and it's my go-to for many sounds.

Edit: Corrected to say Sylenth & Spire, it's not really similar to Serum

 

[Deleted member 10416]

Picking up one of the terms thrown around, I guess I would call myself hobby producer. I don't really stick to a genre but its all completely electronic and mostly synths, because, if im honest I cant play any instrument nor read notes.
anyways, this is a WiP Ive been working on.
https://soundcloud.com/ayzon/023-3a/s-bqD4J

Click to shrink...

I really like your stuff. Love atmospheric DnB. Fallen would have fit in great on the G.A.M.E soundtrack we just did for the new Wipeout.

 

[rObit]

Hey all! Glad to see this thread here! I do instrumental rock / metal under the name Neon Language. Been at it for awhile now, but here's my latest track: https://soundcloud.com/ibelonginspace/neon-language-gather

https://soundcloud.com/neurocsynth, https://neuroc.bandcamp.com/ is me. I'll start going back and checking earlier posted stuff out and giving folks a follow.

Click to shrink...

Hell yeah, this is awesome! Chiba City is my fucking jam. Congrats on releasing an EP, I know it's a lot of hard work.

 

[BeeDog]

Don't know if anyone cares, but there seems to be a big discount on certain iZotope plug-ins over at Plugin Boutique:

- iZotope Iris 2 is $50 instead of $150
- iZotope BreakTweaker Expanded is $108 instead of $325
- iZotope Stutter Edit is $108 instead of $270

 

[dragonchild]

I just want to ask right now, will music theory help me make a better player?

Click to shrink...

It will make you a better musician. If you work alone, it won't help you find your identity. By itself it doesn't improve technique or compositional creativity, so remixers and such typically don't get much value out of it. But if you're collaborating, it immensely helps if you're able to communicate in the common language that music theory provides.

But really, just to be a cranky old guy here, I wish musicians would learn a thing or two about acoustics. I mean, when it comes down to it, music is pleasant sounds, right? Yet it seems like it's not so much a dying art as a completely dead one. As if learning a little science would destroy the artistic parts of the brain, when in practice it's the opposite. Last concert I went to, it was two hours of not being able to hear the lead singer because the sound engineer. . . was there even a sound engineer? There were dead spots all over the arena. The mic and speakers were working fine; what was missing was a very basic understanding of physics. But I suppose as long as no one knows that stuff anymore, it's not like it's a barrier to success.

 

[AYZON]

Neurochasm
Thank you, before I followed you I listened to a couple songs of yours and I gotta agree with rObit, Chiba City sounds great.
About Wipeout, was that a just for fun project or a "real" soundtrack?

BeeDog
I'm not really in the market for new plugins right now but I also had never heard of that site before, I'll definitely keep checking it out. Thanks for mentioning.

 

[Deleted member 10416]

Hey all! Glad to see this thread here! I do instrumental rock / metal under the name Neon Language. Been at it for awhile now, but here's my latest track: https://soundcloud.com/ibelonginspace/neon-language-gather



Hell yeah, this is awesome! Chiba City is my fucking jam. Congrats on releasing an EP, I know it's a lot of hard work.

Click to shrink...

Thanks! Your stuff is really rad, by the way. The riff at 1:47 in Arrogance made want to hulk out. I'm almost as much of a metalhead as I am a synthhead so it's totally up my alley. Love melodic sludgey stuff like Intronaut, Jesu, etc. Also big into traditional doom.

The EP was kind of a bucket list thing for me. I'm still not completely happy with it but figured it was time to stop sitting on everything and just put it out there. Feels good to accomplish something, even if it barely gets heard.

Neurochasm
Thank you, before I followed you I listened to a couple songs of yours and I gotta agree with rObit, Chiba City sounds great.
About Wipeout, was that a just for fun project or a "real" soundtrack?

Click to shrink...

Thanks, I appreciate it! G.A.M.E was a community made custom game soundtrack that people at the old place would put together sometimes. I think there are 7 or 8 of them in total, I was only around for the last one. Hopefully that tradition carries on here.

 

[Ghrellin]

Just wanna jump in and sub this thread before I forget.. I've been on a soundtrack binge lately, and just started getting into licensing and publishing

 

[AYZON]

G.A.M.E was a community made custom game soundtrack that people at the old place would put together sometimes. I think there are 7 or 8 of them in total, I was only around for the last one. Hopefully that tradition carries on here.

Click to shrink...

Oh yea, that does sound fun. If it should, I would at least give it a shot.

 

[BeeDog]

Ableton Live 10 has been announced! Though no mention of a new Push alongside it, as far as I can tell.

 

[Deleted member 1248]

The jump from 8 to 9 wasn't significant enough for me, but I might upgrade to Live 10

 

[rObit]

Thanks! Your stuff is really rad, by the way. The riff at 1:47 in Arrogance made want to hulk out. I'm almost as much of a metalhead as I am a synthhead so it's totally up my alley. Love melodic sludgey stuff like Intronaut, Jesu, etc. Also big into traditional doom.

The EP was kind of a bucket list thing for me. I'm still not completely happy with it but figured it was time to stop sitting on everything and just put it out there. Feels good to accomplish something, even if it barely gets heard.

Click to shrink...

Thank you! That's awesome, Intronaut is legit, saw them and Cloudkicker play together once. They put on a great show. I know what you mean about not being completely happy with something. You can either fiddle with it forever, get tired of fiddling with it and abandon it, or just put it out there. I'm not perfectly happy with every single track I've put out either, but if you're too much of a perfectionist you can end up keeping some pretty cool shit to yourself out of fear that it's not perfect.

Ableton Live 10 has been announced! Though no mention of a new Push alongside it, as far as I can tell.

Click to shrink...

Looks like a pretty decent upgrade at first glance. The thought of upgrading is always such a headache though when I think about plugin compatibility. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad when they're mostly VST, but watching the studio I trained at move from Pro Tools 10 to 11 scarred me for life I think.

 

[Twenty Three]

Ableton Live 10 has been announced! Though no mention of a new Push alongside it, as far as I can tell.

Click to shrink...

That suprises me. With The new maschine and MPC out this year, I thought Ableton would release a new Push, or they risk getting pushed (ahem) out of the marketplace.

 

[Aomber]

Ableton Live 10 has been announced! Though no mention of a new Push alongside it, as far as I can tell.

Click to shrink...

Ehhhh it's an okay update. There's a few nice bonuses, especially groups within groups and the new appearance, but I'm not super jazzed that they didn't expand on mixing more. I was really hoping they would do that in this update.

Probably going to make the switch to another DAW for mixing reasons at this point and just keep Ableton for arrangements.

 

[Nyx]

I never could get into Ableton, very much prefer Reason.

 

[kev.wav]

Building Max in is nice

 

[toku]

I never could get into Ableton, very much prefer Reason.

Click to shrink...

always appreciated how reason tried to emulate? hardware