Guitars in parallel - Musical Creativity 1

Guitars in Parallel

Send a guitar through a parallel bus and put a noise gate followed by effects on the bus.

Why? If you set it up properly, you can have the sound change based on the input volume, e.g. pick the strings harder and it will bring in the effects, play quieter and leave the tone clean. Depending on how the noise gate is set, you can have this fading in and out or cutting in and out, almost stuttering. This is a more drastic change than what you'd get out of a valve amp set just on the edge.

Steps

Variations

Try it and let me know how you get on.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Ahead of the beat - Musical Creativity 2

How to be musically creative - 2

Play ahead of the beat

A tip from playing live but may just be the spice required to liven up a good recording: re-record some of the instrument tracks slightly ahead of the drum beat. We're not talking major syncopation here, just a fraction of a second before the main beats. The music will feel like it's got more energy. Alternatively, play behind the beat and the track will sound more relaxed or laid back. Careful how many instruments you change. Start with the bass for the most familiar effect or try one or a group of other instruments to get a different feel. Move too many or move them too far and it may just sound like you can't play in time.

A good example is Gimme Some Lovin' by Spencer Davis Group. An even more extreme example, try I'm Still Standing by Elton John. I suppose many funk guitarists get the same feel with a slide up to the chord on the beat. For further examples, try jazz and swing - a quick search and you can find lots of examples.

Got any other noteworthy examples, especially non-jazz? Add them to the comments.

By the way, nothing against jazz, there's some great music (really great music), but most of the literature I've seen on ahead and behind the beat relates to jazz with the odd token reference to motown.

If anyone wants to try an exercise, see if just moving the bass recording forwards works rather than re-recording. I haven't tried this since I prefer the natural feel of playing against the beat and feeling the accents and stresses.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

New Key - Musical Creativity 3

How to be musically creative - 3

Change your starting key

Applies to all instruments but more so if you play guitar. How many keys do you play in when you compose? Chances are you use roughly two major keys and two minor keys. Maybe you stretch to three or four. We can probably guess which keys they are by their closeness to C major or perhaps even A minor if your a kinda moody person. 

Try a new key today. Try A-flat major. Need to understand more about keys and key signatures, start with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_signature.
Depending on your guitar and strings (yes, the quality of strings can make a difference to your tuning), you may have to make some slight adjustments to tuning. I'm saying this from a pragmatic viewpoint, it shouldn't be necessary to retune (although if someone wants to argue about even and well tempered, I'll listen.....for a short while) but pragmatically, you may as well tune it afresh, especially if you want to include fretted and open-string notes.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science - Musical Creativity 4

How to be musically creative - 4

This may seem an odd reference to put in an article on creativity, but bear with me and I'll explain why you should read Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science. First of all, ignore the title. It's not just about mastering. Actually, the more you read it, the more you realise that how neatly the author ties together the creative elements of the recording, mixing and mastering process. No matter what level you're at amateur, hobbyist, semi-pro or pro, the book should have something for you. Oh alright then, I know there are pros who can match the contents, but there are some that should probably read it as a refresher.

Out of all the books and articles around, this book is the one I referred to for the longest time.

Mainly I'd suggest using it to gauge your level of understanding the recording, mixing and mastering process. At the point you don't understand it, re-read the chapter and maybe even the previous chapter. If you're still stuck, then use a search engine to gather some more detail or check Bob Katz's site at Digital Domain.

Put some of the ideas into practice. Ensure you understand compression and what it does to your music. Understanding compression (as with any effect or processor) means you can use it as a tool. Understanding what the tool does will shortcut the time it takes to get the sound in your head out into the world.

Whatever music you do create, you'll need to know where to call in the services of others. Maybe you record and mix your own tracks, maybe even some mastering. After reading the book, at least you'll understand the disadvantages of doing your own mastering.

And perhaps the best piece of the puzzle is understanding stereo recording. When you've read it, try it out.

The book doesn't stop at the simple concepts, instead Bob Katz does an excellent job of explaining some complex ideas, but starting from the basics and building up.
--Updated 2007/12/07 to include 2nd Edition.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Click Away - Musical Creativity 5

Click Away - Musical Creativity 5

I find click tracks useful when I use them as a metronome and solely as that. They help me keep time. The problem that I find is that they're boring, so I don't respond to them very well. I can play accurately enough along with clicktracks, but the end result to me is never as interesting from a creative viewpoint as what I get when playing with other musicians.

So I take a similar theme when recording even the most basic of tracks. I do away with the standard "tock, tick, tick, tick" clicktrack and instead use something with rhythm to start me off. The majority of the time whatever I use as a timing source doesn't end up in the final mix. It's there to breathe some life into the recording and to remind me that music isn't meant to be rigid.

For the attached file, I recorded 2 guitars with X-Y mics; one rhythm, the other melody. The drum loop was running all the time throughout recording. For this mp3, I've faded the drums in and out to give you an idea of the difference it makes. That was the loop that was running, but now there are the two guitars in place, I think the drum loop is wrong and I'd want some more acoustic if any percussion at all. Imagine getting that feel and rhythm with the standard clicktrack?

By the way, if you find the strings are rattling a bit too much in the recording, it was mainly because I was using a brass pick. I liked the brighter sound for a change and I have to admit I haven't used picks other than my standard Jazz IIIs for years now. Think I may have plucked a bit harder than usual as well. No eq applied (save for the preamp's HPF), minimal reverb applied and a few db of compression on the output bus. 

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Visual Kickstart - Musical Creativity 6

A Visual Kickstart - Musical Creativity 6

Find something to inspire you. When you're looking at a painting or a picture, think about how you could convey in music the same thoughts and emotions you're experiencing. Or think about some music that would accompany people looking at the same pictures. Instead of trying to match it, create the opposite mood? There are enough angles to think about, just change your perspective slightly.

Here are two examples that I use:

Buy a diary from Earth from the Air

Or Lonely Planet Calendar 2008. The good thing about both of these is that because they're based on the calendar, they provide new inspirations at regular intervals.

Better still, walk into your local Oxfam shop, to buy the diary and calendar and you'll be helping Oxfam help others as well.

In the case of filmscores, ad-spots and music for TV programmes, the picture is moving, so it's useful to start practising with still photos. Doing it that way will reinforce the fact that moods can swap and change as the scene changes.

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Outside Influences - Musical Creativity 7

Composing can be an isolated and insular activity. So change it. Get outside for a walk. Get out of your usual surroundings, even if only to recharge your batteries. It will be good for your health as well as for your music.

Each week, I like to get outside into the countryside one way or another. If I'm planning my week, I'll try to find time between clients and deadlines to go for a walk. I decided some time ago to use photography as a career as well as being a composer. That gives me something to do when I'm outside. Nature is refreshing. Mind you, if I lived in a rural setting, I'd probably want more civilisation instead as the refresher.

Even so, sometimes I'll go out and not take a camera, deciding to just relax and enjoy the moment. I find that an hour walk is sufficient to introduce me to a new perspective on any existing project.

I don't see that as wasted time; it's useful since I will work quicker when back with my keyboards and guitars. Better still, I'll have a batch of images to process. Even without them, there are still some tasks you can do outside.

1) Take a camera - and take photos of natural items or architecture that inspire you as you walk. Use them as inspiration back in the studio.

2) Take a notepad - there's a lot you can do with pen and paper outside. Benches half-way around your walk are great for this.

  i) write lyrics

  ii) write your plan of action for the following week

  iii) decide on your aims and objectives for the next year

  iv) brainstorm your current projects

  v) decide on how you will improve your own skills

  vi) decide what you're going to compose next

3) Read a book or magazine

4) Listen

  i) listen to the difference in sound

  ii) listen for sounds you can use (think the Lark Ascending, or Summer In The City)

  iii) listen for sounds you can try to describe in your music

  iv) listen for the silence - you'll never find it - but I find I have to get used to listening at different volumes to normal.

Personally, sitting next to water is the best recharge for me. Doesn't matter if it's coast, river, lake or reservoir. Must be because I've been a city-dweller for all of my life 

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A change is as good as a rest - Musical Creativity 8 - an interlude

In this article, I want to set the scene for the next batch of articles in the series on creativity. I was writing the plans for forthcoming articles and I noticed that they all involved change. They all run along the lines of "try doing x" with the activity being different in every article. On reflection, if you're reading this series, then you may be looking for an idea you haven't thought of before or for a different perspective on on an idea that you're already familiar with. 

First of all a slight detour. 

For me, change is a central concept, every time I find myself stuck, I try two things:

Firstly, I tackle the problem from a different angle. Treating it as a problem is the first mistake. I'll backup the project and try changing something, adding a new track, sometimes starting from scratch. Set a time-limit for this exercise, otherwise it can drag on and potentially drag your spirit down. There's nothing worse than listening to the same track over and over again, knowing it has to change but not liking the results.

Secondly, if that doesn't work, I'll park the issue and do something else for a while, then go back to it. The other activity could be another project, learning something new, going for a walk or even do something mundane around the office. The trick is to not think about the first project. Again, set a time limit so you return to it. Oddly enough, I find I do my best thinking in the shower in the morning. No matter what the problem, if I sleep on it, I've usually got the answer before I leave the house in the morning. Sometimes it takes the journey to work for the details to coalesce and my conviction in the solution to materialise. But whatever the case, I know that no matter how big the problem, but the next day, I'll have a direction. That's an important routine for me. I can leave a task unresolved, comfortable that direction will arrive there soon. On return to the first project, see if you can take anything from what you've been doing into it. The mixture of both activities often creates just the fresh view I need to complete the first project. 

Coming back from that tangent, I'd like to introduce the next group of articles because each strand of thought is likely to start very simply. For instance, I will start one on timing, but for anybody with basic music theory it will appear slow since we'll try to cater for everyone (me included!). It's worth me saying, that even though I know and have learnt some decent music theory in the past, I don't consciously use it all the time. I don't ever think "hmmm, I need an augmented 7th here". Maybe I should. Right now, I don't think I'm missing out and I'm comfortable with how much theory and background I know. But importantly, I've found that I don't use the theory that I do know, I get too comfortable with what I know and forget that I know more. It can come as a shock to realise that I already know something, but don't use it. Like I know how to run and cycle, but most of the time I'll walk, drive or catch the train to get somewhere. So even if you are well-versed in music theory or proficient at your instruments, it pays to go through basic exercises to consolidate that knowledge even years after the initial learning. I'll also be on the same journey as I revisit past lessons.

If the articles look too simple, come back in a few weeks and see where the articles are up to. You may find it easier to subscribe to the series RSS feed or even the site's RSS feed so you can watch the progress in your own time.

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Different picks - Musical Creativity 9

My standard guitar plectrum for the last 5 years has been Jim Dunlop Jazz III. Even down to the colour, I use the red ones so I can still find them on the floor. Black ones are more awkward to find and harder. I like the fact that I can grip it easily and there's just enough pick to use and not too much to get in the way. Despite it being called a Jazz pick, it's great for a lot of other styles. I find them the easiest picks to achieve pinch-harmonics with.

If I want a different sound or want to practice a different style, then a different pick can sometimes do just the job, even turning the pick upside and playing with the flatter part against the strings produces a different sound. The latter technique is great for strumming and reducing the harshness created by some picks.

Apart from the obvious thickness of the picks, different materials have their uses. I used an Ice-Pix copper pick (quite a thin one actually) to bring out the treble on a recent recording. I had tried a steel pick (a bit thicker) but the sound of the pick plucking the strings was too audible. The copper pick was a nice balance of brightness and articulation. Importantly for me from a composition perspective, it gave me the best feel for playing that particular part. I believe in getting the sound right at source and although I could have boosted the higher frequencies with eq to get the brighter sound, there was no guarantee I could get the sound I wanted. Using the copper pick gave me the sound and the playability.

For another recording, I used a rubber pick. The idea behind them is that they give you a similar sound to fingers. I don't fully agree with that; if I wanted it to sound like fingers, then I'd use my fingers. But then again, I'm happy with finger-picking and strumming. It did sound different to normal picks and provides a useful quality that I still try every so often.

A very thin plastic pick on an acoustic gives a really lightweight effect, great for background strumming, but not good for me for picking out prominent melodies. For quick, funky strumming, I've never really found the Jazz IIIs that easy to work with. for those times I revert back to what I used to use before: Dunlop Tortex .88mm. Depending on the part, I may opt for a Delrin EX which has an odd indentation for the thumb. Sometimes I get on with, sometimes I don't.

A useful effect I've found is to play the same part using different picks, in much the same way that tracking a part with multiple instruments. By varying the relative levels between the tracks enables me to change the timbre of the instrument, bringing it more to the foreground or pushing to the background.

Got a guitar part that doesn't sound quite right? Try using a different pick and re-record it. Does it sound any better? It can be as effective as a new guitar amp.

There are enough online shops out there that will sell you picks cheaper than the high street so use them. My favourite for a few years has been Stringbusters. It's a great site and over time, I must have purchased at least one of every major pick, just to try out the differences. Some didn't really do much for me. Some have been added to my standard kit bag, just in case.

If you're still stuck, there are a few other approaches you can take with picks:

- put a plectrum in the strings on the headstock behind the nut

- rather than plucking or strumming, stroke the strings parallel to the strings rather than perpendicular. (i.e. move the pick along the string for a centimetre or so)

- alternate with pick and fingers (I have to do this for some songs anyway) 

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Time for a Change - Musical Creativity 10

I remember talking to a drummer I used to play with about timings and accents on beats. His answer was that he only counted to "one". Every hit was "one", "one", "one". Fortunately for that drummer he was technically very proficient and had a great knack for playing what felt right at the time. More importantly, what he played, sounded right to everyone else.

I remembered that conversation when I looked at my computer screen the other day. There I was looking at Logic Pro noticing that the template I'm using is set to 4/4 and 120bpm. I change the bpm to match what I want to record, but I rarely change the time signature.

The chances are that if you're using a standard DAW (Logic, Cubase, etc), then the template project for recording is 4/4 and probably even 120bpm. Understanding time signatures is important and understanding the rhythms and emphasis created by a different time structure opens a whole new world to you. You probably know most of it from how it feels anyway, but understanding the underlying theory wouldn't hurt. The standard 4/4 has its uses and is incredibly popular, but it's worth trying other time signatures. I'm not suggesting you change your template project, but instead to think about the time signature before you start composing.

The standard for DAWs is 4/4, 4 beats to the bar. While good for pop and rock and the vast majority of music in the western charts, changes can be nice. You can change the time signature for the complete piece of music or have the time change signature change when you want it to.

Simply:

If you're used to 4/4, try 3/4

If you're used to 3/4, try 6/8

If you're used to the above, start playing with any other combination. 5/4, 12/8, 9/8 are probably the next most common but still rare enough in modern pop music.

3/4 has been commonly used for waltzes but also works well in songs where you want a swinging feel (different to swing - meaning a divergence from the timing). A good example of 3/4 in a modern setting is Change The World from Them Vs You Vs Us by Finger 11.

6/8 isn't the same as 3/4 although it would appear that they would resolve to the same 3 beats to a bar. From my perspective, the main difference is to be found in the stress pattern.

3/4 has 3 beats (crochets to the bar) so over 3 bars the stress would be:

*1*, 2, 3,

*1*, 2, 3, 

*1*, 2, 3.

6/8 has 2 groups of 3 (quavers in this case) to each bar, so over 3 bars the stress for each would be:

*1*, 2, 3,  *4*, 5, 6, 

*1*, 2, 3,  *4*, 5, 6, 

*1*, 2, 3,  *4*, 5, 6.

A good example of the difference is found at the start of America from West Side Story, see the Wikipedia article for more detail. I hadn't seen the difference encapsulated so well in a piece of music as that before. But seeing it written down and thinking it through in my head, I can really hear the difference between the two.

I can think of a few songs that people love to (try to) dance to, but they generally can't due to the odd time signature. 

Golden Brown - The Stranglers

Living In The Past - Jethro Tull

Take Five - Dave Brubeck

Maybe the would-be dancers would be better off counting to one instead. Actually that can work.

Dave Brubeck recorded two albums, Time Out and Time Further Out including some of the best examples of different timings you can find.

Studybass.com has a nice simple reference to time signatures. Very useful as a starting point.

Wikipedia also has a list of songs not in 4/4

Perhaps a better list is at Aufrecht which hosts a list of songs in different time signatures including the abiity to filter them on the time signature.

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Think outside the bar - Musical Creativity 11

I mentioned in a previous article that standard western pop music usually has a pattern based around the bar or measure. Many forms of music do not adhere to this and may have a pattern that repeats around groups of 2, 3, 4 or more bars. By allowing for different stress patterns within the group, the overall rhythm can become more complex.

Flamenco is a great proponent of this. Even in the periods of music with no melody (when you can just hear the hand-clap and/or the percussionist), the rhythm should be very noticeable. The compás is so fundamental to the music.

Just as we commonly use 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, etc for rhythms, flamenco has its own variations. These variations introduce different stress patterns in the groups of bars. For instance, the stress pattern in a Seguiriya will be different from that in a Sevillanas.

Note how rhythmically a Fandango is roughly equivalent to 3/4.

The aim isn't for anyone to become immediately proficient in any form (let alone all forms) of flamenco, but instead to be able to take a part of the flamenco concept and apply it to their own compositions. In this case, I'd suggest focussing on the rhythm to start with.

Esflamenco.com has a great set of pages looking at the different Palos that form the compas.

Flamenco World has a good introduction to flamenco including a good listening guide.

Juan Martin's El Arte Flamenco de la Guitarra book and cd is still the standard teach-yourself book and gives a good grounding in flamenco, not just the guitar parts.

Chuck Keyser's pages are a good place to go for a more in-depth analysis.

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Merge - Musical Creativity 12

Personally I often find the fusion more interesting than either of the basic forms themselves. I mentioned Flamenco in the previous article in this series. As a style, I love it. As one component in a fused musical composition, it's even more exciting. Flamenco itself can be considered a fusion of multiple styles, but I guess that could be said of many styles anyway.

By the way, when I mention fusion, I'm thinking of the fusion of two styles of music rather than the more specific Fusion style that came out of 70s jazz. 

For a fusion of flamenco and metal, Breed 77 have had a few cds of good, melodic rock founded on flamenco concepts:
In My Blood (En Mi Sangre) is a good introduction to their music. Or for one in Spanish:
Un Encuentro.

More acoustic-based are Rodrigo y Gabriela with a few releases, most notably Live in Manchester and Dublin and Rodrigo Y Gabriela. 

If you prefer something heavier, then Uriah Duffy's Flametal band may be more to your taste. The Elder has louder guitars, harsher vocals, but still retains a flamenco feel.

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Bossa Nova - Musical Creativity 13

I've mentioned flamenco in recent articles. I want to diverge from the typical guitar/singer/castanets view of flamenco and move to the more energic latin rhythms. Rather than write what's written elsewhere, The Fifth Fret gives a good article on what Bossa Nova means. 

Notice the stress on the rhythms. It's important. Again we find a stress pattern that works across bars, especially with the bass playing on different beats to normal.

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Raag Raga - Musical Creativity 14

About a decade ago I read a mind-opening passage by Ravi Shankar. It was along the lines of classical music isn't just western. India and indeed other countries and cultures have their own classical music. It may not conform to what we think of as classical music in the west, e.g. written down for a set type of orchestra, but it has its own parallel tradition.

The article was a foreward in a book on Indian music. It was a great book to read, although sadly I admit I didn't finish it at the time. Now I come to read it through properly, I can't find it. I can find similar books, but none with the same foreward. The Google book archive allows us to see some pages of archived books and from that, I've figured out that the book I'm looking for is not among the archived books. Some of them do look interesting though.

I've written a few articles on flamenco and I had wanted to follow-up on them by collating together some pointers as to the history of flamenco and the its genesis in Raags/Ragas. That book was a prime candidate for drawing parallels between the two musical forms. As it stands, I've collected a few links that contain a wealth of information on the subject.

Similar to the compas in flamenco, a raag is a combination of both rhythm and scale. To me, the raga has more emphasis on the notes allowed than a compás does, but both combine notes and stress patterns. More specific, it is the raga that states the notes/melodies to be used and the tala which states the rhythm. Similar to flamenco, the rhythm patterns can stretch across several bars.

Amitava Sarkar and the ICMCA provide the following definition of a Raag:

- The list of specific notes that can be used during playing of the raag
- The manner in which the notes are used, i.e. specific ways of ornamenting notes or emphasizing/de-emphasizing them
- Manner in which the scale is ascended or descended
- Optional or required musical phrases, the way in which to reveal these phrases, and/or combine them
- The octave or frequency range to emphasize
- The relative pacing between the notes
- The time of day and/or season when the raag may be performed so as to invoke the emotions of the raag for maximum impact on the mental and emotional state of the performer and listener

That gives some insight into the framework which a Raag provides. Even the time of day and season can be involved Imagine if you were told that it was only appropriate to play Country music between 9am and 11am in Summer?

Raags:

Simple introduction at About.com

More detailed information at:
Know Your Raga.com
Chandrakanta.com
Ravi Shankar

The archived books:

The Dawn of Indian Music in the West - Lavezzoli
Romance of The Raga - Moorthy

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Filter it out - Musical Creativity 15

Timing itself can be used more creatively. One of the features I use is to have two concurrent rhythms. This may simply be a drum, bass and guitar line focussing on the main beats of 4/4 but with a synth patch in triplets.

One of the best ways I've found to do this is to apply filters based on what's worked for me before, then tweak on a trial and error basis. Fortunately I've had a very good success rate. 

The trick that works for me is to apply a tremolo and a modulation effect to the synth channel. The tremolo is important since you can turn even a pad sound into staccato tuplets. That's useful. It can add a bounce to the music. Usually, I start with the synth playing either a pad sound, one per bar or set to some regular pattern such as quavers. The tremolo takes the input rhythm (if there is one) and turns it into a different output.
Add a modulation effect such as a filter bank and you can spice up even a boring sound. 

Try setting the tremolo depth to 65% instead of having it cycling between completely on and off. Set the cycle Phase to 160 or 170 and you can quickly get a groove going.

If that doesn't work, try adding a stereo delay, again this can be set to a tuplet time. You may have to work out the time in seconds to get the rhythm you want.

Signal Chain
In the above scenario, I'd see the following channels.
1) drums
2) bass
3) guitar
4) synth -> tremolo -> filter

If you need the natural sound of the synth to come through, then put the effects on a parallel channel
1) drums
2) bass
3) guitar
4) synth -> bus 1
Bus 1) tremolo -> filter -> delay
Then mix the bus output in to suit. This is also useful because you can eq out the low-end of the synth effects.

The attached mp3 uses both of the signal paths above. It starts with just drums and guitar. I then introduce a synth pad into the mix. The synth is processed through a rotor speaker simulator for some modulation and a tremolo for a rhythm effect. I've automated the tremolo rate to change at around 49 seconds. About 1 minute 2 seconds in and I've changed to another synth sound. This time the synth has its own output mixed low, but a pre-fade send is send to a bus. On that bus, I've put a filter (for changing the high pitch eq), a tremolo for the rhythm and a stereo delay (also for rhythm). I had to add a compressor to keep the output under control as well, although that's not always necessary. Just depends on how extreme the effects are. 


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Rhythm Change - Musical Creativity 16

dsc_0250.jpgEarlier today I wrote an interesting bass riff. Technically, it was nothing special, but it had a good groove to it. I didn't really know where I wanted to take it next, maybe repeat a simpler version of the riff and bring in other instruments for detail. I did know that I didn't want to lose the idea as it's likely to form the foundation of something bigger later on. So I recorded it to a 4/4 clicktrack.

The recording didn't have the right feel so I deleted it and started again. This time, I do what I normally do and put down a drum track first to play along to. I also knew that a standard, straight rock or pop beat wouldn't do it justice. This called for something different. If I'd have decided where I was going with it, then I could have chosen the appropriate drumloops based on the time signature, groove and feel. But I didn't.

Instead, I went through my loop library, investigating the main grooves I thought would work. These turned out to be the 12/8 patterns, 4/4 shuffles, 6/8 patterns and a group of funk tracks. I use BetaMonkey Loops and they're already arranged into well-named groups. Just meant I had a lot to choose from.

Still not having decided, I put roughly 8 bars of each loop on the drum track, keeping the more similar loops together and hit record.

Wow, what a change. I've always known that musicians play differently according to what the other musicians are also playing. (well, they should interact but watch out for bedroom guitarists). I also know that I play differently when the rest of the band change what they're playing, unless it's a conscious effort to keep on the same line.

Each 8 bars had a different feel. Some worked, some didn't work as well, some really stood out. Two very different styles stood out for me and I'll choose one or both of them to go forwards with.

This is the basic track with bass and drumloops. It's not an even 8 bars per change, I was aiming for enough time to develop the idea. If you listen just after each rhythm change, you can hear where I adjust my own playing to suit and at least in one place, I just didn't react in time. It is different playing along to changing drumloops compared to a real drummer. The real drummer would pre-empt changes, either adding notes, even ghost notes or missing notes out as they lead into a change.

This is a raw track with minimal processing and won't end up as it is in any real recording. I will re-record the bass and play it neater when I do the recording for real.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Choose a different instrument - Musical Creativity 17

I use the technique of changing instruments when I'm revisiting a track that has lain idle for a while. Depending on the deadlines involved, my usual way of composing is write and stop writing when I've hit a dead-end. When I revisit the track, could be the next day or a few months away, I'll try to add more to it. I find the quickest way to add a different flavour is to change the main instrument at the point of where I'm stuck. For instance, let's say that I've got a guitar-based melody for 2 minutes and I'm stuck as to what to do after that, then often I'll change to a keyboard or bass even if only to record 5 seconds or so.

It's about the inspiration

The point about this isn't necessarily about the sound of other instrument, but the inspiration that I derive from it. I play guitar differently to how I play bass and different again to how I play keyboards/piano.

The Clincher

And here's the weird part for me: after writing the new part on whatever instrument I've chosen, I often re-record it on the original instrument. To my ears, that usually works out better. Especially as it's more likely to blend in better with the first 2 minutes. That's how I see swapping as an aid to creativity; it helps me bypass some of my habits

But why bother?

A lot of it is to do with breaking habits. I mentioned that I play guitar differently to how I pay bass. Actually, I play acoustic guitar in a different fashion to how I play electric guitar (and that can be divided as well; pick/no pick, clean/distorted, amplified/DI and so on). Add to this the fact the instruments play notes with different tones and frequencies and I begin to pick out different melodies than I would on the original instrument. More than that, my timing is different because of how I've learnt to play the instruments. I'm better at some than others and so I think differently when I play them. In some cases, it forces me to think about what I want to play and how to achieve it. In recording the part again, I often find the habits that were present in my original playing.

Start on a different instrument - Musical Creativity 18

I mentioned in the previous article about using a different instrument to get past a block, well I also use them to start the process as well. If I compose starting with a guitar, the feel of the song will be different to that if I started on bass. Mainly because if I'm writing on guitar, I'm thinking about chords, riffs, patterns and where the song can develop. Whereas on bass, I'd be writing something that grooves and that locks with the drumbeat.

How well does it work?

Although I'm a better guitarist than bassist, I prefer the songs that I've started on bass. Why? Generally because they're easier to tap your feet to. For something to capture your attention, despite being largely one note at a time, it has to be more interesting than a song that has access to other attributes (such as chords, separate melody, etc). I'll still add in other parts as well beyond the bass, but they'll be there to complement the bass and drums. That does make mixing more awkward since the bass would be have to more prominent than usual. And similar works when I start on keyboard first. Getting away from my main instrument boosts my creativity no end.

What else?

Find a complicated drum loop or better still a series of drum loops. Then write to that. Can work well if you drop the drums out of the mix at regular intervals.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Try to emulate another instrument - Musical Creativity 19

The same but different

I referred to utilising the differences in each instrument for inspiration in a previous article.

A similar inspiration can happen when you try emulate a different instrument. At first attempt, the emulated instrument often sounds nothing like the intended instrument. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

In one session, I'd used a guitar and processing to emulate an organ sound. I did try re-recording it later with a proper organ patch, but it just didn't have the same feel. I'm still happier with the guitar version and so I kept it. You can tell it's not an organ; that doesn't bother me. I like the sound I ended up with and that counts. Can't remember the exact effects I used on the guitar, when I find my notes, I'll post them as a comment. From memory, I probably used a guitar DI, chorus, rotor cabinet simulator, amp simulator, tube emulator and heavily compressed it so there was little dynamic range. That's a lot of effects, but it got me the basic dirty, organ sound I wanted. I also added a stereo delay to complete the picture.

The End Result

What I learnt was that it's not necessary to have the sound perfectly emulated since often I don't want the perfect sound. Everything we do in the recording process is implementing a choice on how we want the end result to sound. That could be how which microphones we choose or how we place them, which preamps, how much low-end rolloff is applied, eq at recording and or mixing and so on. In the same way, the end result of an emulation doesn't have to sound like the intended instrument. It can do things that the original can't. Try playing 6 concurrent notes on a 4 string bass. Can't be done. Generally you wouldn't want to, but sometimes an effect like that can be useful.

In the story above, I had an organ sound that I couldn't create with an organ synth. And I had attributes of a recorded guitar. I liked that.

The track was "Roll On" and you can find it in Show Reel 4. In the background, there's an atmospheric pad or two that fade in and out. It's only at 2 minutes 50 seconds into the track that I introduced a proper organ sound to heighten the mood. The organ sound I added contained more treble and was a cleaner sound than that provided by the processed guitar.

Other situations 

Another common situation would be trying to record an instrument that you wouldn't normally have access to such as a sitar. Actually I find that a lot of the time, I don't want an accurate sitar sound and an emulation is more likely to fit into the sound I'm looking for.

Is it worth it?

Depends on why you're trying to emulate the instrument.

Sometimes you find a different destination along the journey - in trying to emulate in instrument, you find a melody or a sound that wouldn't come from either the source or the intended instrument. That's my preferred ending.

However, if you're trying to achieve a perfect emulation, then expect to spend a lot of time, tweaking velocities, changing patches many times mid-way through a melody, tweaking zones or ranges, mixing in different instruments. All to get the best sound possible, which unfortunately may still be recognisable as an imitation if you've chosen the wrong notes. Some instruments are easier to emulate than others.

But it should still give you a great idea of what it could sound like from recording the real instruments. From a creativity point of view, I love the near-instant access to banks of instruments so I can figure out if a sound will work out as well as I can hear it in my head or whether I should be thinking of a different instrument or melody. 

Emulating Guitar - Musical Creativity 20

Which type?

Firstly, I'd want to decide which type of guitar to emulate and then understand as much as I can about that instrument particular type of instrument and how it's played. Actually, that can be said of emulating any instrument. Take note of the instrument's range and where its tonality changes with pitch or volume. For an electric guitar, take note of the pickup types, whether it's strummed or picked, how many notes at a time, how the guitar would be recorded, etc. A strat sounds markedly different to a Les Paul.

Apply the process

Whatever you use to produce the sounds for an electric guitar, it generally sounds better being put through a guitar amp simulator as well, in much the same way that you may do with a guitar. Guitar amps are often mic'd up with two mics and the two tracks mixed together for the desired effect. So try the same sound through two channels, one to emulate the close-up dynamic microphone and another to emulate a condenser placed further away. The condenser channel would be subject to more room sound, so bring in your convolution effects if necessary.

It's the space as well 

The recording space and techniques used to record a classical nylon guitar would be different than the for a electric guitar through a hi-gain amp. They would also be mixed differently.

I'm a guitarist, why would I want to emulate a guitar?

I can think of several reasons:

1) Saves having to get a guitar, amp, microphones, etc out to check out an idea

This isn't really an issue for me, I have an acoustic and at least one electric ready to go at all times. But if you're short on available space in your home studio, I can see this being the case. Occasionally I'll change the patch on a channel to a guitar so some midi notes I've written are produced by a guitar-ish sound, just to get a quick feel for whether it's worth learning the part on a guitar. If I then want the guitar recording, I'll record it properly myself.

2) For creativity

For the same reasons in starting on a different instrument, to be able to play in a different style to what you're used to playing on guitar. By trying to play the instrument on a different interface (e.g. a midi-equipped or USB keyboard), then you have to think differently. That brings out a different result compared to just playing guitar on its own.

3) For flexibility

To play something you couldn't normally play on guitar. If sweep arpeggios are beyond your talent, then you could program them in using midi. Or if it's genuinely impossible to play on a guitar, e.g. a stab consisting of 4 consecutive semitones, e.g. D, D#, E and F in the same octave. Ok, that example would be pretty discordant, but it may float your boat for one reason or another. More useful would be chord inversions that may be theoretically feasible but so awkward to transfer between that they're impossible from a practical perspective.

How effective can it be?

I've found it inspiring to try different musical phrases using an emulated guitar. I've also found it helps with my composing workflow. Furthermore, I can produce something technically complex in a shorter time than it would take to learn it. This has been useful when I've wanted to record an idea for future reference. Better to have the emulated sound that fits into rough mix, which will give me longer to learn the more complex parts, than forget what I wanted to record. In that sense, I'd be using it for taking notes.

If sonic accuracy is your aim, then perhaps try one of the more specialist virtual instruments such as RealStrat. I don't use virtual instruments, I remember looking into one a couple of years ago and I was impressed, very impressed in fact by the resulting sound demo. I was suspicious of how much time it took to get that result. At some point I'll go back and try it again and look in more detail.

Tuning

Apart from the fact that the strings can be tuned to different notes, e.g. nu-Metal would often feature at least a dropped D, if not yet another whole tone decrease, the interaction of the strings themselves can be important. For any guitar with a floating bridge (think most stratocasters and telecasters), the pitch of any one string is dependent on what's being fretted on the other strings. Bend one string and the others will decrease in pitch by a few cents. A lot of blues leads and chicken pickin' styles make use of this effect.

Tone

Guitarists apply tone and produce different sounds just in their playing style. For instance:

1) picking nearer the bridge produces a harsher tone (ponte)

2) picking nearer the neck produces a softer tone (dolce)

You could emulate the above by have a simpler tone more like a sine wave for the dolce sounds and adding more harmonics and a bit of distortion to emulate ponte. I'd also bring in compressors and gates to modify the envelop so that the attack on dolce is slower. The overall volume is lower on dolce than on ponte. If you're going to emulate a classical guitar, then ensure that your samples/virtual instrument can handle the difference between ponte and dolce and hopefully a few points in between. 

Free or Palm-muted

By resting the side of the palm on the strings near the bridge, the guitarist can dampen the sound of the strings. This is reminiscent of a low-pass filter and if the guitarist increases the pressure applied to the strings, the cut-off frequency is reduced, thereby reducing the resulting tonal range. The palm-muting also reduces the dynamic range, probably why it's used to much in heavy rock chugging. By keeping the volume consistent, you can quickly develop a rhythm. Actually guitarists take it a step further and change the pressure applied as the notes are played. This can result in notes being accented or muted througout the phrase, accentuating the desired rhythm. 

Further info 

KVR Forum had a good thread on emulating guitars.

How a guitar works

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition. 

Learn a new instrument - Musical Creativity 21

I hadn't planned to write this article now, but after helping a friend go shopping at the weekend, I felt I had to write it soon. In short, learn to play a new instrument. I've still got some more emulation ideas to write about, but they will wait for a later article.

Why?

In as much the same as learning to emulate an instrument can aid inspiration, so can learning to play an instrument in its own right. In my opinion, it can provide more inspiration. I've mentioned before I'm a guitarist, but even learning the bass helps me focus on what will work when mixing the instruments together. Understanding the bass lines and how they fit to the drumbeat, e.g. ahead, in the pocket or behind, helps me figure out the style of guitar I'd want to add over the top. Learning keyboards and piano gives yet a different view again.

There are other points to learning another instrument.

Benefits:

• Can provide relief or a change of scene
• Sense of achievement
• New skill
• New people to meet
• New opportunities for collaboration
• Different mindset
• Additional influences
• Additional creative outlet
• In the longer term, won't have to hire session musicians for that part that needs recording
• Able to communicate better when directing other players of that instrument
• Better understand the limitations of the instrument
• Quicker to try out ideas, rather than borrowing kit and/or player
• There are secondary benefits, e.g. shared experience of learning an instrument with another family member

Concerns:

• The hardware costs
• Takes time to learn
• Take time and money to learn properly (paying for tuition)
• More clutter in the studio or at home where you'd be learning
• Perhaps more distraction from your writing workflow
• It will hurt a bit at first as your body adjusts to playing the instrument. Depending on the instrument, could be your finger tips, your arms, your cheeks, thigh muscles. Don't let the pain continue though, see below about being taught.
• Depending on your mindset, it may provide yet another strand of Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
• There are secondary concerns, e.g. impact on family life if you're spending a lot of time practising, annoying the family/neighbours with the harsh sound that new learners create.

When should I start?

Now's a good as time as any. And I mean that. I bought my first electric guitar and amp almost 20 years ago. It cost about £250. That money 20 years ago was worth a lot more than now.

All I received for that outlay was a:

• new Yamaha RGX211
• 2nd hand Laney Linebacker 30W amp
• cheap cable
• red fabric strap

Think I even paid extra for a rectangular wooden case.

The guitar was cheap, essentially a super-strat copy. Nice for the price, but I quickly grew out of it. Listening to it now, the sound is very thin and raspy. But this was in the days before Yamaha released their first Pacifica range. That range revolutionised the budget end of the guitar market, providing a level of quality and playability that was unheard of unless you were extremely lucky with your Squire. If only I could have waited 5 years.

The amp, well, it amplifies the sound. It's scratchy. Sounds like a horrible transistor amp. The distortion distorts the guitar sound in the way that only cheap 80s amp did. Oh well, better than nothing, but only just. Built to last and it was just about portable on a bus when necessary. Good to sit on, if a bit uncomfortable after a while.

I stopped using both after a few years. Actually I reckon I'd outgrown them after 6 months or so, but I didn't have the finances to change until a few years.

How does today's starting kit compare?

I mentioned I was taking a friend shopping. He wanted to start playing bass and budgeted for around £250-300. Same as I did 20 years ago, except that the £250 I spent them would be worth £500 or so now (don't know exactly, it feels like double though). And what's he get for the money?

Wow! I wish this kit had been available when I'd started learning. Actually I didn't see anything of this quality even 2 years ago when I was looking at basses.

We came across:

• new Spector Performer 4 electric bass guitar
• new Ashdown Perfect Ten 30W bass combo

Price for both was about £260 before negotiating or adding about other items such as cables, straps, stand, tuner, strings etc.

And the quality? Wow. Again

The bass is the budget end of the range, but it felt better than most basses twice its price. Smooth playing action and a very nice feel to the back of the neck. The passive pickups fooled me at first, I thought they were low-powered active pickups. Instead, there just a better quality than I'd expected to see at this price range. The result was a nice range of tones from the pickups and eq. Nicely built. Looks nice as well.

The amp was on about 6 out of 10 for the volume, so I wouldn't expect it to be able to get much louder. It still shook your trousers though! More important was the sound quality. It sounded nice, like a studio amp. There was no built-in compressor, the only gimmick was a deep switch, which proved not to be a gimmick since it did add a nice warmth. The amp would struggle alongside a drummer, actually to be honest, I think the amp would be useless and inaudible against a rock drummer. That's why they have louder amps. But to play at home and jam with a guitarist or singer, it's great. It even looks nice and is one of the most acceptable to be left in the lounge.

And those prices are new, if you're just starting out, then second-hand may be more appropriate. If I look at other instruments, I largely see the same effect. The cost to buy a good starting kit has really lowered. Want to buy one that will last a while longer as you grow with it, then you may only have to spend £50-100 more depending on the instrument and the retailers around you/internet availability. That's an incredible difference compared to 20 years ago.

How to start?

There's one thing I'd recommend; there's always someone you can learn from in person. Being self-taught is great, but you'll also teach yourself bad habits. Actually, you probably won't notice them or even learn them, they'll just be the way that you learn the instrument and some will hurt, maybe even permanently. Having a professional teacher set you on your way will at least increase your chances of getting it right and decrease the chances of doing yourself any damage.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

What do you need to start playing the bass? - Musical Creativity 22

Let's start with a list and I'll break it apart. It will be useful as a checklist if you're thinking of starting out or if you're thinking of buying a gift for a bass player. With the technical advances over the last couple of decades, the price has dropped so that beginners can achieve a nice sound at starter prices.

Starter kit:

• Bass guitar
• Amplifier
• Lead
• Strap
• Strings
• Case
• Stand
• Optional: Strap Locks
• Pick or plectrum

Bass Guitar:

This is the easy no-brainer requirement; to learn bass, you'll need a bass. It gets more difficult straight after that. What type of bass do you want? 4, 5 or 6 string? Active, passive? P or J-Bass? Short-scale or long-scale?

Have a think of bassists who you like. What do they play? Most live hard rock is done on a P-bass so it cuts through the mix. It's not necessarily always the case, there are enough exceptions to that rule. For recording, a jazz bass or a hybrid with a one jazz and one set of p-bass pickups maybe more appropriate. Do some research into the different types and how they sound. Any shop salesperson should at least demo the differences to you especially if it's obvious you can't play for yourself.

If you've no real idea after that, then the safest option would be a 4 string Jazz bass. Wherever you decide to progress to after that, at least you'll have a basic bass.

Play (or at least hold) the bass as you'd like to be able to play it, e.g. sitting or standing. Does it feel comfortable in that position or does it keep slipping? When sitting, would you use a strap? It does help keep it place more.

Amplifier:

If you're just into recording and you've got a good DI route through your DAW/multitrack/mixing desk, then you don't actually need an amplifier. You could just plug into the interface/board/outboard DI and go from there.

Assuming you want to hear yourself sound a bit more like a bass at the time of recording, or if you're like a lot of people, just want to learn a bass without recording it, then you'll need an amplifier. There is a lot of information around about the differences between amplifier types. We'll keep it brief here. Suffice to say that there's usually an amplifier section comprising a preamp and a power amp, usually with some eq and then there's a speaker section comprising the speaker and cabinet. When the two are together in the same housing, it's a combo. If you're starting out, it'll probably be a combo unless you've got the money for a separate head and cab.

For a transistor amp, 30W is about the minimum. 10W and 15W exist, but there's more potential of you getting fed up with the sound and the instrument. If you can stretch to more, then better. 300W seems to be about standard for playing with a drummer. Some, more efficient amps will work even at 150W or 200W but you'd need to check. Bear in mind that, assuming energy efficiency, 100W is only twice as loud as 10W. If you're thinking about valve amps for bass, then you're not in the beginner league anymore. Although I was looking at the new breed of 7W all-valve guitar amps and wondering if I could plug a bass in and use a 15inch speaker cab. 7W valve can be very loud.

Some features may see on your amp:

• eq or at least bass, middle, treble so you can shape the tone of the bass. Generally though, how does it sound with all the eq flat?
• input gain - basses have a lot of dynamic range, so if you're plucking hard, then the ability to turn the input gain down would be useful
• output volume - the main volume for the amplifier
• headphone socket - usually disengage the speaker (not always, so check), useful for quiet rehearsals, also for a cheap quality direct out
• direct out - for passing the signal from the preamp out for recording or for input to a slave amplifier.
• tuner - some amplifiers have tuner built in. More common on guitar amplifiers than bass
• tuner out - to connect a tuner to
• effects in/out or send/return - to connect effect processors/pedals in the loop between preamp and power amp stages
• speaker out - to power an external speaker from the amplifier. Not sure why a beginner amplifier would benefit from this. I can't imagine a 30W bass amp being able to drive a 15 inch speaker that well
• handles - often an afterthought when buying, but how are you going to carry the amp? Can you lift it safely? Can you get it up and down stairs or ilft it in and out of your car safely?
• DSP Effects - effects built-in to the amp that colour the tone of your bass guitar sound. Often not worth the hassle of having them. The quality of the effects used to be awful. But I've been surprised by the quality of amps and basses recently, so maybe these are now adequate.
• Limiter/Compressor - used to be only available for the more expensive amps, but I've noticed that even some of the budget Laneys have limiters built-in. These are very useful, depending on your playing style.

Also have a think about where you're going to put the amp. Will it fit? I've measured them up before to check sizes.

The combo pictured on this page is an Ashdown Perfect 10. It's a 30W transistor bass amp and has a nice set of features, great for a beginner and sounds nice too.  

Lead:

You'll need a lead to connect the bass guitar to the amplifier. It's a mono signal usually with a jack at both ends, although I have seen XLRs used as well, but not on beginner-level kit.

Get a decent lead, you don't need a branded, moulded, super-duper lead with extra-special directional, silver cable. Get a decent, nice thick lead that doesn't look like it will snag. If it's got some heavy-duty screwed-on plugs on the ends, it's usually a good sign. I've had my main guitar lead for 15 years. Still going, although I think I may need to replace the plugs now. I'll get some proper (non-fake) Neutriks. No point using anything else.

Strap:

I think this one's down to personal preference. I look for a bit of padding at the shoulder and end holes that don't look they'll stage to warp with the stress of a moving bass guitar.

Strings:

Actually, I don't have much to say about these. There's a lot of debate about which is the best type, let alone best brand. Check the bass forums around and see for yourself. I find that bass strings will last a lot longer than guitar strings, not only before they break (rare), but also before they begin to sound too muddy. Strings are nearly always a lot cheaper online than in shops. However, if you can get some thrown in to sweeten the deal, then do so. Check the condition of the strings on the bass before you buy, it maybe that you'll have a fair few months left in them.

Case:

Any guitar deserves a hard-case. I'm adamant about that. But I also see the advantages of a good quality gig-bag. I'd never use the nylon bags that usually come in starter kits. Sometime hard-cases for bass won't fit width-wise in most cars. That caught me by surprise when I tried to take my bass guitar to a rehearsal. So I used the relatively sturdy gig bag instead. The gig bag is also more useful for carrying, coming complete with shoulder straps, a variety of handles and accessory pockets. I like Warwick's Rockbags.

Stand:

Ok, you're busy playing bass and the doorbell rings. What do you do? Go downstairs with the bass on, clunking the neck into the staircase and doorframe, knocking everything in sight and a few things you didn't see? Or place it against a bookcase and answer the door, only to hear it slip and crash to the floor. If you're engrossed, chances are you'd leave the door anyway and carry on playing. But that's another story. For the sake of £10-20 get a stand or at least a wall hanger (although I don't know what they do the neck). Check that the stand fits the bass before you leave the shop. Sounds odd. I've seen my bass fall through the amps at the bottom of a stand before (luckily onto carpet) and I've seen stands that grip at the next but don't extend far enough for a long-scale bass.

Strap Locks:

I believe that every guitar and strap should come already equipped with these. Even better if we could have one standard so that if you forgot your strap, you could use another lying around. Unfortunately, there are several standards including some augmented plastic washers that I wouldn't even call straplocks.

The proper metal straplocks provide a sturdy, almost failsafe (like most in things in life, it's not completely failsafe) way of connecting the strap to the guitar. I've caught too many guitars as the strap has pinged off and the guitar's started to fall to the ground. I've seen a few that weren't caught and ended up being dented. Not good. They cost about £10-£15 for four pieces. Two to attach to either end of the strap and two to attach to the guitar. You have to unscrew the existing strap lugs and screw the new ones in. If you're lucky, they'll fit nicely. If you're not, then you'll need to fill the gap. Even on a Les Paul, I had to resort to this. My method was to take sawdust and PVA woodglue and put a tiny amount in the hole with a toothpick. Then screw the new lug in. It's worked for the last few years without any problem.

Sounds a lot of bother, but for a maximum of 30 minutes and a small outlay, I'm not watching the strap and worrying if it's going to hold. For every guitar I buy, I use the Schaller straplocks. The only decision I have to make is which colour.

Picks:

This divides bass players. Do they play finger-style, thumb-style or with a pick. I use all three. Even if you play finger-style, you may come across the need for a pick at one point or another. There are some rhythms I think can only be played with a pick. I'd dread to try them finger-style. I could hit the same pattern and rhythm, but the accents would be different. For bass you need a thicker pick than on electric or acoustic guitar. I like the Stubby from Jim Dunlop. I like the dent which is great for getting a good grip with. As for electric guitars, the pick material and attack makes a difference to the sound.

In total:

The above should be the minimum you'd be looking to come away with from a shop if you're into the usual learning and rehearsing onto aiming to play with others. If you're tight on budget, decide which activity you want to forego. For example, if you need time to learn before you play with others, then you may not need a bag/case for a while.

Future kit:

• Better amp and speakers
• Compressor
• Preamp
• More and better basses
• other fx processors/pedals
• new pickups

I'll leave this section for another day and another article.

Motivation:

Whatever kit you buy, it's down to you to learn how to play the bass. Regular lessons and a practice regime work well. If you're still not improving as you'd like to (and you think you're realistic), have a look at the social blogs on the right-hand side for quick hints.

Other References:

You should have a look at How to buy a bass. This goes into more detail about the bass itself. There's a lot of useful information, fortunately I don't see anything contradicting what I've written here either, so that's good. I've got one main addition to this, check that all the strings play open without clanking against the frets. A couple of the basses I played the other day couldn't do this. I was appalled.

A nice simple guide explaining the major differences can be found at Thomann

Want to understand whether you'll benefit from compression or not, then look at the Bass Players Guide to Compressors

Want to check reviews, then the first place is Harmony Central. Actually, I usually recommend this as the first place to look for anything related to musical instruments.

There are a lot of bass-related sites out there, there are a few here:

http://www.activebass.com/

http://www.bassplayer.com/

http://www.studybass.com/

In my experience, the best nuggets of information are on the sites and interviews of professional bass players.

Then there's the usual magazines you can find in most stores

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Bass Emulation - Musical Creativity 23

Try to emulate a bass guitar using another instrument

Which Type?

Pianologist has some very good hints on emulating bass using a keyboard.

One of the things to decide is whether you want it to sound like a bass guitar or not. Synths have a lot of bass patches and depending on the style of music, some are more suitable than others. I'm not saying anything revolutionary here, just as always, decide if it's meant to emulate, replace, hint at a bass guitar.

Use a Guitar

I've used a guitar to roughly emulate an electric bass. I liked the result, but it didn't really sound much like a real bass. I don't suppose I expected it to. Fortunately the softer sound that was produced worked better than expected. I tried replacing it with a bass later on. I'd recorded the guitar direct as I may do for a bass. I'd added a tube emulator (Silverspike's Ruby Tube worked well for this sound), added some subharmonics (can't remember the effect I used) and applied eq for a more bottom-heavy sound. I wasn't going to try and emulate the clack of the strings being plucked. I also added a mild speaker emulator for some extra depth, the speaker sound is not as important for a bass recording as for a guitar. I also processed it through a mild chorus, again for some extra depth. To finish, I passed it through a gate, then compressor so that I could achieve a sound that had a slow attack and release. This gave the result I was looking for of a nice bass sound with a medium attack. It still had some of the characteristics of a guitar, but didn't have the boominess or artifacts that result from pitch manipulation. 

Bassists play differently 

This is an important point to remember, especially for guitarists. Bassists are not just guitarist who only play 4 strings, one at a time. A bassist will strike notes in different places to a guitarist. It's generally quite easy to spot a guitarist who's just picked up a bass to fill in for a missing bassist. They'll usually play on the beat and choose the root notes. A bassist will adapt their playing around the beat to either relax the music or add more excitement. The choice of notes from an experienced bassist will be well beyond the guitarist who's playing bass. This above any other characteristic will set good bassists apart from guittarists. Watch the ghost notes and passing notes, especially as they skip from supporting one chord to another or as they progress a rhythm change. 

I think that there's only two things you can do to cover that gap:

1) listen and analyse some of the great players - understand what they do to make their sound. No matter how much a budding guitarist may concentrate on their tone, with the bassist, it's more about style of playing. There are a lot of sites, either owned by or dedicated to famous players. You can learn a lot from them.

2) practice over and over again

Each bass is different

In a way, if you're aiming to emulate the perfect bass sound, then you're trying to aim for a moving target. For any given song, the perfect sound would be different. And ask several people, get several answers as to what's perfect. Have a think about what's included in a bass, such as the woods, strings, amplifier, style of playing and focus on one particular type.

Emulating Drums - Musical Creativity 24

Following on from the previous article on emulating bass, this article is about emulating drums and mainly about emulating drummers.

I'm of two minds when I emulate drums. I'm either:

1. aiming for a realistic drum sound or
2. aiming for a drum sound that doesn't need to sound like a real drum

The first aim involves working with compromises. Ideally, I'd be better off recording a good drummer playing an acoustic kit in a nice-sounding room with great mics, preamps, etc. That's not always possible. And the aim maybe to have something ready very quickly, so I turn to emulating a drummer.

The second aim is more useful for generating percussive elements that fit tonally into the music but with a different impact to that which I could achieve with a normal drum-kit. I'll discuss those in a separate article.
In this article, I'll stick with (1) achieving a realistic drum sound.

Loops

My short piece of advice is to use drum loops. Use some decent quality loops with sufficient rhythm variation and inherent tonal consistency and many would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a drummer and a loop. If they can tell the difference, it's either a bad set of loops or user error, e.g. you've used the same loop too often in the song. After, how could they tell the difference since it would have been a real drummer who recorded the loop in the first place.

Midi

The long answer is for when you don't have any suitable loops, including if you don't have any loops. Then you'll probably be resorting to midi to trigger drum sounds in a sampler. There are some tricks to make it sound more realistic.

Play like a drummer

Drummers have a maximum of four limbs. That's an immediate restriction of 4 items being hit at any one time. Can be more than 4 note polyphony though due to layering and the release of certain instruments (e.g. cymbals). Actually the right hand can hit the rim and the head of the snare together, but that's a bit of an exception.
That's the first restriction. If you want it to sound like a drummer, then limit it to four hits at a time.

Layout

Also look at the layout of a traditional drumkit. For a right-handed drummer, the right-hand usually crosses the body and plays the hi-hat, while the left-hand plays the snare. Either hand is used for the toms and cymbals. And either hand can add to the other hand to double up on the snare or hi-hat. Different styles call for different arrangements. That's the traditional pop/rock layout and handling.

Watch the combinations

The short closed hi-hat sound is formed by the right-hand hitting the hihat while the left-foot holds the hi-hat closed. If the right-hand is hitting the snare, toms or cymbals, you can't get a closed hihat sound. If would be the gated half-open sound caused by the left foot lifting the top hi-hat and then pulling it down. It's a weaker sound than closed hi-hat. A rock drummer may have a much more ringing open hit-hat sound, especially for keeping up with doubletime kick and snare patterns.

Would a drummer alternate?

If the pattern relies on 16th beats on the hi-hat, then the drummer would most likely alternate hits between the right and the left hand. I know of four ways to implement this:

1. Look at each hihat hit and manually change alternate hits to use a different hi-hat sound
2. For using a sampler such as Kontakt 2 or Kontakt 3, you can write a script to alternate between the left and right sounds of the hi-hat with each hit. You could get even more serious and tie it into the snare hits (assuming that a snare hit would be left-hand and hi-hat would be left-hand). The more you think about it, the more you can write.
3. Use logical processing on the midi file so that it separates out alternate notes. Rather than processing every alternate note, it may be easier to divide your bar into two sets, those corresponding to the beat and those on the off-beat. Then alter the two sets separately.
4. Use a drum-specific software plug-in that will calculate which sound should be played. This is what the brain unit of most electronic drums should be doing, interpreting the received notes so that they sound more realistic.

It also applies for other drums as well, not just the hi-hat.

The Machine Gun

The bane of a lot of 1980s pop was the electronic snare that sounded the same no matter how hard you hit it. Hit it in a quick repetition and it sounded like a machine gun. There was just no flexibility. Drum synthesizers and samplers have come on a long way since then, but unfortunately some interfaces do not make it obvious to avoid. It's not specific to snares either; hi-hats, toms, anything hit rapidly and repeatedly risks introducing this effect.

Similar to the methods for alternating the hands, I can think of 4 ways of implementing this:

1. Look at each hihat hit and manually vary the velocity of nearby hits. If there are left and right sounds for the drum, then alternate them as a drummer would. Also vary the timing slightly, too regular and it may sound artificial.
2. For using a sampler such as Kontakt 2 or Kontakt 3, you can write a script to alternate between the left and right sounds of the hi-hat with each hit. You could get even more serious and tie it into the snare hits (assuming that a snare hit would be left-hand and hi-hat would be left-hand). The more you think about it, the more you can write.
3. Use logical processing on the midi file so that it separates out alternate notes. Not sure how effective this is for avoiding the machine gun effect. Largely depends on your the processing options offered by your DAW. Again, similar to the approach for alternates above, it may be worth dividing your bar into two sets, those corresponding to the beat and those on the off-beat. Then process the two sets separately.
4. Use drum-specific software plug-in that calculates the appropriate velocity or sample layer. This is what the brain unit of most electronic drums should be doing, interpreting the received notes so that they sound more realistic.

Ghost Notes

What makes a real drummer more interesting than a basic drum pattern is the presence of ghost notes. This is where the drummer would lightly hit a drum, e.g. the snare, but not as a focus of the rhythm. Often these pre-empt the main snare hit, almost leading into it. The ghost note would be short and lower in volume than the main hits. The ghost notes don't just have to pre-empt the main hits, a drummer will include them in to vary up the patterns and to add spice to the rhythm. If they're occurring in the same place in every beat, then they're probably not ghost notes but an integral part of the pattern. I've always seen ghost notes as being variable throughout a song. Due to the varying lower volume, if you're not listening carefully, some ghost notes would end up being imperceptible.

Try listening to a jazz drummer, especially if they're playing a simple blues rhythm. You'll notice the ghost notes more when the rhythm is simpler.

Accuracy

This is one I have issues with. How accurate does a human drummer need to be? If you look at recordings of a good real drummer, there's a lot of variation in how accurately they hit compared to the beat. But it will still sound in time. The issue I have is that it's against my understanding that being inaccurate is the right thing to do, just feels wrong to admit that, but it seems that being slightly inaccurate is the way to play. Goes to show that none of us are perfect. I tend to keep the main beat very close if not exact and vary other hits. And I always think about using groove features or humaniser functions.

In the Mix

The drums coming out of most samplers are still a raw instrument sound. There may be some reverb and compression but do they suit the music you're writing? If not, remove them and add the processing you want to add. More so, you may want to change the sound of a single drum, e.g. wanting to compress the kick drum more and add more of the click from the beater with eq. If so, then it's best to separate out the drums into separate outputs. You can then modify the sound of the individual drums to suit your tastes.

While you're at it, decide how you want the drums to sound in stereo. Are they all central? Or should it be set out from the drummer's or the audience's perspective. Then group them back together for drums for ease and so you have the option of processing the drums as a whole.

Other techniques

Harmony Central has some great suggestions for more advanced techniques. The concept of mute groups looks especially useful.

Reference CD

What should drums sound like? If you're aiming for realistic drums, then you'd do well to start with some reference files

There is some interesting information about the Led Zep sound over at Guitar Player

Learn to drum (even if only in theory)

Have a look round for lessons on the rudiments of drumming. Being armed with this information will help you create more realistic drum loops. I learnt by sitting in front of a kit twice a week and getting a few pieces of advice every month. No proper lessons. Even so this basic introduction helped me understand no end what it means to create a drum track. Understanding what constitutes a basic beat is the starting point. Try starting with these:

• Drumlessons.net
• Rockdrummingsystem.com
• Expertvillage.com

Shavano has an old but still useful article for anyone wanting to program drum midi patterns

Drum Plug-ins

I mentioned drum plug-ins above. I don't use the more advanced plug-ins so I can't really comment beyond that I've heard some very positive reviews including from some good drummers. From the demo samples I've heard, they introduce a level of realism that is difficult to achieve on your own with midi programming. There's a range of drum plugins offering different functionality.

The simplest are just sample triggers where you select the samples to be played and place them on a midi track. This is the basic type that you'll find with a lot of DAWs. If you're lucky, you can select from different drum sets, create your own, change the relative volume and/or pitch levels or even modify the envelope of the individual drums.

More advanced plug-ins allow you to select more authentic-sounding drumsets, designed to sound like specific Pearl or Ludwig sets and so on. They'll also give you the option of room sounds, microphone types and microphone placement. Extra features include the ability to blend the mic mixes. As they get more advanced, the plug-ins interpret the midi input into something more like what a drummer would play. This is the type that interest me more than others.

• Fxpansion.com
• Toontrack.com

Some include drum patterns in a variety of styles, giving you the ability to compose the song's rhythm very quickly. They may even include intro and fill patterns. Remember the basic sampled drumkit on the old casio homekeyboards of the 80s? Well, this feature's a more advanced and flexible version of that. It's ok for using when keeping a beat, especially as a more interesting clicktrack, but I wouldn't use them in the end product.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Get some direction - Musical Creativity 25

Having someone else suggest the idea will probably take you to places you haven't been before.

For the pro and semi-pro, this is just routine. If you're not, then maybe you don't know what it feels like to have deadline and direction from someone else regarding your music. It's odd at first and may take some time and a few attempts to get used to.

No Failure

Assuming you've not entered into anything contractual, then at worst, the output will be unfinished or bad. You won't have failed, but instead you'll have learnt that you need to change the way you do things in order to achieve what you want. You may also have learnt the current limits of your knowledge and capabilities. That alone is worthwhile. Especially if you can learn it before you end up in contractual situations.

If it works out nicely, then you'll have produced exactly what was required of you or better still, you may have surpassed their expectations. Having the skill of understanding requirements and producing results to suit is again valuable.

Ask Others

Jeff Yates, over on his Facebook page, has taken the approach of asking for fans to name the title of his next song. I'm hoping he gets a serious response, he's a good songwriter and deserves a worthy subject to write about. I think today's the last day for responses and the voting starts tomorrow.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Change Key - Musical Creativity 26

I've written about starting in a new key and also about change in the process of composition before. In this article I want to bring the two together and discuss changing keys within a song.

1. Adding a level of excitement
2. Changing the mood
3. Bring the song's key to match the range of notes and timbre achievable from available instruments

I'm undecided whether (1) is just a subset of (2). But it happens so often, I may as well treat it separately.

I'm against the idea of changing key within a song when it's used solely to fill-out the song and prolong the end. If that's the only reason, then don't bother, it smacks of a lack of creativity.

But back to the two or three good reasons.

Excitement

A common technique is to raise the key by a tone or semitone immediately after a chorus, bringing in the new verse in the new key. This is the most common usage within pop/rock music. You can hear it in a lot of songs where the last verse and chorus are up one a key from previous. Sometimes it's just the chorus that's repeated in the higher key.
Taking it a step further, you can change the key several times in the same song. But beware, it can get tiring. At some point is has to end.

One good example is the Snake by Al Wilson. Listen after the chorus for the descending riff that leads into the new key for the following verse. In this case, the song itself is good enough not to need the key changes, but they do add to the experience when you listen to the story. Better still if you're dancing to it.

For a whole load of great examples, listen to the soundtrack for the musical Hairspray. Better still watch the Hairspray DVD. What I've noticed is that the DVD sounds better than the soundtrack CD but I don't know why, possibly just the dynamic compression and how the vocals are clearer in the DVD. That may just be a matter of being able to watch the lips as well. I've yet to listen to the DVD without watching it to test that possibility. Several songs in that movie have key changes, one of them towards the end has several. It almost becomes a game of "spot the key change" every minute or so.

For a more common example, listen to virtually anything by Westlife. Note when they stand up from their chairs and do the arms-wide-open thing? That's usually the key change. It's pure emotional manipulation but it works for them. I don't like that type of key change. The song should have ended some time before the key change, but I'll say it again, it works for them.

Mood Change

You don't have to add a key change solely by going up a semitone or two. You can go down by the same amount or more although that's a lot rarer. You can also change between major to minor keys. Common is the change between a minor to a major key showing the journey the composer wants to take you on, sometimes reflecting the achievement of the main actor or the success of the story. This is the tonal modulation and doesn't require that you change the key, but change the tonal centre instead. Rather than go into this here, there are some good online sources of musical theory, specifically about modulation:

• Harmony.org
• Theory on the web
• Wikipedia
• Howmusicreallyworks.com
• AndyMilne

To include other instruments

Each acoustic instrument has a restricted range. That means if you want to use a trumpet, then you're stuck with the notes that can be played on a trumpet, otherwise it's not a trumpet. Good samplers will restrict the range so you don't go beyond the range of the sampled instrument. They should also allow you to deviate and play the trumpet sounds at a different pitch beyond which the trumpet can physically do. It won't sound exactly like a trumpet (mind you, neither do a lot of sampled trumpets anyway) and you can't play it with a trumpet, but you have the artistic license to play as you see fit.

But assuming you want realistic instruments and accurate recordings, then sometimes you have to change the key to include certain instruments in the registers that sound right. I'm not convinced changing key solely for this purpose is beneficial, but I can see places where it could be. I actually have a piece at the moment that I'd like to include the lower notes of the trumpet, but not any other brass. I just can't find a tone and balance that I'm happy with for trombone, tuba, horns. I'm pretty sure it's a trumpet I need, but to do so I think I'm going to have to change the key to suit. In my particular case, I may to change the key for the whole song.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

So what do you do in the new key? The easy option is to play what you've already played but in the notes of the new key. It's a coward's way out and on its own isn't really creative. However as a lot of pop bands have shown, it's a comfortable experience on your listener.

More interesting is to use the key change to successfully introduce a new theme or convey a different mood. It's more difficult, requires being more creative, but does mean that you'll be giving the audience something more than just slightly altering what you've already done.

And then where?

It doesn't have to end on the second key or even a steady upwards staircase of keys. Take some time to think about moving back and finishing the song in the original key, using the key changes as modulation within the song.

How to achieve the key changes

Rather than re-recording parts just to see if it will work, most full-featured DAWs have a couple of options. Transposing midi is usually easy, just copy the part to a new part (or region) and either drag all the notes up or down or use the transpose setting for that part. Some allow you to change key within the midi programming environment.

For audio parts, you can try the DAW's internal pitch change processing on the new part. If it works and you want to keep it, you've can listen attentively for artefacts and realism so you can decide if the processed file will do or if you need to re-record it. I prefer to record the new part afresh but it's not always possible, e.g. if I don't play that instrument or don't have access to the same exact instrument, signal chain and acoustic space.

A few things to watch out for when changing the key in either of the above ways:

1) You should be making changes only to new parts, just make sure you're not changing the pitch of your old parts.

2) If you're changing between major and minor keys, then watch for the harmonic content. Better pitch shifting routines (whether midi or audio) should allow you to state the new key and scale.

3) Ensure that the pitch correction routine is for musical content, some of the pitch change, time-stretching have specific algorithms for percussion. So choose the one most appropriate to your content.

An easy way

Try the dominant seventh approach detailed at guitartools.co.uk

Edit

I'd written the above article, then came across this site at GearChange.org. I generally agree with most of the site, especially the Westlife comment in the FAQ. I think saying that it's in "no way inventive, interesting or acceptable" is too broad though. Some of it seems to depend on how you define the truck driver's gear change. Whatever the case, the muso article is a great starting point for examining the concept.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

Improved Use of Gates - Musical Creativity 27

I've taken a detour from writing about timing for a few articles and there are a couple of points still to say about that (but for another article). I'm also planning some articles on creative uses of processors and effectsbut that's a short while away, while I prepare the audio samples so I can explain it better.

In the meantime, I saw a post over at thestereobus.com about using gates for enhancing the sound of kickdrum.

It's a good article and I like it. I especially like the reminder about mixing the gated sound with the original signal. Parallel routing is something I use often to blend in processed and unprocessed sound.

"At 0ms this sounds pretty ridiculous and unnatural"

That's good advice if you want to ensure fidelity to the original sound or at most enhance it. If you're using the gate more creatively, it's at least worth trying the ridiculous settings. Sometimes they just work.

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition. 

Lock the Bass in - Musical Creativity 28

Following on from the article about using gates on drums. I want to describe the main reason I use gates and that's to lock the bass into another pattern such as the kick drum.

It's quite a common use for a gate and when set well, it's subtle and almost unnoticeable, but definitely noticeable when you turn the effect off. It's simple to set up although it does involve a few steps.

The Set-up

Let's say we start with two tracks:

1. Channel 1 is the drums. Most likely a stereo set from a loop/drum plug-in or a submix from acoustic drums
2. Channel 2 is the bass guitar. Most likely mono (although a blended mix of mics/DI etc could also be used

The channel order's completely up to you. The only reason I've mentioned track numbers here is so that it's easier to refer to them as I type.

The 1st Gate

We'll put a send on Channel 1 (drums). In Logic, let's say that we send the signal to Bus 1. I usually set it 0dB (that's n oreduction or gain on the send in Logic) most of the time and pre-fader unless I need to process the drums a lot.

Now we go to the send channel (Bus 1). If you've got the drums playing, you should see the meters for the Bus channel moving in sync with the drums. We only want the bass to be in sync with the kick drum, not the whole drum kit.

We now insert the gate on the send channel Bus 1. Set the gate so that it only triggers on the kick drum. If there's a monitor function so you can hear what the gate responds to, then use that. When you've got the setting, stop the send going to the main output or mixbuss. We don't need the sound as an output into the main mix. You should see Bus 1 channel's meters respond to the kick drum only now.

The 2nd Gate

Now go to the bass channel (Channel 1) and insert a noise gate there. You want it to trigger when there's a bass signal so set the threshold accordingly. I usually have the signal reduction set to only -2dB or -3dB. The reason for that such a small dB reduction is that the gate will always let the bass signal through, but will also let the extra 2dB through when the kick drum triggers it. To do that we put Bus 1 as the gate's sidechain.

The Result

Listen to it now and the bass should be accentuated with the kick, giving the impression of being locked-in more that it was previously.

Quick settings in Logic

Setup the gates as above and select the Isolate Kick preset in the gate. Listen to the signal with the monitor function. Actually you can do without this and use the meters instead if you can hear the kick well enough. Change the eq filter and threshold so that only the kickdrum comes through - usually this means reducing the High Cut almost to its lowest level so that it doesn't pick up the snare and bringing down the threshold until the kick triggers the gate. Turn off the monitor in the gate and change the output of the aux channel so that it has no output.

For the gate on the bass, select the Isolate Bass preset. Change the sidechain input to Bus 1. Set the threshold so that the bass always comes through and set the reduction to -2dB.

Why 2 gates?

I find it to be a lot more accurate. It's possible to route the Channel 1 (drums) to the sidechain input of the gate on Channel 2 (bass). You can then change the eq setting so that only the kick drum comes through. But I've always found that there's a little bit of leakage from other instruments doing it this way and rather than just have eq filtering out the drums, I like having the 1st noise gate isolating thekick. At least that way, I can decide whether I'd prefer to miss a few hits of the kick or have it respond to a few hits from the snare as well, depending on how tight the threshold and eq values are.

Other ideas

Vary the reduction amount to get a more dramatic accent until it quickly starts to have a detrimental effect rather than being a positive creative tool. But as always, try it, it may prove useful to you.

You could also switch the gate for a compressor (and again use the Bus 1 as the sidechain input) for the opposite effect. It might sound like it wouldn't work since it would decrease the bond between the kick and bass. I find it useful when the kick has a tone of its own that I'd like to come through. In that case, the bass and the kick together may be too much so using the compressor allows the kick to shine through.

I think you can do something similar by using a positive value in the reduction