Composers Block

Using Compressors to increase attack - Musical Creativity 45

Expander Screenshot

Compressors are regularly used to tame errant dynamics or to increase the perceived volume of a track. As well as squashing the audio, the compressor can be used to bring out some elements more than others.

Letting the attack through  read more »

Use the wrong preset for a better sound - Musical Creativity 44

Opto compressor for drums
Opinion is divided as to whether presets in plug-ins are useful. From my perspective, they can be useful short-cuts to a starting point, but I'll usually need to tweak the parameters, sometimes quite extremely. I'm usually happy just starting from scratch, knowing what result I want to achieve.

However, I love putting an ordinary audio track through a plug-in and working through the presets, especially those presets that it's not designed for.  read more »


End of Year Review - 1st year

The Award Sounds website had its first birthday yesterday. One year old. Wow. I posted the first articles on 15th July 2007. They were mainly placeholders stating what I was going to place on the site.  read more »

Using an Octaver for Easy Funk - Musical Creativity 43

Mention an octaver to a musician, especially a guitarist, and you're heading for a conversation about Hendrix.

It can be used for other styles. So here's a quick trick for writing funk. Forget the bass when you start. I half-expected to get lynched, but bear with me, at least until the end.

Background

I like the old P-funk of Funkadelic and Parliament. I think what made me hear it more was the inclusion of a distorted guitar in a funk show. This was often played in sync with the bass guitar.

Setting the groove  read more »


Use of Tremolo - Musical Creativity 42

I've talked about tremolo as a musical feature before, this time I want to go into more detail.

First things first, let's sort out the guitarists: I don't mean using the tremolo arm/whammy bar or whatever you want to call it ("handle" as my girlfriend called it - and no she won't be picking up my guitars for a while). The whammy bar creates a vibrato feature, not a tremolo. Vibrato alters pitch.

Amplitude  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 4 - Musical Creativity 41

corvstd4.jpg

13. Meet Other people

13a avoid being recluse

Composing music can be a solitary activity. For some that works, for others it can be a lonely experience. Whatever the perspective, it can quickly turn into isolation. Collaborating with others reduces the isolation.

13b friends

I've met most of my best friends through music and music-related activities. Some of the people I met as acquaintances have turned into good friends over time.  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 3 - Musical Creativity 41

corvstd4.jpg
7. Finances

Even arranging a loan with your bank manager is a form of collaboration. Ok, it's a purchase of a product by you from them, but if responsible, then the bank should be acting in partnership with you. I'm working on a few projects where I can see finances becoming an issue in the medium term. I could also see a few of the project members funding their own areas. None could fund the whole project, but as each could fund their own area, the project could still work. It's like pooling resources but more controlled.

8. Opportunities  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 2 - Musical Creativity 41

corvstd4.jpg
4. Production

4a Fresh Pair of Ears

A producer should remain distant enough from the in-depth recording process to be able to bring a fresh opinion. Their view can suggest new directions or, at least, a validation of the current direction.

4b Motivation  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 1 - Musical Creativity 41

corvstd4.jpg

A short series of articles on collaborating with other people to make your music better, make it heard or to help them move their music forwards.

 

1. Recording

1a Engineer  read more »

My composing workflows

Mic XLR

I said in the previous article that I'd provide details of my most common composing workflows.

Sync to video Soundtrack  read more »


Syndicate content