Too many vst's, spoilt for choice. I can't finsih anything as I always think "mmmm, maybe I need to tweak this or add this or change this...."
Sad but true.
Industrial Music forum » Music tech forum
Biggest problem when making music is...
(29 posts)-
silikonanswer
offlineMemberPosted 10 months ago # -
@silikonanswer; I agree with you and have gotten to the point where I am tossing the PC out of my studio. I'm sick and tired of that "one glitch" that is different in every software title I try that messes up my flow. Every program has that one damn glitch! Along with the plethora of choices is the almost total inability to get a consistent sound from them all. Every VST changes the sound of shit so if you don't use the same ones all the time you are constantly working to retain the sound you worked so hard at recording.
Finally after sitting in front of a PC for 8-10 hours a day at work nothing inspirational happens when I get home and sit in front of my PC to make music. I'm sick of the things.Posted 10 months ago # -
Ornox
offlineCowardly DogI have the opposite problem. I have a very strict guideline that I use the same shitty freeware VSTs that I've used for years, and that way I'll be forced to think outside the box to make them sound good. Mainly cos I know people who have all the flashest, prettiest plug-ins in the world and couldn't finish a track if their life depended on it. Recently I went through a slump where I couldn't get anything done, until I used someones Pro-Tools rig with nice VSTs and all that and was able to get all the basics for two tracks done in half an hour.
There's a moral in there somewhere.
Posted 10 months ago # -
soillodge
offlineTech ModeratorI try to keep it all really simple. I make a drum beat and I have an initialized preset either in Reaktor or on my Mopho. I let the music make itself basically. If it needs something I do not change the instrument, I just change the sound preset. One you have the basics down the rest of the song will just present itself. I find too many choices are not conducive to creativity.
`michael
Posted 10 months ago # -
comaduster
offlineMemberPersonally, I like having the variety of sound and approaches that having a lot of carefully selected VSTs affords. For me I keep my standard processing limited to small amount of plugins (EQ, Compression and Limiting come exclusively from FabFilter and Ableton for me), but I like having a ton of instruments for various applications.
But you are right, it does take a lot of self discipline to not be overwhelmed by it all and to make smart and creative choices in how you use them.
Hell, making music with computers requires a TON of discipline in a bunch of different ways, I can see why a lot of people wouldn't like it.
Ironicly, I had the same problem when I had a lot of hardware, except it was coupled with lots of guilt and buyers remorse when I spent a bit of time and focused on select pieces and ignored others. That's a whole other issue though, hahaha.Posted 9 months ago # -
i use the computer like i would a drum machine & a tape machine. (i've been trying to ween myself off the drum part over the last few years but drums take up lotw of space.) i try & do the bulk of my sound generating outside the box. also i try & refrain from 'tweaking' too much til i have something that looks kinda like a song.
my biggest problem these days is getting people to bounce ideas off of to show up. everybodys got jobs, other gigs, kids, family, lovers, the promise of fortune & fame...
Posted 9 months ago # -
writing music is tough.. transitions between different elements of the song
i need my other half.. someone who writes the music and lets me do all the sound design while i learn to compose myself
Posted 9 months ago # -
MetaSektion
offlineMemberFinishing stuff is not always easy, I'll agree. There are some strategies I find help with that:
1) If it's a remix with a deadline, the finished product is whatever is ready when the deadline falls due. That's the easiest way out of the conundrum - set yourself a target that is pretty much determined by an external factor.
2) "Finishing" happens twice for my tracks, since I split it into two sequential processes:
First up is Arrangement.
Questions I ask myself to determine if it's done:
* Is the structure complete?
* Does it need a better/longer/shorter transition at a particular point, is there a enough of a build-up before a chorus etc.?
* If I leave it for a few days and then listen to the track once all the way through, does it have the kind of flow that I'm looking for?The Second one is Mix.
Questions I ask to determine if this is complete:
* Is there an obvious element that's missing?
* Is there an element that occurs too much, and needs to be reined in, or even removed altogether?
* If I compare the track against a reference one, can I hear some obvious aspects that need correcting (balance, EQ, depth etc.)?Your ears are your best weapon in combating this problem, and it does take time to train them to recognise what is right and what isn't for your track.
Posted 9 months ago # -
silikonanswer
offlineMemberhollowman I agree 100% with your views. Maybe the trick is to:
- Try to use the same vst's at least, during a period of time when you are working is some tracks. I think this will give consistency to the sound.
- Now yout vst's. At least, try to :-).
- Freebies are sometimes as good as comercial software. I love some freeware stuff and using it I feel more "punk" :-D. I love a relly trashy synth edit plugin that I am going to start to use again because it is dirty. It is called Flea.It is FM based but really simple. It sounds really filthy.
- Know your host!!
- If you have several projects try to assign them some vst's. At least you will be using all your vst's. I paid a lot of money and some of them rarelly get used.
Ornox, and all the people in this thread, could I hear some of your stuff? I am sure I will like it.
Posted 9 months ago # -
@ silikonanswer, It might help to setup a template project in your DAW. Load it for each new project and use the same tracks for the same things as the last project. When you create plugin chains be sure to save them with meaningful names that describe what they were used for so it is simple to locate and use them again. I have done this to make my choices simpler and many of these purpose-built chains do get reused with an occasional tweak here and there as necessary. I do the same thing with hardware effects programs and the settings on my console channels. It provides consistency when you want it and saves time.
When I edit samples for my Akai I do it in Sound Forge which can load the same plugin chains I created in Acid. This is a very good way to keep things consistent between the DAW and the sampler especially regarding levels and EQ. On some of my songs the vocals were partially recorded in the DAW and also partially sampled but when played back from both sources you can't hear the difference in sound due to identical processing from within the sample editing program.
However I do try to use something new hardware and software with each project. This is to prevent things from getting stale and not neglecting the potential available in stuff. There is a balance to having a consistent sound and a stale, overused sound. I find it is helpful to always try new mixes. I mix on a hardware console so every so often I go to it and pull all the faders down and rebuild the mix completely. It is startling at times how different the same track can sound with each new mix.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Pool Waiter
offlineMemberIn many ways I am like MetaSektion. I do my studio work as such. Each session is spent doing one of the following. I will almost never do more than one of these:
Getting ideas down. Typically 8-16 bars fully thought out.
Taking one of those idea samples and roughing out an entire song.
Adding more tracks or different sounds into a roughed out track
Putting vocals on several of the rough tracks.
Tweaking mixes or going for final mixes.At any given time, there could be 7-10 songs in rough form, 5-10 ideas, and 3-5 tracks waiting for final mix.
All of this misses the bigger point for me. I have no idea why I am still writing music. I am not going to release anything as I have taken a bath on my latest releases.
Posted 9 months ago # -
apertureburn
offline:D"I have no idea why I am still writing music."
hopefully because you take pleasure in the creative process?
Posted 9 months ago # -
Pool Waiter
offlineMemberI do take pleasure in the creative process and I know that is a big part of it. But, I am also a goal person. I just finished an album's worth of material. I really like it but when I played it for my wife she was oblivious. It is occurring to me that I write songs that I guess I am the only one who likes them. Depressing.
Also, like it or not, the new way of releasing music, digitally, takes all of the fun out of album writing.
Posted 9 months ago # -
anybody with problems hitting creative blocks, Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies are a fun tool for randomizing your approach to the creative process.
http://www.brainwashaudio.com/transfer/oblique/Posted 9 months ago # -
@Pool Waiter, Feel for you bro. I do not get support from family, friends, community or coworkers but it doesn't stop me. It helps me to get my head out of the "album writing mindset". I have very little free time and therefore focusing on something that large is difficult at the least and depressing considering the last attempt. So now I focus on a project level and am designing my new studio site to help me manage my projects, subprojects and compositions. A simple spreadsheet will do the trick too if you aren't into web application programming. Here's an example (partially functioning).
http://www.hollowpoint9.com/studioBy focusing only on the individual projects and the compositions they are related to I set my goals to realistic levels given my constraints and with some help from the app I can keep track of what I am doing for planning and historical purposes. Fuck making others happy, do what feels right to you and do it in chunks you can easily swallow so you don't choke yourself with the overhead of creating an entire album. Just my two pesos...
Posted 9 months ago # -
Eric Christian
offlineMemberMy buddy made some killer power noise on his PS2 with MTV Music Generator 2. Not to say it sounded like Vanguard, Nexus 2 or a Virus Ti but it still was bad ass. Now we just need to find a way to use the digital output to record it for further processing etc.
Posted 9 months ago # -
silikonanswer
offlineMemberI think I am going to start using more iphone apps to create some sequences.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Pool Waiter
offlineMember@hollowman - cool app! For me, I don't find myself overwhelmed just asking myself "what's the point?" I don't mean that as nihilistically as it is normally used. I just like having some very loose idea of what my goal is.
One idea I've had is to do complete albums in each of the genres I've been working on and just putting them up for d/l on a web site I create. Put a donate button on there in case anyone felt like doing so. Something along that line. I don't need the money, just the vague idea that someone may actually want to consume what I am making.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Jairus Khan
offlineMemberIf you don't know what you want your song to sound like, this is a problem. Because then you're just throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks. That's doesn't usually produce music that's particularly interesting to me.
MetaSektion has it right: What does the song -need-? If you don't know what the song is about and what it needs, you need to figure that out before you spend hours noodling with VSTs.
Posted 9 months ago # -
@Pool Waiter; Thanks man! Don't bother with the donation thing. I had one on my old projects site for 5 years and not a single person ever clicked it. I guess that only supports the "whats the point" attitude but the thing is you never know just how much your work might touch another person in their heart or soul. And chances are that person won't know how to express it to you anyway.
@Jairus Khan; measure once cut twice? Yes there is much wisdom in having a goal or plan. I like to create a systematic process in my efforts at creativity but sometimes the creativity just doesn't flow without some shit wall throwing. Many inspirations have come from this but take what you get out of it and then put it into a context. I document my experimental jams now. IF they don't lead to a song at least whatever I learned to do that day can be gone back to for ideas later. Experiment, but when it is time to do some real art you need to think, plan and direct your effort or your experiments will be just that.
Posted 9 months ago #
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