Living Computer Music
One of the things I took for granted in band was how naturally, any instrument played by a human made a unique, living sound. Full of resonance, wavering timbre, reverberation, and decay.
One tip I wish I knew earlier was that dance music needs to have some natural elements to it (very rarely do you want a static square wave on the dance floor). Overall, you want every sound to:
- Feel like it happens in a specific space
- Obeys the rules of that space
- Still have its own characteristics
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Feel like it happens in a specific space
A song is a combination of various noises. That noise becomes music when it feels coherent or intentional. Having a pluck feel like it’s miles away while your snares are directly in your face can be stylistic, but make sure it’s intentional.
One thing I do a lot is send/returns (another post about those). They ensure most of my tracks have some sort of familial “glue”. They’re all cousins to some end and nothing feels out of odds.
Buses (Groups as they're called in some DAWs) let you process various sounds the same way. I'll use a glue compressor to ensure the quietest sound and loudest signs in a group are all audible.
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Obeys the rules of that space
ASDR is a great concept to learn in EDM but also to use in your daily life.
- Attack - How does something come in ( gradually, suddenly, etc. )?
- Sustain - How does some subsist in space?
- Decay - After that subsistence, how does something lower?
- Release - When does something give up the ghost?
Be kind with your sounds and how they operate. A sudden attack may not be great for deep house but could work for drum and bass.
Be mindful of the journey each note as. And the magic of AUTOMATION is the key. I often automate my pads to have a slow attack initially, so each note slowly rises up but then gradually the attack gets more sudden. Then sure, the pads sustain while the note is there but then I'll sidechain compress the pads to the kick for that classic pumping.
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Has its own characteristics
I used to think of these characteristics as “mixing”. Fun fact. Mixing is still arrangement. You’re molding how something hits/feels. You're modifying how all the sounds communicate with each other. So it’s still important to sculpt that sounds
Try saturating something. Add reverb to make something sound grand.
This is the work I'm focusing on now, making sure all of my sounds have soul. Something unique that makes it add something to the song.
Reverb is life, Automation is spirit.
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All in all, that's a lot of components, but they're steps I'm taking to make my computer music feel a little more alive. Here's a preview of an unreleased track called "Remember; Forgetting".
