Unusual methods.. Good or Bad?

A

Akridrot

New member
I would love to have a discussion about
highly unorthodox methods that are regularly used when you make songs. I think that most of us can benefit if we discussed creative techniques involving FX, rythyms, etc... A lot of my greatest songs were made because of accidents.


I know reversing isn't all that unusual, but most of the time, after I make a beat,I reverse it and pitch shift it in soundforge. Sometimes I get something much better than the original.
 
Its great to experiment, but it really comes down to the song at hand. Theres a time and place for experimenting. I learned that from many books ive read and from my own experience as a bass player. Its always best to stand back and look at your goals for a specific song, and do whatever it takes to complete that final product you perceived.
 
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Why would that be bad ?

Look at a major group like Pink Floyd; especially in their most successful years (Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, etc...) they used several unusual techniques - chains of extremely overused guitar fx, vocoded dogs, ringing alarm clocks, etc... - and that was one of the things that made them so great (of course they were great artists and songwriters too).
 
I dunno if it's really that unusual, but for one of my projects I run every track in each song through the filters of an MS 20. It yields quite interesting effects/results, to say the least. And while the process itself may not be unusual, the final product certainly is - crazy textures, beeps and bleeps, noise and harmonics.
 
My style is Psytrance, that's a very experimental genre where many sounds were created 'by accident'. So I do a lot of randomizing on the synths or just play around without a target and if something sounds good about it, I tweak it until it "fits". I know, it's not that professional but can show you new ways.
Like Port Royale mentioned, applying filters and FX on your sounds can sound great, I usethe VST-Plugins E-Phonic Lo-FI for some 'noisy' distortion, or Effex for some FM-like effects.
 
imho best thing one can hope for is to have a sonic vision, and know how to get there.

naturally, i´m not there yet. and certainly the most interesting stuff i made happened by pressing "something".

that may well be the actuall difference between autechre and a retarded fourhanded electromonkey.

without an idea i´m bound to browse endlessly through vsti presets. one sound may be ok. or perhaps the other one.

again imho, experimenting is good to learn something. make your sound.
and generally find out stuff you can use in your compositions.

many producers use experimenting as a part of the workflow, or so i read.

as it may prove interesting - you end up wondering how you did it after some time - and the whole thing seems like it´s been done by someone else...

first concept. then sound.
 
krushing said:


Using the MS20 as an effects unit is hardly a secret ;)
Click to expand...

Haha, I know, thats why I said the process in itself isn't that unusual! The thing with the MS 20 (or basically any old monster with a patchbay) is that, most likely, there is no way in hell to recreate a session of wild filter turning anyway so really theres no point in keeping it a "secret". I doubt I could even recreate my own stuff :D
 
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Almost everything i do is mixing and mashing, remixing, layering, and now and then you apply things that you have learnt about sound to refine; or try to get a bit more out of a sound.

My method of production something is playing around (experimentation) mixed in with a bit of knowledge (applying learnt techneques)

Keep playing, keep learning, you'll get there. You have your bad days and other days you dance around your room. (sorry, i'm ranting)

Experiment, and have fun!
 
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