Nice blog post, to the point.
Things I sort of believe about making music
31–40 of 94 posts
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#32> I would listen back to my recordings, trying to overdub new parts, feeling like I was playing pretty tight and in time. But when I listened back my playing would sound totally off. I was always miles behind the beat, sounding incredibly sloppy and rhythmless. For months I thought this was a deficiency in my playing, until eventually I discovered some latency setting, read about what latency was and realised what wa…
That's playback latency. But if monitoring latency is too high, you get sloppy playing.
That's only relevant if you monitor through your audio interface, of course.
Also, I'm not sure if all DAWs have always compensated playback latency the way you describe. But I agree that it shouldn't be a problem in general.
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#33One part of my personal creative process I didn't find discussed or mentioned in the post is about having a goal for one's creative endeavor. I've found the idea of sitting down to simply 'write a song' or 'create something' doesn't work for me. What does work for me is having a specific goal and working towards that goal. The goals don't have to be overly complex, but I need at least some nugget of an idea that I can consciously refer to during the process to keep me on track (I'm easily distracted by 'possibilities' and 'choices'). An example of such a goal would be that I wish to write a song that has a verse with a more minor feel, use the I–vi–IV–V progression for the bridge, make the chorus upbeat, have a Joy Division meets the 50s vibe, and write some lyrics that tells a story that starts with driving somewhere.
This method isn't foolproof and sometimes I have ideas that don't work or result in bad songs, but occasionally the final product is good enough that I can introduce it to the band and incorporate the new song into our practice/performance setlist. Having a goal that I write down gives me an idea of what I want the final product to look/feel/sound like while still leaving room for spontaneity, as I'll edit the goal if I think of a better idea. A side benefit of this approach is that it makes it easier to communicate the gist of the song to other musicians when they ask what it sounds like and/or what it is about.
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#34> I would listen back to my recordings, trying to overdub new parts, feeling like I was playing pretty tight and in time. But when I listened back my playing would sound totally off. I was always miles behind the beat, sounding incredibly sloppy and rhythmless. For months I thought this was a deficiency in my playing, until eventually I discovered some latency setting, read about what latency was and realised what wa…
That's playback latency. But if monitoring latency is too high, you get sloppy playing. That's only relevant if you monitor through your audio interface, of course. Also, I'm not sure if all DAWs have always compensated playback latency the way you describe. But I agree that it shouldn't be a problem in general.
> Also, I'm not sure if all DAWs have always compensated playback latency the way you describe. But I agree that it shouldn't be a problem in general.
Ableton definitely does, and that's what they say they were using.
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#35Modular synth is a boondoggle like literally the first thing he warns against lol.
It tows the line between tinkering satisfaction and musical satisfaction. It's easy to get wrapped up in the tinkering aspect (which can be really fun) and not create anything musical in the process. This is fine unless you have goals that come with the your hobby pointed towards releasing something--in which case, the tinkering part can become a time suck pulling you away from your objective.
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#36No post body was provided.
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#37> I would listen back to my recordings, trying to overdub new parts, feeling like I was playing pretty tight and in time. But when I listened back my playing would sound totally off. I was always miles behind the beat, sounding incredibly sloppy and rhythmless. For months I thought this was a deficiency in my playing, until eventually I discovered some latency setting, read about what latency was and realised what wa…
That's playback latency. But if monitoring latency is too high, you get sloppy playing. That's only relevant if you monitor through your audio interface, of course. Also, I'm not sure if all DAWs have always compensated playback latency the way you describe. But I agree that it shouldn't be a problem in general.
They'd written "feeling like I was playing pretty tight and in time", so it doesn't sound like they had a problem with monitoring latency. Probably not using any monitoring?
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's playback latency. But if monitoring latency is too high, you get sloppy playing. That's only relevant if you monitor through your audio interface, of course. Also, I'm not sure if all DAWs have always compensated playback latency the way you describe. But I agree that it shouldn't be a problem in general.
> Also, I'm not sure if all DAWs have always compensated playback latency the way you describe. But I agree that it shouldn't be a problem in general. Ableton definitely does, and that's what they say they were using.
My guess is their low-end usb mic did not accurately report its latency, and so the Ableton wasn't able to automatically adjust. It's still a possible to adjust manually, though.
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#39Really like this approach. The rawness of the use of everyday sounds reminded me of Burial - Untrue.
That's one of the greatest albums of the 00s, should be on people's Top 50 if not Top 25
Re: Things I sort of believe about making music
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
It also appears in every single HN thread about music.
It’s relevant.
It's not at all clear that it solves the problems being discussed here. All we can see on the site are claims. Makes me 10x more productive in writing music? That's a bold claim to make while absolutely nothing backing it up. Can I import my plugins? What are you doing to aid with recording? Can you even record?
Lots of questions.
No answers.