Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Can You Share your Tips and Tricks To Create? (I don't create enough music)
I plead guilty, I don't create a lot of music. Only loop. I think my loop are really good (IMHO) but I have trouble making full song. I want to be able to share a complete track to be proud of it. Nobody care's about loop.
Can you share your tips to create?
The thing that interest me the most is how you start (with a beat, with a melody?) Do you write the whole melody and then the drum?
Any tips or idea will help me.
Thank you.
Comments
Listen to the music and musicians you like and then go about trying to duplicate their music. You'll discover new ways to improve your process every day. In my opinion, there's really no better way to be creative than by simply doing the work and loving the process from start to finish.
Keep your loops and revisit them. I’m currently working on 2 tracks I’d started about 4 years ago and shelved. Having a cache of ready to go bits means you’ve already got the ball rolling.
Have an easy set up too. I was doing guitar through a large pedalboard and amp and by the time it was all set up I’d lost the vibe. I’m now guitar into iPad and I’m making so much more music.
I start with drums, usually have nearly a whole track of drums done before moving onto other instruments.
Try really hard NOT to think about anyone when you create... just zero in on the sounds. Keep the combinations that you like and keep editing when it's not working for you.
After you get a collection of projects done that you like to re-listen to you'll have created
a personal style (most likely... being unique on every project IS a style too since you're seeking something new).
Then you start sharing your work here and you'll grow an audience that likes what you like or respects the work or just the risk it took to share... so few do because you WILL get advice. Advice is a form of criticism and it can knock you off the horse completely which sends me back to Rule #1: Try really hard NOT to think about anyone when you create.
It all flows from doing it because it makes YOU feel great. If anyone else feels it that's a true bonus. I believe everyone has an audience and it may or may not be on this forum but putting yourself out there will help them find you.
Make Sound. Mix in more sounds. Not interesting? Edit. Add sound. When it feels like something share it... even if it's just a short sketch. It doesn't have to have a title, a frame and a price tag to be art. That's just turning art into commerce.
Lately I have been importing tunes I would like to sound like, in to a DAW, after working out tempo and time-signatures (usually there are several in the music I listen to) and then I set up markers for the different sections (intro, chorus teaser, verse, stick, chorus etc). Then I delete (or at least mute it) the original audio and try to create sections of similar length. It is not a hard rule, as it sometimes "need" longer sections of one kind and none at all of another etc, but as a guideline it is quite decent for two things:
Basically: steal with pride, but make it your own.
Take your loop and listen to it while bringing parts in and out, there’s probably a song in there already. Or make additional loops based off one or more elements of the first loop, rinse and repeat until you have enough sections. Musically it’s not complicated, most of the time there’s only 3 or 4 things going on: drums, bass, chord/pad, and a lead. Everything else is typically just sonic layers or performance variations of those basic elements. You can absolutely sketch out a song with one 4 bar loop with a handful of parts, you just gotta copy that loop out and chop it up essentially. Don’t over complicate it.
Keep Koala sampler on the first page of your iphones home screen. If a musik idear pops up in your head then open koala sampler an hum it or beatbox it or what ever. Keep the tune or riff in your head and something new that fits the initial idear pops up then hum sing or beatbox that as well.
When you are home and have the time to make a track listen to what you have sampled and then “translate” it to your instruments of choise.
I have been using this method during jamuary and t works quite well.
Working on a timeline. Copy your loop on the timeline next to the current one, change it up, add sounds, remove sounds, replace sounds, transpose things up / down an octave, maybe even timestretch things half or double. Keep doing this. Make new mutations of the previous loop, don’t be afraid of breaking the direction or vibe of the track and do not go back and listen to the whole thing at once or even previous loops, just keep adding new mutations, switching up the direction of the track and trying new things. Again, do not listen to the previous loops! Now after several loops/bars take a long break. Come back and listen to the whole thing at once. Edit to taste, copying older loops up on the timeline, deleting others completely etc.
Loopy Pro is a great way to build on loops!
Watch some videos on YouTube!
Similar to what others have said—if I have a loop I like on hardware (Digitakt, say), then copy that pattern to the next slot, and make variations.
A simpler/more complex version of the drums, or a different octave for the melody/chords. Also use tricks like call/response for melodies. This is easy on a “real” instrument like piano or guitar, but less often heard with sequenced music IME.
As @db909 says, you don’t (necessarily) need to keep adding new stuff. Work with what’s already there. If you have a great melody, use that to find a chord progression. Use the same melody, but with a different instrument. On one track, I ran a guitar solo through Ableton’s melody-to-MIDI tool, and created a piano solo (with a few root notes dropped an octave).
Then, when you get it all recorded onto a DAW timeline, start removing sections, not adding, to create movement.
And always remember, tension and release.
Make something. (Anything. A loop of a single instrument is great.) Put it out in the world. (SoundCloud? Bandcamp?). Do it again. Make something better. Rinse and repeat. Keep moving forward. Fear of failure is the mind killer. My liberation was finding a genre which did not require formal song structures to achieve. ( only took me forty years to work this out!) Maybe all that verse chorus middle eight stuff is holding you back? There’s a lot you can do with a single loop in AUM - multitrack it, double speed it, half speed it, chop it, reverse it…
It depends on the music style, I also have some trouble with building a track with loops. The result for me is a sound collage, not a song that tells a little story, or with a musical development. MHO just layering loops on top of each other is randomized music.
I started playing guitar, and then switched to electronic music (because it was so much more exciting at that time), and 8 years ago I switched back to guitar. For guitar I like a linear approach for the musical idea. I don´t sing, so the guitar itself if used for the vocal lines.
What I do is playing on the piano or guitar, searching for interesting melodies, or riffs, of chord progressions. And I try to memorize this, or write it down on a paper. When I have enough ideas I start to build the track. And I make use of a lot of help, I don´t want to write all the music for all the instruments, I want to focus on playing the guitar. So I use the Band in a Box software for the drums, bass, piano, other sounds. On Ipad Ibassist and the Lumbeat drummers are good for this. And the chord helper apps, to get out of the box ideas for chord progressions.
That is also my problem with producing electronic music, you have to create the patches for the sounds, the arrangement, the melodies, the drums with all the details, you have to mix and master all that stuff, it takes so much time from start to finish. And you have so many decisions to make in the process. You have to be devoted. I just want to play an instrument the old fashioned way. And write something down and move on.
I do like to make a techno jam from time to time, with real time tweaking, and let it run for a long time, that is so much more easy than writing a song that has enough quality.
When I listen to interesting stuff, I like dub techno a lot, like Deepchord, Rod Modell, Basic Channel, their quality is so high, I cannot reach that level, so I will never try.
For a tip, well I would suggest to break out of looping, and try a linear approach. And focus on a melodic progression, or a very interesting modulation or transition of sound. And create tension (all the way, or recessed), with a release (or hold it), so something is happening in a song.
And when yo do create loops, make 16 or 32 bar loops, not short ones, and have something moving inside these longer loops.
song form is slavery!
outdated capitalist exploit idea.
musik is sound is nature is looooooop
yes, okay, but what is your advice to the OP, who is currently stuck in his approach?
I have one more, find out what works, a banger for the dancefloor obviously needs other elements than album oriented stuff.
And when you try to make album stuff, develop your own signature. For example Underworld, you can recognize there music instantly.
And something else, when creating music alone is too much work for 1 person, get other people involved, for example for arrangement, mixing or mastering. In a band context you need other people too, doing everything alone because we have the technology, is ok, but not ideal when it comes to music and interplay.
Like you say, It’s pretty easy to get going and creative with a loop, but it’s also very hard to break out of it.
While playing solo with a guitar, piano or any instrument it’s natural to want to change chords after a while, as going over the same part gets boring. It’s the opposite with a loop, it “ties” you to a certain harmony. You have to find a way to let go and move on to the next part.
There’s many recipes to do so, maybe some points:
Last but not least, leave this forum and open up an actual music making app!. This turns out to be harder that it seems.
Or, you could just try and let go of the idea that you need to "create" music. If you find yourself playing around aimlessly with that little drum app, or auditing all those great sounding presets in that synth you forgot you even had, and it gives you joy, you can just do that. Whatever makes you happy. The world largely doesn't care what you do either way - just ask those members who do create music and share their output.
Yes, that is a good one! What I do with music is to develop myself as a musician, which goes really slowly by the way, because of lack of real talent. I have no interest in producing finished tracks, that is for other people. Let that idea go and you have a lot more fun. When you play guitar, often you just pick it up, and noodle around for a short while, and you are satisfied. With electronic music you can do the same. Just play and you improve your skills.
Some great suggestions in this thread.
One thing I’d suggest is listening to some music from genres you don’t normally listen to. Might help you redefine what you’re aiming at, so that what you’re good at (making loops) becomes a strength, rather than a limitation. Or it might confirm your desire to create structured songs etc, but give you some ideas about how to do it.
Progression/development doesn’t have to be melodic or harmonic, it can be textural or timbral. Do you need a fixed rhythm, or not? What do you hope to engender in terms of mood or feeling?
One thing I feel strongly about, though, is that you can’t please everyone, and making music to please someone else can result in disaster. You have to love what you create, and hope that comes through for other people. In order to love what you create, you might need to shake up your own sensibilities and preconceptions, hence my advice above.
When creating a loop we create vertically.
When creating a track/instrumental/song we also need to create horizontally.
So if your loop has enough layers start thinking both vertically and horizontally.
Add and take away ear candy to maintain interest for
the listener/s including yourself and make good use of dynamics.
My advice for going from loops to songs:
https://tarekith.com/articles/ArrangingSongs.pdf
One thing that greatly helped me is to stop caring what other people are doing and stop trying to focus on “one workflow to rule them all”. I change my workflow completely on an almost track by track basis. It keeps me interested and creative and keeps things fun. So maybe try experimenting with any idea you get and do your best to see it through. The best way to learn is by simply doing it.
Maybe lay down an entire drum beat first. Then add bass. Then pads. Then during the chorus, change the pads to the neighboring key or transpose up or down an octave. You don’t even need to change the drum beat. Listen to Eno talk about the way he helped Talking Heads make Remain in Light. That was pivotal information for me.
Yes... this is gold! I was about to recommend this and saw your post
Plus...
I like to keep it simple. Drums + Bass + Pads + Leads, and the structure from there. And then start layering new stuff.
Sometimes we end up overcomplicating stuff
@Montreal_Music : keep asking yourself “what comes next”. Come up with something. You don’t even need to know how the parts will come together. You can figure that out later. It is amazing how many songs you imagine were thoughtfully composed straight through that started out as bits that got pulled together later.
@Montreal_Music ,
1. what is in your musical knowledge toolbox? How much do you know about things like reading music, chords, what instruments do you play and how well, etc.
2. what kind of music do you want to create?
Part of the magic of iOS/desktop for me is that you can improve the main ingredient by experimenting with the recipe. So many of my own tracks are just so so in their raw form (for me a keyboard improv with no forethought). But, and arguably much more fun, it is taking that basic ingredient and preparing it in such a way that it becomes more and more palatable… then even tasty… and in some cases delicious. To switch metaphors, it can be a treasure hunt where I stumble on many surprises, happy coincidences, and even total accidents (like loading the wrong app and going with it).
In other words, don’t worry too much about the basic material. Just get yourself a couple of minutes of something to work with knowing that the real “creativity” is yet to come… as in how do I get this shit to sound better and maybe even good. The truth is, I often don’t know which improv I do is going to yield really good results. Sometimes it is obvious, but if I only developed those tracks my output would be 10% of what it is.
Again, like a good chef, it is the creative use of ingredients that gives a delectable result. I remember an NPR story of a guy in prison who cooked creatively using only the limited ingredients from the commissary. Crackers became flour for a pie crust… stuff like that. The combinations sounded insane, but he wound up cooking for prison events where everyone chipped in cash. He experimented making using the improbable and succeeded.
I suggest, if you have the ability, to record a bunch of stuff on a keyboard or midi guitar. Try playing and recording as long as you can, ignoring what it sounds like. Comfort yourself that whatever you’re playing you can’t judge if it will be useful at the moment of conception. You will harvest the good parts later. Build a small bank of midi material for each track.
Then think of the musical bits like SCRABBLE. You want to assemble them to make musical words. Again, don’t be too judgmental. Get a musical sentence going knowing you will still be improving it as you arrange it with different instruments, adding drums, transposing, midi editing, etc.
As with any technique, your later efforts will be a lot better than the first ones. Go for the completion rather than the overall quality. The next attempt will be better and that will probably be true for the next and the next. Your ability will be cumulative. And def post on the forum in SOTMC or single threads. @Edward_Alexander makes some of the best music here and he’s often asking for and getting excellent advice.
Hope that is of some use to you.
Buy 100-200 apps and learn 2-3 of them really well. Which 2-3 you pick will make all the difference. Many will just tell you their 2-3 but that's just being a clone... finding the tools that resonate with your inner child seems to be important. I'm still in the buy apps phase
and converging on 5-10 app candidates to learn well.
Get yourself the free trial of Launchpad and all its packs + get Blocs Wave with the import function. Now you can mix and remix some of your loops with the pro loops to make great sounding tracks (Launchpad will transpose the key for you). Now you can work on reducing the factory loop packs and increase the use of your own.
Also chop up your own loops using apps like Egoist, Blocs Wave, Abu Dhabi in Gadget, Glitch Breaks, Koala etc.
You might want to have look at Loopy Pro where you can arrange your loops on a timeline as well as launching them.
Also - just jam it all out into one giant track - then cut out all the duff bits, and re-arrange the good ones.
Work horizontally
Work in a daw with a timeline
Copy and paste sections then delete parts from the pasted section
Make yourself work faster than you normally work.
When you have a section that sounds ok, don’t dwell, move on to the next section
Yup.
Stop thinking about ‘songs’
Music doesn’t need to be ‘correct’
It’s not some kind of mysterious secret. This alone made me so much happier and more relaxed
I have found a simple trick while learning to use Drambo:
Forget songwriting and be playful with sound design.
Sooner or later, a musical idea will grab you by the scruff and drag you into song.
At that point, the idea and the sounds and your music memory will tell you what to do next.
I start simple with just one instrument and a beat. I’ll record long takes (usually in AUM) of me just playing around with the idea and taking it different places. I will then chop it up and rearrange it. That becomes the guide track which almost always gets thrown out once I have added other elements and fleshed out the arrangement.