Tweet
I was inspired by fellow moderator V0RT3X to create a tutorial for my latest track "Aphelion" based on the amazing tutorials he's already shared with us on ambient online. I truly believe the more we share with each other, the more our community will benefit from each other's knowledge of production, sound design, and composition. With that being said, buckle up and enjoy the ride!!!
First of all, if you haven't already...have a listen to the track while you are reading this. I present to you: "Aphelion" from my upcoming album "Language of The Ancients." :tu:
http://soundcloud.com/s1gnsofl1fe/aphelion
Before we dive into each individual part of the song, let's have a look at the track as a whole once it's done. Notice that there are no more virtual instruments left in the song, it's only waveforms!!! Also notice that my cpu meter while the track is idle is only at 2%. This is because I have basically no more plugins running, everything has already been preprocessed and rendered into audio. This allows me to utilize the performance of my machine and make sure I don't get any "clicks and pops" while bouncing it to disk. I will discuss this later in the tutorial...but my basic workflow is this. Create/perform a "layer" of the song...ambient pad, bass, drums, fills, etc...modify it if necessary, render it to audio waveform, then right click on the virtual instrument and click "hide and make inactive" which can be done in most DAW's. Not only am I speeding up the process, but like I said, I'm saving a TON of cpu by doing this. I know other people have different ways of working, but that's just how I do it!!! Anyway, here's my layout once everything is finished.
FIRST STEPS
The first thing I do is usually lay down an initial "texture." In this case, it's a stretched out minor chord with an instance of Alchemy running. Like this:
Here's the instance of Alchemy: I often "perform" over this instance by using the remix pads in realtime. I love the variations in sound I can get just by moving slowly over the remix pads. (Sampleconstruct: I know you know what I'm talking about!!!)
Moving on: I start to add more layers. This time, I like to perform 16 or so bars on the keyboard to give it a more natural feel. Like this:
Here's the instance of Alchemy I had running behind it:
SECOND WAVE
Now the fun part begins. I like to provide alot of variation in my sound by using the step sequencers in Numerology. It is hands down one of the most powerful and versatile step sequencers ever made!! What's even more crazy is being that it only comes in standalone, AU, and VST format...how do I have it running in Pro Tools 10?! HA! Enter VE PRO 5. In a nutshell, VE PRO allows me to run AU and VST plugins (instruments and effects) inside pro tools with no strings attached. It's AMAZING. It also saves SO MUCH cpu I can't even begin to tell you. Basically it offloads all the cpu that would be running in your host and processes everything OUTSIDE of your DAW. Therefore freeing up your DAW to do what it does best...RECORD. :razz:
BUILDING RHYTHM
After I've got my structure moving and the song is beginning to emerge, it's usually time to make a decision. What type of ambient piece is this? What is the song telling me it WANTS to be? Straight synth-ambient? Rhythmic ambient? A cross of something in between? I get a feel of where I want to go and then I start to build...simply by feel. I am a big fan of the stuff that Audio Damage makes...and one of my latest additions was Axon. What a crazy and interesting plugin for ambient percussion!!! I love experimenting with it. I added a couple of instances and started messing with the presets. Changing tones...adjusting attacks...adding more rhythm to the piece. I also added another synth to sort of "counter balance" the rhythm I just added.
FILLING THE GAPS
Once I sense the piece is starting to take complete shape, it's time to give it some structure. Usually that means adding transitions from samples. I rarely (like most of us!) add samples "straight out of the box." I like to put effects on them and give them some of my own touch and flavor. Some of my favorites for doing this are camelspace, MFM2 from U-he, and Etch which I scored for only $20 on an AudioMidi.com no-brainer deal. This just gives you an idea of what kind of tools you need to make the kind of sounds you hear in my music. I LOVE original plugins...I also love the good ones, the tried and true to the genre. These are definitely some of those.
FINAL TOUCHES
Once I'm happy with the piece, it's time for a bit of mixing, routing, and frequency analysis. I should probably be using something a bit more professional, but BlueCat's FreqAnalyst (freeware) seems to work just fine for what I need it to. I just want to "see the mix" before it goes out to the mastering deck. Not only to get an idea of what I'm listening to, but where my "main" frequencies are located. If i think there's too much mids in the piece before it goes to master, I'll try and mix those out of the individual tracks that are "mid heavy." The same goes with the bass. Too much of either of those can cause a muddy mix. I've learned this through experience. Another thing I learned was to route all of my finished waveforms to a submix AUX channel BEFORE the master fader. This allows me to make a sort of fake brick wall before I reach the final output...basically, adding headroom if I need it. (seismic1: distortion issues solved!) :biggrin:
MASTERING
For mastering, I started on T-Racks 3 deluxe (which I picked up $45 new at AudioDeluxe) and just recently upgraded to the new T-Racks CS Grand. T-Racks is awesome because in my opinion...it just works. It's almost automagically in some cases. Not that I don't spend time peering over every module in the stack (I do) but what they've done is given normal producers (like me) simple, easy to use tools that get the job done when it comes time to ship your tracks out the door and out to the world. It really saves time and money spent sending your finished pieces to expensive mastering engineers. I'm sure they could do a hell of alot better job than I could, but now that I've got the tools I need...right now, I'm happy with the results I'm getting. And at the end of the day, that's really all that matters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow, that was fun!!! I hope you learned something from that tutorial. It's my first tutorial ever and now that it's over, it was a blast to make. This definitely won't be my last! If you couldn't tell already, I'm really passionate about ambient online and the small yet growing community we have here. I'm both dedicated to seeing us succeed as well as excited as ever to watch us expand and fill this brand new site with tons of useful and engaging content.
Be sure to check out my new album "Language of The Ancients" coming January 23rd! Thank you all for your support and I'll see you online!
Cheers!!!!!!!!
-S1gns
First of all, if you haven't already...have a listen to the track while you are reading this. I present to you: "Aphelion" from my upcoming album "Language of The Ancients." :tu:
http://soundcloud.com/s1gnsofl1fe/aphelion
Before we dive into each individual part of the song, let's have a look at the track as a whole once it's done. Notice that there are no more virtual instruments left in the song, it's only waveforms!!! Also notice that my cpu meter while the track is idle is only at 2%. This is because I have basically no more plugins running, everything has already been preprocessed and rendered into audio. This allows me to utilize the performance of my machine and make sure I don't get any "clicks and pops" while bouncing it to disk. I will discuss this later in the tutorial...but my basic workflow is this. Create/perform a "layer" of the song...ambient pad, bass, drums, fills, etc...modify it if necessary, render it to audio waveform, then right click on the virtual instrument and click "hide and make inactive" which can be done in most DAW's. Not only am I speeding up the process, but like I said, I'm saving a TON of cpu by doing this. I know other people have different ways of working, but that's just how I do it!!! Anyway, here's my layout once everything is finished.
FIRST STEPS
The first thing I do is usually lay down an initial "texture." In this case, it's a stretched out minor chord with an instance of Alchemy running. Like this:
Here's the instance of Alchemy: I often "perform" over this instance by using the remix pads in realtime. I love the variations in sound I can get just by moving slowly over the remix pads. (Sampleconstruct: I know you know what I'm talking about!!!)
Moving on: I start to add more layers. This time, I like to perform 16 or so bars on the keyboard to give it a more natural feel. Like this:
Here's the instance of Alchemy I had running behind it:
SECOND WAVE
Now the fun part begins. I like to provide alot of variation in my sound by using the step sequencers in Numerology. It is hands down one of the most powerful and versatile step sequencers ever made!! What's even more crazy is being that it only comes in standalone, AU, and VST format...how do I have it running in Pro Tools 10?! HA! Enter VE PRO 5. In a nutshell, VE PRO allows me to run AU and VST plugins (instruments and effects) inside pro tools with no strings attached. It's AMAZING. It also saves SO MUCH cpu I can't even begin to tell you. Basically it offloads all the cpu that would be running in your host and processes everything OUTSIDE of your DAW. Therefore freeing up your DAW to do what it does best...RECORD. :razz:
BUILDING RHYTHM
After I've got my structure moving and the song is beginning to emerge, it's usually time to make a decision. What type of ambient piece is this? What is the song telling me it WANTS to be? Straight synth-ambient? Rhythmic ambient? A cross of something in between? I get a feel of where I want to go and then I start to build...simply by feel. I am a big fan of the stuff that Audio Damage makes...and one of my latest additions was Axon. What a crazy and interesting plugin for ambient percussion!!! I love experimenting with it. I added a couple of instances and started messing with the presets. Changing tones...adjusting attacks...adding more rhythm to the piece. I also added another synth to sort of "counter balance" the rhythm I just added.
FILLING THE GAPS
Once I sense the piece is starting to take complete shape, it's time to give it some structure. Usually that means adding transitions from samples. I rarely (like most of us!) add samples "straight out of the box." I like to put effects on them and give them some of my own touch and flavor. Some of my favorites for doing this are camelspace, MFM2 from U-he, and Etch which I scored for only $20 on an AudioMidi.com no-brainer deal. This just gives you an idea of what kind of tools you need to make the kind of sounds you hear in my music. I LOVE original plugins...I also love the good ones, the tried and true to the genre. These are definitely some of those.
FINAL TOUCHES
Once I'm happy with the piece, it's time for a bit of mixing, routing, and frequency analysis. I should probably be using something a bit more professional, but BlueCat's FreqAnalyst (freeware) seems to work just fine for what I need it to. I just want to "see the mix" before it goes out to the mastering deck. Not only to get an idea of what I'm listening to, but where my "main" frequencies are located. If i think there's too much mids in the piece before it goes to master, I'll try and mix those out of the individual tracks that are "mid heavy." The same goes with the bass. Too much of either of those can cause a muddy mix. I've learned this through experience. Another thing I learned was to route all of my finished waveforms to a submix AUX channel BEFORE the master fader. This allows me to make a sort of fake brick wall before I reach the final output...basically, adding headroom if I need it. (seismic1: distortion issues solved!) :biggrin:
MASTERING
For mastering, I started on T-Racks 3 deluxe (which I picked up $45 new at AudioDeluxe) and just recently upgraded to the new T-Racks CS Grand. T-Racks is awesome because in my opinion...it just works. It's almost automagically in some cases. Not that I don't spend time peering over every module in the stack (I do) but what they've done is given normal producers (like me) simple, easy to use tools that get the job done when it comes time to ship your tracks out the door and out to the world. It really saves time and money spent sending your finished pieces to expensive mastering engineers. I'm sure they could do a hell of alot better job than I could, but now that I've got the tools I need...right now, I'm happy with the results I'm getting. And at the end of the day, that's really all that matters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow, that was fun!!! I hope you learned something from that tutorial. It's my first tutorial ever and now that it's over, it was a blast to make. This definitely won't be my last! If you couldn't tell already, I'm really passionate about ambient online and the small yet growing community we have here. I'm both dedicated to seeing us succeed as well as excited as ever to watch us expand and fill this brand new site with tons of useful and engaging content.
Be sure to check out my new album "Language of The Ancients" coming January 23rd! Thank you all for your support and I'll see you online!
Cheers!!!!!!!!
-S1gns
Comment