Styles / Music / Samples

I need to come and write more specific stuff about the music styles I choose for this project (mainly ambient) but inside of the Ambient is many other styles, so here are some of the styles I have lined up for this music project:

AMBIENT
ELECTRONIC
TRIP_HOP
INDUSTRIAL
DUBSTEP
ETHNIC
DANCE (including Goa / Psy)
FLUTE PROJECT (a little project for a flute playing ;)

For now, I need to get these samples all organized and start to work on it .
Next more info ;)

Not dead project

Hello, 2012 !!

I know... is now the end of the year and I haven't written anything since 2011.
Not because I didn't work on this project but because I have maturing ideas and making different planes.
So.. I decided to change many things and go forward to make this project walk out of the studio.. how?

Since I broth the Dock station for the laptop I believed the machine would work with this but unfortunately was too much delay between the sound backgrounds and the drums and the beat was running out on the 8 bar.:
If you lost this chapter read here:
http://wavdj.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/update.html

what to do !? If I can not use the Drums of the machine, I will not use but I will not drop this project and abandon everything only because the drums are going out of synch, so I decided to not use the drums of the machine and this will let me with only the background sounds wish now... are complete tracks made on Ableton projected to be overdub with the sounds of the kaossilator into a mixer ;)

I have many ideas but I only write this now to let you know this project is only started.

Next, I have 108 new tracks (backgrounds) to work on Ableton and set up to upload into the machine and from there I will get back here to leave more info... till then..
Keep it experimental and ... mental ;)

Settings...

Machine settings

If you read the chapters before, you know I lost all the settings of the machine and all the loops and samples I had uploaded on the software before, so I had to make it all over again but this time I did it differently.

I did (again) new tracks on Ableton to work in a machine as sound support but this is all about evolution, so I have made things different now.

Instead, to made (background sounds = Sound textures) on Ableton and uploaded in into the software, This time I started to make proper music styles and produce the tracks with spaces in between so I could use the kaossilator sounds and they do not crash.

I still need to make the new drum patterns in the machine. The first row is already made because I was producing some Dubstep last time and I wanted to listen to how would sound, so I made some changes in the drum patterns on the machine in the first row, the other ones will come with time ;)

This setting will be changed but for now, is how I have the machine set up:

These are the styles I have decided to make...

1- DUBSTEP ----  (I can do 30 tracks of each music style and I can do 6 different drum patterns for the 30  music styles in the machine only. ) Still the only ones I have worked a bit with the drum patterns of the machine

2- INDUSTRIAL

 Most parts of these samples and loops are taken from the first textures I did in Ableton on the first experiments with the machine ;)

3- PSY TRANCE

 Thanks, Mark Gray (soundmagus) my friend samples and QPA Qubensis psy audio. You guys are brilliant but I have work and I know now I have a very unique psy trance sound because of your loops and samples.
This is a process on going ;) Thank you ;)

4- FSOL

 This sample was taken from some EPs. I cut the samples from the tracks and uploaded the best parts

 ( for me) in the machine to loop and work on top.
HAA , Yes, you can call remix ;)
Samples were taken from various sources.

5- TRAX

This is experimental, industrial, mental etc... and something more ;)
All the tracks I have uploaded (around 6) are my original tracks and they have been produced on Ableton and projected to be part of a live mix with the machine. (you will know more in the video)

6- AMBIENT

This is what I still working and I am not sure what I will do but time will tell it to me... will he !?




******************************************************************

1 * DUBSTEP

1-PUMPING-  125BPM
2-VACUM-    120BPM
3-COOL-     140BPM
4-FOOTSTEPS-140BPM
5-VOCUSTEP- 140BPM
6-RINGRING- 140BPM

******************************************************************

2 *INDUSTRIAL

1-IND18- 110BPM
2-IND16- 110BPM
3-IND21- 110BPM
4-IND9-  110BPM
5-IND8-  110BPM
6-IND10- 100BPM


******************************************************************

3 *PSY TRANCE

1-PSY-BASIC-2-       148BPM
2-PSY-FRED-            148BPM
3-PSY-FREDBNK2- 148BPM
4-PSY-FREDBNK3- 148BPM
5-PSY-FREDBNK4- 148BPM
6-PSY-FREDBNK5- 148BPM
7-PSY-FREDBNK-  145BPM

******************************************************************

4 *FSOL

1-FSOL- 120BPM
2-FSOL- 120BPM
3-FSOL- 120BPM - MOVE 2 DRUM 5
4-FSOL- 120BPM
(REMOVE)
5-FSOL- 119BPM
6-FSOL- 120BPM-EXP
7-FSOL- 120BPM-EXP

******************************************************************

5*TRAX

1-COMUNICACA-        110BPM
2-FIRE PLACE-              110BPM
3-HOSPITALMENT-      110BPM
4-LIQUID MORPHINE- 110BPM
5-TICK TOCK-              110BPM
6-DEAD INDUSTRY-   100BPM
7-CHRISNAS-             100BPM - PLAY W DRUM 6
8-KIKA-                      120BPM - PLAY W DRUM 5 (SPEED UP)
9-TRANSMISSION MISSION- 120BPM - PLAY W DRUM 5 (SPEED UP)

******************************************************************

11*AMBIENT

1- AMB1- 128bpm
2- AMB2- 120bpm
3- AMB3- 120bpm
4- DRON1-116bpm
5- DRON2- 86bpm


 Ok, next I will start the video chapters.

Update....

Disaster...

After all the work I did, I lost all my music settings and samples after a virus on my PC.

 For that reason, I didn't come back again early.

Yes, I lost all the samples I did and all the drum patterns  ... everything!

Luckily some loops I have saved in my Studio PC (where I make master and work with Ableton)

Doesn't matter cry now... is all gone.
All the backgrounds and textures plus the drum patterns and some tracks I did upload in the software were gone.

I did get disappointed but I didn't give up, I have been looking to get an old laptop (IBM) only to work with this machine and finally be mobile to make live shows but... I HAVE A STORY FOR YOU:

Because I lost all my work after the virus in the PC, I did install the software again and restarted from scratch.
I want to take thing one step forward so I decided to look for an (OLD IBM LAPTOP) because the old IBM laptops have the right connections to use with the machine (as you know from chapters before, this machine only work with tower PCS because they have a PS2 connection and a normal soundcard connection. Without these connections the machine does not work, even using adaptors)

But... after I looked around for some time I found a solution to connect the laptop I have (Dell) to the machine, so I bought this on eBay...

Brilliant is it ???

It was... if the machine worked on it :( :( :(

It does work but for some stupid reason, the drum loops don't keep the same bpm !?

The bpm moves up and down, so is not possible to get the loops playing at the same tempo !!

I don't know why... All looks fine and plays fine but the Drum loops don't stay stable in the bpms!

I know is ridiculous but I really don't know why this happens!

I installed and re-installed the program various times but always the same.

I LOST MY DREAMS OF PLAYING LIVE WITH THIS MACHINE!!! 

(Unless I can take my PC to the stage but that will look like a Jean Michel Jarre in concert)

No more live sessions !!

I did lose my expectations... I really want to make (WHATEVER)  from this machine.

I always can make home sessions ;0)  and that is what I want to show in the next chapter.

So...

In the next chapter, the truth will be revealed!!!

I will make a proper (Studio / Music) video.

This will be :

*VIDEO  0 - Sound introduction

* VIDEO 1 -  Play the track live

* VIDEO 2 -  Recording the individual sounds (drums/ percussions/ FX/ track)

* VIDEO 3 -  Add the sounds to Ableton

* VIDEO 4 -  Track construction

* MP3    - -   Track already made

Let's wait for the best.

Keep an eye on the DaDa Project Blog, I will be updating this shortly.

Project Zoom in

 Zoom into the Track Project

I gonna give a close look of what I do to construct a track.
(NOTE, This may change until I have the first track ready to show) but anyways, this is the main buttons I use to construct a track.
Composition:
1 Drum loop
3 backgrounds
3 different sound patterns on kaossilator

Drums

The first 2 line of 6 buttons are the styles. The 3 rd line of buttons is the drums of each style. If I click the first button in the first line , I will have 6 different drum loops in the 3rd line of buttons. This happen with all the style buttons.

So, I have now 6 drum loops set in the 3rd line. I click the first button of the 3rd  line and the drum loop start.

Background

Once I have the drum loop playing, I need a background. I click the first button in the first line of buttons in the wavdj FX board, were I have upload the background sounds I want. This is not synchronized. I have to click the button at the same time of the crash  in the drum loop for they play like if they are synchronized. (precession.)
The first 3 buttons are 3 different backgrounds, set to play with the first drum loop button. Now I have the drums and the first background playing at the same time (tempo - bpm).

Kaossilator

I have choose 6 or 7 sounds that go well with the drum and background. Is funny how the sounds of the kaossilator really transform all the felling of the track once I start to apply sound FX. Sure I can put more drums with the kaossilator if I want.

Mixer

The mixer is where everything come together. Its all connected on wavdj channels, I can drop the sound of any one of this loops in and out without need to turn off the sound himself. If  I stop 1 of the loops playing, he will desynchronize from the others but with the mixer, I can switch on and off the loops without need to turn off the loop totally, he will be synchronized again when I drop him in.)



After play around for some time , I change to the next background.
In this case, I stop totally the first background loop and leave the drums and the kaossilator working.together.

Now, I start the second background. Some times I need to start the background sound and stop a few times because is not always that I can get the sound to start exactly at the same tempo of the drums but usually, I get it right after 2 or 3 attempts and this makes a nice intro to the sound too.

Next, I hope I can post a track :)
I am delay this because is many things that can be explore and used in wavdj that I want to try everything before give the final result.

Will be here at some point !

Chapter 18 - Resume

 Track Structure Resume

Expanding the things this way I believe is hard for some people to understand what I am really talking about.
Thats why I like resumes !
Its where you read the important things at once and dont need to go into the all story.

This is the resume of the Track Structure.

1- Drums
2- Background
3- Kaossilator

Drums

1 drum loop (64 or 128 bars)
This drum loops all include percussions and they are all made in the program software.
* Read more about the drums here
http://wavdj.blogspot.com/2009/12/chapter-4-drum-loops.html

Background

This consist of  a sound or noise looping at the same tempo of the drums.
This background are totally independent of the drums and can be use with other drums (how far the drums are at the same bpm)
Because this part of the WAVDJ machine do not loop, I have to import the sounds to Ableton and in there put the sounds at the same bpm, include more sounds,include voices, and loop the sound for around 10 minutes to give enough space for improvisations.
* Read more about the FX part of the WAVDJ here the background loops are stored
http://wavdj.blogspot.com/2009/12/chapter-8-sound-fx.html

* Read about the backgrounds here
http://wavdj.blogspot.com/2010/01/chapter-14-background-sounds.html

Kaossilator

I pre-choose a group of 6 / 7 sounds similar with the background that is playing.
Now I just start creating :)

Having the 2 parts of the wavdj (drums & FX - background sounds) and the kaossilator working at the same time, I  can take sounds off and put on again, true the mixer of the wavdj

Lots of things have change and new ideas come in since I start write in this blog.
I create 2 tracks in ableton with no drums and I imported to wavdj, then I create 2 drum loops to go with the tracks but this time I create the drums in the software of the wavdj.

Questions ??

Next I will post a detailed  Zoom of  this 3 elements and explain exactly how I am working and what I am doing with the wavdj and the kaossilator.

3- Backg. VS Drum Loops

Project Start - Backgrounds VS Drum Loops

I did talk about this in the chapter before but I still looking the best way for start the tracks.
The Kaossillator is good to start with sounds but the drums never start on time because wavdj have a big delay, this make the first sounds of the track to be off tempo.
On other hand ,this make a very interesting sound pattern in the melody and is always an improvised sound that will be arranged during the track

After I did some backgrounds and try, I realize that the backgrounds with rhythmic (nuances) sounds are more hard to get at the same drum tempo when I try to mix (background + drum loop) in the machine.

This difficulty didn't happen before with the first background sounds I did ,because they are not so much Industrial .
The first lot of backgrounds I did was more melodic , with long pads and they always go fine with the drum loops at first.
Basically, backgrounds have to be stable sounds and long, not short and rhythmic but I have choose some very rhythmic backgrounds for this Industrial tracks :(

1- Background sounds

Project Start - Background Sounds

Background Sounds.
Part of WAVDJ (software) I used to change the sound FX (background) in the program.

This part of the software aloud me to change and upload 900 (background sounds) from one button to another in the (wavdj machine)

To start this work I need background sounds, type industrial and minimal but I want to make something more soft, more ambient too.
To get samples and loops I  look in the web and find some good resources for free loops and samples.

I did found lots of free samples and loops websites  but its hard to find the type of sounds I looking for.
I did download some very good loops (industrial) and  I will make a page just with links to mention this websites.
I have been search since I start this DADA Project (wish will have a different name for various reasons)

I take the Background sound (loops) to ableton and I stretch him, how long I want and I can ad other sounds or voices in the backgrounds as I change the tempo (bpm) of the sounds for they cam match with the drum looks of the machine as I dont have synchronize possibility on this machines.

I am doing the drum loops at 110BPM , so I want the loops I am doing in ableton come as 110BPM and I can stretch the loops for 30 min. this is because the EFFECTS BUTTON do not loop the sound
(the only looping part in wavdj is the drum machine) wish repeat the pattern over and over until I stop hem.

So, here is the first job... get nice loops and make long backgrounds in Ableton, next, save as wav file and upload to the program software (*first image)
Each sound I upload into that spaces will be playing in the (wavdj machine buttons) (*second image)

Backgrounds on'e  go.)

Chapter 13 - Project Start

 Project Start - The Intro

After all the story and all the wavdj and Kaossilator presentations, I will start now to be more specific with the project and what I am doing.

First, I need to make:
1 - Background sounds
2- Drum loops
3- Ad 3 background sounds for each drum loop
4- Make short keyboard melodies
5- Make the background sounds at the same tempo of the drum loops in Ableton
(no sounds synchronized here)
6- Found the best sounds in the kaossilator to use in each track.
(I will specify all this later)

This sounds easy, but is not !
The wavdj software have too many bugs and dont work as a professional music program.
The wavdj (machine = console) make delay in the sounds.
(NOTE)  Delay is the time it takes for the sound can actually be heard on the speakers after I press the buttons of the wavdj (machine)

For delay example:
If  I press the keyboard, the sound take about 2 seconds to be hear in the speakers. (delay)
If  I press the FX buttons, the sound take about 1 second to be hear in the speakers. (delay)
If  I press the drum loop button, the sound take about 3 seconds to be hear in the speakers (delay)
This makes a hard job to get the music all synchronized (drums + background sounds + keyboard)
in this case, I have to know exactly the tricks of this machine, but the most important thing is to have the sounds and drum loops at the same tempo.
IF I press the FX button (background sound) just 1 second before or after the beat of the drum loop, the sound will start out of tempo... I really need to be precise here or all the music go in a mess !
Luckily, I am able to stop the sound if I press the button at the wrong time and I can restart again, wish makes kind of a sound intro, wile the drum loop still playing.

Experiments for start.
My first experiment was to make Minimal Ambient music but soon I realize that the drums of the wavdj dont let me make much, as the sounds are the same and just the loops can be changed (as I writ here before) but I did have a go anyway.

My second experiment (still on going) is to make Minimal industrial. A'm a bit more satisfy with the results but still a long way to go as I have to search a lot in the web to find some good free sound loops and after that, I have to put the loops on Ableton to make some arrangements and get the background sounds at the same tempo (bpm) of the drum loops of the wavdj.

My last experiment (I think) will be minimal Ambient but this time with no drum loops , just sounds !

I would never get into this, if I didn't find the kaossilator to be a good supplement for the wavdj.
The fact is, one time I have the wavdj looping the sounds and the drums at the same tempo, I will have time to go into the kaossilator and ad more sounds.
After I have enough sounds playing in both machines, I can go back to the wavdj and change the background sounds, make short melody's, stop the drum loop and drop in again or any other sound playing, because the wavdj have a 6 channel mixer where the sound can be on and off.

In fact, I can go more mad and connect all this to my cd decks mixer, wish have a surround button and will give me the possibility to equalize the sound wile I am play (low, med, high).
But I am not that mad... am I !?
If so, is just a music issue ! :)