UCSD Mus 173 - Electronic Music Production & Composition

Free / Open sound resources: Beatport https://www.beatport.com/stems Bleep   https://bleep.com/ , FreeSound   http://freesound.org/ , Acapellas4U   http://www.acapellas4u.co.uk/ , ccMixter   http://ccmixter.org/ DJServicePack http://djservicepack.com/ PromoDJ http://Promodj.com  Other places to check out: http://www.reddit.com/r/SongStems/ Unfortunately, I'm not sure about the legal status of most of these stems... Echo Nest sandbox with stems of Jethro Tull http://developer.echonest.com/sandbox/emi/jethro_tull.html Bands like Nine Inch Nails, MuteMath, Zorch, Trifonic and others releasing freely their albums as stems, to allow people do their own mix, mashup, etc. Ableton has sets that are open for reuse < https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/tags/able10/ > You may also want to have a look at Indaba Music, in particular their remix opportunities (small fee to enter for one year). They organize remix contests on a regular basis, and for th...

For the lack of good resources to learn M4L, here are some pointers and suggestions: These are probably the most popular tutorials available right now, available here . Another good resource is the pack " M4L Building Tools " available from Ableton.com. After installing the pack, go to Pack and control-click the "M4L Building Tools" pack and go to "Show Default Lesson". Look at the Help view on the right and follow the examples. There are M4L lessons available in Max after you launch it. Go to Help and go down to Reference.

Here are some helpful resources regarding song structure. Pop song structure: Intro - Verse, Chorus - Verse - Chorus - Bridge - Outro. Intro - Verse - Chorus -Bridge (solo) Chorus - Bridge -Outro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_structure  EDM song structure:    Intro – Main A – breakdown + build-up – Main A - Outro  http://subaqueousmusic.com/dubstep-and-electronic-music-song-structure/  http://howtomakeelectronicmusic.com/tutorial-from-an-idea-to-a-song    

がんばってね (Ganbatte ne)   The Japanese version of “Good luck!” doesn’t actually say “Good luck”.  It literally means “Do your best”.    The final project is a free form musical composition that includes, but is not limited to: original composition remix meshup DJ set for live performance  any live and Ableton performance generative music (automated set)  interactive installation   Finals schedule:  Thursday, June 15th from 3-6 CPMC 367 Optional: Please let me know if you are ready to present on Thursday, June 8th.    Format of the presentation: The presentations are limited to 7min, and should include playback of your composition and a short presentation / explanation of what your did. You can show your Ableton set or make some slides that show the main parts of the set (screenshots) and sound clips playback.   Submission instructions (before the finals): Send us (instructor and TAs) a link to your fi...

Topics for Review / Quiz prep: Make sure you understand these terms. The Two views Clips - Midi versus Audio Signal Chain Effects and Instruments Rack Compressor EQ AutoFilter Vocoder Midi Effects: Arpeggio, Scale, Chords Impulse Simpler Operator Additive synthesis FM synthesis LFO Routing Master Track Return Tracks I/O selectors Delay Side Chaining Clip controls Warping types Follow action Warping markers and correction Recording into clip, into session view Automation / Envelopes  List of chapters in Ableton Manual: 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 8.1-8.4 (all 8), 9.1, 9.2, 10.1-10.4 (all 10), 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2, 14.6, 15.1, 15.2, 15.4, 15.7, 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 17.1, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 19.1, 19.2, 19.5, 20.1, 22.2, 22.7, 22.10, 22.26, 22.28, 22.31, 23.1, 23.2, 23.6, 24.5, 24.6, 24.8, 

1.  Download and install oscilloscope (drop into appropriate max4live folder in devices) http://www.maxforlive.com/library/device/1124/oscilloscope Create a midi track with simpler and load a sample of your choice (samples can be found in Ableton's Browser under Library). Route the output of the midi track to the audio track containing the oscilloscope. Play some notes on a midi track and observe the oscilloscope display. What is the relation between the scope display and the waveform you loaded? Hint: You can double-click on one of the clips in the midi track and draw a midi note, instead of playing it on a controller / keyboard. Do not forget to select "In" on the Monitor of the audio channel to receive the signal. 2. Edit the oscilloscope in Max4Live. Uncheck the patching mode view to see its contents. Open the scope~ help (control-click the scope grid) and read the explanation about X-Y mode. Modify the oscilloscope patch so that it would receive a stereo input in X-Y...

Some popular remixes can be found here. Try to note how remixing effectively changes the genre of the music and see what elements are used to achieve this. Walter Murphy "The fifth of Beethoven" Tay Zonday "Chocolate Rain" versus "Cherry Chocolate Rain" The Police "Every Breath You Take" versus Puff Daddy "I'll be Missing You" ELP's "Pictures at Exhibition" based on Mussorgsky's piece of the same name Robot Koch has his own unique way of remixing music. This could be an interesting example for a different kind of remix project. Eclipse by Robot-Koch based on Julien Marchal's piano piece An interview with Robot-Koch about this piece is here A mashup piece I showed in class is Fatboy Slim "The Rockafeller Skank" . See also a wikipedia page about it. A digital culture analysis and diagram of remix versus mashup can be found here , also for other types of art.

Deconstruction Project: Choose an existing song, for examples one of the videos below and recreate it. This assignment should be done in groups of 3-4 students. You have to report your group and song of choice by next Tuesday (May 16). What to do: Explain about the form, genre, instruments used, any special effects or sound designs.  Recreate one or more parts of the song to demonstrate the interesting points. Save your set and document the steps, effects or other techniques that you learned while doing the deconstruction.  Summary: Send us a short summary (one page max) with the main points of your presentation: Names of the group participants Name of the Song, composer, genre and etc. Link to video or resources that you used to learn about the song. List of topics you are about the present.   Presentation: Each group will show their assignment in class and explain what they did. You can show the Ableton set live or prepare a slideshow with snapshots...

In many of the previous examples we used routing as a way to pass musical information between different tracks and also to control the way external sources from midi and audio are input into the tracks. Here are some lecture notes that summarize the main aspects of routing. In the notes I also explain about a reverb lead-in sound, also known as reverse vocal effect. This example uses routing to records from one track to another, and also uses in-sample editing by reversing a clip.

Side-chaining is an important effect that can gain a lot of sonic traction for your compositions. Imagine that every time the kick drum or snare hit, the instruments and other sounds are sucked away for that instant. This has become very popular in electronic music, and is also used on tracks in a subtle way where it significantly improves the mix while the listener may not notice it. To get started, check out this historical video. Here are the steps to follow to create these effects, including vocoder sidechaining for a special vocal treat:   MELODIC / PITCHED MIDI TRACKS: 1. Create two midi tracks and select two MIDI instruments, dragging in one for each. For the purpose of this HW, it is good to pick Pads / Strings / long sustaining pitched sounds. 2. Play chords, draw chords, or drag in a MIDI file into one of the MIDI channels. Copy the same clip/MIDI and put it on the second MIDI channel. 3. Mute one of the two instrument MIDI channels (we will use this one for v...

The slides from class today that describe different categories of Sound Effects are here . Specific details of EQ, Compression and Reverb are here . As we mentioned in class, these slides contain some technical details that are important for understanding the underlying theory and more specific or exact use for audio engineering or mastering uses. In our case the best way to learn about the musical "meaning" of these effects is to try them out on different sounds - some melodic sounds, pads, or some dynamic sounds and percussive loops. A good reference book for the Audio Engineering aspects is: Bob Katz, Mastering Audio: the art and science, Focal Press

General In this assignment we will use Envelope automation to create dynamic sounds that build up and then use LFO automation in Operator to create a harsh bass drop. As a possible motivation check out this Skrillex example around 50sec to 1:10.  You are free of course to create a very different buildup and drop, as long as it makes good musical sense. Learning Objectives: FM Instrument with Modulated SwD Clip Envelope Automation Use of LFO in Operator Using Noise sweep with AutoFilter Creating an accelerated drum roll with Arpeggiator Freezing tracks / Resampling HOW TO: 1. Creating a noise buildup by Envelope Automation In class we have shown how to use the Envelope Automation to create a sweeping noise.  Here is a short summary: Create a new track with Operator and select Noise as the waveform or find a noise sample and drop it into Simpler. Drop the AutoFilter down the signal chain and choose a Bandpass setting (second shape from the right). Adjust the Re...

Continuing our journey of Operator, we will explore FM synthesis for Deep House Bass. Steps to follow: Select the vertical row configuration in Operator In this case the yellow Operator A is at the bottom, which means its the only one that’s voiced Turn Operator B’s level up to 0.0dB so B is acting as the modulator, and A as the carrier. On the volume envelope bring down sustain (-inf dB) making B’s level drop over time as a note’s held down. Set operator B’s Coarse tuning to 2. This results in a raw deep house bass sound. Experiment with B’s Level, such as bringing it down to -12dB to smooth the effect. Listen to this Klubbheads piece for a similar sounding base (skip to about 4:40 to hear it play with drums only). To read more about different types of bass in Electronica, read this excerpt from Dance Music Manual. Note that the techniques described there are not Ableton based, and might differ in the way in proposes to recreate these sounds. Theory of FM: FM...

In this session we will explore some basic tools of sound design using additive synthesis with Operator. Part A - Setting the basic waveform Drag the Operator instrument into a midi track.  Select horizontal row that uses additive oscillators. Use Saw D waveforms for all four. Turn the Level of the oscillators approximately to the same level. Detune three of the oscillators by something between 10-20 cents Listen to the resulting sound and report what your hear: Turn on and off the three additional oscillators and notice the effect of adding a detuned waveform. Part B - Shaping the sound and note transitions In the Filter box select frequency of 400-500 Hz. Make the instrument monophonic by changing the Voices parameter to 1. In the Pitch settings select the G option that stands for Glide. Part C - Creating a Sub-bass in a Rack Right click the instrument and select Group. Drag another Operator in the rack . Use one oscillator with a default S...

There are several ways to rip sound files in order to use them in live as audio files or using the simpler object for more manipulation possibilities. 1) You can fetch a sound from soundcloud or youtube - > there are several websites that can fetch sounds from either these sites  http://www.online-convert.com/ -> click on audio converter and chose wav as your file. this will send you to the next page where you will paste the link of the youtube video or soundcloud song you want to convert. 1.1) You can also fetch a sound from exiting mp3 or other sound files you have in your computer.  2) Once you have fetched the wav file you can either open it in Audacity or any other DAW (digital audio workstation). Select the desired part of the sound file you want to rip and copy that into a new session of your DAW. Be sure to crop the file to have the desired duration taking care of the onset and the offset of the sound. -> Export the selected clip as a wav file and then o...

To help in your search for chords, acapella clips and other materials, here is a list of possible sound resources: Beatport <http://www.beatport.com/> , Bleep <https://bleep.com/> , FreeSound <http://freesound.org/> , Acapellas4U <http://www.acapellas4u.co.uk/> , ccMixter <http://ccmixter.org/> Other places to check out: http://www.reddit.com/r/SongStems/ Unfortunately, I'm not sure about the legal status of most of these stems... Echo Nest sandbox with stems of Jethro Tull < http://developer.echonest.com/sandbox/emi/jethro_tull.html > Bands like Nine Inch Nails, MuteMath, Zorch, Trifonic and others releasing freely their albums as stems, to allow people do their own mix, mashup, etc. Ableton has sets that are open for reuse < https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/tags/able10/ > You may also want to have a look at Indaba Music, in particular their remix opportunities (small fee to enter for one year). They organize remix con...

Slides from the class about Harmony are here . I also recommend going over this excerpt from the Dance Manual Book (see previous post "Books and references" with links to the book). Learning Goals: You should be comfortable with chord notations, major and minor scales and the rest of Music Harmony Theory appearing the readings above.

Here are some musical examples for this technique and style: Bicep - Feel It Lucid - Future Sound Collabs   Milton Jackson - Ghosts in My Machine   Mount Kimbie - Carbonated Lone - Sungrazer Cascade   Q. As we noted in class, the use of parallel chords does not follow the chord structure that would normally exist on a scale. Can you explain how melody and harmony are related in such case? Find in these videos some examples of harmonizing a melody that you like and see how it works.

Making Chord Progressions In this lab we will learn how to make chord and bass line for a song. We will show two chord progression methods - with Midi effect (H1) and using simpler instrument to play a  chord sample (H2).  Method H1: - Create a Midi track with synth of your choice. Drop Chord and Scale Midi effects on the track. - Set the Chord effect to major chord or dominant 7 - Select the C major scale for the scale effect Method H2: - Find an audio recording that has an interesting chord progression. You can select a sample from Ableton Demo Songs or download from the web. - Select a region in the recording that corresponds to one chord that you like. Crop the clip so you are left just with that one chord. - Create a Midi track and drop onto it a simpler instrument. Drop the chord sample onto simpler. Note: this technique is common various types of electronica. Major chords are more common in Rave and minor in House and Garage. ...

When you do your warping of the guitar track, pay special notice to the last bar. This is where a significant slow down of the tempo occurs. If you were using the "Warp from Here" option after setting 1.1.1 or cropping, most likely you still will have an issue with the last bar. You need to look into warping the last bar manually. Extras: So far we were warping the guitar so it would match the drums with constant tempo. What if we want the drums to slow down together with the guitar? This is possible in Arrangement View. Drag or record the clip into Arrangement view. In clip view activate the "Slave button" Play the guitar clip and notice how the tempo suddenly drops in the last bar If you have a drum loop playing with the guitar at the end of the clip, notice how the drums slow down as well.