Music Making

[VPI]

It depends on if anyone shows me which knobs to turn because all I can find on YouTube is beep and boops?  How do I play fucking Depeche Mode?

[Dusty Chalk]

Vince Clarke era Depeche Mode?  A lot of that was done with monophonic synths.  Alan Wilder era?  You’re screwed, dude was a genius arranging things for synthesizers.

[Torpedo]

6 hours ago, VPI said:

I did not film our conversation, but I guess I could get you a screen shot if it is that important. He certainly tried to convince me the $6k unit was the ideal starter Synch, but he did mention the cheap one I bought. 
 

 

Oh, I thought you had purchased it already, I was meaning pics of the device.

[VPI]

1 hour ago, Dusty Chalk said:

Vince Clarke era Depeche Mode?  A lot of that was done with monophonic synths.  Alan Wilder era?  You’re screwed, dude was a genius arranging things for synthesizers.

Are you implying I am not a synth genius?

9 minutes ago, Torpedo said:

Oh, I thought you had purchased it already, I was meaning pics of the device.

Yeah, I figured as much.  I have purchased.  She is being shipped, by donkey apparently, from Austin now.

[Dusty Chalk]

6 hours ago, VPI said:

It depends on if anyone shows me which knobs to turn because all I can find on YouTube is beep and boops?  How do I play fucking Depeche Mode?

https://reverb.com/news/synth-basics-101

https://reverb.com/news/the-synth-sounds-of-depeche-modes-enjoy-the-silence

You're on your own after that.

[VPI]

Looks like the Moog Beep Boop is shipping directly from Moog on that slow Donkey. 

Going to open this one immediately so it does get thrown away/recycled like the Teenage Engineering OP-1 apparently did. 

[ironbut]

I'm a fan of screwing around with an instrument for a while before getting into the technical stuff.

There's tons of tutorials on YT on creating patches. 

Just follow a few of those until you get a library of patches you like and experiment with each of the settings to hear what makes them sound the way they do.

 

[acidbasement]

Subtractive synthesis is fairly straightforward, not that I'm an expert or anything. Just learning about different oscillators, amp and filter envelope settings, etc. will get you far enough to have lots of fun.

[VPI]

What DAW is everyone using?  Is ProTools still the way to go these days?

[acidbasement]

There are a lot of options, and I don't think any of them are best - completely depends on how you like to work. Download trials and try them out. 

Ableton Live is very popular with the electronic synth/loop-based music crowd. Reaper is very popular with the poor.

I'm dawless, so I can't give you any advice on this.

[Dusty Chalk]

Dave and I use Cubase.  Garageband is also suprisingly good if you have a Mac.  But yes, ProTools is the professional default -- it's what all the pro studios use.

[VPI]

I have used Pro Tools before, but I think Reaper, the one for poor people, might be the best as I am just doing spoken voice. 

[Sherwood]

It's Ableton live or nothing.  I find the best online instruction for Ableton, lately.

[ironbut]

I use Logic Pro X, Pro Tools, Ableton and Reaper. 

These days, almost exclusively Logic. 

Another excellent DAW is Studio One and of course Cubase/Nuendo.

Each one has it's strengths but these days, there aren't many glaring weaknesses in any of these.

 

If you plan to do very much with video, Pro Tools is probably the best. Particularly if you need to collaborate and communicate with other audio and video professionals. 

Be warned, it is endlessly deep. I took 6 quarters of college classes on Pro Tools (it took 4 to qualify to take the Pro Tools Operator license test, there are 3 other licenses that you can get).

But, you can learn what you need day to day in the same amount of time as any DAW.

 

Whatever you choose, stick with it. 

You want to learn your choice well enough that it becomes muscle memory. Having to stop and search for the right key command is a momentum/inspiration killer.

 

[Sherwood]

^^ This is fantastic advice, as per usual.

[VPI]

Might try the free one from Pro Tools to see if even it is overkill for what I am doing.

Also, does anyone have the Barefoot Studio Monitors?  I am just looking at the cheap ones, but I can only find reviews of their expensive stuff.

Edited August 10, 2020 by VPI

[ironbut]

The free version of Pro Tools won't import video so the standard version is probably what you'd want.

If you plan to do any post production audio work than that is the DAW for you. 

It's been the standard for post production so there are features meant for dialog, sound effects and foley.

Most ADR (automated dialog replacement) is done in Pro Tools.

 

I use a pair of the MM45 Barefoots.

I auditioned all their sub $10k monitors at their factory in Portland before I bought mine. 

That was before they came out with the 02 Footprints so I've only heard the 01 Footprints. 

The 01 Footprints go lower than my 45's but I like mine for mixing strings and orchestras stuff better. 

What are you using currently?

[Dusty Chalk]

1 hour ago, VPI said:

Also, does anyone have the Barefoot Studio Monitors?  I am just looking at the cheap ones, but I can only find reviews of their expensive stuff.

Why are you looking at the cheap ones?!?  THIS IS HEAD-CASE!

[VPI]

10 hours ago, ironbut said:

The free version of Pro Tools won't import video so the standard version is probably what you'd want.

If you plan to do any post production audio work than that is the DAW for you. 

It's been the standard for post production so there are features meant for dialog, sound effects and foley.

Most ADR (automated dialog replacement) is done in Pro Tools.

 

I use a pair of the MM45 Barefoots.

I auditioned all their sub $10k monitors at their factory in Portland before I bought mine. 

That was before they came out with the 02 Footprints so I've only heard the 01 Footprints. 

The 01 Footprints go lower than my 45's but I like mine for mixing strings and orchestras stuff better. 

What are you using currently?

Historically I record audio directly into Audition and then sync audio and video in Premiere Pro.  Not sure I would be bringing video into ProTools as it would probably make everything much more complicated.

I am primarily looking at them for the size.  I need to downsize from what is sitting there now the old Emotiva Stealth 6.  With mic arms, c stands and cameras everywhere the 6s are too big and the constant hiss is annoying this close. 

Edited August 10, 2020 by VPI

[ironbut]

Audition is excellent. If you're already subscribed to the Adobe CC there's probably no reason to learn something new until you have to.

You might consider getting iZotope Rx if you want to clean up field recordings. 

 

I did like the Footprint 01 when I heard them. 

They put out a lot of sound for their size.

You should give Vintage King a call and see if you can demo a pair.

[VPI]

I have actually read a lot about Pro Tools working poorly with PCs.  Not really using any Macs these days, so reluctant to try it.

I would not think that Vintage King would loan anything to just anybody and they seem to be out of stock.  I also realize that while they look small, Both of the Footprints are actually larger than the Stealths. 

[ironbut]

You lost me at PC. 

I have Pyramix installed on a PC but I haven't fired up that puppy in at least 4 years.

Most DAWs have great demo policies so you can try most of them for at least a month before committing.

Reaper has a super long trial (90 days IIRC). 

I've used it on and off for stuff like sound design but I've never found it intuitive. But that's just me.

 

Maybe try your Stealths on stands in Mid Field (farther away)?

[Pars]

Wasn't sure where to put this. My son showed i to me and I thought it was funny:

 

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Tracey Ullman!

[VPI]

I think I am going to need a different desk. 
Definitely a stand on the side. The On Stage one I ordered does not fit the Moog well so I guess it will be for the other beep boop machines.