Alright this one took longer than I wanted it to and there are still one or two spots that I’d like to fix if I have the chance. But, given the deadline I’ve put on myself, I want this done by 12 midnight, which means just publish the damn thing. So here it is:
For those of you familiar with Garageband, you might recognize the rhythms and melodies being played. They’re taken from the Dubstep Live Loops category.
Although the track sounds very simple and well laid out (at least I think so), it took me nearly four hours to get it done.
Why?
Because the thing with the Garageband loop maker is that you can sit there and tinker and play and go on and on and on for quite a while and the next thing you know you have a seven minute track that was fun to play, but not much to listen back to. It’s very easy to create a song, especially if you just press each “column” in sequence and hold for the appropriate number of counts, but selecting each sound and building the sounds over each other in a non-standard way, that took a little more effort.
Overall, I think succeeded to some degree but I’m fully aware that I’m using someone else’s sounds.
The idea pops into my head whether or not this is cheating?
At first, I sort of thought so too. But then I recalled a whole lot of other artists from the very beginning of the electronica movement using sounds that they didn’t make themselves. To be sure, there are artists who do actually make their own sounds, hence the difference between a DJ (one who spins and mixes other people’s music) and an MC (who makes their own sounds and then mixes them to create a song).
Anyway, since I left the whole production until later in the day (I didn’t start until after 5 pm despite having an idea of what I wanted to do), by the time I bounced the track it was already after 11 pm. I could feel myself getting sloppy. Plus, again, I want this done by midnight. If I can, I will tighten it up later.
I should add, although I used Garageband and Logic for this project, I was also thinking of using the DPM APP or Korg Kaossilator APP for this challenge. DPM turned out to be slow and chock full of ads while the Kaosillator, although I’ve had several people recommend it to me, no one themselves seem to use it and, more importantly, I found it a touch confusing to use.
Overall, this track was an exercise in using Garageband for creation and then imported into Logic for editing. I didn’t apply any extra FX or plugins to the channel strips as it sounded pretty good out of the box.
There were some hard decisions to be made in the editing stage, notably, how do I join these two parts together without going back into the “studio” and re-recording some parts of it? I figured I’d cut rather than tweak, and that’s why you’ll hear one or two blips in the final track.
The other thing that I wanted to be mindful of was the thought “I’ll just tweak this one last thing”, after which any number of things can go wrong. I know once I close the program I lose any chance to undo anything but, you know what? It gives it a bit of finality to the project.
Also, you might note that the suggested challenge today was 200 BPM. I did type that into Garageband’s metronome and so what you are hearing is the Dub Step samples being played at 200 BPM, though the track seems to plod a lot slower than that. Logic tells me it’s 200 BPM and I’m not going to argue. The track is done.
This track was also the first time I had ever imported a Garageband project into Logic for editing. I’m surprised at how seamless it was to do so. The biggest challenge I faced at the beginning was figuring out how to split the screens so I could view the entire loop and timeline in separate windows. (You need to open two sets of Main Windows and then click the 9-dots or Morse-code-type dashed lines by the “View” tab to toggle the display on or off.)
I can see where I can improve on the track, particularly the drops or pauses. Everything was sampled, I recorded nothing of my own. I have a new appreciation for the artists who do such a thing. It’s not easy.
So that’s it. An electronica track done. Garageband into Logic Pro done. 200 BPM done.
I noticed myself avoiding working on this a little bit today for two reasons, mainly because I “just knew what I had to do all I have to do is actually do it” (but then it took much longer than expected) and, surprisingly, this whole Jamuary idea means that I have to be “on” all day every day until the end of the month! I’ve already booked myself solid with a project for the first month of the year!
Anyway, I need to get to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and get a start on the day. Tomorrow is “LOUD soft LOUD”. I have some ideas, but I might bother my neighbours.
Enjoy!