Spending Time Twiddling Parameters vs Playing and Composing

[silky smoove]

Someone finding one part of the process more valuable than another when it comes to apportioning their own time shouldn't be perceived as a shot against those who specialize in that activity.

I agree completely... Right until the point the shots become obviously pointed. Case in point:

I Like to spend time actually playing

suggesting that twiddling isn't actually playing which contradicts MANY genres of music in the modern age

These days a lot of people are gravitating to the Geeksphere

that world of infinite computer nerdistry where the goal isn't anything but the computer and software and terminology itself.

They love being told what to do by software.

This one is perhaps the most ergregious

sound/engineer/ comp geek taking care of all the tweaking and settings etc etc. so that I could just get on with the business of creating and playing.

drawing yet another incorrect divide between what an engineer does as not being a process of creation

 

[DigitalMan]

I agree completely... Right until the point the shots become obviously pointed.

No doubt. I am only speaking to a perspective and not to the behavior of an individual.

 

[silky smoove]

No doubt. I am only speaking to a perspective and not to the behavior of an individual.

Agreed. An important distinction to make for sure.

 

[ZenG]

I agree completely... Right until the point the shots become obviously pointed. Case in point:

suggesting that twiddling isn't actually playing which contradicts MANY genres of music in the modern age





This one is perhaps the most ergregious

drawing yet another incorrect divide between what an engineer does as not being a process of creation

So here you are twiddling away on the computer while I was playing.

 

[silky smoove]

So here you are twiddling away on the computer while I was playing.

Actually I was taking a break at my office where I wouldn't have been playing music regardless. I'm about to head off to go and sub on bass for a live EDM and funk gig though, so...

 

[ZenG]

Actually I was taking a break at my office where I wouldn't have been playing music regardless. I'm about to head off to go and sub on bass for a live EDM and funk gig though, so...

o.k. Well happy twiddling..

btw, what's the best bass for twiddling?

 

[silky smoove]

btw, what's the best bass for twiddling?

These days I tend to reach for Xfer's Serum for all things synth related, including synth bass. I suppose that's the close bass thing to twiddling as you're using the term.

 

[ZenG]

The horror and blasphemy........Keys!!!!

Have you ever played a real bass?

 

[silky smoove]

The horror and blasphemy........Keys!!!!

Have you ever played a real bass?

Today? No, not today I haven't.

 

[silky smoove]

The horror and blasphemy........Keys!!!!

Have you ever played a real bass?

Also... "Real bass" further, and comically, proves my original point.

 

[ZenG]

Also... "Real bass" further, and comically, proves my original point.

Meh. I have equipment that can do pretty much what the Serum or similar can do. Have had it for years.

Used it maybe once. Never needed it. Can count the number of synth bass tracks I ever made on one hand.

There are genres that use synth bass. Very little of it interests me.

Ask Lee Sklar how often he plays synth bass.

Players like McCartney, Jamerson, Graham, Lee and a boatload of other greats used an actual bass as their mainstay ...not synth keys.

The sound person or crew etc. may have further engineered their sound for mixing/recording. But that's their job. And being a sound engineer doesn't mean you even play an instrument.

Anyway, I don't need to sit and tweak a DAW all day long. And my original point is that there are those out there who are more fascinated with the DAW and computer itself than they are with actually playing because they are computer junkies.

I can/have made cd's/recordings without going anywhere near a computer. And they sound topnotch.

If you are a twiddleholic...feel free to continue your addiction. It's your life. Do what you have to do.

Me, I'm off to plug in my bass and get creative.

 

[silky smoove]

Ask Lee Sklar how often he plays synth bass.

Players like McCartney, Jamerson, Graham, Lee and a boatload of other greats used an actual bass as their mainstay ...not synth keys.

What does this have to do with your ridiculous use of "real" with respect to bass other than remaining steadfast on a regressive ideology? Why not take it to it's maximum extent? Why not say that anything that's not a bass Viola de Gamba isn't real?

 

[ofajen]

In terms of recording tools, one of the several reasons why I track and mix to tape is to create a structure of commitment and constraint. Even so, there is a need, when the situation calls for it, for discipline in all the other aspects of the creative process, since there are limitless opportunities in terms of composition, arrangement, form, instruments, performance, processing and so on.

This is present, even if a DAW is nowhere in sight. And then there are times when I just want to have fun and have no intention of recording something new. And then there are the times I do want to do something very technology-based and esoteric, though it still won't involve a DAW, at least for now.

Otto

 

[Ant Illington]

Do you find that the infinite recording options available today are affecting your workflow/creative output in a negative way? That it's easy to spend so much time researching and messing with options that you forget your original purpose (to make a song, or lay down the perfect line, for example)?

I ask because I like to compose via the recording process. But the biggest challenge to my workflow is going down a tech rabbit hole that eats half my session. I’m finding it easier to do that these days, with all the options out there, from plugins to re-amping. It’s easy to say “wife’s out for the afternoon, I’m gonna go write a song”, then four hours later, hear her come back and realize I spent the entire session auditioning plugins and tweaking parameters, instead of actually composing or working on that perfect take.

It’s not that experimenting with all these possibilities is a bad thing. It’s just there’s only so much time in life, and so much creative energy you can spend before calling it a day. While exploring emulations or reamping *might* get you a better result (might), you always pay a price in lost time, which can also interrupt the creative flow.

So here are the options I have decided to eliminate from my studio and live without, in the interest of streamlining. Goal is to create my own limitations I can live with, simplify the process, so i’m spending more time composing and making music and less time doing techy stuff.

1) Plugins, modeling and emulations in the recording path.

After much research, I went with an interface that’s just preamps/converters, with no plugin capability or modeling emulation technology. My goal is to get the sound a the source, cleanest path to “tape”, and add any dynamic processing or effects during mix. Goal is to take this entire decision tree and time sink out of my process.

2) Re-amping capability:

Reamping can be awesome, but I like the idea that when the guitar take is recorded, it’s DONE. I’ve spent entire afternoons reamping, messing with mics, trying to improve the original sound, only to realize I kind of like the original tone just as much. Or recorded mediocre guitars thinking "i'll reamp it later" and never get to it. So my plan is to ditch that decision tree and time sink, get the sound at the source, and live with it.

3) Using “set-it-and-forget-it” tone setups

I always find myself wanting to experiment with a new bass sound for every song I record. Same with guitars... I am tempted to try different mic placement on my guitar combo every time as well, even though I really like my standard vanilla setup. I’m not saying I’ll never experiment again, but at the end of the day, the various experiments sometimes are better, sometimes worse, and often very similar. But the one thing they have in common is they sap time and energy that could be spent on the core mission. So, except in special cases, I’m going to try to use one bass tone setup and one guitar miking setup all the time.

All that said. It's a great time to be alive as a musician and have so many options!

 

[Ant Illington]

I wondered if I was the only one. I have 3 effects pedals and a compressor, none of which have been adjusted in over a year and probably spent only and hour messing with over the past 3 years. My guitar buddy out-of-state wants me to learn Reason DAW and start writing/recording with him. I've been putting it off for at least 2 years due to cutting into bass time. I use Reaper DAW but only as a slower downer and to play along to check my skills. So much I don't know and don't feel like spending the time to learn it! Sucks to be older...

 

[DigitalMan]

Can count the number of synth bass tracks I ever made on one hand.

Pretty much every synth bass track has been made with one hand.