Audio production

Overview:

This is my quarter-long reflection based on my progress as an audio producer and composer. I will discuss various topics based on my experience from what I’ve learned to my plans for the future. This paper is also a marker for my progress since my beginning interest in audio production.

History:

Back in fifth grade, my classmates and I began our music classes. We had 3 options for where we wanted to go. They were orchestra, band or general music. At the time, I didn’t have much interest in music. I really just went with the flow in terms of what to listen to. I needed my parent’s advice for which instrument to pursue and eventually, it led me to choose to play the violin in the orchestra. I had fun playing the violin. So much fun that I would practice during lunch time every day. I made my way up in my class orchestra until I was in the highest ranks of players in our class. I also took honors orchestra in middle school. It was until high school that I decided to stop, not because of playing the violin, but because of my instructor. I didn’t have fun in orchestra like I did back then and everyone was leaving as well. I suppose the social aspect of being in orchestra had a great influence on me.

When I was around 16 years old, my friend introduced me to the program GarageBand for the Mac operating system. It is a Digital Audio Workspace where the user can record, create and edit music or sounds. My friends and I made music on his laptop and it was amazing to me how easy it was to do it. I knew growing up that there were times that I had music in my mind, but not ever a way that I could record it because I lacked the resources. It was when we made music on GarageBand that I realized how I could make something out of my thoughts like how and artist uses a canvas for their paintings.

For my church, I performed on my violin in my band. It was my first live performance as an artist besides playing in an orchestra. I’ve done this three times now. One of them, included my performance in the Tacoma dome.

For my 18^th birthday and graduation gift, I saved up money in order to buy my Macbook Pro. I planned to use this for school but I really wanted to get it for GarageBand so that I could start making music on my own. It was exciting, I made lots of different music learning more and more about the program. About two years ago, a friend of mine asked me to create an instrumental for a game that he was designing. I had to follow a certain vision and eventually it was approved and put into the game. My proudest moment was producing a song that was played for my church for our 100-year anniversary. It was performed with a singer as well as choreographers.

I would make music time to time and learning new techniques as I went along the way. If there was a certain effect that I wanted to achieve in a song, I’d search up how to do it in the program so that I could implement it. Eventually, I was offered an internship at the Digital Future Lab on during the winter quarter of the 2014-15 school year. Up until now, I’ve been producing music in the Lab as well as personally. I’ve even acquired skills in creating sound effects from working in the Lab.

Method and creative process:

When I create music, I go in a certain order. I start with the melody of the song. I start out using the piano on the DAW and play it out. From there, the music creation begins. I then make the harmonization from the melody. I figure out the key that the melody is in and then create progressive chords to be the foundation of the song.

After that, I work on the bass. The bass is my favorite part of music. I’m heavily influenced by deep heavy bass whether it be a drop, hard kicks or swelling synths. I reference the foundation of the music to create a bass in order to add depth. When I have the bass and melody finished, then anything from here goes.

At this point, I work on the percussion. I start with the kicks and then the snare. In my opinion, the sound of the snare (or clap) is very important because it will carry the song. It’s what keeps it held together keeps everything going.

After all of that is complete, I move on to the details of the music. I tend to add a separate melody or small sections that are typically in the higher range. This final touch adds complexity to the music and really to me is the final ingredient to my music.

Whenever I add new sections with any instrument, I play it out on the piano roll of the program. Both Logic Pro and FL studio has this. After that, I go to the editor and make sure that all of the notes are precise and in the right spot according to the time signature so that nothing sounds off or out of place. When I finish everything, I do a final review. I’ll listen to the composition a couple of times and listen for anything that I may have missed. I tend to add new instruments that I think would sound nice and sometimes remove anything that I think doesn’t fit in anymore with the rest of the song. After all of this, the song is complete.

Progress this quarter:

In the Digital Future Lab: I have learned a lot from working here in the DFL. The experience working in a studio setting is very important to me. I’m fortunate enough to work with people that are very understanding and easy to talk to. Even in this laid-back setting, there is still a driven work ethic. When work needs to be done, it needs to be done. This can be said especially during the crunch times.

I’ve learned to be patient. The main difference between making my own music and working in the lab, is that I have complete creative control over what I want to make. In the DFL, there are certain instructions and expectations that need to be met in order to create the proper deliverable. The need for patience comes in when a song that I’ve created or edited needs to be reviewed and from this review, it must be worked on again to bring it closer to completion.

With this said, the next thing that I’ve learned was to have an open mind by not letting pride get in the way. When I make or edit music, I think it sounds really good. When my partner JC, or my supervisor Aina reviews it, there will be parts of the song that need to be altered or removed. It’s also possible that more needs to be added on to make it sound complete. With this said, I do admit that I take a blow to some of the critiques because to me it sounds fine the way it is. But even with that in mind, I’ve learned to keep an open perspective because the feedback given is very valuable. What might not have made sense at first eventually makes total sense when everything is complete. This is where I commend my coworkers for their feedback.

I’ve also learned the importance of research. In the DFL, we produce our music in FL Studio. Since I started my audio production on Logic Pro X (which is also on a different operating system), it was difficult for me to get used to the tools and understanding the interface of the program. Through numerous forums and YouTube tutorials, I’ve been able to teach myself how to use FL Studio so that I can use it as easily as I can with Logic Pro X. I can now say with confidence that I’m well versed in FL Studio (but of course with more to learn) and that I wouldn’t hesitate using either of the programs.

In addition to learning and researching the DAWs, I’ve had to use research methods in order to properly influence my production style. Having constraints in my opinion is actually very good for me. It gives me challenge which at times can frustrate me. For example, I had to work on music for the Ghostlight soundtrack. The theme for the music is classical music with an easy-going Halloween-type horror. Luckily, I’ve had experience in orchestra when I was younger but rarely have I played with a full orchestra (Strings plus brass, woodwinds, percussion, etc.). So what I do to help me create this kind of music is to listen to other music online (in this case, classical music and Halloween music). Listening to music related to what we are creating helps “set the mood” in my mind so that I can follow an artistic path with the correct mindset, while adding my own personal touch.

Finally, I’ve learned the importance of breaks when producing music (and any other kind of audio). Being in the lab for long periods of time can be taxing on my mind. Listening to a song over and over again can get exhausting and sometimes, I just forget what I’m looking for or trying to accomplish. The way that I fix this is by getting up and walking around or listening to other music. Walking around (inside or outside the lab) helps my body to stay active. I think better after I get to move around a bit and get fresh air. When I listen to other music, I think of it as a palette cleanser. I listen to music completely different from what I am trying to make so that my mind can refresh for a bit and I can restart in a way that can help me tackle it again. I also find leaving a song for a while and coming back to it has the same effect for me. I’d be able to listen to it again with fresh ears and possibly a new perspective.

Personally: I have only improved since I began making music. I’ve implemented what I’ve learned in the lab onto my personal projects. For our senior project, I’ve created some sound effects and music. I’ve gotten random requests and favors from friends and colleagues to make music which had to be done a certain way. The patience that I’ve learned from the lab has definitely helped when given such requests. I’ve refined my method of creating music so that I can efficiently create a song without getting lost or out of order. When I’m faced with a “producers block,” I take a break, listen to some music, and get inspired to get back on it again.

Comparing DAWs

Logic Pro: This platform was very easy to learn. The typing keyboard is laid out on the keyboard very well that sometimes I don’t even need to use a MIDI controller to play out music. Making tracks are done right on the spot and every individual section is independent of each other. There are many effects that can be used to change the sound of an instrument or recording and using these effects infinitely expand the potential of the instruments.

I still find Logic Pro limited because of its inability to use VSTs. There are many instruments in the program, but sometimes I feel like I run out of instruments to use. My workaround however is to use the effects to make asound unique and to my liking.

Overall, it’s the the fluidity, easy to use (attractive) interface and user friendly controls that makes it a very useful tool for creating and editing audio.

FL Studio: Now that I’m much more comfortable using FL Studio, I see why many professionals use this to create their music. There are so many possibilities in this program. There are many instruments and effects to choose from. In addition to this are the great amounts of VSTs that are created which add huge amounts of potential for creating something. Using the piano roll is also very useful because in FL, a static sound like the sound of a snare drum can be changed in pitch by moving it up and down on the piano roll. In Logic, you need to add an effect to do this so it’s much easier on FL.

I found several things difficult when getting associated with this DAW. When making patterns, changing one influences every other one of the same name. So anytime you need to change small thing, a brand new pattern must be created. Now, this can be useful when changing large amounts of the song but for small things (which I like to change) it can get very tedious. The interface is difficult to get used to as well. There is a small information box on the top left of the screen that shows a description of the button when the mouse is hovered over it. The icons in FL studio are very small and some of them are difficult to understand based on the iconography. Compare this to Logic Pro X which is very user intuitive and has everything laid out that makes sense and is easy to understand. It’s also very easy to get overwhelmed with the the user interface. When opening a plug-in, generator, piano roll, playlist, etc. a window is opened up for the editor. If working with multiple plug-ins and effects, it’s easy to get a cluttered screen filled with windows of different sizes. Compare this to Logic Pro X which has a dedicated section for most functions that can be shown or hidden at all times based on the user’s preference. Finally, the keyboard typing on Fl Studio is harder to to on Logic Pro X which is a pretty big negative for my because I like to use the keyboard typing when playing the software instruments.

Overall, FL studio is a powerhouse of audio creation. There’s still a lot more that I can learn but as I have learned more about how to use the tools, the more I see greater functionality compared to Logic Pro X. The potential in this DAW has made me want to only get better at using it. At first, it was difficult to learn, but after having some experience using it, it proves itself to be easy to use, intuitive, and effective for audio production.

Observations of myself:

It’s difficult for me to be completely satisfied with a project. I tend to make many incomplete projects which I eventually complete later or just totally get rid of. The melody is in my head, and I create it with the piano before I forget it. Sometimes I make the melody but I can’t think of anything to put it with and then just set it aside to only be forgotten.

Some of my most passionate work has been done late at night all in one sitting. It’s just one of those moments where I’m hit with creativity. I like it because I feel like I’m alone. No one is awake and everything outside is quiet. Even if I’m tired, I’d make sure I put as much as I possibly can before I need to sleep just because the ideas are pouring out of my mind.

I’m never completely satisfied with many of my songs. There’s always a tiny detail that I change when I revisit it. It’s really nice to revisit my first songs because I’m able to implement the skills that I’ve learned in order to make it much better than it was before. This lack of satisfaction is good to me because it makes me feel like there’s always room for improvement.

I hope to learn many more instruments as I continue to create music. I want to be proficient in playing piano because to me, it’s a standard for creating music. I also want to learn instruments not very commonly used in popular music. Some of these include the harp, Chinese Erhu and an Indian Sitar.I’m very inspired by the music producer Ryan Leslie for his skills in playing a vast variety of musical instruments. It’s as if he’s an architect where the instruments are his tools in creating the song.

Looking into the future:

I plan to continue to use Logic Pro X and FL Studio. I want to continue to learn much more about FL Studio and make more of my music with it. I still haven’t made any personal projects using FL Studio but using the tools, it’s guaranteed in the future. I’m still not sure if I want to completely focus my career in audio. Being in the Interactive Media Design program, I want to be stronger in the designer sense. I still plan to improve my skills in audio because it’s my hobby and passion but at the same time, I’ve had thoughts that I’d lose the passion for creating my music if I did it for work, instead of at my own creative pace.

I want to explore other DAW’s. I’d like to be more proficient in creating other genres of music. Particularly in EDM, where many producers look to Ableton and Cubase. I also want to be strong in the DAW Pro Tools, which is the industry standard for music producers. This is all dependent though on how in depth I get in my audio career because knowing FL Studio and Logic Pro X has given me great confidence.

There are several paths that I’ve considered in case I wanted to pursue a career in audio and composition. One of them would be the musical director for films. This is one of my dreams actually, but following this path would mean that I’d need to study film more and associate myself with the musical styling’s typically used in film. Next would be a music producer for popular artists. This would be more for artists in pop, hip-hop, and EDM. Finally, I’d like to be the audio director in a game studio. Having experience in the DFL as an audio lead opened up this path because I could really see myself creating scores and sound effects for triple A titles. This path would be the first I’d go by especially since I have the experience in the DFL. I’m also slowly building my resume with the games that I’ve contributed to so it’s only looking up from here.