They Cost Not Lots

I was just browsing a respected music production forum when I came across some tutorials that really made me do a double take. These were “song structure” tutorials. You know… stuff like “How to write a Hard Dance track“. Instruction was along the lines of : put a bass drum on every beat, a cymbal at the beginning of each phrase , bass line running on off beats, etc... that sort of thing. In a nutshell it gave the “formula”, that is to say the rule set, by which each style defines itself.

Now why did these tutorials make me do a double take? Basically I just could not believe that people were honestly trying to write music by constraining themselves to a particular style’s rule sets. I know corporate cock sucking whores like to use formulas to create junk pop in order to sell crap to the masses, but I did not think honest and supposedly creative musicians worked this way. A way, that I might add, is totally foreign to me. When I write, I don’t think “Ok.. Now I’m going to write a trance track” or “hey I might write a song using the 70’s hard rock formula”. I just open up to the muses, let the inspiration flow, and whatever comes… comes. Sometimes what comes is crap, sometimes it is not, and there is always refinement of what was inspired, but for the most part it is 100% inspiration. Music is art, and art is the creative expression of one’s Self (note the capital letter there!). Following a rule set is the antithesis of this. It stifles creativity, discourages innovation, penalises originality and gives birth to ubiquitous mediocrity.

This here is my latest offering from Tryptic 2.0. It is a dance track that fuses electronica and rock elements together and is called "The Mass of the Phoenix". A hi-fi mp3 version can be downloaded HERE . The song was inspired by and named after Aleister Crowley's ritual of the same name and represents my first real steps using the Access Virus TI synth.

I've just uploaded a copy of "Coming Down" to the server. This little tune is my first real foray into music production outside of Reason. It is a slowish ambient piece of electronica set over the top of a hiphop beat. The song is an attempt to capture the feeling of a certain place at a certain time. When, where, why and what should be aptly hinted at by its title.

Today has been somewhat of a blast with three new soft-synths to play with. I just purchased the Korg Legacy Collection (Digital Edition) which emulates the M1 and the Wavestation, and also "Viral Outbreak", a VSTi based on the sounds of the awesome Virus TI. There are some very fat and lush sounds to be had here, but also a lot of new info to take in, so it will be a little while before I am doing more than just tweaking presets. I have Viral Outbreak as a Reason Refill as well as a VSTi, which is nice because I am still more comfortable and knowledgeable working in Reason than I am in Cubase. With a VSTi collection that is starting to rival my Reason rack, however, I'm soon going to have to shift my production focus away from Reason and really grab Cubase by the horns. Come on Props! Give us VST support in Reason 5! :)

The other day I was talking to a friend about the one thing that was lacking in my studio set up was the ability to get a nice fat bass sound. The soft synths I have just don't cut it, and anyways, there are times when a good old fashioned bass guitar is just the sound you need. To get the right bass guitar sound though, you got to shell out the dosh for a nice guitar.... not an option at the moment. My friend suggested hyper-sampling some bass into Reason's NN-XT or NN-19. This was a good suggestion but requires a lot of work. More than I could be bothered to do. Thankfully, two days later Propellerheads software answered my prayers.

I'm glad to announce that the first song recorded by Tryptic 2.0 is now available for download. It is call "The Sanctum Regnum". The song is vaguely trip-hopish with its groovin' RNB beats and its haunting synths, though the addition of big sounding guitars in the chorus adds something of a rock edge. It is available for download both as an MP3 and a Reason 4 published song (requires drums refill).
The Sanctum Regnum MP3
The Sanctum Regnum (Reason4 file)

The past few weeks have been a lot of fun, but also quite frustrating. I'm talking about the trials and tribulations of setting up and learning to use on the new fangle gadgets and programs I've acquired for the home studio . In the past, my recording experience had been at the other end of the desk, ie, as a musician (can you call a drummer a musician?!?). Now however I am playing the part of audio engineer as well. I must say I have a new found respect for them, not realising previously exactly how much of an art there is to their craft.

The arrival of the last bit of hardware for my home studio marks the rebirth of "Tryptic"... a musical project that has been fallow since 1997. Tryptic was originally conceived in 1996 after the demise of my band, R.F Brahm, and is the name given to my current (and all my post RF Brahm) musical endeavors. I hesitate to call it a band name, as well... there is no band as such ... just me, some instruments, and some recording gear; But, for all intents and purposes that is exactly what it is.