Share your Groovebox / Electronic Creations

monquixote · January 2023

dindude said:

monquixote said:

This was my attempt to make something outside of 4/4

It's in 10/8 or 5/4 depending on how you want to count it inspired by Radiohead using four 8th notes and then four dotted 8th notes.

Ut;s all done in Bitwig using Arturia V Collection Synth plugins.

I like that a lot. Sounds super clean and punchy too. Interesting that you’ve done it all “in the box”, have you turned away from hardware groovebox approach?
Interestingly I’m experimenting with Korg Gadget on the iPad. I’m liking having more options and visibility even though I do like my Circuit Tracks.

I'm doing a lot more straight into Bitwig these days, but that might just be a phase, who knows.

I've bought a Launchpad which gives you some of the experience of working with a Groovebox on the laptop.

I'm still using the Polyend Tracker quite a bit which is a really nice idea generation box.

Bitwig feels a bit more creative and like an instrument compared to most DAWs so that might be part of it.

personalnadir · January 2023

playing around with using the Medusa and it’s strange Grid through the Syntakt

Cranky · January 2023

Killer thread. Inspiring me to get to work.

Some of these pieces have trip-hop feels, some low key envelope-filtered guitar riffs sprinkled in could be cool.

monquixote · January 2023

personalnadir said:

https://soundcloud.com/personalnadir/duvet-day

playing around with using the Medusa and it’s strange Grid through the Syntakt

That's very cool.

I struggle with the more free form ambient stuff.

Here are a couple of sample based things I've done from challenges one from a Debbie Gibson record and one from some old Russian funk record.

personalnadir · January 2023

Duplicate

personalnadir · January 2023

monquixote said:

personalnadir said:

https://soundcloud.com/personalnadir/duvet-day

playing around with using the Medusa and it’s strange Grid through the Syntakt

That's very cool.

I struggle with the more free form ambient stuff.

Here are a couple of sample based things I've done from challenges one from a Debbie Gibson record and one from some old Russian funk record.

Thanks, very kind of you to say so. I've been super impressed with the stuff you've shared. All sounds great!

I think I benefit from working with the Elektron gear as that workflow makes putting a basic loop together very easy, however I'm struggling to break out of that initial loop and add more development to the music. Any tips or things to check out appreciated!

Has anyone tried Koala Sampler? I've enjoyed just sampling stuff like my guitar immediately to hand and working from there

monquixote · January 2023

personalnadir said:

Thanks, very kind of you to say so. I've been super impressed with the stuff you've shared. All sounds great!

I think I benefit from working with the Elektron gear as that workflow makes putting a basic loop together very easy, however I'm struggling to break out of that initial loop and add more development to the music. Any tips or things to check out appreciated!

Has anyone tried Koala Sampler? I've enjoyed just sampling stuff like my guitar immediately to hand and working from there

Thanks chap, much appreciated.

It's been a bit of a journey over the last year, but I think I've been steadily learning.

I found the Elektron boxes tricky from that point of view. I briefly had a Syntakt and sold it because I couldn't get anything more than a loop that didn't go anywhere. This has probably changed now with song mode.

I'm not an expert at getting to bigger arrangements as I currently struggle to make anything that's much over 2 minutes however what I have learned is that the parts don't need to change that much, it's not like a song where you need to have verse and chorus ,but something always needs to be changing.

You ideally want to have an idea of a bit of an "energy timeline" for the track where you are building up tension or intensity and then dropping it out (or something).

At the most basic that's bringing elements in and out, but also break apart patterns. For example copy your drum loop or synth part and take out some of the notes to make it more sparse or add extra components.

Essentially you always need something moving and changing.
A great tool for this is putting loads of LFOs on everything so all the components are slowly panning, or have changing filters or waveforms which move around over time. On a DAW you can do this even more with automation.

There are a few great videos on YT where people breakdown and analyse tracks by people like Bicep and though it looks like it's just a simple beat and a couple of synths for 6 minutes, once you get right into it things are constantly subtly evolving in all sorts of clever ways.

monquixote · January 2023

Regarding Koala I really like it for playing with my kids.

Getting them to make sounds, bang on things etc and then make it into a track is really fun.

dindude · February 2023

Something I’m working on at the moment using for the first time Korg Gadget on the iPad, it’s a fantastic app and really is the best workflow I’ve found so far for mixing Electronic with audio. So this one mixes trad guitar and bass with electronic influences. A bit rough at the mo, will re-record the guitars next week and play around with structure a bit.

https://on.soundcloud.com/2bCChyvoB5MZxLZT6

monquixote · February 2023

dindude said:

Something I’m working on at the moment using for the first time Korg Gadget on the iPad, it’s a fantastic app and really is the best workflow I’ve found so far for mixing Electronic with audio. So this one mixes trad guitar and bass with electronic influences. A bit rough at the mo, will re-record the guitars next week and play around with structure a bit.

https://on.soundcloud.com/2bCChyvoB5MZxLZT6

Nice work, I didn't realise you could record audio on gadget.

dindude · February 2023

monquixote said:

dindude said:

Something I’m working on at the moment using for the first time Korg Gadget on the iPad, it’s a fantastic app and really is the best workflow I’ve found so far for mixing Electronic with audio. So this one mixes trad guitar and bass with electronic influences. A bit rough at the mo, will re-record the guitars next week and play around with structure a bit.

https://on.soundcloud.com/2bCChyvoB5MZxLZT6

Nice work, I didn't realise you could record audio on gadget.

I haven’t found a way to chop up waveforms etc like Cubasis or similar, so that would def be best for an audio-led project, but I’ve always found it really uninspiring for creating electronic backing tracks whereas the Gadget is more like working with a groovebox with audio capability.

monquixote · February 2023

dindude said:

monquixote said:

dindude said:

Something I’m working on at the moment using for the first time Korg Gadget on the iPad, it’s a fantastic app and really is the best workflow I’ve found so far for mixing Electronic with audio. So this one mixes trad guitar and bass with electronic influences. A bit rough at the mo, will re-record the guitars next week and play around with structure a bit.

https://on.soundcloud.com/2bCChyvoB5MZxLZT6

Nice work, I didn't realise you could record audio on gadget.

I haven’t found a way to chop up waveforms etc like Cubasis or similar, so that would def be best for an audio-led project, but I’ve always found it really uninspiring for creating electronic backing tracks whereas the Gadget is more like working with a groovebox with audio capability.

Bitwig is the closest DAW to a groove box.

I'm really enjoying it.

Axe2Grind · February 2023

A little tune I created using my Keyboard controller and a few virtual instruments within Cakewalk. Pianoteq, Dimension Pro for Drums and Bass and Electr6ity for the lead sound. The song is called 'Phase Shift' sort of fusion influenced.

https://soundcloud.com/the-axecutioner-837033387/phase-shift

monquixote · February 2023

I read something about Geezer Butler being inspired by Mars bringer of War when writing Black Sabbath so I thought I'd see what I can come up with and I came up with this:

All done with Dune 3 and the Bitwig drum machines.

dindude · February 2023

This is as far as I think I’ll take the track I’ve been working on. Have spent more time on the mix and change the middle section to an electronic section rather than solo guitar.

https://on.soundcloud.com/sYyR1xiGhUnU6mKz8

monquixote · February 2023

dindude said:

This is as far as I think I’ll take the track I’ve been working on. Have spent more time on the mix and change the middle section to an electronic section rather than solo guitar.

https://on.soundcloud.com/sYyR1xiGhUnU6mKz8

Nice work.

The guitar tone is excellent.

My only comment would be the guitar is very high in the mix relative to the bass and drums.

dindude · February 2023

monquixote said:

dindude said:

This is as far as I think I’ll take the track I’ve been working on. Have spent more time on the mix and change the middle section to an electronic section rather than solo guitar.

https://on.soundcloud.com/sYyR1xiGhUnU6mKz8

Nice work.

The guitar tone is excellent.

My only comment would be the guitar is very high in the mix relative to the bass and drums.

Cheers for the feedback, I’m away at the moment and mixing on my headphones that are a bit more consumer, will have a listen on my more revealing ones when I get back and make any adjustments.

hubobulous · February 2023

I've just come back from skiing and was inspired to write a cheesy Euro-trance track in honour of the alpine bars full of punters still in their ski wear as the sun goes down

dindude · February 2023

hubobulous said:

I've just come back from skiing and was inspired to write a cheesy Euro-trance track in honour of the alpine bars full of punters still in their ski wear as the sun goes down

I think that is genuinely great - lots of subtle changes, sounds and dynamics that keep it interesting but it hangs together really well - cheesy euro-trance does it a disservice, more like Synth-wave over a house beat.

nikharrison · February 2023

Snap · February 2023

Some cracking stuff in here. I'll see what I can contribute!

hubobulous · February 2023

dindude said:

hubobulous said:

I've just come back from skiing and was inspired to write a cheesy Euro-trance track in honour of the alpine bars full of punters still in their ski wear as the sun goes down

I think that is genuinely great - lots of subtle changes, sounds and dynamics that keep it interesting but it hangs together really well - cheesy euro-trance does it a disservice, more like Synth-wave over a house beat.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. I'm trying to get some guitar in some of my tracks, but seem to veer away from it all of the time. Your track was excellent. A really good mix of synths and guitar. And I agree with Monquixote - the tone is lovely.

Snap · February 2023

Here's something I did a while ago. I'd been listening to a lot of DJ Shadow at the time

monquixote · February 2023

hubobulous said:

I've just come back from skiing and was inspired to write a cheesy Euro-trance track in honour of the alpine bars full of punters still in their ski wear as the sun goes down

This is great!

Cheesy it may be, but it's really well done.

monquixote · February 2023

Snap said:

Here's something I did a while ago. I'd been listening to a lot of DJ Shadow at the time

Great work chap.

What did you make it on?

monquixote · February 2023

Managed to get second place in the Elektronauts hip hop competition with this number:

hubobulous · February 2023

monquixote said:

Managed to get second place in the Elektronauts hip hop competition with this number:

Very cool. There's a lot going on in there and really nicely pulled together

Snap · February 2023

monquixote said:

Snap said:

Here's something I did a while ago. I'd been listening to a lot of DJ Shadow at the time

Great work chap.

What did you make it on?

Thanks. It's a few years old, but....

Everything I record is in Cakewalk. Synths will have been Omnisphere 2 in the main, certainly that main pad is. Piano will have been one of the NI Komplete ones, poss Alicia's Keys.
All the drums are loops and samples that I cut up in the DAW.
The scratches and the like are all samples too, as are the all vocal parts, and the horns later on in the track, Again, all cut up and faffed with in the DAW. LIke plenty of people, I've got an ever increasingly massive sample library. Hoarder!
The lead bass guitar was played on a Bass Collection 310 bass I've had for years. Since given to my daughter! Through Guitar Rig 5.

Snap · February 2023

monquixote said:

hubobulous said:

I've just come back from skiing and was inspired to write a cheesy Euro-trance track in honour of the alpine bars full of punters still in their ski wear as the sun goes down

This is great!

Cheesy it may be, but it's really well done.

yeah, this is my sort of thing, no cheese evident to me!

Snap · February 2023

monquixote said:

Managed to get second place in the Elektronauts hip hop competition with this number:

Now this is cool. Like it a lot. Great mix/master too, sounds v good, open and punchy, and balanced. You should see if you can find any music by a chap called Waiwan - did a couple of good albums way back, similar style

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