OK sooo it 2am etc… been round my mates playing him my new tune… which we both decide is for the most part totally awesome. He gives me a few pointers on stuff to look at. just so we re clear i was round at paul from psycatrons house and hes playing me all their amazing sounding tunes… im so jealous… obviously i don’t let on and try to get feedback on my tune. which i get the feeling is a bit below him in terms of “technoness” (i love the cheese).
Soooooooooo… anyway… im pretty good at most parts of tunes and this particular track only took me 3 hours last night and 2 hours today to get all the main bits and a basic arrangement done… I basically used all the ideas i got from the SHM studying i was doing for the get that sound and made a track with a differnt riff but with the same concept of building the layers up and introducing a new sound each time too increase the epicness.
OK Soooo… I know what needs to be done… after many listens on various systems (cars, smalll home stereos, my mackies, pauls DJ rig playing it allongside “ONE” just to compare the bass etc.) ive got the mix sorted.
I know my riff isn’t as emotional as theres so im adding a tougher edge to try and make it the record that would get played directly after it.
My breaks and risers at this point are all totally fake and boring… i just through a few riser samples on to have some sort of transition but i know they suck and I also know i f i want to make them awesome its going to take at least a week to get something cool, original, epic, amzing, different etc…
soo my point isssssssss… it looks like im going to spend 6 hours making the track and 2 weeks proving im an awesome producer buy spending all my time making awesome transitions, breaks and risers.
I have no idea what im going to do with the breaks at this stage all i know is they need to be awesome and the next week of my life willl be spent thinking of ways to do it…
in summary… the first 90% is the easy bit… the last 10% that differentiates you from the next guy is the hard bit and might take you 10x longer… I dont know what im doing anymore than you but i know what needs to be done and the tracks not finished until i can listen to it without thinking “i could do that bit better”.
sorry for the extreemly long rant… just wanted to jot done some of the process while its still clear in my head… pass me that beer.
thank god someone said it. i have tried to say that before in other posts. as usual, someone probably took it the wrong way and got upset at me.
here’s the track… next big tune? prob not… wreck a dance floor… if the builds are right … no doubt!
Team Awesom - Hostile takeover by philterino
Soooo… how do you turn a nice idea into a beatport No.1 or a dance floor smash?
Thats why we are all here isnt it really? to figure out why the likes of D Ramirez has put out amazing tune after tune under multiple guises for the last 10 years.
why are some tunes good and some pants.
whats the key?
is being able to recognise what bits of your tune suck? and trying to fix them?
Is a purely creative thing? coming up with a nice riff or an awesome sound?
is it sticking to your guns and making exactly what you want to make?
probably a bit of everything…
Do like the track to be fair, it’s not the genre I am into or know about but it didn’t bore me while listening to it. Not over keen on the vocal(hey) in it but thats all. Also have you tryed putting a crash in when it drops and kicks off to maybe give it abit more inpact or is that not the done thing or have I just not heard it as I have been up for almost 24hrs.
When using risers myself I normally layer 2 or 3 up of ones I have made with blue.
yeah i havnt looked at the transitions at all… i was just trying to get the layered build thing going. I should make some bespoke transitions and risers if i want to add a bit of class…
I cant imagine it being enthrones cup of tea. its very specific.
Hey Phil,
I don’t doubt that Ramirez and others make great tunes but I think also that there’s a lot of great producers out there that make equally as awesome material. You don’t see or hear them as there’s only so much space, in the media, in retail storefronts (be they digital or otherwise) and in our heads, for information.
The big guys/gals got their breaks some time ago and they keep getting pushed to the front of our head space (and retail space) because they are familiar, we have an emotional connection with them already, we have an investment in their success and want it to continue.
That’s part of the reason that we’re so so so disappointed when our favourite artist/band brings out something that’s just bad (or we simply don’t like). We’ll even spend some more time trying to find something in that material we do like. Or wondering “is it just me, maybe I’m being too critical?”
One of the guys that won the Bop remix context with Med School, Thinnen, has some great tracks on Soundcloud but has very few followers and very few listens. It’s surprising to me as I really rate his work. And so did Med School as they put it on the Remix Your Mind EP. So, it’s not so much about the quality, it’s about the promotion.
[quote]the last 10% that differentiates you from the next guy is the hard bit and might take you 10x longer…[/quote]
We use the same ethos for coaching in sport - top 10% is the differential between you and the other talented guy and absolutely is something to be worked on.
good post phil, it’s interesting to see someone like yourself who everyone on here obviously looks up to have the same doubts and thoughts as we all have.
Really cool post Phil, it’s really interesting actually because it crosses points that i’ve often thought about before.
- What is that extra 10%?
- What really does take a track from ‘cool tune’ to ‘epic’?
- What makes a hit record?
I like how you’ve taken ‘shm - one’ as a basis for this because the record really could be epitomised as a more recent perfect example to follow. It went straight to the top of the Beatport top 100 charts within a day.
Sure it’s part awesome marketing, but the track itself reaches out to everyone and everyone loves it.
What are all the elements that makes it stand out from the rest?
You did hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the arrangement, that for me clearly is what really stood out. The kick into riff is a cool trick as well, although pretty sure I have see this done before somewhere, or at least something similar.
But anyways it was very cleverly done.
I like how you with all your years of skills and experience also have the same thoughts as the rest of us, i guess we as budding up and coming producers all feel as if one day everything clicks into place and once you’re ‘big time’ or at least had numerous releases over the years that you don’t get those same thoughts.
The psychology behind music is really fascinating, not just in music itself, but how it effects people as well.
Cool track by the way, it does need all the FX and bits added (that extra 10%) but can definitely hear the potential for this being big on the dancefloor.
I’m loving your bass, i’m wondering whether your synth needs brightening up?
Yea One the reaction is crazy, everyone outside in the smoking part, soon as it drops, they all come running like blood hungry animals, 10% if you can nail that your laughing, of course it isnt as easy as that.
[quote]phil johnston (15/08/2010)[hr]Soooo… how do you turn a nice idea into a beatport No.1 or a dance floor smash?..[/quote]
Have you seen this: http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/becoming-one-anatomy-of-a-1-hit/
Beatport founders views on getting a Beatport No1 and SHM One.
Different angle but interesting stuff.
[quote]TheAnt (16/08/2010)[hr][quote]phil johnston (15/08/2010)[hr]Soooo… how do you turn a nice idea into a beatport No.1 or a dance floor smash?..[/quote]
Have you seen this: http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/becoming-one-anatomy-of-a-1-hit/
Beatport founders views on getting a Beatport No1 and SHM One.
Different angle but interesting stuff.[/quote]
Great article. Thanks for posting
Phil how did yo make your build ups? was it just as simple as automating the pitch and reverb. maye a snare roll would be of some use?
yeah i just turned the pitch bend on sylenth up to +24 and automated and auto filter with hipass.
Im going to do more work this week… try to find an interesting start and i think ill working on a more interesting riff.
I read a tip somewhere to create unique risers that fit with your track:
1) Put on long reverb on a instrument part of your track (not percussion)
2) Record the verb, stick it in sampler and loop it up
3) Automate the pitch (add filters, delays etc to taste)
I tried this recently in Abletons Sampler and couldn’t get the pitch automation right, it was like it was ‘stepping up’ keys instead of smoothly rising. I don’t use Sampler much so if anyone knows offhand how to do this pitch automation it would be cool.
Nice track btw Phil - very SHM sounding!
Do you have the option to automate a pitch wheel in it? That’s going to be smoother than “transposing” it up in steps like that.
[quote] I don’t use Sampler much so if anyone knows offhand how to do this pitch automation it would be cool.[/quote]
Go into the midi clip its self. Open the envelope window. In the first drop down window select midi Ctrl, in the second drop down, Pitch Bend.
You can also use the frequency shifter effect to automate the pitch.
I thought it might be something to do with pitch wheel mapping. I’ll try this later. Cheers.
Takeoverriffmix3 by philterino
soooooooooo!!! just a snipit of where i am now with this tune…
changed the riff… last one was toooo boring. my last major thing is to get the percussion right and the builds… still havnt bothered changing the cheesy build up FX… my next session illl look at building some bespoke risers.
spent about another 12-15 hours on this throughout the week… at least half was going down a direction that i totally scrapped.
anyway its friday im sober as a judge (OJ simpson etc.) and just updating you in the face!! aggghhhhhh!