Taika-Kim

One thing is, that since bitwig is designed to run everything at audio rate instantaneously, it can't have a buffering system like Reaper. I can run tons of more VST in Reaper, but they're just built different, with Reaper there's the whole really complicated VST/track buffering system running, that would be impossible in a piece of software like Bitwig. Also VST plugins need to behave exactly up to spec with BW because of the audio rate modulation system. Some plugins don't follow the VST spec exactly, and problems with this kind of functionality were not necessarily expected by the authors. So that's up to the plugin devs to write proper code. I'm actually really surprised that the new system works at all, it seems so much beyond anything I imagined the VST spec would allow. Unlimited modulations on any VST synth and effect is quite funky. And since it's all built-in, in there's no need for an additiona layer of code like with the Max/MSP stuff on Live. I tried Live for a while and it's great for some things, but the detailed full screen clip editor on monitor two alone is so good for detal work, that I just don't see myself going back to Live again.

Latest version of V1 was very stable with no problems with anything, 2.0 introduced a ton of bugs, that's my biggest complaint, they should have beta tested it for at least 6 months more. Super annoying. Many people are happy, but I'm hitting something weird every _single_ time I start to work on a project. So if somebody is considering, I'd suggest waiting after a few more point updates. OTOH every single reproducible bug I have been able to report, they've fixed to the next update, they are super friendly and nice people and have responded to every one of my dozens of bug reports. Sadly many times there's some random quirk that has never happened and never might again, so they're hard to fix unless they have a ton of reports about them. Performance is good, I have the highest quality Firewire chip from TI available as the interface to my TC Electronics Impact Twin interface, and running on a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, I'm using generally 512 size buffer, which is a lot, especially if I try to record keyboards, but it's the same with all software for me. Under Linux with a dedicated optimized audio installation I could get much much better latencies, but I don't have an installation currently and I'm back to Win 7 at least for the time being. I'm not sure what the complaints about lagginess are, I feel the software is as responsive as need be. I think I could use lower latencies if I didn't use so heavy plugins, but that's just the way I work, I use everything I have The quite old AMD setup is not the best, so I guess on a recent generation computer there should be no problems with power and speed. Stability is good, even though there's bugs, it almost never crashes since it has a very good plugin handling. 32 bit plugins do weird stuff sometimes, so avoid them now. The only 64-bit plugin I'm having problems consistently with is Guitar Rig 5, it crashes quite often.

Extremely cool, superb sound, not overproduced at all, everything sounds very smooth and natural. Good spirit. There's more actual trance here than what I've heard in a long time, since psytrance became just a bag of tricks I wouldn't really listen to these at home since the leads are quite jarring at times, but I'd love to hear all of this on a party outdoors.

This actually makes me want to listen to this now ... Hey, it wasn't that bad. I try to listen to all music in vacuum, and not let previous experience colour it. I guess this could be fun at a festival or a party, and I guess that's exactly where this is made for.

I got AKQ Q701 phones recently, they completely crush my Adam X-series monitors since my room is untreated. I have had the acoustic plates.... Just... Over there for some time, been just lazy And anyway I still don't have bass traps. I prefer the AKGs to my older Sennheiser HD650 and Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro headphones. The sense of space is unerally good, and thet are exceptionally accurate. And a very good deal used The best way to work is to learn to listen. Listen to everything. In detail. Listen to the silence too, and you realize ther is none... When you know how to listen well, creating sound becomes easier. And in a practical sense, for me it has been a long process of doing tracks at home, playing them at big sound systems to see how they actually sound outside, correcting for that, and also listening to my music with a lot of different sound systems. So again... It goes back to listening. Listen to a lot of different music. Listen especially a lot to anything else than trance analytically once in a while. And protect your hearing! It's your most valuable tool as a musician!

There's also several older 32 bit plugins doing this kind of buffer freeze effects. Might work on your DAW still or not I quite love Livecut: http://mdsp.smartelectronix.com/livecut/ Loads of great old stuff on the Smartelectronix site btw, check it all out! On that Cosmosis tune I think they're just 32ths.

I have never used Bitwig's clip launcher since I started using it a few years ago, so I strongly disagree about it being clip launcher based. It can be if you like. But I like to do a lot of surgical micro-cuts and stuff all over, the detailed full screen editor it has for clips is absolutely fantastic for this kind of work. I don't even use drum machines for drums often these days, I find it more comfortable to do all placing of samples by hand on the timeline for maximum control. There's a lot to see yet, like better support for different time signatures etc, but I have tried quite a few DAWs over the years, and I really like where BW is going right now. The new audio rate modulation system with free modulations from anywhere to anything is absolutely crazy cool! Also the flexible audio routings is great, it's so cool to be able to create multiband sidechained effects quickly, etc. There is a ton of bugs in V2 still, which is a bummer, but hey they are a really small company and the support is great and they work hard to squash them with frequent updates I hope they float, since it's about time somebody took a fresh start from the ground up... Also it's great how they're embracing the modular synth and hardware world, since that's where almost everything exciting is happening these days, at least from my point of view. But back to OPs question: whatever you feel comfortable with and allows you to do what you want. You really just need to get to know your own ways of working, try things out and choose based on that. Also, it's always a fusion between the artist and the tool... So I find the choice of DAW affects quite a lot what kind of music I create, since every one has their own kind of flow.

Ableton Live or Bitwig You can easily match any loop to the music and create interesting things... Takes a few days to few months to learn though, depending on where you are coming from.

Interesting question. How can talent be defined? I would say Simon Posford, but for the last 15 years or so it seems he's stuck in his career, doing the same things over and over again, even though great talent and the ability to do more is quite evident in his productions IMO. But I guess it's tempting, if you anyway like what you do, and earn a lot of money and get all the nice things that come along with fame. Every track of AP and MWNN sounds like the same basically, using the same sounds over and over. But I don't think anybody here would claim that they are not talented musicians. Somebody might have good attention to detail, somebody might be good in having a firm grip about what makes people dance, somebody might be a talented sound designer... And so on. So eventually this goes back to people considering talent to be somebody's ability to provide them with whatever they like personally Personally I value the most: A meticulous artisan approach to details and sound design A good musical sense on melody and counterpoint (writing several simultaneous melody lines, I'm not counting arpeggios etc to this) too if possible. The ability to move freely between genres and meld different and contrasting ideas in one song, and showing the ability to write music in different styles, instead of just repeating a genre formula. And since we are talking about dance music: The ability to make the music approachable and fun to dance... Showing off your skills just for the sake of it is not a sign of a great artist Staying true to a strong original vision, being able to reach out to people with the music. So maybe... Simon Posford, Erez Eisen... Kox Box, Texas Faggott, Juno Reactor, Ubar Tmar. I appreciate Terrafractyl's work a lot from more recent music, but since I didn't follow new releases for the last 15 years there's probably more out I'm not sure of any of these people got every point on my list down, though... I think on the chillout releases I hear more talent, since I guess the more broadly defined genre allows for more flowering of the imagination. Like I was pretty impressed with Kaminanda when I heard his music for the first time, it was completely unheard to me at that time to hear so much talent lately in trance-influenced music

It's easier to lower prices when you have more volume. For less sales in a situation where lowering the price would not necessarily translate into more total income you have to hold a higher price if you want to earn money even to cover costs in a case where you need to pay for mastering, cover artist, etc. A CD costs around 0.5.1€ to make at the cheapest, the price difference between a physical and digital release should be according to that, right? I don't get people complaining about the price of the music. If you want it, pay for it. If you don't like it enough to pay for it, you are not missing anything, right? It's just a fact, that there used to be money in releasing even underground music, before people got used to free music around. For an artist who is not purely a hobbyist, the current situation is not happy. I'm not complaining, I'm doing my music just for fun, and can't see how it could reach more people that it already has, but from a wider point of view, I think it's a problem that people are not used to paying for creative work anymore :/

I used almost exclusively software for almost 15 years, but after I got some modular stuff etc five years ago or so, I realized what every softsynth is missing. And I'm not one to be impressed with hype easily. Like Diva, yeah it sounds good, but the originals sound better judging from Youtube videos that I saw. Just my opinion. Then again, software can do a lot of stuff (Reaktor, Alchemy, etc...) that hardware struggles with. But this limitation is also getting dim, since a lot of new eurorack stuff is purely digital too. And there is the question of interface. With stuff that has a physical control for everything, you can achieve a level of flow when tweaking, that is just impossible with software, unless you spend ages doing custom control settings for every synth. But mostly: people should just use whatever they like I think these days the hardware marketing craze is getting out of hand. I'm in a Facebook synth group where people hoard up synths, but mostly do not have time to create music... Because they have jobs and families and whatever, and buying stuff is just another hobby to compensate for the lack of time available for music. Do not fall into this! Also using a lot of outboard gear saves the CPU... Samples are almost processing free. Good luck using 10 instances of Diva with best settings in a project with an older computer. I don't like buying stuff that gets obsolete, but current desktop is from 2011 when I bought it used, and I have no plans to upgrade in years. A good analog synth on the other hand, will still be relevant in 30 years time. (I'm talking about quality stuff like Studio Electronics here, I'm not sure how the new mass produced stuff lines up) But most of all: just make the music, you can do 100% fantastic stuff with only free software these days! And using limited options might even be better for your learning and creativity.

I don't have time to read the whole thread, but: I have a few ways of working with external gear. Sometimes I just use placeholder VST sounds to craft the basic structure of track, and then later track these with external gear. Very straightforward and no effort wasted. Other option is to just record stuff, and use it later. But cutting up the samples, etc takes time. Also there is the risk of spending time to do recordings that I forget to even use, wasting time. For controlling the modular I use mostly an Expert Sleepers ES3 module (convert audio to control voltage) with ADAT audio and Reaktor/Silent Way to get perfect timing, with MIDI I often had some timing problems etc. I don't even have LFOs etc on my modular, since I can get this stuff from the computer with the ES3. Reaktor is exceptional, and the new version of Bitwig seems like a party too with the integrated modulators and CV out... With hardware I'm more into filters, feedback, self modulations etc wild stuff that computer still don't do well.

Amateur production: does not matter. Amateure ideas: next, please.

I use a Roland D50, it's built like a tank, and has a very comfortable feeling on the keys. The velocity is kind of low so with normal playing it maxes around 80 or so. But I fix that with Piz's velocity scaler VST. Also it sends a global off on every note release, which has to be filtered for one plugin I have, or it cuts the sound immediately. Before I had a PCR-300 which was built like shit but had a quite good keyboard feeling, almost as good as the D50, Roland seems to have good experience with this. Then again, a DX7 that I played recently felt quite clunky, even though the build quality was incredible. I have been thinking about getting the Arturia Keylab 88, even the D50 does not have enough octaves, especially with Kontakt stuff that has the keyswitches often in the lowest octave. IIRC the 88 key model was supposed to be better built than the smaller models. MIDI control I don't really know what I would use it for. There was a time 10 years ago when I used external knobs to control VSTs from a controller, but these days I just draw everything by hand, or use external gear that does not need a separate controller. Mainly I only use stuff that has a dedicated control for each function, meaning 100% analog stuff. For live sets I have a Keith McMillen Quneo, it's indestructable and weights and takes less space than any other controller. Very easy to carry along with a laptop. It needs setting up by hand a lot, which I do not enjoy a lot, but I don't see how any other controller would be a lot different. I have been thinking about getting a Maschine Jam though, or maybe Push, but I'm not sure if they would speed up my working that much, or if my super simple live sets would benefit from either. And in answer to an earlier question: get a keyboard! No matter what kind of music you make, it will be good to be able to jam with it, to play leads on it, etc. I play like crap, but I can get the feeling down and look for stuff that works, and then just edit everything to perfection by hand. I started using one just in the last 10 years, and the more I get into just playing stuff instead of mouse programming, the faster and better I can work, I have found out.

Are the samples sampled by yourself originally, or are they redistributed from elsewhere? If so, you should not rename them to yourself, and you should mention the source. That's just good practice. But a nice gesture anyway, appreciated!

I never used drugs or alcohol. And I'm piss tired of having to go through this every time I play a gig somewhere and the psychoteens don't believe it at all I wouldn't care otherwise, but I think it's sad that most of my fans imagine I'm a huge user and are under the impression that this kind of music can't be made without mind altering substances Not exactly what I hope to stand for in life. Sorry all "psychoteens" if that sounded condescending to you, but this really bothers me, and is one of the reasons I have kept a bit of a distance to the so-called scene throughout the years.

https://aavepyora.bandcamp.com/track/naidenie-flowers Hmm, maybe my all-time favourite acid line around 6:30 https://youtu.be/KnUV-4grTdo Mindfield also used a lot of acid basslines without a distortion on them, very cool.

Just thought I'll share this, it's a project by a few friends of mine, both really gifted. I think they are going to get far. But remember, you heard it first on Psynews https://soundcloud.com/mysterose-garden The same guy without Mani, the vocalist, has a also a few other new projects, the other more psytrance oriented, the other slower more chilled stuf but not quite so ambient than Mysterose Garden: https://soundcloud.com/zen_alien https://soundcloud.com/user-66963217

It´s now in an "In Demand" mode, so people can still join, but I get the money so far collected, so that I can finally start to order those boxes, sticks and booklets

Yeah, it´s going good! Augh, my head is exploding, creating the stems for old tracks from 15 years ago is madman's work... Finding all the obsucre VSTs I used, dealing with things just not sounding right even when all plugins can be loaded... I think I'm close to 200 hours of work soon with this compilation. I'm not making much profit from this, so it's all just for the love of the music. Of course what I really hope is, that people use this material to create new music. But even for me, it's interesting to listen to the old stems, there's a lot of material there that bad mixing destroyed back in the days, and I'm already thinking of one day releasing completely remastered versions of my old tracks, since basically on everything pre-2010 my "mastering" mostly did huge harm to the music. If somebody has contacts to USB manufacturing with a friend's discount, feel free to contact me

He´s such a friendly and down to earth guy with a good attitude, he had a cool project back around 2008 called Sacred Tree Portal, but those tracks weren´t ever released anywhere... If you are in touch with him, ask what happened to that material

Good news, the leaf silver looks absolutely beautiful on the poster! I also found space to put medium quality (200+ kbps) MP3 versions of all music on the stick, so it will be easier to play the music on media players that don´t support FLAC.

Yeah you will just add support and you will get it, it´s just like a shop now when the limit is reached. I think this is a problem with crowdfunding projects, I have received many people asking how they can get the discography now that we are past the limit... Yes it would be good idea to move this to the crowdfunding section.

I will use sturdy cardboard tubes meant for posters. The box for the stick fits in the tube too I think they will look much better, if the gilding will work as I planned, I just ordered some high quality materials for that... Not gold though, since I want a more silvery look for the details. I don´t know, maybe I should add an option to order just the poster too? The problem is, that postage for one poster is around 10€ so it would be stupidly expensive around 20€

Yay, thanks for the positive feedback! For some obscure reason the board would not let me create the thread myself. The posters came a few days ago! They look super fine, I´m thinking about putting some leaf gold and silver details on them, since not many were ordered so the amount of work would not be insane. But I need to try how that paper takes the glue... I am also thinking of putting a small glue binded book instead of the photographs with the deluxe edition. The amount of work this is creating me insane considering that I´m not making money out of this really, but I like designing stuff Hmm also can´t embed images into messages anymore? Well anyway the posters look great, the colours are exactly as I wanted, this also serves as evidence that it´s possible to do CMYK proofing and separations with Gimp succesfully.