It does feel like Autumn is coming these days. The hot weather of summer is slowly leaving, and the nights are becoming colder each week. I don't think I'll miss the heat, 105 degrees every day isn't very comfortable.
I finished the song. I wanted to a lot more and add a string line, but when I did add it, it sounded awful. I kept the song simple and did a few effects to keep it interesting. So, this is my first song in many years completed in FL Studio.
Tonight I plugged in my Oxygen 8 USB keyboard, opened FL Studio 8, and tried to make something. As I last posted, I haven't used FL Studio in years, so it's taking me a while to re-learn how to use it again. Tonight as I was playing with samples on my keyboard, I remembered my old method of making music in FL Studio. I tried that method again and instantly heard a nice melody.
I notice a difference between sound and quality from Buzz Tracker to FL Studio. I wish I could import the drums and tracking style into FL Studio, I would have my ultimate software. I still think Buzz can do a lot better for programming rhythm, FL Studio sounds kind of stale for drums.
Here is a small sample of what I did tonight. I will post the full song when it's finished, but I'm not sure when that will be. It reminds me of a Fat Jon beat, very smooth
Expect more later!
This was a remix of my friend Otome's song "Sample 5". I'm not sure if she ever names her songs or not, so I just called the song "Otome". She's a friendly woman from Japan that normally makes Trance/Techno/Pop music with an energy and style that shows a lot of promise. "Sample 5" was just piano and strings, so I asked her if I could play with it and give it a small remix.
I didn't really have any ideas for the remix, I thought I might try my normal style of hip-hop, but it didn't come out so well. I wish I had a better idea or way to do something with her song, but it was difficult doing it the way I did. Anyway, I hope to remix more of her stuff later, but I probably won't stick to the hip-hop style for her stuff. The remix took about 30 minutes to make, hence the name "Quick Remix".
Here's my new music setup. Let's see what I come up with soon!
I bought an Oxygen 8 USB MIDI controller right when they were first released. I liked it, but at the time I didn't really use it much. It's been sitting in a closet at a relatives house for several years now, so I thought I would have it sent back to me so I can use it again.
Right on time too! I am also starting to use FL Studio 8, which is pretty amazing for samples and options of control. I started making music back in 2000 with Fruityloops 2, so it's been quite a while since I've used it. Actually, I also used FL Studio 4 for a while, but version 4 compared to 8 is a huge difference. The software still works the same, but there are so many new additions to the interface, new tools, and things moved around. Even though I used to be very familiar with how FL Studio works, now it's so different it's like learning a something all over again. I do have to say Fruity Edison and Slicex are amazing for working with samples.
Anyway, the Oxygen 8 will go perfectly in hand with FL Studio 8. I won't be able to start using them together until next week, but I'll definitely post here whatever I've made with them.
I'm not giving up Buzz Tracker, but I do want to see what else I can do, what new stuff I can learn.
In 2004, right after buying my first notebook PC, I tried some programmable DJing. I took about 7 or 8 trance songs I liked and then chopped them up and made loops out of what parts I wanted, and stuck them together to make this mix. It was interesting but time consuming and not very fun, so I never tried it again. I did it in Buzztracker and added some extra effects in Soundforge 5 or 6 or something.
Here is my trance mix, including one hiphop song at the end.
Surprisingly (not much), I made this on the MPC! Actually, I made it several months ago, but never continued it or did anything different. I recorded it as-is, and now it is here online. I kinda hope to make a few new songs on the MPC some day, but it's so time consuming to get such a little result. Oh well.
Also, the song name makes no sense.
Just playing with filters and lo-fi effects on some piano.
I started making music in 2000. Since then, I have lost those old tapes (yes, I recorded everything on cassette tapes), but during 2002 I was able to get a CD burner. I had used the same PC from 2001 to 2003, so whatever I had made during that time I was able to burn to disc. These are two of my favorite songs from 2001, both using Beethoven samples.
In those days I was still into looping things. Using one sample repeating over and over rather than using small sound bits and pieces and putting them together. If you listen to these songs and then listen to anything I have done lately, you'll notice a difference in styles. I think it's neat to hear a noticeable difference from past to present. I'd be scared if nothing had changed, for better or for worse.
These songs were made back to back sometime during Fall of 2001, when I lived in a small coastal town. It rained all day every day,and there was fog every morning and evening. It was cold and windy, but it was beautiful. It also kept me inside almost all the time, so I spent my days trying to make songs.
Here are some good memories of mine.
This is an unofficial remix of "They Always Say". The title of this song comes from my music folder where I keep all of my current song files, which is "In the Library". There are a lot of song files in there, song recordings, and Buzz Tracker stuff. So I named this song "A Lot of Books Here" because of all those songs in the library (of my music).
I've decided to keep a notebook of all the music ideas I get. Later, when I am making a song, I can open the notebook and mix together some of those ideas and do things differently than I usually do. I used to do this a lot when I first started making music. Tonight I had two ideas which I wrote down and later used when making this song. Enjoy!
