Comments on: “Killing your darlings”

By: Aciphecs

Aciphecs — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:36:49 +0000

Great article! I personally have created my music PC free for years and only use my PC to burn the final CDs. It can be a headache but the limitations do invite new ways of thinking and playing.

I agree with Ed’s comment on real analog too, I currently added a true analog beast to my rig and it opened up a whole new world of sonic expression and new ammo to load onto my sampler…all for just over $50. It’s the new Korg monotron and fits in your palm and will rip speaker cones if you let it!

I’m just saying it doesn’t take much to “shake the cage” for musical inspiration.

By: jenny

jenny — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 15:26:42 +0000

Outstanding post! I’ve bookmark this site to return later. thanks!

By: anachronmaker

anachronmaker — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 06:18:06 +0000

I just discovered this website today and have been thoroughly impressed with how much I can learn.

This article was very inspiring. I have experimented in the past, but now I’m asking myself where it all went! I feel I could do my music a lot of good just by bashing ordinary techniques. Who says music is made one way and one way only? It’s personal, and we should be able to do whatever we want, however we want! That’s the beauty of us musicians… We can manipulate sound however we want and the only feedback that matters is our own.

Thanks for getting me thinking! I’m ready to work now!

By: ed nauen

ed nauen — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:21:01 +0000

Wise words and true. All those lovely parameters in your DAW that you never get around to tweaking cos they are on an obscure menu etc. So much better when all your kit has it’s own knobs and you can play with effect chains by simply plugging and unplugging cables. Also, while computer samplers and digital synths are obviously groovy and wonderful,they are limited by their digital nature. Whatever anybody tells you, there still ain’t a soft synth on the planet that captures the essential instability of analogue devices and that is what gives them their creative edge(No, not even Native Instruments stuff all you PC geeks who have never really played with any real analogue hardware!)I would say that this is a limitation of digital kit in general, I love my Nord Lead but there is no sense of excitement when I switch it on_ I know exactly how it is going to sound(clean, professional etc. but maybe a bit too much so), if I switch on my slightly dicky SH101 however, I never know what ‘s going to come out of it next but I know it will probably have bags of character and I don’t have a lazy option to take (like using a preset) Get a few boxes out, wire the buggers up, hit record (and record everything if you can cos you know there will be never to be repeated happy accidents) and go for it- so much more fun than another day staring at a VDU! I would also say that although hardware can be expensive, you can also find bargains especially if you look in unusual places and don’t get too hung up on the idea of the latest pro gear(4 track tape machines are cheap as fook these days for example), I got a great sound out of a kid’s keyboard I bought for 2.50 in a charity shop through a couple of stompboxes.I would also say get yourself a microphone if you haven’t got one, you can open up a whole world of experimentation, I can’t play or sing but I use mine loads for things like: sticking it out of the window for extra ambience on a track, having a percussion jam with a few mates to create loops etc.

By: Wunjo

Wunjo — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:09:03 +0000

Hey thanks for the article I enjoyed it. I personally have found it best to combine both the hardware and software world. Hardware is intuitive as you can “feel” it out and software is limitless and infinite. But in my experience I would say that hardware actually makes people lazy and has them settle for less because of how hard it is to navigate through the 3X3 LCD screen to edit parameters and such whereas software eliminates that and you can move on to adding the next part. Creativity is in the eye of the beholder.

By: Lonny Graben

Lonny Graben — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:16:10 +0000

What a nice post. I just found your blog and felt compelled to tell you that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Anyways I’ll be favoriting your feed and I look forward to your next post.

By: lilo

lilo — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:17:29 +0000

This is a great article, thanks! I had the same revelation about a year ago and have been more productive recently than ever. Tape loops, homebrew effects (passive ring modulators cost less than $5 to make)… All good things.

By: GYRE

GYRE — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:08:54 +0000

Very good article, i discovered this way of producing (roughing things up, showing your sounds the real world – putting your real life emotions into something as simple as a synth sound, drum sample).

It has made a huge difference to my production over the years and has lead me down the wonderful and experimental side of music.

Keep the great articles coming.

By: tun

tun — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:26:03 +0000

thanx for the article. its very inspiring. people rely on their pc’s/mac’s way too much (including myself), and it can take away the raw natural feel to the music, and sometimes the fun.
but can you please explain to me why you have to “kill your darlings”.
surely if your in love with a sound then chances are that other people will be too, and you should use this to your advantage???
but im definately no pro, so please elaborate on this.

thank you

By: AngryMAN

AngryMAN — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:53:15 +0000

Good work!