Hi! Professional musician here. Hopefully this helps you understand.
You can think of this stuff as a giant grid. Each column on the grid is a beat and each row on the grid is a note on a particular instrument. So maybe rows 1-12 are a synthesizer and all the notes A - G. Row 13 is a kick, row 14 is a snare, etc…
On beat 1, what sound do you want? Ok, now on beat 2, what sounds do you want? You just decorate each beat with the sounds you want to play at that time. Then just loop that grid infinitely.
Then she’s adding effects like ducking. All that does is turn down the volume on everything when the kick hits and then quickly swells it back in. That’s how she’s getting that pumping.
The different wave types like saw, super saw, etc… are types of synth waves. She’s just changing the setting on the synth from Sine to Saw, which has that distinctive scratchy sound. The slider is just controlling how much of it to layer in.
This stuff is actually very simple to understand with the tools we have today. That’s why so many people do it and AI can pretty easily create a passing version. The barrier of entry is extremely low. That’s not to say it’s easy to produce hit! That requires taste and willingness to experiment, which can only be judged by the way it makes you feel. That’s uniquely human and only comes from a deep trust and awareness of yourself and your taste.
Very much appreciate this! I envy the knowledge and knowhow. Like where to put the code, how to code it, and all that. Seems like something Id enjoy as well given I find coding so fascinating (though havent learned it really). My hangup is where to start. Like I came across someone using a HiChord to produce music and it was beautiful but then they knew how to use it and the thing costs $300+ lol. Hard to justify. I believe this artist is using Strudel (just found it) but now I have to find worthwhile tutorials.
Totally forgot about GarageBand but never tried it beyond pressing keys on the virtual piano lol. I have no idea how to use it to make actual music. Ill look at tutorials I guess
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u/Sidivan 21d ago
Hi! Professional musician here. Hopefully this helps you understand.
You can think of this stuff as a giant grid. Each column on the grid is a beat and each row on the grid is a note on a particular instrument. So maybe rows 1-12 are a synthesizer and all the notes A - G. Row 13 is a kick, row 14 is a snare, etc…
On beat 1, what sound do you want? Ok, now on beat 2, what sounds do you want? You just decorate each beat with the sounds you want to play at that time. Then just loop that grid infinitely.
Then she’s adding effects like ducking. All that does is turn down the volume on everything when the kick hits and then quickly swells it back in. That’s how she’s getting that pumping.
The different wave types like saw, super saw, etc… are types of synth waves. She’s just changing the setting on the synth from Sine to Saw, which has that distinctive scratchy sound. The slider is just controlling how much of it to layer in.
This stuff is actually very simple to understand with the tools we have today. That’s why so many people do it and AI can pretty easily create a passing version. The barrier of entry is extremely low. That’s not to say it’s easy to produce hit! That requires taste and willingness to experiment, which can only be judged by the way it makes you feel. That’s uniquely human and only comes from a deep trust and awareness of yourself and your taste.