I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
User avatar
Stace
Classical Approach
Posts: 1269
Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2015 10:51 am
I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Stace »

I have been thinking about this while I have been away.
Pretty much everything I make sounds like it is straight outta a Digweed set from 1997. Which is is fine but I fucking love techno.
I don't just want to make a bangor and see people lose their shit to it on a dance-floor but I would actually like to be able to make something more techno. I listen to it that much I just don't get what I revert back to older sounding stuff.

Should I give up and just accept that it isn't for me and I am stuck in some kind of time loop? I just naturally gravitate to the sounds I put in my productions and they are reflective of what I am trying to convey.

I get that it is really hard to make techno sounds polished but so many of you absolutely nail it.

Am I unnecessarily making a thing out of this? Should I just try a bit harder or should I just accept that it isn't for me and fully commit to what I am making? I still take an awful lot of pleasure from making music, even if it isn't the sound I wanted to get to.

Any advice happily received :)

User avatar
terryfalafel
Component
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:56 pm
Location: Amsterdam
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by terryfalafel »

If you really want to do it, practice more. I suspect it'll come.

If you enjoy music making for the process more than the result, don't worry about it. You've talked before about feeling like you 'need' to make a certain track. Seems a shame to be trying to corrupt those strong feelings maybe?

In time, perhaps both these sides of it will combine and you can channel the natural feelings and direction into the thing you want to make through practice and experience.

For the record, I have the same thing. I start off making something raw and monotone and 'techno' and every single time the chords and arpeggios start to creep in. That's just what i like when I'm writing. Interesting musical ideas.

If i can just learn to control it and de-cheese it it could even become the mysterious 'my own musical voice' which is sometimes referenced in hallowed terms on this and other forums.

In the meantime, spending an hour or two a night on the music gear detaches me from stressful days and keeps me away from the beer and telly so it's a winner in that regard.

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Lost to the Void »

Most wrong with 97 digweed.

Maybe you should post some examples.

I think it is a matter of perspective and philosophy.
It's about taking your influences and shining them through a techno lense.
It might be you just want\need the tools to improve that lense focus.

In your case it might be taking those digweed sounds and melodies abstracting them a little more.
Maybe applying a little dissonance, or more simplification.

I get the same thing. Sometimes I am looking to make something cold, hard and dark, and it might come out warm, melodic and melancholy.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

User avatar
jordanneke
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 4166
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:16 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by jordanneke »

If I'm honest, I nearly gave up a few years back.

The type of music I was able to make wasn't the music I liked or indeed wanted to make. For me it was a matter of time and practice and importantly learning and honing skills.

I still can't make exactly what I want, but i'm getting closer to a target sound.

Just took a few years.

User avatar
Críoch
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 11025
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:22 pm
Location: Lego City
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Críoch »

I agree with all that's been said.

When something happens organically, it sounds a lot better than when it's forced.

When I try to make 'anything'.. sit down & force it out, under pressure, the music always sounds more contrived / 1 dimensional / predictable, than when I find a strong idea & the elements that support it simply fit around it.

It always sounds like me though.

Just sometimes better than the previous effort. Getting closer to what you want.. sounding like YOU / developing a personal style.. takes time. You are obviously a very truthful & honest person if you are being brutal with yourself. It can only be done this way. Stick with it & don't be afraid to embrace what you love. The answer is in front of you already.

As Steve said, some influences might need a context or textural adjustment. Go with a 808 ride over a 909. Just cos the drum kit has Tom's doesn't mean you should use them.

Triangle & noise instead of a saw pad. Maybe use a different wave & lfo pitch modulation on the bread & butter synth sounds. Is it time for a change in synth?

Try making rhythm & melody patterns with 2 or 3 notes & some unsynced delays. Breathe new life into the things you love by upcycling them & putting them against different backdrops. Its all techno when the dust settles.
KennethExack wrote:My kids and I are completely shocked by the specialized secrets that everyone has on this forum
>> Click here for NEW POSTS on subsekt <<

Dialog I The Hole I subsekt Blog I The Bench I IG I SC I Mixes I FB

Alume
Confetti
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:50 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Alume »

No one is created to build techno, techno is created to build us.

----

All cliche twisting words aside, what I've noticed is that once you set out to work towards an ideal of some sorts, you rule out everything in between(which is utter nonsense!!). You're so focused on the result and how that should manifest itself that you leave no room for a simple idea to breath, evolve and an develop. Sometimes the idea takes some dramatical turns and twists before maturing, sometimes its a stack of a collection ideas that you carefully picked along the way.

What I'm trying to say is, don't blind yourself with superficial results, most results are merely a product to reflect ourselves upon others, the journey is what counts. It what you carry with you and where it's all at.

User avatar
Kromasome
arsehole
Posts: 310
Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 12:48 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Kromasome »

Don't give up. Sometimes the best "stuff" comes after getting to this point and really evaluating what it is you want and whether or not you have exhausted all options trying to get to that goal.

I feel like I'm in exactly the same place (even mentioned it in another thread on here somewhere the other day) and have as recently as two nights ago broken my usual workflow, watched a couple of Youtube vids and just started making sounds loosely following the ideas in the videos. In that one session I came up with more "decent" material than I feel like I've created in months. So maybe give that a go and see what happens. Just try a few new methods, and even try the things that you think are cheesy and cliche - it might just be the thing that helps you get to your own version of what they are doing.

I think we all go through an ebb and flow in terms of satisfaction in our own creations, and my recent low (resulting in me questioning whether I have the ability to make the type of track that I want to make) has come even after getting a huge boost in confidence from having a track included in Planar's mix. I've also gone down the path of sending out some demos with one getting a flat out no (with no feedback or reason why - which is to expected) and no reply at all from the others - so maybe that has knocked me down a peg or two (but I'm hoping that it will make me stronger/better in the long run)

Long story short, lots of us go through it or have been through it and the only thing you can do is keep on trying.

I know how much passion you have for music, and regardless of whether or not you are currently getting the sound you want, don't let self doubt stop you from doing something you love - eventually you will find your sound that you are happy with and when you get there, I'm almost certain that other people will feel it.

User avatar
Críoch
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 11025
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:22 pm
Location: Lego City
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Críoch »

Word
KennethExack wrote:My kids and I are completely shocked by the specialized secrets that everyone has on this forum
>> Click here for NEW POSTS on subsekt <<

Dialog I The Hole I subsekt Blog I The Bench I IG I SC I Mixes I FB

Cloaked
hunger marcher
Posts: 288
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:14 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Cloaked »

I'm another one who could have written the OP. I just fucking love trying to make dark shit then adding some pads and strings... :roll:

For me I think it's a problem with being "too" musical... I play the piano to a decent level so am always trying to make sounds fit together in a chromatic way... but techno doesn't work by those rules.

It's relatively easy to make some dark and atonal sounds but the problem is making multiple ones fit together. That's why the reverb kick + drone thing is so common, I reckon. They just throw a big blanket over the whole mix to fill it out.

The related difficulty at the opposite end is how to use tonal elements like funky basslines for example, and having it still sound like techno. You don't get many tunes like that these days, either.

User avatar
Markus Wolf
reverse genius
Posts: 243
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:38 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Markus Wolf »

Make Deep House then....

Cloaked
hunger marcher
Posts: 288
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:14 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Cloaked »

strange contribution.

User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Mattias »

Before I comment I look forward to the wisdom that Winston may have to offer in his uniquely eloquent way.
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

Squill
non reader
Posts: 87
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2017 4:02 am
Location: Brooklyn NY
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Squill »

"Don't give up, you know it's true, Gotta do what you wanna to do" - Chicane

From whats said above, don't quit it. If you really want to make techno, just practice! And there's nothing wrong with 97 Digweed, love that sound actually. His global underground compilations were ooooooooof.

User avatar
Críoch
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 11025
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:22 pm
Location: Lego City
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Críoch »

Mattias is on Team Winston :)
KennethExack wrote:My kids and I are completely shocked by the specialized secrets that everyone has on this forum
>> Click here for NEW POSTS on subsekt <<

Dialog I The Hole I subsekt Blog I The Bench I IG I SC I Mixes I FB

td3l
reverse genius
Posts: 242
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 12:25 am
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by td3l »

If techno is what's in your heart and what you really want to make, then don't give up.

Gravitating towards certain sounds in your productions can have much to do with habit and learned tendencies. You may simply need more time and sonic exploration to be able to translate your techno thoughts into the proper sounds. There's a reason why 90s era prog trance and that sort of thing still floods the Beatport style market--it's just not that difficult, relatively speaking, to load up a saw pad and bang out some trance strings. The architecture of 90% of synthesis style instruments (both hardware and VST) lends itself towards such things. Getting some really good, polished, deep head-fucky techno sonics happening is a lot less immediate.

victer
Pig
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:08 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by victer »

I completely agree with what has been said about the influence of the workflow and tools on the outcome.
Lately I found myself doing a lot of melodic techno/house and I realized it was occuring when I would start a new track with synth instead something else. I don't mind writing more groovy and/or melodic tracks but it often ends up sounding really cheesy and I have strong difficulty to cut away stuff so I just leave it like that and skip to something else.

I found a way around it when I feel like doing darker sounds. I take a patch or a pattern I like from another track, open it in a new project and start processing heavily, going all experimental, sometimes even using effects I don't fully understand and then resample resample resample... I end up with twisted sounds that are way more 'techno' than anything I could possibly do with a keyboard.
So long story short : If you want to change your outcome, start working differently.
facebook.com/bepulsed

Planar
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3883
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Leeds
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Planar »

You've just lost a bit of perspective in the pursuit of what you want. I listened through your soundcloud earlier and only Dwaal sounds anything like prog house, the rest I would definitely classify as techno. I think we all struggle to nail the sound we want, but I guess while we try we're developing our own styles.

Pelecaras
Lifer
Posts: 716
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:57 am
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Pelecaras »

I'm having the same feelings lately, been thinking whether I want to carry on struggling or call it a day and sell/give away all my gear, software etc.

But at the end of the day I tell myself that everyday I make something that's a little better than yesterday and everyday I learn something new about a synth/fx and everyday I get closer to making a half decent track.
FUCK-WIT

User avatar
TimBuys
happy bastard
Posts: 434
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 8:19 pm
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by TimBuys »

I think when you are used to doing things a certain way and the results are actually quite nice you won´t quickly find a reason to change your workflow. Also, when you try to do something different/new and it ends up in frustration it's easy to revert back to old ways. The key here is I think to find the right timing to try out something new; Invision a specific type of track you want to make and work on that on days when you have a lot of motivation. Work on the other stuff when you just want to have some fun.

I think we all have to remind ourselves not to be too critical of ourselves at times. Just make sure it is really what YOU want to make and not a feeling caused by peer pressure :).




@Pelecaras I have been there. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that enjoying the process is the most important part.

arkos
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by arkos »

Pelecaras wrote:I'm having the same feelings lately, been thinking whether I want to carry on struggling or call it a day and sell/give away all my gear, software etc.

But at the end of the day I tell myself that everyday I make something that's a little better than yesterday and everyday I learn something new about a synth/fx and everyday I get closer to making a half decent track.
This thread is excellent, very good points in here and it's literally like a short self help book for producers.
Never stop doing what you love.

Everyone has their ups and downs creating and I think this pic sums it up nicely :mrgreen:
Image


Post Reply