So I have the habit of asking stupid questions...so sorry if this somewhere on the forums already. Anywho I was wondering the logic behind making more complex songs. Like when you start do you automatically make PU1 where chain 1 goes? Is there an easy remember to remember where everything is as far as chains etc or is it just trial an error? Is there a way so it is easier to play live? Sorry again if this a noob question.
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France (au milieu)
everything depends on the style you're playing too
I always start on noise chan, where I go for a simple HH that gives me a ''click'' that I can use as a base for all the rest
then go on Wav, set the groove to 3/3 and create the kick and snare
I go for a basic rythm with Kick/Snare/HH and start thinking about the bass line on wav chan, also add a snare on noise
then try to explore some additionnal bass on Pulse1 and chords or simple melody on PU2
then I stop and cry because it's all useless shit with no feeling nor creative impulse and go back to the flute 
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I start out numbering PU1 chains and phrases 00->0F, PU2 chains and phrases 10->1F, and so on. I learnt this organization from a tutorial, but I can't bring to mind which one right now. I'll post the name here if I recall it.
Other tips:
Name your instruments.
Clear your song data if necessary before cloning so you get a sensible number.
Use transpose instead of cloning if possible to keep the number of phrases down (unless this would use too much CPU).
If you use the same types of instrument (bass, kick, snare) across different songs, give them consistent numbers.
All this being said, I'm no expert, so some people may have better, contrary advice.
Edit: Or are you looking for compositional techniques rather than organizational techniques?
Last edited by rvan (Sep 3, 2014 9:02 am)
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France (au milieu)
I start out numbering PU1 chains and phrases 00->0F, PU2 chains and phrases 10->1F, and so on.
I do it for instruments, but never actually realised you could apply at chains and phrases level oO
how do you proceed, you creat them all into the sequenceur and pick them up when you need ?
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/dev/sda2
Sesska wrote:
then I stop and cry because it's all useless shit with no feeling nor creative impulse and go back to the flute
I know all too well how that feels.
Using Adlib Tracker II, I create pattern 00. Then I go to the instrument editor and program a kick drum. Then some hihats, snare, bass, lead...
By the time I'm done, I have a huge instrument bank of all sorts of craziness, but I realize that I have no ideas for a song and ragequit lol :')
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Melbourne, Australia
Personally, I don't have too many habits. I start with a kick as instrument 20, snare as instrument 21, closed hat as 22, open hat as 23... etc. All percussive sounds are higher than that, and all the other instruments just start randomly at 00. Oh, and pattern 7F is filled with blank phrases FE, with a K command on the first beat.... But apart from that, I'm as flexible as an iron girder that just woke up.
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rvan wrote:
I start out numbering PU1 chains and phrases 00->0F, PU2 chains and phrases 10->1F, and so on. I learnt this organization from a tutorial, but I can't bring to mind which one right now. I'll post the name here if I recall it.
Other tips:
Name your instruments.
Clear your song data if necessary before cloning so you get a sensible number.
Use transpose instead of cloning if possible to keep the number of phrases down (unless this would use too much CPU).
If you use the same types of instrument (bass, kick, snare) across different songs, give them consistent numbers.
All this being said, I'm no expert, so some people may have better, contrary advice.
Edit: Or are you looking for compositional techniques rather than organizational techniques?
I believe that is from one of the Sabrepulse LSDJ tutorials, I kind of recall this.
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Gosford, Australia
i just use whichever chain, phrase, instrument or table is available. no naming or special numbering conventions, except all my empty/mostly empty chains are 7F-70 and my empty/mostly empty phrases are are FF-F0 (i work backwards through these for some reason).
my save files are a mess, but i don't often lose track of anything cause all the lower numbers end up coinciding with earlier parts of the track or repeated themes. it's kinda like how i use a DAW really!
Last edited by Victory Road (Sep 3, 2014 4:35 pm)
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California
I work just like Victory Road except I have a system for naming my instruments because that saves me the time of trying to remember which instrument is a copy-pasted version of instrument 2 except quieter/with a different envelope, etc.
The thing about being super organized about the way you write is that when you're making more complex tracks you end up eventually breaking your system anyways so there's not much reason to make one in the first place, from my experience. Embrace the chaos!
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Matthew Joseph Payne
Same boat - empty phrases up in the highest F's, naming instruments. I don't spend any time organizing my patterns because I'm usually composing in a manic fit and trying to get the ideas realized before they loose coherence.
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France (au milieu)
really interessting feedback... I guess i'm too nooby on lsdj to rely on self confidence and chaos... organizing things surely reassures me in a way but also seems to breack into the experiment process...
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South UK
I'm the same as most guys here. But one thing I tend to do with my songs is make all chains have the same number of phrases in them - usually 4 or 8.
Then when I play the song, the position moves down each channel at the same time, to save confusion. And make it look a little more like a normal DAW in playback.
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Melbourne, Australia
I embrace the chaos*.
I drink deep of the chaos.
*With the exception of 7F being my empty chain.
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Gosford, Australia
Sesska wrote:
why 7F, instead of 00 ?
cause 00 is usually where the first actual idea i come up with ends up going, and 7F feels more separated