I am an old school arranger, and while I have dabbled with groove boxes, synths, etc, I have never really committed to them. Using Sibelius, I write a minute of music in one hour, for string orchestra. Full orchestra takes a little bit longer, but not much. (By this I mean that a three minute arrangement of a movie theme, for example, takes me about three hours.) First, then, I was struck by how slowly your approach in this video took to build an idea. Second, the machine seemed to make it easy to stay in a small harmonic progression, which seemed very limiting: one of the main sources of musical intrigue was made of less importance than I would prefer. It is a long time since the blues was limited to three chords, and rock to four chords. And there seemed to be a lot of other musical trade-offs to approach composition like you have here. I have just purchased an SH-4d, and I have bookmarked this video for more examination. The timbres you achieve (even if largely pre-sets) are very interesting, but I would ask you to consider the autonomy of the bass line, and dialogue in the inner parts. Maybe it is the "sequencer" that leads you down this path? Very interesting video, and thank you for posting this.
Most groove boxes are designed to create patterns of 4 measures at most, and this yes, I agree is really limiting for those who make orchestral music or even those who come from Jazz like me. I must say, however, that over time I have come to realize that electronic music works more on micro variations, often having as a basis something that is seemingly static but which, to an initiated ear, is instead full of constant changes. A glitch in the rhythm, a sweep of the bass line, a change in decay can bring interest on par with a tritone substitution. Regarding the slowness of the video, I must say that it has a didactic purpose and serves to meet the demand of many viewers who need longer times to fully understand. I didn't quite understand the purpose for which you bought the SH-4d since you make orchestral music, in any case I urge you to consider that although it has groove box functions it remains essentially a synth and I think that in your place I would use it as an extension of my DAW. I would like to conclude by thanking you very much for the comment and the compliments on my video. Cheers!
Yes, I write for orchestras, but I also write and play many other genres. I have an Akai MPC One+ as my primary sequencer, replacing an MPC 500. The Roland SH-4d is controlled from the MPC. Purposefully using a form, even sonata form, to force work in different keys, to build tension, to carry motifs toward a climax, might be a way to "progress" electronic music (which seems to be pot bound: one piece of EDM is so much the same as the next). A sequencer capable of long forms is necessary for this, and skills in melodic and harmonic development are needed to achieve the longer forms. This technical capacity might help break out of the "4-bar grooves" prison. Just sayin'.
@@graemewebster1214The MPC One+ is very good for more than 4 measures forms. I have had it and it is fantastic. By the way, if you'd like take a look at the video I posted yesterday, in this case it's orchestral music, almost entirely made with the BBC SO plugin except for the pianos. Cheers!
![เจ็บที่ยังฮัก - ม่อน วรวิทย์ [ Official Mv ] จอนนี่มิวสิค](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KALIGSRSjFs/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice! Loving that bass line around 5:20 mark.. Now I need to dig out my SH-4D and give it some love!
Have fun with SH-4d, thank you!
I am an old school arranger, and while I have dabbled with groove boxes, synths, etc, I have never really committed to them. Using Sibelius, I write a minute of music in one hour, for string orchestra. Full orchestra takes a little bit longer, but not much. (By this I mean that a three minute arrangement of a movie theme, for example, takes me about three hours.) First, then, I was struck by how slowly your approach in this video took to build an idea. Second, the machine seemed to make it easy to stay in a small harmonic progression, which seemed very limiting: one of the main sources of musical intrigue was made of less importance than I would prefer. It is a long time since the blues was limited to three chords, and rock to four chords. And there seemed to be a lot of other musical trade-offs to approach composition like you have here. I have just purchased an SH-4d, and I have bookmarked this video for more examination.
The timbres you achieve (even if largely pre-sets) are very interesting, but I would ask you to consider the autonomy of the bass line, and dialogue in the inner parts. Maybe it is the "sequencer" that leads you down this path?
Very interesting video, and thank you for posting this.
Most groove boxes are designed to create patterns of 4 measures at most, and this yes, I agree is really limiting for those who make orchestral music or even those who come from Jazz like me. I must say, however, that over time I have come to realize that electronic music works more on micro variations, often having as a basis something that is seemingly static but which, to an initiated ear, is instead full of constant changes. A glitch in the rhythm, a sweep of the bass line, a change in decay can bring interest on par with a tritone substitution. Regarding the slowness of the video, I must say that it has a didactic purpose and serves to meet the demand of many viewers who need longer times to fully understand. I didn't quite understand the purpose for which you bought the SH-4d since you make orchestral music, in any case I urge you to consider that although it has groove box functions it remains essentially a synth and I think that in your place I would use it as an extension of my DAW. I would like to conclude by thanking you very much for the comment and the compliments on my video. Cheers!
Yes, I write for orchestras, but I also write and play many other genres. I have an Akai MPC One+ as my primary sequencer, replacing an MPC 500. The Roland SH-4d is controlled from the MPC.
Purposefully using a form, even sonata form, to force work in different keys, to build tension, to carry motifs toward a climax, might be a way to "progress" electronic music (which seems to be pot bound: one piece of EDM is so much the same as the next).
A sequencer capable of long forms is necessary for this, and skills in melodic and harmonic development are needed to achieve the longer forms. This technical capacity might help break out of the "4-bar grooves" prison.
Just sayin'.
@@graemewebster1214The MPC One+ is very good for more than 4 measures forms. I have had it and it is fantastic. By the way, if you'd like take a look at the video I posted yesterday, in this case it's orchestral music, almost entirely made with the BBC SO plugin except for the pianos. Cheers!