Acoustica User Forums

Another in the "Zone Out" series. Completed over this past weekend.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... e-basement

Damn, I need to get my hands on some of those synths!

They ARE quite good

It's Monday, and time for a couple of dance tracks off my dance album.

Entire album done with Mixcraft pro studio 8 (Was around a year ago)

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-146151417/lets-go

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... time-to-go

My new album just released. Should be out in a week or so after all the legal stuff is settled.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... 9-sessions

Thanks Acoustica and Mixcraft 9 pro for making it happen!

So what does one do when you just released an album? Well, start a new one! This album will be mostly ethereal and trippy. First track finished today.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... -the-floor

Of course, it wouldn't be anything without the awesome Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio!

New track today!

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... -hell-am-i

This one has a whole lot going on in it. I hope you like it. I get in a mood sometimes to just do something with horns. This was one such weekend.

Nice groove. How do you layer your tracks? Do you start with the rhythm and draw inspiration from that or do you just have a basic musical theme that you just keep adding to? Do you use arps or piano rolls for those intricate note sequences or just play them on the fly?

Chris

Thanks Mr.Mxyzptlk!

How do you layer your tracks?
Great question. I usually already have an arrangement in my head before I begin, but it's not so detailed as when I start laying it down, I'll get ideas for additional things. I will sometimes start with a rhythm, or melody and go from there. Could be either one to come first.

Do you use arps or piano rolls?
I will use arps where appropriate, and you can pretty much always tell where I'm using them. I have never used a Piano roll. Everything you hear is played by hand for each layer. I will get the basic melody/rhythm down, and I will play back the song, recording each new layer with what already exists. I will do this for the entire track. There is no copy/pasting. It's all hand played, for the duration of the track. I feel it adds a more human element and often leave tiny mistakes in the final mix. So I guess, the answer is, everything is played on the fly for each layer.

That's pretty impressive. I was old school with my synths, sequencers and drum machines but I'm afraid this DAW as much as I love it is making me lazy. I had a few synths but sold them all a few years back apart from my beloved Yamaha SY85. My PC also died last month so haven't been able to do anything for a while but should be up and running again in a week or so.

As I mentioned to you before, I'm a big fan of JMJ who uses a lot of arpeggiator synths, particularly in his earlier stuff.

How many 'takes' do you do for the more complex layers or do you just go with what you got? I'm guessing they would be very difficult to replicate? Do you also use the Montage for the rhythm tracks?

How many 'takes' do you do for the more complex layers or do you just go with what you got? I'm guessing they would be very difficult to replicate? Do you also use the Montage for the rhythm tracks?

Depends on complexity. Some are one and done, others I may run through a few times to get it the way I want it before recording. I will use either the Montage or Deepmind 12 for anything really, depends on what I'm going for and the vibe/emotion I am looking for, so they both fill every role when needed.

I took a few weeks off, but I'm back now. Here's a new track completed this weekend.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-146151417/crush

Mixcraft makes it so easy to make very subtle changes to anything. It's an amazing DAW.

New track completed this weekend. Really laid back, mellow and chill.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... 7/the-gate

Today is new track day! This is as mellow as it gets, and the mood I was in. I hope you like it.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... 7/some-day

Lots of use of automation on this one within Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio.

What do you get after oral surgery and hepped up on Vicodin extra strength with a Deepmind 12 and a Montage 6 in front of you?

You get THIS!

https://soundcloud.com/tom-pellegrino-1 ... about-this

I'm not sure what I was doing, but I like it.