Adventures in mixcraft

MixedUp · Post by **MixedUp** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:28 am

Tried out a few programs but settled on mixcraft 5 for ease of use, impressed enough to go "pro" and get Beatcraft...and so the adventure begins...hmmm

So, I figured, I would set myself some 'exercises' and send them to a few friends as kind of 'postcards' to learn...

So, first up...tested out a few of the features with audio and adding film. Don't have a video camera, but found a short clip of a thunderstorm that came past a few weeks ago and dragged that into an video track...instant movie. Quickly dubbed a few guitars and licks, plugged an old cheap casio with midi out into the UA-25 interface, even the guitars were just plugged into that without an amp and added a few amp sims and vst reverbs...plus a few 'sound effects' that are in mixcraft if you look about...took the wind infused video audio track mostly out, but there are a few bird sounds there that are real...took no time at all...great 'proof of concept'...

Took hardly any time at all really...still, only 40 seconds. Obviously didn't edit or do multiple takes either. The amp sim was the shredmaster 'quarter' as clean as possible. I copied the rhythm guitar to another track and it has a bit of phaser to give it that rich sound. A few strings and sound effects...all done...

MixedUp · Post by **MixedUp** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:36 am

Ok...second try...I upgraded the computer to do this kind of thing, and now I have access to MovieMaker...so got some stills of a sunset from outside my front door would you believe and made a short 'slide show'...

Back to mixcraft...I am not a keyboard player by any stretch of the imagination...but I know a bit of theory...so lets make a tune and test out Pianissimo with the non-velocity sensitive cheap casio...oh, sounds so much better.

So, got a basic piano in midi, play around with lifting the lid on the thing, add some reverb...lets see...

Ah...some strings...copy the track to another, select an instrument...I think ambient strings and use the automation to control the dynamics on both tracks...instant sound track!

Save file, open in MM and let moviemaker adjust the timing to the length of the slide show...another instant movie...

MixedUp · Post by **MixedUp** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:47 am

Well, that was pretty...short and sweet. Now not being a keyboard player I am going to have to rely on MIDI and the editing capabilities...but I need to learn a bit about VST's and instruments and production and...well, everything...

So, off to the net and free midi sites. Took a tune I liked (see if anyone recognises it without the melody track) and replace it with the Pianissamo and VB3 and well....in fact all the instruments on this are midi tracks, overdosed with effects in-particular the Dub delay that created that loping drum track and the echo and 'guitar' dubs. The guitar part was a very little incidental part but timed with the delay and run through an amp sim, fairly 'authentic'...for midi!

Added various photos and a bit of text to it in MM and another instant production...and I learned a lot. The Movie Maker files do load into mixcraft as a video track, but for simple things keeping things in MM is probably easiest.

So, something more like my 'postcard' idea with pictures from around 'the house'...

MixedUp · Post by **MixedUp** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:08 am

Ok...so got a bit of a handle on working with Midi from those exercises and film. I've been modifying guitars for a while and was asked to make a demo of my modifications to my strat that has over 30 pickup selections hidden in it on another forum.

But first, I have completely neglected beatcraft...so playing through that I 'made' a big kit of samples including a bit of percussion...and made a kind of conga beat with bell...LOL...used a second track and added some more conventional drums, tried the triplet feature and added in some ghost kicks and a bit of swing in an attempt to make something more human. I probably need to work out a process for this. Rendered the file to Mixcraft then started tracking guitars...

I ahd a braod outline of the kind of thing...but I had not worked out an actual tune, so built things up as I went along. The evening wore on till I was tired and a bit sick of hearing it, let alone playing it...so in the end things got a bit rough...but still, a learning exercise.

No film this time so...

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10409860

It has a 007 feel to it, various pickup selections including out of phase series selections for the funky kind of thing and an all three in series (those deeper answering phrases) and changed selections for most repeats of the refrains.

I also used a Behringer acoustic modeller direct for one guitar as well...

A synth for a sustained bass sound and a very cheap condenser type mic from my band days and worse for wear on my amp to try that out. The only distorted guitars there were re-amped with the shred-master marshall sim, however it had a fair bit of the real amps spring reverb on the guitars. A bit of piano, keeping up to date with the 007 type themes.

The end result went in directions I didn't expect and I need to reassess how I was using these tools...but still, a result for an evenings work ad learned a lot...which was kind of the point...

Till next time...