Electronic music and synthesisers including recordings from the 1980s and 90s through to the present day. Tutorials, reviews, opinion and discussion - with YOU 😊
Thank you! This tutorial hit me at just the right time. As a novice, I appreciate your patience in explaining the technique while still calling out the appropriate theory behind it. I am learning theory, so any grounding of technique in theory is like mortar between the bricks.
I myself have a form of Macular Degeneration called "Stargardts" and I have high contrast issues also. I know how frustrating it can be. Thanks for the tutorial.!!! Dark Mode UI is my friend in all my Apps.
Just purchased an A61 only to discover that this model operates on MIDI channel 1 ONLY. You can't change channels even with the software. It does however work well with the plug-ins, bur the software also serves as in you face advertising trying to get the user to buy more plug-ins.
I am a retired enthusiast who noodles on guitar, bass and synth. I have not downloaded a vst plugin for some time, so I tried X-Stream and I have been having more fun than I've had it awhile. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your process for this track, Ian..much appreciated. 😉👍 I'm much like your good self I think, in that I like to play (..as in "have fun") when working on a project and I don't mind saying I'll use presets, too, if they work in the piece in question..I never did see the point of trying to reinvent the wheel, when someone else has already done a great job at it in the first place. It's a shame so many seem to show distain towards those who use presets..after all, not everyone has the sound design chops to create their own sounds from scratch..and that shouldn't stop them from making music. In the end it's all about what you end up with after using the tools you had at your disposal, and how you expressed your creativity using them. And, if everyone was completely honest, I think we'd find everyone uses presets a lot more than they are willing to admit in public. All that said, thanks again for this peek behind the curtain..it's encouraged me to keep on tinkering with X-Stream even more. 😊
Hi Dan - thank you 👍 Yes, totally agree. It's useful to know a bit of synthesis if you want to tweak a sound but I'm amazed at channels that show how to create a pluck, for example, as part of track 😲creation Still, each to their own 😄
Thank you so much for doing this walk-through. I found it to be both validating and informational. Validating in that I tend to be more of a "pantser" when writing. Structure is good but, in my world at least, it usually comes a bit later in the process. For me, everything starts out as playing around with presets, then riffing on something I stumble upon. Informational because it helped me spot a flaw in my approach. I quickly evolve toward too much happening. This I need to work on. Thanks, again, for sharing your approach and insights.
I am so glad you found it useful. I work much like you although I often add things to keep it interesting. But no two pieces follow the exact same process 😊
Normally this would be my next upgrade. However, NI dumping my Mk1 was a terrible decision that cost them my purchase. Im instead considering the latest Korg or Aurturia.
Useful, thank you. I don't use a Mac so not familiar with that but I have found one with a Mac version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zQGD7SSTD38.html
@@rogermathews145 Ah, that's interesting, Yes, sounds like a conflict. Usually each device will appear in your DAW's device list. Not come across this sort of problem before. If Google is no help, I've found NI's support to generally be helpful.
Absolutely wonderful!!! Love the mood, textures and images. I'm very impressed with X-Stream, and that's hard to do for me these days. To think we live in an age where a software synth of this caliber is free is mind boggling. 25 years ago we'd be paying $2000 plus for the hardware version..unbelievable. I'll check this one out, I'm a Cubase user and love their stuff, so this looks like a keeper. Thanks again for sharing, not only your wonderful composition, but the link to the free synth. I was getting worried about you since you haven't posted anything new lately...glad to see you've been busy creating!
Hi Richard - thank you very much fory your kind comments. 👍 I have a long list of videos I'd like to make but it's becoming increasingly difficult which takes the edge off the enthusiasm a bit 😤 Yes, X-Stream is great - it really did all the heavy lifting in this one 😄
@@IanWaugh I understand, and appreciate the art and knowledge you share with all of us. It can really be frustrating when physical issues get in the way. So it makes what you do share, even more special. Hang in there my friend.
Thanks, Ian..really enjoyed listening to this..your sound design skills really shine through on this..all the more impressive, given you pulled all that out of just X-Stream. 😳 I grabbed it myself, when they first announced it, but haven't had much time to really dive into it in any meaningful way..reminds me of their Padshop vst more than a bit, when it comes to workflow and I can't believe they are giving such a powerful tool away for free. Anyway, thanks again for sharing this..would really like to hear some more work from you using X-Stream in the mix.. here's hoping. 😉🤞
@@paulcole1171 For most of the music videos on my channel the music always comes first. I then scour the free image repositories to find omages and videos to complement the music. Recent AI image generators have proved useful. I have scored to a couple of videos, though: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iUg2aCwOjnE.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QiurL3erBW8.html
I’ve got to say that it would be worth learning more about writing and recording ambient music only to include tones like these in my rock music productions. I understand there’s more to it than just choosing a pad tone and playing it.
Well, that's my approach 🤣 Most of the presets in X-Stream produce full-on soundscapes 😲 Like all music, it's about finding sounds and music lines that go together
Great song! Having picked up X-Stream and the free HALion player, I'm really struggling to create anything worth sharing. Please realize this is due to my lack of experience, not anything to do with X-Stream or HALion. I'd love to see a video on how you crafted this incredible piece. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. As you'll have discovered, X-Stream pretty much creates soundscapes for you 😄 My composition process is pretty ad hoc but I'll see if I can make sense of a walkthru 😊
i usually do not give much credit to videos rushed in within a few days of the product release . i prefer critical videos a few weeks later or months later once there has been time to test the product
Many companies give products to reviewers 2-3 weeks before launch so you see a dozen reviews appearing at the same time but I'm a little wary of these... 😊
software has no "marginal " value to the producer ( cost of duplicating and ditributing is almost nul ) but has "intrinsic " value to the consumer ( well ...usually )
The Malevolent was TERRIBLE, the build was like soup and it made the Korg mini look like a tank! Found it very limited tonally and it lasted just 2 weeks with me
@@IanWaugh Aye, you're right...I had the FS of the MS20 and it was a TANK, loved that thing. I'm jinxed though...just returning mty Grandmother as it's got loads of defects :( P.S. great vid, made your opinion piece useful and relevant to everyone, thank you
Ian you missed something important. They did in fact answer your question. The limitation will be addressed in a future product. This is exactly why the JD-08 doesn’t do class compliant USB audio. Why did they give themselves more work maintaining a proprietary audio driver when they could have just made it class compliant? Same reason. They are reserving must-haves for a future product offering that unites their hardware with patch management and audio mixing and the lot. Owners will have no choice but to buy into that because they left us no way around it that isn’t terribly inconvenient.
@@IanWaugh you think they'd tell me? But it's the only way of making sense of these limitations. The way to think about it is, you buy a second DAW like Logic, and you wonder why you can't load all of the Logic plugins you just paid for into Ableton. I mean, you paid for the functionality, but they won't let you use it! We've gotten used to that because they all do this...they are trying to sell the platform, not the functionality. And Roland probably is or was envisioning a platform to succeed the Aira system (which had a special mixer component iirc) where you plugged all these things into a mixer with its own USB hub no audio cables needed and everything magically linked to Roland Cloud but offered hardware hands-on control. And they didn't want some competitor being able to do the same with their boutiques. They may have abandoned that effort if they decided not enough people would buy it, and then never bothered to open up the boutiques after that.
@@PeterJensen7 I guess that's one way to try to make sense of it I just think it was a poorly-thought out idea from the start and they totally failed to do a proper job or remove the bugs.😠 Really bad show coming from a once-premium synth manufacturer 😠
Stepic is fantastic, alongside Harmony Bloom it is my go to for sequencing, especially Stepic’s 8 modulation lanes means you can create infinitely evolving sequences
Ian, what an excellent video. This is the first youtube tutorial I've seen for 'ambient music composition' that actually shows some composition and not someone twiddling software knobs! This was so useful and I'll be applying these lessons in my projects.
It’s all good on this end Ian… finally getting the hang of the new gear and having a blast! Hope things are good for you as well. Keep your filter resonating!
Hi Paul - thank you. That's a very good question. I often start by playing through a synth or library to find an interesting sound that 'suggests' a music line or style. I then often know what sort of sounds might go with it and often use Komplete to search for suitable candidates. But to be honest, it's usually a bit ad hoc 😊
