It's strange how the use of ADSR controls has led to the *duration* of the attack stage begin called "attack" in the synth community... whereas if you told a violinist you wanted them to play with "more attack", they would do the exact opposite: the attack would be shorter because they'd be trying to make it more aggressive. Topsy turvy situation, but I think it's too late now to change the language - we're stuck with it :D
Maybe more accurate to say “faster” or “shorter” attack, rather than “more” attack. If you told me you wanted “more attack”, I wouldn’t know where to start. 😮
IMHO it's not topsy turvy at all: it's the envelope attacking the note as it is played, not the player attacking the instrument. As the note continues it eventually overcomes the envelopes effect only to begin subsiding as it drops back "within" the envelope as *the envelope* begins to decay (slower than the note for "more decay"). It might be helpful to think of it, instead of being like your violinist example, as like the violinist's mum, hurriedly closing the kid's bedroom door to keep that awful cat strangling racket to a barely tolerable masochistic aural sacrifice in the misguided hope of one day riding on a virtuoso's coat tails, then cautiously reopening it when it seems like the eyepeelingly terrifying cacophony is coming to a close. Every note (poor mum! If only we could automate her arm with some sort of technology...)
@@therealmber Haha! That's quite an elaborate scenario you just painted - thanks for the smiles :) I think my preference will be to stick to what @NathanielPaffettLugassy suggested and say "faster" and "slower". Probably makes the most sense for most people, I think.
It’s to do with how the two performers interact with their instruments though that informs the language. Synthesists are turning dials and pressing keys, violinists are physically hitting the strings with a bow. In this context “more attack” to a violinist makes sense for the sound to be shorter and more angled.
Apricots is my favourite Bicep track, and it took me [swearword] EONS to try and replicate that sound. Where were you a year ago?!?! You made it look way easier than I did.
I'm doing that literally ALL the time when I want to launch the proverbial rocket! Mark that as the first time ever where I didn't learn something from you. 😄 Awesome video nevertheless! It's one of the best tips for trance music imho.
@@OscarUnderdog Usually they are far from too basic. I learned sooo much from you. It's pure coincidence that this is one of my favourite techniques. And I obviously realise you are not creating these videos exclusively for me. 😄 Ace content as usual!
Your channel is really inspiring! Also, finally have finished the foundations course I can highly recommend it to everyone looking for a good, structured intro to electronic music production. Felt a bit pricey when I was buying it, but oh boy was it worth every cent! I think in terms of money and time it's just the perfect balance. It's somewhere in between learning on your own from RU-vid (takes a lot of time; is frustrating for the lack of structure and inability to understand what is relevant at your level and what's not) and having a personal tutor or visiting a school (great for personalized experience and structure but expensive). P.S. I am not affiliated with Oscar. Just a big fan of his teaching style :)
Hi underdog, i really like how you are able to break down very small things into interesting videos. I mostly click on your vids because of that, because you are able to give me the info i want i a few minutes. Great job, great song and great dancing mate :D
Its crazy how good they are live and surprising. Everytime its a different show & still the best dawless artist i've every witnessed. Going to see them again at Pukkelpop. Amazing guys, great show & they are so good in using simple tricks and synths to create something out of this world. Also dikke merci voor de melodic cursus! Was de moeite! 😆😄
Bicep uses Ableton in their live show. It's not DAWless. From their Reddit Q&A: "Ableton sends out tonne of midi and samples, then we've also sp16 and tr8s/adx1. It's a big mixture tbh atm - Sh101 x2, mackie desk, loads of pedals (boss comps, eq) Sp16, adx1, eventide time factor and space pedals, roland sbx, RNC FMR x 2, Roland Tr8s, Modular setup Main idea is, toplines and bass are totally live on Sh101s. Some basic pads and vocals come from ableton, alongside very basic structural loops, then live drum machines over the top of them. All squeezed with lots of compressors and limiters and send/return fx (Delay, reverb) on the desk via Eventide pedals"
@@GuyGamer1 very nice to hear. would you recommend using limiters on everything separately too in a live situation? I've got a simular setup but more elektron/moog orientated with a x32 producer next to it. Its possible but will kill a lot of my send/returns
Quick rant about Bicep: I think their music is great and they played an awesome live set when I saw them. However, I stayed for most of their set at a festival but left a bit early to catch a DJ at a smaller stage. Me and a bunch of others were dancing like crazy directly in front of the DJ when Bicep finished up their set and came over to watch. Thought it was cool at first but they ended up budging people out and just standing directly in front of the DJ, not dancing, trying to talk to people behind the decks, and blocking everyone else’s view (it was a really small, intimate stage). It felt disrespectful to the DJ that was playing and those who were enjoying the set. It kind of ruined the energy and it came off really pompous of them. I like their music but that moment really threw me off. Sorry, this is unrelated to the video but it just reminded me of it. Thanks for the tutorial Oscar, your videos always inspire me tremendously🙏
well i've been using this technique for decades, is something overused for trance producers, maybe for techno-house producers now that the style has evolved into more melodic/atmospheric this is good to know
I think this technique was done perfectly in Teisto's Silence remix. It opens up in an obvious way at the drop/ chorus bit in a kinda cliche way, but if you listen to the bass, it's envelopes are constantly opening and closing creating a rolling flow throughout the whole track. Of course Sarah's vocal steals the show but there is enough going on underneath to save the track from being the generic vanilla trance, with token female vocal, that became the norm after Silence was released
@Oscar, dude my daughter loves watching your videos with me as I learn Ableton. There is a ton of information and videos on ‘tricks’ and techniques to implement in developing a sound. Thank you so much for making these videos and being gracious in the way you present them. Please make a rudimentary intro video for kids so my daughter can follow along and understand. That probably sounds like a lot, but it’d be interesting to see what you can do by teaching at level 0 and working up gradually. I hope that helps where your next idea wants to flow. Be good to each other.
This is great! Not only is it exactly the kind of content I've been looking for you even got the smooth visual effects going. Love it, man! Awesome demo
Thanks! I don't have a background in filmmaking at all so always experimenting in little ways to find my visual "voice" if that makes sense. It's a process! 😁
Been playing with Ableton for 2 mouths now my ears are fatigued I have put some db through my brain with vital that thing makes some sounds 😂I am a complete novice i got a VM they are useful cool tip thank you 😂
First-time commentor here on one of your videos. I've been binge-watching all of them for the last three days ❤ Two things that are slightly off-topic: 1) wow, what a tear-jerking sound, and 2) would it be possible to quickly share how that chord progression works? I'm new to theory and have watched yours and a few other videos on it. I'm curious if all the notes here are chords (maybe triads?) Or instead, is it just "a bass note and a single key note"? I'm clearly new here, thanks Oscar :)
Nice video Oscar, thanks. If anyone’s looking for Bicep notes, I have a recently record Bicep piano compilation in my videos. There’s a link for all the sheet music in the description. 💪🎹
Love this trick, love bicep and great video as always! This camera distorts the shape of your face btw, makes you look very different to your other videos Was it done with a webcam or phone camera? The quality looks fine. but it looks like a lens that’s optimised for being further away from the subject I don’t mind caricature Oscar, teaching me neat tips about music production, but if I had to choose, I prefer regular Oscar! ❤
Hey Oscar, I tried recreating the patch but yours sound way much fuller, even with just looking at the EQ it looks fuller. I matched all the parameters that are visible and even added the compressor but it still lacking. I'm guessing you added some effects?
Aside from the poetic license "artists" use to name themselves, the rest of you plebs should know there is no such thing as a "bicep." It's a "bicepS" muscle. One biceps, two biceps. GET IT RIGHT 🎉
This is a superb little tutorial. I am still relatively new to this game, so managing all those parameters is a little overwhelming. I understand that's why we use macros, but for some reason, I still don't have a lot of confidence applying it. You are helping me overcome my stage fright!
Just loop a few bars of the plucks and have at it with the attack, decay and cutoff parameters. You'll get a feeling for it pretty fast. Extra fun when you map the parameters to a hardware controller.
OMG so all this time I've been making this swelling sound of a synth more complicated by running it through an effect bus with delay and reverb, while layering them to reach this "epic" point..... as usual i tend to make thing more complicated 😅. I'm happy to see this tip on making it easier without having the trouble of taming the layered delay/reverbs without my cpu will thank you!😁
