the big synths ... the little time

[Deleted User]

@Telstar5 said:

@Fruitbat1919 said:
Been there many times. My process at the moment is to:

1. Limit my DAW like apps. I’m currently going to limit myself to NS2, Cubasis and Auria Pro. The plan is to get to know these apps as well as possible and just forget the features other apps have. Currently, I am transferring all the samples and midi files I can over (from all apps) I have used over to NS2 (or the other apps if they are more suitable in them).

The idea is to consolidate the time I take to find and use material. Consolidate the time I’m spending learning features in apps.

2. Limit my utility apps to only those I really need. We all tend to collect a high range of apps that help us do things, but the over abundance of choice is stifling, so some will have to go.

3. Limit my beat making, beat chopping, loop making, midi creating apps to only those that I use often. As above all the choices are not always an advantage. It’s tough, but some have to go.

4. After all the above is done, I’m going to go through my samples and steadily cut down some of it to make finding stuff easier. I have lots of vocal samples from certain apps that I know I will never use, so a sample trimming is in order.

5. Making a good aground set of starting templates. This should help me in obvious ways, but is just time consuming to begin with.

6. Figure out how best to back everything up and organise from the beginning.

7. The hard part - I then need to stick with these options and only add any more if a real need is found. Also I should be buying less.

@Fruitbat1919 : Auria Pro, I get it. The Fab Filter . But what does Cubasis do for you that NS2 doesn’t ?

Cubasis will record AU Midi, record from the player surfaces of Noise / GeoShred / iFretless Bass, has audio tracks, works with StepPolyArp Unit, where as NS2 won’t do any of these. Auria Pro does these, but I’m just not keen in doing the actual music recording in Auria Pro - something just hasn’t gelled with me AP in that way.

NS2 is my favourite app for starting a track in, but lacking the ability to record AU midi is big as it’s not just about Rozeta and StepPolyArp, it’s about recording from the surfaces of iFretlass Bass and now GeoShred too - the more I can use apps that let me actually play them, the less my music sounds so robotic in nature. Auria Pro now has a lot sorted, but Cubasis has always been there for some things when others fail.

Spidericemidas

@kinkujin said:
Hi my many friends.
Like many of you, i've gotten most of the 'big' synths. I'm finding myself stretched thin time-wise. Wondering who is in my boat? Do you go about running from one synth to the next? Do you write a tune solely in one app? Do you try and specialize and ignore all the others?

Feels like decision time for me. I've let the manic phase go and now the panic phase has set in. Feels like I need to get down to business and I'm trying to decide how best to do that. Commiserate?

For making finished pieces of music, I use bits and pieces I’ve created from many different apps, and tie them all together in Gadget.

For mastering the 50+ synths installed on my iPad, I take each one at a time and spend a few weeks setting myself a side quest of creating drum, perc, bass, lead, pluck, stab, fx and pad patches in them. That way I get to know and learn each synth intimately.

Take your time. No need to rush your work.
Pick your favourite apps and establish an organised comfortable workflow with them.

✌️😊

dendy

Regarding DAW, i'm trying to apply golden rule - i must finish at least one full track in that DAW. Making music 25 years but somehow i managed to fullfil this always (ok with single exception BM3 but this is simply way too much different for my workflow).

With HW synths i'm trying to do same, probably last 10 - 15 years with more or less success. I always try do "single synth" demo track - it helps me discover boundaries of that particular synths. So my golden rule for HW stuff which i buy is do not sell it until i don't used it in some track or at least synth demo tune

Overall , for last few years i'm trying to limit myself. Just single DAW installed, just very few synths. I'm trying in first place use everything which directly offers that DAW, and just in case i'm missing something particular, i start search outside. If i have installed some app, and i didn't used it for more than 2 months, i delete it.

Less is more.

[Deleted User]

I think i spend much more time for sound design and preparing templates and whatever set-up for performance as actually creating music. In iOS and mac as well.
I think it must be about 50% making sound design and 45% jamming around and just 5% of the time i spend with music is creating a track.
I´m fine with that and it makes me happy sometimes just to jam around.
Less is more is often right but then sometimes it´s easy as more is just more as i have more choices i might get inspired more.
There is no right or wrong.
What would make an iOS DAW close to perfect would be if a DAW support groups like NanoStudio 2 which i could save as performance (i think you can compare that to AUM sessions just with midi tracks then).
This is actually where i spend most of my time to put things together, try something out, jam around and save it for later usage. Then if the times comes i got inspired to write a new track it take me maybe 2 hours mostly for a complete track (but often days and weeks to configure out my performance patches before).
I almost never use much midi editing afterwards and also really don´t add much automations etc. Mainly i prefer to use live midi input and record track after track like you would do with just audio tracks.
I also don´t do much special mixing and mastering because each sound element should already sound exact like i use it in the final. I do most of EQ and FX and so on from the beginning. Mostly at best there is a EQ, (multi)compressor and/or limiter. That´s it. Everything else happens already per track.
And i try to avoid the todays compress the crap out of it and make it super loud thingie. I don´t know why that seems so common these days.
So long post but the short answer is, no time, as long or as short it might be is wasted in terms of music.
It just makes me feel better everytime. If it´s a minute just jamming or putting a track together in 2 hours.
I mean we all seems to have no time these days but even with a 12 hours day and what else happens in life and family we should try to take at least 30 minutes for us.

kinkujin

I appreciate all of these comments tremendously. I agree with the sentiment above from @cib. There is not wasted time for me either - just not enough of it! But, I have a habit of beating myself up and not 'living in the moment' and that pertains to ios music making.

Since loading up NS2 this problem has somewhat waned. I'm spending most of my time getting around that and completely enjoying it. It certainly has the lion's share of what I need right in it's universe. Haven't even loaded up and external synth yet.

Thanks to you all and here's to great music making!