Composition Tools in Notion

[Surfwhammy]

The aliens from outer space beamed instructions to add some Latin percussion, which makes the double kick-drumming and double snare-drumming sections flow nicely, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: The Latin percussion is fully "sparkled", which requires eight (8) staves, where each staff is mapped to a different location on the "rainbow panning arc", so the 1/8th notes of each measure move either from far-left to top-center to far-right or from far-right to top-center to far-left, and the Latin percussion instruments alternate between a shaker and a cowbell as a simple pair or tuplet, where the shaker is played as an "A" and the cowbell is played as a "G" in the music notation, which adds another dimension to the motion and is easiest to hear if you listen with studio quality headphones like the SONY MDR-7506. For reference, {L.1, L.2, L.3, L.4} goes from far-left to top-center, while {R.4, R.3, R.2, R.1} goes from top-center to far-right, which makes sense if you think about it for a while, because there are several things happening, and the idea is to do a mapping of (a) panning location, (b) time, (c) duration, and (d) pitch, although there are other variables, since it is a multidimensional vector space, and there is curl, which I think is the correct mathematical terminology . . . ]



[NOTE: The way this works is that the left side of "V" in the music notation (see below) does a sweep from far-left to top-center to far-right, while the right side of the "V" in the music notation does a sweep from far-right to top-center to far-left, but there are other patterns for the motion along the "rainbow panning arc". One of the stellar features of the NOTION 3 Mixer is that it has true stereo panning controls, which is what makes doing precise placement of individual notes both possible and practical. It requires a bit more music notation, since there need to be eight (8) identical instruments, but no matter how it is done, it takes a bit of work, and the advantages to doing it in NOTION 3 with music notation and the NOTION 3 Mixer are (a) that it is precise, (b) that it allows individual note granularity, and (c) that it is easy to modify, since the notes are played by VSTi virtual instruments and specified in music notation . . . ]



"Tastes Like Anarchy" (The Surf Whammys) -- MP3 (7.5MB, 302-kbps [VBR], approximately 3 minutes and 24 seconds)

Fabulous!

With the newly added eight (8) staves for the fully "sparkled" Latin percussion instruments (shaker and cowbell) the total number of staves is approaching the upper limit for "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments in a single NOTION 3 score, so the next step in the system or "formula" requires switching to doing the mixing and mastering in the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application, which here in the sound isolation studio is Digital Performer 7.24 (MOTU), and the NOTION 3 generated audio is recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer 7.24 via ReWire, where Digital Performer 7.24 is the ReWire host controller and NOTION 3 is the ReWire slave . . .

Once the current instruments are recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer 7.24 via ReWire, I save the NOTION 3 score and then clone it via doing a "Save As . . .", where I append "-PT-1" to the filename, followed by cloning it a second time via "Save As . . .", but this time I change "-PT-1" to "-PT-2", so that the "-PT-1" file is the original NOTION 3 score, and the "-PT-2" is the second score, and then the process continues depending on how many instruments are required, where the general rule is 20 to 25 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments per NOTION 3 score . . .

At present, there are 21 instruments, so I might be able to add four more instruments to bring the total to 25 instruments, which is a convenient number of instruments, since I like to keep five (5) instruments common to all the clones, where the five (5) common instruments are used as reference points for the rhythm, bass, chords, and simple melody, which works nicely, because by the time the number of instruments requires switching to the cloning phase I have listened to the song enough times not to need to hear all the instruments all the time, since (a) I can hear all the instruments in Digital Performer 7.24 and (b) at this point I am adding more specific instrumentation, and while this might appear to be a bit complex, it makes sense to me . . .

If you think about it for a while, the procedures are not so different from building a model airplane or going grocery shopping, at least for typical DISCO and Pop songs, where the key to the strategy is to have a system or "formula", since layering requires having a basic plan, which mostly is a matter of having a well-defined system or "formula", because once you have a handful of instruments working nicely, then adding everything tends to be an iterative process based on listening to what is present for a while and then adding more stuff where it makes sense to add it, which is one of the reasons that I like to use SampleTank 2.5 XL (IK Multimedia) for all the instruments in the original NOTION 3 score, since when I clone the original score all I need to do to change an instrument is click on the name of the staff in the NOTION 3 Mixer and the SampleTank 2.5 XL standalone user interface appears, at which time I change the selected instrument to whatever new instrument I want it to be, which generally avoids having to do a lot of reconfiguring, although sometimes I will replace the VSTi virtual instrument for a staff with (a) another IK Multimedia VSTi virtual instrument (Sonik Synth 2, SampleMoog, SampleTron, or Miroslav Philharmonik), (b) something that uses the Kontakt (Native Instruments) VSTi virtual instrument interface, (c) a NOTION 3 bundled instrument, or (d) yet another VSTi virtual instrument like Twin 2 (FabFilter Software Instruments), which at present are the virtual instruments I am using, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

[Surfwhammy]

I added some swirly droning Twin 2 (FabFilter Software Instruments) synthesizer whole notes in a few places to accent the structure, which among other things creates a nice syncopated vertical motion effect with the electric bass, kick drums, and electric guitar, which is fabulous . . .



[NOTE: The vertical motion effect is easiest to hear when you listen with studio quality headphones like the SONY MDR-7506. And for reference, this is all done in NOTION 3 in the original score, which now has 22 instruments, so I have not switched to doing the mixing in Digital Performer 7.24 (MOTU), yet . . . ]

"Tastes Like Anarchy" (The Surf Whammys) -- MP3 (7.5MB, 302-kbps [VBR], approximately 3 minutes and 24 seconds)

Fabulous!

[Surfwhammy]

Now that the basic rhythm section is coming along nicely, the aliens from outer space beamed me the music and lyrics for the bridge, as well as the lyrics for the verses, which is fabulous . . .

[BRIDGE]
A-N-A-R-C-H-Y
A-N-A-R-C-H-Y
A-N-A-R-C-H-Y
Everybody tastes like Anarchy!

©2012 RAE Multimedia

"Tastes Like Anarchy" (The Surf Whammys) -- MP3 (8.4MB, 300-kbps [VBR], approximately 3 minutes and 52 seconds)

Fabulous!

P. S. I just realized that the sounds of the Latin percussion instruments (shaker and cowbell) are very similar to the sounds made by spraying an aerosol bodyspray, which is an excellent example of one of the reasons that I tend to follow the instructions beamed to me by the aliens from outer space very precisely, since they have computers and stuff, hence already know the best ways to do songs, which saves me a lot of time and makes it possible for me to continue to have no immediately conscious idea what I am doing, other than having a lot of FUN, really . . .

Really!

[wcreed51]

Of course, none of them really have anything to do with the original question...

[Surfwhammy]

Yes but that's besides the point- It's fabulous.

I tend to wander at times, but there is a bit of logic to it . . .

Initially, I was focused on providing some information about composition tools and making a few suggestions about some of the ways NOTION can be enhanced in the next version, but after doing the SoMC rhythm pattern as an example of something that can be done easily in a computer program by relatively simple algorithms, I noticed that the rhythm pattern had a nice beat, so I switched to providing a step-by-step example of the way one can compose a silly DISCO or Pop song using a system or "formula" in a digital music production workstation with NOTION 3, Digital Performer 7.24 (MOTU), a virtual festival of VSTi virtual instruments, and assorted technologies, including MIDI and ReWire (Propellerhead Software) . . .

And by the time the new Surf Whammys song actually started sounding like a proper song, I was thinking about starting a new topic, which I might do, really . . .

Really!

Nevertheless, the key bit of information is that NOTION 3 is excellent for composing songs, and while there are some eccentricities and a few complex technical aspects, once you develop a complete system or "formula", the work is straightforward and reasonable, which among things makes it possible to annoy the inhabitants of this planet with silly DISCO and Pop songs about personal hygiene products and ladies underpants, for sure . . .

For sure!

It takes a while, but no matter how you do it, the fact of the matter is that it takes a while to compose a song and to do all the instrumentation, so from my perspective the important bit of information is that you can do it with NOTION 3, and at the dawn of the early-21st century being able to do it is virtually mind-boggling when the additional reality is that you can do it all by yourself inside what essentially is a surreal walk-in closet . . .

In contrast, when you rollback the calendar to the 18th century, only a handful of people could do this, and they had to have vast funding because there were no computers, sampled sound libraries, virtual instruments, and so forth and so on . . .

Granted, it is a bit of a hassle to limit each NOTION 3 score to 20 to 25 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments, which overall maps to using a set of cloned NOTION 3 scores when one needs 500 to 1,000 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments, but once you develop a naming convention and infrastructure for the cloned scores and then do it a few times, it is no more complex, difficult, or frustrating than doing "ping-ponging" with analog magnetic tape machines to create songs with elaborate layers of instruments and singing, which is the technique (a) that Phil Spector used for his "Wall of Sound" and (b) that George Martin and the audio engineers at Abbey Road Studios used for the classic Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" . . .

When you rollback the calender to the 1960s, the general 18th century rules continued to apply with respect to cost and practicality, and while the technology was significantly advanced it was not so readily available, although in some respects this was more a matter of most folks not knowing how to do it, since there were reasonably affordable analog magnetic tape machines in those days, which in some respects made getting the information required to do "layering" the biggest hurdle . . .

Joseph Schillinger's System of Musical Composition (SoMC) also is relevant to the topic of composition tools in NOTION 3, and it continues to be one of the best kept secrets in the known universe . . .

[NOTE: The reality is that I have been working on making sense of the first chapter of the SoMC for over three decades, but the stellar aspect of the SoMC is that if you look at all the drawings and diagrams, then it makes sense on a practical level without actually knowing all the vastly detailed formulas and procedures, although the more you know about music theory, the more sense everything makes. And if you do not read music notation sufficiently well to play it, then NOTION 3 is very helpful in making sense of the SoMC examples that are provided in music notation, especially if your perspective primarily is "play by ear", since you only need to hear it a few time to understand the specific concepts demonstrated by a music notation example . . . ]

Fom my perspective the amazing aspect of the SoMC is that if you understand mathematics and geometry and can visualize music in your mind, then understanding the basic principles of the SoMC requires no more information than the information I provided in my posts to this topic, although it helps to ponder some it if for a while, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

P. S. This is the new version, which has the Hofner Beatle Bass line doubled by a Baritone Electric Guitar with a few revisions to the notes to reveal more of the counterpoint, and there are some new but subtle Latin percussion bits in a few places, including a slow Guiro in the measure just before the start of the singing in the verse, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: With the addition of the Baritone Electric Guitar, there now are 24 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments, which tends to be a clue that the mixing and mastering work needs to move the Digital Performer 7.24 (MOTU), because keeping everything constrained becomes a bit more difficult as the number of instruments increases, which maps to needing to use more VST effects plug-ins, which in NOTION 3 moves everything nearer to the 32-bit application workspace limit, since VST effects plug-ins also use resources, hence the need to switch to Digital Performer 7.24, because once the NOTION 3 generated audio is recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer 7.24 via ReWire, Digital Performer 7.24 is not doing so much and has more of its 32-bit application workspace available for use by VST effects plug-ins, which makes a bit of sense if you think about it for a while. And for reference, in this context the term "constrained" refers primarily to limiting the duration and frequency ranges of the various instrumental bits toward the goal of everything being distinct and crisp, which is more a matter of using noise gates and brickwall frequency range filters than using compressors, with this being my current strategy based on Pointilism, the 19th century painting style developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac where distinct dots of color are used. In the 20th century, the concept appeared in music as "Punctualism", but I never heard of it until a few minutes ago, so I have no idea whether it is the same as what I am doing with respect to mixing, since it appears also to have a relationship with the 12 Tone Technique (a personal favorite). In this song, the easiest example to observe is the electric guitar that plays a crunch chord on every fifth beat in most of the sections, since it is there for an instant but then vanishes as quickly as it appeared, which is heard at far-right when you listen with studio quality headphones like the SONY MDR-7506 . . . ]


Portrait of Félix Fénéon ~ Paul Signac (1890-1891)

[NOTE: The full title of the painting is "Opus 217. Against the Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, and Tints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890" . . . ]

"Tastes Like Anarchy" (The Surf Whammys) -- MP3 (8.4MB, 300-kbps [VBR], approximately 3 minutes and 51 seconds)

Fabulous!