All that Ambient...

Ask general music theory or songwriting questions, get feedback!

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OccinticLady
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All that Ambient...

Post by OccinticLady »

Hi all,
So, yes, I got launched. My workflow (and studio setup) is improving on a weekly base.
I may, however, need a stronger laptop in the very near future. But...okay...
I try to draw inspiration form the Maersto's of the field. At the moment: Martin Sturtzer is one example to follow.
Just a silly question: does he really actually write the music down? Or is there an other way to "write" it down?
And...any tutorials out there to do things like that Berlin School?
Thanks
Melissa
PS : I may be tempted to do a video on my setup...once I get confident enough ;)
Basslint
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Re: All that Ambient...

Post by Basslint »

I do not know the answer but I am pretty certain that there is never a definite answer if someone uses notation or not :D

That said, from my own experience, electronic musicians outside the classical tradition do not write notation. They do everything inside a DAW, presumably using a piano roll or a MIDI controller. Sometimes they do everything via samples, others might use a more analog approach via modular synths, others might use loopers.

I am not an expert of the Berlin school but keep in mind Ableton Live comes from there and is created by an actual Berlin-based dub techno act, Monolake. Ableton Live has no notation support. Since the developers probably know a lot of people from that scene, I would guess that it's not a feature deemed important.

Second, the nature of Berlin techno is such that notation would not really make it any easier to write it. Harmony certainly does not play an important role, sometimes neither does melody. As such, notation in this case IMHO would make it harder to read!

So, from my own guess, I would say that musicians from the Berlin School probably don't write notation.
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LAM
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Re: All that Ambient...

Post by LAM »

Hi @OccinticLady,

don't know if you have already seen this, I found a video where Martin Sturtzer explains his setup and workflow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klD4IBeOWVw

in mix, nobody can hear your screen

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Re: All that Ambient...

Post by OccinticLady »

LAM wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 7:33 am Hi @OccinticLady,

don't know if you have already seen this, I found a video where Martin Sturtzer explains his setup and workflow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klD4IBeOWVw
oooo, thanks a ton! learning now :D
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Re: All that Ambient...

Post by OccinticLady »

Basslint wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 6:55 am I do not know the answer but I am pretty certain that there is never a definite answer if someone uses notation or not :D

That said, from my own experience, electronic musicians outside the classical tradition do not write notation. They do everything inside a DAW, presumably using a piano roll or a MIDI controller. Sometimes they do everything via samples, others might use a more analog approach via modular synths, others might use loopers.

I am not an expert of the Berlin school but keep in mind Ableton Live comes from there and is created by an actual Berlin-based dub techno act, Monolake. Ableton Live has no notation support. Since the developers probably know a lot of people from that scene, I would guess that it's not a feature deemed important.

Second, the nature of Berlin techno is such that notation would not really make it any easier to write it. Harmony certainly does not play an important role, sometimes neither does melody. As such, notation in this case IMHO would make it harder to read!

So, from my own guess, I would say that musicians from the Berlin School probably don't write notation.
I will NEED to properly learn to use a DAW, then. I only tickled Ardour, I need to cut my way in deepen, it seems :)
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Re: All that Ambient...

Post by milo »

Read the Ardour manual: https://manual.ardour.org/toc/

I read it cover to cover (or, I guess the web equivalent of doing so), and it really helped a lot. As FOSS manuals go, it is pretty good.
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