overused techniques

[Evil G]

it's always fun to jump on other genres for overdoing it with certain techniques. of course there are good producers doing creative things in most genres, but there are always copy cats who ruin it a couple of years later.

for example:

hard house tends to rely too much on snare rolls and hoovers,

epic trance tends to rely too much on string pads and chord progressions,

psy trance tends to rely too much on samples of tim and terence,

acid techno tends to rely too much on the 303,

idm tends to rely too much on distortion and reversed samples,

etc.

what about techno? personally, i'm starting to get pretty tired of high pass filter sweeps.

[xfive]

The whole "let's reverse the entire last bar" thing kinda got me bored a loooong time ago...

I like this thread.. keep em comin' peeps :)

[professor]

ride cymbals, filter sweeps, not a big fan of ping-pong delay either...

[RichieV]

lol Acid techno using the 303 too much?

no way

[Evil G]

lol Acid techno using the 303 too much?

no way

way! :)

[RichieV]

dance music has too many drum sounds
Like can't they be original and make it wihouth drums

Rock has too many guitars. I think they should replace it with a clarinet

[Evil G]

they do make dance music without drums, mr smarty. ever heard of a sampler? ;)

[Jimfish]

???

mr smarty.. they are still sampling the drums though!!

[Col]

eradicate drums from techno. lets go fuc*king crazy.

[Evil G]

???

mr smarty.. they are still sampling the drums though!!

sigh. i guess my humour effect isn't coming through. :(

[RichieV]

i guess what i am trying to say is that techno needs to be more original

see right now , all i hear is bcam bcam pshhhh zip zip and it is getting so old. I remember when "pushzh tzit tzit chichi " was underground and all the best techno producers were starting to use it. NOw it is so over done. Techno producers need to start innovation. Like seriously. Right now i am experimenting with a groove that kinda soudns like " bcam bop tzi bop shtain tzi" which just rips.

got to keep innovating

[xfive]

I think I need a text-to-techno translator....
Great.. then we can just use M$ Word as our sequencer... :shock:

:lol:

[Evil G]

I think I need a text-to-techno translator....
Great.. then we can just use M$ Word as our sequencer... :shock:

:lol:

i'm imaginng the joy of the auto-complete, auto-correct function interacting with my techno, and it hurts. you are a bad bad man for thinking of such a thing.

[xfive]

:lol:

The real question is.. what happens when you run the spell/grammer checker on it?

HEH

[DJZeMig_L]

supa-fast bpm, heavy distortion & noises, percussion that sounds like a nordic cold "I wanna play funky samba" percutionist on a straight 16th .

Bring back the crazy synth sounds and the funky banging drums!

Z

[Jimfish]

???

mr smarty.. they are still sampling the drums though!!

sigh. i guess my humour effect isn't coming through. :(

haha, i did wonder..

[sash]

the word "booty".

[Komplex]

Bassdrums are way over-used.

[hiroprotagonist]

thats actually a great idea. since when did techno need a bass drum to make it sound interesting? im sure someone could put together a really good track with just a funky rhythm made of cool samples. im sure its been done before too.....

[Komplex]

Actually you're onto something Hiroprotagonist.

A track where the intencity just keeps building but the kick doesn't come in till like 3 minutes. Just teasing and building anticipation, and when it does come in, it hits hard :)

I might throw that into the next liva pa.

[Miromiric]

actually young reeko already did that for some of his future releases.

[jake]

yes its been done its called the speedy j remix of ignition key

[eyes without a face]

it was done years ago

its called Nude Photo

[Basil Rush]

It's ****ed up this problem.

Do you try and stick within the genre or do you try and expand the genre.

If you expand too far you risk writing music that's got a niche audience of one, but if you stick solidly within the genre you'd better be producing a quality piece of work, particularly with an established sound like techno otherwise what's the point in writing it.

And it's always tempting to write for the more rocking / hard end of any genre for me for some reason ....

pretty confident i've just managed to wibble and make no sense at all, but i've written it now so i'm gonna click submit and see what happens.

[Sam_Horam]

it was done years ago

its called Nude Photo

Nude Photo does what? The kick comes in right near the start on that track.

I reckon you must be thinking of another May track like the Beginning maybe, or Icon.

:?:

[dirty_bass]

I think the use of ambient textures in replacement of programming is a little overused in the dark techno sound.

[mux]

HI THERE!

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE MAKING TECHNO!

WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO:

[ ] REVERSE THE LAST HALF OF EVERY 64TH BAR?

[ ] ADD A DISTORTED VOCAL SAMPLE?

[ ] COMPRESS A DISTORTED NOISE LOOP?

[ ] **** OFF YOU STUPID PAPERCLIP?

[eyes without a face]

hmmm weird?? i dont own a copy of Nude Photo but in my mp3 version the kick doesnt come in until 3.26 mins!

the title of it is simply Derrick May - Nude Photo, but it maybe a remix perhaps?

strange

[herman]

hmmm weird?? i dont own a copy of Nude Photo but in my mp3 version the kick doesnt come in until 3.26 mins!

the title of it is simply Derrick May - Nude Photo, but it maybe a remix perhaps?

strange

that sounds like the unreleased promo version on incognito its as rare as **** on vinyl though

http://www.discogs.com/release/218600

[Sam_Horam]

hmmm weird?? i dont own a copy of Nude Photo but in my mp3 version the kick doesnt come in until 3.26 mins!

the title of it is simply Derrick May - Nude Photo, but it maybe a remix perhaps?

strange

that sounds like the unreleased promo version on incognito its as rare as **** on vinyl though

http://www.discogs.com/release/218600

Trust you to know... ;)

[eyes without a face]

ahh rite thats the one

wikid track none the less!

[Sam_Horam]

I reckon I know where the confusion arises from after a bit of digging...

There is a load of derrick may mp3s knocking around over peer 2 peer programs of tracks from the innovator double cd thing which have been labelled incorrectly.

I had a quick listen to my cd with the Beginning on and the kick comes in right at the point you mention.

On the mp3s knocking about The Beginning has been labelled as Nude Photo. Nude Photo was labelled as Salsa Life. Salsa Life was labelled as More Phantom, and so on.

Scott, if you've got a bunch of those mp3s those are the right track titles, for those mp3s at least.

;)

Mystery solved....

(I reckon)

[eyes without a face]

ahhh nice one, confusion over!!!! haha

cheers Sam, job well done!

[acidchild]

acid techno tends to rely too much on the 303,


?? If it didn't have a 303 (or a suitable clone), it wouldn't be Acid. ;)

I know some people argue that Acid can be made with anything, but i disagree with that. I've been noticing a trend of using more drum loops as oppossed to more synth sounds in Techno lately. I wanna hear more evil synth sounds=o]

[Komplex]

Didn't realise the kick coming in at 3 minutes was done so many times already.

I better listen to more of other people music hehe.



I think the wrongly detuned sort of synths have also been WAY over used.

[audioinjection]

funny how ppl talk about overused techniques but we all use them :lol:

[tracatak]

somebody list some techniqques i dont know any..hehe

[DJZeMig_L]

Okie ... I'll just post one of the more dreadfull overused technics ... :

"...I wanna make tracks that sound just like **** tracks..." Influences is good, copycating is bad :nono:


Z

[audioinjection]

Okie ... I'll just post one of the more dreadfull overused technics ... :

"...I wanna make tracks that sound just like **** tracks..." Influences is good, copycating is bad :nono:


Z

lol yeah thats true

[tracatak]

:cry:

[yeswehavetheright]

Imitate then innovate?

[DJZeMig_L]

reshape, reform, re-invent!

I tend 2 think of Electronic music as an elipse and not as a loop, meaning, u do go back for sources of inspiration, etc... but then u add/ shape into something new!

Z

[tracatak]

hopefully u do know that is what i am doing but i am such a worry wart i need to knwo if i am doing it correctly of am i making house...lol...damnit im posting my loops somewhere then linking it here so u can stop pickin on me the lil poor yankee..lol

[Komplex]

Don't worry about what u are doing.

As long as it sounds good I wouldnt worry.

It doesn't have to sound like what everyone else is doing.

[DJVirulent]

I think the only thing I really REALLY can't stand in tracks at this point is sampled phrases of the following things:

-Popular hip hop tracks (even though I've done it once, but at the VERY end of a track)
-Samba/salsa/latin vocal and music loops
-Straight up whole phrases from other tracks that are longer than 1/4th a bar and aren't messed with sonically.

There was this really huge track that everyone and their mother played about a year or two ago that violated the latter two. Think it was Thomaz vs. Filterheadz but it wasn't "Sunshine". Ripped an easily-identifiable loop off from SLS's Tribe Cutz Vol. 1 EP.

[180mph]

it had to happen... techno has finally caught up with rock!!!!
THERES ONLY SO MUCH WE CAN WRITE WITH A LIMITED AMOUNT OF NOTES!!! dont be scared of being pigeon holed, all it takes is one nice noize in your track for it to stand out... who can honestly say that all their stuff is 100% original... it just simply wouldn't be techno anymore... it would be some alien, abstract form of mush that nobody understands... and what section would the shop-keep put it into ;) techno is techno is techno... thats why we love it... there are formulaes in all music, so lets embrace them and try work with them... sometimes we need them to define our sound!

(i know i'm gonna get hammered for those comments!!!! :lol: )

[Basil Rush]

it had to happen... techno has finally caught up with rock!!!!
THERES ONLY SO MUCH WE CAN WRITE WITH A LIMITED AMOUNT OF NOTES!!! dont be scared of being pigeon holed, all it takes is one nice noize in your track for it to stand out... who can honestly say that all their stuff is 100% original... it just simply wouldn't be techno anymore... it would be some alien, abstract form of mush that nobody understands... and what section would the shop-keep put it into ;) techno is techno is techno... thats why we love it... there are formulaes in all music, so lets embrace them and try work with them... sometimes we need them to define our sound!

(i know i'm gonna get hammered for those comments!!!! :lol: )

Well, yeah, sometimes I listen to music and think it's all been done already, you listen to MTV and get some plastic R&B rap act, or listen to a techno track that's a couple of loops and a subby rumbly thing. But then someone comes along and all of a sudden you're like why the **** didn't i think of that.

But it's hard work to innovate, and often comes out sounding a bit suspect on the first attempt. Strikes me there are people who innovate and then if it's good there are people who imatate, and some of the people who imatate actually do it better than the people who came up with the idea in the first place and then you have a new genre...

[180mph]

Well, yeah, sometimes I listen to music and think it's all been done already, you listen to MTV and get some plastic R&B rap act, or listen to a techno track that's a couple of loops and a subby rumbly thing. But then someone comes along and all of a sudden you're like why the **** didn't i think of that.

But it's hard work to innovate, and often comes out sounding a bit suspect on the first attempt. Strikes me there are people who innovate and then if it's good there are people who imatate, and some of the people who imatate actually do it better than the people who came up with the idea in the first place and then you have a new genre...[/quote]

don't get me wrong... i'm not saying dont innovate, i just disagree with people constantly moaning about techno being stale and derivitive. pop music has been around for eons... still basically the same principles.. (verse, bridge, verse, bridge, chorus, middle 8th... etc) and techno also seems to have a formulae.. admittadly its a lot more open to change than most music, but when was the last time you heard a techno track the really made you sit up and say "shit, thats differant" yet still sounded "techno"... i think for me it was a rmx on eukatek - some really disjointed tune, cant remember who it was but it had some serious off kilter breaks and blips, and a shooshing aeroplane noize over it.
but all that said i still enjoy formulaic techno. i love the feeling of knowing where a track is going and hearing it get there. the anticipation is unreal!

[Basil Rush]

blues is a fine example of something that's been the same for years. electronic music wants to try to be a bit more cutting edge sometimes for some reason...

[techno_smack]

I have been buying a few hardstyle tunes recently, and dont like to let them play to far into the tune because quite a few of them have this terrible screaching sound that comes in half way through which just sounds like shit.

does anyone know what im on about?

[DJVirulent]

I have been buying a few hardstyle tunes recently, and dont like to let them play to far into the tune because quite a few of them have this terrible screaching sound that comes in half way through which just sounds like shit.

does anyone know what im on about?

You mean some sort of really loud and irritating distorted high-pitched pad/string/lead type thing? Ew.

[techno_smack]

yep thats the one, works a treat at ruining an entire tune.

[The Divide]

Overused technique – The use of standard, dry drums and straight rhythms. Un-processed un-mangled bog standard sounds/samples.

Standard straight on/off beat rhythms without a groove which builds to a peak which usually features a ride cymbal instead of an expersion or feeling of resolve

Music that doesnt say anything

Something like that

[The Divide]

blues is a fine example of something that's been the same for years. electronic music wants to try to be a bit more cutting edge sometimes for some reason...

Actually you can make a connection between how Jazz and its subgenreas evolved to present techno/electronica

The experimental/wonkey version of Jazz was bebop, some of the Jazz people used to think "eh? what’s this all about, I cant dance to this". While the bebop artists looked down at the Jazz guys thinking they were so un-original. Bebop was mad, very surprising and un-formulated structures. Everything seems free and at times it sounds a bit chaotic. Bebop was more underground in a way bit like the wonkey stuff

I dunno, could be wrong with that tho :lol:

[Ritzi Lee]

supa-fast bpm, heavy distortion & noises, percussion that sounds like a nordic cold "I wanna play funky samba" percutionist on a straight 16th .

Bring back the crazy synth sounds and the funky banging drums!

Z

working on it! ;)

[FILTERZ]

I just make the music i want to make and dont worry about whether somethings overused or not every single time i make some edits, if it fits i use it and who cares about whether or not some anorak or producer or dj notices and says oh not that old effect or edit or whatever, guess what NORMAL PEOPLE DONT JUDGE MUSIC THE WAY US WEIRDOS DO they just listen to it and like it or not.

[massplanck]

quantised drums

[Evil G]

I just make the music i want to make and dont worry about whether somethings overused or not every single time i make some edits, if it fits i use it and who cares about whether or not some anorak or producer or dj notices and says oh not that old effect or edit or whatever, guess what NORMAL PEOPLE DONT JUDGE MUSIC THE WAY US WEIRDOS DO they just listen to it and like it or not.

you raise two really good points, and i don't have a good answer to either. i suppose you could fall back to the idealistic, "just make what's in your heart and if they like it they like it" position, but i think i'm not the only one who is too impatient for that. i'm trying, but what if i'm a scientist at heart?

[massplanck]

guess what NORMAL PEOPLE DONT JUDGE MUSIC THE WAY US WEIRDOS DO they just listen to it and like it or not.

Normal people dont like techno.

[The Divide]

Whats normal? :lol:

I think you can get over analytical about it. I just sit down and **** about with sounds and enjoy myself. Someone will say "oh that sounds a bit like..." and I will say "oh well". Doesn’t matter to me as long as the mixdown is right and I feel I have expressed myself

[FILTERZ]

guess what NORMAL PEOPLE DONT JUDGE MUSIC THE WAY US WEIRDOS DO they just listen to it and like it or not.

Normal people dont like techno.

By Normal people i mean people who enjoy music without having anything to do with its production or writing and who are not dj`s and i can assure you there are tons of them who like techno ;)