Electronic Music 411 - what has em411 taught you?

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what has em411 taught you?

StoreTags: knowledge, ponder, learned

Author: monty on December 11 2006

Viewed 6161 times. 34 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.

People who enjoyed reading this: Roshi, cbit, Unknownforce, mlbot, astroid, jdg, dealyllama, quicks, breakscience, ignatius, jcd, FailedSitcom, craque, colin, Artsigreg, reehc, KidQuaalude, relcad, kidko, jogn, crabster, mrpanda, VC, kwyj, tmns, nagrom, flies, license, bodo, Tenine, SenorFrio, electrodan, room, energygiant

--> I thought about a post i made recently (when drunk) where i said:
"i dont come here to "learn" anything"

but i thought about it and realised that Ive picked up much valuable knowledge without intentionally seeking it.
if you know what i mean.
i started thinking about what i have learned as a direct result of this site:

bass - i never used to think about it or explore it seriously in my tracks...my basslines were always random, accidental things. I now spend a lot of time thinking about how the bass sounds.

circuit bending - i hadn't even heard of the concept before. now my flat is filled with strange sounding audio weapons.

playing live - I used to think I needed a band or a laptop to play gigs until i started seeing blogs/photos of ordinary people from around the world doing gigs with essentially the same gear ive got.

the site also got me to stop trying to do IDM cos i realised too many people are churning that out. i think because i started making music with a 4track and some fx-pedals the quickness/slickness of computers dazzled/spoiled me slightly.
This site made me realise not all computer-music is good. So i started getting back to my more off-the-cuff, one-take vibe...rather than fiddling about putting reverb on every second snare hit etc etc...

what has this site taught you, or inspired you to do?

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Comments

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12/11/06 + mookid

jdg said: "

dataplex said: "
I obviously missed JDG's eq rant, link?"

i transmorgified into em5111 v.6.77
link"

I missed that, COOL!

Recent blogs: Renoise 1.8 goes gold, Kid Quaalude video, Fractals 3

12/11/06 + craque

this site has taught me that despite a lot of noise,
there are some very interesting things being done by individuals,
and the community of people making this music inspire me to write more.

Recent blogs: New Craque on Kahvi, Craque Loungey DJ set, stfu la?

12/11/06 + colin

ive learned that .. even though *im* used to it .. people can still find this place and have it totaly change their additude about making music.

Recent blogs: first video The Putt, Freescha interveiw EM411 mention of sorts, ebay, no payment

12/11/06 + monty

Unknownforce taught me never to wear a wig while playing a gig.

Recent blogs: 4-track Collaboration, i love plastic guitars, The Digger

12/11/06 + dataplex

jdg said: "

dataplex said: "
I obviously missed JDG's eq rant, link?"

i transmorgified into em5111 v.6.77
link"

awesome! thanks!

Recent blogs: klive releases debut album, sweaty psalms today!!, Konono N�1!, 4bit madness - bitroids first release

12/11/06 + daswesen

that music is fun (stfu)

Recent blogs: Announcing Ruin & Wesen, md mnm tutorial / thoughts, DIY Blog

12/11/06 + Artsigreg

I've meet alot of cool ppl here who have taught me mucho!!!

Recent blogs: Bloodsport movie song, jdg's cat dies (age 59), Artsigregs myspace page

12/11/06 + VC

Hmm, i've learned alot. Im not sure what have i picked directly from here, but for things that i didn't, it was the output and atmosphere of this place that inspired me dig into it. It has been massive amounts of perspective, inspiration and knowledge that i've gained with the 3 years i have been reading this forum. For me this place is one of a kind.

Recent blogs: "So Run The Tears As Wine" Acid Symphony, STFU Helsinki 07 24th and 25th of August, 27th birthday

12/11/06 + flies

lots and lots of stuff. i love this place for the amount of things i learn, the different perspective and nifty tricks, etc. One stands out to me atm:

several months ago, mlbot alerted me that my music lacked variety of 'shapes'. One of my major concerns in art is to make neatly off-balance compositions, and the more dimensions you've got to balance the more complex the end-product can be, the more layers of activity the music can take on. the idea of 'shapes' (envelopes, basically, eg sharp attack slow decay, slow attack slow decay, dusty crackle) had never occurred to me as such, and it has really helped my music (will be releasing something here soon).

one of the most helpful bits of feedback i've ever had. thanks mlbot.

Recent blogs: grade school, bohdan pacynsky, meditate?

12/11/06 + astroid

yeah fucking A!

i was being flip- people here have given me such amazing criticisms-mlbot foremost among them. jdg is particularly good at that, when you can prod more than a monosyllabic grunt out of him.

the sense that i get here, and that i then strive for because i think it's beautiful, is that there are a whole bunch of artists getting to know each other's work, and then following them on their bumpy paths. i love that. it's not a closed system, either, people can (sometimes it takes a bit of yelling, but ok) be strangers and get the attention of the community. that's great.

Recent blogs: thank you, wetf, 2 new things in my life

12/11/06 + monkvolcano

yea flies, that is a very important concept.. sometimes it's hard for me cause i tend to zone in on acid leads.. and forget about other stuff... but yea, the more textures, the richer and more stimulating shtuff becomes.

Recent blogs: sine sweep FAIL, cube lol, Vijo Editing

12/11/06 + lunatinker

astroid said: "... it's not a closed system, either, people can (sometimes it takes a bit of yelling, but ok) be strangers and get the attention of the community. that's great."

i also like open systems. i admit happily following some em411 old'schoolers trails,
but i'm lately noticing other large groups moving amongst us and pulling me hither and yon.
ElectroBel for example.
also, that i'm still the only one using synase-audio's orion but it doesn't seem to matter. the things I learn here apply to alot of applications.
like JDG says, be like water. Is em411 a zen thing? lol but kinda really?

Recent blogs: how do you Drone? long rich tones seamless

12/12/06 + celibacyclub

1. theres more to the internet than porn
2. how to make music
3. text is a powerful medium in the context of community and expression.
3.5. one can be sarcastic on the internet, but it takes lots of practice.

Recent blogs: em411 vimeo group, cc's monome, quixit in irc soon

edited: Dec 12 2006 + celibacyclub

lunatinker said: " i'm still the only one using synase-audio's orion but it doesn't seem to matter. ?"

its like chip toons or something. you make good stuff with such a funk tool that it seems all the more, amazing.

Recent blogs: em411 vimeo group, cc's monome, quixit in irc soon

12/12/06 + Roshi

celibacyclub said: "

lunatinker said: " i'm still the only one using synase-audio's orion but it doesn't seem to matter. ?"

its like chip toons or something. you make good stuff with such a funk tool that it seems all the more, amazing."

I used to use Orion! I was addicted to that wasp synth and I loved the built in sampler. Sad to say, until now, Ableton's sampler couldn't touch it in terms of abilities.

My problem is I am now on mac. I loved that program.

Recent blogs: Cello at 32, I heart Ondes Martenot, Summer Reading - The rest is noise

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