BILLAIN Q&A PART II

@percydnb@gmailcom

1. you have two versions of fade in and fadeout
the first is locaded on every sample property box here
http://audiosabre.com/images/FL%20Crossfade.png
The second option is to create volume automation.
If you ask me, depending on the task i prefer both, loads of times in the same project, just by following what i choose to hear.

2. If you stretch and mangle samples to the point of scratch, you are starting from scratch.
Sinewave, square etcetc those are short samples too if you think about it. and everything around them is a nice pack of effects. So if you undestand that synthesis is actually everything you do, you will come up with snares from kicks, i prefer field recordings, smashing stuff, because my field is that branch of sound design. I tried making some kicks and snares in fm8 before but while i make 10 in fm8 i make 300 with my method that in my case im more satisfied with. fm8, serum and ableton live have great algorythms for creating snares.

3.I do some drum tuning, but not too much, just to the point that they dont intervene with each other and to make sure the drum is not on a different note. If it is on the different note i try to kill the note and make it noteless so just punch is there in that case i can push bass even more upfront without any conflicts with sub and mids.

4.Reverbs are a good tonal compliment in filling the emptyness of things when i want something pretty huge sounding, or sometimes it just add that little tunnel harmonics to it. It really depends on the idea as well. You know some very dry basslines are amazing because they are raw as hell and very strong in motion. And then you have a type of bassline you want to describe as a giant waking up 500 meters across the hill, and theres a lot of rever across the hill if you picture that. so thats the thing like “what you imagine” is it a far away giant tripod horn like from war of the worlds movie who is like full of reverbs or an alien psychoacoustic close “allmost in your head” 3osc distorted and flanged stab. I described this thing like this because its more of an idea then a production technical thing.

@Evan
Im not able to see the track, can you retry?

What is your general workflow for sound design?

Mic recording, multilayering samples. Loads of reaktor usage. tweaking and triggering with kontakt player as well. but i now started to you patcher as well its a very cool thing in combination with peak controller

Y U NO S-LAYER?
I made this
https://www.facebook.com/BillainSystems/videos/946390982049807/
for this

Any updates on the operatic dnb sci-fi narratives?
still writing it 🙂

Beautiful stuff. Missed some of that, can’t believe I didn’t come across it before.

Are there any supplementary expositions on your sci-fi perspective?
Curious if it’s man vs machines, or machines vs machines.
Or maybe Maschine vs VSTs?

Good stuff here for those who ain’t seen:
Billain bass from trebles

Cheers man, i appreciate it 🙂

1: Well i dont have except really using my imagination, i guess it take a bit of practice with mind to imagine certain melodies. But from the technical side, it is interesting what can be accomplished with layered synths instead of using just one. They all seem to glue together with very wet reverb and then exported as a long sample note only to be imported again as a processed meat for piano roll and there we go to 3 channel split a bit of distortion maybe and openings with filters to move it or pehaps a chorus / flanger. infinite possibilities. you always leave the roughest part of the synth part for the uplifting naturally. Also best way to find inspiration, buy some synths! real ones, not vsti’s. I got Juno and i literally have around 500 hours of sessions recorded, with no particular goal its just wonderful to express ideas for no reason at all. Drop is not that hard, instead of listening the tunes dissect them into properties, any tune you have either me or noisia or just dissect it into individual screws, now you see its just screws and metal and plastic. You have all those materials at your possesion already on your hard drive right there. its just hard to construct a machine without manual, but eventually its a matter of numbers of trials. Also buy access virus ti snow. you wont regret it.

While some people and old chaps think that sidechain shouldnt be pushed too much, i think opposite. Sidechain has its sounddesign quality and its not a technical thing anymore, its a signature, theres numerous ways to play with it, either multibanded or pure volume. I think sidechain is a good effect when it comes to big soundsystems it allmost creates this vacuum science fiction atmosphere in loads of tracks. And even more, try sidechaining stuff that should not be sidechained 😉 because its just automated volume. How do you think they put so much sound effects into transformers movie in one scene? Even old chaps should look wider.

Dont reveal too much at the start, its good to save power for drops remember that, so start with softer snares and kick and no bass or just mids, because it makes a big difference in the game how intro is just a preparation for bracing of impact so to say. Also play with different hats, change them from time to time, sidechain some rides. overall idea is good, i think your next fifth tune is going to be even better. Thats how i calculate my own progress, because we all kinda love every new stuff and dislike old ones.

Thanks for the tips!

I ws also wondering how you go about organising your BASS low frequeicies.

Are you using bass expand on focusrite compounder on all basses to give back some of the sub weight?

XD
in terms of frequency space, im limited only by monitors and headphones which by all ryles are a constant necessity to improve. But i spent most of my years with dynaudio acoustics so i know them pretty well, the rest is knowing your room acoustic properties. I like to do unecessary things, sometimes keeping track very dirty or very clean (rarely clean but depends on a job). Some big labels were trying to get a hold of my tracks under condition to polish the samples and i said how would flying lotus sound if you polish his samples, or jdilla? frequencies are also personal opinion. and music standard is just there for business. i dont believe that music should be business in that direction so when it comes to mixing i do it my way and noone elses. So those hair dryers need to be lucifer’s sons and turbines should be their hellhounds, riding on 16th sub sidechained to a dry limbo.

I think im a little bit mad, surely something does happen after extensive listening to uncontrolled sounds and eerie places, but these experiences are one of a kind and priceless, there is just obsession and nothing else. once you get to know that routine, you’re not really on earth mentally.

i think its a fl studio kinda thing, sometimes even put kick layer in harmor and layer it with the original, sometimes a bit of vocodex on one of layer, to bring the harmonics and then glue them with preffered compression. usually works best. that plastic comes out. i love it because that plastic kinda reminds you of something profoundly AI / robotic /. you mix that with dirt and you got yourself a real cyberpunk thing.

lots of things changed after intrusion, well to be honest intrusion was even a bit under creative control, to please the label. a sacrifice for greater releases, i had horus and probes and red surface even before intrusion, but yeah. creativity vs industry. even now i changed loads of ways of sample manipulation and approach, and still people are sometimes afraid to release it, therefor now ill definitelly put those tracks on methlab label and my own label called metnem.

Ok