Amberwolf's Music Studio Technical Stuff (and the sonic products thereof)

[marvin78]

Listening to them back to back is a nice experience. The fact the link to part 2 is a page which keeps looping the song adds to that experience lol

They feel like part of the same experience. Made me think, the looping part, if it were a collection off all different 'connected' songs, and the playback would randomize the order each time, I think I would like that.

 

[Guerney]

In each track and each bus fed by them I've tried sticking series of SonitusEQ's setup to take out everything down there in the sub-audible 20hz area at -18db per eq, can't see any difference in the spectrum according to SPAN. Don't have any hardware to play back those frequencies so can't actually tell that way.

I tried some other EQs I have but none of them have a high enough Q to notch out the low end that way without taking out stuff that needs to be there (bassline, percussion, etc).

I'll have to render out a version with these and without, then use the spectrum view in Audacity and see if I can see a difference there. If not, then I'll try the only other thing I think I have with a realtime spectrum view is Smooth Operator by Baby Audio. I can't use it in SONAR but I can use it in Audacity, I think. Or stick it in VSTHost and virtual-cable SONAR or Audacity thru it there, and see what it shows me.

If I can at least see a difference when trying different EQs in the sub end, I can experiment to see which works without taking out stuff I need.
Once I can find a way to see the problem, then find a way to notch it out, then I can apply that as a general filter in my bus templates (and tracks if needed) and hopefully not have to worry about it aterward.

Export tracks of a multitrack individually, to process EQ on a more modern PC which you can install newer/different software on? Then copy back to the SONAR PC? Hardware spec wouldn't need to be high, should be possible with a cheap secondhand PC, software depending. Oodles of useful free VSTs out there.

With Sony Acid, to remove low end crud, I sometimes have to use 10 or more instances of Sony's 20 band EQ at the end of the long effects chains, plus Fabfilter to monitor, on every track before the main bus. I also use another instance of Fabfilter to monitor the main bus, at the end of any effects on the chain there, just in case.

Once I can find a way to see the problem, then find a way to notch it out, then I can apply that as a general filter in my bus templates (and tracks if needed) and hopefully not have to worry about it aterward.

I can hear it even with cheap Sennheiser RS130 headphones. It's depressing.

 

[amberwolf]

I can hear it even with cheap Sennheiser RS130 headphones. It's depressing.

Look at it, LOOK AT IT!!! It's monstrous! Why Amberwolf? Why?

AAARRGGGHHH!!!! IT'S EVERYWHERE!!!! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS AGAIN AMBERWOLF?!!?!?

Nevermind. While I appreciate the help part, I can't deal with all that superdrama. I'lll figure it out myself.

 

[Guerney]

Nevermind. I can't deal with all that superdrama. I'lll figure it out myself.

It was meant to be humorous, and you did ask, or I wouldn't have mentioned it:

@Guerney, do the newer songs have the same low-frequency problem as you found in the previous ones?

You said a geezer from the Cakewalk forum pointed it out too. I hope you noted I went to the trouble of recording and showing you what I'm seeing, because you said you can't. Looking forward to hearing clearer sounds without all this:

Many musicians make the same depressing and horrible sounding error - self-sabotage, of otherwise decent sounding music. It's on every track of yours I've heard.

Intended as helpful feedback, but I'm gone for now. Have fun.

 

[amberwolf]

It was meant to be humorous, and you did ask, or I wouldn't have mentioned it:

I don't typically find it humourous to be "yelled at" (all caps, nothing I can see to suggest otherwise, especially with the angry smileyface you have as an avatar


which is offputting to start with). I tried to ignore it but it happened each time, and I just don't deal well with angry people--it makes me afraid, and then i have nightmares about it, where all sorts of variations of it go on over and over with the angry people invading even my safe space (bedroom) and I can't get away. The nightmares just add to all the other ones I have about all the other awful stuff that's happened over the years (that I don't think about conciously and sometimes can't even remember if I try, but is still there in my head). Doesn't matter if it's in person, or via forum/etc communications--it all affects me just as deeply.

The last reply of yours I had started to reply to a different version (I guess you'd deleted it while I was typing up a reply about the computer stuff and the stacked EQs, and posted a new version instead?) than the final one you posted, and it didn't have the final comment in there. When I saw the forum said there were new replies posted, I looked and saw that, and it just sent me back to where I'd been the other times and I couldn't take any more of it, so I stopped there and gave up, instead just posting what I did.

 

[amberwolf]

Listening to them back to back is a nice experience. The fact the link to part 2 is a page which keeps looping the song adds to that experience lol

They feel like part of the same experience. Made me think, the looping part, if it were a collection off all different 'connected' songs, and the playback would randomize the order each time, I think I would like that.

I didn't know that sounclick looped them.

FWIW, since I have such trouble sleeping, then when I can't and I am too tired to do anything but can't stop thinking about stuff that's keeping me from sleeping, I sometimes use a playlist of the least-clashy stuff in VLC with random+repeatforever turned on. ATM there's almost a couple dozen tracks in it. I run it just loud enough to block out other sounds but not loud enough to wake me up if I do doze off (and I also have a "white noise" (not really "white") source separately that I always have to use to sleep that blocks out anything during silences).

 

[E-HP]

Gareki:

https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki



I have tried with both the music and the "cover art" to make something to convey the sadness, the disheartening dismay, of seeing your home destroyed, the things you live(d) with treated like junk and garbage. It's a feeling I know very very well, from the housefire a little over a decade ago.

I am still figuring that out (how to express it), so this is the beginning of that.

I am hoping that those that listen will tell me if it induced any emotion, and if so, what. If it isn't doing what I wanted it to, I can work on it more to try to fix that.

When I looked at the cover art, it reminded me of driving up toward the Lake Tahoe area, after one of the bigger wildfires had burned a lot of the forest. I drove around one of the lakes that I went fishing with my dad many decades ago. Virtually all the trees had burned to the ground, with only a few half burned trees here and there. It was depressing, and I haven't driven up there since. I viewed the area on Google Maps not long ago, and the area is still pretty barren. A few small trees and bushes.
Anyway, listening to the music, I think the vocals conveyed a lot of the feeling of driving through that area, since it was surreal. The beat was a lot faster than how I felt that day, since it felt more like slow motion. I liked the music, but it didn't quite induce the emotion that looking at the cover art did. I guess it all depends on images/memories one is reminded of.

There are some windy roads on the other side of the hill, that wind through the shady pine trees. I think this tune would be great riding those roads, because of the tempo/beat.

 

[amberwolf]

When I looked at the cover art, it reminded me of driving up toward the Lake Tahoe area, after one of the bigger wildfires had burned a lot of the forest. I drove around one of the lakes that I went fishing with my dad many decades ago. Virtually all the trees had burned to the ground, with only a few half burned trees here and there. It was depressing, and I haven't driven up there since. I viewed the area on Google Maps not long ago, and the area is still pretty barren. A few small trees and bushes.
Anyway, listening to the music, I think the vocals conveyed a lot of the feeling of driving through that area, since it was surreal.

It is supposed to convey the sense of loss of something, some place, etc., that one loves, but that others don't see that way (that may just see what's left as rubble, debris, garbage--it doesn't have any memories for them, but it does for you! That's what "gareki" as a term "means" / is used for in Japan, as far as I understand it. (it literally means "broken tile(s)", but the connotations and usage are much deeper).

I didn't know the word then, but it would have applied to my feelings after the fire back in 2013; all the stuff (saveable or not) was just so much debris to anyone else, even the "friends" that came (a few times, but not very long) to help me clean up and save what I could.

The beat was a lot faster than how I felt that day, since it felt more like slow motion. I liked the music, but it didn't quite induce the emotion that looking at the cover art did. I guess it all depends on images/memories one is reminded of.

Thanks for the listen and hte feedback; I will see about a slower beat (with the rest of it at the same timing), something maybe half (60bpm) what it is now (120bpm). I'm experimenting with variations already, though the present "part 2" experiment is at the same 120bpm and is more like an '80s synthy-song-type percussion (instead of the "funky indian percussion" I'd used originally).

I'm guessing I will end up with a multipart and/or multiversion track, because I like both the present versions too much to just drop them, but I am still feeling out how to get across the emotion, and if slower does that; that's where I'll go.

There are some windy roads on the other side of the hill, that wind through the shady pine trees. I think this tune would be great riding those roads, because of the tempo/beat.

That would be a good song title:
that wind through the shady pine trees
I can sort of imagine how it might sound, with darker sounds and softer not quite steady percussion, breaks here and there in it for gaps in the trees where the sound brightens with the light.

 

[Guerney]

I don't typically find it humourous to be "yelled at" (all caps, nothing I can see to suggest otherwise, especially with the angry smileyface you have as an avatar

View attachment 364703
which is offputting to start with). I tried to ignore it but it happened each time, and I just don't deal well with angry people--it makes me afraid, and then i have nightmares about it, where all sorts of variations of it go on over and over with the angry people invading even my safe space (bedroom) and I can't get away. The nightmares just add to all the other ones I have about all the other awful stuff that's happened over the years (that I don't think about conciously and sometimes can't even remember if I try, but is still there in my head). Doesn't matter if it's in person, or via forum/etc communications--it all affects me just as deeply.

The last reply of yours I had started to reply to a different version (I guess you'd deleted it while I was typing up a reply about the computer stuff and the stacked EQs, and posted a new version instead?) than the final one you posted, and it didn't have the final comment in there. When I saw the forum said there were new replies posted, I looked and saw that, and it just sent me back to where I'd been the other times and I couldn't take any more of it, so I stopped there and gave up, instead just posting what I did.

Unfortunately, you have misunderstood me, so I'll leave it there.

 

[E-HP]

That would be a good song title:
that wind through the shady pine trees
I can sort of imagine how it might sound, with darker sounds and softer not quite steady percussion, breaks here and there in it for gaps in the trees where the sound brightens with the light.

I can see a niche opportunity here. You could make custom tracks for different rides. I watch some of those YouTube ebike videos once and a while, and a lot just have the rider rambling on; gets boring. Music would be nice, but you can't add music without the YouTube copyright thing triggering. Anyway, whether for YouTube or not, customers could send you their video, and you could create the custom music for them. You could have the music transitioning at different points along the route (e.g. cresting a hill, going through a tunnel, etc.) or changes in pace/speed.

 

[amberwolf]

Customized "Fahrradbahn" tracks?

Could be fun.


FWIW, there have been some YTers whose music choices could be improved on / better matched to content that I've messaged / emailed over the years, but I have never received any response from any of them. So I don't think I could actually help anyone with this...but it is a nice thought.

Non-music-related, I even offered to just help with the audio side of the production of some of the ones that I'd like to see their stuff but can't hear them or can't stand the various serious audio problems they have...again, never any responses.

 

[marvin78]

FWIW, since I have such trouble sleeping, then when I can't and I am too tired to do anything but can't stop thinking about stuff that's keeping me from sleeping, I sometimes use a playlist of the least-clashy stuff in VLC with random+repeatforever turned on. ATM there's almost a couple dozen tracks in it. I run it just loud enough to block out other sounds but not loud enough to wake me up if I do doze off (and I also have a "white noise" (not really "white") source separately that I always have to use to sleep that blocks out anything during silences).

'Dark screen rain sounds' on YouTube, preferably something with soothing rain and no thunder which is always to harsh. Also, many are looped very badly which is also distracting.

Rain is the one thing which actually drowns out things without giving something to focus on. Sometimes I have a podcast on, but then I often wake up half remembering what the podcast was about as if I didn't really sleep.

FWIW, there have been some YTers whose music choices could be improved on / better matched to content that I've messaged / emailed over the years, but I have never received any response from any of them. So I don't think I could actually help anyone with this...but it is a nice thought.

You're going about it the wrong way. YouTube has a very 'nice' policy which allows you to react to other people's content. Put your static cover album as background, shrink some segment from the Singletrack Sampler to 1/3th of normal place it offset on the screen and put your music over it. I know some creators ( game related ) from not to long ago, it's normal and they see it as free promotion. I'm sure someone like Alexander ( or Seth.. or Sam.. or Jordan... or Jono/Matt... or basically anyone lol ).

And if you don't feel comfortable using footage from well known creators, well plenty of very small channels which would probably feel honored getting featured.

I'm actually quite intrigued what you would overlay certain things with, something from say Boostmaster Raw which are some of his uncut runs and then especially one where there are lots of terrain and thus ambient sound changes. Instead of trying to recreate an experience from scratch, having a guide in the visuals and ambient sounds would be interesting to listen.

But maybe not really what you're trying to do.

 

[amberwolf]

You're going about it the wrong way. YouTube has a very 'nice' policy which allows you to react to other people's content. Put your static cover album as background, shrink some segment from the Singletrack Sampler to 1/3th of normal place it offset on the screen and put your music over it.

I don't know what process that is. If I get time / energy I'll research it (but my primary focus aside from the unavoidable energy-sapping dayjob is still creating music and trying to figure out coding / etc for the wolfybot whenever my brain can handle it). If it's something that can be done directly on YT by just choosing where stuff comes from and letting YT do it's thing and post my video, I can do that.

If it's something that requires me to spend time installing, troubleshooting, and learning a program on my own computer, then more time downloading / recording videos from YT then cutting / splicing / etc and then rendering that all out and then uploading...that's something I just don't have time for, in the "hope" that someone will notice and like it and do something with it. I'm already using a lot of time creating music in the first place, but I can't *not* do it; it's like eating, etc--I have to do it to keep my brain from exploding.

I know some creators ( game related ) from not to long ago, it's normal and they see it as free promotion. I'm sure someone like Alexander ( or Seth.. or Sam.. or Jordan... or Jono/Matt... or basically anyone lol ).

And if you don't feel comfortable using footage from well known creators, well plenty of very small channels which would probably feel honored getting featured.

I'm actually quite intrigued what you would overlay certain things with, something from say Boostmaster Raw which are some of his uncut runs and then especially one where there are lots of terrain and thus ambient sound changes. Instead of trying to recreate an experience from scratch, having a guide in the visuals and ambient sounds would be interesting to listen.

But maybe not really what you're trying to do.

The creators I had contacted were mostly astronomy, chemistry, geology, failure analysis, etc, as those are what I am interested in and what I watch (or run in the background while doing other things). I'm not interested in watching others' rides, etc. as they don't teach me anything and it's boring and frustrating to watch and not be riding myself, so I have never watched any of those videos and know none of the creators.

I don't really "care" who uses the music, I would mostly just like to see it out there so that as many people as possible hear it (like any artist I do have an ego about my stuff and would like to be known and remembered), and if possible earn enough $$ from it to survive on while I do all the other things I would like to do but can't because I have to work a dayjob to "guarantee" enough $$ to survive on (can't risk not being able to do that).

 

[amberwolf]

Unfortunately, you have misunderstood me, so I'll leave it there.

Ok, well, that's not uncommon for me to do.

I'm not normal, and don't interpret other people well or at all; I can typically only do a literal translation of whatever people act like or say or do. So when people misuse cues intended to convey things, I can only see it as what it looks like, I cannot read their intent.

If you state that you're misusing the cues and for what reason, then I can figure that out, and react appropriately.
Otherwise, it's nearly certain that I will react to the cues the way they appear.

Some people misuse cues in a way that makes it obvious that they are doing so, often because they are so absurdly wrong for the moment, content, etc., that they can't be "real", and so I can sometimes correctly react to those. (like reading a Douglas Adams book)

But mostly, I can't do that, even when I know someone pretty well (a rare thing) and "know" that they do this sort of thing; I don't know when they're doing it facetiously and when they're doing it for real, so I have to assume it's for real so I don't get in trouble (or even physically hurt) for not reacting correctly to their anger or whatever emotion.

 

[marvin78]

I don't know what process that is

The Singletrack Sampler does sound like it could be a program / process, but it's just another channel

it's boring and frustrating to watch and not be riding myself

Sometimes the 'loud' stuff I find pretty distracting, and sometimes distracting is what I need. Other times, more often, the 'raw' unedited shots are nice.

You got to understand, I like riding but the views available in some of those video's are just astounding and something I live through vicariously

If it's something that can be done directly on YT by just choosing where stuff comes from and letting YT do it's thing and post my video, I can do that.

Well I was trying to say you could just pick a video on YouTube which you think your music could add, download that video, open it in any composition software of choosing and make a 'fair use policy' copy ( shrink window + add overlay + add link to original in description + add disclaimer of fair use in description + offer takedown if original content owners ask for it ).

It is very nice to always asks permission upfront, but 'fair use' gives a bit more leeway Still, it would be a lot of work for something there is no real way of knowing if anyone would find the experience of both video and music as a combination better then the sum of both.

I'm not normal

You're perfectly normal. You might not be neuro typical, but there are plenty of neuro typical people who are further from normal then you will ever be.

 

[amberwolf]

The beat was a lot faster than how I felt that day, since it felt more like slow motion. I liked the music, but it didn't quite induce the emotion that looking at the cover art did.

I am still working on this, so there is only about the first half of the "slower" version being mostly implemented, but does this work better?

https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14934398

It's probably still too "fast"; I'm having trouble not filling up the space....

The section from about two thru four minutes is pretty bare still.

If this is closer, then I have a lot of little details to flesh it out, and mixing decisions, layering, etc.

For comparison, the entire original is still there at the end, from about four thru seven minutes.

 

[E-HP]

It's probably still too "fast"; I'm having trouble not filling up the space....

The section from about two thru four minutes is pretty bare still.

If this is closer, then I have a lot of little details to flesh it out, and mixing decisions, layering, etc.

For comparison, the entire original is still there at the end, from about four thru seven minutes.

The slower beat works well. I was probably driving down the road at a normal speed; it was shady since the pine trees closely hugged both sides of the road, but then it went from green to black, with every tree as far as I could see were just burnt sticks. That's when it felt like slow motion. You can see on Google maps that the area hasn't recovered much in over a decade, but they cut back the dead trees along the road, probably for safety. It'll take hundreds of years to recover.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[amberwolf]

The slower beat works well.

Good. I did a lot more work on it today, still much more to do, but my ears and brain are worn out so am doing other things for a while till I can go back to it.

The new version replaced the old at
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14934398

I was probably driving down the road at a normal speed; it was shady since the pine trees closely hugged both sides of the road, but then it went from green to black, with every tree as far as I could see were just burnt sticks. That's when it felt like slow motion. You can see on Google maps that the area hasn't recovered much in over a decade, but they cut back the dead trees along the road, probably for safety. It'll take hundreds of years to recover.

Yeah, it's...desolate, depressing to see.

I chose the bits for the artwork to try to give that feeling; it's how I felt seeing my house, my home, over and over for most days for the year of the cleanup and rebuild, and for the first few (maybe even several) years back....even now I see things that are different and am brought back....

 

[amberwolf]

Further refined the extended version of Gareki
01-29-25: 010625 000001 500158N
Many many changes, added sounds, mix changes, timing edits, etc.
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14934398

 

[amberwolf]

Lots of refinement for Gareki II, so here it is on Bandcamp (where I put stuff that I consider "good" rather than simply experimental which is stuff I leave on Soundclick (the track is also updated there at the previous link)).

https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki-ii-alternate-version-cinematic-feel

 

[amberwolf]

New mystery WIP
Basic layout done; any feedback would be useful.

020825 000027h mystery WIP by Amberwolf

 

[E-HP]

Lots of refinement for Gareki II, so here it is on Bandcamp (where I put stuff that I consider "good" rather than simply experimental which is stuff I leave on Soundclick (the track is also updated there at the previous link)).

https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki-ii-alternate-version-cinematic-feel

I pulled up a video of a guy riding through the Pacific Palisades after the fires, muted the audio and played your music instead.
Starting at this part of the video, the music seems to match up with what the rider is seeing.

To me, it works pretty well with the visuals.

Edit: looks like you can’t mute the YouTube sound and listen to the music when on a phone or tablet

 

[amberwolf]

I pulled up a video of a guy riding through the Pacific Palisades after the fires, muted the audio and played your music instead.
Starting at this part of the video, the music seems to match up with what the rider is seeing.

To me, it works pretty well with the visuals.

Edit: looks like you can’t mute the YouTube sound and listen to the music when on a phone or tablet

Kinda wierd, stuff even syncs up with his hand motions.... :lol:

Only works with the "original" Gareki,
https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki
rather than the Gareki Pt2 extended version
https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki-ii-alternate-version-cinematic-feel
(the intro to that one delays everything so it doesn't line up right).

 

[E-HP]

Kinda wierd, stuff even syncs up with his hand motions.... :lol:

I know! It’s way better than that royalty free stuff people add to their videos.
Making the A match up with the V is a whole nother hobby. If you do it for a movie, you could win an Oscar!

 

[amberwolf]

I know! It’s way better than that royalty free stuff people add to their videos.

Is it?

Making the A match up with the V is a whole nother hobby.

in nearly every song, I have to make assorted bits of audio line up with each other, the beat, and ohter midi notes or events, so it wouldn't be that much more comlicated tp line it up wiht video. )

If you do it for a movie, you could win an Oscar!

It's a little more complicated than that to get an oscar, but...yeah.

Even if it were simple I'm nowhere near good enough at music to win anything for it. (if I was, I'd have a much bigger audience by now).

Still, I'll keep making it because i'd explode if I didn't.. ...and so, here's a new one:

mystery WIP
Any feedback would be useful. No name yet; still waffling among several ideas (none of them feel quite right).

020825 000027h mystery WIP by Amberwolf
Meant to be a bit mysterious, sparse bits of instruments among the base bass / percussion.



EDIT(s): A number of significant edits made, mix changes, added parts and instruments, etc. Most recent version number at the bottom, link above is still where to listen to it:
2-13-25: 020825 000027h (first public version)
2-13-25: 020825 000039j
2-15-25: 020825 000044k
2-16-25: 020825 000048k
2-16-25: 020825 000054m