How to use SYNTH NOISE to make music more exciting

[@Rattus9000]

This channel is gonna blow up. Keep it up mate, quality content as usual.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you so much! I’m a bit tired today after it took me a long time to get the ‘noise’ video right, but then I’m on to the next one. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comment :)

[@michaelsmith473]

Agree.

[@jcmanic]

Here for the ride. This is incredible content. And I've watched a few already.

[@N8oRMusic]

It's essentially like a rock drummer going hard on cymbals on chorus sections. Adds that chaos and excitement. Also playing open hi hats to add excitement to say, the B section of a verse or pre-chorus.

[@DistortThePreamp]

I think that's a legit idea -- in many ways noise is the new cymbals! Especially in EDM and dance where noise is essentially used as a direct substitute for cymbals and metal (as well as risers, fallers, etc). Really appreciate you watching and commenting :)

[@katiebarber407]

i make noise unintentionally while trying to make music, so i think thats why i was recommended this video. great video

[@DistortThePreamp]

Hahaha! Thanks!

[@HarryElwell123]

I watched one of your videos for the first time last night, I've since binged all of them and subscribed. You are brilliant. These videos are as entertaining as they are educational. Can't wait to see what else you have coming!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you so much Harry! Hopefully another one will be coming in a few days :)

[@cwxdaf152]

Great story telling, and a bit of a banger in the creation bit.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thanks! That’s so kind! Really appreciate you watching and commenting :)

[@DistortThePreamp]

I’ve just remembered what the track was - it was an abandoned version of a fantastic track called ‘He Left Me For Cocaine’. It’s a *total* banger! Should be released later this year but no date yet.

[@DanaClarkDana]

I really enjoy these videos you make; your personal passion is the crowd noise that makes them great

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s an awesome thing to say! Thank you so much :) 🙏🙏🙏

[@Sharkpuss]

Three AM Eternal! Big crowd noise in the chorus there and veeeery exciting!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Exactly! I loved the way that record was labelled ‘Live at the SSL’ 😂

[@BillAnt]

Can't you just sample a crowd cheer and mod it rather than synth it?

[@BillAnt]

@@DistortThePreamp - At 3:51 I could just hear it in that clip the noise in Erasure's song "Love to Hate You".... oh I love that band. :)

[@dougharvey9766]

Love your channel Rob, it's very unique with your great story telling skills and your production/sound knowledge just brilliant.

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@dougharvey9766 Thank you so much! Good guess with “Rob”, though that’s not it ;)

[@MarteenMayjer]

Wow, instant sub after that intro ❤️ Will be referencing this video as the most effective way to make an intro for a KZbin video.

[@DistortThePreamp]

I think that’s basically the highest praise you could have given. Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate you watching, and enjoying the content, and taking the time to post a comment :)

[@MarteenMayjer]

@@DistortThePreamp tbh I hadn't even watched the rest of the vid when I typed that. Just wow, so much good info and ways of thinking about writing. Immediately opened my DAW to try some of the techniques you mentioned. Thanks for making this :)

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh fantastic! Comments like yours make it all worthwhile :)

[@veganstevenmusic]

dam man, you did it again, another banger of a video lad, love from ireland

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s really kind. I so appreciate you watching. Probably sounds like a fake boilerplate reply (because I’m saying it a lot) but it’s all true. I started on 19 March and my goal was 1,000 subscribers within a year. We’re about nine weeks in…

[@Skepsissw]

OMG! That clap and tom combo sounds just like a whip! So cool! I'm gonna "steal" that trick, love it!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Fantastic!

[@philippebackprotips]

Many thanks for giving us the keys to the castle of those mysteries. Love it. Working them out on my MPC.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh amazing!!!

[@mathumphreys]

Just found your channel via the Drawmer video and this is another good video. You are definitely the king of gate - subscribed!

[@DistortThePreamp]

What a fantastically nice thing to say! Funny story - this video didn’t originally feature the Drawmer, but it was routed in because of a session I was doing and the gated noise just sounded too fantastic to leave out 😂 I promise more videos soon. And one of these days it might even NOT feature the Drawmer…

[@consequenciasinimaginaveis6901]

Man, this chanel f amazing! I'm mesmerized by the programming part!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh that’s really fantastic to hear! There will be a lot more of that coming, and I might even do some livestreams where I do programming against the clock! Really appreciate you watching, and the comment :)

[@gobblegobble831]

Loved your gated pads vid and this one is great too

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you so much!

[@passenger62]

Love this! I'm a big fan of noise, and I have a Neutron. So running an output from the patch section into a MIDI controllable filter (on a separate channel) is standard operating procedure 'round here. Good way of making the Neutron do more than just mono - particularly if the filter has pan control etc.

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@passenger62 Oh fantastic! I think the Neutron doesn’t get the love it deserves…

[@hostnik777]

Trent Reznor did this all over Pretty Hate Machine. He most likely got it from Jourgensen, who most likely got it from Adrian Sherwood, most most likely invented it, because he's an actual genius.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Absolutely! Sherwood lives near me and still does appearances in my local record shop :)

[@adee2569]

Fantastic video!!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you so much! This video is a bit ‘overlooked’ on the channel - maybe it was too arty, or maybe the thumbnail wasn’t quite right. But it’s actually one of my favourites :)

[@nathanweinstein2766]

High quality content. Bravo

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thanks Nathan! Really appreciate you watching and the comment :)

[@scottshouse2423]

Absolutely loving your videos, and I’m glad to someone else using a Pyramid, I love mine.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh fantastic! I love mine too! The *only* thing I wish it did is assign a track to multiple midi outs. Unless there’s a way I don’t know, whenever I’m playing two instruments at the same time I have to rig the midi which is a little annoying. But the Pyramid is *fantastic*!

[@scottshouse2423]

@@DistortThePreamp You can assign a track to multiple midi outs, when you select you midi channel, keep scrolling past the USB channels and then it allows you select a channel for A & B midi out, keep scrolling and you get the A & USB, keep scrolling, well you get the idea. Not sure if this is specific to your firmware, I'm running 4.02.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh, I did not know that and that’s incredibly useful! Sorry for the delay - your response somehow got lost in the noise.

[@ag3ntorange164]

New subscriber here that was bloody amazing! It's common in house music during a build up - to have a rising noise sweep usually 4 bars long, or over hanging into the next bar to aid transition. I was planning to do this with my Neutron. But now I'm going to zero in on that frequency!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Fantastic! This video has done comparatively badly. Who knows why, but I really enjoyed making the noise jam at the end. Maybe it's the thumbnail... Maybe it's too niche a topic... Whatever, I'm so glad you enjoyed it :-) I absolutely love my Neutron, and I absolutely love my crowd noise patch!

[@patkelly8309]

According to the subtitles the Ian Stanley Exciter advice was your " Urea Moment!" LOL. Sorry man, great video. Every technique you've suggested so far I've found really useful and inspirational. Thanks!!

[@DistortThePreamp]

ONG that’s sooo funny! I’ve really got to get around to doing proper captions and uploading them. So far as I believe, this means that people searching for ‘urea moments’ will find my rather obscure video about synth noise 😂 Really appreciate your watching, and the awesome comment.

[@morph-the-cat]

We all have urea moments now and then

[@DistortThePreamp]

😂

[@komorebi-design]

Fantastic video a real treat to watch you work!

[@DistortThePreamp]

That's very kind! I've been wondering if the programming speedruns are too boring for people, so it's really fantastic to hear you say this! I'm thinking of doing some livestreams (which would be available afterwards) where I spin a 'wheel of destiny' that picks a BPM for me and then I have to create synthpop on the fly, complete with intro, verse, chorus, other sections etc. The only reason to do it live would be so people know I'm not cheating. I hope you don't mind me asking, but what do you think? Could that be interesting?

[@davidaltemir1564]

Just discovered this channeled. Subbed! Thank you!!!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@janmuenther]

Absolutely love your mic decorations haha

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you! I don’t know why I’m only reading this comment now, but deciding what goes on the mic flag is sometimes the ‘highest stakes’ part of the video production 😂

[@stufacat]

Great video, keep them coming!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you! Comments like this mean a lot. I’m taking a day off then working on another one. I might do something special when I hit a thousand subs like a livestream where I build synthpop from scratch under time pressure. Sound good?

[@pamdemonia]

This is absolute 🔥! Your videos have inspired me to get back to making annoying noises with my computer after I'd stopped for a bit. Also, March 19 is my birthday too! So I guess I share something with this channel! Jealous of you seeing the Smiths. Must've been amazing.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh that’s fantastic! The Smiths were very good indeed on that occasion which was the Meat is Murder tour. I saw them again touring The Queen is Dead and, despite the legend that they were at the height of their powers, they weren’t nearly as good. Of course now we know that they were a band falling apart…

[@kevinaaronson]

Wow great video. I think this is why I like the strega by make noise so much. The delay circuit is so noisy it creates waves of white noise that sound great and are entirely playable with modulation. It is down right gorgeous.

[@DistortThePreamp]

So pleased you like the video! I’ve never had my hands on a Strega but it looks totally awesome, and a friend of mine has got some Make Noise modules. All extremely fantastic. Really appreciate you watching and commenting :)

[@mylivetubetv]

Seems like we are of the same ilk!!!! I enjoy ALL of your content!!!!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Well that's very good news!

[@sonicspecter]

Thank you for showing how to make a full track without using a computer DAW.

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@sonicspecter You are very welcome!

[@garrystubbs4891]

You really are an inspiration. I can actually envisage a use for this technique for lifting sections in prog rock tracks where ride cymbal usage is less prevalent. Thinking on, artists such as Van Der Graaf Generator and Hawkwind used a lot of filtered noise in their music way back in the early 70’s, so there is form there. Many thanks, and that’s a subscribe from me !

[@DistortThePreamp]

Both of those are great examples. I don’t listen to Hawkwind so much these days (probably the original pioneers of Space Rock!) but I actually still occasionally listen to VDG Gen.

[@pawnotdaw4559]

Ah Brixton Academy must be one of my favourite places to see bands and raves. Those Megadog raves were trully legendary.

[@DistortThePreamp]

It’s absolutely my favourite venue! I’ve seen so many bands there. Maybe the most meh were Echo & The Bunnymen which was my first gig - I think they were having an off night. Curve were incredible… The Orb… so many…

[@pawnotdaw4559]

@@DistortThePreamp indeed. I love the sloped floor. Saw The Orb 97 there also.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Probably the same gig. Yes, the sloped floor is fantastic!

[@morph-the-cat]

Another great video by an intriguing fella

[@DistortThePreamp]

Such a great comment! Thanks for watching :)

[@johnqpublic4662]

Amazing video! This my favorite music channel.

[@DistortThePreamp]

I am honestly completely humbled by this comment. It’s a lot to live up to. When you eventually change your mind don’t let me know - I want to live in this bubble…

[@johnqpublic4662]

@@DistortThePreamp lol

[@johnqpublic4662]

@@DistortThePreamp Well, friend, IMHO all it takes is a sincere desire to “talk shop” so people can understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. I don’t much see that from other content creators.

[@ChrisMills-AmbientSpace]

I found myself thinking about this video while watching the Rugby Sevens at the Olympics (NZ vs South Africa) where the crowd noise lifts to a low cutoff as one of NZ team heads down the field at pace, and then gradually opens and peaks as they neared the end of the pitch and scored a try.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh what a fantastic comment!

[@MrAliensix]

Another great video! And, a rather interesting mug in the background cleverly obscured by a metal bar. Does it say what I think it says?! 😀

[@DistortThePreamp]

Haha. Yes it does. It’s an official mug from the University of Northern Texas. And the handle is painted black. Those funny, funny students 😂

[@DetroitMicroSound]

Has a bit of a Thrill Kill Kult vibe, even. 👍..also, get yourself a Roland AIRA S-1. It's AWESOME at white, and pink noise effects. Really, it's all-around amazing! 😉

[@christdolphin69]

The s-1 is surprisingly excellent sounding and more versatile than you’d think

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s an awesome reference. Yes, I agree about the S-1. Good, compact, sounds fantastic! One can never have too many noise sources in one’s life. I’m also probably going to get the Behringer Edge at some point which will release one of my other synths from ‘noise percussion’ duties…

[@DetroitMicroSound]

@@DistortThePreamp 👍👍

[@videosvideos6243]

This sounds good 👌

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

[@DirtyWindshieldSeries]

GUP was such a Fantastic Album! Moving Pictures, Signals. GUP and Moving Windows saw the Integration and Progression of All that Awesome Synth Hardware! Rush did it right! This was a Great Vid with reference to sampling regular everyday noises and turn them into music!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you! I didn’t think there would be many Rush fans on this channel but it’s all really awesome!

[@els1f]

Giant arena EDM synths always have that big white noise added specifically for that excitement and it's amazing how well it works. I remember figuring that out and suddenly hearing in EVERYTHING lol😋

[@DistortThePreamp]

Yes! It’s one of those textures that one you hear it you can’t unhear it. It’s funny that people get obsessed with recording super-clean sound when sometimes a bit of noise floor really helps thicken the sound…

[@electroinblack6852]

Reamp through a guitar amp in a room not in the box & multitrack synth & guitar played live & use a lot of noisy old analog guitar pedals. Things sound exiting when they are imperfect. I call it the perfection of imperfection.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Couldn’t agree more. There is a hilarious amount of noise in my system and it’s fine. I have a neurosis for distortion in the box. I know it’s supposed to be fine but I just don’t think it sounds right. It might be down to the fact that plugins don’t have physical knobs, but my guitar amps sound fantastic and I literally stick them through old fashioned analog Palmer load boxes and speaker sims from the 80s and they sound amazing! I even put vocalists through them, snares, pads, etc. Super quick and delivers the sound instantly.

[@electroinblack6852]

@@DistortThePreamp It's interesting that some very popular Berlin Style Techno producers are now using old rack processors and noisy analog pedals to get the 'post Punk Sound'. They use this in conjunction with modular/semi modular. And some of that old rack kit is a bargain . I have a quadraverb plus (slowdive/Verve/Autechre) and it was £60 quid!

[@DistortThePreamp]

The qudraverb is amazing. Very noisy but who cares. Guitar pedals are funny too - if you think Behringer makes cheap synths you should check out their guitar pedals. They all sound great but they would not stand up to being stamped on. BUT synth players and producers don’t care about that! The best bargain IMO is the Behringer Ultra Vibrato which is a clone of the Boss VB-2. The Boss costs about £350 second hand. The Behringer costs about £20. It’s the same circuit. I have three because I’m so paranoid they’ll break and people will stop selling them.

[@brianmichaelfuller]

Great stuff!!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thanks Brian! Appreciate you watching and commenting!

[@Spriggan828]

I'm always trying to slip some shaped static in, cheers mate

[@DistortThePreamp]

This is the way.

[@gijsbouman5193]

Wow, gonna try this on my Behringer blue marvin 2600, sequenced by tne Korg SQ 64.😊

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s a great sequencer and an AWESOME synth. Probably my favourite mono. :)

[@Whitelight77]

Could you get to the bassline to Relax by FG2H using that gate effect ?

[@DistortThePreamp]

Actually that’s something different. I know *exactly* how that was done :) Would you be interested in a video? I would probably combine it with how to make the beat :)

[@Whitelight77]

I am interested in all the pop music from early to mid 1980s. I did hear not sure if it is correct , the comment was " the only good thing the Fairlight synth ever did was the bass line to Relax ".

[@DistortThePreamp]

Haha, that's really not true ;-) The main thing the Fairlight was used for with Relax was the sequencing - - it had something called Page R which was kind of like the first DAW. You could sequence MIDI but also samples so you could actually compile an entire record on it and, for the first time ever, decide to switch the chorus music with the verse etc. Relax was, so far as I'm aware, the first hit done in this way and therefore the first 'digital number one'. Also the master take was played live by the production team which included Steve Lipson on guitar, Andy Richards on keys, etc which is kind of amazing. In terms of the bass line, I don't want to give the game away but there are two bass sounds one of which is an FM synth stock patch and the other of which is a sample of an acoustic instrument with some fairly savage EQ. There was no side-chaining so the pumping effect is got by... well that would spoil it 😂 Sound interesting?

[@tomtebby7408]

Sounds very interesting

[@nichttuntun3364]

Help needed: Is there any plugin gate which has extreme fast envelopes to get into the ballpark of the Drawmer hardware? Gated noise is the hot shit: listen to Ministry's album Twitch. Add some distortion, maybe Bitcrusher and delay and off you go.

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@nichttuntun3364 hey :) Yes, there are a lot of plugins. They don’t sound exactly the same, but they do a great job if you work inside the box. I would describe the sound as different - not better or worse, just different. Ableton and Pro Tools both come with good gates that are keyable from a sidechain. I’m sure the others do too. In terms of external plugins, take a free trial of LFO Tool (Xfer), ShaperBox (Cable Guys), and Gatekeeper (Infected Mushroom) and have a play. They’re all different and they’re all a lot of fun. FWIW the main reason why I use outboard gates is because I want to hear them in real time while I’m playing. If I was producing in the box - and I have (and occasionally do) - then I would use one of those! Have fun and let me know how you get on :)

[@nichttuntun3364]

@@DistortThePreamp Thank you. I'll have to experiment with them when I got more time. I think key here are fast envelopes for that snappy sound.

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@nichttuntun3364 absolutely! The plugin gates are very snappy, though there is definitely something ‘funny’ about the Drawmer sound. It might be a natural distortion when it ‘tears’ the wave as it closes the volume. I’m hoping to see Drawmer in the next couple of months and I am absolutely going to ask them!

[@nichttuntun3364]

@@DistortThePreamp Cool. Please let us know, what they said. 😊 Yes, gates can distort the sound, can be a great additional feature.

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@nichttuntun3364 Will do. At some stage I’ll get round to doing a proper test with a sine wave and an oscilloscope too…

[@longshotkdb]

Pink! Pink noise, everywhere! lol It was always ontologically obvious to me that pink is the most abundant noise. So happy when the James Webb telescope confirmed. lol The universe is indeed, mostly pink! ∆ sounding awesome 👍

[@DistortThePreamp]

Yes! Sorry it took so long for me to reply. If you don’t have a generator you can approximate from white with filters, but I agree - if you think about what pink noise is then in the absence of any other information the default hypothesis would probably be pink over another kind. So pleased you liked the video :)

[@longshotkdb]

@@DistortThePreamp I had to move away from the maths a little. I'm autistic. I spent years working on a hypothesis that ended up looking very much like the shadow of shrodingers cat. Thought I'd back up before my brain broke. Now, I'm just kind of on the loose. As it where. Learning to translate ancient Greek lol Say nothing... ∆ pink noise

[@hurricane6014]

Gotta love that Lately Bass … and … Everything else.

[@JudgeFredd]

Great memories

[@DistortThePreamp]

Such great memories. So vivid as well. I have astonishing recall of that gig. There were tracks I was unfamiliar with and I remember every note of how they were played to the extent that when I heard the studio versions I was able to spot the difference. One day I’ll ask a neuroscientist how those memories came to be so hardened.

[@giantsparkplug3462]

Maybe you could add an inset in the upper left of the Pyramid screen when you do these Programming Speedruns.

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s an excellent idea and something I’m working on. I have had a slight production problem in that (sorry to bore you with the details) I’ve only been recording in 1080p on the overhead and need to record in 4k but have been having a focus issue. However I think I might have solved it. I’ve been doing tests of exactly this and the inset makes a huge difference!

[@Whitelight77]

That is a very astute observation about the grunge element to their music , not something I had previously considered, I just had them as a band combining synths and guitars.. But the final track on the album a song named Sence is an even heavier version of grunge meets acid type synths 👍

[@DistortThePreamp]

Hang on, I’ve only just realised that Dave Formula was in this band… is that right? You must know this but just in case you don’t Formula was in Magazine, Visage, and basically can do no wrong. I’m amazed that I didn’t click this before! Regardless, it really was a difficult time with a lot of bands feeling pulled between what they wanted to do artistically and what they felt that should do commercially, and with a lot of attempts to cross genres. I’ll give the whole album a listen…

[@Whitelight77]

@@DistortThePreamp Not quite Dave was supposed to work with the band but i am pretty sure it fell through. The main person at the record company supporting the band left i think ithey were with EMI then everything started to fall apart. I have read and listened to Dave on podcasts that is how i know it did not work out unfortunately

[@DistortThePreamp]

@@Whitelight77 This makes sense because if Formula had worked with the band they would almost certainly have a Wikipedia page.

[@Whitelight77]

@@DistortThePreamp The album is quite different to that single in my opinion, the other single from that album is Soap Opera, which is also a blend of synths, bass synths, guitars and real drums, i know it took the band quite some time to find a drummer they could work with . Las Vegas Leg is an interesting track great bass and drums

[@legacygone]

my man can tell a story!

[@DistortThePreamp]

🙏🙏🙏

[@EUZR-Official]

You are one cool dude!

[@DistortThePreamp]

That is a very kind comment! :)

[@dashobradors]

I'm glad I found your channel. It will become one of my favorites for sure!!! I have some questions: you said filter below 85Hz and above 255Hz, right? Because I'm trying, and I can't the same result, but instead 255Hz around 2500Hz I can get closer to your result. What filter slope you are thinking of, a 12db/octave? Thankyou! Loved the video and your 80s bass one too!

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s an interesting question. Yes, I would work on about 85Hz to 255Hz for the fundamental of the human voice, although the intelligible range is often more like 1-2kHz. In fact, just to digress, the old Bell system telephones used a brick wall filter below 400Hz and above 4kHz (which is a very simple way to get an authentic telephone sound, especially if you add a bit of distortion). To answer your question, assuming you’re using plugins in the box I would first make sure to use filters rather than just EQ because you’ll need the resonance. Ableton’s filter would be fine. I’m terms of third party plugins, FabFilter’s Volcano plugin is excellent (though probably overkill for this). The thing is - and this is a confession - because I did it all in hardware I didn’t actually check the frequencies on a scope. Although I’d be surprised if I was wrong (though it’s not impossible). I would start with a slope of 18dB/octave. It’s also possible that in my demo the resonance adds distortion which adds harmonics. Huh - now I’m going to have to check it 😂😂😂 Bottom line of course is that you do this by ear without looking at the screen and once you’ve got it sounding right, then those are your settings. I did find that, as I said in the video, you have to fiddle a bit to get it to sound like a crowd. Too low or too high sounds unrealistic - there’s a very small frequency range that needs to be tuned in. Thank you sooo much for watching and I’m so pleased that you’re trying to replicate the effect. I never know if people are actually doing this, or just have the videos on in the background. Thank you. :)

[@dashobradors]

@@DistortThePreamp thank you for such a response! I was just merely asking because using said frequencies didn't give me a similar result I heard in your track, but I'm always using my ears for this purpose, and the important part is the concept behind this technique. Thanks for the telephone extra tip! I was doing it always with trial and error but I will try with the Bell telephone system 😜 I use filters normally for sweeping movements (big fan of filters) and will try with different slope filter (used a Moog one). And finally yes, I try techniques I find on youtube (I learn a lot from this) and that's how I found your channel, the algorithm was like "Dash you will enjoy learning from this guy" and was right! Keep up with the good work! Love from Barcelona❤️

[@sonicspook007]

I'd love to try some vocals out for this track. lol. Also - do I hear a little Dead or Alive in that beat? ;)

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh that’s interesting! Obviously there ain’t nothing wrong with Dead or Alive! Fun fact - did you know that Pete Burns was a friend of Morrissey’s and even went on stage with The Smiths and dusted on an encore of ‘Barbarism Begins At Home’? The track at the end was actually borrowed from a production I did with an amazing singer called Yve. The track was called “Her Left Me For Lorraine”, or at least that was the clean version. The explicit version was a drug that rhymed with Lorraine. The song is still being shopped around but I’m pretty sure it will find a home and get released :) Thanks for all your comments :) And in terms of trying out vocals, try anything you want :)

[@philharland]

1. There are no mistakes only happy accidents. 2. There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend 3. You can do anything you want to do!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Well this is all true. All of it. Especially the bit about the tree. :)

[@oupahens9219]

That's what cymbals are for. Especially in jazz.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Yes. And I especially agree with ‘Especially in jazz’. A friend of mine who’s a jazz drummer has a really interesting ‘dark ride’ cymbal. It’s very heavy and doesn’t have a bell and when he plays it he sort of builds up a bed of noise. And of course this adds excitement! Really appreciate you watching, and the comment :)

[@vidjenko8349]

Oh you mean white noise. There's some really cool examples of synths that are specialised for noise music. The Ekdahl Polygamist is super unique but is as rare as hen's teeth. That thing can make some crazy cool evolving noise. Of course it can also be used for regular music and it's great at bass.

[@DistortThePreamp]

I’ve just had to look that up! It looks mental! Thanks for watching, and for the comment :)

[@GarethThomasTunes]

Loving this channel, the thoroughness, the enthusiasm and the sounds! Just wondered why you’re not sequencing in the Arturia Keystep? I bought a Keystep recently for sequencing - but found it responded better to programming - rather than performing into it. While live recording it misses some notes. Have you found that?

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s exactly right. The Keystep can only really do a maximum of 64 notes per pattern and all of those have to be on a grid. For example, if you’ve got the grid set to 16th notes then you can’t capture any 32nd notes in it. It can also only address 4 channels. With my setup, and please don’t think this is a flex, I’ve got a dozen synths many of which are using multiple channels. So out of my Pyramid I’m running *three* midi circuits (two din, one USB) to control the whole system. That’s what I need when I’m doing writing and producing. The Pyramid is pretty powerful - virtually unlimited notes at a high resolution. I used to use the Keystep Pro for sequencing but, regrettably, it wasn’t powerful enough. The reason I haven’t got rid of it is (a) it fits in my very small space, (b) I really like the keybed, and (c) I occasionally use it in split keyboard mode. TBH although I’m a fan of Arturia and have one of their synths (and have owned a couple of their drum machines), the KeyStep Pro is not really functional enough as a song programming tool. You can just about programme repeating sequences into it, but you can’t use it as the beating heart of a programming setup where you’re producing fully fledged records. Does that make sense? Please don’t think I’m down on the KSP - I’m not, but it’s not a very powerful sequencer :(

[@GarethThomasTunes]

@@DistortThePreamp hey thanks for that - the Pyramid sounds great. There is a lot I love about the Keystep too, even the fact that it is limited. It’s just that it doesn’t respond well to performance recording. Sometimes it completely misses notes that are played within 16ths and 32nds - a resolution it should handle! Though maybe if it’s a tad off the grid it just opts to not recognise the notes. Might have to chat with Arturia helpline. I particularly enjoyed your live ‘lately bass’ vid as I’m a left hand synth bass player - gonna start gating pads now too !

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s so awesome! And you’re right about the KSP - always push your gear to the limit, and try to avoid buying things you don’t need ;)

[@DuncanThompson-du4zz]

EXCELLENT. THANK YOU. INSTANTLY SUBSCRIBED!

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s so amazing! Really appreciate you watching and commenting!

[@mightyjb5261]

'You See The Trouble With Me' by 'Black Legend' uses this philosophy to the max!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Exactly. Makes it so exciting!

[@supercal333]

Why not use a crowd sample?

[@Whitelight77]

If you get time have a listen to the synths on this record, I contacted the Producer to find out what synths they used on the song , they used Pro Tools was the reply. Band name Inaura , song title Coma Aroma ( Radio Edit )

[@DistortThePreamp]

Lol. That’s incredibly unhelpful. I’m listening now and the gates would almost certainly have been done with a Drawmer DS201 because of the date. The beating sound you can hear at the beginning sounds to me like analog distortion through some kind of drive circuit. It could have been a distortion pedal, or a guitar amp, probably not just a mic preamp. The trick is to get it just at the point of breakup so that, with the gain set correctly, the wobble of the synth keeps clipping the signal. I reckon that if you can get the effects right almost any synth will work. The sound underneath sounds like an organ made with sine or triangle waves maybe..? But the key to the opening sound is drive, I think. I’ll listen properly and get back to you…

[@Whitelight77]

@@DistortThePreamp The acid type sound I can almost get that on my Access Virus Redback. Thanks for listening 👍

[@DistortThePreamp]

Hey - I’ve listened to this carefully. It’s quite an interesting production. 1996 was quite a confused time for music because you had the opposite aesthetics of grunge and electronic that people were trying to reconcile. So for example on this track you’ve got deliberately distorted vocals which is a grunge trick, what sounds like real drums (certainly the hats) even if they were fixed and looped, a real bass, and lots of guitars, but then you’ve also got gated pads, a sequenced bass, filtered samples and loops, and so on. Because of the year I would imagine that it was all hardware synths and outboard gear rather than soft synths. But they could have used something really generic like a Korg M1 and then added pedals or outboard fx, gating etc. The synth bass on Oakenfold’s Perfecto mix probably isn’t a 303 although I could easily get exactly that sound on my 303 which as well as doing acid also does very well at fast 16s that sit in the mix rather than dominating. I could 100% replicate this track very closely including the guitars and vocal production techniques, although I would probably be using different gear. But I’d be running most of the tracks through an amp! Could you give me a time reference to the ‘acid bit’ you referred to?

[@Whitelight77]

Wow, you really have been giving the track a good listen . The acid part synth you can hear best on the verse of the Radio Edit single mix . I have a Dr Groove Dr 202 drum machine, which has a very similar bass synth sound to the Oakenfold version

[@Whitelight77]

The band are from the outskirts of London. I contacted the guitarist he is happy with his new career but was disillusioned with the music industry which is a shame .

[@Feldspar__]

Fun to watch you make this in real time with your stream of thoughts as you go. Are you making the cinematic doom hit with the R-8?

[@DistortThePreamp]

Yes, well spotted! I think it’s a sound called Doom Tom or maybe Doom T1 and I detuned it. Thanks for watching, and for the comment!

[@TheGazzadj]

I wasn't there, but I wonder if the gig started with The Queen Is Dead???

[@DistortThePreamp]

That gig didn’t, but the next one I went to did ;) The gig I went started with ‘William it was Really Nothing’. It was the ‘Meat is Murder’ tour and they were in incredible form. Contrary to what has since been reported, I think they were much better in that tour than the next. For ‘The Queen Is Dead’ tour they looked tired, and a bit miserable. Craig Gannon was in the band, and it later turned out that Andy had a heroin problem and Johnny was drunk. That second gig felt very anti-climactic. As a result I stupidly didn’t bother going to see them again a couple of months later which would have turned out to be their last gig. But having said that, their last gig would have been even worse, and I really would have preferred to see them tour the first album.

[@Whitelight77]

Just had a listen to Inaura - Las Vegas Leg, the singer is doing his best David Sylvian / Japan impression.

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s so awesome. And an impression of Sylvian is an impression of someone doing an impression of Bowie. Which is in turn an impression of someone doing an impression of someone doing an impression of Anthony Newley. Music is very meta!

[@Whitelight77]

@@DistortThePreamp Probably all down to that South East twang ?

[@DistortThePreamp]

You might enjoy this kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKPXiXmKrJecmdEsi=yfFR2IfniBDVUzMm

[@Whitelight77]

@@DistortThePreamp I have a listen , cheers

[@Whitelight77]

@@DistortThePreamp I liked the Lou Reed version best you can hear singers that have been influenced by those singers. I was seeing images of Pete Murphy - Bauhaus

[@mufakkas9731]

dude, fantastic sties, fun to hear about Tears for Fears.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you so much! There’s more on the way…

[@steviebarr7353]

The Beatles used white noise on I Want You (She's So Heavy)

[@DistortThePreamp]

OMG you’re absolutely right! I completely forgot about that. It’s one of my top ten Beatles tracks too! I wonder what they used for the white noise? I’ll have to look it up in Geoff Emerick’s book…

[@jedgould5531]

Yeah, yeah, and they needed a synth to do it. Paul Beaver made the trip to England to deliver a Model 35 to George. And the most they got out of it was Heavy and Sun King lead lines. Waste of money.

[@mrJimCharles]

I think the best "noise adder" synthesist I can think of is Thomas Dolby, I'm always knocked out by what it adds to the track and think how the hell did he think to do that sound there???

[@DistortThePreamp]

He’s utterly amazing. It’s also incredible how many tracks he’s played on as a session player. Such a good player…

[@Merluso0822]

From the all people that walked behind him, just 10% looks like actual english people 😂😂

[@blockeighteen1059]

The amazing Bob Ross. A total icon.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Hahaha. That came out of a comment about the previous video (about gating) where somebody said that my style reminded them of Bob Ross 😂

[@veganstevenmusic]

the bob ross pic hehehe

[@DistortThePreamp]

All for you 🤣

[@veganstevenmusic]

@@DistortThePreamp :)

[@DistortThePreamp]

Currently figuring out my next ‘star’…

[@veganstevenmusic]

@@DistortThePreamp ill stay tuned to find out :}

[@emnigmamachine]

Art angels by grimes has some sick crowd noise that’s sidechained to the kick

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s a really great sound too! Very good reference…

[@Whitelight77]

It really is a great sounding bass line but then again the bass line on Two Tribes is really good but not as electronic sounding. I did hear an interview with Trevor Horn about some of the production and cost of making Relax. Those musicians you mentioned turn up on plenty of bands from the 80s a lot of bands using the same session musicians - Wham, ABC, Go West, Fuzzbox, Annie Dudley also plays on some of the tracks by those bands

[@Whitelight77]

Another great song to dissect would be Dead Or Alives - You Spin Me Round Like A Record, when that came out it was obviously different from the music around at that time , musically advanced technology

[@DistortThePreamp]

Anne Dudley was part of Trevor’s team - she was a classical strings person really - and she worked on Lexicon of Love and is credited as a co-writer on 4ever 2gether (from memory), although the ABC drummer did it all himself (and is now a session player). The session musicians were often attached to the producer, especially in Trevor’s case who used to prefer to use the same people again and again because they were known quantities. You might enjoy his autobiography ‘Adventure in Modern Recording’. Two Tribes is actually pretty different sounding to Relax. Frankie’s bass player *actually wrote that* and I think played it (though he did not play on Relax). The best Frankie bassline IMO is Welcome to the Pleasure Dome. Again, that was genuinely written by Mark O’Toole (the bass player). I was at Sarm West a few years ago (they were selling gear, I wasn’t producing or tracking) and it felt pretty weird to be standing in the room where all the Frankie and ABC stuff was recorded.

[@Whitelight77]

@DistortThePreamp Fantastic experience to be in that studio 👍 . It is a shame Welcome To The Pleasure Dome did not make No1 as I think it is my favourite from the first album. I see Anne is now the conductor for the ABC tour or was it a one off strings only concert ? I will get the TH autobiography this winter , thanks

[@DistortThePreamp]

That’s my view too, though it’s really much too long for a single and the 7” edit was a bit of a cut-n-weld job. Such an amazing baseline though.

[@DistortThePreamp]

Oh I think ‘ You Spin Me Round’ was mixed by Phil Harding (now Dr. Phil Harding) though the Wikipedia entry doesn’t say. I used to have a bootleg of a Smiths gig where Pete Burns came on for the final encore which was ‘Barbarism Begins at Home’ (so it must have been the ‘85 Meat is Murder tour) and duetted with Morrissey.

[@thameddler]

Never mind synth pop, this tune’s a New Beat style club banger from 1989

[@DistortThePreamp]

Awesome comment! I almost dropped the noise solo at the end because I was worried it was too ‘arty’…

[@thameddler]

@@DistortThePreamp art is what we’re doing though right? 😂. This sounds like something you might have found on R&S records or another Belgian label at that time, the less industrial sounding end of that genre. Which of course was built upon all the great music that came before it in that decade.

[@KurtLorenz]

❤❤❤

[@DistortThePreamp]

🙏🙏🙏

[@TheBiggerburger]

Speed the whole thing up to 130bpm and you yave every Motiv8 remix, ever

[@DistortThePreamp]

Hahaha! Such an awesome comment!

[@eti313]

Try noise, instead of a pitched instrument, into a vocoder.

[@AlainLeonalienrasta]

Intro to Moving in Stereo by The Cars music.kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2bSgY18ecicbpI&si=a5nuSk3uyFOanf61

[@Whitelight77]

When that single Coma Aroma came out it was at the same time as the Spice Girls , I thought Inaura would be massive but sadly it was the Spice Girls that broke through

[@DistortThePreamp]

This is the way. There was a considerable amount of machinery behind Spice Girls and, I’m not knocking them at all, but in those days it was extremely challenging for less supported bands to break through. Spice Girls were also targeting a considerably younger demographic - one with theoretically zero money, but actually quite a lot of money because their parents paid. I’ve been in rooms where this was discussed 😂

[@mathiasgrun630]

Best example would be every Track of "Scooter".

[@iantanner7579]

It's a little dated now, but to hear some gratuitous use of distorted noise, screams, etc, being processed by noise gates, check out, - Strap Down Part 3 - by Meat Beat Manifesto god bless

[@DistortThePreamp]

Fantastic reference. I’ve got an MBM 12” in storage though I actually can’t remember which one. I used to listen to Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten etc as a kid which until you mentioned MBM I’d forgotten about! Probably where I was channeling the noise solo from. I’m now taking a trip down memory lane into late 80s experimental industrial noise synth pop. Really appreciate your watching, and the comment, and the MBM reminder!

[@replaceablehead]

Recording Secrets of the Pharaohs.

[@DistortThePreamp]

😂😂😂

[@H2x2x2]

👍👍👍

[@DistortThePreamp]

🙏 Appreciate it!

[@DuncanThompson-du4zz]

JOHN FOXX -- UNDERPASS

[@DistortThePreamp]

I’m a huge John Foxx fan, _Obviously_!

[@TheBiggerburger]

Big drum, Crowd noise. This is in danger of sounding like Steve Wrights old opener!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Hahahaha! Maybe I was channelling my inner Steve Wright… 😂😂😂

[@ArgumentShow]

I was supposed to sound engineer them with Martin Hannett producing but the money men said, they would have to change there singer first. true @0:25. I was the same, a electronic musician who by luck listened to Rush ,spirit of the radio. When back to Manchester to watch them do there 30th tour. best gig i have ever been to.@4:40. Here at the beginning make good use of noise but with the rez up high so half noise and half filter oscillating kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2i8hqWIndeaZ5Y

[@DistortThePreamp]

The Smiths? That’s hilarious. I’m not sure Hannett would have been so good for them - he had such a ‘sound’. I think John Porter did a very good job of understanding them and translating that to a record. Much better than, for example, Troy Tate whose demos really miss the mark IMO.

[@cicada8790]

Wish by Nine Inch Nails is a great example this

[@DistortThePreamp]

Love it! Trent is a genius. Really appreciate you watching, and the comment :)

[@cicada8790]

@@DistortThePreampreally well put together video by the way!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you! That's a very kind thing to say!

[@plasmaforce11]

16:00 😯😯😯

[@oceanix1929]

Just ask Trent Reznor about noise!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Exactly. It’s a very important part of sound. Everything I do has a noise layer.

[@buzzandjim4265]

Sounds like you have wind 😂

[@DistortThePreamp]

Gated wind 😂

[@guyrichardson6556]

You should have listened to Abbey Road instead of Sgt Pepper!

[@DistortThePreamp]

Because of the white noise used on ‘She’s So Heavy’? Yes, this is true!

[@maxwarfield6699]

I don’t get it.

[@davidmarshall5665]

WTF is a Wok Wecord🤷🏼‍♂️

[@DistortThePreamp]

😂😂😂😂😂 It’s music for a wowdy wabble of webbles!

[@jedgould5531]

Your first problem is you’re being an engineer not a musician. Yes, crowd noise deserves a piece. SPEAK UP. But thanks for reminding me I’m supposed to be having fun and exploring, not digging in to YT.. 10:11 Oh no. You’re using the Dr. Who Filter. [They don’t work over here. The Johnny Marr filters almost work like the Thom Yorke Filters without gating]. 15:25 How do ya play incorrectly when you’re making up a chord progression? Dare me to make you a no-music beat for your edification, AND a chord sequence for this. 19:31 Worried about a clap instead of your next chord. Wish I could jam with you. Forget quantizing, you’re fine with clocks. 21:57 Forget the glistener. This is a jam. But maybe we’ll do the complimenting for you. Oh, wow, use a Yes or Skynnard album for crowd noise. In the 70s, bands were shameless about mixing in crowd noise. Explore with your colors of noise (they’re on the net: brown, blue, red, green, etc. noise) There’s no reward in manufacturing noise. No, your problem is the noise itself. It takes up tons of room in the mix. 32:15, Yes, you said that before, a noise solo, but how will you restrain it? 33:25 Comb filter? High pass filter if you don’t have it. Main problem is noise has unlimited bandwidth. I like your gating, you’re on to something. But I’ll bet you £5K the whole noise thing has been done; if not in Japan, then in London. But NOT as rhythmically! I can help with rhythms. I actually program them in my sleep. Lush, Shmush. I’m 70 and I was playing, interviewing that band when you were thinking about f**king your babysitter. You know, the only thing standing between you and the Trevor Horn Beyond is time. How bad do you want it? [e-mail] Put TIME CLOCK in the subject line if you’re serious. I will get your email if you tell assistant Rebeca I’ll for sure want to see it! ; ) Look me up. Jed The Fish, KROQ Los Angeles, fired in 2012 after music sucked. Serious, stop jacking off and decide what success actually is in 2024.

[@dodgingrain3695]

Way to much, need to back off the noise quite a bit.

[@spellerlittlewing]

Cool mid way video but way too much talking get to the point

[@DistortThePreamp]

😂

[@pavlekocbek]

Nice, a clear demonstration, sir, this is, of the uttermost important thing in playing/recording a piece of cool music is a human touch. The grove, right there in that pocket, yeah.. Also a fine demonstration, sir, of what's the first thing in writing anything cool, story or music, to go out there, discover things, goof about. lDo all the lolly joygaging, get some tiny amount of experience, like, just a bit of it. Later when you'll be in the usual daily hallucinations, fabricating delusions, falling into deep meditations while you shower, rest, lounge about, remember the things that touched you, or at least find one thing, if that true gold within you is not shining through yet. The thing that's been glittering back there in the mystical labyrinths of childhood memory coral caves, where everything is green and I'm an aquamarine by now (if not all the time). So, now go, and find that dream lost that you thought you'll never be able to have again. And at last, sire, if I may say, a superbe demonstration of the use of gates, volume knobs, filters and mute mutton as a really important and a serious instrument, no less. I wonder how one would notate all that sheet music. Hmmm. I think I'll go myself, now, and write me a song entitled Mute Mutton

[@DistortThePreamp]

Thank you so much!