How to SYNTH DRONE without boring everyone

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Here are some of my favorite composition concepts that have helped me make music over the last couple decades: bit.ly/FREEcompositionguide

[@PCoyte]

Have you read Harry Sword's Monolithic Undertow book about the history of drones? Starts at the Big Bang up until more recent electronic artists

[@morganbebell9003]

Hey man, you've got some great content, but what's with the negativity? 'This' is Boring, you 'hate' that, 'avoid' doing this, 'don't' do that. I understand clickbait tittles, but I can't like a page that's all negative view points. Good music be damned.

[@angeltensey]

good drone is a backbone of any contextual music

[@binarymen]

Roots 🔥

[@MichaMaschiene-jd8wd]

my Drones come from Tapes 🌀 🤗 never boring 🎛️🎬

[@ilyandilymusic]

I love how drones can be everything from subtle blissful fairy wings to brain melting chaos. I also feel like composing with drones as a focal point creates a strong relationship between the artist and the instrument. It’s like a conversation in real time. “What happens when we do this?”. “I dunno, let’s find out”

[@benayeb9952]

We all have the drone sounds with in us, our own personal rhythm, each and every living thing, it is truly amazing to listen to the sounds made by living things. Always changing, evolving, devolving, simply memorizing.

[@scowlsmcjowls2626]

The drones that open portals. ..you know the ones🎉

[@berndschimpf89]

I have loved drones ever since I was allowed to play the big, deep pipes in our church in 1975 when I was 10 years old. The organist showed me the humility key, which was played almost inaudibly at the most exciting point in the sermon. I have been fascinated by these sounds ever since.

[@benedekkiss]

I love your videos about applying classical musical knowledge in other styles!!!

[@marcburch1163]

I liked your comment about using tape loops. I still use them in my music and have been doing it for a while. Early step consisted on Walkman cassette players, a radio shack mixer, arp odyssey an assortment of pedals and an echoplex sometimes Iran everything through a second echoplex. So much fun and never boring.

[@BrettEPierce]

I have the same Tascam 414 Portastudio, I would love to watch a video explaining how to use tape loops, or other ways of utilizing a cassette deck in combination with a DAW.

[@NickBDesigns]

My favorite three words “I like drones”

[@timothyharrison]

Is he saying “droln” though?

[@christofthedead]

American's professing their love for drones in the current day/year has a similar vibe to how I imagine it would feel hearing late-1940's era Germans bonding over a shared love of ovens 🧐

[@louderthangod]

@@christofthedeadWell that went dark. And now for something completely different…..

[@dossetts]

One of the most helpful synth/production videos I've watched recently. I've really appreciated a lot of your content because you keep music and arrangement as a central focus instead of "this cool gear will fix your problems" or "do this thing to make your music cool." Thanks!

[@bricelory9534]

Good stuff! Drones are absolutely fundamental to how humans interact with music - most, if not all, musical heritages have drones as prominent elements in their history. They add a frame for us to process the sounds we're hearing and put them in a specific context. Honestly, in many ways, keys are just implied drones. Everything is meant to relate back to that "invisible" drone root note. Simple or complex, they can be absolutely intriguing!

[@shpongled587]

Lyra 8 in the "old drone instrument" list was hilarious!

[@johnthecloud]

I'm working on a piece of music where I start of with drones, and then put them through filters and a vca that are then controlled by envelopes and LFOs, and bring in and out subtle sequenced movements.

[@stefanabare]

The section at 6:00 gave me Boards of Canada vibes! Nice video and thanks for the tips!

[@SpikesStudio3]

That was a treat. Thanks bro. I work in a very loud workshop where its a natural drone. Its sometimes nice to listen to the activity and think of how to reflect it in my music. This helped. Cheers.

[@robfel68]

Big Sky+Drones transports you immediately to another universe where something doesn't feel right and suspense is unbearable . Good job Nathan!!!

[@omnidivergence9846]

You have done a great job with your presentation. Interesting, educational and enjoyable. . I am looking forward to watching more of your videos.

[@mustangsupersnake7848]

I just love this video. I love how you bring philosophy into your articulated narration. This video is quite technical and deals with advanced concepts in composing and shaping of music and sounds. In my discovery, I'm fascinated by your artistic dimension being at the front and center of these interesting concepts and technics.

[@harlycorner]

5:57 this track is f****** amazing

[@beriomario]

3yrs ago I bought Model D when I saw this improv, I needed analog synth for production. Now I have whole studio 🤣

[@Creolegumbo]

Thanks!

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thank you!

[@jaixiviii]

Drone fanatic, not afraid to admit it. Evolving dunes are the best!

[@TRB_1138]

Monuments is an epic piece of of music... Love your stuff, man!

[@G0nz0uk]

I love a drone/soundscape, good for the mind.

[@daddylucles]

More drone content 😍

[@fromhillrecords]

Drones resonate with us. I live to use drones and long sustains in my own music. My own personal theory is that waaaay back we couldn't really make music, just tones. Music thousands of years ago had drones (in octaves), not so much active melodic work.

[@MakerFarmNL]

Not so boring after all! Love your narrative style and humor! You are such a good teacher!!!

[@1977Bronko]

nice one and gr8 music inside!

[@onlinescammer8291]

Even the electric guitar isn't gonna blow people away like in the 50s. It happens to everything. Synths. Sound design. That said, I don't find your drones boring at all.

[@hasko_not_the_pirate]

8:45 re/ tape loops, Hainbach would say: Try half speed.

[@bricelory9534]

Half speed best speed

[@russ254]

hainbach is bolshy

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Tried it. He's not wrong.

[@thomasinlondon2849]

Fundamental creation process must come from deep in the heart, mind, and spiritual connection to energies in this and other dimensions.

[@clothshorse]

@6:12 super lush 🖤

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

That model d drone. Perfect chord progression

[@kaitlyn__L]

I’m trying to practice my realisations and now don’t watch your videos unless I’m also practicing scales or something. So, naturally, as soon as you pointed out organ drones often are sitting on the dominant I just did that and then noodled something in dorian. Yay! 🥳 I often droned on the root or a third or a fourth, but never droned with a fifth until just there. So that was nice. Finished it off with an old descending 2-5-2-1; and actually felt Done with a practice for once instead of just running out of steam on transcribing some piece! 😊

[@Warrow74]

A slightly dissonant dual oscillator tone through a BigSky does sound awesome 😋

[@maximummovementtheatre]

They have their place for sure. Love a good drone 😊

[@defnlife1683]

Learned to love drones via Roly Porter. Now excited to listen to this.

[@pcuadra]

I've always loved the outer limits of what a drone based track can be, ever since listening to Zerthis Was A Shivering Human Image by Eluvium. I'm going to try some of these ideas on my next drone tapes...

[@PCoyte]

Great video and timely as I'm in the drone zone preparing for International Drone Day performance on Saturday!

[@DennisLB1]

Underrated channel. Keep up the great work!

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thank you!

[@johnnyhawk]

Love the track at 9 mins 🎉

[@VirtualModular]

Honestly, I find drones more fun to make than they are to listen to! My tip would be to really slowly modulate everything, so it's almost unnoticeable, but constantly changing. I also like to slowly fade different notes in and out, so it's not just the same pitch for 15 minutes - I think you can have some harmonic movement to an extent. Also digital oscillators work better than analogue because you can vary the waveform more. I'm sure some people will disagree with that, just personal preference really. You mentioned wavetable, but FM/phase distortion and additive synthesis work well too.

[@indigosnow_]

The light pedal is so dope. Sounds great with synths. Awesome vid as per usual

[@JamesonNathanJones]

It's definitely a favorite. And thanks!

[@ingolf7411]

I like drones after listening to Lisa Bella Donna´s "Cheyenne Crossing" ... 😊 (and of course the Lyra-8 is so "drony") and "Somewhat the Same" is now in my Bandcamp collection.

[@stevesutube]

Inspirational video. Thank you.

[@alitna]

Great video! I learned a lot!

[@Amazology]

Awesome episode !

[@HowardMangrum]

Dang, I did not realize, I love drone music. Thanks!

[@EricRaymondSF]

Loved this video.

[@freeelectron8261]

Really interesting - thanks Jameson!

[@robertschubert5127]

I love the bass response in this video. Really grabbed me today. Good stuff!

[@SynthAddicts]

Wonderful video! ❤

[@Jan-f4k5h]

Drones can’t be overestimated. Great video-funny, educational, and deep! ;)

[@PatternRecognitionMusic]

Some very cool ideas here that can be applied beyond just the scope of drones. Loving this, liked and subscribed!

[@pavelpetrikor]

I like drones too.

[@tobiasphilippen7883]

Which ones would you consider "tasty wavetables"? Any collection etc. you would recommend? Thanks. Also for your inspiring thoughts on drones.

[@andallicansayis]

do chords above the drone need to contain the note of the said drone? thank you

[@ParadiseVibe]

Hey JNJ, love your droneified compositions on Spotify, especially those with fat & crunchy moments, and rhythmic gating. Added many into my playlist Ethereal. You feature more than Eno or BOP (No way from Mars). Thanks for the harmonic (and dissonant) inspirations. Well designed emotional soundscapes will screw AI.

[@manicmodular8956]

Great drones at the 7 min mark, reminds me of Alessandro Cortini. Great stuff

[@willcooper8028]

Beautiful stuff, the track with the midtone drone reminded me a lot of the across the spiderverse spundtrack

[@paulchristey]

Really enjoy watching your video's, always interesting and helps me think about my own process :) I would love to see a demo of how you use the Lyra 8

[@Jegkedermigmega]

Nice concepts you lay out. Just checked out your album "Somewhat the Same" - it's got that eery Reznor/Atticus-vibe to it. I love it! :) Super inspiring.

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thanks so much!

[@ryanfriebertshauser3466]

Brilliant

[@CCL1603]

You did it! And you used the Lyra-8 in it too, i love that thing hahah

[@CCL1603]

Im also a Gurdy player and a bagpipe player so it tracks 😂

[@Confuzius]

glad i found your channel. great video, thank you! ❤

[@samprock]

That made me go listen my own track named .... Drone 😆 Now I know science behind it, I used it as bass, rhythmic, texture, melody, moves, rubs, and sweet spots. Never thought fancy organ leg work is for drone notes and not gas/brake! 🤪 Drone feticists are happy, next video bass rehab, please! ❤

[@patrickcorcoran889]

Hey, this video popped up on my feed - I loved it, especially the way you explain drones and elated techniques. I like the way you speak - very down to earth, like Venus Theory and David Hilowitz. I just subscribed, signed up and looking forward to hearing some of your discography on bc.

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Much appreciated, and welcome!

[@michaelkonomos]

Drones the boring but this video is not! Great work.

[@edbass624]

I love you’re content I love seeing all your toys and the way you use them but if possible in the future you can teach this ideas in the box with plugins so I can see it in that perspective. Thanks !!

[@ThePedalboardOrchestra]

Great video, very inspiring thoughts. 👍👍👏👏

[@paulmakl6282]

What do you think the main difference is between a pad and a drone?

[@VirtualModular]

It's similar, but a drone goes on for about an hour longer. 😂

[@freeelectron8261]

Interesting ideas - just subscribed.

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thanks, and welcome!

[@Amazology]

Drones fekkin rock

[@innersonicsoundsystem]

always an inspiration - thank you!

[@LB-pp7pu]

This tutorial videos are really nice

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thanks!

[@LB-pp7pu]

@@JamesonNathanJones Thank you!

[@orchestratedpassage9468]

Guess I'll have to wait for the droneumentary

[@DJ.XreX-777]

Steve Roach is really good with non-foundational, I’ve noticed

[@ryan.noakes]

Good God I laughed a lot harder than I maybe should have at "Lyra 8" in the list of ancient instruments! 😂😂😂

[@TheIllynow]

"These are not the drones you're looking for"

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

Looking over your sample pack website and that 8 pack bundle for $55 looks interesting… but I’m curious how big each pack is and how many sounds each one comes with. The 2 most important factors of a sample pack imo, are size and number of sounds.

[@synkrotron]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder while I am here, are you doing something for Drone Day this Saturday? I am hoping to do a livestream

[@jaixiviii]

Same here, looking forward to your release! I have a teaser for drone day. Let’s drone!!!😎

[@synkrotron]

@@jaixiviii Drone Is Life!! (gonna check out your stuffs...)

[@tecnikstr0be]

Can you name me thise instruments your using for these drones so i can buy them?

[@sillysquirrel9979]

3:00 came in church without youtube shorts...how dare you

[@scottadams7820]

You can always spice up your boring drones with C4 and a remote detonator

[@kennethpace9887]

Melody?

[@wrenchposting9097]

BWV 543!

[@DirtyDead1313]

Is the Monuments song released yet?

[@ToySounds]

5:55 track ID?

[@LesaDrones]

I like drones

[@demogadget]

Lorn Deru

[@travisguide4516]

Simon the magpie just made a video on how to build one of his beehive style drones

[@KurtLorenz]

❤❤❤

[@GizzyDillespee]

You see, personally I think drones don't have to remain pitch-stagnant. To me, that's a useless distinction that I'm not attracted to, for aesthetic reasons, either. So, I'll change pitch on my drones when amd if I want to. Mostly I think of keepung the VCA open, if youwant a specific definition. But yeah they're cool to use.

[@resetreboot]

Just in time for drone day, I see. I just did an especial about drones and did a couple... one of them with a guitar, an ebow clone and a looper pedal.

[@djcata7474]

putting chords over a synth pad that changes pitch, that's microtonal music. Polychords, you should probably reffer to those as polytonality.

[@krisrhodes5180]

I am sorry, I am so sorry, I'm a linguistics guy, I love thinking about the sounds we make in language, I mean this question entirely innocently but I must know! You say "drone" every time, in this video, in a way that surprises me, with (roughly speaking) a short, unmoving 'o' sound rather than what I've always heard before in every native English dialect, a longer 'o' sound that closes up as it is pronounced. So I am asking--do you by chance have a faint trace of an accent from some other language poking through there? (I.e. do you have a second native language or were raised around one?) Or is this just an American regional accent I wasn't aware of? (I've been assuming yuo're from Arkansas or nearby from what I've heard so far.)

[@kaitlyn__L]

I just noticed one time where there’s a diphthong between the short O and the long open O, around 7:30. FWIW I have noticed some American accents just have more-clipped “roll” vowels. A lot like in Southern England it’s a lot more clipped than in the North or in Scotland.

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Mississippi. I don't consider my accent to be very thick, but it does poke through on certain words. I actually appreciate your explanation as most people just call me Billy Bob Thornton and move on haha

[@Nenko_Music]

Is it your "home" organ ? holy shrimp ! 😯

[@HpBeck_Fieldrecordings]

....very inspiring for deep tape listeners like us, thank you!Sub!!

[@McEnroe911]

All I listen to are drones. I’m also on Zoloft though

[@VexVex24]

Drones are cool.

[@jetlag_beats]

For cinematic purposes / film soundtracks, very useful. But otherwise... Jeeee... I really don't know what to do with those weird alien sounds...