The Truth Behind Chord Samples (Rave Theory)

[@Bthelick]

FYI if you're trying to play along I forgot to mention Selena's track (link in the description) is in F# so all parts are playing back -3 here

[@JackhammerSiesta]

Hi there, I'm struggling to find the link to buy this track. What's it called? Cheers

[@Bthelick]

You'll need to ask Selena (her insta is linked in the description). I'm not sure she ever released it

[@JackhammerSiesta]

@@Bthelick Thanks bud, it's a banger!

[@jjdunne6969]

I actually learned this completely by myself after trying for years to figure out how these dance music writers made such slick sounding chords. I’ve taken years of music school and classical theory, and when it clicked that it’s just the same chord value for every chord but the root is changing it blew my mind, but was also so simple it almost made me cry. It makes you sound like a genius to classical minded folks.

[@visible7044]

been making music 5 years or so and watching videos the whole time. for some reason yours are special. they stand out and i want to watch them and learn from you. plenty of big names i came say the same about. good work.

[@Powerphail]

This is without a doubt one of my favourite channels now. I love how you explain and break things down.

[@Kh4rma]

Honestly after years of watching videos and reading about this subject this is the first video that has explained it to me in a way that the penny dropped. I downloaded it for future reference. Thank you.

[@Bthelick]

Thanks Luke! its not my first attempt at explaining it either haha! ❤️👊👍

[@Kh4rma]

Some people over explain certain concepts at the same time as skipping over other parts that are the parts I don't get.

[@PeterPepper93]

Gathering information on audio engineering kinda looks like isolated points floating in the void, i appreciate that you create connections in my mental hyperspace. Big respect to you brother, ive told each one of my producing friends about your channel, really appreciate the thorough work you do with emphasis on basic musical theory and simple tools. I hope all is well for you, i really appreciate your work !🎉

[@Bthelick]

As one of my heroes once said; "Education shouldn't be about collecting dots, but connecting dots" - Seth Godin

[@PeterPepper93]

@Bthelick Hahaha I love Seth Godin ! I think he addressed that talking about intelligence (education is collecting the dots, intelligence is knowing how to connect them) but I could be wrong. Anyway, doesn't matter, your channel rox and you can be proud of your work. Have a great day!

[@kanedNunable]

as a 48 year old ex cheesy quaver some of these sounds really took me back. i really must make an old hardcore tune. nice work again dude.

[@kevinjacob92]

I am on holiday right now and devoured all of your videos the past week. Can‘t wait to be back at home to make use of all the things I‘ve learned from your videos! Love them, love you and your work ❤ They are very much appreciated!

[@TranceferLane]

Everytime so much info. Ty for sharing.

[@davidhanley9414]

What a great channel man. Keep it up and this channel will continue to grow. Thanks for everything.

[@FredBloggs919]

Now then now then guys and gals!

[@Bthelick]

I know what you're trying to reference and he never said that.

[@believeinkarma939]

Thank God I found your channel by accident.😇 You are a Great teacher..🙇🏻

[@wackerburg]

Again, what a great video! You have such a fantastic way of explaing things both easy to grasp and yet 100% correct. And with a compact footprint. I think I do this sometime with the #ChordMemory function on some of my synths.

[@mrgibonskc]

Great stuff, just realized how layers are important in fat and juicy stab:)

[@doktorarslanagic]

nice content my man, i like your tone (the tone of the video, not just the tones you make or the tone of your voice :D)

[@pushtoenter4174]

Great video

[@xXAnonymasterXx]

Great vid! One thing i always get stuck one with rave chords is how to get the right the notes for the bassline, since there isnt a particular scale to follow. Ofc you can always use the root note of the chords, but would like to know if there are any ways to make it a bit more interesting?

[@Bthelick]

Yeah a lot of the OG rave tracks didn't know what to do either! It's just a random rumble or sub not necessarily in tune. You can still use inversions to make lines , Or just ignore the upper chord notes, and write a line that's made up of the scale of the roots.

[@xXAnonymasterXx]

@@Bthelick Perfect thanks!

[@JakaMori]

@@xXAnonymasterXx besides the root note of a chord, you can always try to use any other note of the chord that is playing in that instance... that way you know for sure you are in the "right scale" :) of course experimenting with different notes doesn't hurt and can yield interesting results in the end ;)

[@giannipulli]

Great video as usual TOP!

[@Bthelick]

Thanks Gianni ❤️👊

[@VNDM-MUSIC]

I'm here ☺

[@RossTempo]

Great video! Really makes sense now you’ve explained it all thank you. Heard a new tune with a similar video called “To The Left To The Right” by Manyfew very similar thank you sharing the theory and production process 🙏🏼

[@HowLegit]

Thank you so much!! I have been wondering this for so long: if we’re pitching our chords up and down and thus putting them out of key, how do you write the rest of the music in-key? Just sticking to the root notes or? Thank you again 🙏

[@Bthelick]

If you only pitch up or down by 5 or 7 then that will stay in 1 key. If you want to go outside of that just make sure the rest of the music is centered around the home (chord 1) and then just go by ear on what sounds cool-out-of-key and what sounds bad-out haha. Having the chords stick to the root notes of a scale will help somewhat. Or you can get clever if you know the melody notes, and find chords in any key that happens to contain most of those notes.

[@RossTempo]

Hahaha! Legend 👑 🙏🏼

[@MadelnMachines]

I’ve thought about this a lot. It’s the same when tuning a 3 oscillator mono synth. Do you have any videos on making these free orchestra libraries sound more disco / funky house?

[@Bthelick]

Yes exactly the same principle. Ooooo good question I don't have any videos on disco strings , unfortunately I usually find you just can't get disco strings (or brass) out of orchestral libraries. Even if they have the articulations they don't have the recorded sound + environment I paid have a "pro disco strings" library for kontakt and it's terrible. I'm yet to try any of the physical modeling softwares but I think they hold the most promise but they ain't cheap. I have to resort to full phrase samples most of the time 😞

[@SvintMvrcus]

Why is it that natural minor is used more often than harmonic minor ? Until recently I’ve based most of my music around major chord progressions but now that I’m trying out more minor ones I’m noticing a lot of tracks use natural minor progressions which seems counterintuitive to me.

[@Bthelick]

Probably flexibility. Harmonic minor has far less available 'stable' chords as both 2 and 7 are diminished , and 3 which is normally the interchangeable relative major becomes augmented.

[@SvintMvrcus]

@@Bthelick that makes perfect sense I guess that’s something that always mixed me up until now. Really appreciate it!

[@AutPen38]

Have you come across the free Rave Generator VST by Wavosaur? It's got loads of chords sampled directly from old techno and rave classics so that you can randomly play riffs with one finger. I had a lot of fun last night just bashing out variations of tunes by Inner City, Landlord, and Black Riot. It's also got a really nice fat sample of the Lately bass that - to my ears - sounds better than any of the simulations I've got with various synths. Just hitting that is quicker - and more fun imo - than building up layers with Serum/Diva/Vital etc.

[@Bthelick]

Yeah I know it well. I have it. As a public figure though I just don't feel comfortable recommending it as it's not legal. Also none of the hits are tuned so it's a bit of a pain for beginners. Speaking of beginners I don't really want to get into the minutiae of the different types of copyright , I still meet successful artists and so called 'experts' that get copyright facts wrong. And before you come back with "but no one is getting sued for a stab" , wrong. The law is the law (I can only speak for the UK and US). And now AI like KZbin's system can spot samples inside of other samples/ layers, and as someone who has been to court and still lost money being in the legal right, I can assure you when major labels get hold of that tech they will use it on anyone who can't afford to defend themselves. The Prodigy had to clear thousands of samples after all.

[@AutPen38]

@@Bthelick I actually agree with you on this. When I first saw a video about Rave Generator I thought "These samples are obviously straight off the records" and I saw no point in downloading it as I don't want to get into copyright trouble. (I'm not really into the hoover/rave stuff from '92 anyway, as I'm more of an old skool house person). A lot of the kids in the comments seemed to think it would be fine to use because "VST synths are copyright free", which isn't wholly true. I've used it purely for fun jams, but I wouldn't use such obvious lifts from famous records if I was going for an official release. The legal hassles aren't worth getting into. Besides, I could never write a hook as catchy as Kevin Saunderson, 2 Unlimited, or the Prodigy anyway, so anything I made with it would just come across as a thoughtless ripoff.

[@Tyvm-mo3pj]

Another great video, would be great if you could do a video purely on rave stabs or the rave sound. I know there’s the rave generator but that doesn’t seem to work on mac, so I’m not sure where to get the best stab samples from

[@Bthelick]

I do a little in my sampling chords video

[@Tyvm-mo3pj]

@@Bthelick thanks! I’ve checked all of your videos on sampling and chords

[@Bthelick]

Ok cool we'll definitely do a video on making stabs. I often get asked by my clients to remake sounds from rave generator as those aren't legal. so that could make for a useful episode. If you can tune in on Sunday we'll be doing a live sound design challenge that's gonna help.

[@Tyvm-mo3pj]

@@Bthelick wow that’s crazy to me, I didn’t think anyone can prove that the stab sound is illegal. Interesting to know. Nice one, I’ll definitely try tune in for it but if not I’ll catch up on a later day. I’m looking forward to learning more about the stabs and whole 90s vibe!

[@Bthelick]

Absolutely possible. It just depends if the track makes enough money for a major record label to warrant chasing it! Any use of someone else's recording (a sample) is copyright infringement without permission / payment. The prodigy used many of the same samples that are now in rave generator and had to clear every single one. I've been to court it's just absolutely not worth the risk imo. I'm also thinking ahead regarding AI , KZbin's auto id can already identify samples inside of other recordings and I think it's just a matter of time before major labels weaponize that tech

[@trimutv]

So , if my chords in different scales, what’s the root? Same A minor scale?

[@Bthelick]

Yes in this case the root stays A, the riff is still centered around A so we use that as the root here. Even if the scale is now kinda random (or chromatic) we should still pick a total center.

[@trimutv]

@@Bthelick thanks 😊

[@seyisland]

Hmm. Interisting video. Speaking of copyright: Is safe to use a free plugin like BBC Orchesta to create new sounds? :)

[@Bthelick]

Great question. It's complicated. It's dependent on the individual terms of the instrument licence. Usually no, it's not legal or permitted. For Instruments that are built from samples, the samples contained within are copyrighted. The Spitfire licence states permission for use "only in your original musical compositions and productions" The clearest case no-no is the re sale of re recorded samples as a new sample library. However, Dependant on the territory laws , there is a line that can be crossed where it can become "transformative" (UK). Whereby if it is deemed transformed sufficiently beyond the original, with enough creativity, and in a way that also does not usurp the original, it's possible it could qualify. If I chose to sell the stab I created here as an audio sample as a chord, repitched, cropped, combined with the synth and piano, bitcrushed, sample crushed etc etc etc. I believed that would qualify as transformative. It's unrecognisable and would not compete with or replace the original instrument. At any rate, instrument samples are much much harder to trace than musical record samples. Although as I said in my rave generator video (called the ultimate sounds design challenge) who knows what AI will be able to discect in the future or what audio watermarking techniques will be developed.

[@onurdx]

Hey mate love your stuff, thank you very much for all! :) Any chance your channel's name is related to Sta and Paul B's - The Lick song? :D

[@Bthelick]

Haha oh I didn't think of that! it's not actually. It's just I'm called Ben, everyone shortened it to B and when I was more known for guitar work, the word "Lick" was a lot more common as a synonym for riff.

[@ppextendus6666]

What if you wanted to write a melody to the chords? if there isnt any key, then what notes could be used? I know in this example, you used A minor... but what if the stabs were just all over the place?

[@Bthelick]

If it's truly Atonal (no key) like some rave then the best option is to get a live vocalist to topline it and they will hopefully adjust. If you're working with samples then pick which of the stabs you think sounds like home (the tonal center) and just try a bunch of vocals in that key and go by ear I'm afraid. Y

[@ppextendus6666]

@@Bthelick Yea, figured I had to go by ear. Appreciate it!

[@jamesstevens351]

Is this different from 'Chord Planing'?

[@Bthelick]

Same thing. " chord planning" is what Oscar calls it over at underdog I think? As far as I'm aware he made the term up (that's not a diss I do it all the time haha), or maybe that's what it's called in Belgium. Either way parallel harmony is what musicians have been calling it for decades.

[@marcobiraghi]

Summary: don’t give a fuck and just vibe 😎👍