Critical Analysis of the Music Production Workflow of an Independent Producer

🖥️ Category: Music, Production, Technology, Critical Analysis

✍️ Author: Tiago Stocco Sanches Valentin

📅 Date: 2024-10-26

1. Introduction

This article analyzes a music production workflow presented by an independent producer, captured through a tutorial video. The goal is to deconstruct the process, identify its strengths, potential flaws, and crucially, verify the accuracy of the information presented. Given the growing popularity of online tutorials and the influence they exert on new producers, a critical analysis becomes essential to ensure the quality of learning and prevent the spread of inefficient or technically incorrect practices.

2. Context and Origin of the Content

📍 Source or Circulation Location: Reels

🎬 Type of Content: Tutorial Video

 📝 Capture Method: Manual Video Transcription

🔗 Reference Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKkPecRRBY5/

The video captures a producer describing their production method, focusing on the organization of musical elements and the use of mouse movement-based triggers. This type of approach is often used to create interactive musical performances but requires a solid understanding of audio principles and programming. The content has the potential to attract young producers interested in exploring the intersection between music and technology.

3. Technical Analysis and Verification

🔎 Main Claims, Data, or Procedures

• Organization of musical elements (drum section, bass loop, synth loop, vocals, effects).

• Use of mouse movement-based triggers to control effects.

• Use of samples, loaded locally or from platforms like GitHub.

• Sidechaining: the use of a mouse movement trigger to control the sidechain of other instruments.

• Implementation of a Low-Pass and High-Pass Filter.

🔍 Classification and Evaluation

✅ True: Use of sidechaining, mouse-based trigger, and filter implementation are common and widely recognized techniques in modern music production.

⚠️ Inaccurate: The phrase "there's always a drum section, a bass loop, a synth loop, or a bunch of synth loops" is overly generic and does not offer details about the specific structure of the loops. It does not specify the use of rhythmic patterns, the duration of the loops, or the sound characteristics of the instruments.

❌ False: The statement that "there's always a drum section" is a simplistic generalization that ignores the diversity of approaches in rhythmic design.

❓ Not Verifiable: The discussion about "GitHub" without details about the type of samples or the use of specific tools makes it difficult to evaluate the sourcing method.

4. Tutorial and Practical Application

🔹 Step 1: Identification of Values or Assumptions

The producer assumes the following premise: flexibility and interactivity are crucial in music production, allowing the creation of dynamic and responsive musical performances. The organization of musical elements is presented as a starting point for building a musical foundation.

🔹 Step 2: Processing or Calculation

The application of sidechaining involves an algorithm that relates the intensity of mouse movement (the trigger) with the amount of volume reduction applied to accompanying instruments. The application of filters involves defining frequencies to allow or block sound.

🔹 Step 3: Real Application

A producer can follow this workflow to create interactive electronic music. For example, they can create a drum loop with a kick drum controlled by a mouse movement trigger and use this trigger to control the sidechain of a synth pad, creating a subtle "pumping" effect. The use of filters allows shaping the timbre of the music in real-time, based on mouse movement.

🔹 Step 4: Next Steps

• Investigate advanced sidechaining techniques (such as the use of envelopes and parameter control).

• Explore the use of sequencers and MIDI controllers to automate the sidechaining process.

• Analyze different sidechaining algorithms to determine the best option for a particular sound.

5. Recommendations and Precautions

It is important to emphasize that the efficiency of the workflow depends on the choice of instruments, the quality of samples, and the producer's proficiency in using the tools. It is crucial for the producer to develop a solid understanding of sound design principles before focusing exclusively on interactive techniques. It is also important to experiment with different parameters to find the ideal sound.

6. Conclusion and Final Evaluation

📌 Final Summary: The presented workflow is based on principles of interactivity and automation, which are increasingly relevant in music production. However, the simplification of the method's description can lead to misinterpretations.

📊 Overall Estimated Reliability: 🟠 Medium (60%) - The content provides valuable ideas but requires supplementation with more detailed information and deepening of technical aspects.

📢 Final Verdict: The workflow is a useful starting point but needs to be adapted and refined according to the producer's preferences and skills.

🔧 Extra Instruction (Optional)

To illustrate the practical application of the workflow, we present a simplified code example designed to be implemented in an audio programming environment such as Max/MSP or Pure Data. This example demonstrates the creation of a drum loop with sidechaining based on mouse movement. Download - https://strudel.cc

Code Example (Max/MSP):

This code is a skeleton that requires supplementation with audio and mouse movement manipulation modules available in the software.

maxmsp

// Criando um loop de bateria simples

// Usando um "Sample" para o Kick Drum

// Usando um "Oscillator" para o Hi-Hat

// Usando uma "Keyboard" para a entrada de mouse

// 1. Kick Drum (Sample)

KickSample = Sample("Kick.wav", 1); // Carrega o sample do Kick

// 2. Hi-Hat (Oscillator)

HiHatFreq = 1000;

HiHatOsc = Oscillator(HiHatFreq);

// 3. Trigger do Mouse (Keyboard)

MouseMovement = Keyboard(MouseMovement); // Monitora o movimento do mouse

// 4. Sidechaining (Controle do Volume do Hi-Hat)

SidechainGain = Slider(0, -10, 10); // Slider para controlar a intensidade do sidechain

HiHatGain = Gain(HiHatGain, SidechainGain); // Controla o gain do Hi-Hat com base no input do mouse

// 5. Buffer do Loop

LoopBuffer = Buffer(1); // Cria um buffer para o loop

// 6. Processamento do Loop

// Envia o sinal do Kick Drum para o Buffer

LoopBuffer.send(KickDrum);

// Processa o sinal do Hi-Hat

HiHatOutput = HiHatOutput.process(HiHatOutput);

// Adiciona o output do Hi-Hat ao LoopBuffer

LoopBuffer.receive(HiHatOutput);

// Mostra a saída no display

Display(LoopBuffer);

Explanation of the Code:

• Sample("Kick.wav", 1): Loads an audio sample file called "Kick.wav" into buffer 1.

• Keyboard(MouseMovement): This module (which would need to be properly implemented in the environment) monitors mouse movements and returns a signal (probably a numerical value) representing the intensity of the movement.

• Gain(HiHatGain, SidechainGain): This module (which would need to be implemented) uses the mouse movement value as control to adjust the gain (volume) of the hi-hat. When the mouse moves quickly, the hi-hat gain decreases, creating the "pumping" effect.

• Buffer(1): Creates an audio buffer to store the loop.

• Display(LoopBuffer): Displays the buffer content on the screen.

Considerations:

• This code is a skeleton. The actual implementation will require the use of specific modules for sample loading, mouse movement manipulation, sidechaining, and audio generation.

• The complexity of the code will depend on the sophistication of the modules used.

• The sidechaining response (the intensity of the "pumping") can be adjusted by varying the parameters of the modules.

📎 Original Content Analyzed: "All of my code files are structured pretty similarly. I have pretty much the same components in all of them. There's always a drum section, there's always like a bass loop, a synth loop, or a bunch of synth loops. I always have a bunch of vocals, and then I usually have some sort of effect that's reacting to my mouse movements, which is really helpful when I'm performing live. For samples, I either load them locally, or I put them on GitHub, so like here's a sample from GitHub that I just kind of have chopped. I like to use a lot of vocal samples in my code, sometimes short and chopped like this one, or sometimes just like full vocal takes like this one. I'll bring in some drums. And this variable up here controls the kick drum, and it also controls the sidechain on all the other instruments, so if I bring this in, it'll sidechain all the instruments at the same time as I bring the kick drum. I'll bring in some more drums. I also have some more effects down here, so I have like a low-pass filter, and a high-pass filter."