Steve Bowles Music

Music Production

New Ways Of Using Guitar In Composition

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Virtually all composers using a computer based DAW use at least one keyboard to create their music. Many also have a guitar. For some time it’s been possible for composers to use the huge number of excellent sample libraries to create a wide range of instrumental sounds which, with careful arrangement, can and do sound pretty authentic. So while many composers spend all their time wrangling their sample libraries the poor old guitar gets left in a dusty corner. I, I should hasten to add, am not one of those people. I use my guitars a lot in my compositions. Sometimes the guitar sounds like a guitar but many times it’s very un-guitar like and used for pads, soundscapes, sound effects or to support some other component of the music. It all helps to add a more organic and three dimensional feel to the end result.

So where do I start with my guitar mangling. The first thing to say is that I have developed, and keep developing, a portfolio of sounds that I’m comfortable working with and know how to use. The second thing to say is that I’m often after something that will complement the other components of the music, so more Sigur Ros than Steve Vai. I’m a Logic Pro user but my techniques are applicable to all DAWs. I use Logic’s superb in-built plugins, world class plugins like Native Instruments Guitar rig, some really good free plugins, such as the Atom filter, and my collection of hardware effects and pedals. When it comes to the actual guitar more often than not it’s the electric guitar I reach for but acoustic can give interesting results also.

For something like a pad sound I tend to lose the fast attack of the guitar, I use a volume pedal or sometimes play the guitar volume knob as I play, or some envelope effect. Delays and reverb play their part as do modulation effects. I often use the shimmer setting (dense reverb/delay with pitch shifting) available on a number of plugins and hardware pedals. If something with a bit more aggression is required distortion is added, but I try not to overdo that as distorted guitar takes up a lot of frequencies. I use simple tremolo a lot as well, often at extreme settings, with a bit of distortion and pitch shifting you can achieve a nice, organic, synth-y sounding pulse. Sync-ing with the DAWs tempo plays its part here too. A filter with a very slow rate, maybe 1 or more bars, can also be very effective. For more ‘out there’ sounds and effects things like reverse reverb, granular processing and pitch shifting can take your guitar mangling to new levels. Disrespecting the guitar strings also can yield good results. Scraping, hitting and if you can rustle one up a cheap violin bow will all add to the available sonic textures. Sometimes it’s only necessary to have these new sounds really quite low in the mix to add that extra interesting dimension, particularly when you’re supporting other components.

Using the above techniques to create a new sampled instrument in something like Kontakt or Alchemy can also be very rewarding. I would encourage everyone to create their own sampled instruments, whatever their source instrument. It’s a great way of adding something that adds to the uniqueness of your sound and it’s a great way to learn the ins and outs of these powerful instruments.

The added bonus to all this is of course you can use your own synth plugins as the sound source and have them mangled in the same way. There is something, however, about the guitars basic tone that allows it to carry a lot or effects processing more successfully than synth tones which are often very harmonically rich and can overwhelm the effects chain. You don’t need an expensive guitar either. Brilliant guitars are available from Squier, Ibanez, Yamaha and many others for £200 new or less. Gumtree and Ebay are also a good source of instruments at the cheaper end of the market. Think for a moment how much we all spend on plugins and sample libraries! So all power to the guitar as a new way to generate interesting and musical sounds. Remember there are absolutely no rules and (wild) experimentation is to be encouraged. There are some fabulous new sounds waiting to be discovered!

Are There Creative Backwaters In Your DAW?

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I use Logic Pro and have done for a while. I think it’s great and I’m constantly learning new ways of doing things quicker and better. Cubase, Ableton, Digital Performer etc. users will no doubt feel the same and these are all excellent platforms. However social media and various forums suggest to me that many folk are only using a small fraction of their DAWs capability. Worse than that they’re unaware that their musical lives would run far more smoothly if they knew a bit more about what these complex tools can do. It’s hard enough writing and realising music, particularly when there’s a client breathing down your neck. In this regard your DAW must absolutely be a help not a hindrance.

I’ve always been someone who wasn’t afraid to ‘RTFM’ and David Nahmani’s excellent Logic training guide really kick started my ability to use Logic creatively and confidently when I started out using it. There are some excellent web resources too, MusicTechHelpGuy comes to mind. Logic is particularly guilty to having many functions only available through shortcuts and the several hours I spent learning and documenting those shortcuts has saved me so much time and heartache. The lists I created are still taped to the sides of my main monitor should I need a memory jog. This post, however, looks at a few ideas to help with mixes and track treatments that might not at first seem that obvious. I use Logic for my examples because that’s what I know but all good DAWs will have something similar.

Like many who rely on their DAWs I have invested in a variety of plugins but I still use Logic’s own built-in plugins, in fact I use them a hell of a lot, because they are good and they tend not to hit the CPU too badly. Logic’s Overdrive plugin is a case in point. It lives with the other in-built distortion plugins and an unholy row you can easily get out of it. However, turned right down, even to .5% or .25% it will impart a rather pleasant, almost analog, lift to the sound. I use in on synth lines and pads, but I’ll even use it on sampled strings or percussion if they need a bit of a lift in the mix. Similarly Logic’s tape delay can be used to good effect. This is an unfussy, not particularly sophisticated, delay with tape emulation. Remove, or radically reduce, the delay part and you’ve got just the tape emulation, and it sounds ok.

I find Logic’s equalisers good, solid tools; versatile, easy to use and they don’t colour things up too much if used sensibly. They work really well in a mid/sides arrangement, usually with the Linear Phase EQ. In my output channel or when mastering I’ll have one instance set to mid, so that will only address the centre part of the stereo image. I’ll usually roll off the subs, so anything below 25-30 Hz and then shave a bit of the high above 7 or 8 kHz. Next in the chain I’ll have another instance set to sides, again rolling off the bass, perhaps adjusting the mids (usually that’s a mild cut) and perhaps a gentle lift in the high end. This generally works well to control the focus in the centre whilst providing a good, clear stereo spread. Note: I am not a massive fan of Logic’s in-built stereo imager.

The other thing I’m becoming more a fan of is effects on effects. For example pitch shifting on a very dense reverb gives a good shimmer approximation. A slow rate sync-ed low pass filter on the output of a ping pong delay can really add an extra something. A reverse delay applied to a forward delay can really mess things around. Tremolo applied to a long reverb won’t work in all applications but sometimes it fits the bill. Depending on what effect I’m after I’ll have these in line or on a separate send. You are limited only by your imagination and CPU power of course.

Logic’s own Sample Delay allows you to take a mono source and turn it into pseudo stereo one by splitting and then fractionally (or not so fractionally depending on taste) delaying one or both resultant channels. It doesn’t work on everything but it can be effective on mono sources that need a little air and a bit more presence.

I’m a hardened user of hardware synths, some of which are a bit old and a bit cranky. When incorporating into my DAW projects they usually come through my main sound interface or through my Elektron Analog Keys which effectively has its own sound interface. Note: I love my Analog Keys, I use it whenever I can get away with it. However I don’t use the standard external midi track because I can’t then use any of Logic’s own midi processors, the arpeggiator and the like. I head off the Utility folder in software instruments and choose a mono instance of external instrument and hey presto all the Logic midi processors are available. So for example my elderly Roland Alpha Juno 2, which has no in-built arpeggiator, can be arpeggiating away like a crazed thing courtesy of the one built into Logic.

The above are a few random examples of how the realise the power of the DAW. Getting the basics learnt first of course is the way to go.