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What's been your most unconventional production technique?
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:32 pm
by futures_untold
Ez people
What's the most obscure, messy or downright unconventional production technique you've ever used???
Maybe you beat the cat for your snare sound etc etc??
When I played in a band I used this old marshall amp and if you kicked it you got some weird spring reverb... 'Ekaj'
I once had some fun putting the output from a set of decks through a guitar multi efx pedal to get some nasty basses

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:56 pm
by __________
making FUCKED UP TUNES!
that and ketamine
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:06 pm
by slva
The cutlery draw in the kitchen yielded some good results, as did an old oil drum washed up on the banks of the thames when I hit it with a lump of wood! Also the sound of a broken escalator! Having a mini disc recorder is great for sourcing sounds & hits.
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:52 pm
by two oh one
Putting a dynamic mic in a big cardboard box and kicking it as hard as I can yields some interesting kick drum sounds.
Recording a bait box full of wriggling maggots, looping the sound and layering it and gating it with the drums.
Mixing an entire track worth of stems backwards.
Sending entire mixes or stems out of the box, through shitty hardware and back in again.
Re-amping synths in a nasty sounding bathroom.
Setting up really insane sidechain compressor routings until almost everything in controlled by something else.
Using headphones as a shitty makeshift mic.
Taking a pocket recorder everywhere I go just in case something catches my ear.
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:58 pm
by futures_untold
Recording a bait box full of wriggling maggots
eeewwww! ha ha

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:32 pm
by FSTZ
two oh one wrote:Using headphones as a shitty makeshift mic.
guilty
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:25 am
by John Locke
if it was unconventional when u did it, posting it in here for all to clone will make it very, very conventional in no time, believe me
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:19 am
by auan
Oh cheer up.
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:24 am
by John Locke
u have some kind of special ability to read the tone of voice of a post on the internet or something?
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:03 am
by tudniillik
use real time lfo modulating parameters of another real time lfo , multiple LFO outputs summed by means of mathematical formula

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:46 am
by quidz
£10 Bag wrote:making FUCKED UP TUNES!
that and ketamine
im sorry, but ket is not unconventional!

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:47 am
by two oh one
tudniillik wrote:use real time lfo modulating parameters of another real time lfo , both outputs summed by means of mathematical formula

I did something similar -I used an lfo to modulate the cutoff filter of a bass synth.
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:28 am
by tudniillik
yip, you can control anything you want, but the basic LFO thing is quite dumb imho.
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:15 am
by shonky
two oh one wrote:
Setting up really insane sidechain compressor routings until almost everything in controlled by something else.
Been getting more into this lately, ducking compression is so cool in a mix. Autofilter in Logic is cool sidechained too, and using sidechain as a mod source in the EXS24.
For me, I like using convolution reverbs for non-reverb purposes - try using a drum loop to give rhythms to pads, voices through synths, etc. 100% wet signal, record and reuse.
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:31 am
by gravious
Things I've tried recently (although probably not that unconventional to be honest...):
- Making percussion loops from sounds of ice breaking
- Finding really shit quality samples from websites (film quotes etc.) and pitching them down like fuck, and using the first few milliseconds to make weird hits...
- Recording anything and everything outside with my mp3 player, and trying to make loops from it. I highly recommend old bus engines idling - I heard a bus the other day that's engine was knocking like mad, and it made a really crazy swung beat. Unfortunately, didn't have recorder at the time... doh
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:54 pm
by flippo
use a reel-to-reel deck that has totaly fucked heads, recording an entire tune on it. Putting the tape backwards, and playing it at the wrong speed all slowed down. Record that to hard disk, filter out some nice pad/ambience sounds.
Putting my then 8 month old nephew infront of the midi keyboard, pressing record and letting him smash the keys. Take out peices that are roughly melodic.
playback sample through speakers, swing condensor mic past it like a pendulum = filter enelope
making precussive sounds from little tiny slices of random static noises, dirty vinyl needle drops etc.
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:11 pm
by thinking
lots of found sound, from using seagulls pitched down to sound like monsters to childproof caps on aspirin bottles sounding like breaking bones.
i like using drum midi patterns to trigger synths to see what happens - you get interesting atonal loops that match perfectly with your drums.

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:54 pm
by critical mess
i nailed my penis to an altar at a local church and said 3 hail mary's...the acoustics were excellant
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:05 pm
by futures_untold
i nailed my penis to an altar at a local church and said 3 hail mary's...the acoustics were excellant
eeewww ha ha

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:09 pm
by bebop
made my dog attack a rope and recorded it low pass it and i had myself a nice like sample.
other then that no. but i stole all ur ideas so shame.
only joking