Power Electronics/Death Industrial Advice

[birthdeath]

Hello,
Let me start off by saying I'm very new to making music and pretty much know nothing about synths besides what I've read on the users manual. I'm shooting for a sound that's creepy and atmospheric like atrax morgue but a little harsher and noisier and more layered with samples,tape loops,feedback etc.(Somewhere like a cross between AM and the really early super noisy Sutcliffe Jugend, but of course more layered and probably with a pretty different "aesthetic")

So far with just screwing around with the volca keys i've pretty much only figured out how to hold down a key and make rumbling and droney sounds. I would like to know what i should need to know/do in order to create some of those kinds of synth sounds from artists like atrax morgue,subklinik,taint,whitehouse,coma detox,survival unit,etc.NOT looking to copy them exactly i just wanna know how to to make harsh and abrasive but at the same time atmospheric synth sounds/rhythm. especially need help with rhythm.

I also have effects pedals,a mic, access to free software(but would to use it as little as possible), and im in the process of making an APC .

[Cementimental]

Welcome :) Are you the same person who posted on noiseguide recently? just because your question and gear sounds similar, I don't want to repeat myself. also if so you probably need to be more specific or you'll get the same kind of replies as you did there there but from people who know even less about gear (tho more about old death industrial maybe) :D

[birthdeath]

Welcome :) Are you the same person who posted on noiseguide recently? just because your question and gear sounds similar, I don't want to repeat myself. also if so you probably need to be more specific or you'll get the same kind of replies as you did there there but from people who know even less about gear (tho more about old death industrial maybe) :D

Yeah it's me. I came to this forum because it seemed more PE and DI savvy. I've been reading about basic synthesis or whatever, but the only info I can find for using this is making the kinds of music you're supposed to with it. To be more specific, I would really like to know how to make atmospheric and somewhat ambient(I've kinda figured this out through using the delay thing on it), but at the same time abrasive and very noisy(having a little trouble with acheiving both at the same time). If i turn the cutoff all the way up on the VCF I can often get some pretty noisy sounding stuff, but I've been having a hard time figuring out how to create some sub-bass, and atmospheric undertones while it's all noisy. Additionally, I'm having trouble basically doing more than a clear tone without actually creating something that sounds similar to non-industrial-noise-type music; I would like to know how to basically not just hold down a key and make it a droney kind of sound,but at the same time not have it sound like an actual synth riff, if that makes sense.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

most of easiest rhythm would be done with loops capturing random moments that break the usual patterns of this gadget.

I would assume these days reading manuals isn't that much necessary. For fastest advices for popular gear, one can check out youtube. People may not do "PE" there, but you often seen much more complex use of synths than in generic "PE track" and realize how much there is still to explore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arGzElkDH_Q

Not sure if volca keys is best for "PE sound", but there seems to be quite many things to be done.

[Cementimental]

"Atmospheric" = throw stuff thru some cheesy reverb effect basically. :D Electroharmonics ones sound good and are relatively affordable

Abrasive = more high/mid distortion, maybe mix distorted signal with the clean signal so it doesn't get too muddy or lose the bass power

. I've been reading about basic synthesis or whatever, but the only info I can find for using this is making the kinds of music you're supposed to with it.

well, once you know the basics of how it's supposed to work then you will better understand how to misuse it to make noisier sounds.  I guess volca keys is a little limited in what sort of sounds it produces as opposed to more advanced synths where you can patch/programme more unorthodox settings, so you might find it useful experimenting with effects more too

[birthdeath]

I really hate that i cant program any setting. Ive been experimenting with my multi effect and reverb with it. Ive been getting some interesting results. Ive kinda figured out through listening to the music that its not to unusual to smash down keys and experimenting.
Also thank you a lot for the looping idea. I feel like that could be useful for creating rhythms kind of.

[tiny_tove]

Regarding the volcas: I think they are a very good way to begin with. But try to pass them through effects to give a more personal sound.
Everybody is buying this and is starting to become very recognisable at first listen (not that is necessarily a defect, but...)

Martin is selling his own ones: http://www.special-interests.net/forum/index.php?topic=5514.0

[birthdeath]

Regarding the volcas: I think they are a very good way to begin with. But try to pass them through effects to give a more personal sound.
Everybody is buying this and is starting to become very recognisable at first listen (not that is necessarily a defect, but...)

Martin is selling his own ones: http://www.special-interests.net/forum/index.php?topic=5514.0

A little fuzz and reverb is helping it. Is bending a good idea? I know its mostly about experimentation,but if I were to open how/what should I mess wit without it breaking?



i'd also like to share that ive made a really cool noise maker thing by plugging a sine wave generator into a guitar tuner

[Cementimental]

Is bending a good idea?

No, bend something worthless that can be made to make some more interesting/noisy sounds than intended, not something that's already a good instrument that cost a bit of money. Just keep experimenting with it instead of asking people questions on the internet the answers to which are going to be vague at best since they are not there hearing/seeing what you are doing. Less posting, less imitating (none of your death industrial heros were doing anything magic anyway nor did they start out copying other people or asking someone else how to do what they were doing, they just got whatever electronic music/sound gear they could and did what they could with it, most of that stuff used much less technology than you already have) and more experimenting and recording. :)

i'd also like to share that ive made a really cool noise maker thing by plugging a sine wave generator into a guitar tuner

That sounds more like it!

[birthdeath]

i'd also like to share that ive made a really cool noise maker thing by plugging a sine wave generator into a guitar tuner

That sounds more like it!
[/quote]

yeah ive realized from the start i was gonna have to diy a lot to get cool sounds. i ditched making the apc because i decided it was basically just as usefull as my sine wave generator. Im building a ring mod right now. Cant wait to see what itll sound like then. this diy shit is real fun, but pretty unpredictable in terms of the sounds itll make

[Vigilante Ecstasy]

All you need.

[birthdeath]

All you need.

Fucking primitive. I had the idea earlier to put a speaker or amp and turn it up really loud making some thumping beats, put it in some metal container, and have some glass,nails,screws w/e in there put a contact mic inside with a cord going out and run it through a few pedals. Maybe for a different project,though;that would be very harsh noise.Pic related would maybe be better through a diy spring reverb.That or putting a contact mic to a washing machine and doing the same would probably be the most ghetto approach to making drone I could think of,haha.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

I've made noise with a vacuum cleaner recorded in a 4-track before. No effects, just the vacuum cleaner, a microphone and the 4-track. Shit was brutal. Less is always more. 

[birthdeath]

I've made noise with a vacuum cleaner recorded in a 4-track before. No effects, just the vacuum cleaner, a microphone and the 4-track. Shit was brutal. Less is always more. 

yeah, just straight noise is pretty fun to do because you can pretty much do anything with anything that makes noise and it'll be noise, so thats pretty cool.But, whenever i make noise, it seems it just more fun to do it rather than to see how it turns out.

[birthdeath]

If anyone has any idea what would be the best reverb pedal/unit for the kinda sounds I want it would be very appreciated.( right now im just using the one on my zoom
im thinking between alesis microverb 4,digitech supernatural or maybe ehx cathedral doesnt have to be between those though, just the one thatll work best