I`m from Russia, and I`m looking for...

hq9000 · Joined: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 3

I`m looking for any opportunity to take part in international music contests. It`s very hard, in my oppinion, to find valid links to the sites, where exact information on the subject may be published. So, I`ll be glad to contact with musiciants, who are informed about such a contests.
I live in Russia, my music is really "electronic" and made using my comuter mostly.
I`m waiting for your replies Smile

))))

Sergey

http://simplex.h11.ru

elektro80 · Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:14 pm Post subject:

Cool! Welcome! I hope you will have fun around here. Very Happy

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

Welcome to the forum!

mosc · Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2004 2:39 pm Post subject:

hq9000.

I don't know about too many music contests, but when we hear about stuff like that, someone will post it. The more members we get the more we'll pick up and the more value we'll all gain from the forum. If you know of stuff of interest, please post it.

Anyway, I'm into "electronic" stuff myself. You can hear a bit of my music here: http://electro-music.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3 if you are interested.

Where exactly in Russia are you? It's a pretty big country.

Michael Chocholak · Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 4:06 pm Post subject:

Well, if you are interested in music as competition, many of the download sites are really into that on an ongoing basis. Musicv2 or SectionZ? I remember that Soundclick actually has 'call outs' and 'audio battles' - primarily for dance & techno genres. Personally I'm not into it - don't understand the concept of artistic competition - which is why I'm not at most of those sites. Anyway, I can't remember which sites are really into this, but it should be easy to figure out just by cruising their forums.

Checked your music out & really dug Thai Relax. Cool track!

hq9000 · Joined: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 3

Michael!

You are right (in general)! It is rather strange to try to compare yourself with anothers as musiciants. But here in Russia
there are no special music contests or similar actions where one can declare about himself and his music. There is something
very unpleasant (for me at least) when you have no any chances even hypothetical to do this.
And you... are not interested in comparison with another musiciants. And then, what`s the aim of your creative work? Who are your listeners...

great thanks for comment.

I`ve listened for Oasis and other tracks.
Sounds great!
Are you using any professional music hardware?
is it IDM?

Sergey

Michael Chocholak · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 1:28 pm Post subject:

Michael Chocholak · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 1:37 pm Post subject:

Aha! And if I might be so bold, here's an hq9000 page in english for anyone thrown by the Cyrillic; http://simplex.h11.ru/ENG/current.php . Looks like some different mp3 tracks Question

. Will check it out.

hq9000 · Joined: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 3

So, living in the US, you write some kind of techno music using softsynths and other free and shareware.
Is it common practice among american amateur musiciants?
I mean do the majority of them avoid using cracked software?
You do, i see. Smile

You said, that no professional hardware are used in your studio.
And then, how do you organize your monitoring?

headphones or amlified speakers?

Your sound is too "groovy" to be made with nonprofessional monitoring system i think.

And more general question:

what place does music take in your life in a whole. Is it your work? Or only a hobby.
How much time (and money) do you spend to your music?

The main work of mine (wich brings me money) is not connected with music at all. I`m an nuclear power engineer. But i cant say that my music is only a hobby...
My dream is to earn enought money to have the ability to buy a hardware synth and a pair of speakers.

elektro80 · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:56 am Post subject:

You shouldn´t believe that you actually need a hardware synth in order to make profesionally sounding music. That is not the case. A decent computer of some sort and well made software instruments is all you need. A good keyboard, a soundcard and a pair of good studio monitors will of course be of great help too. A piar of great studio headphones is cool to have too.

A software instrument does of course not have a physical interface like a hardware synth. On the other hand, there are few good hardware synths WITH an oldstyle interface around. You can get them, but they are pricey. learning to play synths using software synths does of course mean that you will not easily be able to learn old playing techniques.. the stuff you did on gear like an ARP Odyssey or a Minimoog. -But fact is that many new ownwers of vintage gear like that never ever explores such techniques at all.

Is there an audible difference? Yes and no... You can make noises that are also played in a special way on old vintage gear that you will not be able to recreate well using a modern software clone of the same instrument. But it can also be argued that tuning, sound quality in general.. the lack of nosie a caused by defective components etc etc makes a case for the virtual synths being the better instrument.

I am a big fan of both hardware and software synths. I don´t see it as relevant anymore. Of course there are bad software instru,ents around. And there are some extremely embarassing analog synths around too.. some of these have become legends.. go figure..

....Hmmm... I guess I will have to add that my thoughts here are all about studio use.

Michael Chocholak · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 3:51 pm Post subject:

Actually I've never had a hardware synth. I used a hardware sampler and manipulated acoustic sound sources. I've only been using softsynths for about a year or two, but I think they work fine, although since I'm working directly from the computer, the experience of playing the synth & effects is quite different with both pros & cons. For me it's freeware or nowhere. Here's a list of available downloads -> http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/SOFTWARE_SYNTHESIZERS/ . Some really good stuff there.

I do an initial mix on the regular computer speakers, then check it out on headphones, but I usually go through 2 or three remixes on the regular stereo system before I finally consider a piece finished. By now I've got a pretty good idea what my music is going to sound like in terms of the dynamic range, but I still go through a lot of rough draft cds that way.

I'm a social worker & a horse breeder. But I agree music is not just a hobby. It's pretty central to my life. I'm always in touch with music. If I can't be playing it, I'm listening to it, even if it's just in my head.

I'd love to have more hardware - just can't afford it. Don't see that changing either. There's a bunch of pics of people's studios scattered here and there on this board - check them out.

But bottom line is, I've heard some of your tracks (still REALLY dig Thai Relax) and I think they sound great. I've pointed some other people at them and they also liked what they heard. So you're doing pretty good with whatever you've got going right now.

Good speakers are a must. And they cost. But there's lots of great FREE sound creation software out there. Why wait? Very Happy