#i have been recently practicing learning how to make music on fl studio

[swordy-da-goat]

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bonus character stuff

two robot siblings who like to sing

[honnojis]

Hey Xumi, how did you learn to compose music? And is there like another skill you have to learn to give it a shot?

Lotsss of trial and error by just trying shit out. The post ended up a bit long, so I'm gonna have more under the cut!

I had some music knowledge from having taken a few music theory exams and took guitar/vocal lessons for a while, but that was about as far as it went, so I had no actual experience in, well, composing anything! It REALLY showed with some of my earliest compositions. Some of which are still in the game, by the way! Saki's Hijinx, Despair Desert, Painful Truth are the oldest songs I've composed for Rejuvenation that are still in the current build. Goldenleaf Town is also one, but has received a remaster since, so that one doesn't really count I think.

I started out with a trial version of Mixcraft (of which I reset the trial........... several times. because i was able to do that for some reason. very cool), then later decided to 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️ FL studio 12 LOL. That's kinda where I had to start actually making my own beats, chords and melodies since I initially relied on a sample library that was included with Mixcraft to do most of my work before then. A lot of the old songs I mentioned previously actually were made using those samples, hence why they sound a little repetitive. The switch to FL was rough at first and you could tell I had like 0 experience with mixing anything (go listen to the oldest version of the rival theme of Xenogene, it's the first song I ever made in FL), but i eventually figured out how to make stuff sound more stereo, got better at writing my own melodies and chord progressions, got access to better VST's and just generally started to get better at the whole music composing thing!!!!!!

Tutorials have definitely helped! Youtube is good. You can find a lot of ideas in different corners. For instance, one of the recent tracks I've made I actually got some ideas from watching a jazz piano chord tutorial!! There's some really cool chord progressions in jazz music and it's been really helpful to get out of the habit of sticking to the same 5 default chords hahaha........... Tho I think the thing I've had to look up the most was how to do proper mixing in production. I'm still not satisfied with my skill in that regard 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 kms

mixing is a fuck

My biggest problem was that I just kinda... never practiced composing/actually working in a DAW enough until recent years. I used to compose music based on whims of inspiration, which is a bit of a bad habit when you're trying to get better at something, but I think I've kiiiinda gotten out of that now? I'm able to sit down and just get started on music more often lately even if I don't have any direct ideas.

I think I really started to take things more seriously since I've started making more tracks for Rejuvenation, which is subsequently how I figured out I really want to start doing music as part of my actual work now! Funny how that works, isn't it? This is the second time I figured out that I wanted to do a certain thing for a living thanks to this game LMAO

Definitely gotta give a shout out to DM Dokuro though, that man's work is so incredibly unique and has been a huge inspiration for making me want to get better at composing. The music he's composed is what's driving me to try out more new approaches to song structure, chord progressions and the likes! If you for some reason haven't listened to his work yet, do it. now. you will absolutely not regret it

[rottinghollows]

Episode 015: An Encounter with Trrm

Trrm is an artist I've only heard of fairly recently, but as a creative and musician I have a lot of respect for his drive and dedication to his work. I found him through UndergroundUnderdogs' Youtube Channel which I will link here. Our interview is below, but before reading, give a listen to his most recent track. As always, enjoy!

RH: Care to say a bit about yourself for those reading?

T: Well, I'm an artist from Winnipeg, Canada. I've been making music the last 6 years, but for the last 2 years i taught myself to mix/produce everything myself. I just started releasing music again late 2017.

RH: Has music always been a big part of your life? What made you want to start producing for yourself?

T: It has and it hasn't. I remember getting so much enjoyment out of music when I was younger, my mom tells me I was always hummin melodies and making like drum patterns *laughs*, but I was mostly into sports and just fuckin' around when I was growing up. I started mixing out of necessity. Studio fees were unaffordable after I moved out and I always wanted to be able to curate my own sound. that shit took forever to just get it sound listenable. It's still a work in progress, though I have friends that help(plus Youtube).

RH: Has learning to produce help you grow as an artist? I could only imagine so *laughs*

T: Definitely. Even being able to practice recording was huge too..I'm not rushed on anyone's time..my set up is in my basement actually. *laughs*

RH: I remember coming across your work initially through UndergroundUnderdogs' Youtube channel, how'd you link up for that if I can ask?

T: Well it was all simple really, and I think it was also a timing thing. UU was really pickin up steam with their podcasts/site, and I had heard of them through a friend. In the fall, Chris and I had started shooting videos together and I knew I wanted them on the right channels. When I was getting ready to release them I sent one (the video for blacksea) to UU and he was like "oh shit this is dope", and next thing he said was "do you want us to host this on our YT channel?", I was like beeeet haha. I think they had only uploaded like 5 music vids at that point and since then keep uploading really dope underground artists. They really do fuck with underground artists on the real.

RH: Legit, got nothing but respect for the UU team. What have you been working on recently?

T: For Real man. Honestly, it's cliche but I been workin non stop for the past year. Chris and I just finished our 5th vid last night. I have a project coming up with my good friend bleich that we just started (releasing a single this week). Releasing a self produced project in the summer, but right now I'm printing a shirt/sweater of my last EPs cover that my buddy DEATH_CORNER did for me. "a winter's end" coming out end of May.

RH: When you produce music, do you use Ableton or FL Studios? How does producing a track feel to you?

T: I do everything through Logic X. I have a 25 key Midi and a Maschine. Producing a track feels so tight! It's like i'm switching between actor and director, if that makes sense. *laughs* it also allows me to play with a lot of different styles...but I still love getting beats in my gmail.

RH: How much do you put into making your music videos? Is there a certain feeling or aesthetic you're trying to convey?

T: For me, as little as possible. that's not to say a lot of work doesn't go into them, i'm just more concerned on setting, vibe and tone of the visuals. At the same time, with visuals you have to be creative, especially without anything super extra. We just have fun with it at the end of the day.

RH: Who or what would you say inspired your work?

T: Outkast, mainly Andre 3000. His style on everything he's done is so eye catching. Aquemeni and stankonia are two of my fav projects from them. I draw a lot of inspiration from super random things that I can't even explain. Mostly 90s and early 00s nostalgia. I love the randomness of jazz. basquiat was also huge for me. I'm drawn to obscure shit I don't know how or why but that ish is flawless to me.

RH: I've been meaning to ask about your rap name. Is there a significance to it for you?

T: Nah, not really. Lot of people don't even know how it's pronounced, some think it's an acronym. My name is pronounced 'Term', I just like how TRRM or trrm looks. It all stems from my early rap name Termanill(don't search for that unless you want to cringe).

RH: Before we close up, what would you say you hope to accomplish with your music?

T: My only goals are to keep creating, pushing my artistic boundaries, keep coming up with something new. The end goal is to live off my art, and to get into as many creative outlets as possible.

RH: Good shit man. Got any final words/shoutouts to give?

T: Shoutout to everyone supporting trrm, shoutout to anyone reading this, and an even bigger shoutout to RottingHollows.

RH: Much love man, thank you for your time.

Links

trrm

Twitter

Soundcloud

[D_A_E_C]

Twitter

Shop

Chris Freeland

Twitter

Vimeo

Prod. Bleich

Soundcloud

UndergroundUnderdogs

Twitter

Youtube

Site

Next Episode: Lil Cut Tendon

[coolhandluke]

“I THOUGHT COOL HAND LUKE WAS OVER?!?!?!”

So did I. I mean, it was. In 2011, Of Man was released, and Cool Hand Luke embarked on a farewell tour. The line-up was in flux for the final shows, but it was mostly friends from the bands Standing Small, Keep Quiet, Civilian, and Sons. Ironically, none of them actually played on Of Man, which meant they had a lot of hard work learning parts. I’m so grateful to them for their dedication in helping me pull it all off, and more than that, for their friendship.

We played our final show in June of 2011 at a club in Nashville called The End. Poetic, I know. In July of 2011, my wife Brandy and I moved from Nashville (where I had lived my whole life) to Orlando, FL, where we both attended seminary at Reformed Theological Seminary. (If you supported CHL in those days, you may remember that ALL proceeds from Of Man went toward helping me go to seminary. And it really did, and you have no idea how much it helped. That junk is expensive! So, thank you.)

My life, obviously, changed drastically. I went from being dude in a rock band who worked at a coffee shop to dude who wakes up at 5am to study Greek paradigms. It was hard in more ways than I knew to even expect. I never knew how much of my identity was wrapped up in Cool Hand Luke until it wasn’t there anymore. 99% of people I encountered at RTS had no idea who CHL was. It was like, “Oh neat, you were in a band? Never heard of it. Anyway, what did you get on your Hermeneutics paper?” I had an identity crisis. An existential crisis. But I’m getting off the subject. You just want to know the deal with Cool Hand Luke.

In the spring of 2015, I graduated from RTS with two masters degrees. That was more than I had planned on, and I honestly still don’t know how in the world I got through it. Obviously God’s grace and provision sustained Brandy and me through a very time-consuming, expensive process. I’m so thankful that we got to do it. Seminary was very formative for me and Brandy and our marriage. So, now I have a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Counseling. My main job is that I am a mental health counselor at a practice called Journeys Counseling Center in Maitland, FL. (I also practice at Christ Community Church PCA in Titusville, FL one day a week.) I love being able to come alongside people who are hurting and trying to navigate through this broken world. It is a profound honor.

In addition to counseling, I teach drum lessons, and I am a producer at Parafonic Recording Studio. Both of those are fairly part time. It’s feast or famine. But I absolutely LOVE getting to help other people play music and see their vision come to fruition. It’s one of the most life-giving things I have ever experienced. At some point, I’ll tell you the story of Parafonic and my good friend Brandon Shattuck who started it. It’s a good story, but again, it’s off topic.

Over the past two years, I’ve been writing and demoing music. Sometimes it has been with a very clear intention, and sometimes it has just been humming something into a voice memo, not knowing if I’ll ever even listen to it again. I never thought, “I’m working on a new record.” I just wrote because that is what I will always do. I am always thinking of a riff, a bass line, a melody, a weird beat, etc. Sometimes it’s a pretty piano part, sometimes it’s a crushing doom guitar riff in drop C. (Maybe I’ll tell you more about those sometime, too.)

Since I work at a recording studio now, and since Brandon who runs the studio is awesome, he said “Hey, when we don’t have anything going on, we can record some of your stuff.” So we did. Kind of just for fun. I didn’t know if I’d ever do anything with it. But once I started recording, I kept coming up with more and more and more and more song ideas. But, I’m very good at writing half of a song, demoing it, and then forgetting about it. Or getting distracted with new song ideas. Or recording all the music for a song but not writing any lyrics. In other words, I start a lot of things and don’t finish them.

Personally, God has been working on my heart and my character. I am a stereotypical passive, codependent, people-pleaser. It drives me crazy. I mean, I’m a counselor for crying out loud! I know what’s going on, but I still do this stuff. I know that God has changed me and redeemed a lot of those tendencies, but I’m still a work in process. Anyway, I read a book, thinking, “This could be good for some of my clients,” and it ended up being really good for me. It kicked my butt. One of the challenges in the book was not to start any new projects until you finish the ones you’re working on. So, I decided to start with this album.

I talked it over with Brandon, and we made a game plan. So for the past several months, I’ve been chipping away at a record. Usually one day a week, and sometimes not even for a whole day. Once I was about half way done, I realized that I needed to call this thing something.

I thought about releasing it under my name, Mark Nicks. But there are a few problems: 1) Mark Nicks doesn’t sound all that cool 2) No one knows who in the world Mark Nicks is 3) I don’t know about you, but when I just hear a dude’s name as a recording artist or whatever, I imagine that it’s going to be acoustic, singer songwriter kind of music. Nothing wrong with that if that’s you’re thing, but that is decidedly not what this record sounds like. I wanted to avoid the perception that this is coffee shop music.

I also kicked around the idea of just calling it by some new moniker. I had thought I might call it The Balancing Act, since that’s a CHL song and it sort of fits the theme of a one man band. But it turns out there was a band called that in the 80’s. Which leads to the second problem: ALL GOOD BAND NAMES ARE TAKEN. I have lists of names on my phone and somewhere someone has a Facebook page, a Bandcamp page, or a Spotify single under that name. Besides that, if I picked a random band name, no one would know who it was. It would just be one more record floating around on iTunes that no one ever pays any attention to. I don’t have the time and resources to “break” a new band. (I’m not sure I’d have any idea how to do that anyway.)

So, I kept coming back to the idea of putting out a new Cool Hand Luke record. I had three main reasons not to. 1) I said Cool Hand Luke was over. Wouldn’t this be lying?  2) Most of CHL’s fans were listening when they were in high school and college 12 years ago. Now they have kids and mortgages. Will they even care anymore? 3) I have never wanted to give the impression that Cool Hand Luke is just me. It was always a band. For Of Man, there was no official line-up and I wrote all the songs, but I had a bunch of friends play on it. There is no way I could have pulled that off on my own. So the dilemma has been, “Is it arrogant to release my ‘solo’ music under the band moniker Cool Hand Luke? Will people perceive that I’m just trying to milk whatever CHL fanbase still exists?”

Well, I’ll address all three issues. 1) Cool Hand Luke was over. This is very true. I never had any intention of doing a reunion tour or relaunching the band or anything like that. But as I discussed this with a few of my good friends they all encouraged me to just call it Cool Hand Luke. Aaron Stone, who you may know from the almighty My Epic, said “Who cares? Bands do that all the time.” (Just in the past year LCD Soundsystem started headlining festivals and working on new music after doing a publicized farewell show at Madison Square Garden and putting out a documentary about it.) And my friend Tim Inman who I play with some and who fronts The Separate said, “Well, if they are a fan of Cool Hand Luke, they’ll probably just be excited. And if they’re not, they won’t care anyway.” I thought that was a good point. Recently I realized that the last song on Of Man is called Not the End, Not the End. We all should have seen this coming.

2) CHL’s old fanbase won’t care anymore. Well, maybe they won’t. That’s a fear of mine. I think about bands that I liked in college. If most of them made a new record after years of nothing, I probably wouldn’t care much. I may not even bother to listen. In fact, that has happened. But I am hoping that there are still some old fans who will be curious to see what CHL in the modern age sounds like. If I was trying to rehash early 2000’s emo, I’d understand if no one bothered with it. But, I think I’ve got something new to offer. And if people don’t care to check it out, that’s okay. I know it has been worthwhile, and I think people will care about it if they give it a chance. As I’ve grown more aware of my people-pleasing tendencies, I’ve realized that a lot of decisions that I have made in my life, especially as they pertain to CHL, have been driven by fear. But, I want to live out of the freedom of the gospel, driven by truth. I want to risk in the hopes that I might be a blessing for the sake of the gospel. Fear will always leave us second-guessing and trying to eliminate all the variables. It cripples us. I’m tired of that narrative. There is a bigger story to step into. So, here’s step one: a new CHL record. BAM!

3) Mark Nicks does not = Cool Hand Luke. This was probably the biggest hurdle for me to get past. But my good friend Chris McMurtry (from one of my favorite bands ever—Aireline) explained it like this: “It’s a family name. If I say I am a McMurtry, I’m not saying I’m the only McMurtry. But I am in the family, so I can use the name.” This made all the difference in the world to me. I think about Brandon Morgan and Jason Hammil and the other guys who I have had the honor of making records with, and they are Cool Hand Luke, too. My saying that this new music is Cool Hand Luke is not my saying that those guys are not Cool Hand Luke. Does that make sense? It did to me. (Not to get your hopes up, but I have talked to Jason and Brandon—the two other original members of CHL— recently about the possibility of doing some new music. It’s logistically complicated, but we’re all open to it.) And besides that, I definitely did not do this on my own. Brandon Shattuck engineered the whole thing, which he is awesome at. Beyond that he played guitar and bass on the record.

So, now I bring it back to your comment and the title of this blog: “I thought Cool Hand Luke was over.” Well, it was. But in another way, it never will be. I still get emails and hear stories from people about how God has used and continues to use the music of CHL in the lives of people who chose to embrace it for more than just entertainment. Sometimes my life feels so far removed from touring the country and rehearsing for hours at a time that I forget it was even real. But these stories matter. I really believe that Cool Hand Luke mattered to a lot of you. And I think it’s still a fitting name and vehicle for the music that I’m making. I’ll tell you more about the themes of this record and what went into the writing/recording process shortly. But just know that I am proud of it, and I want people to hear it. I think calling this music Cool Hand Luke is the best way to do that, and I have peace about putting that name on it. I don’t take it lightly at all. It has always been a privilege and an honor to be a part of Cool Hand Luke, and I still view it that way—maybe now more than ever.