Dear Music Makers, How do I Aphex Twin?

[Karl Masks]

Dunno if anyone here knows his secret sauce. I was listening to Syro. I'm not a huge fan, but I am super curious how he writes melodies. He doesn't read music, I don't think he's taken piano lessons. Does he play them on a midi controller like most people? Or does he use some weird homemade software that lets him paint the notes in on a computer? That would seem tedious to me.

 

[danski]

Dunno but if you can play, just play like he sounds

 

[Karl Masks]

Dunno but if you can play, just play like he sounds

I'm more interesting in learning from how he does stuff, rather than straight up copying. Syro is an interesting album, but it's not something I choose to listen to for the sake of listening.

 

[Fez909]

I'm not sure his melodies are particularly complex...they're just layered.

Make a simple melody with instrument #1
Add another simple melody over the top with instrument #2
????
Repeat until Aphex Twin?

 

[SpookyFrank]

The beats will be the tricky part. His drum sounds never sound like samples or anything you could get out of a drum machine, I think he builds his own drum sounds using analogue kit. Then you've got the way he actually puts together rhythms from those sounds, which many have tried and failed to rip off.

A great, and cheap, but of kit for Aphex-esque drum sounds is the Korg Volca Drum.

You don't need weird homemade software to create melodies without a keyboard or controller. Any DAW will have a midi grid where you can draw in whatever you want. This is how I first started doing electronic music, before I knew that midi keyboards were a thing. The results can be a bit wrong-sounding because the timing is too perfect, and you don't get the 'pocket' effect a good live band will have, unless you design it into your sounds with envelopes and stuff.

 

[Fez909]

I think the other important thing is variation. Even though I just said he makes simple melodies, they change all the time.

Rarely a bar goes by without a new element coming in, dropping out, or the melody changing.

It's that intricacy that I think sets him apart. And it's what puts me off him these days.

I'm not a fan of Syro or most of his recent stuff. His earlier stuff (I know, I know) was raw and had a level of complexity that other music of the time seemed to lack, but it felt more cohesive than the new stuff, which seems complex for complex sake. Much like Autechre.

 

[Fez909]

The beats will be the tricky part. His drum sounds never sound like samples or anything you could get out of a drum machine, I think he builds his own drum sounds using analogue kit. Then you've got the way he actually puts together rhythms from those sounds, which many have tried and failed to rip off.

A great, and cheap, but of kit for Aphex-esque drum sounds is the Korg Volca Drum.

You don't need weird homemade software to create melodies without a keyboard or controller. Any DAW will have a midi grid where you can draw in whatever you want. This is how I first started doing electronic music, before I knew that midi keyboards were a thing. The results can be a bit wrong-sounding because the timing is too perfect, and you don't get the 'pocket' effect a good live band will have, unless you design it into your sounds with envelopes and stuff.

Also, trackers. I'm not sure if he uses them, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's a great way to get complex rhythms, but it's weird way to make music. More like spreadsheet work.

 

[Karl Masks]

I'm not sure his melodies are particularly complex...they're just layered.

Make a simple melody with instrument #1
Add another simple melody over the top with instrument #2
????
Repeat until Aphex Twin?

Sure, but it's not complexity. Zappa wrote complex melodies, way beyond what RDJ writes. But he did it the old fashioned way by scoring it.

RDJ doesn't read music and, afaict, not a trained keyboard player.

 

[Karl Masks]

Also, trackers. I'm not sure if he uses them, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's a great way to get complex rhythms, but it's weird way to make music. More like spreadsheet work.

what is a tracker? Is that a daw?

 

[Fez909]

Here's my 15 minute attempt at making an Aphex Twin pastiche.

I'm not saying this is good, but it shows how you can get 'complex' sounding stuff with very little effort or skill

 

[Fez909]

what is a tracker? Is that a daw?

it's a different type of DAW. Instead of a piano roll it uses a column of values which represent the notes and velocity etc in numeric form. They were really popular in the 90s, especially with Jungle producers I believe

 

[souljacker]

If you do some googling, there are lots of interviews out there that he has done with people like gear news and music radar where he talks about his setup and workflow. I'm sure I read an excellent article about him in either computer music or sound on sound but they aren't coming up with a brief search.

 

[SpookyFrank]

what is a tracker? Is that a daw?

It's a type of sequencer. Lets you see more information in real time than a typical DAW, where you can usually only see the midi reel for one part/instrument at a time but you get real time access to mixing, effects etc and everything is a bit more user-friendly.

 

[danski]

The beats will be the tricky part. His drum sounds never sound like samples or anything you could get out of a drum machine, I think he builds his own drum sounds using analogue kit. Then you've got the way he actually puts together rhythms from those sounds, which many have tried and failed to rip off.

A great, and cheap, but of kit for Aphex-esque drum sounds is the Korg Volca Drum.

You don't need weird homemade software to create melodies without a keyboard or controller. Any DAW will have a midi grid where you can draw in whatever you want. This is how I first started doing electronic music, before I knew that midi keyboards were a thing. The results can be a bit wrong-sounding because the timing is too perfect, and you don't get the 'pocket' effect a good live band will have, unless you design it into your sounds with envelopes and stuff.

This is great. Ned Rush is awesome. Ableton specific though but still worth a watch.

 

[Karl Masks]

it's a different type of DAW. Instead of a piano roll it uses a column of values which represent the notes and velocity etc in numeric form. They were really popular in the 90s, especially with Jungle producers I believe

View attachment 410439

This looks the sort of thing that's right up aphex street.

I, otoh, find this terrofying and strange

 

[rutabowa]

it's a different type of DAW. Instead of a piano roll it uses a column of values which represent the notes and velocity etc in numeric form. They were really popular in the 90s, especially with Jungle producers I believe

View attachment 410439

yehh I remember making some stuff that sounded a bit cod-Aphex (Richard D James LP era) using a sound tracker. they're really easy to use when you get used to them. You have to set it to a v high tempo to be able to get any complicated rhythm though (e.g. don't do 4 to the bar, do 32 to the bar)

(but 100% sure he isn't using a sound tracker now or probably ever)

 

[danny la rouge]

Dunno if anyone here knows his secret sauce. I was listening to Syro. I'm not a huge fan, but I am super curious how he writes melodies. He doesn't read music, I don't think he's taken piano lessons. Does he play them on a midi controller like most people? Or does he use some weird homemade software that lets him paint the notes in on a computer? That would seem tedious to me.

I know the album, but I just listened to the opening track. It stays on an F7 chord for about 32 bars then, via an F/C, moves to Am for 4 bars then goes major, alternating between an A root and a C# root. Then back to F, and more of the same. Very simple structure, and the melodies just fit in with that. Which anyone with an ear can do, without any need to score it. Just imagination.

I agree that the rhythms are the intricate bit.

 

[rutabowa]

Here's my 15 minute attempt at making an Aphex Twin pastiche.

I'm not saying this is good, but it shows how you can get 'complex' sounding stuff with very little effort or skill

if you can do that in 15 minutes then I reckon if you spent 1 hour 10 minutes on a tune you'd be better than aphex twin

(it's impressive, is what I mean)

 

[Karl Masks]

An example of the kind of melody I'm referring to is track 4 on Computer Controlled Instruments

Now you could write that any number of ways. You could just play it physically, you could score it and program it into a daw, you could paint it into a tracker (or daw) as discussed, but that seems like an INCREDIBLY painstaking thing to do and, without formal theory training, very time consuming.

So I'm curious as to how he does this sort of stuff.

 

[Fez909]

if you can do that in 15 minutes then I reckon if you spent 1 hour 10 minutes on a tune you'd be better than aphex twin

(it's impressive, is what I mean)

Thanks, but I doubt I could make anything as good as Aphex. The initial 'loop' is easy, but making that into a tune is hard. And I defo don't have the patience to sit and make micro-adjustments on a tune to get anything like that.

Here's what I did if anyone is interested:

Ableton
Add a drum rack that sounded synth-ey rather than real or a 909. This one was called DrumSynth Default, which sounds pretty uninspiring!
Add a broken beat type kick pattern. A few hi hats and the cymbal and clap. This took less than a minute.
Copied and pasted it a few times and highlighted some notes. Then set the "chance" variable to 50%, meaning they will only play half the time. Gives a bit of variation for the loop.
Added an OB-X soft synth and smashed a few notes on a pad preset. Did the chance trick again.
Loaded a 303 synth and hit random a few times. Set the pattern to 22 steps so it didn't repeat in a regular way.
Put an Alpha Juno clone on a new channel. Chose a short stabby preset. Copied the midi from the OB-X but disabled it. And then put the new notes in the gaps between the OB-X notes.
Then put some saturation on the drums. Some reverb on the synth pad, and some delay on the Alpha Juno stabs.

 

[rutabowa]

An example of the kind of melody I'm referring to is track 4 on Computer Controlled Instruments

Now you could write that any number of ways. You could just play it physically, you could score it and program it into a daw, you could paint it into a tracker (or daw) as discussed, but that seems like an INCREDIBLY painstaking thing to do and, without formal theory training, very time consuming.

So I'm curious as to how he does this sort of stuff.

that doesn't sound very typical aphex. I reckon that is an actual pianist sampled and slightly messed around with.

 

[danny la rouge]

An example of the kind of melody I'm referring to is track 4 on Computer Controlled Instruments

Now you could write that any number of ways. You could just play it physically, you could score it and program it into a daw, you could paint it into a tracker (or daw) as discussed, but that seems like an INCREDIBLY painstaking thing to do and, without formal theory training, very time consuming.

So I'm curious as to how he does this sort of stuff.

That’s in Bm. Sounds like: | Em/G | F# add #11 (?) | Bm | C/E | C/E | Em6/B | etc.

How does he do it? No idea, but what makes you think he doesn’t just play it on a midi keyboard? Or if he enters it on his DAW, then however that interface works. You get some that sound the notes as you do it, so you can be checking back all the time how it sounds. You don’t need to be able to write music to do that. There’s no reason he’d be entering it “blind”, without audio feedback.

 

[danny la rouge]

that doesn't sound very typical aphex. I reckon that is an actual pianist sampled and slightly messed around with.

Yeah, or more likely that. ^

 

[rutabowa]

Yeah, or more likely that. ^

I doubt he has any problem getting musicians to help him out!

 

[Fez909]

Here's a great video on re-creating Polynomial C on the SH-101

 

[danski]

that doesn't sound very typical aphex. I reckon that is an actual pianist sampled and slightly messed around with.

it’s a ‘computer controlled instrument’
Check it, it’s a good/daft idea

 

[Karl Masks]

that doesn't sound very typical aphex. I reckon that is an actual pianist sampled and slightly messed around with.

As far as I know it's like a player piano, something he did on drukqs. Acoustic instruments played via computer.

 

[Funky_monks]

I'm pretty sure I was listening to him being discussed and the feeling was that he is some kind of savant - he's had no formal training and so has essentially made up his own musical structure, such as you'd find in non-western music that doesn't conform to western notation or time signatures.

Wasn't he initially just using machine noises from electronics he' picked up in charity shops?

 

[danski]

Thanks, but I doubt I could make anything as good as Aphex. The initial 'loop' is easy, but making that into a tune is hard. And I defo don't have the patience to sit and make micro-adjustments on a tune to get anything like that.

Here's what I did if anyone is interested:

Ableton
Add a drum rack that sounded synth-ey rather than real or a 909. This one was called DrumSynth Default, which sounds pretty uninspiring!
Add a broken beat type kick pattern. A few hi hats and the cymbal and clap. This took less than a minute.
Copied and pasted it a few times and highlighted some notes. Then set the "chance" variable to 50%, meaning they will only play half the time. Gives a bit of variation for the loop.
Added an OB-X soft synth and smashed a few notes on a pad preset. Did the chance trick again.
Loaded a 303 synth and hit random a few times. Set the pattern to 22 steps so it didn't repeat in a regular way.
Put an Alpha Juno clone on a new channel. Chose a short stabby preset. Copied the midi from the OB-X but disabled it. And then put the new notes in the gaps between the OB-X notes.
Then put some saturation on the drums. Some reverb on the synth pad, and some delay on the Alpha Juno stabs.

This is practically what I do. And yeah, moving beyond that is really hard.

 

[rutabowa]

He is also a notorious piss taker so I wouldn't necessarily believe anything he says about himself or how he gets sounds/his process!