song "Elixir" - breakdown of instruments used

I made this video in response to all the people who have a Korg EMX, and were wondering how I made this song without using anything but the EMX (no external instruments or computer software synths).

The video shows me turning on each instrument, and then I show the screen on the EMX so you can see exactly which instrument it is. I didn't show which effects I applied to the instruments, or how I played the tune to make the pattern for each one, because that would have taken way too long.

Basically this video just breaks the song down into it's parts, so you can better understand how each instrument sounds without all the others running at the same time. A lot of the instruments have a reverb effect applied, especially the drum parts. And I changed the pitch on most of the drum parts to make them sound much different then they do by default.

You may notice at the beginning of the video when I'm trying to show the names of the different instruments used in the synth parts section, I don't change the selection properly so the first 3 instruments have the same name. But later on as I go through all the synth parts again, you can see what each one is named and which number it is on the EMX.

And for those people who have never used an EMX synthesizer, I must stress that none of these patterns are presets. So each time you see me select an instrument part and you hear it playing by itself, that isn't a preset pattern. I had to first adjust the sound of the instrument to make it a completely new instrument, then play the music on the keyboard to make the pattern itself, then adjust the way the notes sound as the pattern progresses. When I eventually have a tutorial video showing a song from start to finish you will be able to fully appreciate the amount of programming that goes into making a single song on the EMX. And at first it's very bewildering and you think it will be impossible to remember how to do all the steps it takes just to make one pattern, but after using it for a while, you remember everything and can quickly move through the process of creating a song with ease.

When you complete a song using this synthesizer, it's very satisfying because you made it 100% from scratch. Most of the dance/electronica music you hear on the radio or TV is made using preset patterns, pre-made samples, and pre-made MIDI maps for the instruments and all the "artist" does is select which patterns and melodies he likes for his song, and some of them don't even play the keyboard at all; they just put together pieces of someone else's work, and then call it their own. All their friends and family think they're so talented in making music, but in reality they would be nothing without their pre-made patterns and samples made by real musicians.

And unfortunately since this Korg Electribe synthesizer does come loaded with pre-made patterns to demonstrate it's full range of capabilities, some people on Youtube actually use those patterns and tweak the sound just a little bit, then claim the song as their own. In the back of the manual that comes with the EMX, there is a full list of all the preset pattern songs, with full credit given to each professional musician who composed those pieces of music. And those people's names should be placed right there in the video description whenever some wanna-be Dj uploads a video of himself using their pre-made patterns and calling it his own. But this is youtube, and it's full of jackasses.

Here is the link to the video for the completed song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obc0Iv-AUbE&fmt=18

Download the song from my website (it sounds much better):
http://Alchemy-Illuminated.com




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Category:

Music

Tags:

• korg
• emx
• electribe
• synthisizer
• music
• production
• loops
• mixes
• instruments
• instrumental
• ambient
• soundscape
• elixir
• of
• life
• alchemy
• illuminated
• NDC
• FRC
• laboratory
• morning
• dew
• concocted
• distilled
• fratre
• frater
• rosi
• roris
• cocti
• brotherhood
• god
• christian
• rosencrutz
• rose
• cross
• immortal
• tincture
• quintessence
• aqua
• vitae

[sirchristian12]

the bass drum used in this sounds like the drum beat that was used in John Murphy's "surface of the Sun" 1:50

[AlchemistShaman]

@sirchristian12 -- I created this entire song from scratch using nothing but the electribe. I don't use any pre-made MIDI maps or drum loops.

[Reascension]

Nice, you made a how to !

[AlchemistShaman]

Well not really, unless you already know how to use the EMX good enough to understand how to make these instrument sound this way. This video was just to show which instrument parts I used. I plan on eventually making videos that show how to make a song from start to finish, even if you've never used the EMX before and it's fresh out of the box.

[senhorlampada]

Love how you achieved nearly organic sounds! :)

[Reascension]

of course :)

I havent spent ebough time on it yet...

I hear the water singing in that song :)