Tutorial Video: Piano Roll - Composing Electro/Dance type track in realtime with Sonar

Hi all,

This is my new video called  "Piano Roll Midi - Composing Electro/Dance music on the fly"


In this video you can see a dance track being written in real time using the piano roll editor in Sonar v4. Though it is an older version than X1, I think you can still replicate some of the techniques being used in these videos with Sonar X1

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsk8csPxaPw
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDmZsUI1ERI
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JVsw9t4aV4
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M20340Ei1aw

The whole thing is 33:00 minutes long, if you want to listen to the finished track simply go to 6:12 in the last video.

Synths used: Lennar Digital Sylenth and Z3TA+ 2

I hope you find these useful.
Cheers,
Theo

Wow...speed composer! What synth are you using for the bass line?
Thanks,
Randy

I also watched"composing orchestral track on the fly" and I'm absolutely blown away...yeah he's fast but more importantly very talented!
That said, PRV is an incredible tool that's well worth investing more time in!
Thanks very much Theo,
Randy

g_randybrown


Wow...speed composer! What synth are you using for the bass line?
Thanks,
Randy

Thanks all for the kind words, glad you find these videos helpful.

For the bass i'm using Z3TA+ 2, it has some really solid filters and basses.

all the best,

Theo

Theo - wger did you get Pacifica library from?:) - in your metal song ?

it's hot as hell :D :D :D

Hey Adrian, the Yamaha Pacifica is a library you can download from my website, check out the video on my channel called "Yamaha Pacifica- Free sample library for Kontakt 3 and above" , and then the video description for the link.

g_randybrown


For the bass i'm using Z3TA+ 2, it has some really solid filters and basses.


I have Z3ta+2 and my basses don't sound like that...maybe mine's broken!
Seriously, would you mind sharing the settings?
On another note, I spent well over an hour watching your videos today and plan on watching them again (especially the 6 part videos of the orchestral stuff)...I'm still blown away by the way you can manipulate PRV in real time like that!
Honestly, you weren't actually composing that in real time were you?
If so, are you manipulating the notes and instruments with what you're hearing in your head or using theory?
I don't want to be a pest but I'm a 58 year old whippersnapper that is going back to school this spring. I can hear full orchestrations in my head but lose them before I can get them down.
I want what you got man; so please, is it theory and you're moving stuff around mathematically or do you hear it first and just know the program so well you can manipulate it without losing your ideas?
Thanks so very much,
Randy

I have Z3ta+2 and my basses don't sound like that...maybe mine's broken! 
Seriously, would you mind sharing the settings? 

I used a factory preset which I can't remember at the moment. You can find it in Factory Content - Showcase - Basses 1 . It is probably the context that makes it sound like that.

Honestly, you weren't actually composing that in real time were you? 

Actually I was, the thing is that, as with the piano, when you play for many years and you say "I'm improvising" you are actually going through various things you have already done in other improvisations like harmony progressions, your own way of playing arpeggios and chords, melodies and the rest. So, the same with Sonar, it is like an instrument that you learn and then you can improvise on it based on what you know.

I want what you got man; so please, is it theory and you're moving stuff around mathematically or do you hear it first and just know the program so well you can manipulate it without losing your ideas? 


I usually get inspired by what I hear at any given moment. So I insert a chord, and then 3 or 4 choices come up to my mind, will it move to this major, minor, 7th or dim chord? Then when I have 2 chords, I play them again, and think again to what chord it will move to. Usually when the inspiration comes, I see the whole melody and chords together up to perhaps 7 or 8 chords. Sometimes I just sit inserting chord after chord and making 4 minute songs with just chord changes. It is good practice and eventually helps you create the most combinations possible, which you then remember for future use. It's like widening a pallet of choices or paths rather than imagining a whole song. That is why I use the scrub tool a lot and keep on playing what I have drawn up to that point, so just before the last chord ends, I imagine the new one based on what just played.


all the best,
Theo

Theo,
 If I may, the thing that I find so inspirational about your demonstrations is that it is clearly obvious that you are simply relying on experience and a very simple work ethic.

 I, personally, feel that you are one of the very few people who demonstrate the basic reality of artistic and or craft endeavors... you simply work at it.

 I am gladdened to see that you are sharing the fact that, as humans, we can combine our seemingly infinite capacity to learn things with a set of simple yet effective tools and we can make beautiful and expressive gestures.

 I feel that there is terrible lack of this sort of information out in the world. It is the sort of unqualified information that used to be shared freely on the porches of farm houses and in the church halls.

 Our societies have become inundated with commercial communications that are fueled with agendas in an effort to promote a short cut mentality and the sale of items and services that purport to make short cuts a worthy alternative.

 There are so few people who take the time to try to make what can not be sold seem worth while and possible... you are one of those very special people.

 The fact that you drive the PRV with your experience and a basic tool set and make wonderful music may serve as inspiration for the people who have simply never seen how powerful the basic idea of a MIDI DAW is.

 My guess is that, while you are certainly a master, you probably are the first to encourage other people and share your realization that the style in which you work gets easier with each passing project.

 I hope that people receive your demonstrations and have the realization that "hey I can do that too... I just have to get started."


 Personally, when I first saw the PRV 20 years ago I thought to myself, "wow, I can really start learning about music now". It has been a long hard struggle for me because I am really just a sound tech that never connected with music theory in satisfactory way but the power of PRV as a learning tool is something I have always appreciated and quite frankly, instructional content such as your is something I have long suspected existed and yearned for an opportunity to experience.

I also want you to know that I'm not trying to over whelm you with banal compliments... I am just completely floored and massively appreciative of what you are doing.

Thanks a whole bunch!

best regards,
mike

You're a legend Theo, I remember your previous Electro composition video was helpful, this is even more expanded! You're a legend Theo, I remember your previous Electro composition video was helpful, this is even more expanded!

Question, how do you learn to sight read Piano roll like that? Years of experience? I am so used to using Cubase where it has the note names on each of the notes working it out is simple. I can understand looking at the Piano roll and seeing what a single note is or an interval, but reading seventh chords and larger that easily...Question, how do you learn to sight read Piano roll like that? Years of experience? I am so used to using Cubase where it has the note names on each of the notes working it out is simple. I can understand looking at the Piano roll and seeing what a single note is or an interval, but reading seventh chords and larger that easily...

Thanks Theo, appreciated. I am going to spend some time following those tricks to pick up speed. :) I like your new videos, how do you find the midi workflow in S1 V2?

Theo, 
you kick ass! That was one of the best SONAR (or any other DAW) tutorial I have ever seen! You are fast as hell and know exactly what you're doing and where SONAR tools are. 

Maximum respect! 


-Panu