SiJamz

Is Dial-Up an Instrument?

So the whole "EDM is not real music because no real instrument" thing really pisses me off. So I sit in my room and compose a song, then I program my computer to play back what's in my head. How is that different to someone composing a song and then hiring an orchestra to play it back for them? The main difference is that I can't afford to hire an Orchestra.

I write down my melodies and stuff in piano rolls, I arrange the drums into patterns that work with the melodies. I write down bass lines. I use my midi keyboard to help me come up with ideas. I play around until I have something I like and think I can work with. I open up multiple instances of the synth software I love and I painstakingly craft the sounds I want to go with the melodies and bass lines. That shit ain't easy you know. I mean yeah, you can turn the knobs and get a sound, but getting it just right, exactly as it sounds in your head, that's a different story.

Then there's actually mixing it all together and actually having it sound good. Arranging all the melodies, drum loops, etc. into the actual song is easy enough I guess... Well. Sort of. The actual act of arranging stuff is easy, but it's arranging it in a way that I like that is hard. On top of that, I have to work with EQs and various other effects and filters to make sure every instrument sits right with each other. Now this is the part that is the most time consuming and incredibly frustrating. I'm a real perfectionist. I'm more often than not really dissatisfied with how everything sounds. I think out of the 31 songs I have uploaded to Soundcloud, I can safely say there's only 2, maybe 4 on there that I can actually say that I am proud of. For every song I put on Soundcloud, there's probably another two or so that I have started and abandoned. But one thing is for sure, nothing beats the magic of hearing something that was once in your head being played back to you after spending hours working on it.