#sunquan8094

The I-VI-III-VII minor chord progression (Em, C, G, D on a standard-tuned guitar) seems to be the most reserved by post-hardcore bands for acoustic songs and electronic interludes. I don't hear many plugged songs with this progression. I guess it's because of the fact that the progression is easier to play on a standard-tuned acoustic guitar than it is on a drop-tuned electric guitar.

Examples of such post-hardcore songs include, but are not limited to:

"Black and Blue" by A Skylit Drive on "Identity On Fire" (duirng the chorus)

"Interlude" by Attack Attack! on "Someday Came Suddenly"

"Desolate (The Conductor) by Woe, Is Me (old, FYI) on "Number[s]"

"The Definition of Not Leaving" by Hands Like Houses on "Ground Dweller" (uses a similar progression, the last note is different)

Such songs that are not post-hardcore include, but are not limited to:

"Whistle" by Flo Rida

"Can't Control Myself" by Krewella

"Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men

From listening to genres with songs in minor keys, such as dubstep, post-hardcore, and metalcore, I have noticed something.

Many emotional songs usually incorporate minor chord progressions that start with VI-VII-i. (That's C-D-Em on a standard-tuned guitar. If you don't have one, listen to my song "Negativity" on YouTube to get an idea.) The emotion conveyed by the song usually depends on the other elements, such as the melody, volume, and tempo. The latter two seem to have more influence on the listener's emotion. When a such song is played at a faster tempo and at a higher volume, the listener tends to be angrier. When such a song is played at a slower tempo and at a lower volume, the listener tends to be sadder.

This is how I create a talking bass with FL Studio:

Download the CMT Bitcrusher. (http://freemusicsoftware.org/category/free-vst-effects-2/bit-crusher) Save the VST plugin file to wherever you store your VSTs. If you've done this beforehand, skip this step.

Open FL Studio and insert a Triple Oscillator into the pattern. Set all three of the oscillators' wave shapes to sine waves. Edit the pitch properties by setting the LFO attack all the way down, the LFO amount all the way up, and the LFO speed at 2 steps. Set the FX number to an available number.

Go to the mixer, click on the insert labeled with the Triple Oscillator's FX number. Insert the Bitcrusher. Set the downsampling of the Bitcrusher to 20. (One to two times off is okay.)

As you all know, I make dubstep songs and upload them onto my YouTube channel. Lately, I've been playing around with something known as "talking bass." Unfortunately, there seem to be no tutorials on making it for LMMS, the software I use, so I thought that I'd do something about it.

This post assumes that you have LMMS. If you do, download the CMT Bitcrusher (http://freemusicsoftware.org/category/free-vst-effects-2/bit-crusher) DLL to the folder where you store your VSTs.

After all that, open the triple oscillator. Set both oscillator modulations to PM. Set your waveforms in each oscillator however you want. Then, go to the ENV/LFO tab and turn on the filter. Lower the cutoff as much as possible without without making it 0 Hertz. The reso knob should be between 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock. Set the TARGET to CUTOFF, then set the LFO wave shape to triangle. Do the same for RESO.

Now, for the fun part. Go to the FX tab, and press Add Effect. In the following dialog, the Bitcrusher should appear at the bottom if you downloaded the VST to the correct location. When the VST appears, adjust the DOWNSAMPLING until you have your desired sound. Use automation if necessary.