How to have a deliberate practice session?

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Hi Elektronauts,

I recently acquired my first Elektron machine, Analog RYTM. I find the machine really interesting and enjoy playing around with it. However, I feel like I have a problem with making the best use of my time with it. As a hobby musician with other interests and obligations, normally I can only find an hour of time every other day to play with the machine. With acoustic instruments, like a piano or a guitar, I could steal 30 mins here and there and use it to practice playing a composition and that both feels satisfying and make me better at playing the instrument. But with electronic instruments, I don’t have an equivalent routine. Turning knobs and experimenting is perfectly fine and inspiring for long sessions I might manage to find during the weekends. but I feel like I need a more deliberate approach on an everyday basis.

Has anyone else went through a similar experience and do you have any tips on how to overcome this?

Cheers

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#2

It is interesting with electronic instruments, as long as you have an open amplitude envelope, you have a sound.

Perhaps focus on specific elements with each session. for instance, you could focus each session on; specific machines; performance controls; trig conditions; using samples. perhaps explore song mode also, which might help u to build more deliberate song structures.

try recording your results also, even if just to your phone. listening back to your process might help which way you want to go next.

and perhaps try using samples to create a certain bed or melodic elements on a track, with the beat built up around it.

good luck!

#3

I had a guitar/production teacher for a while who recommended recreating songs or sections you love or that you’d want to emulate. We did a few full tracks that way (boom bap and trip-hop, in my case).

I think it’s good advice and good practice. Give it a try!

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#4

Great question, @topisirovic!

I find it all too easy to get sidelined noodling for hours at a time. It’s fun, sometimes a wee bit obsessive and often not as productive as I would have liked.

These days, I have two questions I try to settle before beginning:

  1. Pick a Role: I find my time is more productive and rewarding if I stick to one role per session.

    Examples: spend time Auditioning sounds before Composing; refrain from meticulous Editing when trying to Compose; craft the Foundations before developing Embellishments.

    Essentially, try to give each role its day in the sun.

  2. Have a Goal: I keep a list of mini goals I’d like to achieve during a session. These goals are quite diverse, but they are all easily obtainable.

    Examples: write the funkiest bass line you can; use the !Fill condition to strip complexity from a melody; write in Lydian mode.

    The nice thing about this practice is that it also cultivates your curiosity about music in between sessions.
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#5

It sounds like your regular practice with an acoustic instrument involves playing music by other people, and your regular practice with the AR involves making sounds and rhythms of your own. You could loosely say one is “playing” and the other “composing”. Acknowledge these are different and proceed in a way which satisfies your curiosity about both.

e.g.: change the acoustic practice to better support the composition: Improvise or compose on it instead of playing music by others, and then link this up with your AR explorations

e.g. attempt to copy with the AR what you like in the rhythm section of the music you practice on the acoustic instrument: create your own backing tracks and get them to a point where you’re doing satisfying “full band” covers rather than single instrument covers

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#6

I’ll add that “performing” on the AR is definitely possible and a skill similar to performing on a guitar or piano. Deciding on, creating and then playing a mixture of Scenes and Performance macros, in combination with pattern switching, mutes and real-time editing in one of the Record modes is “performance”, the same way playing a song on piano is. Pretend you’re a drummer and play the AR in your imaginary band.

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#7

are you looking to learn the machine better or write music? if the former, just work your way through the manual. read a section when you have time, then try to apply what you’ve learned during your next session with the RYTM.

if you’re looking to write music, well that’s trickier… but I would say one thing that helps me is not focusing on it. I purposefully spend studio sessions just writing patches/sounds on various instruments, particularly ones I haven’t played recently. exploring them will eventually inspire me and a melody or song approach idea will pop out. or it won’t but I’ll have made a cool sound for use later, when I’m feeling inspired. you can have the exact same approach to the RYTM and the various sound engines.

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#8

Make some room next to your bed so that you can play once in a while before falling asleep.

Make it fast to switch on what is needed for you to practice.

Stop watching series / playing games if you do it already :wink:

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#9

The problem i see you have is by the time you set it all up and twist the knobs to where they should be its almost time up. Therefore i would leave everything setup to the exact point you want it and leave all settings at that. So just the power button is needed for carrying on. Or just create 1 bar of music each session and get that as good as possible in the 1 hour.

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#10

I have opposite needs than yours. I don’t think to be right: it’s only my personal feeling.
I’m an hobbist too and I know how It’s hard to stole a few time to play music. My daily routine is made of job, family, kid etc…
Before to fall in love for electronic gear I played bass guitar a lot and my few time for music was fully dedicated to practice. If you play bass guitar only one hour a day you can’t do music, actually you only practice. I love electronic gear exactly because I don’t need to practice a lot. Before to start buying electronic gear I only did “fitness” on bass guitar, now I do music. Bad music probably, but it’s my own shit, it didn’t exist before, it’s my creation. It makes me happy and unleash my need for creativity. Now also my approach to bass guitar is better.
Now I don’t practice, but experiment instead. Every session I’m focused on try something new. My goal is not to learn some technic, but to experiment new sounds and new ways to make music. During my daily life I’m free to think about my gear and to imagine my evening experiments, when my kid is sleeping, I have a rest and I can sit in front of my synths. This is the reason why I do love electronic gear: freedom. With electronic gear “to practice” it’s replaced by “to experiment” and “to jam”.
I don’t want a musical routine :slightly_smiling_face:

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#11

Try to incorporate the most basic amount of sound you can achieve with the new instrument. This new instrument is an additional voice to be incorporated into your current compositions. The more familiarity you gain with it, the more prominent it’s voice will become in your arrangements. Rather than approach the instrument with seeking to discover how dominant it can be in an arrangement, first discover how minimal it can be yet still sound rich with the other voices.