Getting a west coast synth sound?

[Cell 2Dee]

What would you guys say is the best way to get a West Coast synth sound on either FL or Ableton Live? Should I just look for a West Coast synth soundfont and tweak it slightly? Thanks fam.

 

[LDB]

The west coast sound isn't jumping off right now but I would say to definitely grab a sound set or bank in that flavor. Once you do and understand how they do it you'll probably find that you already have some similar synths that you can use.

Something in the Moog family would probably get you started.

 

[skidflow]

sorta like a synth like flatline right? Reason has that sound...its just a matter of tweaking it to your liking.

 

[Manji]

whoomp whoomp whoomp whoomp


jeah

 

[Agent Smith]

the sound you're thinking of isn't really being used out here right now so you'd be making sort of a retro sound but its a matter of getting a monophonic sawtooth synth and tweaking the different settings. the "west coast" sound banks are wack and straight out of '96...you're better off making your own.

 

[Cell 2Dee]

Ok cool, thanks for the advice. So what is the sound over in the US now then? Just Soulja Boy and Lil Wayne wack shit?

 

[LDB]

Ok cool, thanks for the advice. So what is the sound over in the US now then? Just Soulja Boy and Lil Wayne wack shit?

ah ha ha ha ha....do they not have American Radio in England? If they do you'd know that the west coast synth play has been mia for years. Not to mention the only "big" west coast artist doing numbers is Snoop. Can't recall the last time he's spit on a track with that 90's synth sound.

If you're trying to produce for mainstream you better get you some MTV or BET.....

 

[Greg Savage]

Thing about westcoast synths (as you put) It's not really the synths that we use but it's more so how we use them.

You can use any of those so called wack 96 patches and make the work. You just cant play them the way they were played in 96

Check the Indi side of westcoast music

Check out what battlecat, mitchy slick and others are doing and you'll see what I mean by using the sounds correctly. No they are not mainstream signed artist but they push high numbers on an Indi level and get music in film

 

[Agent Smith]

cosign. check out jellyroll, battlecat, fredwreck, thx, dj khalil, swiff d, dibiase...
although that is by no means a comprehensive list, it will give you a nice range of what's going on on the west right now.

 

[Sincock]

Why not just come up with your own sounds rather than worrying about what's hot now?

American Radio In England? hahahahahahaha

 

[Greg Savage]

cosign. check out jellyroll, battlecat, fredwreck, thx, dj khalil, swiff d, dibiase...
although that is by no means a comprehensive list, it will give you a nice range of what's going on on the west right now.

^^ Oh exactly

Why not just come up with your own sounds rather than worrying about what's hot now?

Learning/worrying about whats hot now is what works. Not to mention mimicing and trying to understand what works,why it works and how I can get it to work for me is how you innovate/create

 

[Sincock]

Learning/worrying about whats hot now is what works. Not to mention mimicing and trying to understand what works,why it works and how I can get it to work for me is how you innovate/create

That might be how you feel or how you "create" but I can't really agree with that point of view. "Learning/worrying about what's hot now" is what produces endless versions of the same crap. It stifles innovation and creativity IMO.

Learning from your favourite artists is a good thing; as is making an effort to understand how they did what they did. Copying them? not so much.

"What works" is what works for you; there's as many ways to produce a track as there are producers, more in fact. There was a time when originality and real innovation was praised and admired, what the fuck happened?

 

[Relic]

I have been playing nothing but Tribe or the Infamous album for weeks now...lol

 

[Greg Savage]

That might be how you feel or how you "create" but I can't really agree with that point of view. "Learning/worrying about what's hot now" is what produces endless versions of the same crap. It stifles innovation and creativity IMO.

Learning from your favourite artists is a good thing; as is making an effort to understand how they did what they did. Copying them? not so much.

"What works" is what works for you; there's as many ways to produce a track as there are producers, more in fact. There was a time when originality and real innovation was praised and admired, what the fuck happened?

Money,budgets, mass appeal and deadlines is what happened lol

It's quite ok you don't have to agree I respect that I can only go off what I see in the music,sound designing and video industry 1st hand and others see a diff aspect.


I've never seen 1 person learn anything without copying it 1st never but hey thats me

Peace

 

[jayhoffa]

do your own thang

there aint no westcoast sound .thats the dr. dre sound



free beats and beats for sale

link removed

 

[Agent Smith]

jayhoffa...
a) you must not be from the west coast
b) read the rules homie

 

[P_1]

The Game is from the West...So is Dre...Sly boogie from the I.E. is a good up-and-comer (if you want to call him that). Theres a lot of good hiphop acts out here. its just that these labels are on this dirty, shitty, south crap right now. I agree with Nnxt, if you are serious about playing the "game" of the music industry, then you need to listen to whats "hot" right now and emulate. i bet there are alot of producers out from the south who cant stand their own beats but do it anyway because it pays the bills. If you're doing this because you truly want to be artistic and expressive of your talents then that is not the way to go. Just my $.02

 

[Kontents]

If you're doing this because you truly want to be artistic and expressive of your talents then that is not the way to go. Just my $.02

Not entirely true... If you are doing music just for the money then its not considered music. Giving into the mainstream media and doing what they want is destroying the idea of artistic expression because you need paper. Do what you have to to get there but never give up your expression through a form of art.


"Rap continues to be popular among today's urban youth for the same reasons it was a draw in the early days: it is still an accessible form of self expression capable of eliciting positive affirmation from one's peers. Because rap has evolved to become such a big business, it has given many the false illusion of being a quick escape from the harshness of inner city life. There are many kids out there under the belief that all they need to do is write a few 'fresh' (good) rhymes and they're off to the good life"

http://www.daveyd.com/rapphist3.html


Same thing goes for production.

 

[P_1]

Not entirely true... If you are doing music just for the money then its not considered music. Giving into the mainstream media and doing what they want is destroying the idea of artistic expression because you need paper. Do what you have to to get there but never give up your expression through a form of art.

Same thing goes for production.

There has to be some kind of compromise though. there is no way in hell that a new artist is going to get into a situation at a major (or indie) label and demand that he does what he wants to do. These labels are investing in the artist to gain something in return. Most of the time, they see something in these artists and know that they can mold them into something more acceptable to the general public.

 

[Cell 2Dee]

To be honest, I'm doing it for both. I want to do it for my love of it, but make a little money off it too. So if that means I have to make a few beats that I don't wanna make then ok, but my goal is to start a very small, independent label and grow. Kinda like Jay Z did, I guess.