I always tell people that music has no rules but it has a form. Dont be at all afraid to get experimental with things, but always make sure that it's still musical
@@wolfmauler The "form" im talking about is like where he suggested learning the fundamentals of music and learning beats and the 4/4 signature, etc. Thats also what i mean by keeping it musical. When I say there are no rules, i meant it like where he said to take inspiration from everywhere and every genre of music. For example, if you're writing a Black Metal song, and you think a mandolin would sound good at a certain part, there's nothing stating that you cant do that.
I've just released my one-man black metal project first single. It is called Лесная Хладь. And I absolutely agree with Farvann about amount of songs that was writteen before.
@@DrageFabeldyr Hey, I can read Cyrillic. Yeah, I want to hear your album. I have an album but I need to improve it. Mine sounds hilarious but I want it to sound dark. 🤣
@@xjapan3 not sure about album, but three singles are on the way and i'm going to do a few experiments like using banjo and balalaika. imho if you want to make sound more dark just add a keyboards playing full minor chords from rhythm guitar part with femail choir effect or smth atmospheric, if you use keyboards, of course, if not... i don't have a solution, because i use keyboards =)
I think "get inspired" and "learning the fundamentals" is the most important. You'll figure out your DAW pretty quickly, if you're committed. I've been using FL Studio since 2009 and purchasing that/figuring that thing out has been the best decision I've ever made. Once you can make your creativity, guitar skills and what you do in your DAW all mesh together, you have a virtually unlimited, permanent outlet for catharsis. After a while, you might just find yourself with a rather explosive passion for it! Your favorite music and your hunger to create will constantly feed off each other. When you're on a roll, there's a great deal of fulfillment going on there. ALWAYS make sure that you're ultimately doing it for yourself, though. \m/ There's hours worth I've stuff that I've wrote over the years that nobody but myself has heard, that I wrote simply because I wanted something specific to listen to. hehe Anyway, good job covering the very basic stuff. I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I LOVE MY CDS AND CASETTES, BTW!
Well said! I love my CD's and Cassettes too, tangible physical format should never go away for many reasons. Creativity, inspiration, and fundamental knowledge are VERY important, absolutely. Interfaces and DAW and VST's are good and very much the norm nowadays, I grew up with a lot of Analog and Analog fusion so I still Mic my amp for my solo projects, for other projects with people we use various programs like Pro Tools and MX Craft as two examples, learning them all to a degree and being versatile is very useful.
Being in the game for a while, I must say that when you finally release your first album it's such a great feeling. Also, DIY all of it makes you a much better all-around musician, and you develop your skills waaay faster!!
I actually took your advice from one of your previous videos and started using reaper. Before that, I was amateur recording with Audacity. I realized how shitty that program was. But with reaper I was able to buy the kvlt drums 2 plugin, and stop using my Accoustica beatcraft program. Now my stuff sounds really legit. Ladies and gents, listen to this man.
I just bought Kvlt drums 2 too. I used Drumkit from hell on my previous albums, but were never completely satisfied with the sound. But on the next album, I'm using Kvlt, and I've just started editing the drums, and it already sounds pretty good.
I live in forest and I look like a Troll . It's snowing all the time. How I exist I don't know because I have never seen another human until I found this phone in the snow. I need to know how to create Grim music with nothing but a phone. I have to do it for 1 hour daily when the northern lights bring in the open wi fi from the tiny village on the other side of mountain
I think the next level of making the album is when you become critical of your own sound. You make improvements and then you need to re-record everything because there's a lot of positive changes. Suddenly there will be new energy in your music. You'll become obsessed with capturing this new energy. But then! Then!! You'll be motivated to push your boundaries and your limitations. But will it still sound like Black Metal? This becomes a complicated topic. This guy has a good channel. I'm subscribing. Thank you for your videos. You do an excellent job.
I can't even find a metal band in my town let alone anyone who would want to make metal music with me. I bought a drum kit yesterday and I'm learning that while working on some riff ideas on my guitar. I'm determined to make something sick and nasty. 🤘
This is pretty much a "How to start writing music" guide in general. My 5 cents: 🔴 Instead of an audio interface, get a cheap multi fx unit (like the Mooer stuff or maybe a used HX Stomp). These have pretty much all of the amps and effects you will ever need in one package. Also saves your computers DSP. 🔴 Also, try to make collabs early on. The other musician can make parts that you are not able to (yet) and you also start to make connections. Great list👍 greetings from Lotasticland
@slater666 Not necessarily. If you wanna use Plugins or wanna record vocals, then yes, but if you use a Multi FX unit like the HX Stomp or the Mooer units then you don't need one.
Good overview video brother. Love my Focusrite Scarlett Solo interface for Vocal and Guitar work, though I did grow up doing things more Analog and fusion format (as well as on the live sound crew side at venues on and off), so I do Mic my Studio Amp for several solo projects and other bands, sounds great and learning how to properly mix and balance your recordings are half the battle with the recording process. There's many great DAW's and VST's out there, definitely don't be afraid to toy around with multiple to figure out which one is best for the individual artist. Playing to a Metronome can be really annoying but is very important to work on timing and beat count, after that skill development if one doesn't want to use it and play to drum tracks, that's a good route to go as well especially if one is aiming to play live at all/ in any capacity or with another musician or two. And absolutely right, being able to write/ program good drum tracks is essential to making a song sound good and "stand out" as much as knowing good songwriting skills overall alongside fundamentals. Being a one man project doesn't necessarily mean that you'll always do solo stuff, many opportunities to collaborate will come along as you build an audience and a network. I have just as much fun working with others as doing solo projects when everyone is apt and skilled at what they do and contribute. And sometimes working with others will produce music that's better than working alone, just depends on the individual levels of creativity and a number of other things. I still collect CD's and Cassette, will never stop either lol, a physical/ tangible format is important for many reasons (and I just enjoy them).
Cool. I wish this had been up when I started my extremely dodgy one-woman black metal (which has turned a lot goth) project almost two years ago. Still, it's reassuring to know I kind of have been doing things correctly as per your list. Apart from firing myself from my one-woman project, when do people think is the best time to start releasing music via Distrokid et al rather than putting up efforts on YT? I'm kind of interested in doing so, but am not sure my crappy songs are good enough.
Excellent video Farvann, I wish I would have been able to see this video like 8 years ago. The only thing I would add is to not stress over the quality of the mix at first. Making my bands first record, being the guy recording and mixing it, it was stressful. I was trying to make it the most highest quality mix possible. I was trying to please the elitists (some of these people I use to associate with and call friends) that would say things like “the songs good but the mix is bad so I don’t like it”. I was chasing a sound that I wasn’t able to achieve at the time and it probably took a few years off my life from the stress of it. Don’t be like me. Make your mixes and mastering to however you want. Be happy with it. It may not have the level of mix of what’s on the radio and that’s more than okay. Don’t let elitists bully you for not having that diamond polish sound. This why I gravitate towards black metal. As an adult I still do. Go out there and make some black metal. And enjoy the journey. 🤘
I think it's also good to build your image as an artist as well. Think about your logo, art/photography and even what you want to look like to other listeners (ESPECIALLY if you're willing to put on corpsepaint).
About Reaper... It's not free but they let you use it after the trial expires, which is great for learning and then you can buy it before you start using it for real.
@@wolfmauler I believe I've tried it. I say every professional DAW is good as long as it doesn't cost you 1k every year. Just try them and see which one you find more comfortable to use. What matters is the audio you put into them, as much as they're not random non professionals apps they're all going to do the job.
my advice to solo project peeps too is dont be afraid to stay super lofi/diy either if you want. i personally prefer cheap instruments and a messy recording room with methods that feel like they come from the early 2000s when you have no other workaround. i also somewhat understand the "raw for the sake of raw isnt good and you should try to be organic" argument but i disagree with it. i much more find enjoyment and value out of the creation process. what im trying to say is dont feel pressured into becoming more polished and needing your own high end home studio. dont be super minute about how your stuff sounds either, chances are someone is going to love it even if you yourself dont.
That 8th step is always the hardest. You will always find some way to improve your music or make small adjustments and changes to the point you will never be satisfied with your track. You will never make your music "perfect" but it doesn't have to be, it just has to be "good enough" and leave you satisfied with what you created. That said, if later down the track you realise you can do better, just re-record or remaster, and then re-release. I wholeheartedly agree with listening to lots of different music. It will give you a new perspective you might not get otherwise, and help open the doors to more experimentation.
getting started with recording had something "magical" for me back then. I started to learn guitar and recording simultaneously in about 2015/16 and even I just played few powerchords over super simple beats I felt like archiving something big. And in 2017 I released my first record on tape, which sounds like crap but still has that "spirit" or passion, like my inner voice told me, I have to record this and I felt awesome and still does. When you would ask me for advice I would say " just do it". Watch videos like this, and try out what works for you the best. But most importantly, do ist with passion and have fun!
I'm someone that still buys cds from time to time and I stream music also. Streaming music is nice most of the time for doing chores or school but cds and listening to them are so much better
No beer, no jokes, no black metal, no Joops...🤔 It's not Farvann! JoJo hired revenge hackers! 😲 Actually, it's good advice. Especially don't worry about having gear you can't afford and don't worry about how you sound next to your favorite bands. There is time for that later. 🤘🙂
Back in the early 90s I recorded my solo project bowel movement on a dual cassette karaoke machine and it actually sounded decent 🤣. Wow technology has changed with computers and software. Now I use a tascam 24 track to record. Find what works best for you. But yes definitely learn the fundamentals of music . Timing is everything 😁God bless you 🙏
im really thinking of starting my own project and honestly, this is really helpful, thank you and yes, theres no one to make a black metal project with, lol
I recorded with a acoustic guitar. I had money for a cheap set of pickups from amazon, reaper and guitar rig 4. An imagination to go off of and bam! Belial berith was born. I this next record will be much better.
For the Fundamentals of Music part it helps to go through different songs, from your genre and from other type of music and create Maps for the songs. Maps with the beats, and the information about when the guitars come in, drums, vocals, tags, intro, verse, chorus, outro, speed changes, etc. It'll open a whole new world and make you look and listen to songs differently. It'll also train you to build and create songs far more easily by giving you a catalog of different types of Song Structures and Song Parts to draw from. It also pays to listen to different genres of music. If for nothing else than to help you with ideas, writers block, and give you a larger pallet from where to get your inspiration from. Listening only to the one genre of music can cause Music Inbreeding. It'll basically make you into a clone and nothing else. So even if you're making Black Metal, try injecting it with something else or look at it from a different perspective and angle. Through a different filter if you will. Who knows? You might end up stumbling into something completely new and awesome and original.
I started with making emo rap and trap metal, then I got introduced to black metal by watching your channel. now my project is mostly dsbm and dungeon synth sometimes combined with other genres
It‘s really so much about trying out and playing around once you got your software working. And you will improve so fast while time goes by. Honestly my First EP sounds like shit when I listen to it now, but back then it was a huge milestone for me. Just keep going🔥
Hey man, I gave your stuff a quick listen. You did improve very vell! Really cool stuff, subscriped to your channel. Keep going, would be happy to hear more music in the future.
Cool material! Thanks for the tips. I have been doing music stuff for years (with some minor and major breaks) but I never released anything except for few tracks maybe. You inspired me to get my sh*t together and get the things done :)
"then you will get sad and depressed and no one wants that" - pfft, what if I'm starting a depressive BM project??? Hmmmm? Also, I am glad this was more serious. I was expecting "Never leave your mother's basement. Have no friends. Find a cassette recorder." etc.
I love this video, and your channel generally! I'm a latecomer to black metal at 34, but have been into post-punk music - from Joy Division to Dead Can Dance - for years. I really want to try and blend those two styles, but have no idea how. This video has got me one step closer.
Make some CDr's with your scratchy tracks and whip up a sleeve in Gimp with a logo your scribbled up, art you want to put on there and all the song names then leave a stack of those at local record shops, gear shops, music schools, coffee shops ect. It's a great feeling when you come back next time and see a few of them are gone or you run into another musician to exchange with and throw tips back and forth. Take the next step and get some low cost Jewel Cases CDrs made from Kunaki for like $2 a piece and sell them on Bandcamp or a small label, I opened my own small label that has done a few releases here and there for a couple bands around the world and I've gotten some great memories with the musicians and bands I've worked with who some of which I became friends with and still talk to here and there. Black metal is the perfect genre for getting into starting a solo project because it's a genre that doesn't have a wall of big name labels and high production studios standing in your way from getting into the genre, seeing musicians like Satanic Tyrant Werewolf and Malefic in the late 00s just recording and releasing their own stuff inspired me to try recording stuff on my own and a few years later it was a few different projects, a label, a few open mics, another label doing a release for one of my projects, ( an endless pile of 90% written songs on my computer I haven't finished or recorded. . .) and overall just a lot of great memories and many more to come!
I've already done lots of the basics, but my biggest problem is making an actual song out of riff ideas; I'm at the point where I can take a riff idea, record it, put drum and bass and sometimes some other stuff (synths or smth) in it and it'll sound half decent. However, it's not going much further than these snippets, only very rarely I actually got something with structure and different riffs. I have all these ideas and I don't think they're bad ones, but I just don't know how to connect them. It's like having the ingredients but not knowing what to cook...
If you're playing by ear, use a tuner if necessary to figure out the root notes of what you're playing, then learn the progessions of the chord (The only Chord Book you'll ever need is great for finding that obscure sound to make things interesting!) arpeggios etc. Then you can start piecing things together.
This is the part where creativity comes into it. I will always try, if i can, to have a good idea for a song and write the rifts around the lyrics, however if this doesnt work I will try to write melodies, (chorus, verse, intro) then build rifts and drums around the melody. If this doesnt work I will just listen to a bunch of music until i find something that is inspiring. It's not easy but when you get the idea right everything falls into place.
Yeah bro learn about the circle of fifths and the different scales. That’s how u can figure out where to go and build progression in the song. Chord progressions in a harmonic minor or any other combo but u gotta know the rules before you break em
i want to start a black metal band with my bros. we even came up with a name and designed a logo. and i came up with a pretty good riff, I just gotta look that it doesn't exist already I also use reaper. it just wants to be paid, and complains about it one or two months long, but after that it shuts up and you can use it. there are no benefits of buying it.
I disagree with your list Farvann... First, you need to come up with a cool name and design an even cooler logo. Then you need to give yourself a very evil stage name. Then, write some abominable lyrics, record everything using an old cassette recorder, and release your first demo to the world. Just like Frostwhore! (they waited 30 years before releasing their demos, skip that part, waiting is boring)
Very helpful, I'm getting into Ableton rn and it's quite easy to work with. I can also recommend Ugritone as a Drum VST, they have a few that are specifically made for black metal and they cost like €30 each; also TuxGuitar instead of GP since it's free and about as good for writing songs (and exporting drum tracks as MIDI files to use in the DAW). I recorded and released a demo song (which I wrote back in 2017) in 2019, style has changed a bit by now (darker, more atmospheric but still as brutal and heavy) but I'm nonetheless proud of it. I don't wanna jerk myself off here ofc, but maybe it encourages others to release their humble demos as well. Recorded it with Audacity of all things, through a cheap amp, TuxGuitar drums, uncompressed vocals and a metric fuckton of mistakes. Here's the product: ruclips.net/video/37la66bf43g/видео.html I'm looking forward to record new stuff (and potentially re-record that song too) with better equipment, more knowledge and skill and more passion in the near future!
i am learning to play drums, but i have no idea: how musicians connect to each other, what i must do in future with my drumskills. i was searching simple advice for begining and your channel is what i need!!! thanks!!!
I'm a horrorpunk with no friends to make music with 😂 nonetheless i still wish i heard these tips a few years ago. It wasn't until recently i understood writing to beats and how to program my drums or even note divisions haha. Also wish I had bought an interface way sooner instead of putting my practice amp and phone in the closet trying to record that way with no way to hear the drums
Listen constantly to the songs that put you into that genre and that motivated you to start one man band and you will never lose faith . Find your strong points and in the “worst case scenario” start international projects with people that play the music you like. Either it works or not you will experience that later will help you with creating your own one man band . But most importantly listen to the stuff that got you into wanting to start playing music
So many people are doing it now that it dosent matter . Good luck making any money at this . Better off busking on the streets for 80 to A hundred dollers or more A day .
Could you explain the USB interface a bit more? I mean, what's the function of it, what can it do? It is only for connecting your guitar to your soundcard, or does it act as an amplifier as well, or it can add effects like distortion? Or those can be added only by DAW software? One of the things keeping me back from plunging the money and finally buy an electric guitar is that I wouldn't have money for an amp and a fuzz pedal as well, and without those it can't really be used for metal, UNLESS there's a way to emulate those with software, but I don't know how. A small tutorial on these things would be greatly appreciated :)
So, the interface is a way for your computer to record and play back audio. The input channels are a way to record the guitar signal (or any other signal you plug in) and the output channels and headphone jack are a way to listen to any audio. Without an interface, there is no cheap and reliable way of recording your guitar signal in a high quality - you'd even use one when using mics on a real amp. For the effects you can use software emulations which most of the time are much cheaper than the "real deal" (or even free) and mostly don't sound worse. Basically, you open a channel in your DAW of choice, assign the channel of your interface you plugged the guitar in to that DAW channel, press the "instant replay" button on that channel and put the amp and/or pedal sims of choice on that channel. With the right buffer size (as low as possible without audio artifacts) it should feel extremely close to a real amp. The whole signal chain/setup might need some getting used to but once you get the hang of it, it really isn't that complicated. For an entire setup that you can use to get the hang of it, you can get away with 300€ (~100€ for a new interface, ~200€ for a new guitar and cables - the DAW reaper has a free trial and the Neural DSP plugins have a 2 week free trial period each. You could even get used gear for even cheaper but there's always a risk of getting damaged or really bad stuff). Though keep in mind that you need a half-decent computer with enough processing power to handle a DAW and a few plugins (a cheap 100€ laptop from Walmart might not cut it; although mine is now 7 years old and still works, kinda - it was upper middle class when I got it).
Rydw i newydd ddechrau prosiect Metel Du ar os dros ddeng mlynedd o recordio a chwarae 'gwmpas efo Metel a deunaw mlynedd o chwarae gitar. Mae'r pwyntiau rydych yn wu gwneud yn y fideo yma'n wych i unrhyw un sydd yn ceisio dechrau creu cerddoriaeth heb unrhyw brofiad! Maent yn wir am bob math o Fetel a Roc
I always tell people that music has no rules but it has a form. Dont be at all afraid to get experimental with things, but always make sure that it's still musical
everything is rules
@@wolfmauler The "form" im talking about is like where he suggested learning the fundamentals of music and learning beats and the 4/4 signature, etc. Thats also what i mean by keeping it musical. When I say there are no rules, i meant it like where he said to take inspiration from everywhere and every genre of music. For example, if you're writing a Black Metal song, and you think a mandolin would sound good at a certain part, there's nothing stating that you cant do that.
Noise music has entered the chat
@@lecoughskiofficial This is fair
Mhm… p****grind.
"it's not programming, it's, you know, telling the drum samples what to do at what point."
this sums up programming really well though lmao
paused the video to post this snarky comment only to see you make the same point a literal second later i'm crying
To anyone who's actually starting a black metal project: good luck! I would love to hear what comes out of it.
I've just released my one-man black metal project first single. It is called Лесная Хладь. And I absolutely agree with Farvann about amount of songs that was writteen before.
@@DrageFabeldyr congratulations! Are the songs available on your channel?
@@agucci ruclips.net/video/GPPG3NslCWA/видео.html
@@DrageFabeldyr Hey, I can read Cyrillic. Yeah, I want to hear your album. I have an album but I need to improve it. Mine sounds hilarious but I want it to sound dark. 🤣
@@xjapan3 not sure about album, but three singles are on the way and i'm going to do a few experiments like using banjo and balalaika. imho if you want to make sound more dark just add a keyboards playing full minor chords from rhythm guitar part with femail choir effect or smth atmospheric, if you use keyboards, of course, if not... i don't have a solution, because i use keyboards =)
5:14 YES. There’s just so many guitarists that don’t really understand how drums work and how to write/program them and it shows.
"We are the only people who have no friends that will make music with us" TRVE WORDS 😢
I think "get inspired" and "learning the fundamentals" is the most important. You'll figure out your DAW pretty quickly, if you're committed. I've been using FL Studio since 2009 and purchasing that/figuring that thing out has been the best decision I've ever made. Once you can make your creativity, guitar skills and what you do in your DAW all mesh together, you have a virtually unlimited, permanent outlet for catharsis. After a while, you might just find yourself with a rather explosive passion for it! Your favorite music and your hunger to create will constantly feed off each other. When you're on a roll, there's a great deal of fulfillment going on there. ALWAYS make sure that you're ultimately doing it for yourself, though. \m/ There's hours worth I've stuff that I've wrote over the years that nobody but myself has heard, that I wrote simply because I wanted something specific to listen to. hehe Anyway, good job covering the very basic stuff.
I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I LOVE MY CDS AND CASETTES, BTW!
Well said! I love my CD's and Cassettes too, tangible physical format should never go away for many reasons.
Creativity, inspiration, and fundamental knowledge are VERY important, absolutely.
Interfaces and DAW and VST's are good and very much the norm nowadays, I grew up with a lot of Analog and Analog fusion so I still Mic my amp for my solo projects, for other projects with people we use various programs like Pro Tools and MX Craft as two examples, learning them all to a degree and being versatile is very useful.
Fruityloops still have lifelong update policy?
Incredibly well-said, my friend!
Being in the game for a while, I must say that when you finally release your first album it's such a great feeling.
Also, DIY all of it makes you a much better all-around musician, and you develop your skills waaay faster!!
I wanted to make a band, I bought a guitar, me learned to play a little bit. me got bills and grew up, me sold the guitar. me regrets every day...
Instructions unclear, now wanted for murder and historic church burnings.
I actually took your advice from one of your previous videos and started using reaper. Before that, I was amateur recording with Audacity. I realized how shitty that program was.
But with reaper I was able to buy the kvlt drums 2 plugin, and stop using my Accoustica beatcraft program. Now my stuff sounds really legit.
Ladies and gents, listen to this man.
I just bought Kvlt drums 2 too. I used Drumkit from hell on my previous albums, but were never completely satisfied with the sound. But on the next album, I'm using Kvlt, and I've just started editing the drums, and it already sounds pretty good.
"Play to a metronome!" mr. farvann says while wearing a darkthrone shirt, class :) Thanks for the inspiration by the way!
You the guy behindDurbatuluk??
Oh man I listened the album (Baba jaga) 4 weeks ago in BMP chanel. AMAZING 👏
I live in forest and I look like a Troll . It's snowing all the time. How I exist I don't know because I have never seen another human until I found this phone in the snow. I need to know how to create Grim music with nothing but a phone. I have to do it for 1 hour daily when the northern lights bring in the open wi fi from the tiny village on the other side of mountain
How do you do it? Every (and I mean it!) your video is interesting and pleasant to watch. And this one is inspiring too!
aww thank you
I think the next level of making the album is when you become critical of your own sound. You make improvements and then you need to re-record everything because there's a lot of positive changes. Suddenly there will be new energy in your music. You'll become obsessed with capturing this new energy.
But then! Then!! You'll be motivated to push your boundaries and your limitations. But will it still sound like Black Metal? This becomes a complicated topic. This guy has a good channel. I'm subscribing. Thank you for your videos. You do an excellent job.
I can't even find a metal band in my town let alone anyone who would want to make metal music with me. I bought a drum kit yesterday and I'm learning that while working on some riff ideas on my guitar.
I'm determined to make something sick and nasty. 🤘
This is pretty much a "How to start writing music" guide in general.
My 5 cents:
🔴 Instead of an audio interface, get a cheap multi fx unit (like the Mooer stuff or maybe a used HX Stomp). These have pretty much all of the amps and effects you will ever need in one package. Also saves your computers DSP.
🔴 Also, try to make collabs early on. The other musician can make parts that you are not able to (yet) and you also start to make connections.
Great list👍 greetings from Lotasticland
@slater666 Not necessarily. If you wanna use Plugins or wanna record vocals, then yes, but if you use a Multi FX unit like the HX Stomp or the Mooer units then you don't need one.
@slater666 sorry, I don't do mastering since I have no idea about it Bruh 😆
Good overview video brother.
Love my Focusrite Scarlett Solo interface for Vocal and Guitar work, though I did grow up doing things more Analog and fusion format (as well as on the live sound crew side at venues on and off), so I do Mic my Studio Amp for several solo projects and other bands, sounds great and learning how to properly mix and balance your recordings are half the battle with the recording process. There's many great DAW's and VST's out there, definitely don't be afraid to toy around with multiple to figure out which one is best for the individual artist.
Playing to a Metronome can be really annoying but is very important to work on timing and beat count, after that skill development if one doesn't want to use it and play to drum tracks, that's a good route to go as well especially if one is aiming to play live at all/ in any capacity or with another musician or two. And absolutely right, being able to write/ program good drum tracks is essential to making a song sound good and "stand out" as much as knowing good songwriting skills overall alongside fundamentals.
Being a one man project doesn't necessarily mean that you'll always do solo stuff, many opportunities to collaborate will come along as you build an audience and a network. I have just as much fun working with others as doing solo projects when everyone is apt and skilled at what they do and contribute. And sometimes working with others will produce music that's better than working alone, just depends on the individual levels of creativity and a number of other things.
I still collect CD's and Cassette, will never stop either lol, a physical/ tangible format is important for many reasons (and I just enjoy them).
That was very interesting and usefull, thanks Farvann. The key is in how much you practice and how much you create, in everithing.
Reaper is made by the guys who did winamp back in the day...its free to use. and outperformce many expensiv DAW
Cool. I wish this had been up when I started my extremely dodgy one-woman black metal (which has turned a lot goth) project almost two years ago. Still, it's reassuring to know I kind of have been doing things correctly as per your list. Apart from firing myself from my one-woman project, when do people think is the best time to start releasing music via Distrokid et al rather than putting up efforts on YT? I'm kind of interested in doing so, but am not sure my crappy songs are good enough.
Excellent video Farvann, I wish I would have been able to see this video like 8 years ago. The only thing I would add is to not stress over the quality of the mix at first. Making my bands first record, being the guy recording and mixing it, it was stressful. I was trying to make it the most highest quality mix possible. I was trying to please the elitists (some of these people I use to associate with and call friends) that would say things like “the songs good but the mix is bad so I don’t like it”. I was chasing a sound that I wasn’t able to achieve at the time and it probably took a few years off my life from the stress of it. Don’t be like me. Make your mixes and mastering to however you want. Be happy with it. It may not have the level of mix of what’s on the radio and that’s more than okay. Don’t let elitists bully you for not having that diamond polish sound. This why I gravitate towards black metal. As an adult I still do. Go out there and make some black metal. And enjoy the journey. 🤘
I think it's also good to build your image as an artist as well. Think about your logo, art/photography and even what you want to look like to other listeners (ESPECIALLY if you're willing to put on corpsepaint).
This video is very wholesome actually. It is so cute to se Farvann explaining music journey like I am five. Good job!
"Don't listen to dream theater while doing that"... works on many levels.
I know what a bar is. I can get beer there
If it's really raw black metal you don't have to have drums
"And now, go out there and create your stuff😊 See you next time 😊😊"
Hintergrundmusik 😡😈👿💥
“Let’s just be real, we’re black metal heads. We don’t have any friends that want to make music with us” that hit me like a truck of dead goats
About Reaper... It's not free but they let you use it after the trial expires, which is great for learning and then you can buy it before you start using it for real.
Do you know if BandLab is any good?
@@wolfmauler I believe I've tried it.
I say every professional DAW is good as long as it doesn't cost you 1k every year. Just try them and see which one you find more comfortable to use.
What matters is the audio you put into them, as much as they're not random non professionals apps they're all going to do the job.
my advice to solo project peeps too is dont be afraid to stay super lofi/diy either if you want. i personally prefer cheap instruments and a messy recording room with methods that feel like they come from the early 2000s when you have no other workaround. i also somewhat understand the "raw for the sake of raw isnt good and you should try to be organic" argument but i disagree with it. i much more find enjoyment and value out of the creation process. what im trying to say is dont feel pressured into becoming more polished and needing your own high end home studio. dont be super minute about how your stuff sounds either, chances are someone is going to love it even if you yourself dont.
I use Distrokid for my one man dsbm project. I totally recommend.
That 8th step is always the hardest. You will always find some way to improve your music or make small adjustments and changes to the point you will never be satisfied with your track. You will never make your music "perfect" but it doesn't have to be, it just has to be "good enough" and leave you satisfied with what you created. That said, if later down the track you realise you can do better, just re-record or remaster, and then re-release.
I wholeheartedly agree with listening to lots of different music. It will give you a new perspective you might not get otherwise, and help open the doors to more experimentation.
Thia was so unblievably helpful i feel like i found a hidden treasure
Very good and important video, thanks. Nobody usually talks about those things, or mention it very fast... 👍
Farvann looked so happy recording this lmao
Great vid,
Much appreciated
Great video dude. Thanks :)
getting started with recording had something "magical" for me back then. I started to learn guitar and recording simultaneously in about 2015/16 and even I just played few powerchords over super simple beats I felt like archiving something big. And in 2017 I released my first record on tape, which sounds like crap but still has that "spirit" or passion, like my inner voice told me, I have to record this and I felt awesome and still does. When you would ask me for advice I would say " just do it". Watch videos like this, and try out what works for you the best. But most importantly, do ist with passion and have fun!
After beeing black metal head for almost 20 years started to play and after a year im still in nowere near music i wanted to create ;) props
I'm someone that still buys cds from time to time and I stream music also. Streaming music is nice most of the time for doing chores or school but cds and listening to them are so much better
This video passes the vibe check.
No beer, no jokes, no black metal, no Joops...🤔
It's not Farvann! JoJo hired revenge hackers! 😲
Actually, it's good advice. Especially don't worry about having gear you can't afford and don't worry about how you sound next to your favorite bands. There is time for that later. 🤘🙂
Back in the early 90s I recorded my solo project bowel movement on a dual cassette karaoke machine and it actually sounded decent 🤣. Wow technology has changed with computers and software. Now I use a tascam 24 track to record. Find what works best for you. But yes definitely learn the fundamentals of music . Timing is everything 😁God bless you 🙏
im really thinking of starting my own project and honestly, this is really helpful, thank you
and yes, theres no one to make a black metal project with, lol
I’m currently working on a solo black metal project about to finish the first song and this video is spot on
Let me know when it's out i want to hear it
@@aidenhildebran9031 ok I’ll send you a link when it’s done
@@badground3534 I will wait that too.
@@badground3534IS IR DONE
Is it out? I would like to hear
good stuff my man !!!
If you have a good Amp, it can't be Black Metal.
It has to sound like shit. Or it won't be Black Metal
I recorded with a acoustic guitar. I had money for a cheap set of pickups from amazon, reaper and guitar rig 4. An imagination to go off of and bam! Belial berith was born.
I this next record will be much better.
No amplifier - good advice
😄
For the Fundamentals of Music part it helps to go through different songs, from your genre and from other type of music and create Maps for the songs. Maps with the beats, and the information about when the guitars come in, drums, vocals, tags, intro, verse, chorus, outro, speed changes, etc. It'll open a whole new world and make you look and listen to songs differently. It'll also train you to build and create songs far more easily by giving you a catalog of different types of Song Structures and Song Parts to draw from.
It also pays to listen to different genres of music. If for nothing else than to help you with ideas, writers block, and give you a larger pallet from where to get your inspiration from. Listening only to the one genre of music can cause Music Inbreeding. It'll basically make you into a clone and nothing else.
So even if you're making Black Metal, try injecting it with something else or look at it from a different perspective and angle. Through a different filter if you will. Who knows? You might end up stumbling into something completely new and awesome and original.
I started with making emo rap and trap metal, then I got introduced to black metal by watching your channel. now my project is mostly dsbm and dungeon synth sometimes combined with other genres
sounds great dude!
Versatility
i was listening to sematary and i realized i liked his samples more than his songs
It‘s really so much about trying out and playing around once you got your software working. And you will improve so fast while time goes by. Honestly my First EP sounds like shit when I listen to it now, but back then it was a huge milestone for me. Just keep going🔥
Hey man, I gave your stuff a quick listen. You did improve very vell! Really cool stuff, subscriped to your channel. Keep going, would be happy to hear more music in the future.
Cool material! Thanks for the tips. I have been doing music stuff for years (with some minor and major breaks) but I never released anything except for few tracks maybe.
You inspired me to get my sh*t together and get the things done :)
"then you will get sad and depressed and no one wants that" - pfft, what if I'm starting a depressive BM project??? Hmmmm?
Also, I am glad this was more serious. I was expecting "Never leave your mother's basement. Have no friends. Find a cassette recorder." etc.
I love this video, and your channel generally!
I'm a latecomer to black metal at 34, but have been into post-punk music - from Joy Division to Dead Can Dance - for years. I really want to try and blend those two styles, but have no idea how. This video has got me one step closer.
That would be cool af tbh, those are 2 of my fav genres
i was literally just thinking about starting my own band a few weeks ago...definitely watching this!
good advice ,thanks
Hardest part: finding a name for your project that hasn’t been taken already
Make some CDr's with your scratchy tracks and whip up a sleeve in Gimp with a logo your scribbled up, art you want to put on there and all the song names then leave a stack of those at local record shops, gear shops, music schools, coffee shops ect. It's a great feeling when you come back next time and see a few of them are gone or you run into another musician to exchange with and throw tips back and forth. Take the next step and get some low cost Jewel Cases CDrs made from Kunaki for like $2 a piece and sell them on Bandcamp or a small label, I opened my own small label that has done a few releases here and there for a couple bands around the world and I've gotten some great memories with the musicians and bands I've worked with who some of which I became friends with and still talk to here and there. Black metal is the perfect genre for getting into starting a solo project because it's a genre that doesn't have a wall of big name labels and high production studios standing in your way from getting into the genre, seeing musicians like Satanic Tyrant Werewolf and Malefic in the late 00s just recording and releasing their own stuff inspired me to try recording stuff on my own and a few years later it was a few different projects, a label, a few open mics, another label doing a release for one of my projects, ( an endless pile of 90% written songs on my computer I haven't finished or recorded. . .) and overall just a lot of great memories and many more to come!
Totally thought this was going to be a parody. Pleasantly surprised it was not. Great video Farvann.
I've already done lots of the basics, but my biggest problem is making an actual song out of riff ideas; I'm at the point where I can take a riff idea, record it, put drum and bass and sometimes some other stuff (synths or smth) in it and it'll sound half decent.
However, it's not going much further than these snippets, only very rarely I actually got something with structure and different riffs. I have all these ideas and I don't think they're bad ones, but I just don't know how to connect them. It's like having the ingredients but not knowing what to cook...
Its the same for me, I think its a matter of time, dont rush
If you're playing by ear, use a tuner if necessary to figure out the root notes of what you're playing, then learn the progessions of the chord (The only Chord Book you'll ever need is great for finding that obscure sound to make things interesting!) arpeggios etc. Then you can start piecing things together.
This is the part where creativity comes into it. I will always try, if i can, to have a good idea for a song and write the rifts around the lyrics, however if this doesnt work I will try to write melodies, (chorus, verse, intro) then build rifts and drums around the melody. If this doesnt work I will just listen to a bunch of music until i find something that is inspiring. It's not easy but when you get the idea right everything falls into place.
Yeah bro learn about the circle of fifths and the different scales. That’s how u can figure out where to go and build progression in the song. Chord progressions in a harmonic minor or any other combo but u gotta know the rules before you break em
8:56 LMAOOO
i want to start a black metal band with my bros. we even came up with a name and designed a logo. and i came up with a pretty good riff, I just gotta look that it doesn't exist already
I also use reaper. it just wants to be paid, and complains about it one or two months long, but after that it shuts up and you can use it. there are no benefits of buying it.
"you will make 90% songs in 4/4"
>me who cannot think a BM song outside of 3/4 or 3/3 🥺
How to start a Black Metal project: don't
Acoustic black metal, folk black metal time
Spectacular video. The thema of the project you forgot but it's allright...
Starting a numbered list at 0 instead of 1.
A man of coding, I see
It's actually just because "picking up an instrument" isn't a real step
Lost me at mathematics, my mortal enemy
Thank you Farvann, you really inspire me as a beginner musician. Greetings from Bolivia
I appreciate your efforts in this video. You have the experiences to speak here and it helps those who want this goal. Keep it up, cheers from Madrid.
Stumbled upon your channel and got really inspired! Thanks man and stay trve!
As a black metal project man myself, I absolutely suck but somehow people like my stuff
Don't understand it
its 5 am and me and my bf we just decided we want to start a bm project lmao
I'm actually starting my own black metal/ambient/synth project, so thanks for your video!
I make goa trance and like Black metal and have metal/black metal guys who like goa trance, maybe it just the 90-s
I'm not even a black metal musician, I'm more into prog/math... But yeah, that was actually reaaly good and helpful!
Thank you Farvann. Thanks to you, I created my own black metal project. Thank you very much!
Can’t wait to hear what you make 🤘
I disagree with your list Farvann... First, you need to come up with a cool name and design an even cooler logo. Then you need to give yourself a very evil stage name. Then, write some abominable lyrics, record everything using an old cassette recorder, and release your first demo to the world.
Just like Frostwhore! (they waited 30 years before releasing their demos, skip that part, waiting is boring)
Try starting a melodic death metal project in rural Kentucky.
All they want to play is fucking country
I use Audacity to record my music unironically. It's undeniably kvlt
Very helpful, I'm getting into Ableton rn and it's quite easy to work with. I can also recommend Ugritone as a Drum VST, they have a few that are specifically made for black metal and they cost like €30 each; also TuxGuitar instead of GP since it's free and about as good for writing songs (and exporting drum tracks as MIDI files to use in the DAW).
I recorded and released a demo song (which I wrote back in 2017) in 2019, style has changed a bit by now (darker, more atmospheric but still as brutal and heavy) but I'm nonetheless proud of it. I don't wanna jerk myself off here ofc, but maybe it encourages others to release their humble demos as well. Recorded it with Audacity of all things, through a cheap amp, TuxGuitar drums, uncompressed vocals and a metric fuckton of mistakes. Here's the product: ruclips.net/video/37la66bf43g/видео.html
I'm looking forward to record new stuff (and potentially re-record that song too) with better equipment, more knowledge and skill and more passion in the near future!
Yeah I own the Kvlt Drums myself, pretty cool stuff! GP can also export MIDI by the way.
i am learning to play drums, but i have no idea: how musicians connect to each other, what i must do in future with my drumskills. i was searching simple advice for begining and your channel is what i need!!! thanks!!!
I'm a horrorpunk with no friends to make music with 😂 nonetheless i still wish i heard these tips a few years ago. It wasn't until recently i understood writing to beats and how to program my drums or even note divisions haha. Also wish I had bought an interface way sooner instead of putting my practice amp and phone in the closet trying to record that way with no way to hear the drums
What if you know how to play, Guitar, bass and drums, and you know how to do vocals all in one?
Listen constantly to the songs that put you into that genre and that motivated you to start one man band and you will never lose faith . Find your strong points and in the “worst case scenario” start international projects with people that play the music you like. Either it works or not you will experience that later will help you with creating your own one man band . But most importantly listen to the stuff that got you into wanting to start playing music
If you guys are looking for more One-person projects, check out One Man Bands Channel!
Excellent channel!
@@Mrmemphisbones Glad you like it!
So many people are doing it now that it dosent matter . Good luck making any money at this . Better off busking on the streets for 80 to A hundred dollers or more A day .
Could you explain the USB interface a bit more? I mean, what's the function of it, what can it do? It is only for connecting your guitar to your soundcard, or does it act as an amplifier as well, or it can add effects like distortion? Or those can be added only by DAW software?
One of the things keeping me back from plunging the money and finally buy an electric guitar is that I wouldn't have money for an amp and a fuzz pedal as well, and without those it can't really be used for metal, UNLESS there's a way to emulate those with software, but I don't know how. A small tutorial on these things would be greatly appreciated :)
So, the interface is a way for your computer to record and play back audio. The input channels are a way to record the guitar signal (or any other signal you plug in) and the output channels and headphone jack are a way to listen to any audio. Without an interface, there is no cheap and reliable way of recording your guitar signal in a high quality - you'd even use one when using mics on a real amp.
For the effects you can use software emulations which most of the time are much cheaper than the "real deal" (or even free) and mostly don't sound worse.
Basically, you open a channel in your DAW of choice, assign the channel of your interface you plugged the guitar in to that DAW channel, press the "instant replay" button on that channel and put the amp and/or pedal sims of choice on that channel. With the right buffer size (as low as possible without audio artifacts) it should feel extremely close to a real amp. The whole signal chain/setup might need some getting used to but once you get the hang of it, it really isn't that complicated. For an entire setup that you can use to get the hang of it, you can get away with 300€ (~100€ for a new interface, ~200€ for a new guitar and cables - the DAW reaper has a free trial and the Neural DSP plugins have a 2 week free trial period each. You could even get used gear for even cheaper but there's always a risk of getting damaged or really bad stuff).
Though keep in mind that you need a half-decent computer with enough processing power to handle a DAW and a few plugins (a cheap 100€ laptop from Walmart might not cut it; although mine is now 7 years old and still works, kinda - it was upper middle class when I got it).
So I'm not going to be Teloch or Hasjarl on my first go?! Music is so hard.
You forgot the copious amounts of drugs and stds you need in your system to be able to handle the fame once you release your first demo single.
i already have a good base about music and stuff, but is cool to have a kinda of guide to get me motivated
But what about the vocals?
one can tell that you do software dev by the number you started your list with
Great
This Video comes for me 2 years zo late
I thought this was going to be joke and a skit or something
Niice
4:13
bad apple hits hard
Rydw i newydd ddechrau prosiect Metel Du ar os dros ddeng mlynedd o recordio a chwarae 'gwmpas efo Metel a deunaw mlynedd o chwarae gitar. Mae'r pwyntiau rydych yn wu gwneud yn y fideo yma'n wych i unrhyw un sydd yn ceisio dechrau creu cerddoriaeth heb unrhyw brofiad! Maent yn wir am bob math o Fetel a Roc
Do I need to know how to play the guitar?