Making original styles

[wa7bqb]

Searching the net (so far) I haven't found very much information on how to best make your own styles. I know there are programs available, and that they can convert midi and band-in-a-box styles for use on the Yamaha arrangers ... BUT... the hints, tricks, and kinks are not widely discussed.

Things like how many measures (phrases? ) make the best parts of the main sections (a, b, c, & d)? Which tracks add the most value to a generic style? Should fills just be one pick up type measure long? And so forth.

I have many styles d\l'd from the net, but I would like to make my own good ones. How does one capture style segments where the main a part progresses to the main b part, etc. I would like to find information on creating styles that is more about technique than what buttons to push or how to use the software.

-Dale-

[tomtomsf]

Hi Dale

I certainly don't mean to discourage you, but making styles is a science, a skill and an art. While you are correct there are software available and there are instructions posted on various websites, you notice there are not many self-made styles posted anywhere. That is because, even using all available resources, it is a difficult process. To make styles that sound great, you need a lot of talent. It's easier to customize existing styles by deleting instruments, changing instruments, etc. Even that process, commonly called "style tweaking", takes some special talent to produce a great sounding one.

If you pursue style making, I'd love to hear what you come up with. I tried for hours and the results were poor.

:(

Tom G.

[penbird97]

You can also use Style Works 2000 Universal software.

This software allows you to make styles using midi files.
You can cut particular parts and affect them to intro, A, B, C or D.

Very usefull, I made styles for Alan Parson's musics or JM Jarre.

Regards

[wa7bqb]

There is a lot of information about the software to make styles. There must be at least five different programs that I've seen that do this. However, I haven't found any articles about how to make a style that is anything close to decent.

Never being one to be discouraged until I end up broke and stupid; I have already made a few styles that progressed from the laughably rediculous to almost useable. I will continue doing this until I am more secure in the process. Currently, I use Sonar, in conjunction with Michael Bedesem's Stylemaker.

Like most things 'in the arts' patience is about all I have to work with. So far I have been toying with a couple of BeeGee's songs, and have derived styles from the midi files I've found that correspond to them. I know I can make original styles based on what I've learned so far for my own compositions; but I need to make a few more mistakes before concentrating on original's, though. It's fun(?)

-Dale-

[tomtomsf]

Hi Dale

I'm glad to hear your patient and persistent.
:)
Have you read the articles at Jorgen Sorenson's very excellent website? Here is a link:



Tom G.

[wa7bqb]

tomtomsf:

Yes, I have seen that site. It's a start, but with all the arranger keyboards that are "out there" these days, I would think a "Style Making For Dummies" or better would be a book that could find a market. All over the net you can find information about the mechanics of making styles using certain software. What doesn't seem to be found, however, are details on the "esoterics" of style making.

Details such as how many measures (and why) would comprise styles with chord changes expected every 2, 1, or every other bar? What about adding your own tracks and switching instruments to embellish fills? Can partial measures be used (where, for example, there might be a rhythm pick up into the main section that is only a one or two beat fill?

So far, I've found that for a BeeGee's song "First of May" pretty much, I can just take the 4 bar intro as is for the intro part. I can take one measure (the first measure of the each verse) as representative of the pulse for that verse, and then assign that to the main parts, for each of the verses. Fills have been derived from the measure preceding each verse. Then the ending was the 2 bars that represent the actual ending.

What I've found on the intro and the ending, that surprised me is that you need to "play" the chord changes during the intro and endings. I was sort of thinking they would be just the midi events that were captured from the midi file. It seemed from other styles I've used that was not the way it worked ... but lesson learned!

-Dale-

[tomtomsf]

I think EMC StyleWorks has some good help that comes with it. And I believe the newest versions are very good at automatically picking out sections of a MIDI when it converts it to a style. It is rather expensive, but you can download a working demo.

Like I said, if style making was easy, or widely practiced, there would probably be more information on it.
:)
Tom G.