Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

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beats me
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Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by beats me » Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:18 am

Here's the preview so you can decide if you want to watch the whole thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... P02rTZte6Y

And here's the whole thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C402fprL ... e=youtu.be

:)

Forge.
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by Forge. » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:01 am

ah it was you that posted this

I had it open in tabs for a couple of days, watched it yesterday - very inspiring!

then I clicked on one or two of his new things - I had no idea he'd gone all "bro-step" - that's a shame, I liked his old funk/soul oriented stuff

regretfullySaid
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by regretfullySaid » Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:36 pm

Listening to the full -album stream, digging it a good deal. I still think he could cut most of his tracks by a minute or so, but this would have to be favorite for me. Seems less redundant, maybe leaves a little more space at times, the reverbed wah-guitars that are prominent are refreshing.

I think I've narrowed down something that seems really redundant, is the drums. The sound and pattern, like the kick always has to be on the one and the snare always has to be on the 2. Either way, still good stuff.
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Komodovaran
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by Komodovaran » Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:33 pm

Exactly what I needed, after listening through Rudimental's Home album a million times!

Matt_Quinn
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by Matt_Quinn » Thu Jun 27, 2013 12:27 pm

This album is awesome. Thanks for the doc link.
the_planet wrote:Trap music is not supported in the current version.

Matt_Quinn
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by Matt_Quinn » Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:09 pm

This album is pure brilliance. Production clinic.
the_planet wrote:Trap music is not supported in the current version.

bosonHavoc
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by bosonHavoc » Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:34 pm

brilliant fucking album

https://soundcloud.com/prettylights/aco ... un-preview

i had the vinyl cued up and ready to fire twice.. backed out because
I'm trying save money to upgrade my decks and mixer so i can add tunrtablism
to my performance rig.

and then my neighbor gets his album in the mail on Saturday.
beautiful sleeve, awesome book, high quality vinyl.. ooo so so kicking myself lol.

I here that their will be 500 copies sent to select record stores nation wide.
lol good luck :P

beats me
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by beats me » Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:41 pm

Meh, still looking forward to seeing them next month, but I’m finding all these new tracks predictable and after about a minute and a half of each I’m ready to move on to the next track. They don’t go anywhere interesting. It wasn’t until about track 12 that I bothered looking at the playlist because I wanted to know what the track was.

Oh fucking well.

TYLRbass
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by TYLRbass » Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:51 pm

Caught his set at Electric Forest Festival.. I don't follow Pretty Lights as closely as I used to so I couldn't tell what was old versus new aside from the obvious classics like Finally Moving but I have to say that I'm usually unimpressed with his live show. The lights and visuals are always awesome but he pretty much plays a track, triggers a big delay and then brings in a new track. No mixing involved and from what I can tell all of the sample triggering and live manipulation is no longer part of the show.

but after this long I think he's paid his dues, and he was just as fucked up as anyone else in that forest so I guess I can't expect him to actually do anything other than keep the music coming
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beats me
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by beats me » Fri Jul 05, 2013 10:15 pm

TYLRbass wrote:Caught his set at Electric Forest Festival.. I don't follow Pretty Lights as closely as I used to so I couldn't tell what was old versus new aside from the obvious classics like Finally Moving but I have to say that I'm usually unimpressed with his live show. The lights and visuals are always awesome but he pretty much plays a track, triggers a big delay and then brings in a new track. No mixing involved and from what I can tell all of the sample triggering and live manipulation is no longer part of the show.

but after this long I think he's paid his dues, and he was just as fucked up as anyone else in that forest so I guess I can't expect him to actually do anything other than keep the music coming


This show next month will be the third time I’ve seen Pretty Lights live. The first was in a mid size club and ironically there really wasn’t that much going on with lights. The second time was at a slightly bigger club. There were more lights including an LED curtain. I think I liked the second show better musically but he did seem to be mashing buttons on controllers like a monome that was having no effect on the music. I guess this will be the first time I see them in full effect with a big crowd and the full light treatment.

TYLRbass
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by TYLRbass » Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:36 pm

beats me wrote:
TYLRbass wrote:Caught his set at Electric Forest Festival.. I don't follow Pretty Lights as closely as I used to so I couldn't tell what was old versus new aside from the obvious classics like Finally Moving but I have to say that I'm usually unimpressed with his live show. The lights and visuals are always awesome but he pretty much plays a track, triggers a big delay and then brings in a new track. No mixing involved and from what I can tell all of the sample triggering and live manipulation is no longer part of the show.

but after this long I think he's paid his dues, and he was just as fucked up as anyone else in that forest so I guess I can't expect him to actually do anything other than keep the music coming


This show next month will be the third time I’ve seen Pretty Lights live. The first was in a mid size club and ironically there really wasn’t that much going on with lights. The second time was at a slightly bigger club. There were more lights including an LED curtain. I think I liked the second show better musically but he did seem to be mashing buttons on controllers like a monome that was having no effect on the music. I guess this will be the first time I see them in full effect with a big crowd and the full light treatment.
As I've always said, the lighting and visual guys are the true performers in most of these acts.. unsung heroes
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beats me
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by beats me » Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:15 pm

TYLRbass wrote:As I've always said, the lighting and visual guys are the true performers in most of these acts.. unsung heroes

Agreed, and as I’ve said the artist, especially at large events, hiding behind the computer is almost inconsequential to the show that is going on. And the more elaborate the show the less they are doing with the music. Visual artists/companies should just start having their own shows without anybody of note on stage. The company behind it has the reputation and the draw.

regretfullySaid
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by regretfullySaid » Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:33 pm

Fun rant:

I remember reading some comments on the Making of doc criticizing the guy for moving funny to the music and trying to articulate some things by his movements, which I found funny but also didn't find it strange.
But one guy said something like "He doesn't need to know how to write muusic, because it's coming from the heart!" and I would've said the same dumb thing half my age as well.

But the thing is, this isn't a hard concept to understand, knowing the language of the kind of work you work in. It's no different than knowing how to speak your native tongue. Imagine what people would think if you were american and you didn't know how to speak american. What are you going to do, flap your arms and do the hokey-pokey because all that matters is it's coming fro the heart?

Look, music has it's own language. Maybe it would be a good idea if it's your profession that YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND IT. Watch the doc again and see how tired, dumbfounded and annoyed the session players look. Knowing how to write music doesn't diminish any emotions, it just makes it harder for other musicians to know how you want something played. Instead of contorting like a high raver and being looked at like a dumb shit by a professional maybe you should be professional and have some respect for the craft you're working on and UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE. It seems a little arrogant and unprofessional to me. Now, at the same time, I'm not even hating on Pretty Lights for not knowing how to write music (I know it sounds like it), as what I said was directed towards someone who thinks you don't need to know the language you're working in because it's "coming from the heart". It's a young thing, I understand, but for the love of Pete, doesn't that make sense? Understand the language of your craft? The people you're asking to play something for you are looking at you like an asshole, why? It's disrespectful. Imagine hiring some graphic designers for the webpage you're building and they ask you some html/css questions and you have no idea what they're saying...arg
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beats me
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by beats me » Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:06 pm

shadx312 wrote:Fun rant:

I remember reading some comments on the Making of doc criticizing the guy for moving funny to the music and trying to articulate some things by his movements, which I found funny but also didn't find it strange.
But one guy said something like "He doesn't need to know how to write muusic, because it's coming from the heart!" and I would've said the same dumb thing half my age as well.

But the thing is, this isn't a hard concept to understand, knowing the language of the kind of work you work in. It's no different than knowing how to speak your native tongue. Imagine what people would think if you were american and you didn't know how to speak american. What are you going to do, flap your arms and do the hokey-pokey because all that matters is it's coming fro the heart?

Look, music has it's own language. Maybe it would be a good idea if it's your profession that YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND IT. Watch the doc again and see how tired, dumbfounded and annoyed the session players look. Knowing how to write music doesn't diminish any emotions, it just makes it harder for other musicians to know how you want something played. Instead of contorting like a high raver and being looked at like a dumb shit by a professional maybe you should be professional and have some respect for the craft you're working on and UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE. It seems a little arrogant and unprofessional to me. Now, at the same time, I'm not even hating on Pretty Lights for not knowing how to write music (I know it sounds like it), as what I said was directed towards someone who thinks you don't need to know the language you're working in because it's "coming from the heart". It's a young thing, I understand, but for the love of Pete, doesn't that make sense? Understand the language of your craft? The people you're asking to play something for you are looking at you like an asshole, why? It's disrespectful. Imagine hiring some graphic designers for the webpage you're building and they ask you some html/css questions and you have no idea what they're saying...arg


I was quite tossed when I watched the documentary so I may have to watch it again (or not).

Funny thing is I don’t find anything emotional or “from the heart” about the album. It’s mostly just clichés of the genre and Pretty Lights to my ears. If from the heart simply means something he would bounce or bob his head to, then ok. I guess that’s an emotion if you really want to stretch the definition. I guess there is some music that the main or only emotion is the memory of you bouncing around in a crowd to it.

I think we are in a whole new era of artist, the composer who can’t be bothered learning any kind of theory and with a lot of success they feel they don’t have to. Maybe they don’t but they should respect those who do, especially when working with them directly. And I mean really respecting them, not just having the money to hire them or feeling you're doing them a favor allowing them to take part in your current success.

It’s been 2 years since Pretty Lights took a break from the long prolific release pattern, but I don’t hear any growth from that break. It seems it was more about “I now have the clout to work with musicians and any gear under the sun” and that’s about it. He was patting himself on the back for achieving purely surface level credibility.

regretfullySaid
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Re: Making of the new Pretty Lights album doc

Post by regretfullySaid » Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:29 pm

Well you just put that very nicely then :lol:

I think a lot of it has to do with the accessibility of s/w & h/w. Now that a junkie on death row can afford a "studio", especially since Live 8 and midi controllers blew up (specifically I think the introduction of 8's new compressor propelled the sidechain "movement" no pun intended) a lot more technical engineering/production knowledge was not a "magic art" anymore, and that's why the biggest question kids have about another artist is "what did you use to get that sound?" or "which DAW did you use to make that?" because now they know they can try to achieve or mimic that sound to sound just like their hero or whatever it is that made something so popular.

A few years ago a dj friend wanted to collaborate (and this is more specific to him and not everyone) he was all about getting the mimic down.
"Hey, I found out how to do a reese/wobble/sidechain" ie whatever nuance that was hot in music at the time, and he didn't learn shit throughout any of the processes of working by himself, or with me, not really, just technical details on how to get certain sounds, and he gave up realizing it wasn't his thing.
And personally for me, in general, I need surprises, I like when things get flipped but still work out. I don't want to sound like what's hot, though I do get inspired by a lot of things that may be hot at the time (like bass music) because in that sense the point is to progress and experiment, try to take things further, nuance by nuance.
Disclosure is only 17 and 20 and their music is more emotional, simple and banging. There's a nice balance between traditional and experimental, but at the core is emotion.

Anyway, back to young'uns and their perception of "brilliant" I think is more in terms of technical details and production because they focus on that more because they can empathize with it because they have the same technical tools.
Is Pretty Lights production tight? Yes. Musically interesting? It gets old quick. But it isn't meant to be so uch musical as much as just being tight beats, and he does do that well. Sweet beats that are predictable and too long imo. I give him props as a businessman and living the life, but at the end of the day, yeah, I too, after a few songs, start skimming through hearing the same old thing.
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