Novation’s ‘Finish Something’ Video Series

Novation_Finish_Something
Following on from their Start Something campaign last year, which looked at the genesis of musical ideas, Novation recently made a video series about what they call “the tougher side of music making” — working to Finish Something.

Spending a month traveling around the UK and US, Novation staff talked with a range of artists about how they close out their compositions. Their big question: How do *you* finish something?

Answers ranged from making the final touches, to taking a couple of riffs and loops, to reviving compositions that had lain fallow for years, to letting go of paralyzing perfectionism, all the way to feeling satisfaction with the finished article. The results are highlighted in the video, below.

To help provide a little technical expertise to go along with the project-finishing motivation of the video, Enrique from Novation has produced a series of seven short (two to five minute) videos stepping the user through basic processes that you might consider.

Part 1: Making beats with Circuit, MiniNova and Bass Station II
Part 2: Tracking out audio & MIDI stems to Ableton
Part 3: Using MIDI from Circuit to create additional textures
Part 4: Use Launchpad Pro drum racks to add variation
Part 5: Complete arrangement using Launchpad Pro
Part 6: Perform the arrangement
Part 7: Hands on mixing using Launch Control XL

The full series is embedded as a playlist above.

12 thoughts on “Novation’s ‘Finish Something’ Video Series

    1. Where did you get “8 part series” from? There are 8 videos: an intro and 7 “parts”, but I don’t see anything here claiming there would be specifically 8 “parts”.

    1. I don’t think you are alone, as I am a standing right behind you as I type this.

      “let’s make a beat”, does sound like something a 5 year old would say. So, what are the alternatives for the term “making beats”? If I am asked I sometimes go for; “I’ve been f*cking some sh*t up”.

    2. Eh, sometimes calling a piece of music a “song” or “composition” feels like a bit of a stretch. To me, “beat” implies a sort of disposable and workmanlike quality; a work of craftsmanship, rather than art.

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