I was wondering if anyone knows how AC composes there music using the SP404. If anyone knows anything about how they utilize the SP404 for their music please post it!

Thanks,

Ken

Or if you know anything about where they get theri samples from or what programs they make them on.

don't really know, but if you listen to their earlier stuff, it suggests that they sample themselves yelling and playing acoustic guitars and clapping and stuff.

haven't found too much on how they actually compose, but there are a lot of interviews online now, and they're trying to be more open about their creative process as they challenge the idea that they're just taking the piss outta indie rock.

good luck.

Well Panda Bear uses two 303s, the other guy (Avey Tare or something? I'm not super familiar with the group) uses a 404. As was mentioned before, I think they primarily sample themselves and distort it. If you check out Panda Bear's solo record, Person Pitch, you can get a pretty clear picture of how he uses the 303. I'm sure he does similar stuff with AC, just with more people around.

Although I still can't understand how that album is so popular, it just seems too weird to be at the top of so many critics' lists. I think it's a good album, I just don't see what all the fuss is about. Maybe I'm just not "with it" anymore. I've never really been into the Beach Boys, so that probably has something to do with it, too. And the ironic "self help-styled" lyrics are a little hard for me to digest. But no hate, it certainly is nice to see something obscure get so far; gives a little hope to us all.

Hey,

I've been lurking these boards for awhile, but this thread made me register.

The AC are how I got into the sp404, and im a huge fan.

Since i still don't actually own an sp404 or 303, i cant say exactly.

but if you watch their video for fickle cycle, you can see panda bear using the sp404 to kick out a bass drum loop.

as well, if you watch live performances of the new song brother sport, you can see that panda bear is triggering the piano chords via his 303.

as well i would assume that on songs like peacebone where you hear a sample of avey tare saying "bonefish" i would assume thats sp induced.

all i know for certain

geo - sp404

panda - two sp303

avey - two digitech vox 300's and other things.

its very rare that geo will sample anything that panda is doing live, and they all control their own voices individually.


just watch live footage, especially the malta video, and you can see panda twiddling with different knobs during fireworks.

we're never going to know exactly what their doing, but live footage gives us the best ideas.


animal collective is just one of those bands who inspire me to buy challenging pieces of equipment or software and take the time to actually learn them.


cant wait till i finally have an sp404.

hey noodles, welcome aboard. good to hear from you.

huph - i know what you are saying. i'm a pretty big fan of AC and panda bear, etc., but that doesn't mean i am always in the mood to listen to them.

what inspires me is that AC / PB came out not sounding like other stuff out there, in a world where everything new sounds a lot like everything before. even the beach boys, who are clearly an influence, don't sound that much like AC.

howevs, NOW there are so many groups that sound like AC and PB. but i still respect them for messing around and coming up with a pretty unique, individual sound, and pushing it in new directions every rekkid.

but yeah, not everyone's cuppa tea, and sometimes a pretty challenging listen.

peas.

I'm pretty happy, I just figured out how four tet and animal collective use their sp's live to get that interesting sound. Pats self on back, chea mayne! I can do it on one sp but 2 makes it a little easier.

how do you mean, doc? what did you figger out?

I know panda bear triggers loops live, but fourtet does alot crazier things and intergrates it with his laptop...

I'm down to share most of my knowledge, but not things that I just figured out myself.

I guess I've just listened to Animal Collective long enough that the oddities in their music aren't so glaring for me anymore.

I just hear the implied melodies and structures.

The same way that when I first started listening to Radiohead, and then heard Coldplay, I was like "well their just diet Radiohead" but I totally can't hear how I made that link anymore.

I definitely understand that they are not always right for the mood, but one of my favorite aspects of them and their music is their willingness and the joy they get from playing music they know is unconventional, and viewed as shit by a lot of people.

Even they way that they take an a piece of equipment like the SP and use it to produce a sound I don't think was the original assumption of what it's designers guessed it would be commonly used for. Or their voices for that matter. Or their guitars.

Only one of their songs features a standard tuning. And the other tunings are almost exclusively self composed.

I think their unique and unusual to music composition is what would make me consider them my favorite band as of right now.

I don't think they invented the noise genre or anything, but they definitely are creating sounds unique to themselves.


And as far as the Beach Boys influence, Panda Bear has stated that he dislikes how often his records get viewed a toss up to Brian Wilson.

To summarize his words, he said that it's sort of just the way his voice sounds...but that Brian Wilson is an influence and is kind of flattered to be mentioned next to him.

Which is probably true, I think if you effected Avey Tare's voice the same way Panda did on Person Pitch, it wouldn't sound like the Beach Boys.


I hope that when I start creating music to more productive extent, that I don't sound terribly like an AC copy band. But as of late, that'll probably be how it comes off.

They make me want to explore soundscapes.

Every artist imitates a master until their own style develops.

Does Panda Bear sound like Brian Wilson? I'm not familiar with each specific Beach Boy so I'm not sure which voice is his. I know Brian's the reclusive "arty" one of the group and whatnot. I've always thought Animal Collective, and Panda Bear specifically, have a similar reverb-drenched echo-y beach sound. Sort of like early Phil Spector stuff (Did he produce a Beach Boys album?). And I remember one time a friend saying to me, "I don't see how someone could not like Panda Bear if they're into the Beach Boys," so that probably has something to do with the association in my mind. They probably picked up the connection from some critic or interview.

I'm on the fence about AC and the whole "wolves and bears t-shirt" club of musicians that's popped up lately. I don't dislike them, but I've never been compelled to listen to them very much, which is kind of sad in the case of AC because it's definitely original and good music, guess it's just not my style. AC are kind of old news here in New York, so the current wave of national hype seems redundant to me, but that's nobody's fault, and nothing to really complain about. AC was actually the very first band I saw after moving to the city, and I haven't really followed them much since, other than giving the albums a listen or two, so I still kind of have the same image of them as "that Brooklyn band I saw my first weekend here." Maybe I'll come around sometime down the line. (On another note, I saw Dysrhythmia last night, and they blew me away!)

Just for the record, did you know the SP was originally designed for guitarists to play along with? At least that's what I've been told. It was originally designed so a guitarist could record rhythm tracks, sequence them into a song and then be able to come up with lead lines. When used in that manner, the SP operates nearly flawlessly, the shortcomings of the little beast just don't pop up when you're using it to write conventional songs. That's why the sequencer is limited in the way it operates, and why there are so many guitar-oriented effects that operate in strange manners from a beatmaking standpoint. So almost everyone who uses an SP is probably utilizing it in a way that the original designers didn't intend.

They've of course caught on now with the 404, hence the new DJ oriented effects like "BPM Looper" and "DJFX Looper".

I cracked up so hard when I read that first line about "wolves and bears t-shirts"...so true...

But, I was thinking, and I have to say the guitar functionality of the SP's makes sense in that manner, except for the lack of 1/4 inch inputs and solely RCA(unless you use the mic input?).

In regards to the Brian Wilson parallel, check the song You're Welcome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You're_Welcome) by the Beach Boys. This song is the epitome of a chanty psych pop number by the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson...and then, listen to the track "Comfy In Nautica" by Panda Bear. That should explain EVERTHING...

^^^ Yes the mic input would work. The sound quality is, of course, nothing amazing. But it's great for writing songs by yourself. And then being able to play the ideas for the other guys in the band. Although, I'm sure Roland figured that the SP was going to get used by beatmakers at some point in the development, since they included samples to make beats in the internal memory. I only think the initial concept was as a tool for guitarists (particularly when paired with a Boss drum machine). By the way, this is no gospel on the SP development, but I do remember that all ads and descriptions for the 303 in music catalogs all painted it as a tool for guitarists.

I'll check those two songs out for sure when I'm home from work. I have some old Beach Boys records, and I'm pretty sure one of my roommates has all the AC albums.