80bpm G minor – made on Circuit Tracks in the month of June 2022 on the couch and the nighttime balcony with a bassy bass on synth 1, polyrhythm keys arpeggio-like on synth 2, interesting drums
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Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
While listening to the Smashing Pumpkins album Siamese Dream, I remember the staticky tape recording I made of its release on Chicago college radio (the Bear) – “Mayonaise” was especially distorted in parts, in perfect tonal blend with the music. I still hear the extra fuzz in my mind every time that song plays.
20210924 sense
86.2bpm – Made with Kronecker, Lagrange, Mela 2, Phasemaker synths, used Bleass Granulizer effects
20210914 grow
120bpm – A walking soft brassy part, low frequency filter, delay, starts things off, forms the basis – this is a sound-designed preset of my own in Lagrange (based on Daiba). A cello-ish long-held melody played in Continua (Baroque Sonal System (Lead)) is added underneath. Then a melody which sounds like something I can’t quite remember from the 80’s, Lagrange again with Bleass granulizer Reverse Beats.
Continua provides a dreamy, sweeping pad (Fresher Pad by Red Sky Lullaby), a pulse short note sound-designed synth is added as a second melody. Then comes a highlight/lead calling over the pads (Injection Pad Red Sky Lullaby).
As the song nears its end we raise the frequency of the filter on the walking base melody until you can distinguish the saw oscillators. Everything but this and the long melody from the beginning – which you now realize you missed hearing – ring out until it stops.
20210903 learn
138bpm – I started out with Tal-U-NO-LX and found a good phaser/chorus-y preset which I tweaked to have even more sawtooth, filter open, with a chorus sound. I came up with a melody, but it wouldn’t be the main, first melody in the track like what’s often the case.
Next I found a pad (PD Traumstation BT) in SynthMaster 2 with bubbling accents. It would be a good soundscape to end the piece with.
I added three synths and came up with varying counter melodies: Mela 2 with a Bleass chorus and two SynthMaster 2 instances. Those plus another SynthMaster 2 pad made the count 6 different synthesizers to control, mute, and start, part of the time 2 off, 1 on at once, multiple fingers moving in AUM in every direction.
It took a while to figure out the placement of the layers, a lot of practicing, testing things out. It’s just over 6 minutes, but there’s a lot of motion, changing things up, and it’s not the build up and break down structure I used much of the time in tracks that came before.
That first melody? It ends the song sounding like an anthem chorus, and the Traumstation pad completes the dream. — Listen with headphones!
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
I listened to the M83 album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming completely (on headphones) for the first time that I can remember, although I’ve heard many of the songs before.
The album is rich and full of emotion. Note the song “Wait” with its acoustic guitar strumming and warm singing, synths and string crescendos.
Some of the songs are short vignettes, many without lyrics. I looked up the lyrics to “Wait”; they’re very sparse but move you directly with the singer calling: “No time” – is there a chorus effect on the voice? Nearing the end the drums kick in, and it all comes together, the singer crying out in echoes, everything louder and fuller, until there’s peace.
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20210506 roof
86bpm A minor – Testing Zoom MS-70CDR effects presets, setting different freestyle patches on the Skulpt synthesizer including a simple sine wave at the beginning (recorded Skulpt mono through iRig2 into Endlesss). Took a long time setting up/arranging in AUM afterwards. Added Bleass Granulizer to the lead sound, added WOOTT effect before that.
20210425 chase
Played live on MicroFreak synthesizer
20190830 bored
Made in FL Studio with Arturia V Collection synths