"Premonition of Discord" - notes

Production notes for "Premonition of Discord," from the Terra Organization LP:

premonition_of_discord_650w

full size screenshot of Tracktion Waveform page

I had an idea of doing a noise piece but I can't seem to escape structure so call it rhythmic noise. This track started with a "master clip" of some NI Battery beats ("Messed Up Kit" from the early '00s) playing randomly in Tracktion's Multisampler plugin. Sounds from the clip were recorded "live" into the Doepfer A-112 8-bit sampler module (that is, by manually punching the "record" button) and played back with analog filtering (either manually or with a MIDI sequencer, I can't remember), for recording back into the DAW. This grungily resampled audio was then trimmed selectively to make loops. The loops (and additional sounds) were reorganized into this tune.
Tracks:
1. Recording (1) of A-112 module, trimmed into new clips
2. Recording (2) of A-112 module, trimmed into new clips
3.-12. Multisampler rack on "bus" track, with regular, that is, un-resampled, NI Battery hits (separated into zones in the sampler) assigned to their own submix tracks so they can be given different effects treatments. On Track 9, for example, automation curves control the reverb wet mix on a single hit, as it is being triggered by MIDI.
13. Multisampler kit plays a single sample, Scrape C4, from an E-Mu Modular soundfont file. An LFO Modifier inside the Multisampler, set to sample-and-hold, controls the filter cutoff as the sample loops continuously (triggered by a single depressed MIDI note).
14. Noise sampled from a noise musician.
15. Different noise sampled from the same musician. The noise snippets in Tracks 14 and 15 are looped so they become beats, each with their own time signatures independent of the project's time.
16. Recording (3) of A-112 module, trimmed into new clips -- slightly more mangled at the modular stage.
17. Recording (4) of A-112 module, trimmed into new clips.
18. Recording (5) of A-112 module, trimmed into new clips. Some additional FX at the modular stage (reverb, compression) are incorporated into the audio in these clips.
19. Recording (6) of A-112 module, trimmed into new clips. These are the most musical of the A-112 clips.
20. Audio from Tracks 3.-12. is rendered and sliced into a new Multisampler kit, for variation in pitches of some of the drumhits.

"We All Know" - notes

Production notes for "We All Know," from the Terra Organization LP:

we_all_know650

full size screenshot of Tracktion Waveform page

Tracks:
1. RetroMod Fat (software Moog clone) -- two sections were rendered and then the track was muted. LFO modifier set to "noise" is moving the filter cutoff knob. (MIDI)
2. RM F rendering - Section 2
3. RM F rendering - Section 1
4. Multisampler instrument is playing a kit I made of Vermona DRM1 mk2 percussion samples. (MIDI)
5. Multisampler instrument is playing field recording of pygmy goat bleats. LFO modifier, set to sample and hold, is moving the pan setting. (MIDI)
6. Multisampler instrument is playing Legowelt sample "PAD-MistyFogShort" (MIDI)
7. Vocal snippets from frequently deplatformed YouTube performer "Charlie Williams" ("Keep playing your game, but we all know about the terror organization"; "You don't like me in this area"; "Thank you, sir.")
8. Sample of mod tracker beat
9. Sub-bass line played with Helm softsynth (MIDI)
10. Tune played with SocaLabs SID_64b softsynth - rendered, then muted (MIDI)
11. SID_64b rendering
12. Multisampler instrument is playing a Vermona Kick Lancet percussion sample, with delay. (MIDI)

"Recombinant Youth" (CD-R design)

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Am gradually adding "merch" to my Bandcamp page, to show my commitment to production and the capitalist system.
The above release from 2014, Recombinant Youth, also received the cassette treatment:

recombinant_youth_cassette_spine650w

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For future CD releases, am attempting mini-jewel cases with artwork but will probably continue to list tracks on the disc itself.

Update, November 2020: The MAM-A company (recently sold to an outfit in Chattanooga called WTS Media) changed the design of their CD-Rs and no longer offer an edge-to-edge white printing surface on their gold discs. Now there is an obnoxious, bling-y 3mm gold rim around the white. I am rethinking my CD-R design for future releases and took down the CD above from Bandcamp, since I won't be making more copies with that design.

Terra Organization (new Bandcamp release)

Am pleased to announce my 30th Bandcamp release, Terra Organization [embedded player removed]. Here is a sample tune, the second on the tracklist. The vocal sample is from a user who keeps getting kicked off YouTube and has acquired a small following.

Liner notes for the LP:

These are short, structured songs with some interplay of a tune, a rhythm, and a timbre, written or finalized between July 2018 and January 2019.
The prevalence of chords results partly from use of the new "pattern generator" app inside the Tracktion Waveform DAW, intended for "chord progressions." As a musician coming from the visual arts, this idea of "progressions" seems bizarre, just as it would be weird to speak of color progressions in a painting. There are chords, there are timbres that have overtones or partials resembling chords, and there is how you put them together -- maybe there's progress, maybe there's only one chord, maybe there are no chords. The pattern generator is mostly used here as a timesaver, to create a melody on one track that harmonizes with something playing chords on another track. You can hear this most clearly on the song "Mall Chords," which is fairly robotic and MIDI-ish but also kind of lush.
Vocal samples are used sparingly in these tunes -- only if a track seems to need them.
The songs are mastered LOUD to be played back at medium to low volume without loss of sound. The ideal listening scenario would be home speakers with decent dynamic range, playing at quiet volume. Playing the songs LOUD might be a mistake.
26 of these types of songs is probably too many! My preference would be to keep breaking down releases into groups of 10, but I have a pile of unused 40-60 minute blank cassettes, and I'm determined not to waste tape sides now that chrome tape is becoming scarce. Hence, a forty minute release.
Side Two of the cassette begins with "Lounge Laugh 2" and I'm thinking of the tracks on that side as a second, bonus set of tunes.

Images of the cassette packaging are here.