"Moonjoker Reprise" [3.9 MB .mp3]
This was kind of a mutation/leftover from the last two Bandcamp releases: samples from Moon Joker processed using MIDI parts from Melding Principle (Clock Delay). Until the midpoint, then it begins morphing into something else, then concludes with some standard rave chords for a stirring climax.
Am pleased to announce my 36th Bandcamp release, Melding Principle.
[Note: embedded players -- which I basically hate -- are replaced with links when they move off the blog front page]
Liner notes for the LP:
24 samples I culled from mid-'80s art rock and late-'00s noise band music serve as the foundation for these tracks. The samples were loaded into the Octatrack sequencer (for two of the songs) and Qu-Bit Nebulae Eurorack modules (for eight of the songs), where they were "mangled," as instrument makers like to say.
Version 1 of the Nebulae was used, manufactured before Qu-Bit inexplicably removed MIDI control in Version 2. Some of the Nebulae tunes were triggered with MIDI from an Expert Sleepers ESX-8MD module, connected via the Silent Way software plugin suite in Ableton Live.
Final recording and editing of the tracks was done with Tracktion's Waveform sequencer.
The vibe here is "gritty," as the instrument makers also like to say.
Thanks to the St Celfer archive for the NordPlusAlarmClock sample.
If other samples aren't mangled sufficiently to be unrecognizable, please let me know and I'll mangle them further.
If you'd like to support this blog (now in its 19th, ad-free year) buying the occasional Bandcamp song or LP is a great way to do that.
Am pleased to announce my 35th Bandcamp release, Occult Classical.
[Note: embedded players -- which I basically hate -- are replaced with links when they move off the blog front page]
Liner notes for the LP:
"Higher powers command: paint the upper right corner black," quipped Sigmar Polke in a notable artwork title. Such commands might also lurk behind the meandering signal flow of a modular synthesizer patch or the inchoate logic of placing scraps of digitized vinyl within the layered timeline of a digital audio workstation.
This release combines synth tunes (modular and soft-), beatbox beats, and reassembled sounds from the jazz and classical crates. There is less use of MIDI pattern generation to make chords and arpeggios than in the previous few releases; however, quantization is used within the modular to turn random and/or sequenced pitches into conventional chords and scales.
There is also some emphasis on getting novel timbres into clips, and reacting to those within the composition. A recurring device for turning lead into audio gold is Doepfer's A-112 sampler module, used in about half these tunes. Some custom waveforms were made and uploaded via MIDI to the A-112, using PrivatePublic Music's Doepfer A-112 Waves application (www.privatepublic.de/blog/software/a-112-waves/)
If you'd like to support this blog (now in its 19th, ad-free year) buying the occasional Bandcamp song or LP is a great way to do that.
Modular synth patch used in recent track. All this is doing is quantizing random, sample-and-hold voltages ("s/h wave" in the diagram) and using them to control pitches in the synth but it looks complicated. This image will probably be the next LP cover. I have 10 songs finished but some of them are reworked older tunes and some are classical remixes -- am mulling over whether to use them all or just press on with more new material. I kind of like the eclectic state it's in right now.
