music - tm

"Chorus of Angles I" [mp3 removed]

"Chorus of Angles II" [mp3 removed]

Similar to the piece "Noise Gospel," some wav file recordings of a strange vocal-ish Doepfer patch I made were loaded into the Reaktor Krypt sample map, for granularization and triggering by the Krypt sequencer. The sequencer plays notes intended to trigger another set of samples, so it was a matter of listening to a bunch of patterns and finding groups that sounded good with these particular wavs. The patterns were then arranged into a songs.

The digital sounds seemed harsh to me so I recorded each song two more times using the Mutator filter, then overlayed (stacked) the original and each of the Mutated versions as simultaneous tracks and mixed them down to a single wav file. Slight variations in the files may create a chorus or fattening effect. Whatever subtleties are there are probably lost in the final "maximization to CD gain levels."

"Hey 112" [mp3 removed]

A more refined version of "Hey 112 (Raw)".
The same tracks made with the Doepfer A-112 module are used (control voltages messing with 8-bit sampled synth loops): one synth, one clicky percussion plus a third, non-8 bit track made with the Reaktor Rhythmaker synth (all three are overlaid)

previous musings on the A-112

"Hey 112 (Raw)" [mp3 removed]

Made with the Doepfer A-112 module: control voltages messing with 8-bit sampled synth loops.
Two tracks were made independently--one synth, one clicky percussion--then overlaid.
This is supposed to be kind of funny.

previous musings on the A-112

"Amber States" [mp3 removed]

Three .wav files were independently run through the Reaktor GrainStates effect plugin...

(update: where considerable time was spent setting parameters to find the best "clouds" of sounds from each file then creating sequences where these clouds could be "played" in a set order)*

...then layered together with some minor tweaks and additions such as reverb. Academic electronic music meets modern jazz - it's almost a parody of "free" style composition. (The ending, where it sounds like an orchestra tuning, is a GrainStates-ized Lazerbass solo, for the record.)

previous musings on GrainStates

piece made with GrainStates without reading the manual

*update: parenthetical added because "run through the Reaktor GrainStates effect plugin" makes the process sound much more passive than it was. the machine does a lot of the work but the ear has to decide what's worth capturing

"Pining for Sparky" [mp3 removed]

Using the drum machine as a mixing board, with insert cables going out from the various drum channels to a computer "virtual effects rack" and coming back in, then fading various of the "effected" percussion sounds in and out. (Somewhat as shown in this diagram but less elements.) The uptempo break in the middle was added later.