Darren's posts with tag: modulations
|  | Ok, so what happen when someone who doesn't know how to play the guitar and picked up an electric guitar for the first time and wanted to cut a track for an upcoming production? THIS:
W.K.W Dream[reject] (song number 7)
Supposed to have piano playing live on top, so this is like a backing track during performance. Yep, wanted to compose a track for Wong Kah Wai's Dream, TFP's production during arts festival. But after this track was done, I am having second thoughts so tentatively I've rejected this track myself. I am still a dummy when comes to guitar at the end of the day. Well, and I felt the song was inappropriate in a way. We'll see after tomorrow's meeting and hear what TC have to say to this.
Anyway, what's done is done, take it as an experience. It is afterall my first attempt on a guitar with no prior knowledge or training. Basically, I played by ear and loop it through EH2880 and RC20... effected through VF1 and ZebraVCF for different takes... kinda composed on the fly. For the synth parts, it was added in subtley and builds over time (JUNO106, AX60 and Radias). My favourite will have to be the SH101 (in about 03:43 and went on)... basically wanted to keep it as "acoustic" as it can be despite everything being electronic (well, analogue mostly)... have fun listening. Don't kill me if I've played the guitar really badly... It's my first time :P
Instrumentation:
Frigging brandless humbucker
Roland SH101
Roland JUNO106
KORG Radias
AKAI AX60
Looper: EH2880; BOSS RC20
Effects: BOSS VF-1; ZebraVCF
Omitted: Thingamagoop; Effector13 Synth Mangler |
| | Just got these from Mr Misse, the nicest, fairest and friendliest gear retailer in Singapore. Well, actually I've ordered it like since last year... erm... maybe august? Can't remember... time really flies. Anyway, finally it's here. So again, some gear whoring pictures before testing it out. It takes some time to doodle around this and finding the right sound for it.
In anycase, I got a Moog Pedal Bag along with a Moog t-shirt and Moog CD together with it. :) Mr Misse rawks!
UPDATES: Aight, visited Matirxsynth site (best synth site ever!!!) and I thought I should put up Effector 13 website up too... Thanks Matrix! Check out THIS POST!!! Matrixsynth had uploaded some synth mangler related stuffs! |
| | These are pictures taken whilst I compose and design for the play "Everything But The Brain" for Action Theatre. Now showing at the Esplanade Theatre. Here's the demo of three songs which I've picked out to upload (click on the title of the songs to listen):
EVER AFTER
This track, by approach was really simple. I mic'ed up a Hungarian Zither (CITERA) using a contact microphone and it's being fed into the KORG Radias audio in. Using a vocoder preset, I have made it to trigger a synth note (D flat) with a moderate attack and a long release. So everytime I plug a note, it will trigger the synth note. The signal is also routed through it's internal effects with delay and reverb. Another contact microphone was employed to sample the Citera with a BOSS RC-20 and the playback is reversed... This track was recorded live with me improvising on the Citera. (I have no idea how to play it so I just did what I think sound right) You can find a picture of the Citera below...
BEDTIME STORIES
A Plogue Bidule composition using a patch I've designed. The group has a couple of sequencers that triggers the risset bells and sine tones, which was passed through a rebuilder and some effects. Crytal Synths were employed for the generation of the glassy ambient. KORG Radias was used for a base drone...
EINSTEIN'S BRAIN
An abstract of the 10 minute long piece. The piano was from KORG Triton ST88. An improvisation based on the scenic mood was recorded and then reversed and picthed down to underlay the original recording. Another Plogue Bidule patch was designed to sound scape subtley underneath this track...
DISCLAIMER: There are pictures of other synths which was employed for the composition and design of other songs and sounds but I did not include the demo here... It's sad to see the way they treated my music in production... director's call, so what to do :/ |
| | THE VOTING HAS STARTED! Yes, voting will run till this Tuesday 12pm our time here in Singapore. I have provided the voting link so if you like what you hear here, do vote for me :D. THANKS! Stiff competition!
Okies, so here are the entries I submitted into the Cyndustries BUG OFF! aleatoric music contest:
d-DAY|h-HOUR
mo12seCODE
The theme of the contest is "WAR & PEACE"and we are suppose to use any kind of synthesis be it software or hardware based, digital or analogue. If you like it do go HERE to vote for me as your top three picks. Look for the titles. I will be really grateful! :P
NOTE: No looped samples were used and they are all original creations, played live, sequenced or programmed. No matter how aleatoric it is supposed to be, it can still fall under a familiar format of music. There are more aleatoric elements in mo12seCODE than d-DAY|h-HOUR. The random bleeps and glitches of the oscillating and filtering Sherman Filterbank II and also alot of "chance" music involved in this piece (eg. the transistor radio reacting with the MF105, etc). For d-DAY|h-HOUR, it's set to a more typical music track with the filtering algorithms random on the arpeggiating synths. Just because it says aleatorical doesn't mean it must sound weird and out of this world in my opinion.
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This album was taken post of recording the tracks. Here's the description of each piece:
d-DAY|h-HOUR
GEARS:KORG Triton ST88, KORG EM-1, KORG KP3, Sherman Filterbank II, MOOG MF105 Murf, MOOG Etherwave Theremin and ROLAND SH101.
DESCRIPTION: No software synthesis were used except for general effects during mixdown. Majority of the synthesis was from KORG Triton and composed on the fly. Drums were preprogrammed though on the EM1. The piano is from Triton and it was improvised on the spot. Not sequenced.
CONCEPT: I was pondering about war and peace and thought they are pretty dichotomous. The existence of one entails the existence of another. The meaning of peace would not be possible without the precedence of war or vice versa. Inspired by this notion, d-DAY|h-HOUR depicts the attack that ends war... with that, peace entails, but at much cost. Like my other entry, this song was cut in a about 4 hours. Hope you'll enjoy it. Cheers...
mo12seCODE
GEARS: Alesis ION, KORG EM-1, KORG KP3, KORG Triton ST88, Sherman Filterbank II, MOOG MF105 Murf and a small handhelf transistor radio.
DESCRIPTION: Composed and mixed on the fly with general effects passed post. Again this was done in about 4 hours as well. Special Notes: The Sherman Filterbank II was used as a self oscillating modular instead of processing sounds... it was patched for feedbacking itself. The transistor radio was used for creating the sweeping sounds (like wind)... achieved by feeding through MF105. Reaktor 5 was used for some sound designs as well as a simple drum sequence. Most drum sounds from EM1. Gun sounds were designed on Triton.
CONCEPT: "Morse code is the only digital modulation mode designed to be easily read by humans without a computer, making it appropriate for sending automated digital data in voice channels, as well as making it ideal for emergency signaling..." This piece is a stipulation of morse codes being sent amongst artificial intelligence during wars in the future... Resulting in a cacophony of electronic communication. Inspired by visuals of actual morse codes, I've derived patterns from some to enter it as sequenced patterns, repeating them and countering them against each other... and the outcome is rather musical, naturally...
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PHOTO DESCRIPTION
Well, these were taken during the session. The first few LED displays are from the Sherman Filterbank II. Playing around with movements and it's actually quite magical in my opinion. The rest are just straight forward gear slutting.
OUT
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Quite crap actually. This is my first attempt at video-making, from the demo I cut from my previous post SyNtH MaNtRa II. Amateurish stuff. Visual highlights shots from KORG EM1 and KORG KP3. Here's the original video on YoutubeThe song was cut from KORG EM1, KORG Prophecy, KORG KP3, BOSS VF-1 multi-effects processor and Moogerfooger MF105 MurF. For more shots of the session do visit HERE. Pretty lame but it's just out of pure fun.
| | "Cocktail-Patry Effect is the ability of the human ear to perceive a distinctive sound out of a collage of sounds. The ability to filter out a single sound from a collective of sounds. Sounds which are masked by a myriad of noised can be perceivable by the human ear through the exercise of this effect."
Audio Demo: | SyNtH MaNtRa II |
Music Concept:
Using the Cocktail Party Effect as a main driving concept, I composed a motive for the set. There are three tracks of micro-melodies playing the same motive at different tempos and in variations covering different frequency bands. Each track will take precedence at different times, sometimes clashing sometimes in sync. The four track is a shakuhachi-like synths that plays a distinctive melody at the beginning. The drum track is pre-programmed and sequenced prior the recording, acting as a base to mask micro-melodies to make them hardly perceivable, forcing one to engage the Cocktail Party Effect in order to make out the micro-melodies that weaved underneath the on-going drum track. With the ideology of Cocktail Party Effect, Synth Mantra II is a multi-tracked improvisation in the world of synths, filters and effects, melting the boundaries between analogue and digital as they fuse.
The song was composed, arranged and improvised on the fly less the sequenced drums. It's then mixed down minimally and with no effects added post. I did this track in about 2 hours so don't expect a professional mix. It's more for fun... my fun :P.
Technical Details:
All the synths sounds are from the KORG Prophecy, through the Moogerfooger MF105 MurF that changes rate of LFO as well as envelope. The Drum, which was pre-programmed and sequenced, is from KORG EM1, through BOSS VF-1 multi-effects processor and then through KORG Koass Pad III running a Grain Filter. The drum sequence was first passed through VF-1 on a violin filter, which resulted in a clicky metallic percussive sound. This was sampled into 3 banks on the KP3 in different variations. These sounds can be heard at the beginning of the track as it's morphed by the grain filter on KP3. During the actual recording, the drums were passed through a stereo vocoder on the VF-1 and then into the KP3 for the graining.
Photo Details:
The song was composed and played in the dark so that I indulge in the right mood. The LEDs really take on full effects in the dark so I took pictures of it after the recording and also with lights on later. The streaking LEDs happened when I took one accidentally because of unstable hands but it turned out pretty interesting. So I began to experiment and also changing camera mode. The result is some stunning LED displays.
UPDATES: Video is not available HERE. Or you can go direct to Youtube to view it. Don't expect too much :D. |
| | What does this man do in the middle of the night when he can't sleep and boredom sinks in?
"He let a transistor radio speak to a Moogerfooger"
Listen: C o N v E r S a T i O n S
An experimentation that took place when in need of a modular...
For those who are not atuned to experimental music, this piece is hardly musical and may not be assessible to you or may seemed abstract...
I didn't do much except passing the signal of a mini transistor radio with it's static noise running, through the MoogerFooger MF105 Murf... added some random patchings behind the Murf, routing "rate" to "envelop" and at times "mix". The rest is just knobbing, fading, sweeping the radio frequency band and stuffs. No effects or any EQ'ing added. What you hear is what MF105 did to the signal input. Pretty straight forward stuff...
The results? Ambient windy droney stuffs with spurts of crackly cranky random music and voices... Pretty interesting sounds. Musique Concrete?
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 Stayed up again for reasons of self indulgence... cut a demo using Kaoss Pad 3... here it is: | SyNtHiMoRpHoSiS |"...All is metamorphosis in life, from plants to animals and man, yes, even in the latter," Goethe wrote to Sulpiz Boisseree in 1815... Utilizing emptiness releases the intensity of the introspective experience - "Architecture of Silence" by Tadao Ando. This track was inspired by a research email sent my way via a friend.SyNtHiMoRpHoSiS is an improvisation on the KP3, nothing fanciful and it was composed on the fly... Basically I cut the demo using only KP3 (as a hardware) and nothing else. Recorded 4 tracks onto the sampler section of the KP3 from Little Talks, which is a generative patch I did using Plogue Bidule. With the four tracks of clicky bleepy stuffs done, I used a max/msp patch that generates random frequencies in harmonics input into the KP3 with grain filtering. Recorded the output and improvisation onto multi-track. Then I routed the recorded track back into KP3 for another round of filtering using other presets. Next I used the KP3 drum loops to cut another track and again, routed the recorded track back into KP3 for filtering between a filter preset and two grain presets... I "played" the filtering pattern/procedure on the KP3 rhythmically and recorded it on pad motion. The pad motion was triggered on time to the samples when we get nearer to the rhythmic section. At times it's reversed using the "reverse" function button [shift+pad motion]. I kept it going while "interrupting" the pad motion with new manipulations on the pad... did a quick mix down and mastering... The whole process took about an hour... rather ad-hoc so apologies for the bad mix in the whee hours... It's amazing to taste KP3's immaculate power as i was able, using different filters and effects from KP3, to change generative frequency tones into ambient drones. Again, just trying to see what KP3 can do for me with my limited skills... One special note to take is that there's no extra effects added to the tracks. Hope you'll enjoy the subtle nuances to the harsh and crude manipulation... check out the Photo Gallery for more pictures of KP3.
| | UPDATE: I've cut a demo using KP3, you can visit my entry HERE to read about the improvisation and also listen to the demo... for convenience if you want to skip the details, here's the demo:
| SyNtHiMoRpHoSiS |
"...All is metamorphosis in life, from plants to animals and man, yes, even in the latter," Goethe wrote to Sulpiz Boisseree in 1815... Utilizing emptiness releases the intensity of the introspective experience - "Architecture of Silence" by Tadao Ando. This track was inspired by a research email sent my way via a friend.
Here's the unboxing ceremony of my Koass Pad III... According to City Music only 5 came. I bought 2 (one for Rafi), Mike from City Music got one, another guy ordered and one lucky bugger walk-in and got it... sold out in less than 2 hours... That's hot.
Anyway, here's some pictures of first impressions... I will cut a demo and upload more photos in the near future so keep a look out for updates here. Also do visit my layman consumer review of this wonderful lil' monster on my KP3 Review. So demo track coming soon... Akan Datang!
It's a wonderful piece of gear... not to mention its beauty... |
| | Ah... finally cut something out of Zebranalogic gears... ok, not strictly though. Again I employed the KORG EM1 for some drums and synth riffs... but that's all... Not a great track I must emphasize... if you do listen, just check out what Zebranalogic can do in terms of sounds and also how the filter and modulator can screw up your sounds in real bad-ass fashion :P. The sounds of all the chirping, bleeping and fuzz reminded me of insects and in particular cicadas and hence I did an improvisation based on this inspiration. Do use a pair of headphones for more detailed nuances. Here's the demo track: Digital Cicadas
Basically, everything in the track was done using Zebranalogic 2a Oscillator III, plus drums and a simple synth from KORG EM1. These two were then sent through AUX1 and AUX2... AUX1 sends to ZebraVCF and AUX2 to Zebramodulation. This demo song does not do justice to the gears as it's not a great improvisation. Basically I wanted to see how far I can push the Zebranalogic gears and yet make the sounds and music accessible... (I tried really avant gardish stuffs which I prefer and decide to keep it off the net :P). Honestly, the ZebraVCF has become one of my favourite gears (note: one of)... it really pushes the evelope of the sounds...
In the mix, which is done in 20 minutes... was recorded in 3 tracks... 1. 2a Oscillator III; 2. another track of 2a Oscillator III; and 3. KORG EM1... All the filtering, knobbing, etc were done during the recording... and then the 3 tracks were mixed during post... the panning of the Oscillator was done in post, and adding a general reverb... that's it... everything else was done during the actual recording... including sync'ing (try as I might)... so here it is... Like I said, not a fantastic track but worth putting the headphones on to listen to how the Zebranalogic gears chirped, bleeped and screamed... Do ignore my bad mix.
80% of the sound design that you hear in this piece was from 2a Oscillator, ZebraVCF and Zebramodulation... Hope you'll enjoy the irritating cicadas :)
Do visit Z E B R A N A L O G I C |
TRACK I: Synth Mantra IYou can refer HERE for the description of the improvisation, the set up, what you are hearing, what basically is happening and the gears involved. TRACK II: Funking ShermanYou can refer to HERE for a description of the process and where are the sources of the sounds. TRACK III: Digital CicadasHere's the newest improvisation using mainly only Zebranalogic stuffs. Keeping it here for longevity. Do visit THIS POST for a detailed discription of the improvisation as well as photos of the set... TRACK IV: SyNtHiMoRpHoSiS"...All is metamorphosis in life, from plants to animals and man, yes, even in the latter," Goethe wrote to Sulpiz Boisseree in 1815... Utilizing emptiness releases the intensity of the introspective experience - "Architecture of Silence" by Tadao Ando. This track was inspired by a research email sent my way via a friend. Visit THIS POST for a detailed description of the process... TRACK V: CoNvErSaTiOnSRan an old mini transistor radio into a Moogerfooger MF105 MurF; did some patchings here and there and knobbed through the session with the frequecy band of the radio swept. Recorded one take with no effects or EQ added post or during. For more muck shots do visit HERE. TRACK VI: SyNtH MaNtRa IIUsing the ideology of Cocktail Party Effect, Synth Mantra II is a multi-tracked improvisation in the world of synths, filters and effects, melting the boundaries between analogue and digital as they fuse. For more pictures of the the session do visit HERETRACK VII: W.K.W Dream[reject] (Click title below at download table) Ok, so what happen when someone who doesn't know how to play the guitar and picked up an electric guitar for the first time and wanted to cut a track for an upcoming production? THIS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Basically, my idea is to cut tracks spontaneously, no multi-tracking, no post editing (except for boosting levels and general reverb)... everything was done live and recorded in one take. All kbobbings, filtering, manipulations and stuffs are all done intuitively... all based on impulses. So these are tracks from those entries. If you have already heard them before then feel free to ignore this post :) | M�w�<�w�<�w �5 $�\ | | M�w�<�w�<�w �5 $�\ | | M�w�<�w�<�w �5 $�\ | | | M�w�<�w�<�w �5 J�\ | | M�w�<�w�<�w �5 J�\ | | M�w�<�w�<�w �5 J�\ | | | DigitalCicadas | | | | | | | SyNtHiMoRpHoSiS | | | | | | | CoNvErSaTiOnS | | | | | | | SynthMantra II | | | | | | | wkwDREAM | | | | | | | SH101|PODxtLIVE | | | | | | | SH101|PODxtLIVE | | | | | | | SH101|PODxtLIVE | | | | | |
| | Right, so I am supposed to be working on the Museum project... but seeing my gears lying around and being neglected, I decided to spend some fun time with them, to make up for my negligence :P... There's a recording of the improvisation attached... hope you like it...
Here's the demo of the improv session:
SynthMantra I
Here's the url just in case it doesn't work again:
http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0019/87bb0d8e2fda49e1bdb96b0534c7acf2.mp3
Real fun...
NOTICE:I have solved the hickup in links, thanks to Matrixsynth who suggested Twango. So all links work now! :) ... I have uploaded the music on my music page anyway, do visit, TRACK I: InNeReAr
Apologies to all who were frustrated trying to load it...
Here's a basic run down of the set up for this improvisation session: Roland RS-09; Roland SH101; Sherman Filterbank II; Moogerfooger MF105; Zebranalogic VCF; Casio SA-5; and a Yamaha mixer; rather simple set up... SO, the RS09 left o/p runs through Sherman Filterbank II (SFB) and right o/p runs to mono channel on mixer; Send through Aux 1 (pre) to ZebraVCF; it's Headphone outs to MF105 i/p... The MF105 LFO patched to evelope, and left o/p to mono channel on mixer; send thru Aux 1 (pre) to ZebraVCF; and the right o/p to (SFB)... The ZebraVCF was sent to mono channel on mixer and Aux 1 (pre) sent randomly during improvisation; SFB was sent to stereo channel on mixer, sent through Aux 1 (pre) to ZebraVCF; SH101 was sent to mono channel on mixer, Aux 1 (pre) to ZebraVCF; Casio SA-5 o/p to Roland RS09 i/p; ... (I will not explain why and also how the SFB was being patched).
Right, so it's hit record and never looked back... fun improvisation for me. No multi-tracking, just stereo out to my recorder. All sweeping ambient and quirk squirking filter is sherman and MF105, and the ringing pulses and bird-like sounds were the effects of Zebra VCF, RS09 plays the organ & string tones and filtered nuts by filterbank and Zebra and MF105; Same thing for the bellish notes from Casio SA-5... Note to mention is the use of a Tibetan Singing Bowl, using a Rode NT3 condenser, the mic channel was sent to ZebraVCF slightly thru Aux 1 (pre) as well. The recording was done one take, no stopping and post editing done except to master the final volume and also pass a slight reverb through the entire track... track is AS IS. Some of the filtering may hurt your ears if you are not atuned to such music... All knobbing and manipulations of efx and filters done live...
Again, not a great track, but loads of fun for me :) More like having fun with analogue stuffs to see what I can churn out in real time, filtering, cross filtering and keeping as anlogue as I can (well arguments of SFB as not purely analogue still stands)... but anyway, I am just sharing the outcome of my noodling fun...
UPDATES: If you follow the patchings, you will realize everthing passes through the ZebraVCF... it's a wicked gear everyone should own. There's loads more on ZEBRANALOGIC, do visit to look it up! Everything is affordable and fairly priced. Looks great, sounds amazing and works wicked... If you do order, give the man some time... he is hand making, hand crafting the art out... and I believe he has many orders internationally. So wait it out... it's worth it! :)
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