Archive for the Tracks category
Grant
February 15, 2016
Day 173: Monday 15 Feb 2016
Keening For The Lost:
An Abstract Soundscape.
TC-11, Figure, Sparkle. Really loving how Sparkle allows me to generate these Soundscapes. Wish I’d tried it sooner.
Grant
February 14, 2016
Day 172: Sunday 14 Feb 2016
Circumspect Circumstances:
An Abstract Soundscape.
Today I explored Sparkle by Apesoft, an app that I haven’t used before but always intended to explore. I haven’t read the manual or watched any vids, so I’m not really sure what it does but it takes two sounds and combines them in some way. Whatever it is I had great fun and immediately got several good results. Here I have combined two of those results: At first I loaded an earlier version of yesterday’s track into one slot (so that’s using Gadget) and a bassline from a Reggae sample CD into the other, then I used the Gadget file and a TC11 jam from a few weeks ago for the second play. I layered both in Auria and used AUFX:Peak to try and tame the lower end.
Grant
February 13, 2016
Day 171: Saturday 13 Feb 2016
4 Thousand 4 Hundred & 4 Teen (Ways To Stay):
An Ambient Beatscape, slow and sparse ’cause that’s how I roll.
Another Gadget track. Like yesterday’s this was sitting in Gadget when I opened it for the first time in nearly a year; so I finished it today.
Grant
February 12, 2016
Day 170: Friday 12 Feb 2016
Hurry Up & Wait:
An Ambient Beatscape.
Today’s track is all Gadget. It’s not an app that I’ve used much but I have been intending to work with it a little more, so today I tried it out again. There were four small projects in there from my previous attempts to get acquainted and this is one of those; worked over, rearranged, slowed, and added to.
Grant
February 11, 2016
Day 169: Thursday 11 Feb 2016
Sunset; Light Snow Falling:
An Ambient piece today.
Mostly electric piano; I used Korg’s Module to jam a slow and sparse Cm thing which I then slowed in TwistedWave by 70% (because slower and sparse equals better). I also reversed it and loaded both versions into Auria where I selected a few bits from the reversed version and blended them together. Finally I went back to yesterday’s track and cut out one sound of me whacking the bass strings with the pick (Bias FX), which I then added in a few places here.
Grant
February 10, 2016
Day 168: Weds 10 Feb 2016
Follow Me Not – A Bass & Beat ‘Scape In Three Parts:
Intro 0.00-2.42 Body 2.42-8.10 Reprise 8.10-10.42
It’s a Bass ‘Scape! Four layers of bass plus a beat.
This is only my second attempt to incorporate Michelle (my favourite bass who has just returned to my life after an eighteen month absence) into my iPad music making. She is loving it! It is so good to get reaquainted.
I started by loading up Bias Amp and trying out some bass amp models until I found one I liked, then I put that into Bias FX where it slotted straight into a guitar FX chain that was open there, I loved the combination so kept it, just adjusting a few parameters.
Next I opened Auria, put Patterning on one track and Bias FX on another and jammed away.
I recorded several jams, all flowing from each other, and chose 4 for this track; the intro was recorded without the drums and has a free flowing style, while the other three fit together as they are variations of one idea. Still, not all bits worked as a whole so I spent some time arranging.
I also redesigned the drumbeat and recorded it on two tracks with different sounds and slight variations, but ended up keeping the original beat as well because it still fitted and provided some subtle variation.
So this is three tracks of drums and four tracks of bass. A real throwback to my early days 🙂
Grant
February 9, 2016
Day 167: Tuesday 9 Feb 2016
The Education Of Michael ReCycle:
Yesterday’s track was an assemblage based on pieces from one of my ‘scrap’ folders, a group of places where I keep interesting bits that I might use one day.
Today began with another of those pieces.
This time a jam from DM1; to which I added some iMaschine 2 hits, and a fragment from a GrainScience jam.
Once I had arranged these to my satisfaction in Auria, I added some bass using Bias Amp and Bias FX.
Grant
February 8, 2016
Day 166: Monday 8 Feb 2016
Sunday Slowly Sinking Again:
A Beatscape. One of those where I try to blend elements regardless of beats-per-minute etc, but where I approach the elements as a collage.
I have several folders in AudioShare where I get bits and pieces, various elements that I have used or may use. Today I raided my ‘Beats’ folder, taking several elements that I thought would work together and put them into Auria for arrangement.
The elements came from ElasticDrums, DM1, Figure, FLUX:FX, and PhaseRings. There may be some effects apps used, I’m no longer sure.
Stay tuned for some more developments 🙂
Grant
February 7, 2016
Day 165: Sunday 7 Feb 2016
Sooner Or Later (Pessimism Edit):
An Ambient Beatscape with Spoken Word.
This began with Arpeggist and Addictive Synth. Once I had something I liked, I loaded Addictive into Auria along with Poseidon and TF7, designed matching sounds in each synth, and recorded them all playing the slow sparse arpeggio. I also copied two of the synths to new tracks. applied some distortion with Muckraker, and panned them.
The beat is from Patterning, I knew I wanted something simple with only a few variations.
Next I loaded up MitoSynth for the ghostly slow lead sound (I don’t often use presets, preferring to make my own, but this suited the track so well).
I pasted the lyrics to iSpeech TTS, slowed them in Twistedwave and added some AltiSpace in AudioShare; but when I added them to the track I was unhappy with them so they got relegated to backing vocals.
The final touch was me reading the lyrics straight into Auria with reverb and delay from the inbuilt effects.
Grant
February 6, 2016
Day 164: Saturday 6 Feb 2016
Sometimes Softly:
A Soundscape utilising a field recording.
Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it’s not, sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s soft. Sometimes it takes many apps, sometimes only a few, or even just one.
I am having a crisis of confidence and a loss of faith. I no longer feel my measly efforts are worthwhile. I don’t know what to do next. I am paralysed by doubt.
This is not an unusual place for me to be, I recognise these surroundings, I know them well.
Keep moving, that’s the key.
What makes music, what makes a track, what makes a song?
The recording was made with Røde Rec on my iPhone; footsteps in snow, cars driving by, an engine running, a dog barking, wind. And something else; I don’t know what. Collaged in Auria.