Archive for the Tracks category
Grant
October 22, 2015
Day 57: Supplementary Post
Perspective: A Drama In Three Parts:
Musing:
Each track I make is a journey; there are usually twists and turns (often wrong turns), there are decisions made, decisions rescinded, backflips, and surprises. I never know when I start where I’m going to end up.
Sometimes the result is close to the initial idea or intention. Sometimes the work takes on a life of it’s own and I have to hold on for dear life while it works itself out. Often I have nothing in mind, but just begin and try to keep myself alert for the possibilities and signs of life that unfold.
I am anthropomorphising I know. So be it.
The creative process does seem to be out of my control; but I’m too much an atheist to attribute it to spirits, or muses, or being receptive to some god or other. Perhaps it’s something to do with Freud’s Subconscious, or Jung’s Collective Subconscious, or perhaps I’m being all Zen, or attuning myself to the Tao. Whatever. Take your pick, or use your own metaphor. It’s great fun! It’s the stuff of life!
Anyway…takes a breath…
Todays track had three way stations on it’s journey, three moments of clarity, almost like shrines along a pilgrimage: one near the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. As it should be I suppose.
If you so choose, come journey with me.
The Tracks:
Part One is the original Beatscape that started it all.
Part Two is how I clothed the Beatscape but with the Beatscape removed.
Part Three is the resolution, the arrival, the conclusion.
Cube Synth, Patterning, iFretless Bass, Dedalus, Emo Chorus.
Grant
October 22, 2015
Day 57: Thursday 22 Oct 2015
Mountains Never Meet:
Ambient.
A sparse bassline from iFretless Bass, sitting on a bed of ambient synth drones from Cube Synth, garnished with a finely grated beatscape from Patterning.
Bon Apetit.
The Video:
A series of abstract pictures made with Procreate and iColorama, blended in Pinnacle Studio and drizzled in Generate.
Grant
October 21, 2015
Day 56: Weds 21 Oct 2015
Nigel Seemingly Remote:
A Soundscape.
Nigel began the day dressed in iSem, still slow at 60 bpm, a bass pad patch in which I occasionally switched the arpeggiator on and off; recorded in AudioShare with Dedalus, AUFX:Space, and AUFX:Dub. I then added two patches from TF7 (recorded in the same way) which I panned left and right when I put them all into Auria. Next I added two bass drones, on the tonic note, from Cube Synth; in both of which I slightly changed parameters and added an octave occasionally.
Grant
October 20, 2015
Day 55: Tuesday 20 Oct 2015
Give Me All Your Money:
I don’t know how to categorise this. Is it genre able?
I did a jam in Alchemy, just using some presets, I don’t really know how to use Alchemy, but it has some great sounds (yet another app that I need to learn). Then I added AUFX:Space and AUFX:Dub, looped it, and jammed while turning Dub on and off, and playing with the frequency slider.
Next I loaded both into Auria and used the unaffected version as an intro and outro. Then I added one of yesterdays Granular Borderlands files and cut it up and distributed it around the track.
Now I felt it needed some words or vocals so I called upon the British Female voice in iSpeech TTS. I composed a little lyric/poem/rap for her, slowed it down by 80% in TwistedWave, and added some AUFX:Space and Dub. I used both the effected and the straight versions, and again cut up and distributed them about the track to make the composition.
Grant
October 19, 2015
Day 54: Monday 19 Oct 2015
The Lies Behind:
Beatscape with vocals.
Today I began with a drum jam from the 3rd of October… in Patterning… using a drum kit that I created; which I recorded into AudioShare with Dedalus and Caramel in the effect chain.
This drum kit has already featured twice, but this jam was particularly good; so good in fact that I could have happily presented it as is.
But I envisioned more.
So, at first I added a Soundscape that I had previously made in Dedalus, I added both files to Auria and rearranged them.
Then I recorded myself reading a lyric from a song I had written somewhere in the mid 90’s.
I then ran this file through Sector, Borderlands, and Turnado.
The two best results of these experiments were then fed back into Auria and arranged to best advantage.
I hope you like it.
The Video:
I made several jpegs of parts of the lyrics in iColorama, combined them in Pinnacle Studio and ran that through Glitch Machine twice and Generate once. I then imported those back into Pinnacle for arrangement.
Grant
October 18, 2015
Day 53: Sunday 18 Oct 2015
Sunday Is To Blame:
Todays track is actually a playlist of 5 tracks; it wasn’t intentional, things just sort of happened that way.
They are on the Soundscape and Noisescape side of things.
This took all day and involved a lot of going backwards and forwards between apps and ideas before it took shape, so it is difficult to track the exact movement of things. Therefore I’m just going to list the apps I used today: AudioShare, Auria, TwistedWave, Borderlands Granular, Dedalus, Bias FX, Flux:FX, Cyclop, iMS20, Addictive Synth, Patterning, Sector, AUFX:Dub, AUFX:Space, Caramel, AltiSpace, MobileConv, Emo Chorus, iFretless Bass, PhaseRings, ThumbJam, ApeDelay.
Phew. Now I need a lie down.
Grant
October 17, 2015
Day 52: Saturday 17 Oct 2015
Nigel Unadorned:
A slow and minimal take on Nigel today.
Fugue Machine drives iFretless Bass and iFretless Guitar. The only effects are the ones in those apps. Recorded with Audiobus and AudioShare.
Grant
October 16, 2015
Day 51: Friday 16 Oct 2015
Nigel Notwithstanding:
A Soundscape.
Continuing My Fugue Machine project, which is really taking on a life of it’s own.
To recap I am using one pattern in Fugue Machine and treating it in varying ways to see what I come up with. The great thing about Fugue Machine is it has 4 playheads that run over the notes you set up; at varying speeds and with other varying parameters. So you already have a subtly changing landscape of notes and harmonies.
I have named the pattern ‘Nigel’ and henceforth that shall be the identifying tag of all tracks associated with the project. I shall even go back to the four tracks already posted and include Nigel in the titles so we can identify them.
Today I continued and refined the approach taken in yesterdays post i.e. Nigel controlled four synths that I set up in Audiobus using MiMix as the mixer, and recorded a jam while I manipulated the levels and pans of each sound. Today I also manipulated some of the individual synth parameters. I also spent more time constructing and matching my own patches.
As a side note this has exposed a real weakness in my iPad and electronic music making. I really have not spent enough with my synths: working out how they work, making my own patches, building my own sonic world. This must change.
Anyway today I used Alchemy, Addictive Synth, Magellan, and Animoog. The only synth that used an included patch was Alchemy.
I really feel that I’m getting somewhere with this.
Hope you like it.
The Video:
I have also been using the same starting vid for each of these tracks. Today I messed with it in my usual suite of apps: Pinnacle Studio, Generate, PicFrame, and CinemaFXV.
Peace Out.
See You Spoon.
Grant
October 15, 2015
Day 50: Thursday 15 Oct 2015
Nigel Interruptus:
An Ambient Soundscape.
Back to the Fugue Machine Project.
Today I have my sequence controlling several Synths that I loaded into AudioBus.
Korgs iPolySix, FM4, TF7, Laplace, Addictive Synth, Thor, and iSem all loaded into Mimex and recorded with AudioShare.
With a setup like this I can really sculpt the sound of the performance by blending synths in and out, muting, changing the pan etc.
This was a sort of proof of concept today. I plan to spend more time selecting and writing patches to really make this a polished performance piece.
Grant
October 14, 2015
Day 49: Weds 14 Oct 2015
Beating Against The Cliffs:
A Soundscape.
Today a short break from my Fugue Machine Project, that is still progressing, but I’m working on a number of things at a time.
So this is a track that began in AnalogKit with a Drum Sequencer made by the very talented Clif Johnston of Apptronica Labs.
Check out his projects in the Swap Meet if you have AnalogKit.
Also check out his music at mood481; and indeed have a look at the Apptronica label http://apptronica.co.uk/artists for a look at some of the best iPad and iPhone musicians on the planet.
After recording a jam into AudioShare, I selected the best bit (the last third), and transferred that into Auria where I added some files from Hexaglypics, did some chopping and arranging and voila!