July 30, 2016
Gently Does It:
Sweet and gentle, minimal and restful, simple and warm, like the sun on your skin as you sip an Earl Grey in your backyard on a summer morning.
iSEM into FLUX:FX in AudioShare, this is simply an arpeggio with slight adjustments to the VCF frequency from time to time. Originally intended as a background, I loved it as is and decided it could stand as a track in it’s own right. Minimal simplicity is really attracting me at the moment.
July 29, 2016
Falling Slowly Into Dawn:
Temple drums heard through the mist. The forest damp; cold. Dawn emerging, reluctant.
There you go Tracklings, a free poem 🙂
Ambient and ethereal, this track was made with Addictive Synth and flavoured with Dedalus, AUFX:Dub, and AUFX:Space in AudioShare.
July 28, 2016
Felicitations:
A video for a change!
This Ambient track meanders along like a walk through a vague forest; meanwhile the walls between the self and the other fade, becoming indistinct, amorphous…inviting osmosis.
Apps used: Noatiki 2, AudioShare, ApeFilter, Dedalus, Caramel, TwistedWave, Auria, Patterning. Also Pinnacle Pro and CinemaFXV for the visuals.
July 27, 2016
Get Out Of Here!:
My friend Nick Lau introduced me to Skram. It’s a new free app for making, in his words, Mindless Electronica. I love that description!
It’s another of those simple and rather limited but fun apps that I enjoy using from time to time. I also enjoy trying to work within and around their idiosyncrasies and limitations to try and make something that sounds like it’s mine and not just the product of the app. Not that I feel I’ve achieved that here; this is the very first thing I’ve made with the app the very first time I opened it. I’m posting it simply because it was fun to make and I hope will be fun to listen to, imperfect jam though it is.
Nick’s music is amazing by the way, he is one my favourite discoveries of the last year, and can be found here:Â https://thedeadsociety.bandcamp.com/ and if you want to explore a more noise based approach here:Â https://n0isedive.bandcamp.com/
I ran the jam through the old AudioShare/ApeFilter/Dedalus secret sauce trick to finish it off.
Peace Out tracklings.
July 26, 2016
Mousterian Renaissance:
A slow, sparse, and minimal (so what else is new) conversation between an electric piano and a beat. Each part evolves slowly as they listen to each other over a cappuccino in a quiet middle paleolithic cafe.
Nothing but Gadget was used and no animals were harmed in the production of this track.
July 25, 2016
The Antihero Relaxes By The Fire After A Hard Day Antiheroing:
The electric piano is emerging as my favourite sound lately. It began featuring as an element in several tracks and is slowly becoming the main compositional and sound factor. I’ve always favoured it and it occasionally has featured in this blog before but the current fascination has surprised me; arising of it’s own accord from within the daily process, and perhaps therefore from my subconscious.
One of the reasons for maintaining a daily practise is to allow room for just such happenings, so I’m joyfully embracing the moment despite the fact that my keyboard skills are limited.
Gadget was the one and only app used here but I have now used my midi keyboard to play the piano part which leads to very different results from just using the touch screen.
July 25, 2016
Searching For The Language Of Ultimate Clarity:
A Beatscape today; minimal, sparse, harsh, uncompromising.
The title is from Solshenitsyn’s In The First Circle which I am currently rereading in a new translation; it seems to me to encapsulate not only this track but my whole Beatscape concept where I am attempting to a) tell a story, b) describe a journey, c) present a picture, and/or d) evoke a feeling. All with the most minimal tools and with no, or at least very little, recourse to melody and harmony; relying instead on my favourite elements in music: rhythm, texture, and colour (timbre).
On a side note I often reread my favourite books (this is my 4th reading of this one) just as I re-watch favourite movies and TV shows and re-listen to favourite songs and albums and indeed re-visit favourite artworks in galleries or books. This surprises some people but I don’t understand why.
iElectribe provided the basis of this track assisted by AudioShare, ApeFilter, Dedalus, and AUFX:Dub.
July 24, 2016
The Last Few Inches:
A playlist today consisting of 3 new tracks plus one from a few days ago (I may add more).
An EP of tracks made in Gadget and featuring an Electric Piano in some way (using either or both Darwin and Montreal gadgets).
Please enjoy.
July 22, 2016
Apparent Calm:
An uncompromising, harsh, noisy Beatscape today. Perhaps my favourite kind.
I don’t know why I called it Apparent Calm as there is no calm of any kind here. Irony? Sarcasm? Stupidity? If I don’t know who does?
iElectribe is the culprit here with AudioShare, ApeFilter, and Dedalus as accomplices.
July 21, 2016
Paper Bag Brings Closure:
A Beatscape; slow, dark, and abstract.
Made entirely in Gadget. Today I loaded some of my own samples into Bilbao for the first time.