A new tune

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

That sounds like a fine plan!

The earliest generative compositions were done using tape loops, certainly no ‘need’ for synths to do it. The way I understand it, you create ‘cells’ of pregenerated sounds and then manipulate those cells in real time, or add randomness to them.

A great piece of software to look into is NODAL if you’re interested in an inexpensive way to do a deep dive. NODAL plus a DAW running soft synths can generate a never ending composition, https://nodalmusic.com/

The first section of this song was written using Nodal, a Mother-32, and a single delay.




You might find this helpful as well, https://teropa.info/loop/#/title

First of all, cool song -- wasn't expecting those changes. That nodal software looks extremely interesting, and since it's got a free trial I'm for sure gonna give it a whirl. It would be super awesome if I could use that to send midi cc messages to plugin parameters... it'd be like having nearly infinite LFOs with built in randomizers. The slideshow was helpful as well. I'm sure you must be familiar with the disintegration tapes, yes? Similar type of concept in the sense that the degrading type actively changed the sound was therefore part of the composition. You can achieve something similar to the multiple tape players trick with loops of varying lengths, allowing them to drift into different combinations.

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

Thanks Phantasmagoria. I intend to! Really hoping I can stick with my 1 song a month goal this year -- it's gonna be a tall order because work can be so consuming, but I have enough of a back log that it's feasible.

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: A new tune

Sweet! Not my usual kinda listening fare by a long shot but it had a really cool chilled out/laid back vibe that I enjoyed...

You should post stuff up more often..

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: A new tune

That sounds like a fine plan!

The earliest generative compositions were done using tape loops, certainly no ‘need’ for synths to do it. The way I understand it, you create ‘cells’ of pregenerated sounds and then manipulate those cells in real time, or add randomness to them.

A great piece of software to look into is NODAL if you’re interested in an inexpensive way to do a deep dive. NODAL plus a DAW running soft synths can generate a never ending composition, https://nodalmusic.com/

The first section of this song was written using Nodal, a Mother-32, and a single delay.




You might find this helpful as well, https://teropa.info/loop/#/title

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

Thanks, Baritone! And thanks for the feedback Twighlight. I always appreciate constructive criticism, and it means a lot coming from a longtime forum bro who I have some rapport with. I honestly couldn't hear abrupt reverb tails through any of my speakers or I would have made adjustments, so it's super helpful to know that's the case on your end. I can certainly experiment with using a room reverb to tie the track together, and I like the idea of introducing some glitchy delays. It's really interesting to me that you're thinking about it from that standpoint, because usually when I'm working from that angle, it's with loops I've made, or samples I captured, chopped, and warped/altered. This one involved a lot of actual performance, and a little bit of in-the-box looping for some layers that repeated throughout. As I get more distance from it, I could see it being a really good idea to use those stems and effect them "live," like John Hopkins, or Hainbach. My hardware options for those purposes are a bit limited, but I'll experiment with it and see what I can do with what I have.

I do have an interest in generative music, though I thought that was more in the modular realm, which I haven't been able to mess with beyond vcv rack due to cost. I'm certainly lusting over some of the crazy generative pedals that have been coming out in recent years, if that's what you have in mind. Anyway, my goal for this year is to "finish" one track per month and make it public. I've been a bad habit of moving onto my next new thing before the last thing is done, keeping too many birds in the oven, so it's a good constraint. Free time is so limited that I'll have to focus on finishing a different one to keep with my goal, because I can't count this twice, but I'll revisit it later in the year with these ideas in mind.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: A new tune

Absolutely wonderful, not sad at all. Thoroughly enjoyed it, reminded me of something I would hear in Little Big Planet.

Skip this paragraph if you don’t want unsolicited advice.
My only thoughts in the vein of constructive criticism are that the sounds are a bit too crisp. I would love to hear this more drawn out and with tape delays darkening things and teetering on feedback. The reverb tails end quite abruptly and it sounds like it would benefit from having one honking big reverb for all of the elements, even if it’s mixed down really low.

Are you into generative music at all? This type of thing would lend itself to generative composition really well. Of course then it will become less of a performance played from A to B and more of these evolving loops that you curate in real time.

Regardless, I found it very enjoyable and look forward to more!

[BaritoneVitoND]

Re: A new tune

Very cool!

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

Very cool indeed.

Cheers! Thanks for checking it out.

[80's_Metal]

Re: A new tune

Very cool indeed.

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

Beautiful mate. Funky, soulful and relaxing! Very creative layering, from the ebow swells to the exotic instruments. Would love to hear more like this.

Thanks for listening man! And thank you for the kind words. I do have more in this vein in development. It's always a challenge finding the time to finish projects, but my new years resolution for 2020 was to finish and release more of my music, so I hope to share more soon .

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

Not in a bad way, but I couldn't place one of the instruments (the ehru?) which was throwing me a bit.

Gotcha. Yeah, the ehru was the main bowed sound. I really like how distinct its tone is.

[El Dunco]

Re: A new tune

Beautiful mate. Funky, soulful and relaxing! Very creative layering, from the ebow swells to the exotic instruments. Would love to hear more like this.

[GuitarStv]

Re: A new tune

Not in a bad way, but I couldn't place one of the instruments (the ehru?) which was throwing me a bit.

[AmirH]

Re: A new tune

Thanks for listening! That is indeed me knocking on my guitar for the percussion. And unexpected in a bad way or good way? Sounds at the end = ehru (which I legitimately performed on the real instrument), a horn VST played with a midi keyboard, glass slide + ebow, some filter and tremolo effects, a very tiny bit of piano, and some layered up clean guitar.

[GuitarStv]

Re: A new tune

Is the percussion you knocking on your guitar? It works well for the tune. I liked the modern flamenco-ish feel to the song at the beginning. There were a lot of unexpected instrument sounds going on about 2/3rds of the way towards the end.