All posts by DJ DEK

Crazy Demos

Sometimes, when I’m testing out a synth and trying to learn it, I just hook up my keyboard and start playing around with them live, tweaking every knob I can get my hands on and seeing what happens.  Sometimes, if something interesting happens, I record it.  The following are some of the results.  Warning: some of these amp up unpredictably – make sure your speakers are set at a safe volume before continuing.

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Radioshift

This is actually a visual pattern exercise rendered into musical form. Each of the notes start out playing in sequence, then slowly move, one by one, into different phases in relation to each other’s positions. The first iteration of this track was rendered using a bunch of loud bells, but it didn’t seem quite… interesting enough. This version switches over to Logic’s venerable EFM1 synth, and adds slowly varying modulation amounts to the mix. The result is a track that I find both intriguing, and at times almost unbearable to listen to all the way. If you are able to listen to this track all the way through, you have my full permission to remove the letter F from the title should you so desire.

http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/radioshift.mp3

Gatlin’

This song originated when I was listening to a very driving prog rock song, and half-wondered if if it was sort of like the musical equivalent of a machine gun attack. Then, I wondered, what would the musical equivalent of a machine gun firing be? Probably not quite like the piece that resulted, but that was at least the general driving idea behind it (and, at least toward the end, it does take on a bit of an impression of its namesake). Basically, it’s a fast, growing sequence that’s somewhere between music and sonic assault, but I like it nonetheless.

Drums are a custom program (and custom sound programs) done in Logic’s Ultrabeat, guitars are Slayer 2, and synths are Vanguard. There’s also a limiter on the master output which I probably put in a couple of minutes too late. When I say some of this stuff is ear-bleed material, it’s not just your ears I’m talking about…

http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/gatlin.mp3

Oh, and despite the fact that mashups officially jumped the shark the moment they were featured on “Glee”, I created an experimental mash of Gatlin’ and one of my other tracks (Ambient Distance).

http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/em_gatlinambdist.mp3

Strange Electroacoustics

Pretty much everything on this track is generated to some extent by Reaktor’s various ensembles. The core of the track is a heavily transformed live playing of Reaktor’s Acoustring ensemble, modified by Traktor effects, and accompanied by a large number of Reaktor algorithmic grooveboxes and sound generators. The overall result is a pseudo-ambient piece with an interesting, pulsating sound that cycles between gentle and gritty. This song was definitely interesting to work with, as it took the original melody line and managed to transform it into something almost unrecognizable compared to the original, but much more interesting.

There are two versions of the track that you can download – the Minimal version, which focuses mainly on the transformed melody accompanied by a couple of generated sounds, and the All-Inclusive version, which includes many additional generators and grooveboxes. The minimal version is good for listening to the essence of the track, while the all-inclusive version has a much fuller sound.

All-Inclusive:

http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/seall.mp3

Minimal:

http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/smin.mp3