Tag Archives: Techno

Nu_r_op_c

A quick experimental sketch, sort of a techno-themed piece.  I wanted to do something playing off of some atmospheric noise sounds generated by Noisetar, which is a fascinating synth based entirely around digitally-generated noise rather than traditional oscillators (it’s available for free, in case you’re interested in playing around with it yourself).  I used it to create the sort of noise background that the other sounds rise up from.  Ultimately, I like the way it sounds as is (I like sticking it in my music player and playing it on continuous loop while I’m working on stuff, with the noise intro/outro it loops quite well), but I’m still thinking about adding in a few things to it and making it into more of a feature-length track.

Nu_r_op_c

Some More Mobile Noise

Another collection of continuing experimentations creating music on-the-go with my phone and other mobile devices.

I finally got around to installing Nodebeat, and created this little sequence:

Nodebeat Meditation 3

I’m still working on tweaking it to see if I can get some different sounds out of it.  I think it might be due to the blending effect of the delay, but when I was comparing it to another work I did in the program a while back, while the two pieces are different it does present a certain similarity in tone.  Perhaps some different processing is in order on subsequent works…

I also did a quick little sound clip/intro in a newish sequencer program called AUXY, which is a little limited but has some promising sequencers:

Auxyiliary

 

Wub Scub

What is Wub Scub?  I have no idea.  I guess it’s the sound I make when I attempt to vocally imitate dubstep.  I do not have a very high regard of the dubstep genre generally.  Therefore, the following demo is obviously not dubstep; rather, it is fairly traditional dark-ish driving techno, featuring a custom-programmed “wobble bass” that is admittedly a hallmark of the dubstep genre.  (Really, it’s not that hard to do – all it is in this case is a custom-tweaked FM bass with high harmonics, with some drive and distortion, pumped through an LFO-linked filter with programmed variable frequency).  The full demo also includes some bitcrushed samples and other fun stuff.  The main bass is a custom patch for EFM1, processed by CamelCrusher and modulated by Logic AutoFilter.  Samples and drums are stock logic loops.

wwwubscub

I also created a couple of more “minimal” arrangements if you’d rather focus more on the bass sound:

wwwubscubmin

wubscubminr3

And, just for fun, here’s what it sounds like when cranked (maniacally) up to 140BPM:

wubscubwtf

Oh, and as an extra added bonus, here’s a track of me running just the bass loop while playing the “wobble” live for around four minutes or so.  The track, to me, seems just about on the edge of unlistenable, but then again, people listen to actual dubstep and seem to enjoy it, so who knows…

witod

(Although, to be fair, *actual* dubstep sounds more like this)

Temple Mount

Temple Mount, in my opinion, is one of the most professional-sounding songs I was able to produce in my old studio setup. It’s also the first song written (somewhat) with a purpose in mind. After having a radio show for a while, it seemed like a good idea to have an actual theme for my show. That being said, the inspiration for this song is probably from a remix of “Now We Know” by Hawkeye, which was used as an opening song in one of my first mixes for the program, as it had that kind of “radio news show theme” sound. In the end, though, Temple Mount ended up not sounding much like it – the closest comparison I could make is with some of the electronic sounds found in 80’s New Wave music. As for the name, I composed this music shortly after seeing “Black Hawk Down,” and had initially wanted to name it Mogadishu (in reference to “Madagascar” by Art of Trance, arguably one of the best electronic songs in existence) but decided against it. I finally decided to name it Temple Mount in reference to the horrendous violence that was occurring in the Middle East at the time. After all, if people listened to electronic music instead of blow each other up, wouldn’t the world be a much better place?

Fun Fact: Temple Mount was the intro music to my broadcast radio show, Life to a Beat (on KZSC Radio), for most of its broadcast run.

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

Elec

This is an odd, abstract, and kind of avant-garde electronic piece, with various widgy noises. It’s sort of darkly ambient in parts, with fun electronic beeping and otherworldly sounds. It’s generally quite a bit different than most of my other music. Basically, I was playing around in Live, and I decided I wanted to create something different, something that sounded a bit creepy and discordant, and this is the result. Overall, it’s not horribly complex, and I whipped it up fairly quickly, so it ends up being somewhat minimalist, but I think it sounds more direct as a result.

Created using Ableton Live. Drums are done using the built-in Impulse, other sounds from Green Oak Crystal, Reaktor Subharmonic, and the Beast. All midi programmed directly, no pre-fab loops.

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

Synth Thing

Alarm clocks and I have always had somewhat of a strained relationship. As a result, I’ve tried virtually every type of alarm clock out there that I can find, and none of them really seem to work perfectly. Analog alarm clocks have a ticking hand that drives me crazy trying to fall asleep, and while digitals are better, that grating beeping noise drives me insane. So, I try a radio alarm clock, but waking up to someone else’s idea of music isn’t very appealing (and neither is waking up to a screaming car commercial). Okay, fine then, I’ll use a CD-playing alarm clock – but what music can I use? Synth sounds are good, put trance is a bit too much for early in the morning… and anything too mellow won’t get me up. As a result, I created this – an evolving arpeggiation that starts off slow enough not to drive you crazy, but gets powerful and strident enough at the end to actually get you out of bed. Of course, as soon as I do this, I find out that my CD alarm clock is too limited to play recordable CDs… ah, well, that’s life, though.

Production Notes: All patches are done in Vanguard, including that one at the end which will definitely test the THX certification on your speakers… except for the one at the very very end, which is done using a Reaktor ensemble.

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