Output Portal

Mare Marginus

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. I tend to have a pretty strong self-deprecating sense of humor. I’m not sure if that’s a defense mechanism, an outgrowth of my early humility training by my parents, a natural extension of my sarcasm, or some deeper psychological thing that some therapist would like to talk to me about because they need to send their kids to college. To expand on the “humility training” thing a bit, I started acting in (little) musical theater at age seven and was … Continue reading

We Use Power

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Back to the land of ambient techno and another chance to open that bag of tricks I’ve been wanting to try. Earlier in the month, I went all in on an Orb-style track with The Match Went Out, and had really been enjoying listening to it when the opportunity presented itself. I wanted to revisit that genre, though not necessarily in exactly the same way. One of my favorite sources for public domain audio and video1Well, in theory. Some of … Continue reading

Mare Orientale

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. This entry to the Mare series brings back some direct, rather than implied, rythmic elements. I didn’t want to be an outright beat, but rather a soft accompaniment. It’s not compositionally complex, but I think the length of each chord keeps things moving without taking away the languid pace and space to absorb. The backing pads, noise washes, and granular effects provide ongoing variety, becoming much more involved than the primary pluck sounds. I didn’t use many of my ambient … Continue reading

Mare Anguis

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. This visit to the Mares is another drone. Once again, the Slate + Ash libraries are the stars here, and I began warming up a bit more to Spectres. It’s still my least favorite of their libraries, but as I poke more through the content, I’m finding usable things. In this case, the main drone sound and the “lead” sound that becomes prominent about halfway through are the same sound, but I used two separate instances. This allowed me to … Continue reading