samples

Henotic Cryptography

I’m actually live blogging this track as I write it, and I could not have asked for a better starting scenario. Opened up Digital Performer, decided I was starting with soft synths, and opted for Serum, a fairly popular wavetable synth, especially with the dub step and EDM crowd. I typically go straight for either arpeggiated sounds or pads. For those who don’t speak synthnerd, arpeggiators automatically play patterns of notes or do some other type of rhythmic effect, and pads are the big washes of sounds that are normally held for a long time. As I scrolled through them, … Continue reading

Ogdoads

Another journey through randomly selected sounds. Mostly. As I did yesterday, most of the sounds in this track were selected by randomly scrolling through Omnisphere. This time, however, I was a bit more willing to toss sounds if they didn’t grab me. My first stop was the bouncing synth sound that kicks off the track. It had a nice response to velocity (how hard I strike the key), and I found some fun moments as I would just randomly strike harder. This simple ostinato drove everything and I had a nice loop going. Drums were added next, but I knew … Continue reading

The Stinking Rose Waltz

Brian Eno is apparently my spirit animal this month. He has, of course, been a huge influence on my ambient compositions, but he has also been a source of inspiration and motivation in my musical and creative world in a much more general way. In 1975, Eno teamed up with Peter Schmidt and created a deck of cards, each with a single sentence crafted to inspire creativity and shake up the reader’s approach. They named the set Oblique Strategies and have done a few limited edition pressings over the years. I’ve never been able to get my hands on an … Continue reading