Tagged: music

Delayed Gratification

This experiment takes the standard Full Concert Grand piano sound from a Yamaha MOXF8 keyboard and sends it to the Aux input of the Korg Monotron Delay, with the headphone out routed to a portable mono speaker.

The content is mostly some basic improvisations in major keys. Holding down the sustain pedal allows for some random knob twirling on the Monotron to ramp up the weirdness.

Note: Mentions of specific software or other products do not imply endorsement. I receive no compensation for any such mentions. These are just the tools I use.

Nova Carinae

“Oxygen in the Great Carina Nebula” — Original photo by Dylan O’Donnell, deography.com; derivative work by Tobias Frei / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 1.0. See Oxygen in the Great Carina Nebula (deography.com) for more info on the image.

Ambient, meditative electronic space music for relaxing, study, or contemplation.

Harmonically, this piece is essentially static, based on an A minor drone with occasional use of other tonalities for contrast or development. Created with a MIDI keyboard played into Logic Pro X, the instrument sounds rely on various Native Instruments plugins, including Reaktor, FM8, Kontakt Orchestral string ensemble, and Massive X.

Note: Mentions of specific software or other products do not imply endorsement. I receive no compensation for any such mentions. These are just the tools I use.

Lake of Clouds

Photo by Tom Campbell — Dahlonega, Georgia, Jan. 31, 2016

“Lake of Clouds” started as an attempt to emulate Ulrich Schnauss’s cinematic-sounding ambient electronic music, specifically “Monday Paracetamol.” But it ended up morphing into something different, which is OK since I didn’t want to be a copycat.

The track has three sections or “scenes,” linked by overlapping synth pad chord patterns and variations on recurring riffs and rhythms.

Harmonically, the piece is based mainly on shifting patterns of major and minor chords such as a 6sus2, a major 7th with 11th and 13th added, and a major 7 with sharp 11 added to give it an edge. The middle section is sort of a round based primarily on an evolving series of minor 7 and major 6 chords, never quite resolving to the tonic. The melodies were improvised (and edited) to be consonant with the underlying chords.

Notes were input with MIDI keyboards and, in some cases, the cursor in Piano Roll view or, for some of the drum beats, the Step Sequencer. A couple of parts originated with Logic’s arpeggiator or drum beat making engines and were then transposed and heavily edited.

Tools used to create the piece include Logic Pro X + associated software instruments (Alchemy, Drum Machine Designer) and several Native Instruments plugins: Reaktor, Hybrid Keys, Session Guitarist, DrumLab, Massive, Prism, Ethereal Earth, TRK-01, and Scarbee Rickenbacker Bass, plus Raum reverb and other effects.

Note: Mentions of specific software or other products do not imply endorsement. I receive no compensation for any such mentions. These are just the tools I use.

Not Quite All Blues

To see just how much one of my favorite iPhone apps can change audio input in real time, I played “All Blues” by Miles Davis* on the piano, recording it with Loopordist, an RjDj scene by Christian Haudej.

It was quite odd, trying to play the tune correctly while listening in my earbuds to this wacky alternate version as it was generated on the fly by Loopordist. Probably not a practice method too many piano teachers would endorse!

Play 1. All Blues (Loopordist)


* Note: If you don’t own a recording of Miles Davis playing this song, treat yourself to a copy of Kind of Blue, the timeless 1959 album by this great jazz master and his sextet.

Recording Notes: iPhone, RJDJ with Loopordist scene