Modular Hash

I've opened back this topic up, i've decided that I don't want to throw my whole soundcloud up on here, and upkeep with it constantly.

https://soundcloud.com/evoava/modular-hash-demo

Edited February 18, 2015 by Brisbot

Oh, I saw these on Soundcloud the other day! They kinda straddle the line between rhythm and noise really well, then at the halfway point go full-on awesome. Definitely looking forward to hearing more of these. I'd buy the album. Is it safe to say you're influenced by Autechre? :)

Thanks! yeah Autechre definitely burns a heavy shadow. I like Autechre when they're being all emotive, so I'm sure I'm taking influence from that

Though The formant-y noise sounds were actually a thing I figured out how to do from failing to copy the lead off Aphex's Rushup i Bank 12. I actually posted about it in the DSP thread in general.

I might be doing the album thing! Though I want to get like.. 8 good tracks before I did if it were a straight album.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Brisbot

I've updated the track a bit with a cleaner mix.

I started to get a bit bored towards the half way point, but then it got a whole hella shitload of awesome.

  On 2/9/2015 at 3:01 AM, Bitraete said:

I started to get a bit bored towards the half way point, but then it got a whole hella shitload of awesome.

Er, thanks! If I may ask though, when did you get bored? I did extend the first half one section because I wanted the listener to feel the transition more, it sounded a bit rushed without it. At 1:45 it transitions back into a previous part, but only for a bit for the transition to happen.

 

I guess I'm asking you if that was your impression.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Brisbot

  On 2/9/2015 at 3:58 AM, Brisbot said:

 

  On 2/9/2015 at 3:01 AM, Bitraete said:

I started to get a bit bored towards the half way point, but then it got a whole hella shitload of awesome.

Er, thanks! If I may ask though, when did you get bored? I did extend the first half one section because I wanted the listener to feel the transition more, it sounded a bit rushed without it. At 1:45 it transitions back into a previous part, but only for a bit for the transition to happen.

 

I guess I'm asking you if that was your impression.

 

 

 

OK so I listened again. Basically (and it's just my personal preference; keep that in mind) I would have changed it up at around the 1:28 point. That was the point where it started feeling a bit repetitive to me. If I was pushing it I'd change it at 1:40 -- but no later than that.

 

I don't want to be negative or anything. It's well good. Just to me personally, it suffers a bit in the middle. Mind you, I am just somebody who likes to have a lot of changes going because I get bored easily, so it might be ace for most people. I must say though (and this isn't any actual evidence for anything cos it could mean nothing at all), I did notice that the part of your track that I found least enjoyable had the least comments on soundcloud.

Heh, I noticed that too and figured the same thing! IMO that is the weakest part of the track... People were more excited in the intro, and the big saw bass lead part, but I DO think it drones on a bit personally during that part as well starting at 1:28.

Do you think it has more to do with the tone of the formants having worn thin, or the rhythm of the section introduced isn't up to par with the previous one?

Edited February 9, 2015 by Brisbot

  On 2/9/2015 at 4:20 AM, Brisbot said:

Heh, I noticed that too and figured the same thing! IMO that is the weakest part of the track... People were more excited in the intro, and the big saw bass lead part, but I DO think it drones on a bit personally during that part as well starting at 1:28.

 

Do you think it has more to do with the tone of the formants having worn thin, or the rhythm of the section introduced isn't up to par with the previous one?

 

It's just that it's the same basic melody repeating itself over and over and it goes on too long for my liking. Some people like that so I'm not saying it's like objectively wrong or anything. But for me it just carries on too long.

 

I love the second part so much I have to say. Well lush 'n' all.

Oh yes, you and me have a lot in common. I felt like that part was the hardest because I couldn't figure out how I wanted it done. Definitely worked longer on the second half. Thanks for the feedback man, very very good. I'm going to go back and see what I can do about that section, because I feel the same way about it now that I haven't worked on it for like 2 weeks. :) It feels like I'm giving the second part an injustice if the lead in is too repetitive.

I tend to be much better at the second half of a track than the first, which is a good thing if the listener wants to listen up to the second part!

Synth/noise straddling is sick. Definitely catching the Autechre influence. Really really impressive. I'm not a fan of that type of simple saw lead sort of thing but that's very much a personal preference. Other than the sound of a saw lead, I guess the simple repetitive melody doesn't feel like it fills up the space in my attention enough. So I'm definitely favoring the first half and its shenanigans. Really solid, though.

Updated 2/11/2015

Oh I didn't see you had posted to my thing!

Yeah a few people who've feedback'd this track keep telling me they liked one half of it over the other, which is fine. A lot of people like both halves so... mission accomplished.

I usually don't like straightforward saw waves too, but for some reason it felt right in this instance. I was going to go for a much more distorted take on it but felt this was more appropriate for the mood.

Oh yes, I updated it as well. The snare in the first half has been toned down somewhat, and various things in the second half beefed up.

Nice track, what did you use to make this? Do you have a modular synth?

Hey thanks man, I used a friend's modular synth. It was my first time and I have no clue how good it was in relation to other modular synths but I got some nice sounds out of it pretty fast. He has a big room full of analog synths, and toward the end of the track I used a Disklavier which was really fun. IT's fun to watch piano keys play themselves without you doing anything.

That all said, even though I've tested out and watched him mess with a number of synths, none of it is necessarily justified to me unless you have the money to spare. Almost everything I hear from analog synths can either be emulated well or copied. That said I do think it's funner to mess with analog synths. The modular synth alone held my attention for about 8 hours straight. STRAIGHT with some drinks.

The funnest things in the room was definitely the modular synth and disklavier.

  On 2/13/2015 at 5:13 AM, Brisbot said:

Hey thanks man, I used a friend's modular synth. It was my first time and I have no clue how good it was in relation to other modular synths but I got some nice sounds out of it pretty fast. He has a big room full of analog synths, and toward the end of the track I used a Disklavier which was really fun. IT's fun to watch piano keys play themselves without you doing anything.

 

That all said, even though I've tested out and watched him mess with a number of synths, none of it is necessarily justified to me unless you have the money to spare. Almost everything I hear from analog synths can either be emulated well or copied. That said I do think it's funner to mess with analog synths. The modular synth alone held my attention for about 8 hours straight. STRAIGHT with some drinks.

 

The funnest things in the room was definitely the modular synth and disklavier.

Nice, thinking of getting the Arturia Modular V which is a moog modular vst. Hopefully get the experience of modular without spending all that dough

Oh yeah man, it's a good vst, I got it quite a while back. I will say that an actual modular was funner.

This has become my favorite modular VST as of recent, and it's ALSO FREE: http://www.sonigen.com/

  On 2/13/2015 at 5:37 AM, Brisbot said:

Oh yeah man, it's a good vst, I got it quite a while back. I will say that an actual modular was funner.

 

This has become my favorite modular VST as of recent, and it's ALSO FREE: http://www.sonigen.com/

Looks great but I'm on mac :(

Oh man that sucks. The Arturia is good still, but I'd honestly recommend many other more straightforward vsts before I'd recommend spending money on it, such as Harmor (if you haven't checked it out I recommend it, tons of unique things you can do with it)

Amber, and Cypher are REALLY good for analog sounds. Check them out.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Brisbot

My knowledge of plugins is limited but Bazille is another modular synth that's worth checking out: http://www.u-he.com/cms/bazille

  On 2/4/2015 at 9:30 PM, Brisbot said:

Definitely one of the best tracks I've done so far. Thought I would post it because I'm happy with it, BUT I can take any feedback you can think of.

https://soundcloud.com/evoava/modular-hash-demo

 

Top track, man! Really like it. Sorry, I have no constructive criticism...just keep on doing what you're doing :)

Congrats on using a modular to make a coherently arranged track as opposed to getting lost down a disjointed rabbit hole of pure sound design (which often seems to happen when people sit in front of modulars). Strong track, enjoyed throughout. Preferred the first half to the second half, though you did produce those pizzicato-like sounds nicely near the end.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Goiter Sanchez

Thanks to the both of you for the nice words!

I see what you mean Mr. Sanchez when you say that I managed to produce an actual track. Heh. What you don't see though is the 5 hours of miscellaneous audio I have from messing around with it that hasn't made the cut anywhere yet

Thankfully I made the track after I got to mess around with the modular and had lots of cool samples to pull from which I cut up and pitched and etc. etc.

I'm personally looking forward to going back and getting another 5 hours of audio

  On 2/13/2015 at 6:42 PM, Brisbot said:

Thanks to the both of you for the nice words!

 

I see what you mean Mr. Sanchez when you say that I managed to produce an actual track. Heh. What you don't see though is the 5 hours of miscellaneous audio I have from messing around with it that hasn't made the cut anywhere yet

 

Thankfully I made the track after I got to mess around with the modular and had lots of cool samples to pull from which I cut up and pitched and etc. etc.

 

I'm personally looking forward to going back and getting another 5 hours of audio

I like this style of working, Ill sometimes record my friends singing and chop it up and arrange it how i want. Sometimes people are confused when i tell them they don't need to be on time

Yep, that's definitely apart of what a do. It's easier to get complex sounds if you just record everything you're doing.

Alright I'm locking this thread and am going to make a new one that just has my whole soundcloud since I can't figure out how to edit the topic title. Thanks everyone for the comments!

I've opened back this topic up, i've decided that I don't want to throw my whole soundcloud up on here, and upkeep with it constantly. Other thread is locked.

 

  On 2/4/2015 at 9:30 PM, Brisbot said:

I've opened back this topic up, i've decided that I don't want to throw my whole soundcloud up on here, and upkeep with it constantly.

https://soundcloud.com/evoava/modular-hash-demo

really liking this, I would have added something more between the start and midway (some noisy bits or something) transition to make it more interesting but that's just me. Lovely stuff!

 

edit: after hearing the whole thing I think it would be cool to hear a much shorter version of this - with no repetitions, just transition after transition, a la OPN.

Edited February 22, 2015 by MIXL2