Exit Signs - Week #26
By Matthew Flook on June 29, 2014 9:39 pm
It's been one hell of a season, starting off with some excitement about warm weather that only lasted a day or two and only now turned into an actual summer, coupled with an engagement that came together perfectly last weekend! And all along the way, the weekly songs must go on.
The week back to work after a cabin retreat flew by, and I only had a brief musical idea recorded by Friday afternoon. Luckily, I had a music date set with the one and only Scott Worley for that exact evening. Queue the mobile studio, and a rapid setup in Scott's basement for a session of recording his growing collection of modular synth equipment and guitar pedals. Also queue the cheap Sapporo from nearby corner market.
The song begins with an arpeggiated sequence from my Waldorf Blofeld keyboard, heavily modulated with the pitch bend and mod wheel as the passage was recorded. Of course we quickly enter a drum pattern from the Maschine, accompanied by a haunting synth melody from Scott's Microbrute and a chain of effects pedals. The next section kicks in with some more direct drums from BreakTweaker and another fantastic melodic layer from Scott's EBowed guitar.
As the saccharin melody gives way to a darker coda, we are abruptly introduced to a couple new sonic elements consisting of volume pedal-swelled guitar chords and a lone Phonec synth melody. A revised Blofeld arpeggio fades in as the drums kick into high gear, and we quickly build to a crescendo that can do nothing but cut to silence and leave you wanting more.
Key equipment/software used for production:
- Waldorf Blofeld synth
- Arturia Microbrute synth
- Guitar/Ebow/Lots 'o pedals
- Novation V-Station synth plug-in
- Steinberg Retrologue synth plug-in
- Psychic Modulation Phonec synth plug-in
- iZotope BreakTweaker drum plug-in
- Native Instruments Maschine Studio
- ValhallaDSP ValhallaRoom effect plug-in
Key: A minor
BPM: 96
Time Signature: 4/4
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Audio works licensed by author under:
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