Holy!  this is terrifying in a good way.  The rhythm in this song is hypnotic.  The strings are barely recognizable as strings.  They create such a nice contrast to the percussion.  This is creativity at its best.  Great job.

Holy! this is terrifying in a good way. The rhythm in this song is hypnotic. The strings are barely recognizable as strings. They create such a nice contrast to the percussion. This is creativity at its best. Great job.

I agree this is some good freaky stuff.  I think it could make a good soundtrack for a horror film.  But it's fun to listen to on its own as well. 

I agree this is some good freaky stuff. I think it could make a good soundtrack for a horror film. But it's fun to listen to on its own as well.

You're using a very original palette of sounds on this track. There is that big dark sound looming in the back, the sewing machine like kick, the eerie shiny synth that sometimes gets absorbed back. This results in a very interesting soundscape, which benefits from multiple listens as it's pretty complex. Very very cool one.

You're using a very original palette of sounds on this track. There is that big dark sound looming in the back, the sewing machine like kick, the eerie shiny synth that sometimes gets absorbed back. This results in a very interesting soundscape, which benefits from multiple listens as it's pretty complex. Very very cool one.

a creepy sounddesign in perfection.

a creepy sounddesign in perfection.

Tension perfection, makes me want to run and -not- look over my shoulder.

Tension perfection, makes me want to run and -not- look over my shoulder.

Really cool Sp00ky vibes here! The kick/bass adds a really uneasy rhythmic element while all those creepy chimes are being altered frequently over the top.
The elektron analog rytm seems like a really cool gadget. With a song like this, is this all performed in one sitting? Do you write chunks and then kind of improvise the arrangement and mess with the timbre on the fly? I'm pretty ignorant of how a lot of electronic music actually gets made.

Really cool Sp00ky vibes here! The kick/bass adds a really uneasy rhythmic element while all those creepy chimes are being altered frequently over the top. The elektron analog rytm seems like a really cool gadget. With a song like this, is this all performed in one sitting? Do you write chunks and then kind of improvise the arrangement and mess with the timbre on the fly? I'm pretty ignorant of how a lot of electronic music actually gets made.

Reply is a bit long...

[quote=ViridianLoom]Really cool Sp00ky vibes here! The kick/bass adds a really uneasy rhythmic element while all those creepy chimes are being altered frequently over the top. The elektron analog rytm seems like a really cool gadget. With a song like this, is this all performed in one sitting? Do you write chunks and then kind of improvise the arrangement and mess with the timbre on the fly? I'm pretty ignorant of how a lot of electronic music actually gets made.[/quote] Reply is a bit long... [spoiler]The setup: Rytm, track audio out to the pedal chain (in signal order left to right, all Chase Bliss pedals): Condor (preamp) -> Warped Vinyl (chrous / pitch wobble) -> MOOD (reverb and granular sustain) -> Habit (delay with some tape effects and unique buffer lookup) -> audio interface. The dedicated track output bypasses all of the Rytm built-in effects (drive, delay, verb). In addition, Rytm is hooked up to the laptop via USB for drum recording. Making of, in order: First, the drums: one sequence / pattern, the kick pattern is programmed in, everything else (sub, snare, 3 hats, one cowbell) is recorded live unquantized into the pattern: retrigs and delay sends added with parameter locks (Elektron-gear defining feature -- hold a step on a sequencer and manipulate any parameters and those parameter settings are associated w/ that step, a nice way of programming articulations). I recorded the drums first using Overbridge (USB multichannel recording of all the Analog Rytm tracks) while manipulating the frequency of a resonant high pass filter on the kick on the fly using a knob, which is why it sounds like clicks / rim shot type hits in the beginning. I recorded roughly what I assumed would be the structure of the track, although I did not change it, I added mutes to everything but the kick in Ableton for variety / flow (first pass for structure prior to recording the rest, second pass for detail after the recording). Pads & higher-frequency content: using a midi keyboard I can play a dual VCO monophonically; this is an interesting limitation, although I have a handful of ways to enrich the pitch content w/ HABIT and MOOD, and warble it w/ the Warped Vinyl -- plus the dual VCO has two freely tunable oscillators that you can run serially or with ring / freq mod. I think I recorded six takes, keeping only two: the detuned shimmer that you hear in the beginning and the frequency modulated “lead” type sound that was made more unstable by messing about with both MOOD and HABIT knobs live. Edits: shimmering stuff is “as played” with no corrections to speak of. The lead is “as played” with the only cuts being where it comes in (no alteration to the edits). Playing this is hard to explain: pedals do interesting things and can therefore create fascinating movement if you play a note, punch in granular microlooper sustain on MOOD and then manipulate the HABIT knob for seeking in different places in the delay buffer. Pitch content of this is constrained: same 5 pitches in the same register because I wanted the delay-position-seeking HABIT to not play anything outside of the source cluster. Bass: tried several approaches to bass, didn’t like any of them, used CYCLES (Kontakt Instrument in Ableton), where I found a bunch of bowed bass articulations. So those formed “fills” that doubled up as the low end. Based on the fact they were unique, needed an additional method of interrupting the shimmer: originally wanted static type glitch like a radio accidentally bleeding into another session or TV channels being haunted, but since there were tape varispeed effects in the freqmod lead, I used a (free) Cassette Transport plugin from WavesFactory and added automation for the rhythmic tape stops / tape starts. (Originally mapped out the interruption points, then went back and did the intro for the motion to make sense / not seem random) Since I did the drums first, I had the track sitting on the 144 bpm grid, which made it easier to reason about start / stop timings on the grid (if I wasn’t short on time I’d want a second pass on that because timing is fun to mess with). So even though the timing and order of played stuff is intact, the tape-stop effects change the feeling of the content. I don't know how indicative this is of how electronic music getting made, but hopefully this doesn't seem _too_ different from what you do: rehearse takes, play around with pedals and gear, etc. :)[/spoiler]

Wow, thanks for such a detailed answer to my question! The overall gist of how you go about working on your track isn’t too different from what I do, all things considered. And while I don’t typically mess with timbre in an improvised way across a track (or you know, twisting knobs during playback, lol)  I have on occasion just done a completely improvised melody or solo and just kept it as is without any further manipulation. Part of that is due to not really taking full advantage of my midi controller and assigning the CC knobs to certain parameters, probably. Something I could experiment with more often.

On the topic of the more detailed elements of your explanation relating to synths, there’s a lot of areas where I still tend to get lost (a personal problem, not due to a lack of detail on your part obviously) because there are just so many moving parts to synths with certain terms that I haven't fully taken the time to understand. However, due to you being so detailed, I feel like this body of text is a good jumping off point for me to explore how some of these things actually work so I can better follow the process you describe and perhaps someday even being able to audiate the concepts. Even though I mention synthesizers specifically it's not just my lack of knowledge with synths, since the pedals you were using are also used by guitarists and certain concepts like "granular microlooper sustain" go over my head too lol. Even as a guitar player I’ve been terrible about actually understanding what sound modulating pedals are doing to my guitar signal and I only recently learned in the last few years that it’s a good idea to send shit like the reverb and delay into my effects loop, lol. All that said, I did listen to your song again most closely after reading and I definitely pick up on some of the finer intricacies I suppose I didn’t hear the first time around.

Also, I had never heard of those Chase Bliss pedals before and I just looked them up. Damn, those are some sexy looking pedals haha. They have some really distinct art and those knobs look appealing to twist.

Wow, thanks for such a detailed answer to my question! The overall gist of how you go about working on your track isn’t too different from what I do, all things considered. And while I don’t typically mess with timbre in an improvised way across a track (or you know, twisting knobs during playback, lol) I have on occasion just done a completely improvised melody or solo and just kept it as is without any further manipulation. Part of that is due to not really taking full advantage of my midi controller and assigning the CC knobs to certain parameters, probably. Something I could experiment with more often. On the topic of the more detailed elements of your explanation relating to synths, there’s a lot of areas where I still tend to get lost (a personal problem, not due to a lack of detail on your part obviously) because there are just so many moving parts to synths with certain terms that I haven't fully taken the time to understand. However, due to you being so detailed, I feel like this body of text is a good jumping off point for me to explore how some of these things actually work so I can better follow the process you describe and perhaps someday even being able to audiate the concepts. Even though I mention synthesizers specifically it's not just my lack of knowledge with synths, since the pedals you were using are also used by guitarists and certain concepts like "granular microlooper sustain" go over my head too lol. Even as a guitar player I’ve been terrible about actually understanding what sound modulating pedals are doing to my guitar signal and I only recently learned in the last few years that it’s a good idea to send shit like the reverb and delay into my effects loop, lol. All that said, I did listen to your song again most closely after reading and I definitely pick up on some of the finer intricacies I suppose I didn’t hear the first time around. Also, I had never heard of those Chase Bliss pedals before and I just looked them up. Damn, those are some sexy looking pedals haha. They have some really distinct art and those knobs look appealing to twist.

Me fink u freaky
Love the tiny beat heavy beat.
And of course all the squeaks.

Me fink u freaky Love the tiny beat heavy beat. And of course all the squeaks.

oh wow more creatures in the machine - i kept seeing/hearing like scorpions and crabs on this one...
wow this is really neat! so many intricate pieces woven together so nicely!
looked up those Chaise Bliss pedals you mentioned - wow what a neat group of makers!
i hope the title does not reflect your mood or health

[img]https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia1.tenor.com%2Fimages%2F9f5cf7d1d5220472d14265e097bc7a87%2Ftenor.gif%3Fitemid%3D18920805&f=1&nofb=1[/img] oh wow more creatures in the machine - i kept seeing/hearing like scorpions and crabs on this one... wow this is really neat! so many intricate pieces woven together so nicely! looked up those Chaise Bliss pedals you mentioned - wow what a neat group of makers! i hope the title does not reflect your mood or health

dude the “””quarter time””” kick groove is sick, I might run with that vague inspiration for next week

dude the “””quarter time””” kick groove is sick, I might run with that vague inspiration for next week

So dope! Everything about this track I love, incredible sounds, especially all the warbly/pitched sounds that worm into your ears, listening again, but louder this time

So dope! Everything about this track I love, incredible sounds, especially all the warbly/pitched sounds that worm into your ears, listening again, but louder this time

very very scary and i like it

very very scary and i like it

The insistent main rhythm doesn't let up and keeps this tense! Super sound design and variety happening throughout, an engaging listen.

The insistent main rhythm doesn't let up and keeps this tense! Super sound design and variety happening throughout, an engaging listen.

Reading the detailed process notes above made a second listen super fresh and enlightening. I love hearing about creator's processes, thanks!

Reading the detailed process notes above made a second listen super fresh and enlightening. I love hearing about creator's processes, thanks!

dope, the dissonant pads are like halfway between Penderecki and Arpanet, and the overall structure and transitions almost feel like Andy Stott's "Collapse" but more skeletal. the overall effect is like moving past unfathomable atmospheric violence on a gaseous planet from a safe but still threatening distance.

dope, the dissonant pads are like halfway between Penderecki and Arpanet, and the overall structure and transitions almost feel like Andy Stott's "Collapse" but more skeletal. the overall effect is like moving past unfathomable atmospheric violence on a gaseous planet from a safe but still threatening distance.

Huge fan, such great soundscapes. Always a pleasant surprise, and backdrop to the the chaos and order found in everyday things.

Huge fan, such great soundscapes. Always a pleasant surprise, and backdrop to the the chaos and order found in everyday things.

Love the sounds and variance throughout.  That rhythm is so relentless! It does evoke a modern horror soundtrack feel.  Would be great in a video game as well.  Sounds like all sorts of alien chatter through out.  Super tight production!

Love the sounds and variance throughout. That rhythm is so relentless! It does evoke a modern horror soundtrack feel. Would be great in a video game as well. Sounds like all sorts of alien chatter through out. Super tight production!

I love it how it starts out already with a really tense feeling, but managed to build it even more throughout the tune. Great work!

I love it how it starts out already with a really tense feeling, but managed to build it even more throughout the tune. Great work!

[img]https://media1.giphy.com/media/CjM0NHzSfXdT4PtJp7/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47490ifmvgijwmqg22zgw0hydd7f5kffmt79mk1v7n&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g[/img]

This song makes me think of unpleasant things like concrete and stinky things, also sand paper and gravel, cigarettes being eaten by ants

This song makes me think of unpleasant things like concrete and stinky things, also sand paper and gravel, cigarettes being eaten by ants

The Rytm is definitely in my future.  Are all the sounds generated from the Rytm here or are some samples used.  Dig that vinyl type scratching sound in the mix.  Kicks add some lovely darkness. 

The Rytm is definitely in my future. Are all the sounds generated from the Rytm here or are some samples used. Dig that vinyl type scratching sound in the mix. Kicks add some lovely darkness. :)

dang I literally forgot how talented you are after not listening to your work for months.  my sincere apology.  awesome that I know someone who as good as Autechre.

this is so horrifying.

the ending is the best because it recontexualizes the volume and sonic density.  I hope you didn't think of it as a throwaway outro, it's essential.

dang I literally forgot how talented you are after not listening to your work for months. my sincere apology. awesome that I know someone who as good as Autechre. this is so horrifying. the ending is the best because it recontexualizes the volume and sonic density. I hope you didn't think of it as a throwaway outro, it's essential.