sometimes you gotta get stuff out using the tried and true, no time for exploring and experimenting.
dig the change up around 2:25. Great layers to forget about corporate capitalist america, and *gestures broadly* Love the movement of this and the emotion it evokes.

sometimes you gotta get stuff out using the tried and true, no time for exploring and experimenting. dig the change up around 2:25. Great layers to forget about corporate capitalist america, and *gestures broadly* Love the movement of this and the emotion it evokes.

Having go-to's as a foundation to fall back on is important I think.  These are nice pleasant sounds that work well together and create a peaceful, if slightly somber, mood.

Having go-to's as a foundation to fall back on is important I think. These are nice pleasant sounds that work well together and create a peaceful, if slightly somber, mood.

A lovely atmosphere created with your favorites.  That's always a good remedy imho.  Feeling those low woodwindy chords especially.  I feel the tension and the calm coming together.

A lovely atmosphere created with your favorites. That's always a good remedy imho. Feeling those low woodwindy chords especially. I feel the tension and the calm coming together.

it's hard for me to imagine speed-trashing something like this. 
i think it speaks to your instincts and the sharpening of your skills that you are able to quickly pull something together that feels so solid (and even pulled at my heartstrings a bit). 

it's hard for me to imagine speed-trashing something like this. i think it speaks to your instincts and the sharpening of your skills that you are able to quickly pull something together that feels so solid (and even pulled at my heartstrings a bit). <3

I can definitely feel the tension here - it does indeed simmer, and it's actually quite minimal which is REALLY HARD TO DO considering all the instruments you listed, most with which I am very familiar. This worked really well.

That being said: I REALLY WANNA HEAR ABOUT HOW YOU LIKE THE TRACKER MINI! lol. I love my M8 so much I am always tempted by other handheld trackers.

I can definitely feel the tension here - it does indeed simmer, and it's actually quite minimal which is REALLY HARD TO DO considering all the instruments you listed, most with which I am very familiar. This worked really well. That being said: I REALLY WANNA HEAR ABOUT HOW YOU LIKE THE TRACKER MINI! lol. I love my M8 so much I am always tempted by other handheld trackers. <3

As speedtrash goes this is really beautiful and had you not have told me, I'd assume you spent a lot of time on it.
Really beautiful.

As speedtrash goes this is really beautiful and had you not have told me, I'd assume you spent a lot of time on it. Really beautiful.

Exactly... sometimes the "tried and true" is the only thing keeping the wheels from falling off the wagon ʱªʱªʱª(ᕑᗢuᓫ∗). I'm so glad that 2:25 shift landed for you. I think I was channeling an "end of the Quarter" moment.

Thank you! It’s funny how "somber" is where my brain goes when I stop overthinking and just reach for my favorite libraries. There’s a certain comfort in those granular textures that feels like a weighted blanket for the brain. ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌

Good ear on the "woodwinds"! That’s actually a specific layer of Ashlight and Fables working together. I love how the Native Instruments stuff can get that breathy, reed-like quality even when it’s technically granular or ensemble-based. It really helped ground the "floaty" parts of the track. (୨୧•͈ᴗ•͈)◞ᵗʱᵃᵑᵏઽ*♡

That really means a LOT, especially coming from you. This was definitely a "don't think, just do" session, and I'm medium-surprised it came out as cohesive as it did. But 3 hours is basically light speed for me, so I’m really happy to hear it actually felt solid and hit those heartstrings.

Oh boy... so first, thank you... and second... I LOVE the Tracker Mini. Now, full disclosure, I learned the tracker workflow on Renoise and MilkyTracker, and it’s definitely from that same school of thought. I talked about it a little on my episode of Chasing the Beats, but the M8/LSDJ workflow has never really landed for me... like, I love it as a sound design tool and for making drum loops, but I just really struggle composing with it.

The Polyend Tracker layout lets me see the notes from multiple lanes at the same time, so I can actually write harmonies without having to page back and forth and keep everything in my head... lord knows there's only so much space in there ʱªʱªʱª(ᕑᗢूᓫ∗). So for composition: A+.

For sound design... it's more complicated. The OG Polyend Tracker was purely sample-based, and that workflow is just fine. It resamples when you apply effects, which is actually an interesting creative constraint for me. But the Tracker+ and the Mini have synth engines that sound good... but the menu structure for doing sound design is exactly one level of menu diving more than I could ever "love." It’s not terrible, but it is cumbersome for me.

That said, the Polyend Synth has all the same engines (plus a few more), and it is an absolute joy to design on... so the "crunchiness" of the Mini's UI is kind of a non-issue because I just save patches on the Synth and load them on the Tracker. I mostly use the sample tracks anyway... Oh, side note, it's technically 16 tracks (8 MIDI and 8 Sample/MIDI), and you can run the synths from the MIDI tracks... though in practice I’ve never used more than 4 MIDI tracks or fewer than 6 Sample tracks.

Even though the M8 and Tracker Mini are both portable hardware trackers with synths and sampling, they really couldn't be more different. I have both, and I’m happy with both... but the Tracker Mini clicks with that old-school FastTracker workflow, and the Renoise-like arranger view just felt like home. It very quickly became my groovebox of choice. Don’t get me wrong... I still LOVE my Deluge and use it all the time... but when I want to "sequence" rather than "play," or when I need something that fits in a bag with a laptop and other junk... Tracker Mini all day. (つ≧▽≦)つ

Thank you so much! I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere about not over-polishing the life out of a track... though I'll probably go right back to overthinking everything next week anyway ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ. I’m just glad it worked!

[quote=SQF]sometimes you gotta get stuff out using the tried and true, no time for exploring and experimenting. dig the change up around 2:25. Great layers to forget about corporate capitalist america, and *gestures broadly* Love the movement of this and the emotion it evokes. [/quote] Exactly... sometimes the "tried and true" is the only thing keeping the wheels from falling off the wagon ʱªʱªʱª(ᕑᗢuᓫ∗). I'm so glad that 2:25 shift landed for you. I think I was channeling an "end of the Quarter" moment. [quote=Cosmic Cairns]Having go-to's as a foundation to fall back on is important I think. These are nice pleasant sounds that work well together and create a peaceful, if slightly somber, mood. [/quote] Thank you! It’s funny how "somber" is where my brain goes when I stop overthinking and just reach for my favorite libraries. There’s a certain comfort in those granular textures that feels like a weighted blanket for the brain. ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌ [quote=Tone Matrix]A lovely atmosphere created with your favorites. That's always a good remedy imho. Feeling those low woodwindy chords especially. I feel the tension and the calm coming together. [/quote] Good ear on the "woodwinds"! That’s actually a specific layer of Ashlight and Fables working together. I love how the Native Instruments stuff can get that breathy, reed-like quality even when it’s technically granular or ensemble-based. It really helped ground the "floaty" parts of the track. (୨୧•͈ᴗ•͈)◞ᵗʱᵃᵑᵏઽ*♡ [quote=jwh]it's hard for me to imagine speed-trashing something like this. i think it speaks to your instincts and the sharpening of your skills that you are able to quickly pull something together that feels so solid (and even pulled at my heartstrings a bit). <3[/quote] That really means a LOT, especially coming from you. This was definitely a "don't think, just do" session, and I'm medium-surprised it came out as cohesive as it did. But 3 hours is basically light speed for me, so I’m really happy to hear it actually felt solid and hit those heartstrings. [quote=neon liminal]I can definitely feel the tension here - it does indeed simmer, and it's actually quite minimal which is REALLY HARD TO DO considering all the instruments you listed, most with which I am very familiar. This worked really well. That being said: I REALLY WANNA HEAR ABOUT HOW YOU LIKE THE TRACKER MINI! lol. I love my M8 so much I am always tempted by other handheld trackers. <3[/quote] Oh boy... so first, thank you... and second... I LOVE the Tracker Mini. Now, full disclosure, I learned the tracker workflow on Renoise and MilkyTracker, and it’s definitely from that same school of thought. I talked about it a little on my episode of Chasing the Beats, but the M8/LSDJ workflow has never really landed for me... like, I love it as a sound design tool and for making drum loops, but I just really struggle composing with it. The Polyend Tracker layout lets me see the notes from multiple lanes at the same time, so I can actually write harmonies without having to page back and forth and keep everything in my head... lord knows there's only so much space in there ʱªʱªʱª(ᕑᗢूᓫ∗). So for composition: A+. For sound design... it's more complicated. The OG Polyend Tracker was purely sample-based, and that workflow is just fine. It resamples when you apply effects, which is actually an interesting creative constraint for me. But the Tracker+ and the Mini have synth engines that sound good... but the menu structure for doing sound design is exactly one level of menu diving more than I could ever "love." It’s not terrible, but it is cumbersome for me. That said, the Polyend Synth has all the same engines (plus a few more), and it is an absolute joy to design on... so the "crunchiness" of the Mini's UI is kind of a non-issue because I just save patches on the Synth and load them on the Tracker. I mostly use the sample tracks anyway... Oh, side note, it's technically 16 tracks (8 MIDI and 8 Sample/MIDI), and you can run the synths from the MIDI tracks... though in practice I’ve never used more than 4 MIDI tracks or fewer than 6 Sample tracks. Even though the M8 and Tracker Mini are both portable hardware trackers with synths and sampling, they really couldn't be more different. I have both, and I’m happy with both... but the Tracker Mini clicks with that old-school FastTracker workflow, and the Renoise-like arranger view just felt like home. It very quickly became my groovebox of choice. Don’t get me wrong... I still LOVE my Deluge and use it all the time... but when I want to "sequence" rather than "play," or when I need something that fits in a bag with a laptop and other junk... Tracker Mini all day. (つ≧▽≦)つ [quote=BarristerPlong]As speedtrash goes this is really beautiful and had you not have told me, I'd assume you spent a lot of time on it. Really beautiful.[/quote] Thank you so much! I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere about not over-polishing the life out of a track... though I'll probably go right back to overthinking everything next week anyway ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ. I’m just glad it worked!

A lot of great emotional tracks lately, would love to hear spoken words to this.

lately I have been toying with using elevenlab AI voice synthesis to speak out texts I have originally written (better than the other way around lol) ... it's fun!

A lot of great emotional tracks lately, would love to hear spoken words to this. lately I have been toying with using elevenlab AI voice synthesis to speak out texts I have originally written (better than the other way around lol) ... it's fun!

Speedtrash, maybe, but you did hit the mark.

Speedtrash, maybe, but you did hit the mark.