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WeeklyBeats.com / Music / NWSPR's music / Lake Success

Lake Success

By NWSPR on January 26, 2020 11:44 pm

Named for the book by Gary Shteyngart, I recorded most of this while charging my car down in Bethlehem, PA, while away this weekend.  I used my  laptop and the Arturia Keystep controller with virtual synths and headphone in the front seat of the car. Then did mixing in a hotel room with the same set up.  Got home today and bounced it down after adding a poem to the end performed by Roy Turner entitled "Hard Luck Okie", 1941, courtesy of the Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/item/toddbib000318/ Beautifully moving poem.

Thanks for listening... see you in the comments!

Damn, awesome dude.  Love when that 16th note bassline comes in after the break. 

Cant wait to get a Mac Book later this year, I'd love to be able to throw down ideas away from home like that. 

Anyways, thanks for the weekly dose of synthwave. 

Absolutely tasty chord progs in this smile Love how the tunes progresses, so much energy! Very good poem too smile

There's a very epic, driving sequence energy in here. The poem is the perfect bookend for that adventure smile

soundtrack for a fitness camp promo vid!

midimachine wrote:

soundtrack for a fitness camp promo vid!


Agreed! I'm thinking Ben Stiller from Heavy Weights, haha

onlyjokinen wrote:
midimachine wrote:

soundtrack for a fitness camp promo vid!


Agreed! I'm thinking Ben Stiller from Heavy Weights, haha


LOL... How have I not heard of the movie? It's on the watch list.

Great propulsion, definitely an epic 80s feeling, and each additional voice takes this further over the top.  Beautifully done. 

Great mix, it's really punchy and full. Very motivating tune, well done heart

I saw your setup on instagram, looked like a fun time! also, we have the same car wink

awesome track, a big sound and catchy as all heck.  I've never heard of the Arturia KeyStep, but I'm actually in the market for something like this, I'll check it out.

This is sweet! I enjoyed your writeup on your process. Super cool you did a lot of this in your car! I end up up making music in hotel rooms all the time : )

This has just such a great upbeat energy.  It's hard not to have a big smile while listening.  The poem at the end is definitely a nice touch.

fantastic movement & energy!

Cool poem, cooler track. Great stuff!

Amazing journey! I especially like how you bring in a new part time after time, but the driving beat keeps it all together marvellously. Really cinematic and impressive stuff. One of your best so far, I think.

ah, and I forgot to mention how lovely the leads are there in the 60% mark smile

Propels onward to the good places ... like PA. Such tasty synth goodness. Enjoyed that poem, fits well here.  Another benefit of EV's ... you get time for making tunes while they charge!

Niceee smile
Love those lead synths... and the poem at the end is gorgeus!!!

Ooh, that choir is chilling and those synths are tight. Nice poem too.

Chord changes are awesome !!! Your synths have a nice 80's Jean Michel Jarre feel !

Chrisfoo wrote:

Damn, awesome dude.  Love when that 16th note bassline comes in after the break. 

Cant wait to get a Mac Book later this year, I'd love to be able to throw down ideas away from home like that. 

Anyways, thanks for the weekly dose of synthwave.

Thanks, that's my favorite part as well as the poem at the end that I stole and can't take credit for smile Laptop, mini keyboard, good headphones, and a backpack should be WB standard survival equipment!

Mortistar wrote:

Absolutely tasty chord progs in this smile Love how the tunes progresses, so much energy! Very good poem too smile


Thanks! That poem is haunting. The part about the coyotes / hungry babes breaks my heart.

Gab Manette wrote:

There's a very epic, driving sequence energy in here. The poem is the perfect bookend for that adventure smile


Thanks Gab! That's what I was going for.  Very driven feel and the poem kind of grounds it at the end.  Thanks for listening.  I learn a lot from your music and try to apply it in mine smile

midimachine wrote:

soundtrack for a fitness camp promo vid!


Get your leg warmers and sweat bands.  NWSPR bringing Synthercise to WB2020! 

onezero wrote:


Great propulsion, definitely an epic 80s feeling, and each additional voice takes this further over the top.  Beautifully done. 
Thanks! I'm stuck on that 80s sound, definitely, and indefinitely.  It was a golden age of analog synths but it looks like we may be in a second golden age with all the new gear coming out.


mikememo wrote:

I saw your setup on instagram, looked like a fun time! also, we have the same car wink

awesome track, a big sound and catchy as all heck.  I've never heard of the Arturia KeyStep, but I'm actually in the market for something like this, I'll check it out.

That's great! I love my Model S and am considering the truck or Model Y.  Also am enjoy making music at the charging stations.  I was doing the same late Saturday night in Scranton, PA, heading back to Brooklyn. The Arturia Keystep is solidly built at a reasonable cost.  Better than some other controllers I've had in the past.  It should be standard issue in all Teslas smile

cfurrow wrote:

This is sweet! I enjoyed your writeup on your process. Super cool you did a lot of this in your car! I end up up making music in hotel rooms all the time : )


Thanks! It's great to be able to compose remotely and in unconventional locations.  Sometimes helps with pushing into different creative directions.  Thanks for listening!

CosmicCairns wrote:

This has just such a great upbeat energy.  It's hard not to have a big smile while listening.  The poem at the end is definitely a nice touch.


Yep, the poem is my favorite part and all I had to do was copy it from a link! Thanks for listening!

kaedo sevaada wrote:

fantastic movement & energy!


Thanks!

Sodabelly wrote:

Cool poem, cooler track. Great stuff!


That poem lends gravity to an otherwise upbeat vibe.  I like the contrast as well.  Thanks for listening!

Ashen Simian wrote:

Amazing journey! I especially like how you bring in a new part time after time, but the driving beat keeps it all together marvellously. Really cinematic and impressive stuff. One of your best so far, I think.


Wow, thanks!  High praise coming from a fellow synth-o-phile.  Much appreciated!

miraclemiles wrote:

Propels onward to the good places ... like PA. Such tasty synth goodness. Enjoyed that poem, fits well here.  Another benefit of EV's ... you get time for making tunes while they charge!


Like Weekly Beats, charging the EV can be a force to take time and create.  Or eat fast food at a strip mall and zone out.  Either way, a welcome pause. Thanks for listening!

Ipaghost wrote:


Thanks for listening... and all your tunes, which I've downloaded!

theGuen wrote:

Niceee smile
Love those lead synths... and the poem at the end is gorgeus!!!


Thanks! the synth leads are always the most fun to do.  And the poem was a fortunate discovery.

Devieus wrote:

Ooh, that choir is chilling and those synths are tight. Nice poem too.


If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing so I brought out the digital boys choir and mixed in some gospel choir.  Gives it a feeling of over the top importance.  Man, that poem though, is more powerful in its simplicity.  Happy to discover it.

AdB wrote:

Chord changes are awesome !!! Your synths have a nice 80's Jean Michel Jarre feel !


Thanks for that reference.  I was not familiar with Jean Michel Jarre and looked him up on Wikipedia.  Enjoyed some of the samples pieces on the page.  Looks like I got some research to do!  Thanks for turning me on to a new discovery (new for me).


Thanks for that reference.  I was not familiar with Jean Michel Jarre and looked him up on Wikipedia.  Enjoyed some of the samples pieces on the page.  Looks like I got some research to do!  Thanks for turning me on to a new discovery (new for me).

You're very welcome!!! Some of Jarre's stuff sounds very dated but he has beautiful works in his catalog. Maybe his newest stuff is a bit subpar but you can't go wrong with his classic albums like Oxygène, Équinoxe or Magnetic Fields!!!

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