shhhhhhhhhhhh

(m8, all synthesis)

title came to me in a dream

the end was first.  doodling the chippy arps, layering on 2x hypersyn tracks for lushness.  the first core idea came when I put an A bass note under a mellow C#min hypersyn.  i explored that duality later.

then i sketched the wacko wavsynth pattern.  then two more layers.  really just tonal percussion.

then a bunch of time noodling harmonies on the keyboard.  i arpeggiated my original chord, and decided to constrain my harmonies to  the same pattern/contour:
1
------2
------------5
----------4
--------3
------2
----5 (octave down)
--4 (octave down)

(so they're really just 5 voice chords)
oh also it's a 7-chord cycle because :shrug:

then I figured out what bass notes fit.  there tended to be one "obvious" one (not that these chords are all obvious; plenty chromaticism), and one "alternate" bass note that formed a different chord with the same notes above.

then I mapped out what all the chords ended up being (i was noodling mostly by ear), drew them out in a diagram, and lined out which chords transitioned nicely.  mapped out two distinct paths through the 7 steps, so overall it's a 14-chord cycle (though that only plays through once toward the end).

Initially, the main arpeggiated melody (flute-ish) was a placeholder wavsynth pulse.  then I was toying with macrosynth plucked (because it can play polyphonically), with some randomized macrosynth TRG triggers.  wasn't totally liking it, so I started flicking through other engines, and accidentally landed on bowed, which sounded Sick.  instant stank face listening to the wonky broken arpeggio.

then I arranged.  it was super ad-hoc, just looping the main wavsynth riff with variations.  went pretty linearly through the whole thing.

i forget when exactly i settled on the beat.  footwork-ish.  i love the snare.  so heavy.  you can make a snare out of most all macrosynth engines.  (i think this was struck bell?  i forget)

Tags: do the dew, m8 tracker, week 5 2024, View by:wangus