My electronic take on the Christmas song God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman using the Behringer 2600 Blue Marvin. The Blue Marvin has a real spring reverb and I get nice subtle ringing/feedback between the monitors when they are turned up and the spring reverb (something you cannot get with digital reverbs).  :-)

Song Ideas

Let Nothing You Dismay (Behringer 2600 Blue Marvin)

All synthetic sounds including the percussion are from the Behringer Kobol Expander. I sprinkled in some bell sounds from a set of Yamaha Bells that I picked up at a resale shop for cheap.

Kobol Three

A friend needed some original background music for a video documenting an amateur radio outing for Parks On The Air at an Indiana State Park over the wreck of the JD Marshall sunk in 1911.

Wreck Of The JD Marshall

Every year on the first of Maal when the two sisters align Kith makes a pilgrimage to the Pool Of MyrEnth...

Pool Of MyrEnth

This time around I used no quantization or tempo syncing whatsoever and just used Logic as a glorified tape recorder, recording multiple takes from a Korg microX. Hopefully it comes across more organic than sloppy :-).

The bass/base of the mountain grows the closer you get to it. The drums represent the relentless steps of the determined climber as they continue to ascend despite the colourless rains of autumn... 

It's my first attempt participating in Naviar-Records Haiku challenge.

Misty Mountain (naviarhaiku570)

The opening hit represents the strong trunk of the tree from which the wind strips the tree of its leaves and flowers where the high notes of the piano thru a delay represent the sound of the petals sifting down together. There's a drastic 'ping' that occurs that's meant to symbolize a pebble thrown into a still pool of water and how the ripples bounce back and forth and mix together but ultimately calm is once again restored.

Stillness (naviarhaiku571)

All sounds originate from the Behringer Kobol with mixing and effects from Logic. I love the Kobol which is simple yet quirky.

I felt the haiku to be very hard to interpret. The line "corrupt world's blossoms" was hard to understand. What I knew was that it didn't invoke the same peaceful ambient textures that haiku's usually inspire.  So this tune is a bit harsh compared to the others.

Does anyone ever read these descriptions? :-)

Lost (naviarhaiku574)

This is my first track using 'time stretch'. I took a simple 4 note piano chord, stretched it, added delay and reverb, reversed it, added more delay, stretched that, reversed it yet again and then added the final delay and reverb. Added synth sounds from the Behringer Kobol Expander. The higher percussive notes represent the pointy pine needles and the swept noise represents the wind.

Moutain Pines (naviarhaiku575)

Inspired by Night Note (@mmastalka) who incorporates nature like sounds in their compositions I thought would give it a try too.

This song is mostly a Korg Volca Drum with some Yamaha Bells added in. The Volca Drum is pretty powerful for such a small package. While it only has 16 steps in its sequencer it has the ability to add probability to each step so the pattern doesn't get too repetitive. It has the ability to play pitched notes and the only thing it is lacking is the ability to play pitched notes via midi in its multi channel mode.

Amonst the Rushes (naviarhaiku576)

There's a little bit of everything in this one... opening with some ominous taiko drums. The crackling of a fire persists as you walk through the scorched fields as you come across some electric guitar, vocals and a darbuka drum towards the end that give it an almost mid eastern tinge along with the usual electronic sound suspects. Hope you like it :-)

Scorched Fields (naviarhaiku582)

All sounds came from a Dreadbox Erebus v3 including the drums. I experimented with the ring modulator settings (one of the unique features of the synth) and for some reason many of the sounds reminded me of "cats".... I wonder if there are any "cat" haikus out there?

I was also able to incorporate all the elements in the cover art including literal splashes of colour and cherry tree petals falling.

Splash Of Colour (naviarhaiku585)

I really had fun with the sound design on this one! Hopefully you will hear the fog dissolving into rain and the wind of the cool breeze clearing the vista so you can feel the sweeping bass/base of the cloud topped hills. :-)

I used the Dreadbox Erebus v3 for all the sounds and used its patchbay for every sound too. It was fun to explore. 

The wind was the easiest to make and I patched in the noise directly into the filter input where I did a manual filter sweep.

I am most proud of the rain sound. I took the noise out into the switch and then drove the switch with the clock and I adjusted the clock's rate and duty cycle to adjust the density of the rain. The output of the switch drove the gate and then I dialed in some filter resonance to give the raindrops some tonal information. 

The main musical notes took the output of the LFO into the VCA and I drove the VCA with the slow attack and slow decay of the filter's envelope. The output of the VCA went to the filter cutoff. This allows the LFO to gradually come in as the note sustains and adds some movement. I also used a lot of feedback on the delay to create extra resonance in the sound.

The Fog (naviar-haiku586)

Initially I had no inspiration for this challenge. Instead I was working on trying to create a stack of delay plugins that would give me a ping pong effect that I could use on future projects.

I used a single note from a Toraiz AS-1 as the source and when I completed my stack I found it very rhythmic and meditative, much like water dripping from an icicle.

I added other notes at various times and looping them creating a kind of polyrhythm bed and played a gliding lead line over the top. 

All sounds were created by a Pioneer DJ Toraiz AS-1. I love this little synth and its touch keyboard. The front panel controls are very well suited to live jamming and it's very expressive.

The odd title comes from the placement of the gliding lead sound. If I started it at measure 6 it made the middle part sound really good but then the ending was monotonous .  If I started it at measure 13 the other sounds faded out leaving just the lead which made the ending sound cool but then the beginning part was meh. Placing the lead starting at measure 10 seemed the best compromise and thus the name Icicle Ten :-)

Icicle Ten (naviarhaiku588)

Smithsonite is a mineral discovered by the man that started the Smithsonian. The variant that comes from the Kelly Mine in New Mexico is a cool crystalline blue color that matches my Arturia MicroBrute which is the main sound source for this song. The drums come from an Arturia DrumBrute.

The droning bass evokes the sensation of being deep underground. The industrial metallic sounds are reminiscent of the mining operations. The synth lead is like the bright white beam from a helmet mounted light - searching the cavern walls. Glittering arpeggios represent the haunting blue crystals.

Smithsonite (MicroBrute DrumBrute)

My first pattern with the TR-8S with a few of my own samples loaded in and playing along with a Fender Mini Strat thru a Yamaha THR5.

TR-8S

This is my first experiment with Moog's new Sirin and it's been a lot of fun so far. It's just the Sirin with drums and effects added in Reason.

Messenger Of Joy (Moog Sirin)

Trying my hand at making the west coast Korg Volca Modular sound a bit melodic. Ran the Volca Modular thru the Roland Bitrazer and Demora modules for extra effects and added some drums for interest.

Volca Modular

Electronic ambient background with some piano noodling on top. It sounds better after midnight and with an adult beverage :-)

rEvolver

Luminous

An old track made with the Future Retro 777.

2014

Acid Reflux (Future Retro 777)

All sounds sourced from the Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms SV-1 routed thru a Make Noise X-Pan then a Roland Demora delay.

Cyber Monday (Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms SV-1)

I always liked the Joubert character from Three Days of the Condor played by Max von Sydow. I was sad to hear of his passing. This was meant to be a sort of requiem or lament complete with tolling bells at the end. 

I'm pleased with the lush bass sounds the Matriarch can produce. For the bell like tones at the end I used the filters in series for the first time which produces some very interesting tones. 

All sounds originated with the Moog Matriarch with mixing, extra delays and reverb in Logic.

Joubert (Moog Matriarch)

Two tracks of the Moog Matriarch and a drum track mixed in Logic. It has a bit of a Jan Hammer, Miami Vice feel to it.

Sunset (Moog Matriarch)

Brief eclectic electronic experimental excursions. All songs are available as a free download. Thanks for listening :-)

Addisonic

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