This was not a live jam, but an exercise in building an arrangement in the Drambo pattern sequencer, then rendering the complete song to an audio file. The core of the patch is three of Drambo's wavetable oscillators, each with timbre modulated by slow sine waves. Step components with conditions and probability add variation and punctuation to the sequenced melodic lines. Automated fades bring voices and effects in and out of the mix. FAC Alteza within Drambo provides an expansive reverberant space for the three synth voices. Created mostly on the iPhone 6S over the course of several weeks beginning in July of 2022. 

rendered 10-18-22

Three Waves on the Table

This patch was conceived as a vehicle to explore the use of sustained chord pads, or sound beds, that are often found in the ambient and dub techno genres. Legato tone clusters drift and morph while dark, filtered percussion anchors the groove. Sparse bell tones occupy the higher atmospheric space.

Created on the iPhone 6S using Drambo, StepPolyArp, Ruismaker Noir, and FAC Alteza. A live improvisation captured within Drambo to a single stereo pair. No overdubs.

recorded 10-4-22

Poly-res

Automated pseudo-jazz. Almost like the hold music you might hear while waiting in a phone cue. Though rooted in dub, it dangerously approaches smooth jazz. In this form of ‘jazz’ expressions of melody and rhythm are taken out of the hands of the human performer, and are automatically generated for multiple parts, while the improviser takes on the manipulation of other dimensions, like timbre, texture, density, voice layering, and spatial depth.

The patch was built in Drambo with Rozeta Particles generating sequences of single notes in the pentatonic minor scale, flowing into the chord module with density/rhythm modulated by midi chance, then into an arp spitting out once again single notes from the harmonized original sequences. Some variation of this configuration is used on the pad, pluck, and bass voices. The two drum parts, kick and brushed percussion, are Ruismaker Noir. On each voice, the delay is Dub Station 2, and the reverb FAC Alteza.

This recording was made using an iPhone 6S in a beach house bedroom with lights out while vacationing in Hatteras, NC. It was a live improvisation recorded to a single stereo pair in Drambo with no overdubs. 

recorded 10-28-22

Baccharis

Particle Arp

A Drambo patch using the wavetable oscillator with graphic envelope modulating the wave filter to build thick dub techno chord parts. The bass voice is a wavetable oscillator with wave effects, drums are Ruismaker Noir, bells are built on the modal resonator (physical modeling module), and the blocks are an FM patch. Bells and blocks are sequenced with Rozeta Particles, and sent into a vast, deep space made up of the DubStation2 delay and FAC Alteza reverb. The midi chance module plays a key role, adding unpredictability to most parts.

All sounds and parts were generated on the fly. No samples were used. Recorded live in the studio on the iPad in Drambo to a single stereo track pair, using the Launch Control XL and the Launchpad Mini for the performance. No overdubs. Mastered in T-Racks. 

recorded 11/28/22

Wave Chord

A Black Friday patch using four new apps obtained from the App Store. Two stochastic sequencers, a monosynth, and a multi-tap delay with reverb. Random modulation acts on each of the four voices, which are a synth lead, a pluck, bass drum, and high hat. Follow actions sent to the pattern sequencer generate the arrangement. Minimal performance parameters. 

Drambo, Autony, Zoa, Monolit, Kajita
with LK Matrix and TouchOSC

A glitch in LK Matrix which drops the linked tempo to 20 bpm when saving the session was used as a compositional device for the intro and outro.

An LOBJ (lights out bed jam)

Recorded to a stereo track in 4Pockets MultiTrack Audio Recorder running within Drambo. Mastered in T-Racks.

This was the last  piece of audio mastered in the basement studio before the studio was dismantled for the home addition. Publishing to SoundCloud was done entirely from the iPad on this one.

Artwork - a photo of the hardware used for the session: iPad Air3, Bose NC 700 HP Bluetooth headphones, reading glasses

recorded 11/28/22

A-Z Mono K

Jpan Branch

OODA Pipa

Granulated Dark

SQ Phratic

Stringbeat

Evolving organic textures in the electronic soundscape. Positive-flow improvisation.

Baccharis is the solo experimental electronic music project of Chris Hale, based in Richmond, Virginia, USA

This SoundCloud page is an active sketchbook, used mostly to document 
 the processes of synthesis, sound design, and composition.

Older tracks are periodically removed from this page. These tracks can be found and downloaded as collections of singles on Bandcamp.

Feedback is welcome. Enjoy the music.

Baccharis

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