has it been a year already? really?
I could have sworn it's been four or maybe five.

fudge fudge cuss fudge.

(graphic is a composite of home-made bread and ramen, because that's what you do in a pandemic quarantine, I guess).

2021 project

twelve months

think samebient but with a rate of change slow enough that you can't see it happening. and then a year and a bit later you look back and go "huh". I suppose I'm here now. in this place. 

adrift, but without moving.

homeostasis

this is my take on adding an instrument to the excellent "music for one musician" by Wester Skies Motel (https://soundcloud.com/regonsch/music-for-1-musician-so-far)

well, it started with one instrument, but went downhill quickly from there with one piano leading to another, which led to a bass, drums, and a clarinet recording by Stefan Thaens (http://ccmixter.org/files/stefsax/9081)

all I can say in my defence is that the original guitar really caught my imagination.

notes:
new version is 98 bpm. made entirely in Reason 7 and on new headphones I haven't gotten fully used to yet, so the bass/treble balance might be off.

flight (ft. Western Skies Motel)

if you believe me when I say that this is an optimistic track, then we might stand a chance at being friends.

onwards and upwards, even when at times you can barely tell it's happening.

/ mikael

made, as always, with Reason 11, nektar panorama p6, mixed on sennheiser hd-650 calibrated with the excellent sonarworks plugin, and mastered with ozone 9.

progress

this hasn't been a great year for me to make music.

by which I mean it hasn't been a great year for me to share music I've made.

so. yeah. 

here it is. a thing I've made.

bramble

when you build a thing to elevate yourself and it ends up being a place to burrow deep below.

when you do a thing to do a thing, but it ends up being another thing.

when you decide not to do a thing because you already know what will happen.

when nothing and then nothing.

treehouse

this is the third in a series, of sorts, about my family. you might have one too.

this one is about my brother, who I think the world of.

2022 project

brothers

chances are you are already familiar with the good people over at LOA (https://soundcloud.com/leavesofabsense)
if not, then I suggest that this would be a good time to acquaint yourself with their music. 

this is a thing that started as a thing that I commented on, and which then led to them letting me have a go at it, and here we are.

Colaborations

52 (with Leaves of Absense)

an elefant is never late. nor is she early. she arrives precisely when she means to.

that said: yeah, this one is overdue.

but so are a lot of things these days.

elefant

this started with an instrumental track by Masaya Ozaki (@masayaozaki), submitted as part of the 100th @disquiet challenge (http://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet0100-vaporwave). you can listen to the original here - https://soundcloud.com/masayaozaki/submersion-disquiet-vaporwave

I liked it very much and was inspired to make a few additions. I added a yamaha grand and a light pad. hope you like the result.

mikael

masaya ozaki - submersion (clb piano version)

what's that thing when you haven't been able to do a thing for a long time because the thing that once made you so happy to do the thing all of a sudden did the precise opposite, and instead you end up mucking about trying a bunch of things to catch that one thing, but instead end up digging you deeper and deeper into that other thing?

I did that for most of 2022. and in the end it's just nonsense.

so here's to moving forward. for better and for worse.


made with Reason (VST 3 beta), mixed with Sennheiser HD-650, mastered with Ozone

2023 project

reboot

I don't have much to say about this one except that it spoke to me, and I am trying really hard to follow that instinct more than anything else.

I brought you here for a reason

so here's the thing. I like this track very much and am quite pleased with it.
also: there's a story behind this track. because of course there is. 
if there wasn't a story behind it, then what's the point?

2085

this is a dance track, of sorts. the beat is there, hiding, awaiting its time.

decline

because not every track can be entirely sad and mopey.


happy drone

the other day I came across this wonderful vocal recording by wildsilences at https://soundcloud.com/wildsilences/where-the-wild-things-sing-open-collab and just knew I wanted to do something with it.

I tried to add enough for it to be a colab track, yet not so much to take away from the vocals.



where the wild things sing (with wildsilences)

I'm on vacation and could only bring with me my iPad and my Korg microKEY keyboard, so it was a good excuse to really dig into Korg's Gadget iOS app. 


STHML.016_1 (Korg Gadget)

this took a while to get right. I shall say less about this track this time, in the hopes that you may hear more.

the very lovely vocals are available to download and rework under a CC BY-NC license here -http://ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/52602

/ mikael

propellerhead reason 9.1
nektar panorama p6
apogee duet
sennheiser hd-650
iZotope ozone 7

heard a voice call my name (with snowflake)

this is a B-side of sorts to a track I uploaded yesterday, because it shares the same DNA, but is evolved. you know. sideways. 

I heard an excellent new track by wild silences/indii moon (https://soundcloud.com/wild-moon-skeletons/for-my-sake) and just knew I wanted to do something with it.

/ mikael

(in addition to my usual setup of propellerhead reason 9.1 / nektar panorama p6 / apogee duet 2 / sennheiser hd-650, I used my korg plugkey to use a few ipad apps for sounds on this, because: hey)

2016 project

october moon (with wildsilences)

this started as a jaunt down a sun-lit lane, and ended up somewhere entirely different.

2017 project

pipes

there's a long and, quite frankly, entirely uninteresting story of how I stopped wanting to make music, and then found myself enjoying it again.
do listen to the original if you get a chance - it's really quite good. https://soundcloud.com/wildsilences/disguise

/ mikael

made with Reason 9.5 based on a track I made in Korg Gadget on iPad
Nektar Panorama P6, Apogee Duet, Sennheiser HD-650, iZotope Ozone 7

disguise (with wildsilences)

because sometimes when you're lost you just keep on fumbling around and you still can't find the exit and then you think you finally found it but you didn't and you're still lost

because hey ha ha ha ha

says life

entirely without humor
in its voice

2018 project

lost

this track dates back longer than I wish to admit. it originally started out with a submission for the 41st disquiet project which explored evolving noise. I wanted to explore it a bit further so I added more instrumentation and vocals and left it at that.
then in 2013 I came back to it and did a few more things and left it. until today. 

you can find Lisa de Benedictis' vocals here - ccmixter.org/files/lisadb/26822 (under a creative commons BY-NC license)

wonderful liars (with Lisa DeBenedictis)

so there's this kid that comes and goes with aliases that never stay the same. yet the one constant thing is that when I hear a new thing it acts as an instant trigger for me, and I know I have to do something with it.
like kick it in the gut. 
the original is here - https://soundcloud.com/fangestreet/borealis 

(oh, and he did it again. here one moment, gone the next. but when he comes up for air again I'll capture him. even if only for a moment.)

/ mikael

strange meat - borealis (clb.rmx)

kids grow up. and if you're incredibly lucky, you get to grow up right there alongside them.

2020 project

boyo

look at that. another track. this one was quite done, but still not ready. so I kept nagging at it, day by day, until it finally gave in.

made with:
- novation circuit
- reason suite 11
- nektar panorama p6
- sennheiser HD650
- mackie profx10 v3
- isotope ozone 9

photo taken by me

strange state

having a dad and being a dad at the same time is a bit like Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys, minus all the bad stuff.

this one is for me in both timelines. me as the kid, and me as the dad. but probably most for my dad, who is the best.

fathers

when the boys at @leavesofabsense sent me this, it was a pop song that would have stood tall with the very best of the 80s. after I had a go at it, it became this thing - hardly fit in any decade.

/ mikael

the 80s (with leaves of absense)

here's a thing to say good riddance. this year almost - but not quite - broke me.

fracture

I came across box tox (https://soundcloud.com/user-247600493) a while ago, and was blown away by the quality of music there. been a fan from day one.
not only is he a terrific musician, but also very generous with his music - because he let me have a go at a recent track (https://soundcloud.com/user-247600493/trenchcoat)

I had a lot of fun playing with it. I tried to keep as much as possible of the original while injecting a few bits of myself. this is the result.

box tox - trench coat

I tinker with musical toys. sometimes they behave and sometimes they don't. sometimes they run and tell lies to their mom about what I called them. in the end we always make up and laugh about it.

I release music as colab; through collaborations; and by remixing/producing other artists’ music from my home studio in Toronto, Canada.

if you like what you hear, send me a message and perhaps we'll be able to collaborate on something. assuming I'm not too busy drinking. 

which has been known to happen.

colab

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