I just fixed a lovely Roland SH-3a synthesizer that had an issue with the VCA. After fixing it, I decided to record this test to ensure all the functions are working correctly.

2021-09-04 Roland SH-3a Repair

Demo "Song" whimsically titled "Onenotesuponatime"

I am uploading this on the first day of experimenting with a Tom Oberheim SEM Pro analog synthesizer.

You can read more about it here:
http://www.evolutionarytheory.com/2011/02/just-took-delivery-of-an-oberheim-sem-pro/

This demo is all entirely SEM only, no other processing ( except a limiter ) was used.

What you are hearing is basically everything except the envelope generators ( the MIDI cable I bought didn't fit into the rear panel of the SEM, so I could only "play one note" ).

On display are the Saw and Pulse/Square waveforms, the absolutely astonishing 12dB multi-mode filter ( Low-pass, Notch, High-pass and Bandpass ), oscillator frequency and pulse modulation, filter modulation, oscillator sync, and LFO modulations in basically every combination you could imagine. I wanted to make an extremely comprehensive demo of what's possible with the raw building blocks.

The bass on this thing is INCREDIBLE....
I love the way it kind of talks when you push the oscillator sync and filters together.

I'll post up more once I get the right MIDI cable ;-)

Any questions just let me know.

evolutionary theory - Oberheim SEM Pro - Onenotesuponatime - ( hardware demo )

This is my first attempt at writing something vaguely like a "song" on the SEM.
Just one SEM track, with the rest mostly drum samples pilfered from Future Music Magazine ;-)
Analog EQ provided by a Yamaha MG16/4FX mixer.

Some compression using the Waves API 2500, the Voxengo Elephant Limiter and Fabfilter Timeless 2 for the delay and Relab LX480 for reverb.

Just a little experiment ;-)

Since the SEM has no patch recall, this is it, no going back and finishing this off.  It is what it is.

evolutionary theory - Oberheim SEM Pro - Test 1 - ( experiment )

This is my second attempt at writing something vaguely like a "song" on the SEM.
Far more complex technically and practically this time.

Four separately recorded SEM tracks, with the rest mostly drum samples pilfered from Future Music Magazine ;-)
Analog EQ provided by a Yamaha MG16/4FX mixer.

Some compression using the Waves API 2500, the Voxengo Elephant Limiter and Fabfilter Timeless 2 for the delay and Relab LX480 for reverb and d16 Syntorus for stereo action on the main Lead.

All freaky tweaking for each part done in real-time by me!

Just another little experiment ;-)

Since the SEM has no patch recall, this is it, no going back and finishing this off. It is what it is.

By the way, this is from a REAL Oberheim SEM Pro, NOT some plug-in. So the sound you are hearing is REAL pure analog.

evolutionary theory - Oberheim SEM Pro - Test 2 - ( experiment )

Some progressive housey vibes.

Hope you enjoy!

evolutionary theory - Untitled ( work in progress)

Being first and foremost a DnB artist, it's time to see what the SEM can do with some DnB bassline action.

It doesn't disappoint.  The key here is the filter track and LOTS of resonance.  Sounds fat and gorgeous!

Analog EQ ( mostly bass boosting ) provided by a Yamaha MG16/4FX mixer.  Also added a little overdrive via a Moog MF-102.

evolutionary theory - Oberheim SEM Pro - DnB Bass Test - ( experiment )

Yet another older one here, another tune written in Madtracker, this one on 25/04/2001

evolutionary theory - Reality

This is the theme music for the short film entitled "Dying Ice".
I wrote this piece of music for the trailer on YouTube.

A description of Dying Ice follows:

In a world where the sun never sets, Humans and Ashen co-exist in a constant state of tension and ill ease. The Humans, once keepers of a great society have made questionable decisions that have forced them to move deep underground in order to survive, away from the withering heat above.

The Ashen, a superior race unmatched by humans in speed and strength, in contrast, have used their inherited wisdom of the years and natural order to help them thrive in the harshness of the conditions above the ground.

When Dying Ice, a precious mineral used to cool the inhabitants of this world, is used in a trade for a noble Ashen girl, a betrayal is revealed that will throw this world into the beginnings of a war.

Written and Directed by Nick Kacevski, Produced by Hadi Tieu-Vinh, Editing by George Kacevski, Cinematography by Carl Robertson A.C.S.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 8.1 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2009 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 4 Library
* Drums - Battery 3
* Choir - East West Symphonic Choirs

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Compressor - flux Pure Compressor II
* Mastering Limiter - Voxengo Elephant 3.5
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Mastering Saturator - PSP VintageWarmer 2
* Track EQ - Abbey Road Plug-ins TG12412
* Track Compressor - Abbey Roads Plug-ins TG12413 - 1969 and 2005 models
* Reverb - Waves IR-L


evolutionary theory - Dying Ice ( Short Film Trailer Theme )

Hi there!

A while ago I decided that I wanted to make my own hardware and software to make music with.

This test is the first realization of that dream.
Over the last 3 nights I've written from scratch a VST2.4 64bit Windows plug-in to simulate the kick drum of a Roland TR-808 Drum Machine.

The reason I chose this sound is that it's subtly complex, yet still relatively simple (from a DSP point of view). So it's something that I felt I could do a good job of quite quickly. This is my first VST Plug-in. It's also something that other people have tried, but I never felt I'd seen a truly inspiring example of this particular sound emulated in software to a high fidelity.

This is a test of my first attempt. The plug-in in its current form uses 0% CPU on my machine when operating in Ableton Live 9, is fully real-time (no samples), and to me sounds top notch in terms of sound quality.

As a computer graphics programmer in my full time job, writing code is something I do a lot of and it brings me a lot of joy to be able to do so for my other passion of music.

More soon. This is still early days, and the sound has a long way to go before it's truly realistic.

Available as a download also for you to hear it as an uncompressed .wav file.

Vst Plugin Test 01 - e808 - evolutionary recordings

Hi there!

A while ago I decided that I wanted to make my own hardware and software to make music with.

This test is the second realization of that dream after my first test with simulating a Roland TR-808 Kick Drum (a project which I will return to shortly since it is more complex than this one).

Over the past few weeks I've written from scratch a VST2.4 64bit Windows plug-in to simulate the kick drum of a Roland TR-909 Drum Machine. The simulation is based on the original schematics and so far I've successfully modeled in software, with exceptional accuracy, the triangle-core VCO, the diode wave-shaper and the single-transistor VCA. I have more work to do on making the simulations closer to the real hardware.  So far, however, the results are extremely encouraging for such an early stage of development.

Available as a download also for you to hear it as an uncompressed .wav file.

Vst Plugin Test 02 - e909 - evolutionary recordings

This is a quick audio test of the evolutionary recordings E-1 Analog Synthesizer Dual Voltage Controlled Oscillator - VCO.

Two saw-tooth waves are played throughout, at different pitches and detuned differently over time.

The associated image shows what the current implementation looks like.

Unfortunately the soundcloud compression has decreased the sound quality quite a bit.... But the raw .WAV sounds amazing.

evolutionary theory - E-1 Analog Synth - VCO Test 1

This is a test of a VST Compressor design I've coded from scratch that uses some advanced mathematics to directly simulate an electrical component model of a modern audio compressor in real-time.

I've been teaching myself advanced discrete differential equation evaluation and combined this with my existing knowledge of computer programming in the development of the plug-in thus far.

My full-time occupation is as a Software Engineer writing high-performance graphics rendering code for the feature film industry, so combining this knowledge with music is something I've always loved doing.

The techniques this compressor uses I believe are unique, and display all the same non-linear behavior as the hardware I am basing the design on.

What you can hear is a dry loop, followed by a compressed loop. All loops are using one set of settings, so there is no tuning of settings being done, I just wanted to share the sound of this plug-in as it currently stands.

I'm looking to go commercial with this VST within a reasonably short time-frame, and are about to start on the GUI for the Windows 64bit version before looking into other platforms to support.

All comments welcome!

evolutionary theory - etheoryCompressor - VST Test 01

Here is my first attempt at writing a 4-Pole resonant Filter VST.

This one is based on the Vadim Zavalishin paper: "The Art of VA Filter Design" and the Roland 100m 121 VCF filter.

I've written an exact digital solver for the analog circuit including the zero delay feedback path, which also includes the diode clipper in the feedback path.

This is quite a complicated piece of code mathematically so I'm extremely proud of it!

This might make it to a product stage at some point in the near future.

Enjoy my first jam with it!

evolutionary theory - VST 4-Pole Roland-inspired Filter - Zero Delay Feedback + TPT

Here is my first attempt at writing a Filter VST.

This one is based again on techniques found in the Vadim Zavalishin paper: "The Art of VA Filter Design".

This time I've extended and finessed those techniques, added some more, and created something reall special:

An emulation of the KORG MS-20 Low Pass Filter (Late Model, not the early one, that'll come  next!).

I've written an exact digital solver for the entire analog circuit including the zero delay feedback path, and the diode clipper in the feedback path.

DIVA is providing a raw waveform to filter, and the reverb is from Valhalla Room Reverb.

Enjoy!

evolutionary theory - MS-20 LPF (Late Model) VST Plug-in

This is an emulation of the KORG MS-20 High Pass Filter (Late Model, not the early one, that'll come  next!).

I've written an exact digital solver for the entire analog circuit including the zero delay feedback path, and the diode clipper in the feedback path.

DIVA is providing a raw waveform to filter, and the reverb is from Valhalla Room Reverb.

Enjoy!

evolutionary theory - MS-20 HPF (Late Model) VST Plug-in

A little tune that I've been toying with for a few weeks.

It's still just a start but I thought I'd post it up to see what people thought.

I think it needs some vocals and some drums, so there's still a lot of work to do on it!

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 8.1 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2009 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 4 Library
* Piano - NI Akoustik Piano

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Limiter - Voxengo Elephant 3.5
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L



evolutionary theory - Seeing Around Corners ( work in progress )

A little tune that's cheeky and playful and reminds me of stories told by cheeky elderly people still so full of life.

Still a work in progress, and definitely a departure from my usual compositions, but I hope you find a lot of fun in this one.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 8.1 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2009 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 4 Library
* Piano - NI Akoustik Piano

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Limiter - Voxengo Elephant 3.5
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L


evolutionary theory - Stories ( work in progress )

The Brief?
Fatboy Slim and Art Pepper are having a party at Groove Armada's house.
Do you think I was successful? ;-)

Originally done as a favor for the film visual effects studio Rising Sun Pictures ( when I was still working for them ) for their showreel, unfortunately this track did not end up getting used.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 7.0.16 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2007 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings, Double Bass and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 4 Library
* Piano - NI Akoustik Piano

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Limiter - Ableton Live Saturator ( separate instances on the left and right channels )
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L

evolutionary theory - Slim Pepper Groove

This is the Australian theme music for the book "Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo.

I wrote this piece of music for Random House Australia.
Here is a link to the American version of the trailer on YouTube ( which features different music, which I was required to create an alternate version of for zoning and legal reasons ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3350u5ECL0&amp;feature=related
This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 7.0.16 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2007 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 3 Library
* Drums - Battery 3
* Choir - East West Symphonic Choirs

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Compressor - PSP MasterComp
* Mastering Limiter - PSP Xenon
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Mastering Saturator - PSP VintageWarmer 2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L


evolutionary theory - Redbreast ( Book Trailer Theme )

This was originally an experimental tune I'd written for myself, that became the theme music for the book "Voodoo Dolls" by Leah Giarratano for Random House Australia.

The only online link I can find is to the website of the designer behind the graphics: http://www.nadinegoss.com.au/motiongraphics/index.html - just look for Voodoo Dolls Trailer.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 7.0.16 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2008 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Drums - Battery 3
* Synth - Gforce Software  - impOSCar
* FX - Way Out Ware - TimewARP-2600

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Compressor - PSP MasterComp
* Mastering Limiter - PSP Xenon
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Mastering Saturator - PSP VintageWarmer 2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L

evolutionary theory - Voodoo Dolls

Very much a work in progress, this tune represents an attempt to cross over all of my favorite influences and genres into music that is hopefully unique, a little bit inspiring, and entirely evolutionary theory.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 8.0.2 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2010 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 4 Library
* Drums - Battery 3, kick drum synthesized in u-he Zebra2
* Choir - East West Symphonic Choirs
* Synths - Lennar Digital Sylenth1, u-he Zebra 2

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Compressor - Cytomic The Glue
* Mastering Limiter - Voxengo Elephant 3.5 
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Mastering Saturator - PSP VintageWarmer 2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L and Redline Reverb

evolutionary theory - Turning ( work in progress )

This track was composed for an Adelaide Massive website song writing competition, which it won.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Madtracker by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2005 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Entirely written in Madtracker

evolutionary theory - All I Wanna Say

Another work in progress, this tune is a departure from the usual drum and bass and film circles I turn, and into more of my variation on that club trance vibe, with elements of progressive house.  Please have a listen and leave me some comments to help me improve the next version as I keep working on it.

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 8.1.3 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2010 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Drums - Ableton Drum Rack + Simpler Instances, kick drum synthesized by filtered white noise using a custom synthesis technique I have been developing myself
* Choir - East West Symphonic Choirs
* Bassline - GMedia Oddity
* Lead - Lennar Digital Sylenth1

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Compressor - Cytomic The Glue
* Mastering Limiter - Voxengo Elephant 3.5
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Track Saturator - PSP Audioware MixPack 2 Saturator
* Reverb - Many instances of the Redline Reverb
* Distortion - d16 Devastor on most of the tracks varying from subtly to more strongly
* Delay - Fabfilter Timeless 2

evolutionary theory - Alias ( work in progress )

Here is a tune that will at some day be finished I think - probably after my album collaboration with Lee Safar.  Just wanted to post this to give people the chance to give feedback and tell me if they like this, I am quite attached to it, and I can't wait to finish it one day.

evolutionary theory - Seven Twenty ( unfinished )

This Kick drum is an attempt at recreating the old Gabber/Harcore kicks by replicating the old technique of overdriving a Mackie CR1604 desk using a 909 kick.

I recreate that chain here using multiple instances of Trash 2 with EQ's in between them. There are 5 in a row all tuned differently to get this kick sound.

All a bit of fun and experimentation.

Hardcore Techno Kick Drum Test

This is an attempt at recreating the Roland Juno Alpha-1 style Hoover sound using VSTs. Quite a fun exercise to do.

Hardcore Lead

This is the Australian theme music for the book "The Rangers Apprentice" by John Flanagan.

I wrote this piece of music on commission for Random House Australia.
Here is a link to a version of the trailer on YouTube it was originally composed for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZleasAiY6yU

Other related links:
http://www.rangersapprentice.com/
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Author/Flanagan,%20John

This track was composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered entirely within Ableton Live 7.0.16 by Luke Emrose.
copyright 2007 Luke Emrose

Technical Information:
* Strings and general orchestral instruments - Standard Kontakt 3 Library
* Drums - Battery 3

VST Plug-ins used for mixing / mastering:
* Mastering Compressor - PSP MasterComp
* Mastering Limiter - PSP Xenon
* Mastering EQ - Sonalksis SV-517Mk2
* Mastering Saturator - PSP VintageWarmer 2
* Reverb - Waves IR-L

evolutionary theory - The Ranger's Apprentice - Erak's Ransom ( Book Trailer Theme )

"Dandelion" from Protein - an award winning digital creative agency - written by Galvin Scott Davis, illustrated by Anthony Ishinjerro, software engineered by Luke Emrose, and supported by the amazing Protein One creative team, is a highly interactive story that deals with the topic of bullying in a story/interactive/iPad immersive experience like never before.

I was fortune enough to have been able to contribute the sneak-peak music for this project.

Whilst thinking about the story one afternoon I say down on the piano and played this. I hope you enjoy!

If you like what you hear I hope you will consider supporting the project on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/dandelionapp - this page contains regular updates on the project and various videos and images. The project will also be released soon on Kickstarter.

Thanks for listening!

evolutionary theory - Dandelion ( original )

My piano teacher and I have discussed for a long time the idea of me writing a series of songs for piano, and then learning them as a part of my piano practise.

This is the first of a series of songs I am writing as a part of my piano practise.

I hope you enjoy this journey with me as later on I try and actually perform these pieces (hopefully without totally ruining them)!

This particular version is just from MIDI, with some mixing/mastering I added to it.

I hope you enjoy.

cheers,

Luke

copyright ©2012 by Luke Emrose aka evolutionary theory.

evolutionary theory - Song For Piano 02

This is the first song for piano that I will be learning as part of my piano lessons.
I composed this song since I have been finding it difficult to concentrate on playing music by other composers, so felt it was worth just concentrating on playing music that I had composed myself.

This song is still in progress and I think that the final version will be roughly four times as long.

I am very happy with the progress so far - what do YOU all think?

Thanks in advance for listening, I really appreciate it :-)

copyright ©2012 by Luke Emrose aka evolutionary theory

evolutionary theory - Song For Piano 01

Websites:

www.evolutionarytheory.com
www.evolutionary-theory.com
www.evolutionaryrecordings.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/evolutionary-theory/110717958952413

With over 20 years of production experience, 6 compilation album appearances with 17 released singles, an on-line repertoire of over 62 releases and a genre pool that spans Classical to Drum and Bass - evolutionary theory aka e-theory aka Luke Emrose has had an eclectic and striking production history.

Starting in Adelaide, a chance meeting with Mark7, 5158 Records label owner and 1997-98 Triple J DJ Mix-up contest winner, set in motion a string of events that forever changed the face of the local Adelaide music scene. Along with vocalist Lana, the three were nominated for the 2005 SA Dance Music Awards Local Release of the year for their Drum and Bass anthem - “Like The Sun”, which received world-wide radio and club exposure. Next, collaborating with now-signed Technique Recordings artists D Jon and Skyver and 2003 Australian Idol finalist vocalist Lesley, Emrose co-produced the first ever 5158 Records world-wide Vinyl release, “Gimme Something”, which was later also signed to Technique Recordings via a remix by prolific Perth-based Drum and Bass producer, Phetsta.

Now residing in Sydney, Emrose has composed/produced music for companies like Random House Australia; producing many and varied styles of music for online book marketing campaigns and trailers - from classically inspired Orchestral arrangements to Glitch and Breakbeat jingles whilst also maintaining a regular stream of Drum and Bass releases for the popular 5158 Records CD compilation - ‘Adelaide Drum and Bass’ - now in it’s 6th series (Emrose has contributed 14 singles for the series since it’s inception in 2002), and more recently a string of Trance and Progressive House tunes.

Emrose has recently worked with Lee Safar on the singles "I'm Here" and "We Jump" - both available on Beatport, and is currently hard at work on Lee Safar's up and coming Electronica album.

evolutionary theory

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