My Creations

I created and recorded these tracks in just over two weeks, for the 2024 Record Production Month (RPM) challenge. I set out to make a five track EP over 20 minutes, using my Synthstrom Deluge groovebox as the backbone, running the new community firmware, and with many sounds I crafted on my Minilogue xd and Dreadbox Typhon synths. My goal was to explore creatively, be spontaneous, improvise, work fast, and make some fun and interesting music. I managed to achieve all my goals. I learned a lot, figured out some good workflows, and found several things I can study and practice to improve further. I hope you enjoy.

Cover art by me, coded in P5.js, inspired by Victor Vasarely's painting Orion Gris. I worked out the rules behind it, expanded it from a 20x20 grid to a 138x138 grid, then applied a sorting algorithm with two different placement methods (linear and spiral).

Unconstrained Within Constraints - EP

Initially created for the Deluge (synth) Discord monthly challenge.

"February's challenge is to NOT use the sequencer for any clip. Record your playing directly into the clip. Try not to use quantization."

I made this track as the first of the set, and it inspired me to give the RPM challenge a go. Shoutout to my Deluge Discord homies. Thanks for the encouragement and assistance!

It was an interesting challenge, and I think it’s a good way to go to produce music relatively quickly. This was all done within two days and two recording sessions. I normally start a song with a steady beat to play along with, but this time, I recorded in an improvised arpeggiated clip, then played along to that for the subsequent clips, so it ended up with a much looser, more “humanized” feel.
I started with my Minilogue xd patch “Cosmic Arp”, and that gave it the general feel of space exploration, which I built upon with the other patch selections. I used a Boards of Deluge collection pad, “Sound From Afar”, and a spacey ping-pong delay patch I made on my Typhon and drove with an arp from my Keystep 37. I recorded it all in live, unquantized and unsynced, one synth at a time, or 2-4 percussion samples (clave, wood blocks, conga, timpani), at a time. I recorded the percussion using the live sequencer since that meant I could just have one kit clip instead of having that plus three or four more audio clips, but I didn’t edit the sequences afterwards except to trim a couple beats at the end if I went over.
I recorded and mixed it entirely while wearing headphones, and I think it ended up sounding better on them. I recorded it into Audacity as a stereo mix and added fades at the start and end, normalized it, and compressed it a bit. It ended up pretty dense, almost like a drone, but I think the parts are still differentiated enough that you can pick them all out most of the time.

Unconstrained

I used a few Minilogue xd patches (Pizza Time, Adagio Strings, Brass Hero) to lay down the main parts over a basic metronome kick. I recorded the sequences in live into the Deluge and then edited them as needed. I started with the plucks, using The basic black key pentatonic scale, made four audio clips with slight variants (octave shift and/or pattern shift halfway), and applied different effects to each. Then I played in the brass patch sequence, simplified and modified it to work well with the strings. I thought the Erhu patch I made on my Typhon fit well with the eastern vibe, so I added that as the main melody which comes in halfway into the song. I recorded that in live after some practice, and edited it fairly extensively to get the two variant sequences, one with more embellishments. It was fun to use the aftertouch and take advantage of the mono-synth legato. I'm kind of pround of all my xd and Typhon patches. Some emulate acoustic instruments like these, and they're all really fun to play. I used audio clips for everything so I could work out the arrangement in the Deluge, then I was able to record everything but the plucks and drums separately in a couple of passes into the Model 12. This one required that to get better audio quality and to allow for mixing and editing in Audacity since it was a bit more complex of a structure. I actually started with a pipe organ patch before switching to strings. It ended up just blowing out the bottom end too much and causing weird interferences.

You Are Who You Are

Made a beat using the LINN 9000 kit on the Deluge, recorded alto recorder improvisation clip, played Pianet multisample along to that using Keystep 37, recorded audio of an arpeggiated patch from the Typhon into another clip while tweaking some knobs, made the weird phased effect sounds by sampling the sound of me swiping a a few keys, then applied lots of the new Deluge effects. Set up in arranger view, recorded into Model 12 with a bit of compression, fade in/fade out in Audacity. Quick and dirty, but fun.

Latin Jam

I wanted to use some of my more experimental Minilogue xd patches (Sacred Calls, Jormungandr, and Vocal Oddity), so I dusted off an old beat I had made all the way back in 2020, in my first months with the Deluge, and fine-tuned it a bit. It used some odd sounds in kit 26, and a nice droney Boards of Deluge synth patch called Dark FM. I played things in live, and did some tweaking in Audacity. The fast pluck sequence is the Typhon being driven by a rebellious Keystep 37. I couldn't get the arps to be consistent at all, so I just rolled with it. This track is a bit less danceable than the others, but that's okay. It's more about the vibe.

Alien Groove

I found a great acid bass sound on my Dreadbox Typhon, and just played around with it while it was driven by an arpeggio on my Keystep 37, at 183 bpm. I recorded it into my Model 12 Mixer, then I did that a second time with a different sequence and slightly different settings on the patch, because it was so fun. I lined them up in Audacity, and found they actually worked pretty well together. I constructed a beat using the 808 kit on My deluge, made a variation, then fleshed it out a bit with an Oberheim DMX kit, which has some nice cymbals. I mostly worked with the DMX kit for the recording performance, where I played around with the stutter effects a bunch, which was lots of fun. I chopped a bit from the drum track to make a better ending, and I used the envelope tool a bit on the synth tracks in a couple places where things got to be a bit too much.

Acid Flask

I made another acid house track. The Deluge and Typhon are so fun together. This time I played my tenor recorder a bit to add another layer. I think I might be addicted to acid now. But that's okay. Everyone can use more acid.

Though I laid the groundwork for this song over the previous week, I ended up recording it just a few hours before the deadline for the Record Every Month challenge, for August 2024. https://www.rpmchallenge.com/remchallenge
The drum kit samples are mostly from the 909, with a few from the default kit 13. I made the acid patch (Acid-Nu) on the Typhon, and built up the sequences for that all on the Deluge using the Keystep 37 to do some live recording and then editing. While doing the final recording, I turned certain notes on and off, which due to the mono glide nature, ended up affecting the sequences dramatically. I recorded it all in one take without the aid of the arranger or grid views, and then recorded my recorder playing over the top, and then edited that track a bit in Audacity.

I then made the cover art, which started with a still from the Depeche Mode music video for "Behind The Wheel", where one of the members plays the recorder. Since I played the recorder in this track, and thought it fit the vibe of the song, I took it and added a difference blended layer of a still capture from an animated interactive code-art piece of mine called "Fragmentary Waves" https://openprocessing.org/sketch/2300558.

Get The Blood Pumping

I made this on my Deluge groovebox as part of a challenge to make a song using only staccato notes. It’s a more arranged piece than is standard for me. While that method is not as spontaneous, it allows for a more complex and detailed story to be told, so I enjoy going that way occasionally. What that story actually is…I’ll leave up to your imagination. I used the xylophone, Steinway piano, and harpsichord (L2) sampled instruments on the Deluge, and the Pebass2 bass patch on the Typhon synth. For percussion it’s the stock drum kit #22 and an acoustic jazz-funk kit, plus a bunch of acoustic string “zap” samples placed to indicate when transitions are about to happen. I recorded most of the sequences in live (the faster section with an arpeggiator) and then modified them to fix timing and adjust structure. I did the final recording from the arranger mode and mastered in Audacity. I made it for the Deluge Discord challenge, but I also submitted it for the September REM (record every month) challenge since I liked it the most of the songs I made this month. Cover art by me, an edited/altered output from my Windswept Infinity generative art project.

Staccatoriffic

I made a track for the REM Drone Orchestra for September 2024, and I thought it sounded good enough to stand on its own. I made this using only the Minilogue xd, using a patch I made a long time ago. I did a bit of modulation, and a few chords built up note by note over the base drone. It is in the key of A using the lydian dominant scale ( a.k.a. overtone scale, or acoustic scale), as decided by some of the people in the Discord group. It’s not far off from the diatonic scale, but I like it a lot. Cover art by me, a lightly edited output from my Windswept Infinity generative art project.

Windy Fields

Made for the Record Every Month Challenge for October 2024. On a sunny, warm, and windy autumn afternoon, I took my Deluge groovebox outside for a change and admired the golden maple trees swaying in the wind and dropping leaves with the waxing moon slowly rising above, which became the inspiration for the track that I sketched out over the course of an hour. I wanted to use the Boards of Deluge patches more, and these two seemed to capture the mood well. I then fleshed it out with more percussion and arranged it in the studio over several sessions, mixing it fully in the Deluge, with some compression and hall reverb applied in the Model 12 mixer. It captures my feelings of the fall season in Minnesota. It is alternately wondrous and difficult, joyful and bittersweet. The eventual loss makes one appreciate the temporary beauty all the more.

Falling Leaves, Rising Moon

This was my contribution to the REM Drone Orchestra for October 2024. I used my Deluge to build the structure of having a new voice come in at 1 minute intervals, then drop out over the last minute. Setting it to 64 bpm made it easy to lay out the different sections due to how the 16 pad wide screen divided things evenly. Then I used it to drive the notes for my xd and typhon synths which I controlled manually in two recording runs. My Typhon patch "Being" runs throughout as the foundation, and the xd stacks layers on top. I had created this odd Minilogue xd patch that sounded like someone saying "sasasoya" a long time ago, and hadn't known what to do with it until now. There is definitely potential for a few more drone tracks using more experimental patches like that.

Acid Flask

Metamere