Give Love

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually, as part of a future solo album)

Greetings all you fun and funky SC musicians. I don’t typically upload remastered versions of a song as a new track. I usually just replace the old with the new, and change the title to reflect the remaster. But this one is special, for a few reasons (and if you’re not much into personalized mixing details, you may want to skip this liner note).

First (and most importantly)… I thought I’d lost the ability to edit the original tracks for this song. The last time I opened it up in Logic (updating it for the 2018 album remaster), the siren voices were all messed up (automation in Alchemy can have odd results sometimes). I just assumed the original native file was broken forever, because I no longer had access to that version of Logic. I had to do the album remaster from my only existing mix… and it was definitely lacking.

4 years later, I’m so glad I took a chance on reopening the native file when I concluded this ‘Siren’ trilogy. All the sounds/automations were exactly as I had left them. Prior to this attempt, I just assumed the worst, and never tried again. Thankfully, I was wrong. :D

Second… the remaster turned out much better than I hoped; and the differences were so satisfying, I thought it might be fun to have both versions up (for a side by side comparison, for any interested musicians out there. Here's the older version: https://soundcloud.com/grevusanjl/siren-rising).

So why does this one sound so much better than the original version? (And please take all of this with a grain of salt. I’m no pro. But I have discovered what works for me.)

Honestly, a tremendous amount of credit goes to having a much better understanding of Compression. For many folks, Compression is almost a dirty word. Just the title of the plug-in alone confused me at first. Why would I possibly want to compress my sounds, when I liked them as is? 

But it turns out (for me at least) that the different Compression options really shine when chosen specifically, and used minimally. As an example (and I’m not sure if your DAW offers similar options, but), Studio VCA works brilliantly with strings, female vocals and many of my favorite synths. But Studio FET works great on drums. Etc. And while some might cringe at the idea, I absolutely love what Soft Distortion does to most tracks as well. Used in mild amounts, Soft Distortion adds a phenomenal amount of spacial quality to the sound. I don’t use this one all of the time, but I bet I use it at least 75% of the time now (and Compression in general on about 95% of the tracks).  So there you go… I’m definitely a big fan of Compression… when used responsibly. :)

In addition, I’ve also learned a lot about EQing since I first did this song in 2017; so much so, that I was actually baffled by some of my earlier choices. So a large amount of the repair/update time for the 2022 remaster was spent on getting the EQing for each track set up more effectively.

And finally, I had the opportunity to give the full mix a healthy rebuild. After 5 years, you’re undoubtedly going to have a very fresh perspective on a piece. And I realized a lot of the sounds simply weren’t in their optimal positions in the stereo field. I also reconsidered where sounds faded in and out, and how intensely they did so… and I updated all of that as well. 

And there you have it, the story/history behind one of my all time personal favorites. I’m so glad I had an opportunity to revisit this one (while leaving all the original instruments true to form), and I hope you enjoy all the latest sound enhancements as well. I’m excited to hear what you think of my ’Siren Rising (2022 Remaster)’. :D

WTF! The Musical

Siren Rising - 2022 REMASTER

The last track made for the album Time Enough At Last, released in 2O22
Grab it here: https://zuunzug.bandcamp.com/album/time-enough-at-last
Le dernier morceau réalisé pour l'album Time Enough At Last, sorti en 2O22

Time Enough At Last

Kali

Album

Vocals, vocalise by Nadia Selvaggi
Instrumental by Anomon (Gary Courtland-Miles): https://soundcloud.com/gary-courtland-miles

Note from Anomon/Gary Courtland-Miles: 
"Recently I reached out to fellow SoundClouder and Vocalist Nadia Selvaggi, @nadiaselvaggi , wondering if she'd like to collaborate on one of my pieces. And Happily she said yes! 😊

After a few weeks of Listening, she zeroed in on my favorite Orchestral Fusion compositions, Cosmic Cycles*. And as I expected, her thoughtful, lyrical and powerful Vocalise certainly takes the piece to new Cosmic heights.

We're delighted to present it today. 😊

May you enJOY."

Composition © Gary Courtland-Miles 2022
Vocals ℗ Nadia Selvaggi 2022

© Gary Courtland-Miles & Nadia Selvaggi 2022

Photo : A Majestic Island Universe / NGC 1365
© NASA by The Hubble Space Telescope

Cosmic Cycles by Anomon & Nadia Selvaggi

dark matter

Boffins Are Baffled

Delighted to present my latest collaboration with The Phaige, one half of Soundcloud stalwarts One and Other, alongside Jaime J Ross. This is a trippy, exotic backcloth with a cold North wind blowing through. 
Gary once again amazed with his creativity and his multi-layered production. He has such a keen ear for detail and brushstrokes to enhance and improve. What grabbed me from the outset was the slinky, fluid bass playing, but there are many levels across the frequencies to hook you in. Always a fun process to work with him.

All instruments , artwork and production: ThePhaige
Vocals and lyrics: Nick

Check out more sonic treasure and please also support the track if you like it, here:
https://soundcloud.com/one-other

Come with me with tales of magic, mountain spirits, hail and snow from your motherland.
Tell me secrets never told of winters bleak and hardship in the biting winter cold - aah

Take me to hidden places where food and love and family keep you warm
I’ll ride with you on Northern winds through deepest valleys and the blackest storms

I’ll sing with you while we are drunk with laughter in our eyes
I’ll listen to your strange new words of love from the North

Fly me faster through the stars to universes only we will ever know
Keep me close and make sweet memories for now and evermore

From North - The Phaige with Nicholas Ridiculous (lyrics in description)

A big thank you to Jo Richter @sonic-textures for offering up this inspiring open collaboration poem! His recording, also quite strange and experimental, can be found here:
https://soundcloud.com/sonic-textures/the-passing-crave-voice-effects

The rhythmic background in my track was created by taking Jo's recording and chopping it up into fragments, then running it through a sample arpeggiator using an app called Samplr. Jo's recording is also used in the backward tape effect at the beginning and end, also created with Samplr. 

To further experiment with tape manipulation effects I did my own reading of the poem, then snipped the vocals into fragments and pitch-shifted them, this time using the Abu Dhabi dynamic loop slicer in Korg Gadget. Of course I also layered on some synth and keys (arturia microfreak, minilogue xd). Quite a different approach for me on this one, but it all came together surprisingly quickly considering the relative complexity. I hope to experiment with similar techniques going forward, I'm finding it fun to work with poetry and spoken word, so am definitely open to more collaborations that go in this direction!

Lyrics copyright Jo Richter (Sonic Structures and Silent Stretches)

the day slopes
down the hill
his residence rests on

the clouds in his gaze
match the clouds in the sky
as the winds gently shape them

he has a slow meal
within shifting structures 
of people who rush by

stopped at a corner
he sees squatters evicted
from ivory lodgings

matching his steps
to the patterns of stones
he rewrites the pavement

past the outskirts of town
he watches a beetle
scuttle along a fencepost

he walks past the tree
he has been dreaming of
for ten years in a row now

in liquified air
this moment freezes
unseeing his life

The Passing: Fragmentary Mix - w/ Sonic Structures and Silent Stretches (Poem by Jo Richter)

Nine

outside today | untitled project 001 sessions | ambient atmospheric psyche drone jungle industrial horror WIP | runx3 9 20 bpm take 1 82225

abnormal | untitled project 001 sessions | ambient atmospheric psyche drone horror industrial jungle WIP | port 3 75 bpm take 1 62125

New album Audio/Visual is now available exclusively on SC and BandCamp, featuring my favorite tracks from 2024-25. Soon to be released more widely to Spotify and other platforms.

My genre influences include electronic, downtempo, lofi, experimental, rock, blues, indie, prog, post rock, ambient, synthwave, trip hop, and hip hop. 

My recent tunes are produced using Ableton Live, FabFilter suite plugins, and often feature synths like Pigments, Microfreak, and Minilogue XD. I'm also beginning to incorporate guitar a lot more!
 
Some of my major artist influences include Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, DJ Shadow, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, M83, Godspeed you Black Emperor!, Mogwai, Animal Collective, Nicolas Jaar, Dirty Projectors, Massive Attack, Björk, Dan the Automator, Del, the Gorillaz, Reggie Watts, Ween, Neon Indian, Tycho, Ott, Shpongle, Danger Mouse, Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo, Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd, Modest Mouse, the Books, and too many others to list here.

The Passing: Fragmentary Mix - w/ Sonic Structures and Silent Stretches (Poem by Jo Richter)

Tea R. Sea