C O M M O N T O N E S

Cluster Drone

2007-11-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I played around with my old idea of random and control of music with hardware interface.
So I assigned the volume of 8 notes to the 8 knobs of my Trigger Finger, plus other controls for the filter.
This morning, I listent to it on my MP3 player, it was fresh, though theoritically very dissonant.

Guess what are the notes they are ;-)
(it's an idea that comes from some experience of SonicBrat)

CITY OF GLASS

2007-10-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's been sometime...
[Please listen with headphones for a better sonic ride :) Thanks!]

An ambient sound art piece made up by sampling kitchen wares, faulty cables,
synths, guitar drones and piano.

CITY OF GLASS

I closed my eyes
And got carried away by darkness
When I opened them again
I was standing in a city made of glass
The only people I saw
Were my own distorted reflections...

Locking on sinewaves

2007-09-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

This morning, took some moments of calm (or almost) in the Montsouris park to experiment a track on my Palm TX with simple sine waves and buffer lock effect.
The result is here, experimented/tweaked live on the Palm plugged into my EHX tube preamp.

The first track is harsher than the second one, more melodic. If you can't stand the listening on the first, please go directly to the second. Don't be afraid of that noise ;-)

Don't try to adjust your speaker system, the glitches are "normal".

Into space

2007-09-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Few days ago, I bought a T-Rex Bass Juice (bass distortion), and a Morley Little Alligator volume pedal.
The Morley choice was due to its optical technology which prevent from cracks from regular pot volume pedals.
I bought it because my regular volume pedal (George Dennis) was cracking.
For helping me with ambiance during the recording, I used my BOSS DD-20 Giga Delay, but the actual delay that you can hear is the Analog Delay VST plugin from MDSP at mdsp.smartelectronix.com/classic (and also the round-pan).
I recorded four loop drones today, and especially one improvized with 2001 Space Odissey chapter 29 in background, so you can listen to the track almost in sync with chapter 29 of 2001.

In Conversation With Rain [s o n i c b r a t]

2007-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched the rain from the comfort of shelter, and these little tear drops hit helplessly on your window pane... as if they are yearning for you?

Today it rained magnificently. The rain washed our land as it cleansed our tired souls, sending whispers that slipped into our concrete lives impishly. I had a conversation with the rain. But it ended abruptly. A mindless improvisation in response to what the rain told me; with no form nor structure, just reactions. It's an imperfect track that's random... but I guess that's the beauty of it...

A home brewed DIY minimalistic video clip of the track, using my mini casio digital camera, oh well... :) Do listen with headphones, thank you!

THE UNSPOKEN TALE OF RAIN

It tapped on my window
Asking to be let in...
Told me a tale of tomorrow
And slipped away unseen...

At least some fun

2007-08-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

Using the BOSS RC-2 as background

Yesterday, I was jamming alone, trying to find a way of putting an electric bass on my forthcoming new version of Light Tube ().
I'll probably add this bass melodic line or something similar, but it was actually also fun, I wanted to play the idiot for the video.
The background loop is performed by the BOSS RC-2 (the bass line was by myself).

Some Updates: s o n i c b r a t

2007-08-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Phase II had ended. So while we try to find a new direction for Phase III, we are on a hiatus. Taking a break from it for awhile. As you can see we will be updating on our own little ventures in synths, gears, softwares... music and sounds. So while being away, we will continue to load snippets of stuffs here.

I have been meddling a bit with my Doepfer A100 Modular system. Hooking up my "modularly modded" Roland SH101 to it. I am still quite new to this but I am definitely having fun, the old way :). I have yet to record stuffs down due to work commitments. But here's some pictures for tease. Will upload a demo track once I've done so.

Between the phases : Eric August 3rd 2007

2007-08-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Aaahhhh, I wish I could sleep a moment under the trees of LDT's land ...

But not for now.
Now is between the phases ... between phase II and phase "what?"
So let's have fun with some new (hardware/software) gear.
I purchased DrumSynth plugin for FL Studio because I discovered that some parameters could be tweaked in real-time ...

WEEK 4: LDT

2007-07-31T04:52:00.000-07:00

THE JUNGLE OUTPOST

Tempo: 120 BPM

LDT: LDT: Korg MicroKorg, Korg ER-1, Novation XioSynth, Ebo, Traveler Guitar with Roland GK-2 pickup, Boss WP-20G Wave Processor, Cloud 9 Distortion, Digitech DigiDelay, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Line 6 Otto Filter, Zoom MRS8, assembled with Sound Forge and Acid Pro

WEEK 4: LDT [Adding Things]

2007-07-30T04:49:00.000-07:00

This final track has proven to be a real challenge to complete. On Thursday evening I added some additional elements using my new Line 6 Otto Filter in conjunction with the Boss WP-20G and Cloud 9 Distortion. For echo I used the Digitech Digideay. I drove the WP-20G with my GK2 fitted Traveler Guitar and used both a flat pick and Ebo on the tracks I recorded.

This weekend was the beginning of Buddhist Lent so I traveled to the area around Korat to stay with my Girlfriend Sandy's family. Her parents home is a traditional old style Thai wooden house on stilts and the area around is rural. There is not much in the way of a cellular signal and no internet at all. I brought my Zoom MRS8 and Novation XioSynth along with me as I had hoped that I would find some time to finish off the recording.

After being there for a day what I had recorded previously sounded completely different to me. I was suddenly inspired to record additional tracks with the XioSynth and at around midnight on Sunday night I snuck outside and recorded ten minutes of the strange night noised made by the bugs and other creatures. I took these sounds and made several loops from them at various speeds including the orignal. The slowed loops sound truly spooky.

As for Eric and Darren's samples I believe the only one that will be truly recognizable will be Darren's drum loop. The other samples which I used, including one of Eric's guitar bits, have been put through sound forge in such a way that they fit in with the dreamy jungle journey.

WEEK 4 : E r i c

2007-07-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Angels of the garden

For this last rendition of the month, I used only the samples provided by Darren and LDT.
At first, I didn't know how to make my way with all these samples (especially mines ;-), but with a nice reverb over the harmonics of bass notes, inspiration comes. I love reverb, you must be knowing this, now.
And I tried not to pitch up/down the samples; they are only sliced, granulized or stretched.
I don't usually make songs in "multi parts" nowadays, I used to do this in my first years of play with FastTrackerII but this commontone song in multi parts is almost novelty.
Though I had some doubts about the idea of this phase II, I think now that it can be a good thing to do this samples exchange but with deeper direction to make a kind of offline jam session between us.

WEEK 4: s o n i c b r a t

2007-07-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

HIGHWAY FELO-DE-SE

Tempo: 120 Bpm
Key: E

This time round I did not use any gear recordings, just samples provided and some soft-synth sound-scaping using Reaktor 5. I've used a couple of LDT's samples, 2 guitar samples and one vocal sample of Eric's. I've pitched them, stretched them, ring modulated them, reversing them till they are just drones. Only Eric's bass guitar sample was left untouched with a little tidying and eq to clean the sample up plus time corrections; and the rest I've used mine... using the guitar synth sample I've provided in Week4, reversing and pitching it all the way up to underlay as the ethereal drone in the back ground. The bass drone get a stereo spread and the square arp get's ring modulated in one track and gated (plus getting the cracking residues of a crackle removal plug-in) in another to get the glitchy clicks. I've also used samples I've provided in the past weeks for the drums. Final touch ups were done by adding Reaktor 5 synths drones, reversing them and such. The loops were edited, warped and got a make over using Sound Forge, mixed on Acid, and mastered on Sound Forge. And here it is, a whiney IDM piece again.

WEEK 4: Eric [contributor]

2007-07-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here is my contribution for the week 4.
Alas, I just saw that the MP3 versions of my samples are pitched up for a unknown reason (I used RazorLame) :-(
Anyway, Darren and LDT have received the WAV vresions that are in the good sample rate.
For this contribution, I recorded my LAG guitar, my CORT 5-string bass (with and without distorsion, with and without EHX Small Clone chorus), and my voice. All of this passing thru a EHX Black Finger compressor and a EHX LP2ube preamp. I used a SHURE SM-58 for the voice. And AmbiLoop for recording on the computer.

(sorry for the pictures, I didn't manage to post them)

WEEK 4: LDT [contributor]

2007-07-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

Week 4 Contribution

This week I have decided to provide Eric and Darren samples that were created using three of my Korg units. The first four tones I recorded were from my Korg MicroKorg. I spend much of Friday evening tweaking some sounds specifically for this week. These are the sounds I've decided to share. The others may appear in my final contribution along side Darren and Eirc's samples.

The second group of samples are beats created on my Korg ER1. I varied the BPM halving it from the prescribed 120 BPM to 60 BPM to make it a little more interresting. I also recorded two loops with distortions from inboard effects on my Zoom MRS8 recorder. I didn't use the Sherman.

The last group of sounds was created using my old Korg Sigma. I ran it through my Cloud 9 Flanger and Digitech Digiday since it has no inboard effects of its own. The Sigma has great oscillators. The problem I'm having with it now is none of them seem to want to stay in tune for more than three seconds and some of the dials are suffering from their age as well.

Hopefully there are enough things here to be of use.

WEEK 4: s o n i c b r a t [contributor]

2007-07-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

Tempo: 120 bpm
Key: E

These are my samples created using only KORG Triton ST88. Everything was played and recorded (sequenced) on the Triton... nothing done outside of it and all sounds were designed on the Triton itself. This project has led me to exploring this workhorse in a way I wouldn't usually (due to the nature of my work). Effects and filters (on board) were employed as a design to play with the sound and timbre. Have fun guys.

WEEK 4: s o n i c b r a t [NOTES]

2007-07-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. We have come to the final week of Phase 2. What to expect? Well, in this final week, all 3 of us will be supplying samples/loops in the Key of E and tempo 120bpm. At the same time, all 3 of us will be using these samples to cut a track each. So that's 3 different renditions of the same set of samples. Take it as a show down between us 3 or simply interpretations of music. I am sure it will be interesting to see what music can be churned out of 3 different individuals, using the same set of samples/loops. Stay tuned.

WEEK 3 : Eric [originator]

2007-07-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

And voila, here is the tune I made with the samples provided by Darren and LDT. Tempo 115 Key D.
Please note that I use no other samples.
I re-sequenced the drums manually (then quantized) with my TriggerFinger.
I used Morphine VST additive synth to bend the vocal sample.

Plus, I also include a little experiment with some of the samples that I tried to mix like a Oval song ;-)

WEEK 3: s o n i c b r a t [contributor]

2007-07-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

Tempo: 115 Bpm
Key: E

So here's my samples. Created solely using my old trusty KORG TRITON ST88. All parts are played and sequenced, including filtering on the Triton itself. The drum beats were played and recorded, not using arpeggiators. The vocal samples are old recording samples of mine, warped on Max/Msp. All samples are kept dry and uneffected unless filtering intended. Anyway, for the fun of it, I've placed the dry samples all together to hear how it sounds. So here's the mix track of all my samples (minus vocals):

KORGATRONICS

Do listen with a pair of headphones for better listening experience :)

Have fun Eric!

WEEK 3 : Eric [originator]

2007-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hello,
It's now up to me to make the mix.
I have the intention to perform heavy destruction on the samples I will be given by Sonic Darren and LDT.
Perhaps using granular, or just slicing, or using my brand new VST plugin : Morphine (additive synth).

Deeps,

WEEK 3: LDT [contributor]

2007-07-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

For this weeks contribution I decided to work with my now rarely used Roland MC-303 Groove Box. This is not the original one I bought back ten years ago. That one is packed safely in a water proof storage container in Oakville. I picked this used one up here a few years ago at Pantip Plaza.

The MC-303 was a little work horse for me back in the day. It provided drums, sequences and backing pads for the band I had with Chris Chiasson (Stick) and Richard Forsley (Guitar). It later provided the same for Snowmelter. By 1999 I was very good at programming it and its only limitation seemed to be the lack of memory available for the user. There was no way to delete the hundreds of stupid preset "grooves" (which how sound hilariously dated) and the user was only allowed a measly 50 slots.

The MC-303 sound engine is basically the Roland Sound Canvas which features PCM sample based wave forms as the tonal building blocks. They can be filtered and messed with extensively and the drum sets contain the TR-808 and TR-909 kits. The other tone sets include lots of synth, piano, bell, and other sounds. There are some rather useless sound effects but if they are pitched down enough they can be used to create some wonderfully strange and spooky sounds.

For today's experiment I worked up several sound sets for Eric. For processing I ran the MC-303 through the Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube tube preamp and into the Zoom MRS8 recorder. The MC-303 was slaved to the Zoom's MIDI clock for tempo. I used the Zoom's internal effects to process the signal further. I recorded a few variations of a string pad to start. Afterwards I recorded several drum loops through some heavy distortion and some odd EQing and compression.

I used my Novation Bass Station for a MIDI control and the remaining bits were recorded with the MC-303's tone back slaved to the Bass Station. Once I'd recorded 12 short tracks I imported the tracks to Lappy and normalized all the tracks in Sound Forge before sending them off.

WEEK 2: LDT

2007-07-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

The Diabolical Plans of Monseiur Diabolical

Tempo 80 BPM

LDT: Novation Bass Station, Novation XioSynth, Yamaha AN200, Sherman Filter Bank, Zoom MRS8, assembled with Sound Forge and Acid Pro

WEEK 2: LDT [Update]

2007-07-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Diabolical Structures

The "framework" I pieced together from the supplied samples to act as some sort of guide collapsed last night under the weight of my frustration. A frustration usually reserved for dealing with all things Microsoft. The sort of frustration that might result in Grover-like arm waving and screaming. In any event at about 10:30 pm I simply gave up in dispair.

This evening I attacked the situation from a different direction. Instead of using the framework I began with laying down various drum tracks at 40, 80 and 160 BPM. I used my Yamaha AN200 and ran it through the Sherman Filter Bank and the results mirrored the sound of last nights frustration. I recorded five tracks of this, setting the Sherman on full blast for complete sonic destruction of the drum loops.

Once I'd expended all myself with this process I'd managed to create an unlistenable assault of squashed beats and shrill frequencies that proved to be as totally useless as my ill fated framework.

So.... I loaded up a blank project and began again using the Novation Bass Station and the AN200 as a MIDI slave.

And lo, it came to pass that my Muse, Space Walk Shirely herself stopped by and granted me a little idea that just might do the trick.

WEEK 2: LDT [Render 02]

2007-07-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Contributions Contributed

Now I have received plenty of samples and the process begins of trimming and arranging things into some sort of framework upon which I can hang some sort of final idea. I now also remember why I enjoy playing and recording over the tedious effort of dragging and dropping samples and loops.

The MP3 posted today is an assembly of some of the various parts, some of which have been messed with extensively in Sound Forge. What you hear doesn't include a signal beep or bump produced by me, its all either Eric or Darren. I have transfered this same track from a Wav format rendering to the Zoom format and have uploaded it into my MRS8 where upon I will begin the process of further editing and recording various additional bits and bobs.

I will keep you posted on the results if and when they happen.

WEEK 2: LDT [Render 01]

2007-07-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

LDT: Escape Traveler Guitar with Roland GK2 pick-up, Boss WP-20G Wave Processor (pads), Yamaha AN200 (drums), assembled in Acid Pro and Sound Forge

Eric sent me quite a few samples to play with. One batch consisted of some voice things, and the other some guitar sounds. Once I had downloaded them I took them straight into Acid Pro without any normalization or tweaking in Sound Forge. I arranged them in a grid with various parts coming in and out then looked for some drums that were recorded at 80 BPM. I found three tracks I recorded recently for something else and dropped those in to the song for a basic start. I also pulled two pads from the same source that were created with the Boss WP-20G Wave Processor and added those. Then I began to arrange and tighten up what was there. I doubled one of Eric's guitar tracks and dropped its pitch by an octave. I also dropped both of the Wave Processor pads by an octave. One drum bit was recorded at 160 BPM so I dropped that by an octave and brought the beats down to 80 per minute. At that point I added volume envelopes to mix what was there.

The intent of this first render is not to influence Darren's contributions or even give any sort of idea of how the final result will sound. This process which is sort of standard for me is to organize in my mind what is there, and to provide something to listen over the course of the next day or so on my iPod. Normally I would listen to the first render for a week or two before going at it more however in this case 24 hours will have to do. Once I've received Darren's parts I will add them to the sonic stew, mix and let simmer until I have absorbed it enough to add what is needed to finish it off.

WEEK 2: S o n i c b r a t [contributor]

2007-07-08T06:52:00.000-07:00

Tempo: 80 Bpm
Key: D

Samples created on KORG Triton ST88, GlitchedDrums created using a church bell sample and gunshot sample, glitched using Reaktor 5; normal drums created using Reaktor 5 Grooveboxes... I've kept it dry and uneffected so that LDT may chop it up and screw up my samples as he like... All yours, LDT.

WEEK 2: Eric [contributor]

2007-07-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Tempo is 80BPM
Samples are not top high quality (I still have to work this out ;-)

WEEK 2: LDT [Introduction]

2007-07-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Some Thoughts on Sample Based Music

I first began using Acid Pro as a system of music making in 2000 about six months

after leaving Canada. At the time my only other instrument was an acoustic guitar that I'd bought in my travels. Acid Pro gave me the ability to paste in small pieces of sound or music and build complex sequences. Originally I used the loops that were provided with Acid Pro and would mess with them as much as possible in order to make them my own. Later I began to record my own loops using various software synths. As I began to acquire more hardware and I moved away from doing music with looped samples. I began to use Acid Pro exclusively as a means of mixing tracks that I'd recorded on my small digital eight track recorder and rendering a final mix in Wav format to be tweaked and mastered in Sound Forge.

The use of samples (to be provided by Eric and Darren) to create a track is in some ways a return to the roots of my computer based recording process. I have yet to hear what exactly they will send me and I have no idea whether I will use their loops exclusively, add more of my own or if I will throw in some tracks recorded on my digital eight track. I will however post at least two versions of what will come as a way of showing the process in some greater detail.

For my week as the featured artist I have requested that the others provide tracks with a BPM count of 80 BPM in the key of D. Look for their contributions over the next several days and my efforts to follow on Thursday and Saturday.

LDT

WEEK 1: s o n i c b r a t

2007-07-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

MECHANICAL DREAM

PLEASE LISTEN WITH A HEADPHONES FOR FULL EFFECTS...

Gears used: Doepfer A-100 modular system; Juno-106; KORG Triton ST88
Softwares: Plogue Bidule; Reaktor 5
Samples: Provided by LDT and Eric (refer to previous posts)

A glitchy experimental electronic IDM piece... well, I tried many versions and somehow the samples provided by LDT and Eric seem to work best this way.

All drums are glitched and spliced on Reaktor 5 using the drum samples LDT provided, no other drums were used... eq and ring mod applied. Ambient sounds are created by really really screwing up LDT's synth sounds and Eric's distorting (clipping) guitar samples, thereby creating loops of the clicky buzzy background.

I added some mild sound designs using KORG Triton, glitching Doepfer A-100 sound samples I've created using Reaktor 5 and using a little of Plogue Bidule for additional synthesis. At the end, I added a bass tone using JUNO-106 to juice it up a little... that's it.

See if you can spot the original samples. Not for easy ears, be warned...

WEEK 1: s o n i c b r a t [First Impression]

2007-07-02T05:13:00.001-07:00

As the musician of the week, I have received all samples contributions from Eric and LDT and I am excited about cutting a track out from these samples plus my own input. I actually like the clipping and imperfections in Eric's tracks which were accidentally recorded as such. I think it gives a fuzzy unstable feel to it. LDT's drums and eerie tones are inspiring for me. I don't know what I will be coming up with, but stay tune as I work on the track, which will be posted up by this weekend. I've some ideas, but I won't know how they turn out till they are materialized. Till next update...

WEEK 1: Eric [contributor]

2007-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Tempo is 100BPM but some loop clips have been recorded with another length
Key is A

These are my first contributions to the Phase II for SonicBrat.
Alas, there are digital clipping in some of the audio samples (PROTECT YOUR LOUDSPEAKER !). I didn't hear them when I was recording under AmbiLoop, strange ...

WEEK 1: LDT [contributor]

2007-07-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Sample contributions by LDT:
Yamaha AN200, Zoom MRS8, normalized in Sound Forge.

Tempo: 100bpm
Key: A

All samples uploaded created by and copyright of LDT.

COMMONTONES PHASE II

2007-07-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Three musicians...
Three minds...
One song...

A weekly affair between the trio. Their first music making effort as an entity rather than solitude contributions. They will be working on a single piece weekly, a song a week, for the entire month of July. This is their next step, something they had in mind for a long time... and finally materializing. This is only the beginning.

PHASE DESCRIPTION:

In PHASE II, one musician will be appointed the "musician of the week" at the beginning of each week. This renders the other two "contributors". At the beginning of each week, the "contributors" will provide short audio samples of their own creations, anything goes (sounds, guitar, synth, etc), uploading to COMMONTONES. The "musician of the week" will collect these samples, and over the course of the week, compose and arrange a piece with the samples, plus his own input. The song will be uploaded here at the end of each week in the month.

This makes three songs, in three weeks, with the trio taking turns to be the "musician of the week". In the final week (week 4), all three will be contributing at the beginning of the week, and all three will be cutting a track from all the samples provided. Rendering three songs by the end of the week and loading them up on COMMONTONES. At the end of the project, there will be 6 songs in total.

Please join us in this journey of creating music on cyber-space.

--------------------------------------------------------------
PHASE SCHEDULE:

WEEK 1:
Musician of the week - Sonicbrat
Contributors - Eric, LDT

WEEK 2:
Musician of the week - LDT
Contributors - Eric, Sonicbrat

WEEK 3:
Musician of the week - Eric
Contributors - LDT, Sonicbrat

WEEK 4:
Musicians of the week - ALL
Contributors - ALL

DAY 31: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

"NOTHINGNESS"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Black

Humbucker, Alesis Ineko, Roland XP10, an antique bell, faulty connections and cables.

Looking back at the 31 days, it's been such a journey... A song a day. Sounds crazy but we did it. Thank you Eric and LDT.

DAY 31 : Eric

2007-05-31T11:33:00.001-07:00

This is the last day.
Phase 1 over.

Thanx for listening.

DAY 31: LDT

2007-05-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

"My Ghost Sits Here"

Tempo: 80 bpm
Color : which ever you like

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro. Feel free to comment.

DAY 30 : Eric

2007-05-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 118
Color : blue LED

I finally managed to use my Monome as a note sequencer thanx to the MonoChrome VST plugin in FL-Studio host.
It's nice but not all that I dreamt.

DAY 30: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

"REVISITING"

Surging deeper and deeper
Lost in an abyss of eternity
Can you hear my silent cry?

Tempo: 70 Bpm
Colour: Shadowy

KORG Triton ST88. A simple song today... short but reflective of my mood. Feel free to comment.

DAY 30: LDT

2007-05-30T09:16:00.001-07:00

"Last River"

Tempo : 40 bpm
color: some

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro. Feel free to comment.

DAY 30 : Eric

2007-05-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Tempo : unknown
Color : neon red

Loose improvizations. I apologize for the false notes and the bad sound. It was taken with my Olympus voice recorder, it seems that I put it too close to the amp speaker.
It seems that Sonic and I both have the envy of taking the axe ;-)

Anyway I like this kind of bad sound sometimes...

DAY 29: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

"STASIS"

As I sat there alone
And people passing by in slow motion
The tug, the change of decision, the look
The hide, the disappointment, the sting
Seemed amplified ten-fold...I'll take it all in
Alone...

Tempo: NA
Colour: Nothingness

Humbucker, Alesis Ineko, Reaktor 5 and some sound designs... It's a noisy droney clicky track, I didn't have enough time to touch it up, so as is... It's been a ride, a few more days to go.

DAY 29: LDT

2007-05-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

"FINAL RETURN"

Tempo: 70 bpm
color: all

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assemble in Sound Forge and Acid Pro. Feel free to comment.

DAY 28: LDT

2007-05-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

"Temple Bell"

Tempo: NA
Color: all

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 28: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

"MICROBES"

Chemical reactions of microbes communicating.

Tempo: NA
Colour: All

Doepfer A100 Modular System through KORG Kaoss Pad III. Some sound designs. Feel free to comment.

DAY 27: LDT

2007-05-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

"Free To Fly"

Tempo: 128 Bpm
color : all

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 27: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

"A Simple Feeling"

I kept on falling
Again and again...

Tempo: 50 Bpm
Colour: Orange (warmth)

My first taste of using everything Fruity Loop... sounds on board are electronic sounding. As usual, with a little sound design. Feel free to comment.

DAY 27 : Eric

2007-05-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 88 and 120 BPM
Color : warm green

Individual patterns recorded on Palm TX with Bhajis Loops in Parc Montsouris, sequenced/mixed with 64_step with Monome, and added reverb and some phaser with FL-Studio (no mastering with Izotope this time).
I like the pure sound of sine waves...
Second track features thunder sound recording from my home and washing-machine sound from my parents home.

DAY 26: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

"APOLOGIES"

Cuup Song
Rak Khun Maak

Tempo: NA
Colour: Green

KORG Triton ST88 and some sound designs. Feel free to comment.

DAY 26: LDT

2007-05-26T11:59:00.001-07:00

"The Divine Island"

Tempo: 70 bpm
Colour: all

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment

DAY 26 : Eric

2007-05-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

"How much time did you take for composing Rage Hard ?"
"About five minutes."

DAY 25: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

"REFLECTIONS"

I reflected...
And I know, I admit... I am.

Tempo: NA
Colour: Soft and Faint

KORG Triton ST88 and some sound design. Soapy times... Catching up on Commontones...

Feel free to comment.

DAY 25: LDT

2007-05-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

"Walking on Water"

Tempo: NA
Color : Ocean

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 24: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

"Près de Toi [Glitch Remix]"

Tempo: 80 bpm
Colour: Brown

Did a remix of the earlier Plogue Bidule creation "Près de Toi" using Reaktor 5. I used it for Piana gig. I've wanted to develop this piece and this is another stage.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 24 : Eric

2007-05-24T11:20:00.001-07:00

Tempo : 120
Color : amber

A new try on making a drone with guitar sounds.
Looks a bit like Oval, but needs more ... vision !

DAY 24: LDT

2007-05-24T08:03:00.001-07:00

"Reaching the Coastline"

Tempo: 80 bpm
Colour: blue

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB

DAY 23: LDT

2007-05-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

"At the House of the Translator"

tempo: NA
color: many

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

DAY 23 : Eric

2007-05-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 100
Color : steel green

I managed to communicate with my Monome40h, for now it's only under Max/Msp, and with its the 40h_64step application developped by Monome team, that takes 7 samples wich are triggered by the Monome.
I all made this afternoon, recording guitar parts with AmbiLoop first, then sequeced them with Max/Msp and Monome.
Actually, I should have worked more on the samples, and use slices of samples instead of whole samples to really make textures.
This was my first attempt, but yet exciting; it would be better next time.

DAY 23: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

"Dyspneic"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Cold Blue

KORG Triton ST88, sound designs... all effects processing onboard the Triton.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 22: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-22T13:07:00.001-07:00

"Back In Time"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Mouldy

I never stop wishing for the time to stop...
What a contradiction by reductio ad absurdm...

Sound Designs on Sound Forge, synth from KORG Triton ST88. Feel free to comment.

DAY 22: LDT

2007-05-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

"The Healing Place"

Tempo: NA
Color: Warm

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 21 : Eric

2007-05-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

Le jardin secret

Tempo : 134
Color : green and marble

I wanted to visit the garden, too.
Thanx Sonic ;-)

DAY 21: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Euphoric Ping"

That little bit of difference
Can make the world go round
It was in it's darkest hour
That sweetness tasted sweeter

Tempo: NA
Colour: Musty

Plogue Bidule, Audio Mulch, sound designs... We are counting down to the end of the month...

Feel free to comment.

DAY 21: LDT

2007-05-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

"Above The Clouds"

Tempo: 64 bpm
Color: Blue

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 20: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

"The Platform Syndrome"

I see people in reflections
Double images of animals
Charging at one another
The next train will arrive anyway...

Tempo: NA
Colour: Pink

An improvisational piece done using KORG Triton ST88 and a little sound design. Piano played on the fly during recording. All effects are from ST88. My first try on playing improvisational "jazz"... for the fun of it, though I don't really know how jazz works.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 20 : Eric

2007-05-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

J'ai besoin de rêves.
Between sweet warm and fresh cold.
I need to make dreams.

A simple tune made with only my guitar, an automatic volume pedal (the SV2, since my regular volume pedal seems to now make cracks :-( I should buy an optical one), and delay on FL-Studio, and then just few cuts on the track.
Using an A/B box is quite useful for me : I can rehearse/preview the notes on another amp (for instance my bass amp (yes !)) while the loop/drone is running, so I didn't make false notes ;-)

DAY 20: LDT

2007-05-20T05:04:00.001-07:00

"Suspended Between Worlds"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Sky Blue

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 19: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

"MAYHEM"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Dark Purple

Gears: Doepfer A100 Modular System.

Nothing else used, not sequencer, no effect processor. Everything was explored using only A100 synthesis. It's not music really, just doodling around and learning new things with it. Do listen with a headphone.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 19: LDT

2007-05-19T12:22:00.001-07:00

"The Bridge"

Tempo: 68 bpm
Colour: dark

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 18: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-18T11:31:00.001-07:00

"INSOMNIA"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Metallic Green

Gear: Doepfer A100 modular system

A sound piece again. My virgin night with Doepfer A100 Modular System. Do note that the sounds may cause discomfort and no post effects added to this one. Just purely exploring the new A100 doing random patchings. There's sub-bass oscillators going on so be sure to put on the head phones... I like the versaltility of it. What seems like noise to some may be music to others :)

DAY 18: LDT

2007-05-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

"Temple of Cleansing Fire"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Gold

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Digitech Digi Delay, DOD Dimension 12, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 17: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

"Candid Confusion"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Blue

Plogue Bidule synthesis again... Another experimental sound piece for today. For a view of the designed patch click HERE

DAY 17: LDT

2007-05-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

"The Comfort of Dreams"

Tempo: 64 bpm
Colour: sleep

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 17 : Eric (2)

2007-05-17T03:03:00.000-07:00

Tempo : N/A
Color : steel green

One of my favourite "exercise" and approach to ambiance, and one of the simplest :
here, 5 notes, randomly modulated in amplitude, and injected to a phaser followed by a chorus, for a feeling of floating in the air over a city of the future with only calm and serenity in the mind.
My Technopia variations are inspired by an old computer graphics video "Welcome to technopia" seen at Imagina.

One day, I'll make a one hour version to be burnt on a CD for sleeping.

DAY 17 : Eric

2007-05-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 120BPM
Colour : purple

Recently, in the town where I grow, I walked and smelt the odor of "betterave" from the sugar factory.
It surrounds you in big parts of the town, a strange mix between chocolate and "gruyere" cheese !
At first, it is very attractive,
but then, it becomes disgusting.
It reminds me much souvenirs from my youth that I spent here.

DAY 16: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

"The Noise Of Piano"
"Le Bruit du Piano"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Ice blue

Plogue Bidule; employing graining on Piano samples I've done randomly. Another minimalistic sound piece.

Feel free to comment...

DAY 16: LDT

2007-05-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

"The Haunted Forest"

Tempo: none
color : dark

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 16 : Eric

2007-05-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 113
Color : dark brown

The story so far :
At first attempt, this song was not inspiring... not enough.
Strangely, when I tried to sequence it 'live", I made a mistake by triggering twice the pattern of one the two drone sounds, so it gives a "surimpression" of sound (sound on sound), the same sound... Finally, instead of considering this as a mistake, I managed to listen to the result with other hears and then I fall in love with this little mistake.
By the way, since I have no means to listen to it with a regular hi-fi system here, but only a Technic headphone, hope it will be ok for your listening (it seems there is too much basses...)
Now, I probably try to reproduce it but in better way.
For this experimentation, I used only old Russian software emulation plugins. Don't ask me why.

DAY 15: LDT

2007-05-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

"In the Shadow of the Trees"

tempo: none
colour: dark

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Sherman Filter Bank, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 15: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-15T03:05:00.000-07:00

"Venir à la Maison"
Original Version:

Remixed Version:

Tempo: 75 Bpm
Colour: Tinted Green

Gears: All sounds from KORG Radias, KORG Kaoss Pad III, Drums from Reaktor 5

We are at the mid of this project. It's been fun though taxing. Two versions, version one is without drums and version two is with drums. Sampled 4 tracks onto KP3, played an EP patch on the Radias, improvising real time during recording and the drums are added post using Reaktor 5.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 15 : Eric

2007-05-15T01:33:00.000-07:00

Usine à betterave

Tempo : 140BPM
Color : clearblue

I didn't program drums for quiet a while.
This time, I just wanted to have fun with dry drum part.
I cut the release of kick and snare to have "tight" drums.
At first, I was not inspired, I though that I would do crap like so many times when it doesn't start good.
But since the drums and the bass are almost funny, I found a way to fresh tones (though the weather wasn't actually "in tune" with my song).
For CommonTones I like to make short tunes, because I haven't much time to make the tune, but I'd like to make this tune last much more.
Maybe in a global CommonTones remix ;-)

DAY 14: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

"Près de Toi"

Tempo: 20/40
Colour: White

Plogue Bidule; employing Crystal synth and Remedy synth (they are free downloads by the way)... For a view of the patch click HERE. Take it as a "work in progress" piece; there's definitely more room for adding things on but at this point I like keeping it simple and sweet.

A hypnotic, minimalistic and experimental piece. I wanted to do something "softer" using the PB platform, to paint a surreal but beautiful feeling. So here's trying something out for myself. It's meant to be listened to softly, best through headphones for the stereo images. The layers were added slowly and subtly... I actually like the granular synthesis (all the clicky random tones) quite a bit may explore more of it in future post.

Feel free to comment...

DAY 14: LDT

2007-05-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

"The Border Lands"

Tempo: NA
Color: NA

LDT: Novation XioSynth, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Boss Giga Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Acid Pro and Sound Forge.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 13 : Eric

2007-05-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 28
Color : marble

This morning I played with pseudo random sequenced notes, I added lot of reverberation, and since I love the reverberated part of the notes instead of their appeareance (I kinda love the ghost or shadow of the notes), I wanted to change the point of view in order to hear this nice reverberation.
I add the simple idea of just slowing down the tempo to 28BPM, probably inspired by the Leif INGE work on Beethoven 9th stretched out to 24 hours.
The result is more dramatic, by the way.
Oh and I used three flangers to modulate the sound.

DAY 13: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-13T00:44:00.000-07:00

"Flottements"

Tempo: NA
Colour: Pale

Flutters in the mind...

Plouge Bidule synthesis. Picture of the patch designed for this session. There is sub bass ambient going on so be sure to turn up your sub or use a headphone for best effect of this piece.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 13: LDT

2007-05-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

"Walking the Valley"

Temop: NA
Color: Dark

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Sherman Filterbank, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Zoom MRS8, assemble in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 12: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-12T01:36:00.000-07:00

"Reconstruction"

The reconstruction of a character
Is to disintegrate yourself within...
There in after to work on the foundation
As such it is, in fact, deconstruction...

Tempo: 85
Colour: Metallic

Gears: KORG Radias, KORG Kaoss Pad III, Humbucker, Reaktor 5, faulty connections; old vocal samples I've recorded.

Today's composition came without much thought, just switch my stuffs on and started recording. It's all about layering and try to paint the sub-conscious.

DAY 12: LDT

2007-05-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

"The Defeat of Apollyon"

Tempo: 70 bpm
Color : none

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Sherman Filterbank, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Zoom MRS8, assemble in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 11: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

"Nuages de Sucrerie de Coton"

The shadows palmed my eyes from the blazing sunlight...
Bearing the heat for me like a mother shielding her child from adversities...

Tempo: 85 Bpm
Colour: Pastel

Gears: KORG Radias, a little Humbucker and KORG Kaoss Pad III; Plogue Bidule

Listen to it softly... it's meant to be a quiet piece... Sampled into the Kaoss Pad III by parts and played live during recording. Guitar drone added post. It's a tough one today. I did 3 songs and the first two just didn't speak anything so I dumped them...

Feel free to comment.

DAY 11: LDT

2007-05-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

"Trials in the Valley of Humilation"

Tempo: 128 bpm
Colour: Dark

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Electro Harmonix Octaver, Cloud 9 Distortion, Zoom Digi Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 10 : Eric

2007-05-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 120
Color : saturated sepia

I was not satisfied yesterday with my improvization based upon my "Jump into my life" song (coming from a dream). Since I first pass my finger over the strings when just checking the sound, I then recorded an impriovization with too hard string touch.
This afternoon, I decided to redo the experimentation upon "Jump" but using my bow, to obtain a soft sound attack. I used AmbiLoop (and TriggerFinger to control it) for recording the phrases.
It appears that it also reminds me of old images from movies (short movies).
Since I was rather inspired, I recorded three experimentations though they are very close in terms of ambiance.
I hope you will hear the gentle wind though I hadn't include such sound here.

DAY 10: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

"Le Tour de Nuit"

Taking the night ride alone
Stuck in a time capsule
I wish I can speed up time

Tempo: 100 Bpm
Colour: White streaks

Gears: KORG Radias, KORG Kaoss Pad III

Using the same motive of my previous composition, I've developed the song further with a denser arrangement plus changes to the structure. It's the first time I am using the KORG Radias seriously. Nothing was sequenced except the drums, which was heavily sound designed. The song was played live during recording. There's a bit of other sound designs in it as well to paint the picture. Tune was passed through the reversed delay in KP3, and the drums through graining.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 10: LDT

2007-05-10T08:06:00.001-07:00

"Crossing the Stream"

BPM : 64 or 128
Color: foamy water

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Acid Pro and Sound Forge.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 9 : Eric

2007-05-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Dreamcloud

Tempo : 136BPM
Colour : purple over black

This morning, I had an music idea, some notes coming from my awaking state of mind.
I put them down on FL Studio. I tried to finalize this idea this afternoon ... but I lack of time. Maybe I'll developp this idea outside CommonTone frame.

DAY 9: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Quand les cieux sont gris"

When skies are grey
The leaves spoke to me
It danced to the wind
And waved my grey away

Tempo: 45 Bpm
Colour: Grey

I continue to work with simple instruments - An old antique chime and Lo-fi Casio SA-5 toy keyboard through KORG Kaoss Pad III; Processed and played live through a Reaktor 5 ensemble I've designed for this piece. Some subliminal sound designs layered in during post.

A meditative piece that reflects my current state of mind.

DAY 9: LDT

2007-05-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

"Drinking From the Water Fall"

Tempo: NA
Colour : blue

LDT: Novation XioSynth, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 8 : Eric

2007-05-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Tempo : 140
Color : fresh green

This morning, walking in Parc Montsouris, I was listening to some drone songs I made.
Rain has fallen.
Forgot that drone music can be enough to express feelings.

I first try to make this commontone with my bassguitar ... but it didn't come ...
So I use my guitar, again ;-)
Notes when played one time may be nice, but sometimes they need to be played more.
This time, I just plugged the guitar right into my Fostex mixer and then into my soundcard. I'm planning on using LDT gear, a LP2ube preamp from EHX, in place of my failing Fostex.
Of course, there are effects (mdsp@SmartElectronix Analog Delay, Kjaerhus audio Classic Chorus and Kjaerhus audio Classic Delay), all freeware.

DAY 8: LDT

2007-05-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

"The Water Fall"

Tempo: ?
Colour: water

LDT: Novation XioSynth, DOD Dimension 12, Digitech Digi Delay, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 8: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

"Une Berceuse Différente"

Tempo: 62 Bpm
Colour: Grey

Yet another sleepless night. My Humbucker and Kaoss Pad III

Feel free to comment.

DAY 7: LDT

2007-05-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

"Finding The River"

Tempo: 128 BPM
Colour: Water on Rock

LDT: Novation XioSynth, Electro Harmonix LPB 2ube, Digitech Digi Delay, Zoom MRS8, assembled in Sound Forge and Acid Pro.

Feel free to comment.

DAY 7: s o n i c b r a t

2007-05-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

"Le Garçon et le Trou"

The boy falls into a hole
The moment he closes his eyes
A place he will keep running
Towards the exit
only to never ever reach it
So he sits and stares
All day long... eyes wide, shut.

Tempo: NA
Colour: Black

An experimental sound piece using sampling of faulty cables, faulty electronics with faulty connections; microphone feedbacks; KORG Electribe AMKII, Reaktor 5, Humbucker.

Better to listen to it through headphones.

DAY 6 : eric (2)

2007-05-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Tempo : -
Color : light grey

This afternoon I plug the power in my BR532 digital 4track machine. Time has passed since the last use...
And I play with the scrub tool, something that is intended to find passages in a song, but used here as a sort of sequencer input (the jog wheel is very pleasant).
Only BR532 with an old track recorded by me, almost only guitar part is used.
The track was not one of my favorites.
I recorded this experimentation with my voice Olympus WS320M recorder.
Reverb is done by the BR532.

This "thing" is not supposed to be really a song, but is part of the experiments I like to make, so part of the CommonTones.
Please just consider it as an andecdotic interlude. An industrial one ;-)
It's me taking at the beginning what I have written here.