New Album Release; Synthscape – It’s Christmas Again
5/01/2024 - New Album; Synthscape - It's Christmas Again
The last synthscape for now and it was made near Christmas on the 21st of December 2023 to be exact. It’s been a while since I made a synthscape and I made it the same way I made the others through a mangled mix which was a Christmas mix I made from my own music I made in the past and as always lots of drums and synth sounds in a melodic and space boy fashion lol. It was going to be a Krampus special but I thought I’d make some alternative Christmas music that didn’t scream Christmas even though it does have some dashes of Christmas in but has the mangled effect on it which doesn’t make it seem that Christmasy. As always I used my trusted AKIA keyboard to play the sounds and the same hard-hitting drum kits to make it stand out more so you can hear the drum pattern over the synths and background noise. Also like the other Synthscapes, it has Hip Hop drum patterns over the synths and background noise. I think Hip Hop drum patterns are diverse and can be used for other genres and it would sound new and nothing like Hip Hop at all. I love my Hip Hop and at one point was all that I played from Kriss1, Mos Def, Notorious B.I.G, Tupac, Busta Rhymes, and all the females that passed through and also underground Hip Hop which at one point I was obsessed with. It actually inspired me to up my drum skills by adapting underground Hip Hop drum patterns with mostly synths stuff which I think works well and you get a synthy urban feel to the tracks. Even though there is a lot of synth sounds on the album I would still class it as Experimental music as, as always it was one big experiment to see what I could make out of the mangled mix and all the plugins and drum kits I have which are one shots (one hit sounds) that is now a main feature of the series and enjoy mangling one of my mixes I made from my music and see what I can mold around it. I called it It’s Christmas Again as how quickly time goes probably by the end of me typing this up we will be welcoming the New Year in and it will be 2025. Okay not really but it does fly by and the seasons change quickly I think the earth is spinning faster or something or as an adult it seems like it’s spinning faster. As always I say for the best listening experience please listen to it once through from start to end that way you can get the full view of the album or Synthscape which was an hour-long file and I cut it into sections and gave them names. It would have been an hour-long uninterrupted mix down but you can’t upload large file sizes or have long length mix downs so I cut it up and gave them names to get it out there or it would still be on Bandcamp as an hour-long mix-down which I think isn’t good enough but a start for anyone who is on there and willing to pay for their music and for something different. As always I have no favorite tracks on this Synthscape as I like it as a whole but I will say some bits are more interesting than some other bits and took a lot of work to make but is always fun. This one is a bit longer than the others and has more tracks as most of them are pretty short compared to what length I usually go for maybe 6 to 9 minutes anything after 10 minutes is long to me and not made for everyone’s cup of tea in the length front but I make longer tracks all the same. Some are shorter as I ran out of inspiration quickly for that part so I moved it on to the next bit which brings fresh ideas and new everything some of the drum kits and patterns are reused a few times but not too many times, I have done that on all the Synthscapes so far. It’s so I don’t get confused on new and old drums and to keep the CPU down even though by the end of it it’s through the roof due to too many open synth plugins but you can add enough to make an hour-long Synthscape or Soundscape without it glitching, shutting down or freezing on you and I’m using a Desktop version instead of a laptop which does make it better. There was a slight boo-boo on the album the track Blimey Are You Deaf (Hard Of Hearing) came out too distorted and a bit aggressive and loud and there was no way of removing it but I liked it in a way so I left it on there and let you decide if you liked it or not.Â
New Album Release; Synthscape – No Suppression
5/01/2024 - New Album; Synthscape - No Suppression
Another synthscape is a combination of background noise from a mix I mangled using Audicity and lots of synthesizer sounds and drums. This is the second synthscape I made and was an hour-long file but I had to cut them down to single tracks and title them all which was the fun but hard bit. It is best if you play this album from the start to end to get the full view of it and is me messing about and experimenting with synth sounds and drums with the mangled mix. I used my trusted AKIA keyboard to play the notes and all the drum kits I could find from genres like Hip Hop and House music for those fat kicks and rattle hi-hats and hats. I did the drums manually as I haven’t got a committed device but I saw the AKIA being used as a drum machine so it is possible. Anyway, it is easier to put them in unless you have something to go by like something in your head you can tap out. Like the last one, I used all the synths under the sun including the same collections the V Collection by Artuia and the Korg Collection by Korg. They are my favourite and I tend to use a lot of the two as there are lots of synths to choose from and also lots of sounds in each synth plugin which is hit and miss but they are real synth sounds and modelled on old original synthesizer hardware. Like, for example, the Arturia stuff is modelled on synths like the Moog, the Prophet, and the DX7 all the old hardware from the 70s and up, and covers all the classic synthesizers and keyboards of the time, mostly the 70s and 80s. The Korg Collection has all the favourite synths and keyboards like the M1 which is the most famous and used in rave categories like House, Jungle/Drum and Bass, Techno, and other rave genres. But also it has some genuine synth sounds made for genres like Synthwave, Vapourwave, and synth music in general but so does the V Collection to be honest which is why I use them both quite a lot and can’t live without them or should I say play without them, at least one of the two. I haven’t got a favourite bit as I like each track as again I think they all sound unique and different from the last one but I do like the darker tracks on this one like the one with the bongos which I do use quite a lot in these synth-scapes as I think it makes it sound even better or at least sounding good even though they are a bit of a trip to put together and take a whole day, a day and a bit with the YouTube video versions which can be found on my other YouTube channel Game For Experimentation. But even though it takes a while I still enjoy making them and also making the visuals to accompany the music. I love to play the keyboard and freestyle which is what I do a lot in all the music I make but playing the keyboard and seeing what you come up with is always fun and stops me from getting bored. The only trouble is you have to be in the mood or you won’t enjoy it and the knock-on effect of that is the music not coming out as hoped or to your listener’s satisfaction or even your own which counts more I think like I put music I like and hope people will like as well.
New Album Release; Synthscape – Melodic Distortion
5/01/2024 - New Album; Synthscape - Melodic Distortion
Something a little different and partly why I started another artist name to release this album and also release something different from the normal three genres I tend to make a lot of House, Jungle/Drum and Bass, and synthy stuff under my other artist name Gas No Light. It’s a synthscape basically and crossed between a mix that came out mangled when I first had the idea and lots of drums and synths and is like a soundscape but with synthesizers and noise in the background which is the mangled mix I put in Audacity and mangled it up for this weird sound FX. The album is best played from the beginning to end for a full view of the synthscape and was an hour-long file which I had to cut up and give titles for as you couldn’t upload an hour-long file and was too big for size so I cut it up to sections and gave them titles which was the hardest bit. There is YouTube video versions too which I made a running theme to the video and made a visual something quick and simple that can be found on my other YouTube channel Game For Experimentation. Also, there is a making of this one Melodic Distortion which is in parts and quite long videos one or two are over two hours long but it does take some time to make an hour-long synthscape as there are lots of songs that go in and out the background noise. I used all the best synth sounds I found in my DAW and made it sound interesting I think and not something that is made a lot though people do make them but all in different ways and hopefully, this is different. I played the keyboard with my trusted AKIA keyboard over the background noise and I did the drums manually using all the drums I could find but I did use all the beefy ones even the ones from the House section which I never use unless it’s House music. The album is one whole experiment with sound and synths with drums and something I will make more of in the future but not too many at the same time as I’m trying not to make too many of them and keep it rare also it does take a lot of time and strength especially the last half hour of the tape, I say tape but I mean I make them an hour long and I only did half hour it does get like when is it the end already. All the synths used are from my collection of synthesizer plugins and are mostly from the Arturia V Collection and The Korg Collection all rent to own on Splice.com my go-to for rent-to-own VST plugins and samples I use them quite a lot and I think they have a good range of plugins and samples. The best thing about the VST plugins is they are rent to own which means you pay anything under £25 depending on the manufacturer and you pay off the VST and own it for life after you pay the installments. You can cancel and resubscribe whenever you like which is good for me as not every month have I got the money and I spare the pennies by unsubscribing for a month or two on a VST plugin that I know I not using or haven’t used for a while. I like all the tracks on this album and think they all sound different and interesting with dark and light songs with Hip Hop-like drum patterns as I felt they worked best also 4/4 kick beat and is a staple in House music but also music in general. Â
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