Dear Diary
I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to get out of (gestures at the world) all this. I’ve spent most of my life living for other people, and it’s only relatively recently that I’ve begun to find myself and reclaim my autonomy. There’s still a lot of stuff to work through, but I do feel like I’m on the right path.
Considering the making of music, it is something I do for myself first and foremost. There are honestly times where I ponder whether sharing my work is beneficial or necessary. There’s obviously the ego boost of having someone actually take time to listen to my music and say something nice, but I think what I’m really after with sharing my work on Substack and Bandcamp is to be known (in an intimate way, not a famous way) and understood. There’s also a bit of wanting to create meaning and be useful, and maybe hoping some of this weird tuning / xenome / apptronica / experimental / avant-garde nonsense will actually be of interest and somehow help other artists find their way.
Progress
About the track
Recently I’ve been studying and pondering the term numinous, which basically means “arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring.” I think it relates to music that really pulls you in and takes you to a place beyond yourself. It’s an aesthetic state I strive for when I’m sound-crafting and seeking flow through my musical meditations. I find bells, reverb-y pianos, and deep choir voices go a long way towards evoking that feeling of being not quite alone in an abandoned church.
I used Atom Piano Roll sequencer on my iPad Pro to drive Module Pro and Klevgrand’s Pads synth, which is a new app for me. This track features another new to me Klevgrand app, Ting, which is driven by Beat Scholar and run through AudioThing Texture. The guitar tone is mostly my pedalboard running through one of those secret beta apps and Looperator. I used the latest beta of PD Space Guitar as well, which is where the flutish tones come from. The choir / vocal sounds are coming from my Mel 9 pedal and the factory “Angelic Pad” preset in Alchemy Pro running on my iPad Air.
Tools and stuff
Licensed audio samples from Glitchmachines and Sony.
Gear: Strandberg Boden NX 7, M-Audio Air 192/14, iPad Pro M2, iPad Air
Pedals: Gamechanger Audio Plus, SSS SRV, Strymon Deco, electro-harmonix Mel9, electro-harmonix Ravish, t.c. electronic SubnUp
Apps
Arthur Kerns: midiLFOs
AudioThing: Hand Clapper, Mantis, Noises, Speakers, Springs, Texture
BLEASS: Granulizer, Reverb
Camel Audio: Alchemy Pro
Jam Origin: MIDI Guitar 2
Klevgrand: Pads, Ting
Korg: Module Pro
Kymatica: AUM, AudioShare, AU3FX:Push
Modalics: Beat Scholar
Paul Driessen: PD Space Guitar Synthesizer
Sugar Bytes: Looperator
Victor Porof: Atom Piano Roll
Yuri Turov: Phonolyth Cascade
[Redacted]: 2
Xenome 801
This is one of 11 possible 2-note xenomes, more commonly known as the major seventh interval. The ear may want to hear this as a minor 2nd interval in B in isolation, so accentuating the large interval skip and using a drone is helpful.
C-801 scale diagrams
Xenotuning
6-String Guitar
Keyboard
Magic Square
Numinous