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Mr Sandbags
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Another in my series of evolving sonic noise experiments.
The source for this piece was a recording from my latest Reaktor instrument TMA-2 with a sample map constructed from Richard Devines Broken Santoor (I’d link it but he has some crappy Flash based site, it’s in the Library section somewhere).
Originally I was just recording 30-40s to upload as a TMA-2 demo to SoundCloud but I loved the textures it was coming up with so much that I couldn’t find a good point to stop the recording! So I decided to make a track for my ‘Dissolving into Noise’ series instead.
At the moment TMA-2 doesn’t have any post processing capabilities. It’s just a granular sampler with a somewhat exotic sequencing mechanism. While I loved the sounds, because there was no panning or reverb, there wasn’t much life or movement.
I imported the audio into Ableton and started messing with CamelSpace, Replicant, and Eos. I used two instances of CamelSpace : one sweeping a filter on a send, and the other panning where I rode the pan knob myself during the recording.
I spent some time working with Eos to get a nice sound. I couldn’t quite decide what I wanted as different settings gave a completely different flavour and mixed too high lost a lot of the detail of the original audio. I’m not sure I’m 100% happy with the compromise I ended up with but this was a quickie morning project.
Lastly I added Replicant, somewhat on a whim, because I like it and the effect it generates. I used a preset based entirely on random beats and rode the % knob during the recording. It just adds a little spice.
Now you may argue there was already a good deal too much spice to begin with and I would be hard pressed to disagree. I think one of the difficulties with pieces like this is that they are too sonically dense and can become something of an assault on the senses.
But I’m struggling to understand how to create space in these pieces. I toy with the idea of chopping up the audio and inserting gaps & allowing reverb to gel everything together but it seems something of a crude approach. Maybe I’ll try it anyway but ideas/suggestions for how to structure pieces like this to create more space would be warmly welcomed.
Mr Sandbags
said
@MannequinRaces: Reaktor is still a great tool for experimenting with sound design and, as a bonus, you get a fantastic range of great instruments and effects. It does require some effort to learn and the program has some issues but it's totally worth it. Thanks for your suggestions about creating space. You're right in that I just went for the first fast panning preset I liked and it is kind of monotonous after a while. When I was working mostly in Logic I used to automate volume a lot which can also create space. But this is something I don't find as natural in Ableton. I think it's a consequence of the Session/Arrangement dichotomy that I'm not as happy with yet. I'm working on something new & again using TMA-2 as one of my sources. I'll see if I can do a better job with it.
Mannequin Races
said
(Drool) Okay, I've always known that I've wanted to give Reaktor a shot but now I really want to try it out! Great stuff. I have no idea how to ad more space in something like this but I like it the way it is. My only suggestion to try out sometime is to vary the panning. Seems like the panning (ping pong effect) is pretty consistent. I would try varying it more (like faster panning for a bit, then slower, etc..). Anyways cool stuff!
Guest
said
I prefer the source....but this is interesting as well.
mmi
said
Well done. I don't really have any suggestions about structure except to say don't get too hung up on it :-) I kind of think that the way this ebbs and flows is all the structure it needs.
Mr Sandbags
said
@NebulonicAlchemy: I've no recollection of the conversation you're talking about. I use a lot of effects in Live and Logic so it doesn't sound like me. My point is about creating an arrangement where there is more control over sonic density. Particularly intense points should not be clustered together or they become overwhelming. I think the issue is with taking a single, long, piece of audio and trying to treat give it a different structure.
Guest
said
Your efforts to create space are interesting. I'm not sure I comprehend exactly what you mean. I believe you once said you dont' like using efx which comes with audio editing/recording sofware. Maybe this a route you may want to take?
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