Tense

July 3, 2021 12:06 PM

Choral piano with granular drums

Not using the AO tag as this is really a performed piece. I'm not wholly convinced of the melodic content or the audio quality of this recording but I've left this patched up too long and need to move on. One of the reasons I got into modular synthesis is the depth of timbre and sound exploration available at your fingertips, building an instrument with life and unpredictability. However, it's very difficult to manage that timbral exploration and play a melody at the same time, and i've been unwilling to sequence 100% of my notes. I'm still figuring out how to provide the kinds of feedback opportunities (aftertouch, controllers) that allow for the shaping of the sound to feel as natural as the playing of the notes. Here I feel like I'm doing one or the other but never both. Eno's often quoted one-liner that electronic music "replaces skill with judgement" isn't always true, and I'm still building my muscle memory for these instruments.

posted by q*ben (3 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

This is great. Would definitely listen to more stuff like this. Any links to other pieces?
posted by srednivashtar at 4:37 AM on July 4, 2021


For me, I have my SoundCloud in my profile but 100% of it is replicated here on MF. This patch definitely resulted from listening to too much Felt by Nils Frahm - felted piano is a bit of a stereotype now so I wanted to do something a bit sideways with it, the rapid arpeggiation is a misinterpretation of some Curtis Roads ideas in Microsound. I’m not actually super knowledgeable about contemporary electronic music - I listen to a bit of Alessandro Cortini, and Hainbach’s stuff is pretty great. Other Youtube / social accounts include Sarahbelle Reid, Walker Farrell’s stuff for Make Noise? I would love to hear if anyone else has suggestions!
posted by q*ben at 7:23 AM on July 4, 2021


I really like the stereo motion of what sounds like really fast woodblock in the middle. If you're working the fader while also playing, that coordination is incredible. Regardless, nice composition!
posted by ignignokt at 6:46 PM on July 10, 2021


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