Depression Groove

July 9, 2017 9:05 AM

This gloomy synth jam was made on an airplane and finished late at night in my parents' home during an emotionally complicated visit.

This, like A Small Grey Box, was made entirely on my OP-1 synth. It was made in a considerably gloomier mood. Some notable aspects:

- The whooshy, wobbling noise that kicks in around 1:20 is sampled airplane cabin noise with a fast filter sweep whipping across it.
- The piano is my parents' upright piano; an instrument I spent many unwilling hours at as a preteen, learning piano technique I would spend my teens aggressively forgetting. I sampled middle C into the OP-1 and played it from there.
- The tick-tock is the horrible cuckoo clock that inexplicably hangs right next to the piano.

Composed and mixed on the OP-1 & hideously overmastered in Ozone.

posted by Sokka shot first (3 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

Feels like it could be the theme to a film. Every time I hear more about the OP-1 I wish I had one!

Thanks for describing the samples -- the piece itself is already creative and interesting with the different sections/transitions, and knowing more about the background of your trip opens it up on a new level. It's like a story of its own, with the samples as unique characters. Your descriptions of them are really striking, almost like poetic prose.

(Side note -- I love how music/art can have all sorts of inspiration and I hope this helped you work through your visit.)
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 1:40 AM on July 14, 2017


I like this, but it feels like the timing goes a bit weird around the time the beat drops out? Like, there are a lot of rhythms fighting for my attention and not quite acting in synch?

Love the variety of tones and melodies going on here though, it's very dynamic and definitely got a soundtracky feel to it, I agree!
posted by greenish at 7:25 AM on July 14, 2017


The overall sloppiness of the arrangement is deliberate, or at least "deliberate," inasmuch as I purposely avoided sequencing most of the parts, instead tracking them live. This gives the tune an organic "off"-ness that is more or less intentional, although how effective it is is anybody's guess.

Also!!!! Thanks both of you for the very kind comments! It means a LOT to me. <3
posted by Sokka shot first at 3:49 PM on July 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


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