First track (in ages)

[X-Trade]

I've been working on my project all day, and now I find I really can't sleep!

So I decided it would be time to play that fun exercise of an 'anything goes' recording session.

Seeing as I haven't actually recorded any full track (that wasn't originally for someone else or for example as coursework) since about early 2009, I thought I'd share it with all of you here. Plus it uses a lot of RADIAS!

I was supposed to be menacing and 'in your face'. I think it achieves that! anyway, it seems to have elements of drum and bass (I don't know, i've never actually done anything in that genre), with ambience, noise, some more harmonically structured bits thrown in for good measure. And just, everything else I felt like throwing at it.

I could probably add bits to the start and end of this until I had a whole album - if I didn't have so much other stuff to do.

Anyway, the great thing about these kinds of compositional 'jam' sessions is that, because 'anything goes', it is very reflective I guess of the musical state of mind at the time. I had no aim for any particular outcome when I started this. I have been into this kind of pulsating, ambient, reverberant (big), dirty, messy & very improvised and random, style for a while when playing on my own though.


Here is the link:
http://www.bradleygray.co.uk/hostedfile ... sience.mp3
I hope you enjoy it!

Almost everything is from the RADIAS with the following exceptions:
- Drums from the ES-1, most of them are probably sampled from the radias anyway.
- Vocal Ensemble. This is a custom patch made up of Vocoder and Solina samples from the EXB-PCM05 board in my KARMA Workstation.

all of the patches are custom, most of which are already included in my RADIAS packs that I'm still finishing for release:
- Modnight Bass
- Space!FX!!!!
- Dark Jazz EP


Anyway, I can hear birds singing now, might be an idea to try and get some sleeping time in before I get back to working tomorrow (in a few hours)

It'll be interesting to hear your opinions!


edit:
Best enjoyed with a massive subwoofer. My headphones seem to have a really powerful bass response, and that modulation bass sounds incredible here!

[axxim]

Hi X-Trade,

unusual (at least for me) but really nice track, impressive Bass and FX. My complete desktop goes in resonnance with it!

what is the sound entering at about 2:50? If it is from the Radias I would like to have it!

When will you release your Radias pack?

[tpantano]

Of course I have speakers that feel like their going to break at any frequency below 250 hz -.-

This is awesome and made me realize I really need a subwoofer

[JaymzDestroy]

very nice X Trade

Im in the same boat as you, most of my songs/mixes have been for coursework the past 2 years. I do miss working on a track to all hours of the night (or should I say morning) and hearing the birds come out.

I really liked the pad sounds through out, especially the swelling pad that occurs roughly a third of the way through.

This would definately suit a Drum and Bass beat or even Big/Break Beat style drumming , it also has a nice Industrial/Gritty edge to it...its my kinda thing

[X-Trade]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.


The pad sound... well there is only one pad sound! it is a vintage ensemble patch I made on the KARMA based on a blending of the Vocoder and Solina (string machine) samples on the EXB-PCM05 (Vintage Archives) expansion board. It also went through the tape delay on the mini-KP and then into a kind of 'early reflections' reverb in Cubase.
I could see about porting it to Radias, but I've already been struggling for a number of months to get a good solina sound. It IS possible, but there is a lot to take into account.

As for the download packs, there is a 'spinoff' pack of mostly vintage keyboard sounds - EPs, string ensembles, organs - from the Vintage Pack that I am going to release first, which is virtually complete. I just need to make sure all the latest versions are in that library file and then put them in some kind of order.


One thing I like about this track is there is a lot of noises, but none of them are 'definitively Radias'. I know that may sound odd, but there are some sounds I really associate with the radias - crossmod and VPM, the modulation of the filter type, etc.
Furthermore, the EP whilst not sounding like any specific model, certainly sounds more electromechanical than something from a hybrid VA. It is in the aforementioned Vintage Keyboards selection, and I think is based on a VPM mallet simulation fed into either a bandpass or comb filter, probably with a pickup waveshaper, then out to a limiter, amp sim, etc...


And the bass! Well, I think it sounds much more analog than most people give the Radias credit for. So I can happily say "That'll show them!"


I've also noticed that the ending part of the main section kind of breaks up into an uncoordinated chaos, whilst before there were more defined sections. I quite like this. I won't be putting it on my website or anything. I think it is a great excercise and I'm happy that I can still record something, but it just doesn't seem like 'my track'.