The track, bus, and pre-dub counts are starting to add up, but using Audition 3.0.1 on a quad core with 24 GB of RAM doesn’t slow it down, even with heavy use of effects and VST/DirectX plug-ins.

The next pass will be strings…that is to say, I will be adding some incidental strings along with a solo.  I will probably go with the baritone violin, since I need something edgy and harsh to punch through.  The fog of war (“density”) of this track is already starting to get into the 90th percentile.

Let me know what you think.

Once this track is finished, I will post it in its entirety, along with a podcast of me walking you through how it came to be, and “breaking down” what individual elements have gone into making the final product.

With that in mind, I began to just…”tinker” is the technical term, I think…and began to do a “backdoor” remix.  You might say I arranged the ending slightly for a reprise, bringing out the strings and the solos (both vocal and woodwind).

So, without further ado, here’s a shorter reprise of the main piece.  Enjoy!

I now work second shift, which means I drive home around two in the morning.  I actually love it, since I’m a night owl, but the empty highways and mercury vapor lights have started to influence my mood when I do composition.  Here is one that is directly inspired from that tone.  Enjoy!

How confident are you that it can maintain sonic integrity when there are infrasonic standing waves under massive subwoofer-only bass drones stacked on top of low-midrange textures?  Do you think it will sound good or just distort like crap?

Let’s find out!

Mackie MR-8

Here is some random sound design I have done today out of boredom.  It’s about four minutes worth, and it’s designed to push sound systems to their limits.  I designed these sounds in Absynth 4 and Omnisphere to calibrate my studio reference monitors and their bass response, but I’ve re-purposed it as a challenge.

If you’re a real audiophile, grab the FLAC version, burn it to a CD or whatever, and play it on your best sound system as loud as you can without breaking it.  Tell me if your subwoofer could take the punishment and if your other speakers put out anything but distortion during more than half of the demonstration.

My sound system (Mackie MR-8 studio reference monitors) can handle it.  The ice in my drink next to the speaker vibrated and made an interesting noise, but they correctly reproduced it (i.e., no distortion).  I’m interested to “hear” your results.  There’s the 320Kbps MP3 below, but grab the FLAC file as mentioned earlier for true sonic integrity.

At the very least, you’re about to find out what your subwoofer can do (and quite possible the resonant frequency of the room you listen in).

Notes: I don’t recommend playing this if you live in an apartment or have close neighbors, as the infrasonic bass YOU can’t hear they most likely WILL.  Also, do NOT listen to this with headphones.  It will only give you tired ears and probably a headache.

This one is hard to describe.  It incorporates a lot of sound design done in Absynth 4 and Guitar Rig.  I have also dipped into my arsenal of crazy, raging, angry guitars.

The production phase was a procedural experiment for me, cutting music specifically to picture.  I can’t post the images, but I can definitely post the music.  It starts off slow with some of the sound design, but quickly evolves into an angry, thunderous beat-down.

That is, to say, they’re a fraction of a percent from being finished.

This track will be an interlude between two longer tracks.  A way to change the mood and flow of the progression of the album.  You can listen to and download the 320Kbps MP3 below, or feel free to grab the FLAC version (about 8 megs).  I encourage you to download it, scrobble it, share it, and help get the word out.  It’s being released under Creative Commons one way or another!

This track actually dates back to the summer of 2006.  It was created entirely in Absynth 3 on a crappy laptop with a Celeron processor while I sat on my ex’s porch in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  I was dabbling with creating space-ish sounds in Absynth, and came across this lush sonic landscape.  I played a few notes, and it just seemed to work, so I kept it (shaking off the filth that comes with making good music on bad equipment).  Believe it or not, this was one take…the only take that was ever done.  The only modifications to the track since 2006 has been to master it and add the sub-bass accents near the middle.  Otherwise, it’s completely untouched.

Relax, and have a listen.

The album is tentatively titled “Tears For Andromeda”.  I don’t know where this track will fall in the overall order of things.

The first track to be actually marked as “complete” is this one…”Goodbye From Colombo”.  It features the final words of Arthur C. Clarke from late last year, along with the result of hours of sound design and sequencing.  As usual, I’ve mastered with Adobe Audition 3.0.1 using the Waves plug-ins.  The soft-synths used in the track include Omnisphere, Colossus, and Atmosphere.

You can listen to or download the 320Kbps MP3 below.  You’re also welcome to download the FLAC version (~25 megabytes).  It’s Creative Commons, so see the footer of this page for details on how you can use the audio, but you’re free to download a copy and share it with your friends, obviously.

There’s more to come.  Enjoy!

For $100 a month.  Usually more, but I’m not very good, obviously.

Yes, each of the voices you hear in this demonstration (except for the one appearance of a female) is me.  I do very little processing to my voice beyond basic compression…the styles and moods are all in how you speak and how you position your face.  No, I’m not kidding.  I have to hold my face a certain way to do the evil voice.  This is why you haven’t seen a YouTube video of a voiceover session.

You’ll probably pick up on the fact that I work with a lot of Internet-only stations.  I love those guys!  They usually give me much more interesting things to say than terrestrial radio stations.

I’m to the stage where I’m finalizing the vocals and chord progressions, and I thought I would pull back the curtain and explain the process start to finish.  Enjoy the attached MP3 for an unusual take on re-tuning Trent’s vocals.