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.

You’ll find, as usual, that I’ve tweaked the vocals with Melodyne…and given it an entirely different feel than the original.

Make sure you check the next post, with an instrumental version and even a “behind the scenes” listen to the individual performances that went into the remix.

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!

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.

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!