drone synthesis/sources

[bum robot]

all songs were made with nothing but insect samples.)

listening to this now and this is on a whole different level, thanks for posting that

[Kes-Es]

This thread inspired me to go back to my roots, IT'S TIME TO REBUILD A FIELD RECORDINGS BASE.

I love these sorts of sounds, especially when you play around with distortions and such, I like incorporating elements of it in shoegaze projects, and vice versa, interesting combination.

Here's a ditty I composed tonight after reading this, since it's on topic here:

Soundcloud


Never been able to blend this style and dubstep very well but I do love it.

[mikeyboy75]

Interesting thread - I love a bit of spacey, drone, me

I think there's a lot more to it than just pitching synths down and whacking a huge reverb on, though - doing that invariably creates little more than a muddy mid-rangey mush of sound that isn't pleasing to the ear at all!!

I've never been exactly sure how these guys generate these constantly evolving soundworlds, the true master for me is Steve Roach whose tracks are full and rich but always seem perfectly controlled, I guess it's judicial use of EQ/compression and understanding of gain structure:

[alphacat]

Funny, I just asked Deadly yesterday if he'd heard the Steve Roach/Vir Unis albums. Roach can make an ARP do amazing things. The 'Possible Planet' album was so immersive it could make you a little claustrophobic in spots, and then it'd open up into these wide vistas of sound...

Might have to go put that one on right now.

[mks]

Word, I'm a huge fan of Steve Roach. He uses a lot of analog synths like Oberheims and modulars and whatnot. This cat has been making soundscape music since the '70's and is a master at it.

EZ

[deadly_habit]

soundscapes are so much fun to make

[alphacat]

Been playing with this a little bit lately and it seems to have some pretty interesting possibilities for drone/soundscapy stuff. Sound quality's decent too.

Xenharmonic FMTS VSTi

I'm not going to try to write an independent review about this synth, because i've done a bit of beta testing for Jacky, so the views i express may not be completely 'fresh'. Having said that i'd suggest you download this synth immediately! Even if you're not interested in microtonal music. Because i think the FMTS is one of the most complete and easy to use FM synths I know. Not only that, it sounds great too. With the detuner and the saturator switched on it sounds fatter & warmer than most other FM vst-synths.

To me one of the great things about the FMTS, actually a step forward in the ease of use of FM in general, is the possibility to choose preset ratio values which are quantized and optimized to 'please the ear'. Not just for microtonal music, but for any type of music. Basically the FMTS allows you to load a simple txt-file which specifies a set of 32 ratio values. These are not unlike the partials or overtones of a sound. Then you have a few different options (sliders, random etc.) to use combinations of these preset ratios.

The result is something you should really try out yourself. Let me just say that these ratio values have been calculated very cleverly and the result is that your sounds will become more harmonic. The reason for this is that psycho-acoustically the simple ratio values like 1, 2, 7, 14 etc. are not completely 'natural' when the value increases. It's just not what the ear is used to - at least when it comes to harmonic sounds. This side effect can make FM sound a little sterile if you design something like a 'sax' or 'piano' sound.

But using the preset ratio values of the FMTS, FM will sound much more natural, just like that. I was amazed when i heard this! And believe me you're not going to find these same values by ear. Quantized ratios are very easy to use because finetuning isn't necessary. And if you want to you can even switch them off.

But let's not forget what this synth is really about: the creation of xenharmonic timbres. The FMTS has many more new tricks up its sleeve for microtonalists, like the 'isoharmonic spacing' function and the possibility to 'roll your own' ratio sets. Also the possibility to save a tuning + timbre is very welcome, although it can be overruled by a 'global' tuning.

Here are some specs related to the microtuning functionality:

• Internally loads and externally receives both MTS (MIDI Tuning Standard) Bulk Dump and Single Note Microtuning Files.
• Operator ratios can easily be set to values that are coincident with the microtuning being used, thereby producing tuning related FM sidebands in the timbre of the instrument.
• Isoharmonic spacing of the operator ratios.
• Precise values may be set for microtonal pitch-bends.
• Arbitrary microtonal period shifting makes it possible to pitch transpose in both octave and non-octave increments.

Keep an eye on the Xen-Arts website because Mr. Ligon is just getting warm. More microtonal tools are being developed as we speak. But for now the FMTS should be enough to keep all FM-fans and microtonalists busy. There are lots of new sounds to be synthesized, lots of new sonic experiments to be performed.

[CBK81]

Alchemy is dope for atmos, drones, soundscapes and pads. If you dig that sort of stuff, check it out. It's incredible.

[staticcast]

Anyone seen this? Some of it is incredible:

http://wiredlab.org/wires/audio-recordings/

The Wires have foundations in sculpture, land art and sound composition. They are essentially an instrument consisting of strained spans of fencing wire that stretch across the open landscape. The Wires installed at The WIRED Lab in the Riverina District consist of multiple sets of wires spanning several kilometres across the landscape.

[gravity]

load up the travelizer in reaktor, stick a sample in it, fuck about with it and record the audio in an audio editor or something.

[pete_bubonic]

William Basinski is a g at this stuff, his disintergration loops were great, still listen to that regularly, here's the short one (other is over an hour long):



terry Riley is another g. Popp Nobody and something something (some bizarre name), is a classic. I know they both apply to quite specific artistic movements in music, some minimalist anti hook/commercial/goal orientated music etc etc

[hankerins]

if you use mac (I think it's mac only) the spectral drone maker by Michael Norris is fantastic.

Michael Norris came to my school this year for a 3 hour seminar explaining how all those plug-ins work. He is a brilliant man, I wish I could remember everything he said. All his plug-ins definitely come highly recommended, especially the tape delay simulation if you don't already have one.

[hankerins]

William Basinski is a g at this stuff, his disintergration loops were great, still listen to that regularly, here's the short one (other is over an hour long):



terry Riley is another g. Popp Nobody and something something (some bizarre name), is a classic. I know they both apply to quite specific artistic movements in music, some minimalist anti hook/commercial/goal orientated music etc etc

Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band, b/w A Rainbow In Curved Air. absolutely brilliant, not very droney though like Basinski

[alphacat]

Into the realm of the electroacoustic, there's a Quebecois named Jean Francois LaPorte that does amazing things - like an "organ" made of boat & truck horns recorded in some cavernous warehouse, or his 1997 piece 'Mantra' which is like 25 minutes of him close-miking [allegedly] either a Zamboni or an air compressor. It's fucking awesome either way. You can listen to it here:

http://www.swanfungus.com/2008/12/jean- ... tters.html

[Kochari]

Aeolion Harps

[phrex]

anyone has a drone/ambient/sublow/whatever mix?

[Steve_French]

if you use Live, you can use lives native reverb. route the channel with the reverb on, to an audio channel, arm both channels, go into arrangement view, record and trigger sample/midi note, then press the 'freeze' button on the reverb. record that for like a minute, then you have an atmosphere. thats only the basic part however, play around with the size etc in the reverb and you can come out with some wicked atmos/drone stuff. for defitate results everytime you record, automate the 'freeze' button on at a certain point, so you know where you got that sweet spot

[alphacat]

anyone has a drone/ambiend/sublow/whatever mix?

Not a mix, but rather a streaming station that's pretty good:

http://somafm.com/play/dronezone

[Steve_French]

anyone has a drone/ambiend/sublow/whatever mix?

http://theasc.blogspot.com/2011/01/deep ... 18-19.html

[alphacat]

VSTi worth checking out: Dronos. There's a free version.

http://www.kvraudio.com/db/dronos_by_wok