Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 150 Location: Petts Wood, Kent, UK
Audio files: 16
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 8:03 pm Post subject:
Prepare... To Be Annoyed Subject description: upping the awfulness ante
Inspired by AlanP's Awfulness thread, I thought I'd have a little rummage through some of the experiments I've recorded over the last 2-3 years.
Being a 'hardware kind of guy' (with a relatively slow computer) I didn't really take VST seriously to begin with. Then (about 3 years ago) I discovered the Sophia synth from Audiobulb (available for free on this page).
It annoyed the hell out of me to start with. So random, so dirty and unplayable, it defied any attempt to bring it under control. I'd get a sound that I (kind of) liked, only to have it degenerate - apparently of its own accord - into screaming cacophony a minute or two later. Sometimes the controls didn't seem to do anything, other times I just had to look at them and everything went haywire.
But I liked its overall, industrial sound, from which tender moments occasionally arose. I was also starting to get a bit bored with the dull constraints imposed by mundane things such as rhythm, melody and harmony; so I persevered and started playing around with various VST sequencers and LFO combinations, eventually settling on a mix of Populus by xoxos.net (see this page) and the Ball Sequencer by Upland Toys (see here).
Even now, I can't honestly say that I have this setup 'down' in any meaningful way. There are still some controls on Sophia that I haven't totally figured out and Populous is an even more slippery beast (although it does generate a few happy accidents). But it's a hobby, not an obsession, so I only play with it when the mood takes me - a few times a year, for a few evenings at a time. A typical jam session lasts a few hours and, every now and then, something vaguely recordable falls out of the machine.
Here's an early example: normalised and with a 30 second silence cut from the middle, but otherwise unedited. It consists of two halves...
Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 150 Location: Petts Wood, Kent, UK
Audio files: 16
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 6:38 am Post subject:
AlanP wrote:
...Meshuggah
Some pretty hardcore sounds there, but I fear their videos may give nightmares
Blue Hell wrote:
Sounds nice
Thanks, here's another from around the same time. The bells were sampled separately from elsewhere in the session and cut in with a spooky section using dear old Audacity...
Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 150 Location: Petts Wood, Kent, UK
Audio files: 16
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:45 am Post subject:
Blue Hell wrote:
Nothing annoys me there...
That's not what she said. She wasn't that keen on this next one, either.
This is two sections from another session, simply cross-faded together. The first part shows the kind of thing that Sophia is very good at: industrial, post-nuclear soundscapes; the second is a little more tender.
Enjoy the weekend - try not to worry about all those NEO's whizzing about up there...
Joined: Mar 11, 2014 Posts: 746 Location: New Zealand
Audio files: 41
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:01 pm Post subject:
glow worm wrote:
This is two sections from another session, simply cross-faded together. The first part shows the kind of thing that Sophia is very good at: industrial, post-nuclear soundscapes; the second is a little more tender.
The first half felt like it was a late-night around a fire in the forest, with night cicadas or something around us.
Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 41 Location: sheffield
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:01 am Post subject:
Re: Prepare... To Be Annoyed Subject description: upping the awfulness ante
Love this- great beeps - thanks for checking out audiobulb
glow worm wrote:
Inspired by AlanP's Awfulness thread, I thought I'd have a little rummage through some of the experiments I've recorded over the last 2-3 years.
Being a 'hardware kind of guy' (with a relatively slow computer) I didn't really take VST seriously to begin with. Then (about 3 years ago) I discovered the Sophia synth from Audiobulb (available for free on this page).
It annoyed the hell out of me to start with. So random, so dirty and unplayable, it defied any attempt to bring it under control. I'd get a sound that I (kind of) liked, only to have it degenerate - apparently of its own accord - into screaming cacophony a minute or two later. Sometimes the controls didn't seem to do anything, other times I just had to look at them and everything went haywire.
But I liked its overall, industrial sound, from which tender moments occasionally arose. I was also starting to get a bit bored with the dull constraints imposed by mundane things such as rhythm, melody and harmony; so I persevered and started playing around with various VST sequencers and LFO combinations, eventually settling on a mix of Populus by xoxos.net (see this page) and the Ball Sequencer by Upland Toys (see here).
Even now, I can't honestly say that I have this setup 'down' in any meaningful way. There are still some controls on Sophia that I haven't totally figured out and Populous is an even more slippery beast (although it does generate a few happy accidents). But it's a hobby, not an obsession, so I only play with it when the mood takes me - a few times a year, for a few evenings at a time. A typical jam session lasts a few hours and, every now and then, something vaguely recordable falls out of the machine.
Here's an early example: normalised and with a 30 second silence cut from the middle, but otherwise unedited. It consists of two halves...
1. Prepare...
2. To Be Annoyed
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