New Year, New Comp... One-Synth-Challenge 12 ... 'Rogue'

[tattiemannie]

Cheers v'ger ... yeah, well somebody has to do it

And cheers do_androids_dream ... sorry, I should probably be embarrassed for asking, but who are YMO? ... my compositions are just a collection of what I've learned and thought about for a long time in music, having to do everything in my head, in my own 'head language' cos I dont sight read or have any musical qualifications.

But with a PC, and some decent software, and time, I stroll along a path full of little signposts saying "good", "bad", "hmm", "nearly", "OK for now", "call that a melody?", "yeah, thats what you've been looking for", "ouch", "woah, where did that come from?", "how about a", "watch the scale", "f**k the scale", etc ... but time is the big factor, and in time I've maybe just got better at making it up as I go along!

Cool your thinking of joining us, you're very welcome! ... and yeah, the entries in this comp are very enjoyable! ... to say the least! I'll say more when I invent the word to describe this latest collection .... 'best' doesn't say enough!

[tattiemannie]

YMO ... yellow magic orchestra ... ... , err no! but wow! cheers for the compliment!!

[abstractcats]

YMO?!?!?)

A name I haven't heard for a long time I only had one tape that I got in 88' I think but YMO was all was Good!

New(er)



Classic



Would have cost thousands to do in the 80' what we do know for a few hundred Dollars, pounds, euros etc.

[MOK19]

my compositions are just a collection of what I've learned and thought about for a long time in music, having to do everything in my head, in my own 'head language' cos I dont sight read or have any musical qualifications.

I thought yours was very striking in its complexity of interplay, I was grinning the whole time listening. The way the bassline works out, particularly: It reminded me of Duran Duran for some reason!

Regarding computer fan: YES. My lil shuttle's fan has been going bad for a long time now, and it makes sounds just like you were describing. Never thought of it like that, though.

Totolitoto's should be called Rogue Fadeout! That was one truly epic fade!

Someone mentioned my drums - thank you. I'd share the patches up now, but I suffer from a particularly strange glitch within Cubase, where if your Windows profile is titled using only capitol letters, the media pool (the means by which Cubase handles presets) stops working right. I'm not even joking. Stupid, innit? Been dealing with that ever since I got it.
So I wasn't able to successfully save any presets throughout that, although I could try again one more time....
...when my patience returns, anyways. You'll need to remind me. ><

And boy do I feel embarrassed for making everyone listen to such a long song when everyone else's are bite sized. =o(
Hopefully I can save people trouble - If you're intent on skimming, the shifts occur @ 3:00, 5:30, 7:30. I like the run @ 8:00.

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

Ok, now to listen to all of the entries. Mono or not, Rogue is a little gem of a synth.

[evilmarshmallow]

One last minute entry!

I really wanted to submit a housey/tech thing, but was totally unrealistic about the time I needed.

anyway, I'm submitting it even though it's not complete (missing parts, bad mix)....enjoy what's there.

the track: Rogues in the house by Evil Marshmallow

29 X Rogue
2 X SIR
5 x Kjaerhus Classic Delay
10 x Kjaerhus Classic Reverb
1 x Kjaerhus Classic Limiter
2 x Digital Fishphones Dominion
1 x Digital Fishphones Endorphin
2 x TalDub Delay
3 x ProdySpace
3 x StereoTouch
3 x Slow Slim Slider SC_Compressor
17 x Ableton Live EQ8

Host: Ableton Live

[certainly is a quirky synth...]

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

Alone: This is outstanding! It's sparse, yet at the same time packed with details. The overall percussion sounds are good; the kick is really good. The tempo changes are very creative. Overall, it's kind of ambient/percussive; doesn't have the Jorden Rudess thing going.

Heavy Rogue: This one starts with attitude, and never lets up. It sounds like heavy techno (apologies to those who differentiate between all of the sub-genres, but to these ears 'techno' applies to a lot of different styles). This is baddass! A DJ at an old club called 'the Catwalk' would have dropped a bit like this on the audience, as they all 'danced in their individual fashions' (as an uptight friend referred to it). Oh, and 'We only smoke Camels in this club.' Are you going to win the contest again?

Gone Rogue: This one's got a lot of attitude from the get-go. You guys are great! (i'll probably want to say that a few more times in the course of writing these reviews). This is baddass! Brian Eno take note; we've got a bunch of synth geniuses right here at KVR!

Enable Smiling: This one sort of sounds bluesy, or like a lazy Caribbean beachfront; but not quite. It reminds me of Gilligan's Island, but after huffing nitrous (not that I've ever tried it; but people say things about it). This one isn't so 'in your face' as some of the other entries, but it's quite endearing.

curiosas: The interplay between the percussive bits and the higher notes is very cool. It almost triggers a memory. This piece sizzles in a compelling fashion.

99: That's one phat kick. This one speaks of pageantry; like a procession of haughty concubines before a king.

All Too Familiar: This is a great display of the versatility of Rogue. It's very happy-go-lucky; makes me smile.

Ice Cold In Alex: This one has a dissonance about it which is very cool.

No Rogues Were Harmed: This one has a near/middle-Eastern flavour. It's chock-full of change-ups. It totally goes off! It's even got that 'circuit bending' thing going.

Rogue Attack: And we're off! It's got a 'gallop' to it, like armoured cavalry; or a giant spaceship battle.

Rogue Batty's Dream: It sounds like a giant searchlight, as from a lighthouse into the fogbank; or from a spaceship down to the forbidden planet below. There's a fishing boat plying the waves, or a stirring under the alien jungle canopy. Send a signal back; 'thar be the motherlode!' Wait, there's some terrifying secret awaiting unfortunate discovery. Yet as with Pandora's box, the event horizon is not without hope. The angels fly forth from the decrepit temple grounds.

Roguedub: This piece is amazing! It kind of sounds like Ethiopia or somesuch.

Rogues In the House: This has a real dance club vibe; like one might hear on 'the vortex' radio show on a Saturday night on C89.5 ( http://c895worldwide.com/web/ ) "See me on the catwalk, on the catwalk, the catwalk" (but heavier). This is 'happening!'

Shadow Animals: This one also sounds like a club piece. More than any piece listed so far, it reminds me of New Order. Of course, duplicating that drummer is probably a bit much to ask (not to mention the guitar/bass/vocals). The piece has got that sort of club vibe, though. Maybe Erasure would be a better comparison. All of that aside, this is more great stuff!

She was Hatless: Among some of the others, this one definitely has the 'Jordan Rudess/Jon Lord' thing going. Wow, this piece really gets around the musical landscape. Interesting juxtaposition of that major triad there, at around 4:00.

Skanky Funker: How is a person supposed to pick just 5 pieces to vote for here? This one has a '70s cop show vibe; which is neither here nor there; i'm just sayin'. Like so many of the other pieces, the interaction of percussion with the rest of the piece is baddass. Yeah, this is funkay... '70s cop show
isn't the only thing; I'm hearing serious club vibe as well.

Winter on Andara: I love the tones from this synth; and will be revisiting this one for sure. This is another dynamite club-oriented piece. The stops and starts here are cool.

Rogue Rage: This reminds me of a faster version of the kind of music they used to play on the 'Sunday Night Mystery Movie' back around 1970. That bass is going off! This is baddass! The bass reminds me in parts of the type of playing that dude did on 'Miss You' by the Stones. So funky....

(You guys are great!... with a big congratulatory shoutout to tattiemannie for organizing the entire thing.)

[Nahkranoth]

Oh crap! When listening to my lousy opus with fresh ears I noticed actually how badly it was mixed That's what happens when you wait 'til deadline.

Slightly OT ... anyone ever had their 'puter fan make strange noises?
it's quiet here, and along with the usual soft 'whirr' I can hear an additional element which sounds like Tuvan throat singing/mouth music ... like the kind that incorporates overtone whistling!

I cant decide whether it's a source of nuisance or a source of inspiration!

... One-fan-challenge anyone?

Release the sample-pack right away then
My videocard once was making sounds that were downright evil. It was like coming out of xoxos' virtualmachine

[Totolitoto]

Rogue Batty's Dream: It sounds like a giant searchlight, as from a lighthouse into the fogbank; or from a spaceship down to the forbidden planet below. There's a fishing boat plying the waves, or a stirring under the alien jungle canopy. Send a signal back; 'thar be the motherlode!' Wait, there's some terrifying secret awaiting unfortunate discovery. Yet as with Pandora's box, the event horizon is not without hope. The angels fly forth from the decrepit temple grounds.

Yes but, does it mean you liked it...?
(I smell some irony in there )

[tattiemannie]

cheers for the submission evilmarshmallow

.... oh, and my apologies .... there's still time to submit .... this is the last day ( I somehow got it into my head it was yesterday ) ... so about 20 hours to go!

Cheers for the comment mrblitz000 .... stand by, you may have to edit and add if we get any more last minute submissions

[slugfest99]

Slightly OT ... anyone ever had their 'puter fan make strange noises?
it's quiet here, and along with the usual soft 'whirr' I can hear an additional element which sounds like Tuvan throat singing/mouth music ... like the kind that incorporates overtone whistling!

I cant decide whether it's a source of nuisance or a source of inspiration!

... One-fan-challenge anyone?

It's usually built up dust clinging to the fan blades. A bit of compressed air in a can (geez, buying fresh air now!) works wonders.

Alternately, I've also seen the ball barings (sic) go but this is normally marked by a vibration as well (double sic) If that's the case, it's a fan replacement.

Oh, managed to add a couple of new tracks to my Soundcloud link below. More cheese I'm afraid. Obviously in too good a mood to write from my darker side. Plug over

Cheers,
Mouxbar

[Nahkranoth]

.... oh, and my apologies .... there's still time to submit .... this is the last day ( I somehow got it into my head it was yesterday ) ... so about 20 hours to go!

So, if there's still 20 hours left, please remove my "No Rogues Were Harmed", I'll try to make a better mix, or at least to make solo more pronounced, as it drowns in other sounds.

[slugfest99]

Wow, just saw how many tracks there are this comp. Wow

Definite download for voting this time - I don't think the 4shared browser will take the abuse

Look forward to the listen chaps.

Best of luck,
Mouxbar

[tattiemannie]

Cool mouxbar, I'll have a listen later!

Nahkronoth, no probs ....

Just to stir things up a bit, if you're not busy working on tracks, you might want to speak up for whichever synth we should go for after the Synth1 anniversary comp

I'll post the list again when I find it.

The any-one-synth comp remains an option as olikana has not got back to me re launching this one. Also, I've been playing around with 'abox' ... anyone tried it?
Its not a Vst, its a modular synthesis environment. There are heaps of project modules you can download, listen to and fart about with to create some really bizzarre sounds! ... we could use it in the same way as we used sfxr ... ie, create sounds, record them to wav, and load them as samples, or clips.
http://www.andyware.com/abox2/index.html

[tattiemannie]

OK, Nahkronoth .... done!

Cool, when nahkronoth reups his track, we have two more tracks than we had in the xmas comp, by 4 more participants than we had in the xmas comp

Oh, here's that link for any of you who want to submit your Rogue presets

http://www.4shared.com/dir/19666751/aa0 ... esets.html