Music created with U-he synths

[glokraw]

Glad you found some tunes you like! Being instrumentals, I need refreshers
that likely wouldn't be needed where vocals are important. I did buy a mic
and studio monitors in a sale, to broaden the spectrum, but I've yet to unbox them. So easy to get lost in the U-he and kompeting Berlin-based soundbanks.

Was Steely Dan one of your youthful influences? They seemed to have an
economic way to present their musical ideas, full, but uncluttered.
Nothing blurry, or on the wrong shelf. Surprises that spike the listeners attention, without knocking them off the boat, are good to have in songs,
and you've got a lot of them, like it comes out naturally, rather than added as a crutch or band-aid after the fact. Which I have resorted to a few times, after faulty 'fact's were recognized, trying to overcome blunders made years ago
Cheers

[aaron aardvark]

Steely Dan is a great band, and my favorite group that sounds a bit jazzy. Though if they were ever a musical influence on me as far as my original songs go, that would be quite rare. Steely Dan has a unique sound that wouldn't be easy to copy much, and they are/were so talented.

[mrbbojahr]

Musically, the following music is by no means on the level of a major production, especially not compared to legends like Hans Zimmer and elaborate cinema soundtracks. Often I like a film, but his soundtracks I listen musically over and over again. I discover many details only with time, when I listen to the soundtracks again.

But so in very, very small and unimportant, I was last year also incredibly excited about the new Diva version and the associated possibilities to play significantly more voices even on my aged computer. Hence the idea to offer a free soundset there and also to make some music only with Diva. In the following playlist everything is actually created with u-he Diva (except the drums). Maybe musically a bit overloaded, but it should be a sound demo somehow....

https://soundcloud.com/bjoern-bojahr/se ... al_sharing

[glokraw]

Some of your 'demos' are like those special songs used in happy movies at the end, to tie up the loose ends before the credits roll. That last impression is pretty important for engendering second and third viewings. Your Diva sounds make a good case for a Diva purchase, but taxes are next in line
So maybe in 2024
I like the your timing to introduce new sounds and musical variations. Very enjoyable creations!
Cheers

[mrbbojahr]

Thanks so much for listening to the songs!

I really like the sound of the Diva synthesizer. The longer I play this synthesizer, the more incredibly well thought out details I discover. I sometimes like the typical Juno and Jupiter sounds from Diva better than the original... Is that even allowed...? That's why there are some passages in the songs that I would have played with the originals twenty years ago.

Currently I'm trying to familiarize myself with u-He Hive, which is also an incredibly versatile synthesizer.

[Ivan_C]

I did a written review for u-he Hive 2 recently with a few audio demos:

https://fr.audiofanzine.com/synthe-virt ... 2-1-1.html

I did post one of them on my soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/musicalentropy/h ... ed-ambient

I had a lot of fun doing those audio examples

[glokraw]

Thanks for the excellent review, using google to translate, it reminds me how deep and versatile Hive has become over the years. The audio demos are also proof of the pudding, I especially like 'A Wish'. Thanks for including it. Is an all-U-he album in the works? You're certainly off to a good start.
Cheers

[Ivan_C]

Thanks for the excellent review, using google to translate, it reminds me how deep and versatile Hive has become over the years. The audio demos are also proof of the pudding, I especially like 'A Wish'. Thanks for including it. Is an all-U-he album in the works? You're certainly off to a good start.
Cheers

Thank you very much I'm really a beginner in music production I think, and my primary goal with this review was to get out of my confort zone as much as possible, in Ableton Live but also with Hive itself to go as deep as possible in its functionalities, since so much can be done with it now. That's one of the reasons I did also a few covers in the audio demos and focused a bit on sound design. "A Wish" is a plain cover of a video game soundtrack that uses some presets from the great FM Anthem soundset

[glokraw]

This very simple song uses Repro 5 and Hive. I live near an area with many small mountain streams with their waterfalls, and pools, where when one is discovered, you can just sit on a rock or log, and take in the creations. The synth sounds seemed a natural fit.



(while simple technically, it was actually quite challenging musically,
to keep it as simple as the experience)

[aaron aardvark]

I put 2 songs in my music website, though the one that would probably interest you the most is "We Can Heal", which is the song on top. The song has some Repro-5 & Hive 2 synths, and non-u-he synths. The drums and vocals have Presswerk compression, and so does the entire mix. Please tell me how you like the music and how it can be improved and I will return the favor. Here is my link:

https://www.soundclick.com/artist/defau ... t=overview

[glokraw]

Can't find actual flaws in We Can Heal, the intro builds interest step by step, the parts don't fight against each other, there is plenty of variation, and the transition from guitar to synth feels natural. The vocal processing also seems better. A very polished production. I do think it would be nice to add some guitar as the song winds down, holding out that last chord for a while, and play some creative riffs in that different soundstage.

Do you work as a sesssion guitarist sometimes? SoCal studios could use your skillz!
Cheers

[glokraw]

Half of the synths used in this song are U-he products. So much fun to use, I'm surprised there aren't laws against using them

[aaron aardvark]

glokraw,
Thank you for listening and replying, I appreciate it! No, I have never been paid to play guitar for anyone, though I am flattered by your question. Once, long ago, a friend that I had been in at least one band with said he would pay me $30 to take my synths (a Sequential Circuits Pro-One and a Moog Opus III) to a pro studio, where he made a 3 song tape where he played everything himself, and sang on it (it cost him ~$2,000 in studio time back around 1983). But he never paid me. Ha ha! But that's OK, it's the only time I've ever been in a pro studio, so that was cool. So now I'm checking out your "Pure Waters" song. The running water and bird noises are relaxing. The synth is nice. The recording was much more relaxing than watching the news. Nice recording!

[glokraw]

Glad you're getting some moments of peace. The news is definitely difficult to parse. We're used to checking sports scores, stock tickers, entertainment listings etc while people are suffering wars, including those ongoing in less visible locations before Ukraine was invaded.
Godspeed to musicians!

[glokraw]

Spring break, with time to listen, remembered all the non-guitar parts were U-he
backup band




( hate hate hate typing on laptops, usually spring break's major flaw