Abstractor (Seismic Berlin Revival)

[LCW-Ryan]

Great ambience. As Asuznu said, I see it too in a movie or a video game.

[seismic1]

Finally got round to listening to this...before bed (the best time )

I agree with that. It's certainly best played at night, and most of the mixing sessions for this took place between 11PM and 2AM

Really impressive with nice movement and subtle modulations throughout to maintain interest - you really captured that old school vibe.

I have some panning and volume automation on here. The LFO modulations for the arpeggiations are built into the synth presets. The setup here is essentially quite simple.

How are you using satin here, just for mix glue or also as a delay effect?

Satin is just used here on the master bus for saturation, and is using a "safe" set of parameters. I've just put together a new piece that features higher levels of hiss and asperity. I think I'm happy with that effect for that particular piece.

I always wondered with this style (particularly with your busier tracks) how EQ is used with things evolving and different elements fading in and out over time? do you automate the EQ as you go along or keep it static? Probably a dumb question.

All of the instruments and reverbs are EQd with EXT64's built-in equalizer using a high- and low-pass EQ. A couple of the "noisier" sources (an Absynth patch and the PaulStretched Iris vocal) feature EQ cuts to problem frequencies using EQuivocate. All of the EQs are static.

Great job dude

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, frank. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

Serene. The re-occurring string pad with a vocal quality is beautiful.

I'm using a combination (of a combination) of sounds there. I have Spitfire Audio's "Arctic Swells" (itself a blend of violin and American flute), with a PaulStretched Sampletank vocal played by Iris2.
I think that worked out quite well. I hope to use some of the bass drones from the Arctic Swells instrument for some ambient-style malarkey in the future.

The piece doesn't require full concentration to enjoy, but the constantly changing parallel sequences rewards focused listening.

I'm glad you picked up on that. As I was putting this together, I was most definitely in "focused" mode (in fact I've slightly changed the sequencing in the latest SoundCloud upload). In many ways, it was a relief to switch to "relaxed" mode after the dust had settled

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen, and for your comments, G_J. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

Beautiful textures in the first 5-6mins especially, was never a true fan of Tangerine Dream etc. but have listened to the classics of Bowie/Eno collabs, Vangelis, and so on, and it's definitely reminiscent of the era.

The first 6 minutes is mainly Absynth, but also features Spitfire LABS, Reaktor 5, and some vocal samples played by Iris2.

My favourite TD musical period is '72-'82. I never recovered

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Opaque. Glad you liked it

[Opaque]

Beautiful textures in the first 5-6mins especially, was never a true fan of Tangerine Dream etc. but have listened to the classics of Bowie/Eno collabs, Vangelis, and so on, and it's definitely reminiscent of the era.

The first 6 minutes is mainly Absynth, but also features Spitfire LABS, Reaktor 5, and some vocal samples played by Iris2.

My favourite TD musical period is '72-'82. I never recovered

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Opaque. Glad you liked it

Ah Absynth and Iris, unfortunate how some of the most innovative and unique sounding instruments get discontinued.

[seismic1]

I have a feeling that the resonances mentioned here were between 400Hz and 800Hz. If that proves to be the case, I may go back into the mix later to pull them down a little. I also want to tweak the EQs in the mastering chain to address another problem.

Are you referring to the synth that first comes in 0:24? I suppose it has some strong resonances although they are not bothering me. Other than that synth, I am not hearing any other frequencies that might need addressing.

I think it was the Absynth instance that appears at 0:12. It wasn't a "painful" resonance, but I think it "cluttered up" the soundstage, with it's slightly "boomy" character. I replaced the original upload on Feb 22, and also narrowed the Absynth bass sounds. I also made some changes to some of the sequenced synth parts.

[seismic1]

Excellence throughout. Great sounds and mixing, good musical stratification. The rhythmic overlays are tasty, and the formal evolution is satisfying. Add my voice to the praise chorus.

I think it took me 2-3 weeks to put the track together, and then another couple of weeks to tweak it into its final shape (which changed in February this year), and then mix it whilst also working on another track. I think there are 14 separate instrument tracks on here, but only a maximum of 8 playing at any one time (not including FX). I think the rhythmic sequences were the most difficult part, particularly their timing.

Btw, I wouldn't know a Berlin School from a Berlitz School. But I know what I like. I also know a Picardy third when I hear one.

Very fine work indeed.

Best regards,

dp

Picard - season 3 started streaming here last month, so that was quite prescient of me

I think it took me about 30 minutes to put the concluding 45 seconds together, but then I had to detach myself from the project for a few days and listen to it "cold" just to be sure that it would work out.

Thanks very much for taking the (not inconsiderable) time to listen and comment, Dave. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

Great ambience. As Asuznu said, I see it too in a movie or a video game.

...or possibly as backing music for science documentaries? I seem to remember that the BBC did were fond of doing that in the late '70s or early '80s.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Ryan. Glad you liked it

[Moe Shinola]

This is like a journey. A lot of longing at the start before the sequences come in, then we're off, flying through space. Great job, man.

[seismic1]

Beautiful textures in the first 5-6mins especially, was never a true fan of Tangerine Dream etc. but have listened to the classics of Bowie/Eno collabs, Vangelis, and so on, and it's definitely reminiscent of the era.

The first 6 minutes is mainly Absynth, but also features Spitfire LABS, Reaktor 5, and some vocal samples played by Iris2.

My favourite TD musical period is '72-'82. I never recovered

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Opaque. Glad you liked it

Ah Absynth and Iris, unfortunate how some of the most innovative and unique sounding instruments get discontinued.

Also unfortunate in that I find myself using them more and more recently. I'm late to the party, as usual

[Opaque]

Beautiful textures in the first 5-6mins especially, was never a true fan of Tangerine Dream etc. but have listened to the classics of Bowie/Eno collabs, Vangelis, and so on, and it's definitely reminiscent of the era.

The first 6 minutes is mainly Absynth, but also features Spitfire LABS, Reaktor 5, and some vocal samples played by Iris2.

My favourite TD musical period is '72-'82. I never recovered

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Opaque. Glad you liked it

Ah Absynth and Iris, unfortunate how some of the most innovative and unique sounding instruments get discontinued.

Also unfortunate in that I find myself using them more and more recently. I'm late to the party, as usual

I never fully embraced Absynth, although it was clearly something unique, but it's insane to me how no one does something like Iris now that it's discontinued, while VAs and emulations are still being churned out on the regular.

[eassae]

Ah Absynth and Iris, unfortunate how some of the most innovative and unique sounding instruments get discontinued.

I just started using Absynth heavily a few years ago, and now it's no more

[seismic1]

This is like a journey. A lot of longing at the start before the sequences come in, then we're off, flying through space. Great job, man.

The difficult part with these longer pieces is making the transitions work, although it's worth the effort when they do.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Moe. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

Beautiful textures in the first 5-6mins especially, was never a true fan of Tangerine Dream etc. but have listened to the classics of Bowie/Eno collabs, Vangelis, and so on, and it's definitely reminiscent of the era.

The first 6 minutes is mainly Absynth, but also features Spitfire LABS, Reaktor 5, and some vocal samples played by Iris2.

My favourite TD musical period is '72-'82. I never recovered

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Opaque. Glad you liked it

Ah Absynth and Iris, unfortunate how some of the most innovative and unique sounding instruments get discontinued.

Also unfortunate in that I find myself using them more and more recently. I'm late to the party, as usual

I never fully embraced Absynth, although it was clearly something unique, but it's insane to me how no one does something like Iris now that it's discontinued, while VAs and emulations are still being churned out on the regular.

Ah Absynth and Iris, unfortunate how some of the most innovative and unique sounding instruments get discontinued.

I just started using Absynth heavily a few years ago, and now it's no more

I only started using Iris2 about 20 months ago, and Absynth in March 2022. I think they are the most interesting instruments I've used in that timeframe. Hopefully, I'll get a few more years use out of them.