Lens (Seismic Ambient Refraction)

[StudioDave]

I agree with VCA-089, the sounds are very cool here. Good clear structure, enough variety throughout to hold interest. And that reverb ! I gotta get me one.

Outstanding, definitely deserves its place on the album.

[seismic1]

cool and high quality sounds!
i heard some "voice"-like sound (?!) in the beginning. would you reveil how it was made? is it abysnth, too?

All of the sounds on here are from Absynth, except for the guitar-like sound that arrives at 2:33. The voice-like sound that you refer to is from an Absynth patch (6Ft Tall koala) which is based on a couple of samples that come with the preset.

overall a really good listen!

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, tomtom1. Glad you enjoyed it

(btw. is there an ambient community? how are these compilations put together?)

There are a few ambient communities. The site owner at Ambient Online assembles 5 or 6 compilations per year. The site can be found at the Ambient Online link in my signature.

[seismic1]

Interesting structure and soundscape.
I liked the calm melodic flow and ambiance.
Good job.

I put this together a little differently relative to most of my other pieces, so the structure was less "pre-defined" than usual. This track seems to have a brighter atmosphere than much of my other "ambient" work.

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

[PatchAdamz]

Very nice, one of my favorites of yours.
I wish there was more "sparse" music like this.
There is something to be said by simplicity and good sound.

[seismic1]

I am getting images of spelunking underground caves. This is more tense than what I would normally think of as ambient. Very solid track nonetheless.

Good description. I think the combo of the sounds with the reverb gives this a "subterranean" atmosphere.

It's probably somewhere between ambient and "drambient", although I resisted the urge to add any typically "atonal" percussion.

The main synth sounds are extremely cool. Reminiscent of 80s TD perhaps the Tangram era?

Maybe Tangram, or perhaps a little later - Firestarter (1984).

There are a lot of sounds with loud quick attacks. And other sounds are quite ringy/buzzy. Personally I would prefer to mellow out these sounds slightly so I am not constantly on edge while listening to this.

Great job overall.

The fast attacks were intentional - "drambient" again. I found a few places where the sound was a little "coarse", and remixed the track almost a week after your comment. I also addressed a few issues with the stereo imaging. I replaced the track on SoundCloud, the original is track 8 on the Bandcamp link.

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

[experimental.crow]

had a listen or two to the soundcloud link ...

minimal yet flowing ...
the intro is sublime ...
not afraid to use the spaces between the notes ...

well mixed , well staged ...

[Allomerus]

Lovely empty feeling of discovery!
Well done!

[Frantz]

Maybe Tangram, or perhaps a little later - Firestarter (1984).
.
.
.
The fast attacks were intentional - "drambient" again. I found a few places where the sound was a little "coarse", and remixed the track almost a week after your comment. I also addressed a few issues with the stereo imaging. I replaced the track on SoundCloud, the original is track 8 on the Bandcamp link.

I haven't listened to Firestarter. I will check it out at some point.

Drambient? Hmmm, never heard of it but I guess it's OK. Now if it were called Future Drambient, it would be a deal breaker.

Comparing the original and the new tracks at 1:14, I definitely prefer the new one. Less feedback-like harshness in the sounds. A big improvement IMO.

[seismic1]

I listened to "Lens" - isn't that your track?

I hope so

It's nicely urban and dark, sort of "industrial" without the drums.
It is arranged in a rather minimalist way. I could well imagine it as
film music or even radio play music.

It's relatively minimal in an instrumental sense too. It makes the mixing much more straightforward. It's another soundtrack for a film that hasn't yet been made

In any case, the piece "Lens" has such a beautiful, gloomy character,
as if someone were wandering through the tunnels and underground
of a city of millions and seeing and examining all sorts of stuff there.
Very nicely done, I like it!

Another great subterranean reference, and a possible detective story in the making

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

[seismic1]

I loved it. Wonderfully evocative soundscapes. I've had Absynth for years, but never done anything with it. This makes me want to pull it out and dust it off.
Jeff

Thanks very much for listening and for the great comments, Jeff. Glad you liked it

I bought Absynth and did nothing with it for more than four years, but it has appeared on nearly every track I've made in the last 18 months. It's definitely worth spending some time with.

[eassae]

Great sounds, it develops well over time, and I love the spaghetti western feel.

[seismic1]

I like those FM style sounds and processed samples. There is an industrial quality to them, but also very mystical. A perfect soundtrack for a sci-fi movie I guess. It feels like the scientists have found a very advanced technology in an alien ruin (a data center perhaps). It also feels like the discovered knowledge carries deep revelations about the universe that can define the future of humanity (in the good way or the other).

There is a wealth of sounds (and tweaking potential) within Absynth, which can lend themselves to a multitude of applications. I really like the storyline that you put together. I'm sure it would be a movie worth seeing

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, VCA-089. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

I agree with VCA-089, the sounds are very cool here. Good clear structure, enough variety throughout to hold interest. And that reverb ! I gotta get me one.

Outstanding, definitely deserves its place on the album.

Thanks very much for listening, and for the very kind comments, Dave. Glad you liked it

Sadly, I think Shimmer is Windows/MacOS only

[StudioDave]

Sadly, I think Shimmer is Windows/MacOS only

Not a problem. I've been using a Mac Mini M1 (MacOS) for some time now. I switched after some intense frustration trying to bring my Linux desktop up to date. An unsupported video card broke the deal, and at the same time a friend suggested I look at the Mac instead. I did. I'm not happy with Apple but the machine is a wonder, I'm now able to make much larger patches in VCV Rack, plus I have access to a number of platform-limited music and sound applications. I'm still running Linux here, it's just not my main audio production platform anymore.

dp

[jethrobull]

Beautiful stuff! Fantastic work as usual Tim