3am - Class Destroy (mellow noise/illbient)

[justin3am]

Generally I like to have complete control over every detail of my music, for this project I just let go...

Class Destroy

All the sequencing was done with Numerology. I used kind of a grain cloud technique for the drums but I had the sample offset and loop length being modulated at different intervals so it sounds kinda random. The synth sounds are all Zebra with heavy modulation. The song really made it self. I just cut a few parts out to solidify the structure.

This is the result of Rachmiel and Polyslax's influence... if you don't like it, blame them

...or me for not being able to pull off their amazing talent.

[ckatrun411]

Definitely intense I love collecting things like this, because they make for a proper break, and other worldly feel when dropped in a mix. So you can be sure I will definitely drop it somewhere, The super low frequency ending made my entire body shiver. Its the way the entire piece evolved there. YEp, really nice scape.

CheeR MatE, happy New year

[Sickle]

This is excellent!

[StefC]

I love this piece...
Good way to dismiss 2007!

[Jazzyspoon]

great work, J. Its a powerfully charged piece of dreamscape. Love the subtle drum noodlings. I was in a band long ago that would jam for hours and stuff like this would come out of us just before we passed out from heroic levels of intoxication. The real beauty of this piece for me is it sounds like several people are actually reacting to each other. Awesome.
Happy New Year!

[justin3am]

The real beauty of this piece for me is it sounds like several people are actually reacting to each other. Awesome.
Happy New Year!

I guess that's kinda what's going on. There are 7 or 8 modulation sources and two note generators that are controlling various parameters in Live. For example one control sequencer is modulating the loop length of the drums and the Filter FM for the main drone. An LFO is modulating the clock divisor of one note generator and the time of a delay. Every modulation source is controlling at least two instruments. Also each Modulation generator is operating at a different interval which introduces a wide variation in patterns.

So In a way, everything is interacting with everything else.

Thanks CKat, StefC ans Sickle! Happy New year! well not yet but soon!

[annode]

Found a cheapy sub-woofer that someone threw out last week...its works and all. Tomorrow i'll play this cut through it. Should sound above sub-excellent me thinks.

Be back for comments.

[polyslax]

Interesting track Justin - it does seem to have an organic feel to it, despite the fact that a lot of it is machine generated. Some really interesting techniques you've mentioned above, and I think maybe you've satisfied your love of detail in the setup of the instrument/fx chains!

Aside from the technical aspects... quite enjoying the listen as well. I caught it once last night before going out and another 2 or 3 times this morning... bloody excellent!

[soulata]

One serious question:

a) what are you eaing to get so much done? really, your output is way higher than I would ever hope mine to be (please take it as a compliment)

--- make that two questions ---

I really have to go through your beats manual but would you please describe your workflow - mainly how you approach beats/rhythms ...

thanks

k

(I'll have a listen now and be back with comments)

[annode]

Just listened with mackie 824s and a sub.
Sounded excellent. My left mackie passive radiator cone needs reseating so some tones had it flapping like a flag in the wind. haha

I love the last third best.Not sure why yet.(I just like reverb.But after a few listens,I find it all equally good.)
...having another listen...

Man...nice trk.
Listened a few more times around 90db. Giving these 824s a workout.

This is epic.Loved the cloud drums. At one point the snare rolls at like 164ths and stops with a single accent hit. haha wild.

This is a keeper Justin. Nicely conceived.

[Meloday]

fantastic piece! lovely soundscapes. so spacious.

isn't it liberating to forget about detailed edits and arrangemnts and give way to sweeping unpredictable emotions? okay, you've inspired me to work on some ambient stuff that i have hidden away.

thanks for sharing!!

[justin3am]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the words.

@Soulata:
1. I don't do much else. My workflow has gotten streamlined to the point that I'll collect bits and pieces through-out the week and have a song finished by the end of the weekend. (though I did just buy Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4, the Half Life Orange Box, and Oblivion for the PS3 so I think you'll see my output die down a little in the coming weeks)

2. My tutorial covers some of the basics but since the advent of Live's "Drum Racks" and the acquisition of my V-Synth I have a bunch of new tricks up my sleeve. I usually start with a drum loop or two (Dusted William's Funky Ass Drums recently) and chop it up so each drum hit has it's own Simpler. The primary parameters I pay with are sample start, loop length, transpose, filter cutoff, LFO rate and LFO depth for transpose and Filter cutoff. The V-Synth has the same ability to chop a loop into slices assigned to individual keys and you can control the time-stretch, pitch shift and formant shift independently.

In Live when I expand a REX file to a drum rack it creates a midi file based on the position of the slices. I usually throw that out and create my own patterns, I set the grid of the sequencer to 256th notes and create a number of different patterns of varying complexity. I assign the pads on my Trigger Finger to each of midi clips as well as the enable button for each of the effects in the signal path. I use the Trigger Finger to jam out the initial structure of the song and then edit it down from there. The fine detailed stuff is usually done once those rough "Jams" are bounced to audio (the process that follows is probably the most time consuming, tedious and involved perhaps one day I'll create a new tutorial that details what I do in that process) . Once I have the basic arrangement of the track finished I'll reinforce the drum parts with a Battery kit.

For this song, however I used a new technique. I brought a loop into the Simpler and then used control sequencers from Numerology assigned to sample start and loop length to scan through the loop. I then used and LFO to adjust the speed that the control sequencers scan through the loop. It sounds more complicated than it is. I'll take some screen shots later that will illustrate the setup a little better

Thanks again for listening everyone.

[mystahr]

This is excellent!

+1

[justin3am]

This is excellent!

+1

Thanks!

[soulata]

yay,

thanks.
(I'll have to read that a few times more )