One synth EP Challenge (No competition or prizes - just for fun)

Great fun, great prizes! Good luck!
User avatar
FLVZ
Posts: 518
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: ZW | GB

07 Aug 2018

Here's my EP based on the ES01 RE synthesiser.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0_i7NSZCr5


User avatar
TheGodOfRainbows
Posts: 640
Joined: 31 Mar 2015

11 Aug 2018

teddymcw wrote:
30 Apr 2018
Subtractor.







Third track really needs much more editing and mixing TLC before jarring and tasting, bit of a mess rt now. May add some unfinished tracks later but wanted to hit the deadline.


Context: Was really getting into Grain and all the beautiful and diverse sounds it can make when I realized what I was producing was really lacking rhythm and certain textures. So I began messing around with on of the simplest and overlooked synths on the palette and started having fun again with polyrhythms, and getting back to basics of synthesis mixed with timing.
Sorry teddy that I forgot to comment on your EP!

I like Gleaming, especially the first 35 seconds. I would have enjoyed a longer section of that part. That blood-flowing-through-heart-valve sound is cool.

Evade the day is my other favorite. I like the mood and journey it takes you through. The ending is nice and smooth. You mentioned it needs TLC, but I think it tastes just fine. Maybe a touch of rawness is good?

Good job keeping the Subtractor alive. It's always a good reminder that Subtractor is a meat and potatoes synth. Simple, but full of basic and essential nutrients and musical caloric content.

Well done teddy, and again sorry your offering was neglected.

User avatar
TheGodOfRainbows
Posts: 640
Joined: 31 Mar 2015

13 Aug 2018

Flavolous wrote:
07 Aug 2018
Here's my EP based on the ES01 RE synthesiser.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0_i7NSZCr5

Flavolous, this EP is now one of my favorites. Very pleasing moods, rhythms, textures.

Saturnian was a great journey. I would love to explore the gaseous entities of Saturn while listening to this music.

Aberration II is a dope track. The intro makes me think of flies buzzing amist spoilage, and the melody further evokes a kind of 8mm horror film vibe. Then that sound that fades in at 0:24 and continues I love! It sounds like a comb filter with resonance high and you are modulating the frequency cutoff - is that at ALL close?! What ever it is your doing, I love.

Aberration I really accentuates that robotic, glitched, up down cycle motif. Good stuff.

Overall, the mix is tight, and so is the music. Nice job Flavolous. :D

User avatar
FLVZ
Posts: 518
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: ZW | GB

14 Aug 2018

TheGodOfRainbows wrote:
13 Aug 2018
Flavolous wrote:
07 Aug 2018
Here's my EP based on the ES01 RE synthesiser.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0_i7NSZCr5

Flavolous, this EP is now one of my favorites. Very pleasing moods, rhythms, textures.

Saturnian was a great journey. I would love to explore the gaseous entities of Saturn while listening to this music.

Aberration II is a dope track. The intro makes me think of flies buzzing amist spoilage, and the melody further evokes a kind of 8mm horror film vibe. Then that sound that fades in at 0:24 and continues I love! It sounds like a comb filter with resonance high and you are modulating the frequency cutoff - is that at ALL close?! What ever it is your doing, I love.

Aberration I really accentuates that robotic, glitched, up down cycle motif. Good stuff.

Overall, the mix is tight, and so is the music. Nice job Flavolous. :D
Thanks, I'm surprised you're into this.

And you're right its a comb filter with his res and freq mod. Theres also neutron (by LoveOne not the Izotope vst) being modulated with CV and synchronous doing some stuff whilst having the CV shapes warped by an instance from quadelectra's CV suite. So a whole lot going on. I don't know how i'd recreate this outside reason.

I guess this thread is dead, I was looking forward to throwing some One Synth EPs out, its a fun little way to actually finish some projects!

User avatar
teddymcw
Posts: 432
Joined: 13 May 2016

04 Jan 2019

Flavolous wrote:
07 Aug 2018
Here's my EP based on the ES01 RE synthesiser.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0_i7NSZCr5

This is great! what a way to end the thread on. This lil guy will never die, except as a legend in my eyes. Saturnian is amazing all around and I also really like Aberration III you got going in your sig. Nothing too specific to highlight for me bc there's so many great elements, all well produced to the end.

User avatar
teddymcw
Posts: 432
Joined: 13 May 2016

04 Jan 2019

TheGodOfRainbows wrote:
11 Aug 2018


Sorry teddy that I forgot to comment on your EP!

I like Gleaming, especially the first 35 seconds. I would have enjoyed a longer section of that part. That blood-flowing-through-heart-valve sound is cool.

Evade the day is my other favorite. I like the mood and journey it takes you through. The ending is nice and smooth. You mentioned it needs TLC, but I think it tastes just fine. Maybe a touch of rawness is good?

Good job keeping the Subtractor alive. It's always a good reminder that Subtractor is a meat and potatoes synth. Simple, but full of basic and essential nutrients and musical caloric content.

Well done teddy, and again sorry your offering was neglected.
Thanks for the listening and love GOR! I still really like Gleaming a lot to this day, and the EP is nice as an anti-4/4 exercise if you will. Hope you're well and your music is as alive as ever.

omikronbeats
Posts: 4
Joined: 27 Dec 2018

04 Jan 2019

this seems like a fun challenge!

User avatar
TheGodOfRainbows
Posts: 640
Joined: 31 Mar 2015

06 Jan 2019

omikronbeats wrote:
04 Jan 2019
this seems like a fun challenge!
Go for it! It's good for the brain. I really like the ones that use the old classic Reason synths, like Subtractor. It shows that old and basic does not mean it isn't still useful. I was thinking about doing a Subtractor EP myself, but after finishing current project.

But all the EP posted here are invaluable to me, because I love the idea of limiting your choices. I think it gets the mind working differently and is therefore a beneficial mental exercise. I get serious analysis paralysis when looking at a rack full of awesome synths, and this one synth challenge EP is like having glasses on that block out the periphery, and allow me to focus on what matters the most: making some music, and painting an auditory picture.

Choosing one synth FORCES you to get to know that particular instrument. You will then have a sense of mastery over it, which is the kung fu equivalent of punching through bricks, whereas before you could only punch through styrofoam.

These EPs are also a celebration of that synth. A spotlight. When I only had the original Reason synths, I wanted more synths to avoid the SAMENESS of using only a handful of synths, which I think was a common problem in the older days of less abundance. But this thread embraces the sameness, and makes the most of it.

Lastly, these EPs are informative to listeners as it showcases what the synth is capable of, especially if shopping around, and want to hear a piece of work that uses ONLY that synth without the distraction of hearing possibly other sound sources mixed in.

User avatar
TheGodOfRainbows
Posts: 640
Joined: 31 Mar 2015

06 Jan 2019

teddymcw wrote:
04 Jan 2019
Thanks for the listening and love GOR! I still really like Gleaming a lot to this day, and the EP is nice as an anti-4/4 exercise if you will. Hope you're well and your music is as alive as ever.
Yes and thank you! The most Iventure away from 4/4, is the occasional 3/4 waltzy song. But I really need to get into time signature changes, mid song even. I actually used to play around in 5/4 but, since it's a 4/4 world, I specifically try to stay in 4/4 as to not alienate potential listeners. I need to start experimenting to find that balance between enough and too much. I have this idea in my mind that only prog rock does that, but I don't know. I'm sure movie scores do it, but cues from a movie and not mainstream or even close to mainstream listening for the average person.

I don't know where that balance lies. :?

Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests