(synthwave/soundtrack/electronic) Programmable Reality

[adfielding]

It's been a minute since I posted anything here, so I figured I'd share something I've been working on recently.

When it comes to writing music I always like to try and hit the ground running in January, otherwise I tend to find I can end up in a bit of a productivity funk. Having a project lined up helps a lot in that regard, and I was fortunate to have a musical project that allowed me to get writing straight away.

This tune started life as one of said production tunes, but kind of took on a life of its own and drifted way away from the brief - so I decided to keep going with it and see where it took me. In that regard it was incredibly cathartic to work on as I was using familiar techniques to persue something a little different.

So, here it is! The tune is called Programmable Reality, and I guess if I had to describe it I'd say it's a sort of soundtrack-y/synthwave-y type thing with cinematic-y/IDM-y elements woven in there. But I'm terrible when it comes to genres, so you should probably disregard that.



The whole thing was created using Reason (of course!), and I'd love to know what you think of it!

[Zac]

It was a pleasure to listen to. Loved the beat programming, the interlude and the way it evolved. Classy track with feeling, congrats

[adfielding]

It was a pleasure to listen to. Loved the beat programming, the interlude and the way it evolved. Classy track with feeling, congrats

Thanks! Glad you liked it

[Rising Night Wave]

I have listened this track. Nice song. But not my fav/like. Okey? Please sorry about that. It's just not the right thing for me. We all are different so this song is just not my type.
I will take a listen of your songs on your SoundCloud profile. I hope I will find something interesting for me.

[Rising Night Wave]

I liked:
- Devour (Fur Elise),
- That's Not Me and
- Renew (First Pass).
So you got 3 likes and 3 reposts from me. Nice songs.
Other songs are also nice and technically very good but not my type. Sorry bout that.

[adfielding]

I liked:
- Devour (Fur Elise),
- That's Not Me and
- Renew (First Pass).
So you got 3 likes and 3 reposts from me. Nice songs.
Other songs are also nice and technically very good but not my type. Sorry bout that.

No need to apologise if any of my music isn't to your taste, that's totally fine Thanks so much for giving it a shot, and I'm really glad to hear you liked some of it!

If you like the Renew (First Pass) track then you might be interested to know that I have an entire album of tunes written using the exact same setup over on Bandcamp, including a more complete version of that track. It's available for free here:

Thanks again for listening and for the honest feedback!

[raymondh]

Wow! Great piece of music Adam.

Quite evocative.

Immediately you captured the 'technology' vibe which was presumably your brief. I don't know how you do that. And the chilled out part I really enjoyed listening to.

[adfielding]

Wow! Great piece of music Adam.

Quite evocative.

Immediately you captured the 'technology' vibe which was presumably your brief. I don't know how you do that. And the chilled out part I really enjoyed listening to.

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you liked it! Most of the tunes I've been working on lately have been around the 2.5 - 3.5 minute mark (partly due to the brief, partly due to the time I'm allotting myself to work on each idea), so it was nice to let this one flow a little more for a change.

[Heigen5]

Loved it, the drums, especially the snare and kick made it sound really fresh. nice atmosphere on the background - and when the strings came in it was plain beautiful Adam! Nice work!

[Micha1973]

great sounds! huge track*

[adfielding]

Loved it, the drums, especially the snare and kick made it sound really fresh. nice atmosphere on the background - and when the strings came in it was plain beautiful Adam! Nice work!

Thanks, really glad you liked it! fwiw the drums are mostly from Wave Alchemy's Drumvolution - the recently released Ableton Live pack includes all the drum samples as separate WAVs (unlike the Kontakt version), so although it's less flexible than the Kontakt version you still get access to the drums at a much reduced price.

great sounds! huge track*

Cheers!

[Brosefski]

This is a good tune. More chill, complex but also evolving.

[adfielding]

This is a good tune. More chill, complex but also evolving.

Thanks! Glad you liked it

[MannequinRaces]

Lovely chill track Adam! Very nice!

[Chizmata]

this track is really on a high level and the composition is a round and complete thing as is. just the sidechain comp is too hefty for me.

[adfielding]

Lovely chill track Adam! Very nice!

Thanks!

this track is really on a high level and the composition is a round and complete thing as is. just the sidechain comp is too hefty for me.

Cheers! And yeah, you're right, I've been a bit heavy with the SC compression lately - maybe I'll dial that back a little for next time Thanks for the feedback!

[guitfnky]

the thought that strikes me here is, this tune sounds incredibly mature. everything in its place, and all working towards a satisfying end point. really well-done!

I’ve only listened to an odd track here and there of yours, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but do your songs ever feature vocals? I tend to like deep music like this, but for some reason usually want to hear someone singing to it. just to know where else I might start with some more of your stuff. if not, I’ll still take a deeper dive.

[reddust]

nice track, very pleasant to listen to

[adfielding]

the thought that strikes me here is, this tune sounds incredibly mature. everything in its place, and all working towards a satisfying end point. really well-done!

I’ve only listened to an odd track here and there of yours, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but do your songs ever feature vocals? I tend to like deep music like this, but for some reason usually want to hear someone singing to it. just to know where else I might start with some more of your stuff. if not, I’ll still take a deeper dive.

Thanks, that's very kind of you to say! I do sing from time to time, though it's become much more infrequent these days - that's one thing I actually wanted to address this year actually. The main problem I have now isn't with singing and recording vocals, but writing lyrics - I guess it's like anything else, I haven't done it in so long that those creative muscles are going to take time to come back... but it's infuriating because it used to come so naturally to me. But I'm sure I'll get back to it! If you want to hear a more recent example, I've got a tune on Soundcloud called Falter which features vocals.



My albums Distant Activity and Lightfields also feature a lot of vocal tracks, though I was definitely still finding my voice on DA (which was originally released in 2008). Lightfields is a bit more energetic and organic imo (and also quite a bit more rough around the edges), but you can check those out here if you're interested

nice track, very pleasant to listen to

Thanks for the kind words

[guitfnky]

the thought that strikes me here is, this tune sounds incredibly mature. everything in its place, and all working towards a satisfying end point. really well-done!

I’ve only listened to an odd track here and there of yours, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but do your songs ever feature vocals? I tend to like deep music like this, but for some reason usually want to hear someone singing to it. just to know where else I might start with some more of your stuff. if not, I’ll still take a deeper dive.

Thanks, that's very kind of you to say! I do sing from time to time, though it's become much more infrequent these days - that's one thing I actually wanted to address this year actually. The main problem I have now isn't with singing and recording vocals, but writing lyrics - I guess it's like anything else, I haven't done it in so long that those creative muscles are going to take time to come back... but it's infuriating because it used to come so naturally to me. But I'm sure I'll get back to it! If you want to hear a more recent example, I've got a tune on Soundcloud called Falter which features vocals.



My albums Distant Activity and Lightfields also feature a lot of vocal tracks, though I was definitely still finding my voice on DA (which was originally released in 2008). Lightfields is a bit more energetic and organic imo (and also quite a bit more rough around the edges), but you can check those out here if you're interested

nice track, very pleasant to listen to

Thanks for the kind words

awesome, thanks for the suggestions. I started listening through Lightfields yesterday, and I'm digging what I've heard so far. also, Falter is pretty incredible. you've got a great voice, and (obviously) a great ear. the vocals and production in that one actually remind me not a little of a metal band called Architects. your vocal delivery, and the production in general, sounds very similar to his clean singing, and their less heavy parts. so good.

[adfielding]

awesome, thanks for the suggestions. I started listening through Lightfields yesterday, and I'm digging what I've heard so far. also, Falter is pretty incredible. you've got a great voice, and (obviously) a great ear. the vocals and production in that one actually remind me not a little of a metal band called Architects. your vocal delivery, and the production in general, sounds very similar to his clean singing, and their less heavy parts. so good.

Hey, thanks for checking it out! That's super interesting - Architects are one of those bands I keep meaning to check out (but haven't for some weird reason) despite prog-metal being pretty much my go-to genre whenever I fancy listening to something with a less electronic focus. Needless to say I'll be giving them a proper listen now when I get a chance. Thanks again!

[rare_shadow]

Great track!

Very good sound design and the mix sounds very airy and dynamic.

[adfielding]

Great track!

Very good sound design and the mix sounds very airy and dynamic.

Thanks, glad you liked it!