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Post by admin on Jun 18, 2019 7:40:22 GMT
Imitation is Flattery Theme: Take a song or music track that has inspired you at some point in your life and create a patch on the AE Modular that imitates it without copying it. Submission window: Tuesday 18th June -> Monday 24th June (23:59:59) Background: A saying goes that "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery" and definitely is the way many artists start to learn their skills. Even master artists like Dali or Picasso would start their careers by imitating other styles first before evolving their own distinct way of painting. And in music this is especially true in that we learn a new instrument mainly by learning to play songs that were written by other people. This task is not about copying or "stealing" other artist's work .. but to catch maybe a snippet of phrase, a mood or a certain technique and making it your own while using the AE Modular system to create a short patch or even a whole track. In your submission, please describe the song that is the source of your inspiration and why you chose that particular piece. Please also describe which aspect of it you tried to capture. All in all .. don't fret and don't spend too much time with details ... just patch something and have fun, while matching your own feet with the shoes of the masters.
The challenge is set, and runs during the submission window set out above, however, please feel free to add entries or leave comments after the initial challenge has ended. Each entry should contain:- Link to audio or video example (embedded preferred)
- Short (or not so short) patch notes, explaining how you have built on the above theme
Your entry can be as short/long as you wish, a simple sound or a track, use external fx or synths, do what you can in the time you have - go wild, make the challenge yours! You are welcome to use previous entries, as inspiration, build on them to form something new, or just use in a different way, you are welcome to submit multiple entries. If you are posting on social media (youtube, soundcloud) , please tag with #AEChallenge and #AEModular, and include a link back to the challenge thread here on the AE Modular forum. Everyone is actively encouraged to comment on entries, provide feedback and ideas... you are welcome to continue commenting/discussing outside of the submission window. the more we discuss the more we all learn 
This is part of the AE patch challenge series - if you would like more information, or have ideas for the challenge, please post on the patch challenge thread.
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Post by spacedog on Jun 23, 2019 14:38:16 GMT
Thanks, admin for an interesting challenge this week. For this one I was determined to generate a mid-70's styled sequence in the style of Tangerine Dream.
Whilst that's probably not a surprise to anyone who has read more than one of my posts here, this time it was fuelled by the arrival of the new boxset that not only has remasters of the classic albums, but also remixes of a couple and some previously unissued material and superb recordings of three concerts.
It's one of those concerts (the Royal Albert Hall, in London, from 1975) that provided the inspiration for this track. It's an interesting time as there are echoes of both the "Phaedra" and "Rubycon" albums, so this is the vibe that I went for. Here is a link to the sort of thing I mean on YouTube. It's not a fathful reproduction, more of a recreation of the vibe.
Here's the piece, more on the details underneath.
The sequence is completely created within the AE Modular, with the notes being generated from the SEQ16. I was tweaking both the notes themselves (a real advantage of the way Robert has configured the SEQ16) and the end-point. To do that I routed the step point through the 3VCSWITCH before going to the RESET on the SEQ16, which meant that using the LATCH setting, I could switch the end-point in and out - then I re-patched it quickly if I had a free hand. I tried setting up several points using all three switches, but I ended up with some weird binary coding going on that was too complicated to handle live, so I backed out and just used one switch. I shall investigate this in more depth later.
The sequence sound is PWM pulse from the VCO, with the PW modulated by a slow LFO. The DECAY on the 2ENV and the cut-off on the NYLE FILTER were modulated by the same LFO as the clock (via the 2ATT/CV). There was then some tweaking live.
Having prepared the sequencer notes in the SEQ16 and patched up, this was a live improvisation with lots of that tweaking and playing the Mellotron Chior sound and firing off a prepared piano sample a few times. Great fun and the volume was turned up to get the vibe. The longest time taken was working out and tuning the sequencer notes, and where to put the end points.
EDIT: Whilst I mentioned it in another post, I didn't add a note on the external effects here. I used a phaser into a delay (tempo-matched) into a reverb.
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Post by arti on Jul 14, 2019 15:52:37 GMT
My track The return to Babylon is inspired by Thomas Fehlmann's album "1929- Das Jahr Babylon". I found it accidentaly, while digging through records stacks and the cover artwork catched my eye. He is well known as the part of The Orb but I prefer his solo stuff. This is a soundtrack and contains many samples from pre-war Germany seamesly entwined in the fabric of Thomas' minimal electronic music. It's cinematic, minimalistic and creates dreamy-retro mood, nostalgic but with some doses of anxiety. You may check it here. I think track 10 ("Chapter D Main") would be enough to get what I've tried to achive, but I would recomend to listen (and buy) the whole album, 'cause it's great. So I've tried to dive into this cinematic/minimalistic feeling by borowing some ideas from Thomas, but avoiding copying, and by using my synths of course: 0:00 Neutron 0:16 AEM first voice (abstract piano melody - I love this piano-like and a bit glitchy sound) 0:30 AEM second voice (bass loop) 1:08/1:21 Volca sample 1:37 Volca Kick 1:51 Volca Beats 2:11 Monologue 3:33 Volca FM |
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Post by admin on Jul 15, 2019 12:27:42 GMT
Thank you arti again for widening my horizon! First off, your track is great and achieves all you have promised in the description! I can see this as a great soundtrack to a documentary .. at once languidly meandering through a dreamy place, but is also just so slightly hinting at something dark and dreadful. Also in one of your earlier posts you mentioned Popol Vu and since then I have been binge listening to it and loving it! Sometimes I do feel that I have been born 20 years too late, but at least most of the music is still preserved and not too hard to find. So now I am delighted not just to listen to your fabulous track, but also to enjoy the "1929 - Das Jahr Babylon" soundtrack from Thomas Fehlmann which I thoroughly enjoy on many levels: 1. as the music itself, 2. as a Berliner in self imposed exile and 3. as a fan of the very enjoyable TV show "Babylon Berlin". Thanks again arti! |
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Post by spacedog on Jul 15, 2019 13:13:09 GMT
Thank you arti again for widening my horizon! First off, your track is great and achieves all you have promised in the description! I can see this as a great soundtrack to a documentary .. at once languidly meandering through a dreamy place, but is also just so slightly hinting at something dark and dreadful. Also in one of your earlier posts you mentioned Popol Vu and since then I have been binge listening to it and loving it! Sometimes I do feel that I have been born 20 years too late, but at least most of the music is still preserved and not too hard to find. So now I am delighted not just to listen to your fabulous track, but also to enjoy the "1929 - Das Jahr Babylon" soundtrack from Thomas Fehlmann which I thoroughly enjoy on many levels: 1. as the music itself, 2. as a Berliner in self imposed exile and 3. as a fan of the very enjoyable TV show "Babylon Berlin". Thanks again arti ! And a big "thank you" from me as well, arti, I am now watching the documentary and brushing up on my German. It's a really interesting piece that you've created - also, for me, because I can hear that it's something that wouldn't have flowed naturally out of me. That's great because as admin said, my horizon has been widened. I really enjoy that and I really enjoyed your piece. I love Berlin, having visited quite a few times over the years, and I, too, feel that I was born that little bit too late to have been able to take part in the music that I love, as it was being created. Of course, whilst I can play in the style, I'm not so sure that I could have created it. Maybe I could have played in the style a bit sooner, though Thanks, again. Keep 'em coming. |
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Post by arti on Jul 15, 2019 16:33:06 GMT
Wow, thank You guys for all Your kind words! I'm very happy my posts may contain something interesting for You. admin, yeah Popol Vuh are so amazing, I've recently bought their 6lps boxset and hungry for more! And You're right, the Berlin tv-serie is great too. I envy You both to be able to watch this documentary as it apears not to have english subtitles anywhere on the Internet. I know what You mean with this wish to be born 20 years earlier, but consider this, You would have to wait 20 years for Thomas Fehlmann album, not to mention AE Modular format spacedog, You were not on the spot when the Berlin School was forming, but You're one of the few who are here with us who are able to keep it alive! And rest assured - my tracks will be coming. I just love my syths and AE Modular gives me so much fun and education, I play with it almost everyday and usualy tend to complete some track everytime I stumble upon something interesting on the way. |
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Post by admin on Aug 28, 2019 13:37:13 GMT
This only took me 2 months to get something going ... better late than never. Also please remember that the Patch Challenges are always open to either get started or revisit and any time!
I wanted to do a track that is long, develops really slow, uses white noise ("Rauschen") changes to a quiet zone and then builds to a crescendo towards the end.... a bit like "Echoes" from Pink Floyd (although this track will not do it justice!)
If you can spare it, then give this track some time ... there are subtle things going on and it changes dramatically towards the 10:00 minute mark and builds towards a surprise ending!
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Post by moruial on Aug 28, 2019 14:44:15 GMT
Very nice one admin! I really enjoy the second part that lead to this quiet amazing ending, yet a bit abrupt |
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Post by arti on Aug 28, 2019 20:11:54 GMT
Cool! I see You have FM now and making a good use of it I wait for more! |
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