An original live composition created using the Nintendo DS experimental music cartridge Electroplankton.
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/planktonicvariations.mp3
All posts by DJ DEK
Retro Prologue
Retro Prologue was my attempt at creating an old-school RPG-style track. I started off using a chord program called SimpleChord to create some progressions that had a similar sound to the kind of music in SNES-era RPGs, then layered them together with different sounds. Most sounds on this track are produced with Vanguard.
CoolPad
CoolPad was one of those rare compositions that was actually done incrementally, bit by bit, over the course of a number of weeks. Initially, CoolPad started with a single pattern I was playing on a Reaktor synth that I was demoing. So, I recorded a loop of the pattern, and began adding on other sounds, including tones from Buzzer, Vanguard, and others. Finally, I threw on a fairly simple drum loop, and that was the basic sound. From there, more things were layered on, and various different sounds came into play, finally leading to a breakdown and another buildup (with some sounds almost reminiscent of “Midnight in Berlin”), before finally coming up with a decent ending.
Aside from the main Reaktor pad sound and a few others from the likes of Buzzer, almost everything in this track is done with an instance of Vanguard (except for some EXSP strings). The drum loops (there is actually more than one) are from Garageband Jam Pack 2.
Autoditty
I call this song Autoditty because it is, for the most part, automatically generated. It’s essentially showing off the power of Harmony Assistant, a program which I’ve used to write the vast majority of music that is present here.
AQ Theme Remix
So, way back in the dawn of internet time (i.e. some time circa the early 2000s or so), I played a flash-based game called AdventureQuest. I won’t provide a link to it here because, well, you can go into your neighborhood mega-mart and find point cards for the game on their giant wall of gift cards, which should really tell you everything you need to know about what the game unfortunately turned into. However, back in the beginning, it was a fairly small, fairly fun game with a pretty decent community, and I had a great time with it. However, at that time, the game didn’t have any music for it, aside from a couple of short sample clips hidden away somewhere on the website of one of the game’s artists. So, I suppose that makes this remix unique – perhaps one of the only remixes from a game that does not yet have music :)
This is a remix of one of the AQ title themes, from their “music development” website. The original track was only 4 bars long, so I had just a bit of work to get it to a piece that lasts over 3 minutes. Still, this track has some good effects, and actually manages not to be too repetitive, while improving the sound quality from the original recording. It is also one of the most complex pieces that I’ve put together using only Harmony Assistant.
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/aqthemeremix.mp3
And, a random bonus clip:
Minimalist
This track was somewhat inspired by Terry Riley’s minimalist “In C”, in which one note is featured prominently. This piece does have more than one note, but it focuses more on the tonal quality and ambiance of the music rather than the actual notes. As a result, it has a very pure sound, and a somewhat haunting and intriguing tone.
Game Music
Battle Theme
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/BT-Synth-Stereo.mp3
Bell Ambiance
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/bell-ambience.mp3
Cathedral
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/cathedral.mp3
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/cathedral-extended.mp3
Crystal Cave
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/padsynth.mp3
Dark Ambiance
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/darkambience.mp3
Electric Piano Ambiance
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/elecpiano.mp3
Fanfare
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/synth_fanfare.mp3
Forest
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/metalsax.mp3
Harp Tune
http://www.idlecircuits.com/digintmedia/harppad-noenv-harmonics.mp3
Victory Theme
Elec
This is an odd, abstract, and kind of avant-garde electronic piece, with various widgy noises. It’s sort of darkly ambient in parts, with fun electronic beeping and otherworldly sounds. It’s generally quite a bit different than most of my other music. Basically, I was playing around in Live, and I decided I wanted to create something different, something that sounded a bit creepy and discordant, and this is the result. Overall, it’s not horribly complex, and I whipped it up fairly quickly, so it ends up being somewhat minimalist, but I think it sounds more direct as a result.
Created using Ableton Live. Drums are done using the built-in Impulse, other sounds from Green Oak Crystal, Reaktor Subharmonic, and the Beast. All midi programmed directly, no pre-fab loops.