FAWM: "glitch orchestra"

glitch orchestra

15 hours ago by @burrMod

glitch orchestra

burr

00:00

Liner Notes

file this under "roadblocked experiment, posting just to move on..." this began life as an attempt at the "comments first" challenge, but took a different turn.

i love records that use orchestral textures (nick drake, beck, my brightest diamond, sufjan stevens, etc.) and after using some orchestra plugins on my latest plantscape experiment i thought i'd try to make more/better use of them. i wondered what mixing a chamber orchestra with idm/glitch sounds might be like, so that's what this was trying to do.

i made a trap beat with circuit-bent arcade machine samples
i used EZKeys to come up with a song structure
i routed EZKeys output through divisimate to separate the keyboard MIDI into 5 voices, which i routed thusly to use as a starting point:
- voice 1: cello + viola (lowest)
- voice 2: two violins
- voice 3: clarinet
- voice 4: trumpet
- voice 5: flute (highest)
i used EZBass to help find a bass part to complement the orchestra and played it with some kind of FM bass synth patch
edited the MIDI to taste

at this point, the result was interesting, but i was uninspired to turn it into a "real song" or flesh it out with other bits. felt too busy or dense, too, like it needed to be sparser to make room for anything else.

but rather than hammer away at it all of valentine's day, i just fawmed it out! i did learn out some tricks for approaching potential future songs, though.

for now, a couple of 4-track tape collabs just came in the mail…!

#orchestral #glitch #instrumental

Comments

@gregscheer 29m

I like that you had the fortitude to experiment and then move on. That's one of the lessons FAWM has taught me: Don't waste your time polishing the turd; learn what you need to learn and then move on to the next song. Or what I call the Kenny Rogers maxim of songwriting: "Know when to walk away; know when to run." Not that this is a turd you need to run from! I think it's actually quite fetching and would keep it around to see if you can flesh it out later. If you want a really cool example of orchestra with electronic beat, check out Hooverphonic's "Battersea." I love the tension they create between placid strings and frenetic rhythm. For pop with orchestra, I'd be honored to have you take a listen to my own group, the St. Sinner Orchestra.

@spikedirection 2h

I’m particularly Intrigued by the arcade machine rhythm track. It sounds like some old gameboy games I used to play. I’d love to try that myself sometime.

@sadcoolgirl 12h

now this is super intriguing. i love the different layers and textures to it, it's really an interesting listen. thanks for sharing, nicely done!

@esc4p3 14h

It isn't easy to guess where the song is going to go next, and having read the liner notes I can see why. The unpredictability makes it a great listen, I would have never guessed the instruments used to make the track.

@briggs 14h

I listened to this before I read the liner notes, and i thought it had a video game quality to it. Super catchy, happy and fun! Now that I’ve read the liner notes, the technology is over my head, but maybe I’ll explore resources for song structure, just to get me out of my regular patterns. Thanks!