While sorting through dusty clips from live performances I came across an angular Rhodes line that sounded quite odd removed from the context of the original set.
I decided to loop the line to create a forty second phrase. Afterward I ran it through distortion, ring modulation, reverb and delay. I also automated the fine tuning setting on the ring modulator to create a sweeping pitch shift.
Rhodes Line Out of Context
Here’s another example of audio that was recorded for the purpose of live looping during a performance.
The clip is dated from August 18, 2006 and is a typical example of how I often use a resonant drone with cutoff frequency manipulation through delay to create textures.
Resonant Drone
I came across this sample from a performance on July 13, 2006. It is a delayed synthesizer line that I played and captured as a clip in Ableton Live during the show. What’s interesting to me about this clip is the obvious modulation in pitch on the delay trails. This is not something that I programmed into the patch and I suspect is actually caused by a bug in the Korg MS2000. It’s possible to recreate this bug by enabling tempo delay then sending external sync to the instrument. I rarely experience this glitch anymore because rather than using the delay on the Korg, I usually run it through tempo delay in the software. However, I kind of like the ghostly quality it creates in this short passage.
Warbled Synth Delay
Today has been a busy day on ACB with new contributor Tom Player’s lovely yacht recording and Nils Westdal’s Christopher Willits remix. So, all I have for you is a quick sound to fulfill my One Sound Every Day duties. I created this diffused noise montage by pitching down a metal wheel scraping sound and then running it through a very long reverb.
Reverberated Metal Scraping
I found this short loop of loose keyboard playing in an Ableton Live set. I had played it and live looped the phrase during a performance. Most of these little clips are never heard again, but every so often I save the set with the clips intact. Even more rarely I go back and listen to these archives. Here’s one that had been sitting in a folder of collected files for a while, so I decided to loop it and add some reverb for a finishing touch.
Forest Floor