Disclaimer
All songs were created and recorded in my little home studio.
Live recordings were heavily manipulated in the post production. Additional midi notes were added to the roughly recorded melodies and chord progressions.
Guitars are played and recorder live.
Vocals were recorded remotely by various artists.
I am not a professional musician so don’t be too critical with this stuff.
I am doing music just for the fun of it!
მარტოობაში დაკარგული –
Lost in Solitude
This song emerged out of a simple piano melody in the scale of D-Mixolydian. The melody has been expanded by a simple chord progression around the notes of the melody. All Instruments except of the guitars are programmed in Reaper. Guitars are recorded live using a steel-string and nylon-string guitar. These wonderful vocals were recorded remotely by SevdaB from Georgia. The song was created during the second lockdown in Winter 2020. The following video is based upon some video sequences obtained from Runway AI, Generation 2. The sequences were edited and put together in a video editing software by syncronizing to the rythm of the music.
The pianos are played and programmed using the Pianotech-plugin and the East-West library for a Steinway piano. All drums are triggered by the Roland Handsonic E-Drums but the sounds are transfered to the Addictive Drums 2 plugin and the Analogue Mayhem library in Geist 2. Some Roland overdubs are created by redirecting the midi-files to some analog drum sounds from the HPD-20. All orchestra sounds are played on the Yamaha Montage but the outcomes are redirected to the Audio Imperia Nucleus Orchester Library. Guitars are recorded using two internal and two external microphones. Reverbs are added using the East West Spaces II Plugin.
Like dust I rise
I recently changed my setup to DAW-less. Instead of having a computer as centerpiece of making music, everything is controlled by a Boss RC 600 looper and the Digitakt.
This first track is based upon the AI version of a famous poem „Still I rise“ by Maya Angelou. I transformed that poem into spoken words using a text to speech AI. The outcome is transformed to synchronize with 129 beats per minute and I added some effects to it. This vocal file is loaded into the Boss RC 600 looper. All instruments are sequenced by the Digitakt. The first synth sound is a Waldorf Iridium, the second base is a Moog Subsequent 25 and the Piano part is played on the Yamaha Montage. Rhythm sounds are all programmed on the Digitakt.
Version 1: Separate stem mix with effects
Escape your inner Alcatraz
One of the reasons I wanted to learn playing electric guitar was hard rock. Time to turn the knobs to 11 for recording something faster and more heavy.
This is just the first rough backing track with only few synths and no vocals yet. Hopefully find some time to finish it in the future.
I started working on this song by watching several metal drum videos on YouTube. I enjoyed the lessons about blast beats a lot :-). The drums are programmed based on some basic drum patterns that trigger the „Addicitve Drums 2“ virtual instrument. Samples are from the United Heavy pack. The bass guitar is programmed for the „Modo Bass 2“ plugin. Signals split into tow different bass guitars, a „Thunderbird“ and a „Japan Bass“. Guitars are played on my beloved Schecter Diamond Series with Fishman and Sustaniac pickups blended together by switching both on. The Sustaniac adds more mids and overtone haromics to the signal. The raw guitar signal goes into the Fractal Audio AXE8 and a second raw signal into the PC using a Lehle audio splitter. The Fractal audio splits again into raw and processed signals both going to the PC. The other raw signal from the Lehle splitter is reamped using Neural DSP Plini and Neural DSP Gojira.
The video above was generated by some AI video engine and paintings from Rainhard Fingerhut. The AI generates short video sequences based upon the prompts and the pictures. The short video sequences are manipulated and edited in Adobe Premiere to fit the music
Future Past
This song reflects my passion for analog synths. First time I am using the Korg Minilogue and the Waldorf Iridium together. After 30 years of exchanging synths over Ebay, I reached an equilibrium setup that works best for me:
So many knobs to turn…
The „vocals“ come from a text-to-speech AI-software.
The following video is also AI-based. A first AI helps generating photos, which are transformed into small video sequences. The individual sequences are then put together in a video editing software (Premiere) to tell the story and fit the video to the music. More complex videos are still impossible but easier stories can be done. The whole thing is slightly influenced by Bladerunner, which was the first science fiction I ever watched and still is among my favorite movies all time. The movie and the soundtrack by Vangelis had a huge influence on me so excuse me for all the similarities.
Et:Al – Piano prog (working title)
The vocals are contributed by Erin Ezekiel. I am still working on the guitar tracks and the final mix. New versions may be updated in the near future.
Et:Al – Autopilot
A song that was recorded during the lockdown in 2020/2021. The lyrics and vocals are a contribution from somebody who must not be named.
The following video is based upon various video sources obtained from other artists:
Et:Al – Beyond 12
The audio file is a new idea I am developing together with Raíssa Leal from Brazil, who is currently working on the lyrics and vocals. Her first response to the instrumental track was that this song sounds like 12 o’clock from Vangelis. My immediate response was „I don’t even know this song but I love Vangelis“. She is right, there are some unintentional similarities with this song but I think our song is a bit more interesting (and I am saying that as a huge fan of the soundtracks to Bladerunner and Conquest of Paradise plus 666 and all the stuff Jon Anderson did with Vangelis)
Here is the first rough mix with some vocals
New idea 2022
The song is based upon a piano chord progression programmed using Scaler to stay in mixolydian scale. I was goofing around with different chords fitting into scale. Drums are programmed and the digital drum loops come from the Elektron Digitakt. I added an intro programmed using the Spitfire BBC Symphonic Orchestra library and recorded some electronic guitars on top of it.
I am currently searching for somebody interested in adding vocals to the song and I will continue updating this song when it is finished.
New demo (Juli/August 2021 till today)
Find below a very first version of a new song, which is unfinished yet. It is a rough mix without vocals. The basis of the song is a simple chord progression in Fis harmonic minor. I played the rough idea on a Yamaha Montage and developed the progression by programming additional notes in the midi editor using the snap to key function in Reaper. All other midi instruments are recorded exactly the same way.
There are some issues with the drums that have to be solved in the near future. I will post updates in the future. All instruments are played and programmed using various software synths:
– Imperia Audio: Nucleus and Areia Orchestra Emulation for all orchestra sounds including the Timpani
– East West Piano Emulation
– Modartt Pianoteq Emulation
– Kontakt Emotional Piano Emulation
– Addicitive Drums 2
– IK Media Modo Bass Emulation
– Yamaha Montage for live recordings. Sounds are substituted with the VSTs listed above.
– UHE Zebra 2 for the synth sounds in the bridge.
All three piano libraries are used together playing exactly the same notes, one is panned to the center, one to the right and one to the left.
Guitars are recorded using Fractal Audio AX8 plus the raw signal, which goes through the Neural DSP Plini Plugin.
Drums are mainly programmed but some parts were triggered with my Roland Handsonic drum pad.
No name yet (Juli/August 2020 till today)
This is the first song recorded using the DAW software „Reaper“. Amazing, so far I had no crashes working with it. It is the most stable recording software I have ever used and I am glad that I finally turned away from Cakewalk.
The vocals were added very recently and we still have to decide about a name for the song.
All tracks except of the vocals were recorded July/August 2020.
The piano originally comes from a Yamaha Montage. The midi track of the Piano recording were routed simultaneously to a Chick Corea Mark V electric piano (Montage), a Steinway piano sound taken from Pianotech and a piano sound from the East West composer cloud. Notes were corrected using the midi Editor in Reaper. All drums were recorded using a Roland HPD-20 but the midi notes are then transfered to Addicitve Drums 2 samples. Again, midi notes are corrected in the editor. The base guitar is programmed upon the midi notes recorded for the piano track in an virtual base guitar from IK Media Bass Modo.
All orchestra sounds are played and recoreded using the Montage and the Audio Imperia virtual instruments. Horn sounds are taken from the Nucleus library, strings from the Areia library.
The guitar signal splits into two different signals by using a Lehle Dual SGOS. One Signal directly goes into the audio interface and one signal goes into the Fractal Audio AX8. The direct signal is transformed by a Neural DSP „Plini“ plugin, which is blendend with the Fractal audio signal. The signal from the Ax8 splits into two mono signals using the FX-send output,which allows adding some additional reverb from the East West Spaces II plugin. The FX-loop internally splits the signal within the Ax8 before the effects section but after the amp section. The three guitar sounds are mixed together in Reaper.
The vocals are contributed by a singer from Buenos Aires.
Cinematic track (April 2020)
Foundation of this song is a cinematic drum sample in the background. The guitar is a Takamine Nylon string guitar, recorded through two stereo microphones by Rode (NS-1) and directly through an AX-8 by Fractal Audio. The piano originally comes from a Yamaha Montage but I changed the sounds to the Steinway piano from the East West Composer Cloud after the recording. All percussions played using a Roland Handsonic HPD-20 electronic drum set. Some parts of the recordings are heavily distorted by a Fuzz distortion plugin. All orchestra instruments are played using the Nucleus plugin from Audio Imperia.
All instruments are played by myself but corrections were done by manipulating midi notes to the scale 7 sharp C Phrygian and by quantizing the midi notes to 1/16th notes.
Mastering is done using Cakewalk and its plugins. Stereo widening plugin by Alex Hilton and the standard plugins from Cakewalk plus the East West Spaces II reverb were main ingredients used in the mastering process.
Track 2 (April 2018)
This song builds upon a brush drum sample taken from the „Nothing But Brushes“ library. I added additional drums using a standard drum kit from the Yamaha Montage. The base sounds are played using the Montage synthesizer. All electronic guitars are recorded using the Fractal Audio AX8 system and a Fender Stratocaster. Nylon guitars are recorded directly through a Zoom A3 pedal using a Godin nylon guitar. The electric piano sounds are based on the Chick Corea library for Yamaha Montage. The synthesizer sounds in the end of the song are programmed by Alex Hacke for the U-HE Zebra 2. The song also contains some rare sounds of a Chinese Guzhen provided in the East West library „Silk“.
Track 3 (March 2017):
This song is the first pice of music I created after a very long break of 12 years. I used one basic drum file to record the guitar before putting the base, E-Piano, Organ and String sounds. Finally, the drum overdubs were recorded using a standard kit from the Yamaha Montage. All instruments other than the guitar are recorded using the Yamaha Monntage, which is – next to buying a Fender Stratocaster and a Godin nylon string guitar – one of the best investments into music I ever made.
Track 3 (July 2003):
This song was recorded with a little help from Michael Schad. The drums and synth sounds were programmed by Micha on an old Korg Wavestation. I played most of the guitars using his Godin Nylon guitars through some decent effects pedal into an old Windows 98 computer. Micha played the fantastic solo in the middle. Everything was recorded within a couple of hours before we went out for some San Miguel beers in the spanish bar nearby his studio.
Track 5 (May 2000):
Another song I recorded together with a lot of help from Michael Schad. Unfortunately, the digital files of this song are lost. He recorded everything on an (nowadays) old Windows 98 computer but only an analog tape survived over all these years, which is why there is so much noise. The backing guitars were recorded using an acoustic simulator for electronic guitars which is still available:
I played the melody on Micha’s Godin Nylon guitar and he added some synth base and strings.