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VEGANGELICA · 01-05-2015, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piotr_13

[...] Variable 55 was created a few years ago. Back when I used to use FL Studio. I've since upgraded to Sonar so Freebase and I can exchange projects with ease.

The main bit was majorly a synth from a program called Synplant. At the time, it was a new and exciting thing for me to use. It started with the tingly sound, and then I added some pingy synthesizer sounds that blended together quite well.

I sent the intro to Freebase, and we went back and forth for a few days creating it.

Around the time the "time bend" happens, was a drumming idea. I had a stock beat loop that I glitched using "Gross Beat" with some automation.

In the beat, there was that "vinyl time dip" that you hear. It wasn't intentional at first, but I thought it sounded cool.

Freebase took that sound, with his own beat, and emulated it along with the atmosphere creating an entire time dip that I think sounds fantastic.

For Variable 55, everything you hear, was sampled. There are no instruments involved that were physically played.

As for the title, "Variable 55?"

Well it's quite simple. The original project tempo was 110 BPM. So in order to create things more brooding, we halved some of the sounds to 55 BPM. Hence the song being in a Variable 55 tempo.

You've actually provoked me to look into my old FL Studio project folder, and low and behold, I actually have the original draft of the project!

Of course, a lot of the sounds have been deleted, misplaced, and lost in random browser cleanups, and one hard drive crash, but I've uploaded the main bell part for you to check out.

https://www.mediafire.com/?d3da467vt6v2x2p

Enjoy!

Thank you, Piotr_13, for the description of how you and Freebase made Variable 55, and thank you also for the main bell part!

The vinyl time dip in the song *is* cool. I also feel that halving the tempo of parts of the piece was a good choice to give it a more contemplative feel, so I'm glad you both decided to go with Variable 55 rather than stick with 110.

The song is lovely and I'm tickled to have the main bell melody. It's beautiful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali1528887

Variable 55 and Equation for Sundays is my fave! Actually, it kinda changes as new songs come out. I have emotional ties to 55 and Equation that have kinda been around for a while, but newer songs like Plastic Bells edits are getting up there. That's basically our approach. We just try to make music we like. If we like it, we have succeeded. If others do as well, then that's icing on the cake. So, thanks for the icing!

Yea, I agree about the realistic strings thing. Unfortunately I don't have much access to them. I do have a few patches in Dimension Pro that are actual recording of strings, but I think I went with a patch that is my go-to solely for the ambiance of it. The piano is actually from the same synth, which is a sampling synth, so the sounds are generally sampled from the real thing. However, the patches themselves modify those sounds to achieve something of a hybrid approach. Basically giving you synthesizer control over real sound.

Anyway, I enjoyed working on that song. I'm always a melodic person by default, and I love classical, so I like to play with the things about music I love and put them together to see what happens. Igorrr is a bit of inspiration for that song, for sure, but like you said, he's a bit more complicated. But I think there's something to say about simplicity as well, even if it comes in moments.

As Piotr said, the song is all created in synths or using found samples creatively. I realize that there is a respect for performance, however, I feel as though the production of a song using either found material or creating material using a program... well, that's kinda the performance. To me, it's like being a director in a way. Except you not only shape the way the song happens, but you are creating the melodies and progressions by hand using sound that is already recorded. I guess you already understand that part, but I just wanted to say it.

I'm about to post a new song that we've had in the works with my buddy's guitaring, however, so perhaps this will be a nice change of pace? We're thinking about incorporating actual instrumental performances into our music lately. The song I'm about to post is the first of the bunch, should it become a thing.

You're welcome for the icing, but honestly I think we listeners are the lucky ones because we get to hear and enjoy the song, cake and all. I don't find many songs that I really like immensely, so when I do, I feel fortunate to benefit from someone else's creativity.

Your way of merging what you like about music into your songs and bouncing ideas and sounds off each other is resulting in unique, memorable pieces.

I agree completely and understand what you mean about the performance being the use of synths and sampled sounds to produce your own songs. What I like about musician-created sounds (like Piotr_13's guitar playing) is purely psychological: I like that the sounds are the residual left from the musician's physical motions interacting with the resonating object, much like the motions of an artist are imprinted in the brush strokes of paint on canvas.

I'm curious to hear what you both come up with next!