Speculation

michael2

Get Flash to see this player.

Description

This is from experimentation with Logic. I wanted to figure out how to set up a sidechain, and ran a piano through a vocoder. then i started playing with the spectral gate plug in and the piano ended up sounding like a bird call or something on 1 track and a drone on the other. i'm also still trying to work out the intricacies of audio editing so i put in some samples and played around with them. a piano, a rotary switch that smokey vw sent me, and a snippet of applause from a sample that smokey vw has on his freesound page. i also recorded some synths and sliced them up and added a bunch of stuff. the creaking sound is a loose floor board in my house that I recorded with the built in mic and tried to EQ out all the noise.

i sent a few of these files to smokey and he is working up something with them. wasn't going to post this, but figured it would be interesting to compare what different results came out of experimentation with the same elements.

smokeys symphony audience sample can be found on freesound in it's entirety here:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=42788
this is his page:
http://www.freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=103206
the piano sound was from a guy named Herbert Boland who has a bunch of nice stuff on freesound:
http://www.freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=129090
freesound is really cool, it's fun to search through the samples and then try and put together something from what you dig up.

Leave a Comment

You must be registered and logged-in to comment.

Song Stats

Hits: 3866
Comments: 24
Fans: 28
Plays: 145
Downloads: 111
Votes: 2
Uploaded: Dec 03, 2008 - 12:03:23 PM
Last Updated: Dec 03, 2008 - 01:04:50 PM Last Played: Aug 01, 2019 - 01:28:20 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Keywords:

everything was done using the mouse and key commands (2), stare at the wall while you listen to this (2)

Hardware:

macbook,

Software:

logic express 8,

Comments

magnatone	magnatone said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	Speculation Michael - this is beyond cool! I'm on my second listen, and am hearing even more in it the second time around. A real departure for you - expansive, interesting, COOL! Check out my latest song called Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) and Variations

michael2	michael2 said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	aw thanks a bunch Karen.I had a lot of fun doing this one. I used to record a lot of music like this, but then started working on more song oriented stuff, but i really love droney soundscapes. was thinking i might try and combine this piece with my last post (just for kicks).thanks so much for listening and for your kind words. Check out my latest song called Jazz Glitch Dub Experiment

jamorama	jamorama said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	very nice mood ambience and very cool ideas for experimentation. Thanks! -steve Check out my latest song called Longing - with SISTERS - from a SinJams solo

michael2	michael2 said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	thanks steve kind of you to give this a listen. experimentation is sometimes more fun for me than actually sitting down and writing a song. thanks for stopping by. Check out my latest song called Jazz Glitch Dub Experiment

Reinholt56	Reinholt56 said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	Hi Michael..... It's a great experiment. I'll need to listen to it a few more times to get the full picture you paint. Take care. Paul Check out my latest song called The Ups and Downs of Life

michael2	michael2 said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	thanks paul glad you liked this one. these types of "songs" aren't for everyone, but you are someone i look up to in this arena. thanks for listening. Check out my latest song called Jazz Glitch Dub Experiment

Lennon714

Lennon714 said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)

your
soundscapes are always so dynamic and colorful. They have more personality than a "here's a song that's supposed to be weird". The creak was cool and EQing out the noise sounds difficult.

PS. I really enjoy how detailed this description is. I think Mark Holbrook recently posted a song with a really detailed description. I'd like to hear more about everyone's process - whatever it may be.

Check out my latest song called Just a Little More Time

michael2

michael2 said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)

thanksl ennon714
really happy that you like these pieces. i end up putting stuff like this in most of my songs, but always end up editing most of it out. these pieces are really fun for me to explore sound, software and the limits of peoples attention spans (including my own).

i like reading peoples tech tricks too; i usually don't write a lot about it as I don't really feel like i have done anything worth mentioning. but recently i was thinking that i need to start keeping notes as I'll listen to something and have no idea how i made a sound. anyways, thanks so much for your kind words.

Check out my latest song called Jazz Glitch Dub Experiment

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	whoa going down into the depths strange creatures, unknown hovering things darkness builds and fades away thanks! Check out my latest song called Farther

EEFliess	EEFliess said 3976 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	nice! this is very soothing after a long day at work, Michael I really like this. good experiment in key commands, would love to take some of your sounds you make and add them to some of my stuff sometime! Check out my latest song called Here We Go Again (2016 Extended) (…again)

davisamerica	davisamerica said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	where in the heck do you find these wild pixs ??!! i have Logic on the comp. but just stare at it. projects like this make me itchy to get started ... great experimental track ... darn interesting. Check out my latest song called ok char2(Vic and Flatrock mix)

sloparts

sloparts said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)

It's amazing what you can come up with
when you just try stuff my friend. This sounds very ethereal and is interesting on all kinds of levels Mike.

I haven't had (make that taken), the time to experiment with all the possible functions of Logic, but this kind of encourages me to take another look at the possibilities. I have a lot of analog audio effects left over from my old studio that I'm not using, but maybe I should try using the inserts and some of them on a sidechain. Who knows where I'll end up.

Anyway, nice soundscape you've put together. It will be interesting to hear where Smokey goes with it too.

Be well and be cool Michael.

Ed

Check out my latest song called Quack's Blues

bud	bud said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	The abyss excellent experimental piece Michael - I like how the applause sound like a wave breaking - very aquatic. Especially love the itchy twitchy low level sounds - that's such an M2 touch. Check out my latest song called mixer 2

Feter	Feter said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	Speculation this is a real giant work ..you always amazed me of how you direct and arrage the song to be sound perfect !!!! a real brilliant ..the piano or the keys ...all so deep and giving the idea of the deep mysterious sea ...! what a track ...thnx alot for sharin !!!! Check out my latest song called Roll with it

Vic Holman	Vic Holman said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	I'ld like to be a merman excellent usage of the sidechain. I play around with them some and get carried away with cool sounds they can produce. What's cool is that have found an effective way to make it in a composition. Check out my latest song called Life In A Car

particledots	particledots said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)
	HEY I wrote this.... :-) Actually, this IS very reminiscent of me It sounds like you are beginning to explore some of the same realms within logic that fascinate me Nice stuff b Check out my latest song called Mt St Helen - (Cadence Corrected Mix)

Estella

Estella said 3975 days ago (December 3rd, 2008)

amazing
The effects on the piano are chilling.

The song art...and then that applause comes in and makes the whole thing seem like the kind of circus show that exploits a person's misfortunes.

I saw this special on TV about the world's tallest woman; her name was Defen. Her condition is actually a disorder caused by a tumor in her pituitary gland. It was discovered when she was a teenager and over 6 ft tall. But her family couldn't afford surgery, so she continued to grow well into her late thirties, to 7ft 8 in.

At one point Defen was abused and exploited in the circus, and finally she became bed-ridden b/c of her condition. Now she's on TV (exploited again?) hoping for a miracle surgery now that her condition is so advanced as to make it near impossible.

Anyway, I'd like to write a song about Defen, you know what, I think this song expresses what I felt as I followed her story. This is a very beautifully executed experiment. I wish I had your talent.

Check out my latest song called Insomnia

lavalamp	lavalamp said 3975 days ago (December 4th, 2008)
	Sonic Art Sonic Art. Soundtrack worthy. Dave Check out my latest song called The Shallow People

dolby

dolby said 3975 days ago (December 4th, 2008)

So, as you say...
.."I wanted to figure out how to set up a sidechain, and ran a piano through a vocoder. then i started playing with the spectral gate plug in". And there was me thinking it was all just chords and notes....how foolish I've been ;-))

Very nice result, however. And agree about the applause when it comes in - spine tingling stuff!

Phil

Check out my latest song called The Only Ghost Who Cares

Moses	Moses said 3975 days ago (December 4th, 2008)
	Very interesting piece. I picture a few weary companions trudging through an endless swamp with weird creatures and things staring at them as they pass by. Maybe that's just me. I really like all the random sounds that work their way in and out, all having their own rhythms and textures. Thanks for sharing this. Check out my latest song called 2 Good 2 B True

Relic67	Relic67 said 3974 days ago (December 5th, 2008)
	soothing... Not! I love this. could be really good for a horror movie soundtrack I'd say... I like the ghostly piano sound and the fade out. mixing is superior. Check out my latest song called Dead Archive

segiperkasa	segiperkasa said 3972 days ago (December 7th, 2008)
	cool... Wow.. that was a cool 3 minutes of experimentation.. Check out my latest song called Time to Let Go

yrp	yrp said 3972 days ago (December 7th, 2008)
	fk** Fennesz and Sakamoto! This is the real thing! I don�t need to visit Sala Santa Cecilia or Even listen to Cendre again. Thanks, MIchael. The more Fennesz gets predictable and boring, the more you impress with your ambient pieces. I wish it was longer.If you have an uncut version, please PM me the link. Check out my latest song called North (with Sonny Jim)

grid stalker	grid stalker said 3972 days ago (December 7th, 2008)
	Lovely! well constructed, clever piece. plus thoughtful breakdown of your process. haunting piano, gotta check out this Herbert Boland chap! Check out my latest song called Bad Land

rsorensen	rsorensen said 3963 days ago (December 16th, 2008)
	definitely under water Another great song to work to. Love the distant piano in this. Check out my latest song called Again

Heightened	Heightened said 3955 days ago (December 24th, 2008)
	Top-bloody-notch! This is utterly cool. Mix between ambient and experimental. TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Check out my latest song called Caldari

Char	Char said 3878 days ago (March 11th, 2009)
	The picture seems to suggest being underwater and there is a somewhat muffled effect that you hear when you get your ears under water. I didn't expect the audience clapping noise, but it fit. I wonder if this is what we hear in the womb before we are born. It's great, really. Thanks. Check out my latest song called Bound, v2. w Music by Dirigent

DeputyDoofy	DeputyDoofy said 3735 days ago (July 31st, 2009)
	Love this Very soothing - picturing myself in the ocean. Or... maybe the album art is suggesting that to me. :D No, no. I'm definitely floating in water listening to this. Check out my latest song called A-hole F'er

Fan List

Artist Info

Name: michael2
Location: Los Angeles Cali USA

I'm a guy who never wanted to do anything but play music. I grew up with classic rock and prog rock before discovering punk and the new york dolls once I got to high school. As i got a little older (and less angry), I developed a love of ... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

Ambient music is a loosely defined musical genre that incorporates elements of a number of different styles - including jazz, electronic music, new age, rock and roll, modern classical music, reggae, traditional, world and even noise.

More songs in Ambient:

Chat