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Old 06-10-2014, 12:54 PM   #1
Dannii
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Default More 70s Style Berlin Electronic - O Jerusalem!

Edit - link to download new song here - O Jerusalem!

UPDATE - February 2016, I have done 5.1 discreet surround mixes of this song, 'O Jerusalem' and also 'Ghost Train' which can be downloaded at www.ambisonicmusic.com.
The stereo mix of 'O Jerusalem' is now made from the 5.1 remix and includes one pass of my System 100 through a Leslie speaker which begins at around 3:55.


For those who haven't heard the first track from this new album, here's the link....
http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=140982


Well, here is the second track from my new "Hidden Gems | Instrumental Journeys" album and my first new track recorded with a combination of my new u-he purchase, various other software and some of my vintage analog (and digital) hardware. It is also the first track I have recorded using my new RME Fireface UFX which I am absolutely impressed with (the converters, preamps and drivers are fantastic).
This is another 70s style Berlin Electronic piece with plenty of analog sequencing. It is a very dynamic piece which starts off quietly with a gentle pulsing sequence and a solitary grand piano (Native Instruments New York Grand), combined with some SY77 pad sweeps through Valhalla Shimmer, builds to a loud climax with a guitar solo and drops again to a spacious piano for the finale.

The pulsing sequence is a combination of my Roland SH09 (for bass), System 100 (for sequenced layers which come in progressively) and Juno 6 (percussive filter FX) all fed through individual Arts Acoustic Big Rock phasers and bussed to a Variety of Sound NastyDLA MKII.
The sequencing is a combination of multiple instances of BlueARP V2 triggering my Frostwave Quad MIDI - CV converter (basically four MIDI - CV converters with gate, pitch and velocity CV over four MIDI channels in one 1RU 19“ box) and then into my Roland System 700 sequencer and the various hardware synths. The System 700 sequencer controls the VCF cutoff of the Juno 6 and the SH09. BlueARP takes care of note assignment, gate and velocity (via the Frostwave converter).

At the 4:15 mark, a drum loop courtesy of Superwave Tiny Pops (very nice Korg Minipops emulation) begins which is fed through another Big Rock phaser (I love this thing!!). There is no traditional panning on the loop. The pan effect is created by 180 degree stereo phase shifting from the Big Rock.
Also beginning at this point is some squelchy System 100 filter and oscillator HF FX (2xVCO and 2xVCF used in series configuration here) which pan left to right via a stock REAPER delay (the ReaPlugs are great). Again, no traditional panning is used. I was aiming for something along the lines of the EMS FX Jean Michel Jarre used on Oxygene 2. All tweaking is done live with my fingers on the knobs. There’s no other control of the System 100 going on here.

At 4:35, Diva makes her entrance with a very authentic sounding Moog lead emulation. Even though Diva can do many things, my primary reason for the purchase was for Moog and Korg sounds and the many hybrid possibilities. I have the Roland bases covered pretty well with hardware (System 100, SH09, JX-3P/PG200 with Inque MIDI mod, Juno 6, Juno 106 and System 700 sequencer). I played Diva via my SY77 and used the first mod wheel for traditional modulation control and the second mod wheel for filter cutoff.

At 6:43, my Roland JX-3P joins Diva on lead duties. Once again, I played the JX from my SY77. I did this because the Inque MIDI mod which I fitted recently gives the JX velocity sensitivity and the ability to use the PG200 and MIDI at the same time. The JX-3P is placed very wide in the stereo field (using the stock Roland chorus with iZotope Ozone 5 imager to spread it even wider) and sits well with Diva which is panned in the middle with a ping pong delay from NastyDLA MKII which I absolutely love.
Once again, I have made use of the two mod wheels on my SY77 to control the JX. Mod 1 controls oscillator sync (listen for the distinctive metal cross modulation on this track as I change it via the mod wheel) and mod 2 controls filter cutoff. I also tweaked the PG200 in real time as I played.
The JX-3P is actually a hugely underrated synth, especially with the PG200 and Inque mod. It is basically a polyphonic, velocity sensitive, analog, 2 DCO synth with the same filtering as the JP8. The stock filters are not set for self oscillating capability from the factory but a quick tweak of some trimpots inside the synth soon changes that!

Listen for the big Moog style lead drop from Diva at 9:30. THAT is why I purchased Diva! One word....FAT!!
Also at this point, I really open up space in the midrange spectrum of the sequence parts in preparation for what is to come.....

At 9:53, I added a lead guitar solo. The guitar is my trusty Fender Strat copy which I’ve had for nearly thirty years. It was one of the better copies made in the mid 80s. The lead sound is this guitar plugged into a VOX lead Amplug and into the RME Fireface. Delay for the lead guitar is once again the stock REAPER delay. Reverb is Valhalla Shimmer.
Diva and my JX keep going through the guitar solo but with a couple of ReaComps sidechained from the guitar to keep them sitting nicely in the mix.

At 12:05, the guitar begins to move to the distance via some automation of direct/reverb levels to make way for the piano which re-enters for the outro.

At 12:33, Diva leaves the stage and the sequencers begin their shift away from the intensity of the track climax to the open and contemplative space of the piano. I really like the NI New York grand, especially with the string resonance and pedal sounds tweaked for more authenticity. I have played real $100,000 Steinways before and this library actually comes very close to the feeling of playing one in person. NI have done a great job with this one.
I added some Valhalla Room to the piano for a more spacious feel. If you haven’t already got a copy, go and lay down $50 bucks with Sean. He’s done a top job with these ‘verbs and I use them on almost everything these days.

By 13:45, things have wound down to a spacious ambience and I switch the JX-3P over to pad duties which fade up by 13:50.
At this point, you can really hear the texture of the System 100 on the HF FX too. I had a lot of fun tweaking the knobs for those sounds!!

If you have a system capable of reproducing frequencies down to 5Hz (yes, FIVE Hz), I have deliberately NOT bandwidth limited this track and there are subsonics that low (stick a Voxengo SPAN across this track in high res mode and have a look for yourselves). The top end goes right up to about 22KHz too and the RME converters really shine here. There’s no need for recording at 96KHz in my opinion when 44.1KHz can sound really nice. I’d rather have the extra CPU resources for a more creative mix. Most of the plugins I use that benefit from the usage of 96KHz have adjustable oversampling anyway so those benefits can be had at 44.1KHz without the CPU overhead of running the whole mix at that rate.
Also, if you have a good surround sound system, try running this track through either Dolby Pro Logic II or DTS Neo:6. I have included plenty of surround phase information in this track for such decoding. I ran the mix through both of these decoders and through two channels and aimed for a mix that sounds exciting on any of these setups.
I might even get inspired and do a discreet DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 mix of this album once it is complete too. I love surround mixes!!

UPDATE - February 2016, As mentioned earlier, I have done a 5.1 discreet surround mix of this song which can be downloaded at www.ambisonicmusic.com
The stereo mix is now made from the 5.1 remix and includes one pass of my System 100 through a Leslie speaker which begins at around 3:55.

Here’s the track. Let me know what you all reckon...
O Jerusalem!



Update - Here's a new photo of my keyboard rig as it is currently (June 2014).
(Click image for larger view)
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Old 06-11-2014, 07:39 AM   #2
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Perhaps the link to download the song was hidden with it placed at the end of the post and above the photo. I edited the first post and put the link at the start to make it easier to recognize that there actually is something to listen to here and not just an article and a photo.
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Old 06-11-2014, 11:25 AM   #3
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To be exact the new link resulted in "streaming" rather than a download.

Whatever... the music was impressive. A lovely clean warm sound, fine mix to my ears, very atmospheric and some nice solo piano. (Maybe sinuous is the word?) Atmospheric, oddly relaxing and unsettling all at once, and convincing. A great listen.
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Old 06-12-2014, 02:45 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martifingers View Post
To be exact the new link resulted in "streaming" rather than a download.
Thanks for the thumbs up on that. Should be fixed now. Both tracks I've recorded so far for this album should also show up in the downloads list.
I've also shrunk the image of the keyboard rig and made the image clickable for full screen view. That should make the page easier to read.
Quote:
Originally Posted by martifingers View Post
Whatever... the music was impressive. A lovely clean warm sound, fine mix to my ears, very atmospheric and some nice solo piano. (Maybe sinuous is the word?) Atmospheric, oddly relaxing and unsettling all at once, and convincing. A great listen.
Thanks heaps for taking the time to have a listen and post your thoughts Martifingers. Much appreciated. Glad you liked it.
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Old 06-17-2014, 05:27 AM   #5
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Newest track from this album, Ghost Train, details here... http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=141687
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Old 02-14-2016, 03:55 PM   #6
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UPDATE - February 2016, I have done 5.1 discreet surround mixes of 'O Jerusalem' and 'Ghost Train' which can be downloaded at www.multichannel.audio.
The stereo mix of 'O Jerusalem' is now made from the 5.1 remix and includes running one pass of my System 100 through a Leslie speaker which begins at around 3:55.
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Old 02-15-2016, 06:21 AM   #7
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Hey Dave, just coming from your "Headphone Monitoring Thread".
I really enjoyed listening even to the whole playlist.
I stored your description from here as pdf and read it while jumping back and forth in the downloaded mp3 to have a closer look at it. Thank you for making this possible!

But apart from the analysing just listening to it is a joy.
The way it's built up and the dynamic is growing and descending, the way the transitions between the different parts are made, makes it really diverting. Suddenly it's over and you look at the length of the song and say "What, 16 minutes over? Felt like the twink of an eye!"
And the mix is impressing too.

I wish I could use my first language to describe this, it's not that easy in english, sorry for potential misunderstandings !

While writing this I have some translation-pages opened in my browser and there was this:
Quote:
Language is the source of misunderstandings. [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]
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Old 02-16-2016, 01:01 PM   #8
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Pet, thank you so much for your kind words on this. I have no problems with your use of English either. Your comments make perfect sense to me.

BTW - I have a particular fondness for Germany being half German myself. No doubt you can pick that from my music. Krautrock has had a MASSIVE influence on me over the years and Tangerine Dream played no small part in that!

I did start to learn German in highschool but that was decades ago for me and I can barely remember much of it!!
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Old 03-04-2016, 10:50 PM   #9
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Sorry to bring up an old thread but this song was pretty awesome just wanted to let you know my thoughts on it. And I can see all kinds of remixes being made for it. Not that the original wasn't really well done of course

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Old 03-05-2016, 11:37 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OPI View Post
Sorry to bring up an old thread but this song was pretty awesome just wanted to let you know my thoughts on it. And I can see all kinds of remixes being made for it. Not that the original wasn't really well done of course
Thanks heaps for your feedback OPI.
I do indeed have plans for more remixes too. I've already done a 5.1 mix which is on my website now and have plans to do an ambisonic mix shortly. I'll possibly post the B format version of that as well.
I've just registered a new domain name for all my planned ambisonic work and the 5.1 mix can be found there for the time being.

This is the new URL: www.ambisonicmusic.com
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Old 01-10-2018, 09:35 PM   #11
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Hi Dave,

Came over from your headphone monitoring post. I really enjoyed listening to Hidden Gems. While listening I wondered what VST's you were using for the Juno and JX sounds - then I read your post on how you created O Jerusalem - Thanks for sharing!

I recently was given an XP-80 with the melted red glue keyboard problem. I cleaned it up and been having a lot of fun - it's got the vintage synth and the 60s-70s keyboards add-on boards in it which have some pretty good Juno and JX waveforms. Your post prompted me to experiment with sequencing those sounds from Reaper.
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Old 01-11-2018, 06:08 AM   #12
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What a great studio setup - looks like what I imagine Edgar Froese to have used back in the day. Great music - I'll be checking out more when I get to the full website this weekend.
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Old 01-14-2018, 01:02 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dsteinschneider View Post
Hi Dave,

Came over from your headphone monitoring post. I really enjoyed listening to Hidden Gems. While listening I wondered what VST's you were using for the Juno and JX sounds - then I read your post on how you created O Jerusalem - Thanks for sharing!

I recently was given an XP-80 with the melted red glue keyboard problem. I cleaned it up and been having a lot of fun - it's got the vintage synth and the 60s-70s keyboards add-on boards in it which have some pretty good Juno and JX waveforms. Your post prompted me to experiment with sequencing those sounds from Reaper.
Nice score with the XP80.
I've never played one personally but they get good reviews. A good friend of mine has a 1080 which has similar features and it sounds great.
Thanks for taking the time to have a listen to this track too. Good to hear it has inspired you.
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Old 01-14-2018, 01:07 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dimaension X View Post
What a great studio setup - looks like what I imagine Edgar Froese to have used back in the day. Great music - I'll be checking out more when I get to the full website this weekend.
Thanks heaps Dimaension X.
No surprise that Edgar Froese has been a big influence on me over the years.

I've just started work on expanding my keyboard rig with something I've been wanting to make for many years, a full size Moog style modular.
Here's a couple of photos of the beginning of this build beside some of my Roland and Moog analog gear...


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Old 01-14-2018, 01:45 PM   #15
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Thanks for sharing!

Interesting sounds
Keeps my interest (and I'm no synth guy)
Weakest is maybe piano,
as it requires much presence and determination to be solo-instrument in the start.
Wow, that solo-guitar really shines.
Well done!

A note: I prefer something like mp3 256vbr
as it's substantial lighter download.
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Old 02-07-2018, 09:34 AM   #16
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Thanks heaps for your reply G-Sun. This one slipped through my radar.

Im interested to know more about your thoughts on the piano. Was the sound or the playing the main thing you were commenting on? I always welcome constructive criticism.
Thanks for the thumbs up on the guitar solo too. That one was definitely not one take. Guitar isn't my primary instrument but I do enjoy playing it.

Which version did you download? The main link should give you a 320K mp3. The surround versions are 5.1 flac and Dolby Digital and are thus bigger files.
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Old 02-09-2018, 11:34 PM   #17
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I like it.

Recently, I've been into ambient music. It calms me down and I can listen to it while working.

I'm not there yet, but know I'll be recording=composing this type of music soon. My thing will be to base the songs on <nature sounds>. I'm building the ideas conceptually in my mind for now...

I want to play Didgeridoo,throat sing, hum, chant, and sing with the frogs, the birds, the cicadas, etc. They will be the 'click track', the back beat, and direct the melodies - I will complement and arrange.

Thanks for sharing that wonderful song.
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Old 02-18-2018, 02:18 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RDBOIS View Post
I like it.

Recently, I've been into ambient music. It calms me down and I can listen to it while working.

I'm not there yet, but know I'll be recording=composing this type of music soon. My thing will be to base the songs on <nature sounds>. I'm building the ideas conceptually in my mind for now...

I want to play Didgeridoo,throat sing, hum, chant, and sing with the frogs, the birds, the cicadas, etc. They will be the 'click track', the back beat, and direct the melodies - I will complement and arrange.

Thanks for sharing that wonderful song.
Didgeridoo is an amazingly expressive instrument. I've recorded a number of tracks with live Didge on them over the years and had much fun in the process.

I really like your project ideas here. Make sure you post when you come up with something. I'll have a listen for sure.

Thanks too for your compliments regarding my track.
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