I’m wrapping up production on Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar, and soon it’ll be time to get the music out! (think this Fall). I have my own favorite way(s) of listening to music, but my unfortunately tight budget can tend to dictate whether or not I make physical versions (CDs, Vinyl). As a result I thought a good way to get a sense of this would be to ask you guys directly. So here’s a poll!

PASSCODE: The Curse of Ayosire

Toymakers Onell Design have put together a third interactive flash game entitled “The Curse of Ayosire” set in the wonderful world of their sci-fi action figures, featuring music I wrote for the 30 songs in 30 days challenge from last fall.

You can also check out the entire PASSCODE series here.

MP3: Jump Error

A few of you have asked for some insight into my creative process, so I'll share some of what went on while I was working on this. The original version that I released back in 2007 was made in Reason, as was this new version. I stripped out all the old synths and replaced them with new patches. All of the pulse-wavey goodness is brought to you by THOR, the wonderful hybrid/modular synth in Reason 4.

THOR Synth in Reason 4, totally awesome.

It can be a daunting task to take a song and redo it from the beginning. My initial idea for updating the sounds was to try and get some of the patches to sound almost guitar-like. In order to do this I used a pitch envelope on the main riff (and the power chords) that very quickly goes from a high pitch back to the normal, intended one. This produces something like a very quick “click” or transient sound which I think gives it a little more character.

Here the filter envelope is routed to control the pitch of the oscillator.

It was also greatly helpful to me to use audio markers to take notes about specific parts of the song as I was working on it. This way, all my ideas were jotted down and I could address them all one at a time.

Use markers to keep track of things you want to change!

Once I finished designing the piece and updating everything, including some more drastic changes (if you listen to both you’ll notice a couple of really big changes to the song), I rewired all the tracks into Logic to mix. In the past I’ve gone seriously overboard trying to mix chipmusic. I think I’ve learned from some of those mistakes and this time focused almost entirely on panning, volume, and dynamics.

One of the biggest challenges with this kind of music (especially chipmusic that utilizes a lot of voices like mine) is that so many of the sounds share the same frequency range. In order to address this I tried to be creative with panning; I approached each distinctive section of the song like it was its own miniature mix (which I think can be a pretty useful approach) and as a result made good use of automation. I also did some sidechain compression which helps the rhythm section fit like a glove with the drums, and can also be used as a really cool “suck” type effect, popularl with artists like Danger and Justice and the like.

Instead of using reverb, most of the tracks that I wanted to have a wet sound simply have a bit of delay on them. I also like to use delay as a rhythmic device, which you can hear at the very end.

Toymakers Onell Design have put together another interactive flash game set in the wonderful world of their sci-fi action figures. Help unfold their story and win the secret prize!

Music includes songs from NEUTRALITE, Sea of Ice, and some newer stuff!

Link: PASSCODE

Toymakers Onell Design have put together an interactive flash game set in the wonderful world of their sci-fi action figures. Choose the fate of the involved parties and win the secret prize!

Music includes songs from Atebite and the Warring Nations, NEUTRALITE, Level, and even some newer stuff!

Link: PASSCODE

Without further ado I’d like to fill everyone in on what I’ve been up to. The next album is coming along great. There will be somewhere between 9 and 11 tracks, some of which have been heard in some regard before, but none of which will sound like they used to. In fact, many of you will be happy to know that we’ll be entering all sorts of new sonic territory. Most of you who have contacted me personally over the last few months have gotten to hear some of what’s in store. So stay tuned! Make sure to sign up for the mailing list or subscribe to the feed to hear more about it in the days to come.

mad_about_crews @ Rotten Tomatoes gives NEUTRALITE a 9/10 (dead link)

NebLJ @ LiveJournal Responds to Level

And some great comments from my CD page.

Also, for those who are interested in what is in the works, I’ve started taking strides down the career path, pursuing a degree in Music Synthesis, and hoping to get my foot into the door of the videogame industry composing and producing original music for titles of all sizes. I will soon have a professional portfolio up at RichVreeland.com for all to view (edit: It’s Up!). I’m also working on new material; there are a number of tracks floating around loosely and on compilations (Death Satellite Evasion, Jump Error, Sober Colony, etc) that will all be tweaked and compiled into one album entitled “Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar”. I plan to get it out by the end of this year. For those who wonder what the nature of the album will be, it will revolve around a space civilization. The rest you’ll have to decipher on your own when the album comes out.

Once again thanks for all your support and happy listening!