cicadidae | ambient/drone music with modular synthesizer

video upload by M Hob

"Cicadas are coming back this year and their song blends more and more each day with the landscape. I wanted to compose something which evoked my feeling when I listen to these wonderful insects buzzing away late on the afternoon. Most of my music is completely improvised (often building from how a certain patch performs or over randomized sequences) but for this track I wanted to try something different: composing a more rigid structure around which I could play.

Before I started this channel most of my music playing was strictly interpretational (playing from sheet music). I feel confident enough now that having something to guide me will do just that: guide, not impose strict guidelines.

The track was performed on the Monsterdrone using VCV Rack as a tuning guide (while playing with the pitch knobs) as a mixer through NYSTHI's Vector Mixer. I programmed the Crow to create a Lorenz attractor which controlled the position on the Vector Mixer, creating the orbiting feeling of the 4 voices on Monsterdrone. This enabled me to react and interact with the evolution of the song by choosing at what moments the song would intentionally evolve. The Minibrute added a deeper droning voice, controlled by the 3 position parameter on the Lorenz attractor. This voiced was shaped by a long looping envelope which hopefully adds a subtle rhythmic wave to the track."