Ambient synth jam with Dreadbox Nymphes, Erebus, Kinotone Ribbons, Chase Bliss Mood MkII

video upload by Jay Hosking

"A live, semi-improvised synthesizer jam performed entirely on hardware.

I recently bought the Kinotone Ribbons, and a member of my Patreon community wisely suggested that I run the Dreadbox Nymphes through it. He was very right (thanks, Robbie!): the Nymphes already has tons of analog synth character, but the Ribbons' stereo reverb plus its tape effects really made the perfect ambient sound.

I played around on the Keystep until I found some chords I liked, sequenced the chord progression on the Keystep, and then went searching for a second synth to complement the Nymphes & Ribbons.

I settled on the Erebus because it's small, sounds fantastic, and has lots of hands-on control. To add some character of its own, I used the Mood MkII to add some sample-reduced tape, plus some of its own reverb. It ended up lo-fi in its own way, and quite different from the Nymphes & Ribbons combo.

At first I thought I might play the Erebus separately, but the slow pace, plus wanting to keep it meditative, made me try something different instead. Here, I sent the same sequencing data to both synths. However, since the Erebus was in mono mode, it had to choose a single note from the polyphony of the chords, leading to a sort of melody line of its own. It was a happy accident, and a peaceful finished song.

Dreadbox Nymphes into Kinotone Ribbons - chords
Dreadbox Erebus into Chase Bliss Mood MkII - lead
Arturia Keystep 37 - sequencing

Thanks for listening.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com"