Ghosts is a 6-voice physical modeling effect and instrument.
Excite high-fidelity strings, tubes, and bars to conjure resonant objects and acoustic environments: a blooming cello, a playful xylophone. From organic realism to spectral fantasy.
Retune the voices to preset chords — including custom chords and microtonal scales. Connect a MIDI keyboard for polyphonic play and the full spectrum of its synthesis engine.
"A live synthesizer jam performed entirely on hardware.
It had been a while since I had a bunch of synths on the table all at once. This one took a few different approaches before I got it. In particular, I spent a lot of time trying to find the right sequencer. I thought this would be a semi-generative piece, and tried a couple of hardware sequencers to that effect, but ultimately I found myself wanting more control. With much more time spent playing piano these days, maybe my days of generative sequencers are slowing down?
So in the end, with only a day before I was heading out of town, I decided to compose a piece in my DAW instead. And you know what? It was the right choice. Sometimes working in the box is the better way to go.
The other obstacle was my arpeggio synth. At first I had the MSW810, which is a sort-of SH-101 clone. But ultimately it was either too bright or too dull, and I couldn't get the envelopes right. I put the Mother 32 on the table and was immediately struck with how beautiful and perfect the sound of this synth is. It's such a beauty for arpeggios, and struck that perfect balance for filter and envelope, brightness and darkness. I just love the Mother 32.
Ultimately this came out sounding like a remix of the theme song for an 8-bit video game, which makes sense since that music fostered my love of synths.
Thanks for listening.
Sequential Prophet Rev2 module into Kinotone Ribbons - Pad
Moog Minitaur into Strymon BigSky - Bass
Black Corporation Deckard's Dream into Walrus Slöer - Melody
Moog Mother 32 into Meris Polymoon - Arpeggio
Performed and recorded live, with EQ, compression, and limiting on the master.
"A live synthesizer jam performed entirely on hardware.
I've had this chord progression kicking around for a little while, the product of a voice-leading exercise I was doing. I was super happy with it but never able to incorporate it into a larger arrangement. Recently, I realized I could just run the chord progression through the Midicake ARP and get some inspiration on the song arrangement, and sure enough, that was all it took (along with a few amazing synthesizers and effects). Really happy with where this one ended up.
Full disclosure: I cut and paste a previous drum fill to the outro drum fill, because I felt the outro drum fill didn't match the quality of the earlier one. Seemed a more judicious approach than recording the whole thing again.
Thanks for listening.
Dirtywave M8 - chord progression sequence Midicake ARP - four-part sequencing arranger for the chord progression Kenton MIDI Thru - MIDI Thru out to five devices DrumBrute Impact through Empress EchoSystem - Drums Moog Mother 32 through Kinotone Ribbons - Slower mono synth Michigan Synth Works MSW-810 through Hologram Chroma Console - Faster mono synth Moog Minitaur through Boss DM-101 - Bass synth Dreadbox Nymphes through Empress Reverb - Pad synth
Performed and recorded live (minus that small drum edit) to a multitrack recording, with EQ, compression, and limiting on the master.
"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
