Softsynth | "Election"

Listen: mp3 (8.05 MB)

Assignment: 3-5 minutes of an original work using material created with at least three of the software synthesizers, DIY studios, plug-ins, and databending wares introduced in this unit.

Process:
The main melody and bridge are recycled guitar pieces I've had for quite some time. Having listened to and read about the Postal Service and its approach to electronic music as a hybridization of blip-hop, electronic arrangements and Indie rock sensibilities, I thought my transference of very emotional guitar compositions into the softsynth arena was appropriate. I recorded variations of them on a keyboard hooked up to Absynth. All the voices derive from Absynth presets, but modified to fit the desired sound. Sound clips were produced in SoundForge and processed even further. Finally, I took all the clips and imported them into Acid and created an atmospheric, meditative, 7-minute composition.

Concept:
Created during the disappointing 2004 presidential election, the piece is intended as a contemplative, mournful, and ambient composition. Robo-ghost-like noises and organ-like instrumentation, as well as a gratuitous use of reverb, create a mood both humanistic in emotion, yet mechanistic in space. I intended the piece to be chilling, processional, and, as always, somewhat structured. The strict time signature is featured as reference for non-tempo tracks and varying one-time noise events. The high-pitched frequencies denote futuristic settings, but the piece, as a meditative work, is deeply set in present moment. As an afterthought, the work exhibits a juxtaposition of two heavenly realms: the ethereal and the extraterrestrial.

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