Revolving around a percussive pattern and bass riff created by the Ploytec PL2 synthesizer, this track is an exercise in early 90's computer sounds, modular synthesis and stuttering beats in an overall sci-fi feel.

Part of the experiment was to have a dark, murky palette while maintaining separation between all the actors. A bit like requesting to be able to run through water.

Aural weaponry evident on this recording :

Ploytec Pi Lambda Squared (PL2) synthesizer for torn bass sounds. Make Noise 0-Coast modular for everything freaky.

Based on a forgotten guitar riff used years ago in a poorly recorded song. By ditching the originals "drum 'n bass metal"-vibe and adopting amore sci-fi approach to the instrumentation. The composition was reimagined and extended to sound like the accompaniment to a large moloch, endlessly ploughing forwards.

Aural weaponry evident on this recording: Ploytec PL-2, Electro-Harmonix Super Ego combined with NI Reaktor Blocks. Recorded and produced in Bitwig Studio 2.

A composition that at its very core is a simple finger picked classical guitar piece that should be able to hold its own without accompaniment.

Thus, apart from minor forays into breakbeat rhythms and atmospheric drones, most additional instrumentation is sparse.

The track revolves around a 9/8 rhythm and is based around the Hungarian Minor scale, though by deriving its modes it provides a more Arabian than gypsy flavour.

The lo-fi output of the Ploytec PL-2 synthesizer provides a jagged texture in the bass line that revolves around more crisp ambient sounds, derived from several recorded guitar "accidents" fed through multiple delay lines.

The resulting composition sketches a "brooding feel of ruin and abandonment in a desert". Disney wouldn't have any of it for Aladdin. 

A collaboration with Pelle Kuipers for his Sketchy Songs on Saturday-project.

For Sketchy Songs Pelle collaborates with a different musician each week. The style / genre can thus be completely different from a previous song.

Apart from writing and recording the music, Sketchy Songs also provides a platform for video / graphical art as each song will be accompanied by a video.

For This Paradox of Mine most writing duties and singing came from Pelle, with production and background layers provided by myself. The video comes courtesy of Pelle, Amber Vermue and Lisa Raisa Ferrari.

This composition acts as a demo showcasing all the possibilities of a particular instrument.

Apart from the percussion all sounds evident on this recording stem from a Piggy, an Arduino-driven monophonic synthesizer developed by Pieter van der Meer of Tasty Chips Electronics.

Apart from occasional use of overdrive and delay, all sounds were recorded dry, showcasing the sound of a Piggy as it is delivered from its output. This highlights the dynamic range of the synthesizers ADSR envelopes, FM modulation and resonant filter,

There are a total of eleven Piggy tracks, of which four are harmonizing with eachother either creating chords or multi-voice melodies.

A collaboration with Pelle Kuipers for his Sketchy Songs on Saturday-project.

For Sketchy Songs Pelle collaborates with a different musician each week. The style / genre can thus be completely different from a previous song.

Apart from writing and recording the music, Sketchy Songs also provides a platform for video / graphical art as each song will be accompanied by a video.

For Zgor writing duties came from both Pelle and myself, where most of the synthesis comes from an Elektron SID Station, a MIDI-driven facility built around the Commodore 64's SID chip.

The overall tune is an ode to 80's game music, rippling arpeggios (carefully timed!) everywhere in a "hero'-theme.

The video comes courtesy of Pelle.

An upbeat jam between a Commodore 64 and a single, clean electric guitar, backed by electronic percussions. The Commodore 64 caters for the bass line, lead lines, noise synthesis and arpeggiated chord stabs.

The tune itself clocks in at under 2 minutes, just along enough to showcase how cold, low fidelity computer sounds can blend in with a danceable rhythm.

A blend of metallic industrial percussion, jagged beats, a hefty dose of pulse-width modulation and ethnic instruments.

The narrative of this track shouldn't be unknown to those familiar with the horror that is Geoff Crammonds "the Sentinel" : opening with an ominous drone outlining the tension one feels when desperately trying to remain discreet, this suspense lasts for a few measures only until it is interrupted by an air raid siren setting the pace to ramming speed as the protagonist is found in the shadows.

The middle section outlines the inevitable clash which leads back to a more positive portrait of the initial conflict theme...

...but was the actual outcome indeed positive ?

When asked by Megga to supply the tunes for the 2013 remake of Unreal Tournament, I jumped upon the chance just to realize the wonderfully square waveform pictured above, which stems from the output of... an (emulated) Atari 2600's 2-channel audio as "UT2600" is not so much a remake, but a complete "port" to the Atari 2600 !

As opposed to the luxury offered by the retro computer / audio weapon that is the Commodore 64, the Atari's TIA-generated audio could only generate sound frequencies by dividing a 30 kHz base by 5-bit values, resulting in "notes" in varying degrees of tuning (up to 44 cents sharp or flat from a perfect pitch!)

As such, compositions have to be carefully crafted around a scale or harmonic base which offers the least amount of harmonic flaws when rendered by the Atari's oscillators.

Programmed / composed in assembly language, but aided greatly by using Paul Slocum's sequencer, leveraging the annoying aspect!

Each theme is loopable for an in-game context, all individual tracks are separated by a small two second silence so you can locate and skip to them easily.

After originating as an exercise in rippling classical guitar arpeggios, the final result is far removed from the original mellow vibe. Keeping the dark harmonic minor tonality, but ditching the acoustic guitar of the demo, the compositions arpeggiated melodies have been synthesized by an Atari 2600, limiting the polyphony to only two channels.

Being an outtake for an Atari-related project where the track didn't fit the context, a different approach was taken where the Atari sounds act as part of a larger palette.

Added to the lo-fi paranoia are the glitchy beats, both holding back and pushing the rhythm by shifting their accents in the otherwise conventional 4/4 meter. Droning guitars rumble over the square wave assault.

The Atari 2600 parts have been programmed using Paul Slocum's sequencer kit and excellent programming guide.

Driven by a cavernous ambiance, you could describe the feel of the piece, at the very best, as "moody". The percussive opening repeats its motif endlessly, but with a time signature of 10/8 and its focus on fives, the accents appear to be floating more than they really are (to a western ear).

Vocoded drones float in and out of the rhythm along with bell-like sounds and percussive water sounds to give the impression of an endless, floating ride in the darkness, to be perturbed by a heavy ride in the middle, courtesy of that-which-cannot-be-named.

Short piece originating on acoustic guitar, written and performed for the ivories.

The piece is deliberately short, apart from a single appearance of a bridging section featuring a brief accompaniment on electric guitar, the piano theme is a repeating motif, altered slightly every few bars or so.

Aural weaponry of interest evident on this recording: the Bazantar software instrument by 8DIO provides both organic percussive sounds and breezy strings.

Arrives at your ears in three parts:

An eastern-tinged opening, in which low flute-esque sounds pair up with percussive glass sounds and wooden hits. This slowly leads into the drumbreak section where filtered slap bass coupled with effected guitars and washes of synthesizer pick up the pace frenetically. This part moves steadily towards its end where it breaks down into a piece that is best described as "stoner dub", where off-beat hits complement the percussive sounds of the piece's opening, accompanied by abstract noises for a downbeat outro.

"...after entering the dark tunnel of the pyramid, the archeologist was met with..."

Bell-like harmonics play a minimal, understated theme aided by a large decaying reverb filling out the field. Tension slowly builds with the introduction of new instruments playing mostly staccato parts in a call-and-answer approach until the pieces climax is reached, after which the tension is suddenly released.

Made as one-half of Firefly Makani.

The track features cut-up, glitchy breakbeats partnered with synthesis from.. a Nintendo GameBoy. The GameBoys audio was programmed using LSDj and further processed through a Roland Space Echo for a further twist on the ears.

Kindly remixed by Killing Skills.