Monotron

Pupation of the Arthropod Instrumental built around Nintendo Game Boy and Commodore 64 synthesis
Knock.turn Dark ambient instrumental built around heavily reverberated ADSR envelopes
Barren Odd time instrumental utilizing the Hungarian minor scale
Squelch (Tasty Chips Piggy demo) Instrumental demonstrating the Piggy, an Arduino based synth by Tasty Chips Electronics
Byzantone Instrumental track in odd-time signature utilizing the Byzantine scale
Ganja jess Instrumental jam between reggae-style guitar and Commodore 64
The sentry Upbeat instrumental blending industrial percussion and synthesis with ethnic sounds
Foulmouth An experiment in classical arpeggios executed on an Atari 2600
SID Barrett Sci-fi esque instrumental written using solely Commodore 64 synthesis
Jaunty A short instrumental piece centered on acoustic guitar using a stumbling rhythm
Bird of ill omen Dark ambient instrumental in odd time signature
Acid jazz counterpoint Instrumental counterpoint study written utilizing 90's synthesis sounds
Glass Short instrumental piano piece in the form of a sparse, contemplative waltz
Sun-Kissed Daze Upbeat instrumental marrying a danceable groove with a shifting time signature
Monotron Abstract instrumental written around the KORG Monotron synthesizer
Varken Field recording / sound collage of Amsterdam petting zoo
Urubu 'Ethno industrial' instrumental revolving around the sounds of the Brazilian Berimbau
The gospel of the hoof Low tuned 'industrial metal', pairing distorted guitar with Elektron SID synthesis
Heliopolis Instrumental piece marrying electronic sounds with ethnic type ambiance
Fisher Price Deathmachine pt. II Chugging guitars over a violent electronic drum mix
Dubterranean An ambient track built around smacking lips beatboxing a rhythm
ellen ripley:superhero Quirky instrumental around simple guitar and electronic instruments

Testing a new toy

The sources for the sounds used within this composition stem from the battery powered hand-held KORG Monotron synthesizer.

While this device is notorious for its hiss and the small, tinny sound emanating from its internal speaker, the recorded line-output falls in a whole other ballpark.

Iin conjunction with the extreme, wide filter it creates useful source material that awaits further manipulation.

Syncopated beats and low bass motifs have been created from recorded filter sweeps and low oscillations.

The higher oscillator speeds with low filter resonances helped sculpt the tearing sounds reminiscent of insects communicating (or plastic pipes rubbing their joints uncomfortably).

The only non-Monotron sources are evident in the guitar parts and the non-synthesized percussive parts which hark back to (nowadays) cheap 80's / 90's drummachines.

Monotron

Sketches, 2012