Music to Read By
Everyday Music Every Day #15
I want to make a record of synthwave—my kind of Muzak to read by—but make it interesting.
Did the record Memo City M a few years ago, hitting a vein at the right time, and did about 35 demos in a month. Picked the low, low number of eight tracks out of thin air for quality assurance and went to finish the keepers. Then I just kept the good ones as they were. It worked. I ran it all hot through my old Mackie 1202 mixer for 'mastering.' Very analog.
I’m still happy with this record today.
All of it came from a template with a certain set of permanent sounds and a form, and that’s it. 100% Ableton-based with Air plug-ins. Had it ready the night before, and it was the first thing I did when I got up that month. Or more accurately, 6-7am was a non-negotiable for me. All month.
I’ve covered all this before, but today’s point is that I want to return to this form without just doing what I did before. So I’m setting up in the MPC and doing what I do—leaving space for bass as the lead instrument, since it has a kind of cool and calming effect. Enough movement to not put someone to sleep, but not so chill it’s completely flaccid.
It’s a balance, but I think speaking with the bass guitar as the lead instrument will be enough of a voice.
We’ll see if it works.