a third or less


track: 01

recorded: 20140125

duration: 3:34

type: active


day one: korg gadget. since I never to do anything in half measures, I dove into this utterly unknown app…after a couple of years of this, I am starting to have a clue how apps “work”, but despite that, there is still that amazing expectant moment; that moment when the app you just downloaded finishes loading…and you open it for the first time; and you begin to assess what you have…in this case, I could see immediately, that we have something quite remarkable – fifteen bespoke Korg synthesizers, and a studio to record them in. wow!

so – I started dropping synths into slots, the big “+” plus sign was a bit of a give-away, and in short order, I had the instruments from which I would build my very first gadget composition – “a third or less”. I worked in the traditional logic sequence: first, a drum machine (a few to choose from), a bass synth (a few would fit this description too), a synth that seemed to feature more padlike sounds, a synth that seemed to be more ambient, and another lead synth – so, drums, bass, chords, ambient, lead – something like that…and I had my “band”.

I started with the drum track, and found it incredibly easy to record and arrange with gadget, so in short order, I had a nice rhythm going, which includes, among other things, some lovely reverse percussion sounds (like backwards crickets or something)…still sticking with the tradition, next came the bass, and I loved the sound of my chosen patch, a nice, growly bass that sounds great in the higher registers, and wonderfully deep and full and even a bit ominous in the lower ones…excellent!

then – melodies. two different main melodies, and I am not quite sure what else, but the melodies began to harmonize; sometimes just with each other, but then, eventually, also tying in nicely with the bass – different intervals were easy to accomplish, and I learned how to copy parts from one sector to another, and then alter them – a very fast way of working, by taking the “part before” and modifying it.

an almost oriental, vaguely japanese sounding motif appears in the latter half of the song, eventually concluding in a wonderful, climbing harmony – I have no idea how I worked that out, it just happened – then, a short burst of melody, and the piece drops out into an incredibly rich, beautiful delay – wow – that really pleased me (since I didn’t add it – it just came “stock” with one of the voices I was using).

when I listened back to this piece, I found I needed to do very little to get it up and running (mix-wise), and, for a first piece, it is incredibly well organised and it sounds good – bright, cheerful, fun – and that’s what gadget is all about – fun. for the average musician – having fifteen digital machines of grace to choose from – that’s fantastic!