Title: Apollo Lee – Corona Date: April 17, 2008 Software: Logic Pro 8 Genre: Ambient Timing: 7:24 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
The harmony is really simple and I used major chords for a change (CM7, GM7, DM7, AM7).
This instrument is really lovely and I love how the fundamental of the instrument enters after the harmonic overtones.
This was my first improvisation in about three weeks. It felt good to finish something again.
I think I’m getting better at mixing tracks down on my desktop multimedia speakers and the meters in Logic.
What I Don’t Like About It
Some parts still feel too loud.
An improvisation isn’t really a composition in the traditional sense of the word. I’d like to get better at crafting things in my head, rather than always just going with the flow.
The bass is not deep enough.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In the third month of my “52 Tracks in 52 Weeks”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/01/04/52-tracks-in-52-weeks/ project, I crafted only *five* tracks. All, except for one (“Blue Diamond”), were ambient improvisations. I think it’s time to move on from the ambient stuff and back to house music.
As of March 31, 2008, the total number of tracks I’ve written this year stands at *twenty-two*. Despite the unambitious month, I’m still averaging more than 1½ per week.
Here are the songs I created in March 2008:
# 03 Mar 2008 — “Belmont”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/03/03/belmont/
# 10 Mar 2008 — “Corners”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/03/10/corners/
# 18 Mar 2008 — “Palouse”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/03/18/palouse/
# 22 Mar 2008 — “Blue Diamond”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/03/22/blue-diamond/
# 28 Mar 2008 — “Payette”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/03/28/payette/
Title: Apollo Lee – Blue Diamond (Alpha Edit) Date: March 22, 2008 Software: Logic Pro 8 + Reason 4 (ReWire) Genre: House Timing: 4:02 @ 128 bpm
What I Like About It
I successfully slaved Reason 4 to Logic Pro 8 for the first time. Special thanks to SFLogicNinja for his tutorial video that finally led to my succeeding at this.
The twerky lead synth (Arp 1971) is really funky and I accidentally plinked out that line. After some quantization and fixing screwy notes, it’s actually cool.
The bass line is adapted from a randomized Matrix pattern sequence, but since Logic doesn’t have a “randomize pattern” function, I drew the notes in by hand. The bass itself is Thor’s “Fat Boy”, dirty, evil, and vicious—processed to the breaking point with a series of processors that include a phaser and your mother’s cute cousin.
The drum pattern is pretty straight four-on-the-floor without too much variation, but there are a few funky nifties.
What I Don’t Like About It
It’s really lazy. Each loop plays five times and drops out for 8 bars, then resumes until the end.
The second chord in the splash chords is wrong. I’d better fix that. It’s so obviously wrong, I’m probably going to fix it tomorrow morning.
The ending is abrupt and so are the loop drop outs.
There are no breakdowns, buildups, or sections. It’s just a repeating eight bar pattern of yawns.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
Title: Apollo Lee – Palouse Date: March 18, 2008 Software: Logic Pro 8 Genre: Ambient Timing: 8:06 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
I really like the instrument with the resonance sweep.
The harmony is relatively simple (Em7 C#m13 F#m7 B7) and based on Minor Rhythm Changes.
The music is not completely overbearing and didn’t require much adjustment on the mixdown.
Chords flow well and the harmony has moments of consonance and dissonance.
There are plenty of lows that give the piece some awe-inspiring depth.
What I Don’t Like About It
There are some phase wobble issues around 4:30. I need to read up and figure out how to correct these.
This is the eighteenth ambient improvisation in a row. I think future ambient tracks will have to have some preconceived plan, direction, tension and resolution.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
Title: Apollo Lee – Corners Date: March 10, 2008 Software: Logic Pro 8 Genre: Ambient Timing: 6:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
The pad instrument is quite evocative.
The harmony is complex and somewhat strange. I used a Korg padKontrol, so I had 16 notes. The corners spell Cm7. The outside columns on the center two rows spell Em7/13. The middle two columns in the top and bottom row spell out Abm7. The center four squares spell FM7. Interesting. So much potential.
There’s plenty of dissonance and consonance in this one, as well as a concerted effort not to double any notes on the controller.
I was able to close my eyes and sink into the music. This style of music lends itself well to slow improvisation that allows a dissonant chord to lock in and achieve its effect.
What I Don’t Like About It
I landed on some of the notes too hard and they stick out too much.
Like the sixteen ambient tracks that proceed this one, I had no plan, structure, or direction in mind. I landed on the keys wherever I decided to go.
It really sounds terrible on iPod headphones. It doesn’t sound too bad on nice headphones, but I could probably have mixed it down better.
I should have used the mod wheel, which has an interesting effect on this instrument.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In the second month of my “52 Tracks in 52 Weeks”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/01/04/52-tracks-in-52-weeks/ project, I crafted *eight* tracks. All of them were ambient improvisations and a vast majority of them were created on “Caltrain”:http://www.caltrain.com during the commute to and from work in San Francisco.
As of February 29, 2008, the total number of tracks I’ve written so far this year stands at *seventeen*. I’m averaging nearly two per week. I’m ahead of schedule.
Here are the songs I created in February 2008:
# 02 Feb 2008 — “Nematic”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/02/nematic/
# 05 Feb 2008 — “Smectic”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/05/smectic/
# 08 Feb 2008 — “Chirality”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/08/chirality/
# 11 Feb 2008 — “Thermatropic”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/11/thermatropic/
# 18 Feb 2008 — “Synchrotron”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/18/synchrotron/
# 22 Feb 2008 — “Quiescence”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/22/quiescence/
# 25 Feb 2008 — “Cerulean”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/25/cerulean/
# 27 Feb 2008 — “Iridesce”:http://www.apollolee.com/2008/02/27/iridesce/
Title: Apollo Lee – Belmont Date: March 3, 2008 Software: Logic Pro 8 Genre: Ambient Timing: 6:30 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
The pad instrument (Blue Carpet) is beautiful and has lots of interesting potential.
The harmony is simple (Cm7 Fm7 Bbm7 Ebm7) and lends itself to lots of possibilities for different chord types, even with the 16 notes I’m using on the padKontrol.
There’s a decent amount of note diversity with a big profound low C.
What I Don’t Like About It
Midranges are fuzzy and distorted and this piece sounds terrible on iPod headphones.
The harmony is too consonant to get really rich dissonant tensions.
I mixed this down on the train, where I had to strain to hear past the noise of my surroundings.
I should have used the mod wheel with that strange effect more than for a split second at the end.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.