Here's a quick tutorial I put together showing how to make a semi-generative sequence with the Elektron Digitone.

The Digitone is an FM synthesizer, with lots of modulation points, and designed to have a very musical FM implementation. By default, the operator ratios are mostly integer, and you have to go out of your way to make it sound weird. Definitely still possible though!

So since it's very musical, this means the primary carrier oscillator shifts in octaves. We can exploit this with the random LFO, set in Sample and Hold mode. Each note played can shift in plus/minus octaves, as defined by the LFO depth - I've found 3 to be quite pleasing.

With the LFO set up, we can sequence an ostensibly simple melody, and have the random range of octaves on the carrier wave introduce variation! If we want the primary melody back, then shifting the X/Y mix away from the carrier will get us there.

Have fun!

I'm really pleased to announce the release of my new album. I've been tinkering on this for the past 5 months. Originally as a challenge to produce something in a couple weeks, quickly spiraled into a full length album.

Compared to the atonal droning ambiance of Areas, Telemetry is much more musical (with a share of ambient drones, of course). When I started working on it, I'd just built a Neutral Labs Elmyra 2 drone synth, which produces some amazing crunchy tones. I quickly sampled it for use in virtual instruments, and it became a foundational element throughout the album.

If there's any theme to the album, I'd say there's a loose outline of a soundtrack to a 90s bank heist thriller, with lots of hackers and car chases.

Maybe I'll bounce back to more ambient focus next, but I enjoy bouncing around and experimenting. Telemetry is definitely floating somewhere across various genres. It leans toward classic Industrial clangs and textures, but there's some Dark Ambient and synthy techno beats drenched in reverb. Ranging all the way from 82 to 135 BPM. This project was a great place for me to actually get around to learning more complex drum programming than four on the floor.

The drum machine sound of choice for this was definitely the 909. But I am a sucker for Ableton Live's 106 Typhoon kit!

For synths, I used a little hardware (Eurorack bits and bobs; Microfreak; K-2; Microcosm; and the Elmyra), but it was mostly produced with VSTs. Including Vital, Hive 2, and various members of the Arturia V Collection. Valhalla drives my effects, reverbs, and delays.

You can find it at the usual places:

Enjoy! Let me know what you think on Mastodon and Twitter!

Hello, world! I figured it was about time to spin up an actual website for this Nixienoise project. Somewhere to share my music journey, my creations, and my learnings. So this is my second attempt, the first being a couple years ago where I put up a simple blog. And then promptly abandoned it.

This time around, I've dusted off my Ruby on Rails knowledge, and built out the beginnings of something I hope to expand on. I have some vague ideas on hosting music, photos, videos, and other resources here.

Coming up, I'm wrapping up work on a new album release; tinkering on plenty of music sketches; and have some thoughts I'd like to jot down on this blog.

Cheers!