New album - ambient stuff

[sysrqer]

I've just put out a new album, Too, which consists of mainly ambient or quiet tracks. Most of the tracks had VCV Rack in them somehow, either as a source or as FX. Other software used: BespokeSynth, Paulstretch, Emissioncontrol2, Reaper, and @jeanette_c's csound handpan. The 0-Coast is on one of them too.

This isn't really the style I make but I've found myself making more and more.

https://meefchaloin.bandcamp.com/album/too

[LAM]

Interesting stuff.

I enjoyed a lot Emission and Golden Arcadia textures, the dark "eastern" atmosphere of Dust, the sound "space" of Floating, and the obscure ambient of sdlkk.

Thanks for sharing.

[sysrqer]

Thanks so much for listening @LAM. Great descriptions!

[sunrat]

Excellent!

[jeanette_c]

Hey @sysrqer , many thanks for tagging me, which meant that I discovered this today of all days. Haven't been feeling well all afternoon and a few of these are like balm.
C3H1kx I loved a lot. As in many of your pieces/soundscapes there are fantastic spatial effects. This sounds piece was my personal feel-good sauna flowstone cave.
Emission has an intriguing effect. Yes, it's the first piece - going alphabetically - where I could hear my handpan, which introduces a rather acoustic living light into the colder, dark texture, which is almost alien. Again beautiful effects!
Floating I didn't enjoy as much on an emotional level. The marching drum like sound - to my mind - hinted at something menacing and uncouth. That feeling aside, it's still a fascinating arrangement. This scrachy sound on the left, which has a reappearance in Golden Arcadia, is interesting. Can you share the basic design of that, please?
I love Golden Arcadia. Again, not just because the handpan is in there. It sounds so peaceful, like it might describe an island hidden behind the world. Are there samples in it of the sea or is this another synthetic texture?
You really have a nag for working with your effects. If that hadn't been obvious before, Hirajoshi would be the thesis on that. I don't have the mind for most ambient music, there's not enough harmonic movement. But this rather minmalistic instrumentation captivated my attention right to the end.
sdlkk left a big impression. I found taht it might be a good representation of the solar system. I don't know how much of it is the space suggested by reverb or the sounds that remind me of some NASA recordings from various probes visiting or passing several bodies. As those recordings it leaves behind wonder and terror. Listening to it again, I wonder how many sound sources there actually are. Trying to untangle it, I get the idea that you very effectively created a complex texture with few, but brilliantly crafted patches.
All in all, within that genre an album of variety. and if this isn't your kind of music really, I'm looking forward to the next release that is.
Thanks for sharing and brightening my day! <3

[ambicumber]

Bought it straight away after hearing the Emission track. Will enjoy this properly on big speakers.

[sysrqer]

@ambicumber wow! Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy it!

@jeanette_c I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling good but I'm pleased that this made your day a little better, to touch someone with music is one of the biggest compliments. Thank you for the detailed review, it's fascinating to hear someone else's opinion.
For Floating I'm not entirely sure what that scratchy sound is, the main part of the track is something I put through either paulstretch/emissioncontrol/audiostellar so I think it is an instrument's delay filtered and then comes out like that because of the granular stretching. It may be Clouds because that's on Golden Arcadia as well. I wish I could explain in a bit more detail but some of the sounds or even whole tracks are exports from messing around with various software which I forgot about.
The sea sound on Golden Arcadia is a mixture of a few things, the main constant noise is a recording of rain I made with my phone with lots of reverb on it but there are also recordings of cars (the whooshing wave like sound panning around), as well as some noise/static/glitch samples.
It's funny you mention NASA and the solar system - the album cover is three quarters of a sphere which looks like a planet with rough textures and big cracks through it set against a black background. It was a photo of a wall I took many years ago and I stumbled on a filter in GIMP which made it into a sphere and look like a broken planet.
Thanks again for listening and for your critique, and for your software.

[oscillator]

This is very very beautiful! I don't have any clear favorite, maybe Golden Arcadia, because of the tranquil atmosphere.

I think the mixing is excellent, all sounds fit so well together, and I love how the plucks work against/with the pads. The pieces keeps your interest up.

Lovely! Thank you for sharing!

[glowrak guy]

Excellent songs on many levels! You've chosen intriguing instruments, and blended them well with some non-musical parts.
The songs don't wander aimlessly, and progress with a good balance of variety and continuity. Out of eleven songs,
my only suggestion would be to lower the bass level in Yo. The pluks are delightful, but the volume of the bass
distracts from them a bit. I smiled as that song began, so there was a hook in the first seconds. I think it reminded me
of a great Laura Nyro song, 'Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp', from her Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat album.
I do believe you have some of her producer instincts at hand. Which are not sold in the shops

https://youtu.be/Y_FIK2oyiCs

Cheers

[Rainmak3r]

Gorgeous album! I sense some Dark Ambient vibes in some tracks, which is a genre I've always loved. My favourite track is probably "sdlkk", which reminds me a bit of Arkenstone's "Echoes of Egypt" album, and in fact Ancient Egypt is exactly what it makes me think about: not sure if that was the aim, but it works for me!

[sysrqer]

@Rainmak3r thank you for listening! I can't say that was the aim but it's something I'm more than happy to achieve if that's what it does. I haven't heard that album, I will have to check it out.

@glowrak guy Thank you for listening as well. It's interesting that you mention the levels, this was the first time I've put something out where I consciously didn't focus on levels and bass/mids/treble - I'm very prone to overanalysing and hence overprocessing and destroying a track by getting caught up in the endless "the bass on that needs to be 3db lower and that part needs to be slightly louder" cycle. It was very cathartic to not worry about that stuff and rather try to capture the mood because it has driven me mad before. I do agree though, it is a bit loud and distracting. That's a lovely track you linked, if I had even 1/10th of her talent I would die a happy man!

[sysrqer]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for listening. I don't really have many people to share my music with so it means a lot when you take the time to give it a chance and write your thoughts. I always find it fascinating how the tracks that I feel are the best are the ones least mentioned by people, it makes you wonder how good a judge you are of your own music.

[bhilmers]

This is really good, I've been enjoying it the past couple days.

[PieterPenninckx]

Nice relaxing music. I confirm it can drive away "cloudy thought"...

[milo]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for listening. I don't really have many people to share my music with so it means a lot when you take the time to give it a chance and write your thoughts. I always find it fascinating how the tracks that I feel are the best are the ones least mentioned by people, it makes you wonder how good a judge you are of your own music.

Sorry to arrive late to this thread. I enjoyed having a listen to these interesting soundscapes.

Your comment here really resonated with me, because I feel exactly the same way. I don't do any marketing of my music, aside from posting here and maybe a couple other places sometimes. I also find it interesting that other people don't seem to get the same thing from my music as I do. It is very hard to be objective about your own creations, and that may account for part of it. It's also really hard to get people to listen as deeply to your songs as you do.