Iwona
Iwona Beckstrom 3:30
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(You should see an audio player above. If not, follow the link over to my website to hear the track!)
In the early hours, the late hours, and occasionally in between, I’ve been working on new music, using my cbcompose.py script to generate musical constraints for me. It’s going great!
This track, which the script named “Iwona,” is a trap- and avant-garde-synth-inspired piece that uses a short clip I recorded from the radio as its main source of melody and harmony. Although the score called for me to tune into 1140 AM, I couldn’t pick that station up in the basement. I kept the dial where it was, flipped to FM and tuned into a Christian radio station (there are many of those around here). I recorded about two minutes-worth, then chose a short clip to use for the song.
In addition to the radio sample, I used the virtual modular synthesizer VCV Rack as an atonal rhythm source (per the score). Often in trap and dubstep you’ll hear hi-hats playing very fast divisions of the beat. For this track I tried that with a synth instead; in Rack I patched up a simple synth voice and sent MIDI notes to it from Bitwig.
I tried some things out with the modular, but couldn’t find a way to use the 10-step sequencer that worked with the piece. I did use an external input module, ran the radio sample through a LM386-based power amp and into a VCA modulated by a square wave VCO, which results in that scratchy and distorted vocal tremolo effect.
The drums weren’t mentioned in the score, but I didn’t use too many: just a pitchy bass drum synth and a Roland CR-78 snare (my favorite snare) layered with a frequency-modulated square wave.
This is a rough mix. Sometime, likely soon, it will appear on an EP or album with other pieces inspired by my python script.
The Score
# Iwona _generated with `cbcompose.py` 2018/8/29 6:31:40_ ## Song details BPM: 152 beats per bar: 8 number of tracks: 3 rhythm: ` O ^ +` words: Congested Sweet Never-repeating # Some ASCII art ``` °0X▓ ▒* ┌ ┘#+°■╣ ≡▀ ▓ ╣ *!┌ ¡®®▀ ■! ▓▀ % o®¡# O▓╣ ``` ## Tracks ### track 1 instrument: modular synth use at least these modules: external input and 10 step sequencer sound function: pad/harmonic ### track 2 software: VCV Rack sound function: rhythmic ### track 3 instrument: radio use this radio frequency: 1140 AM sound function: pad/harmonic
- - - (original: https://chrisbeckstrom.com/2018/08/30/iwona/)