Many Miles - Sequenced Ambient Music / Berlin School (1 Hour Edit) @artifonica

Artifonica Featuring: Stepic & Transit!

Many Miles puts you on road with cruise control on a clear night! This is another multi-Stepic (@devicemeister ) track that also makes creative use of Andrew Huang's new plugin Transit.
I also enjoyed making the music video that goes with it, and I'm happy with the result!

This is my first track with @andrewhuang's (🙌) new plugin Transit. Although it's intended to be used as an effect for builds and transitions, I used it for almost the opposite! I had the effect knob engaged by default that was ducked down whenever the instrument was used, giving the instrument a long tail that was only audible when there weren't any new notes coming in.

The motif instruments are all powered by a three layers of Stepic, which join the patterns together rhythmically. Here I did a bit of complex processing using a modulator to detect when there's been silence for more than a few seconds, then it opens the gate which then randomizes which instrument is active, and its parameters. When the motif starts playing again, the gate closes and everything stays locked in until there is silence again.

Process Notes:
The work making my use of Stepic more sophisticated continues in this track, and to add an extra challenge I used only Bitwig native instruments and XO for the drums.
- The bass is a Polysynth with a multi-tap delay, and then Thermal gives it a bit of bass growl
- The main arps (or are they ostinati?) are 3 layers of Polymer that I randomly switch between, with a delay and Transit adding a legato tail to the track

I chose B-minor as the key for the track but it really made a lot of things more difficult because of how low everything goes - the kick is being rolled off at B-1 (31Hz) and to make space for it around the kick, the bass was moved from B1 to the fifth (F#1).
TIL, keep B for the low dark tunes and I'll go back to my usual D, E, and F!

Music created in Bitwig Studio, using:
- Arturia's Rev-LX24, DIST Tube-Culture
- Arturia's COMP TUBE-STA, COMP FET-76
- Baby Audio's Transit
- Unfiltered Audio's SILO
- Native Instruments' Vari-Comp
- Valhalla's Vintage Verb
- @devicemeister 's Stepic
- Minimal Audio's Cluster Delay
- Fabfilter's Pro-Q 3, Pro-C 2, Pro-L 2, Pro-MB, Volcano-3
- XLN's RC-20, XO
- iZotope's Ozone 10, Tonal Balance Control
- TBProAudio's dpMeter 5

Video created with:
- DaVinci Resolve 18.5
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo, cover art, and other photo touching up
- Magic Animate, by @MrAlexTech

Keywords:
Music for meditation, ambient, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, soundscape, background, mood, moody, peace, peaceful, ambience, sequencer, sequenced ambient, Berlin school

updated 2 years ago

Many Miles - Sequenced Ambient Music / Berlin School (1 Hour Edit)

Artifonica 2024-01-06 | Featuring: Stepic & Transit!

Many Miles puts you on road with cruise control on a clear night! This is another multi-Stepic (@devicemeister ) track that also makes creative use of Andrew Huang's new plugin Transit.
I also enjoyed making the music video that goes with it, and I'm happy with the result!

This is my first track with @andrewhuang's (🙌) new plugin Transit. Although it's intended to be used as an effect for builds and transitions, I used it for almost the opposite! I had the effect knob engaged by default that was ducked down whenever the instrument was used, giving the instrument a long tail that was only audible when there weren't any new notes coming in.

The motif instruments are all powered by a three layers of Stepic, which join the patterns together rhythmically. Here I did a bit of complex processing using a modulator to detect when there's been silence for more than a few seconds, then it opens the gate which then randomizes which instrument is active, and its parameters. When the motif starts playing again, the gate closes and everything stays locked in until there is silence again.

Process Notes:
The work making my use of Stepic more sophisticated continues in this track, and to add an extra challenge I used only Bitwig native instruments and XO for the drums.
- The bass is a Polysynth with a multi-tap delay, and then Thermal gives it a bit of bass growl
- The main arps (or are they ostinati?) are 3 layers of Polymer that I randomly switch between, with a delay and Transit adding a legato tail to the track

I chose B-minor as the key for the track but it really made a lot of things more difficult because of how low everything goes - the kick is being rolled off at B-1 (31Hz) and to make space for it around the kick, the bass was moved from B1 to the fifth (F#1).
TIL, keep B for the low dark tunes and I'll go back to my usual D, E, and F!

Music created in Bitwig Studio, using:
- Arturia's Rev-LX24, DIST Tube-Culture
- Arturia's COMP TUBE-STA, COMP FET-76
- Baby Audio's Transit
- Unfiltered Audio's SILO
- Native Instruments' Vari-Comp
- Valhalla's Vintage Verb
- @devicemeister 's Stepic
- Minimal Audio's Cluster Delay
- Fabfilter's Pro-Q 3, Pro-C 2, Pro-L 2, Pro-MB, Volcano-3
- XLN's RC-20, XO
- iZotope's Ozone 10, Tonal Balance Control
- TBProAudio's dpMeter 5

Video created with:
- DaVinci Resolve 18.5
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo, cover art, and other photo touching up
- Magic Animate, by @MrAlexTech

Keywords:
Music for meditation, ambient, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, soundscape, background, mood, moody, peace, peaceful, ambience, sequencer, sequenced ambient, Berlin school

Fauxasis (Ambient, Organic, HWJ)

Artifonica 2025-10-05 | Using the power of the Instruo Scion, I can listen to my plants and play a duet with them!
This is my first duet with a lovely Aloe Vera plant. This was inspired by this week's Hardware Jam (HWJ) inspired by dreams of the desert.

#ambient #plant #music

FMF (IDM, FM, Feedback, HWJ)

Artifonica 2025-09-29 | The core idea on this track was to make several fairly simple FM sounds and basic patterns but run them through a feedback loop with lots of processing on it to give it rhythmic complexity.

However, this was a cursed track to record!
The practice and test recordings went well - then for my first take I recorded the automations in Bitwig to capture all the knob twiddling. But the audio came out stuttery and weird. Might be a problem with my old nanoKontrol2.
Take 2, OBS just didn't record any autio.
Take 3, Bigwig crashed halfway through... though I am using a Beta, so that's on me.
Take 4, I forgot to activate some of the secondary perc elements - but it came out just fine and it was getting late, so this is the take I rolled with :)

Safe (Chill Ambient - HWJ)

Artifonica 2025-09-08 | This is my submission for the weekly HardWare Jam (HWJ) community challenge.

A chill ambient vibe - I challenged myself this week to use my hardware controllers more, to help change and morph the music live.
Recorded and arranged live and in one take, I am using the MicroFreak for ambient pads, the Torso T1 to sequence drums and pads, with the Deluge acting as both the bass synth, as well as to sequence the vocal and pluck layers. The MiniLab 3 is used to control several macros that effect the tracks and the mix as a whole.

Central to the setup is the Bitwig 6 beta! I didn't get to use many of the new features in this track but on the plus side it didn't crash once during filming!

Urban Summer - Ambient Garage - HWJ - Construction Noises

Artifonica 2025-09-01 | The challenge was to make music out of construction and heavy industry noises. To meet the challenge, I merged Ambient and Future Garage genres to turn the sounds of construction into something musical.

Every sound is some kind of industrial or construction noise, apart from the bass. I used the MicroFreak for the iconic Reese bass of the Garage genres.

I minimally processed the sounds to preserve the construction feeling, rather than processing them into more neutral sounds and losing their character.
The kick drum is literally an oil drum being hit!
The other percussion and rhythmic sounds are different pipes, pieces of metal, car parts, etc all being hit by hammers and other pieces of metal.

Underneath it all there are two layers of field recordings of a construction site in New Zealand, and a house demolition in Vietnam.

I built the track in the new Bitwig 6 beta 1, and most of the processing was using stock plugins. I really enjoy some of the quality of life improvements that Bitwig made, like clip aliases and automation clips, which is why I am using a beta for the first time!
I added in some 3rd party 1176s to help control the dynamics (construction noises have a very high dynamic range!), and in one intense place I added Pro-MB and Ozone Stabilizer to clamp down harder. I used a saturator from Arturia a couple of times and their 201 tape delay, and a Valhalla reverb. The 4X spectrum visualizer was added to give the video more interest.

Apollo Ad Astra - Space Ambient - HWJ

Artifonica 2025-08-18 | This was created under the inspiration "Ad Astra Per Aspera" from the weekly HardWare Jam (HWJ) community competition.

I used a public domain samples from JFK's "We Choose To Go To The Moon" speech at Rice. And I also used a sample, that I restored myself, of the radio traffic from the Apollo 11 mission, just as it left Earth orbit.

Quiet the Noise - Ethereal Ambient

Artifonica 2025-07-26 | Quiet the Noise was written as part of a community challenge to make ethereal ambient - but with a track length under 12 minutes!
Normally these tracks go for about an hour to allow each element to change and move slowly over time, giving each moment its own time in the spotlight.

I tried to capture the spirit of the genre, within the time constraints set.

The name came to me while I was making it as it helped me drown out the noisy outside world, and gave me some much needed moments of calm!

Feel The Music #discohouse #teaser #shorts

Artifonica 2025-07-16 | Here's a teaser for the Disco House banger I created on the Synthstrom Deluge - my first track on the device and I was very happy with it.

Here's a link to the full length video:
youtu.be/bts_I_jacHA

Perseus Screams (Black Hole - Techno - Ambient - Hyperspace Pop) HWJ 20250511

Artifonica 2025-06-28 | My ambition outstripped by abilities on this one! But finishing tracks is how you get better.

I was inspired by the Hardware Jams group challenge to create a techno track where music and black holes meet. As the main theme of my track I used the sonification of the black hole in the middle of the Perseus cluster that NASA created from the Chandra X-Ray telescope survey of the cluster.

The creepy black hole noise is running as a backing track throughout, with a trance-gate treatment to give it more of a rhythmic element.

Dronet Panic (Drone, Ambient, HWJ)

Artifonica 2025-06-14 | The Drone Hardware Jam challenge fell due on Towel Day, so I had to cross the streams on the naming :)

Keywords:
drone, drone ambient, ambient

Feel the Music (Disco House - HWJ)

Artifonica 2025-05-24 | This is my first full track using the Deluge, I've had it for less than a week and I'm already vibing with the workflow on the device. There are a few things that I couldn't figure out how to do - but that just meant I arranged the track live in one take!

This gloriously cheesy Disco House number was inspired by a HardWare Jam challenge which was in turn a callback to Eurovision. It was fun to do a lighthearted house track again, with disco vocals and plenty of cowbell!

FOUR - Techno - Dub - Acid - (HWJ 20250421)

Artifonica 2025-05-10 | This is my submission to the Hardware Jam "Four" Challenge for April 21, this track was created all in a single weekend.

The brief was "4 thing challenge: Staccato, legato, fortissimo, bellisimo!
This week we'd like to see a four-fer of the bastardised Italian I just plucked out of things air. Staccato Short snappy arps, Legato long drawn basses, Fortissimo loud punchy drums and bellisimo mandatory-smile-inducing leads."

I ran out of time to dial in a couple more "four" angles - it's short of 4 minutes and I needed to pull in a 5th pattern on the sequence. With another day I think I could have coaxed it to both those "four" features as well.

Hypnotize (Chill Ambient - HWJ challenge: 6 April 2025)

Artifonica 2025-04-19 | Submitted to Hardware Jam "Hypnotize Us", 6 April 2025, this track was created all in a weekend.

I'm still learning much of the gear on the table, and it was a lot of work to get to the point where I had everything talking to the Zoom L6 mixer.
(I had to go out and buy the right cables!)

My first submission to the HWJ forum, I hope it is entertaining.

I have everything routed into the Loom L6, which gives some reverb to the pad coming from the Microfreak, and the Torso T1 is the brains of the outfit - being the MIDI controller for everything (except for the arp on the Digitakt). The Polyend Tacker Mini is also plugged in but ended up not being used.

Available on Bandcamp: artifonica.bandcamp.com/track/hypnotize

The Drive Home (4K) - Synthwave - Overdrive

Artifonica 2025-04-06 | The Drive Home is everything that's good about the music from the 80s, the cutting edge synthesizers, toms with the full Phil Collins' treatment, and all the possibilities of the endless horizon!
Now I have a more capable computer, I re-rendered all the 3D assets and the video in glorious 4K!

Process Notes:
This track was originally released on my Beach House EP as the closing track, to evoke the feeling of a long drive home after a weekend partying at a beach house in the summer. The rest of the EP is Tropical House but this track is solidly Synthwave/Outrun, and I fully embraced the genre in the video clip.

Music created in Ableton Live, using:
- Native Instruments' Komplete Kontrol, Super 8, Prism, FM 8, Retro Machines, Reaktor
- Arturia's Chorus Jun-6, Pigments
- Fabfilter's Pro-Q 3, Pro-C 2, Pro-L, Pro-MB, Volcano 2, Saturn 2
- XLN's RC-20
- Cableguys' Shaperbox 2
- Wavesfactory Trackspacer 2
- Valhalla's Vintage Verb
- Soundtoys' EchoBoy Jr, LittlePlate
- Soundtheory's Gulfoss
- iZotope's Ozone 9, Neutron 3, Tonal Balance Control
- Sonox's Oxford Inflator
- Mastering The Mix, LEVELS

Video created with:
- DaVinci Resolve 18
- Affinity Photo for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- Magic Animate, by @MrAlexTech
- mMusicCut, by @motionvfx for a couple of transitions
- I generated all the background sky images using the Midjourney "AI"
- Blender, to animate the Sun (model provided by @NASA ) and to animate the hovercar (model provided by Nicola Piovesan at chaosmonger studio)

Keywords:
Synthwave, Synth-wave, Overdrive, Vaporwave, Retrowave, Chillwave, 80s, 1980s, Stranger Things, retro, upbeat, vintage synthesizers, Midjourney, AI art, vector art, sunset, stars, nebula

Live Session with T1, S-1, and the Digitakt 2

Artifonica 2025-03-31 | I just bought a Torso T1, it's been on my wish list for ages and I finally saved up enough to get one.

This is day two of experimenting with it, and I have plugged it into my Digitakt 2 and my Roland S-1.
I started with a blank init patch on both and tweaked some parameters a little but that's all.

I developed a simple pattern on the T1, and will tweak and play it live on this stream!

Epilogue:
Not sure what happened to the S-1 patch but I couldn't recover smoothly in real time, so I took it as a sign to call it a day.

That was fun to explore the new gear and create some ephemeral art.
Gonna init all the devices now and move on to the next thing, which feels weird.

Thanks for watching.

Dub Tee Eff - Dub Ambient - Ambient Techno (Radio edit)

Artifonica 2025-03-15 | This new track is my first attempt at the Dub Ambient genre - and it won't be my last.
I enjoy the higher energy of this genre, whilst still retaining the ambient feel and "background listening" nature of that style.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
This was created as part of a community challenge for Dub Ambient, a genre I have been wanting to explore for a while. I enjoyed the challenge, and the work of the others in the challenge. I long to go back to using my Digitakt 2, which feels like it was born for this genre :)

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.3, using:
u-He:
- Hive 2
Arturia:
- Pigments
- Efx REFRACT
- Delay TAPE-201
- Rev PLATE-140
- Comp FET-76
Luftrum:
- Bioscape
Native Instruments:
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Spectral Shaper
- Solid Bus Comp
Valhalla:
- Supermassive
- Vintageverb
Plugin Boutique:
- Scaler 2
Baby Audio:
- Transit
devicemeister:
- Stepic
Sound Theory:
- Gullfoss
XLN Audio:
- XO
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- @MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- MotionVFX's

## Keywords
Ambient: Dub, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, groove, mood, journey, ambience

Polyphemus - Ambient Music

Artifonica 2025-03-02 | This track came from my first exploration of Dawesome's free Zyklop synth!
I live streamed the creation of the bones of this track, where I was using nothing but eight instances of Zyklop for all the parts, and a drumkit.

I felt there was a complete track in my exploration of this new synth, so I took the time to finish the arrangement, add a new instance of Zyklop, and finish the mixing and mastering process.
I hope you enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
The first of the live streams where I first explore Zyklop:
youtu.be/sEi50FB5dh4

The second live stream where I develop the idea further:
youtube.com/live/hi9vGF7Sli4

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.3, using:
Dawesome:
- Zyklop
Arturia:
- Delay TAPE-201
- Rev LX-24
- Efx MOTIONS
- Efx REFRACT
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Tape MELLO-FI
- Bus Exciter-104
Native Instruments:
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
Valhalla:
- VintageVerb
XLN:
- XO
UAD:
- LA2A
Baby Audio:
- Transit 2
devicemeister:
- Stepic
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 19, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up

JAMuary: Zyklop Polyphemus

Artifonica 2025-01-30 | My participation in JAMuary this year will be another short stream - this time building on my last live session exploring the new Zyklop synthesizer. I will take the track where it ended up, and make some sound design changes and arrange it into a full track.

I won't be talking, or even likely looking at the chat during the stream, but I appreciate the company as I try to get more used to making ephemeral live music.

The first of the live streams where I first explore Zyklop:
youtu.be/sEi50FB5dh4

The final result:
youtu.be/kWGmsL9Z1KU

00:00 Welcome
00:40 What we're working with
01:35 Sound design
17:30 Arrangement

Thanks for watching!

Part 1: youtu.be/sEi50FB5dh4

Ambient Calm: Take Me Away - Ambient Music - Chill

Artifonica 2025-01-19 | My first new release of 2025!

Take Me Away is an ambient piece, filled with evolving melodies and rhythms. This song emerged as I explored making more sophisticated the use of some instruments, and of Bitwig's clip and instrument selectors.

The track surprisingly came together quickly as these experiments built on top of each other... mind you it's not the song I am supposed to be working on, but it's the one that crossed the finish line first. I hope you enjoy.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
For this, I tried a new (to me) approach of creating the different clips and scenes for the different sections. Then I recorded the clips being played live - I manually triggered scene and clip changes, which added to the subtle variations as each clip had a different length before moving over to the newly selected one.
I think went through and manually triggered Transit 2 to help with some of the scene transitions.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.2, using:
u-He:
- Hive 2
- Diva
Arturia:
- Tape MELLO-FI
Native Instruments:
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
Baby Audio:
- Transit 2
Valhalla:
- VintageVerb
- ShimmerVerb
devicemeister:
- Stepic
Soundtheory:
- Gullfoss
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, ambience, vacation

Auroral Glow - Ethereal - Ambient - Music - Calm

Artifonica 2024-12-22 | This is an ethereal ambient track, trying to capture the awe of the aurorae and the majesty of space, with big washes of sound representing clouds of incandescent dust, and bright specs of keyboard sounds for brief flashes of light that bespeckle our skies.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
u-he:
- Hive
Arturia:
- SEM V2
- STAGE 73 V2
- Rev LX-24
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Comp VCA-65
- Comp FET-76
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Comp DIODE-609
- Tape MELLO-FI
- Efx REFRACT
- Efx MOTIONS
- Bus EXCITER-104
Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
Baby Audio:
- Transit 2
devicemeister:
- Stepic
Plugin Boutique:
- Scaler 2
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.1, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, soundscape, ambience, ethereal

The Zyklop Exploration - Live - Track From Scratch - No Talking

Artifonica 2024-12-01 | In this video, recorded my initial exploration of @dawesome's new Zyklop synthesizer. I have only just installed it, and have not used it.

I set myself a challenge to see how much of a track can create from scratch using only this new synth, in about 30 minutes, and under the added pressure of recording everything live!

I used Scaler 2 to produce the initial chord sequence, then Stepic to sequence it further, with a little extra sauce from Arturia's LX-24.

There are no intentional edits - I recorded live for 42 minutes - but there is a cut where OBS just stopped recording, and I lost about 12 minutes of gold. When I discovered that, I went back and added a brief tour of what was done at the end. This is not the first time OBS has failed me, so I hope it's that my poor laptop can't cope with everything all at once rather than OBS having a fatal flaw.

I am pleased with how the result came out, and want to finish this in a full arrangement when I get the time.

The second live stream where I develop the idea further:
youtube.com/live/hi9vGF7Sli4

The final result:
youtu.be/kWGmsL9Z1KU

00:00 Start
28:34 OBS Crashes

Keywords:
Process video, learning on the fly, one synth challenge, no talking,

#zyklop #newsynth #OneSynthChallenge #live #music #process

Astral Horizon - Ambient - Chill (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-11-17 | Astral Horizon, is an ambient, chill, and gently meandering track with a rhythmic backbone as a counterpoint to its ethereal qualities.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
I wanted to explore the push and pull contrast between the two strong "lead" elements, trying new approaches to fading between them.
To keep a sense of continuity through the track, I added a light rhythmic element to keep pace and time, and I think it worked well to bring everything into a cohesive soundscape.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.2, using:
u-He:
- Hive 2
Luftrum:
- Bioscape
Arturia:
- Tape MELLO-FI
- Comp VCA-65
- Efx REFRACT
- Comp FET-76
- Korg MS-20
- SEM V2
- Comp DIODE-609
Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
UJAM:
- BM-Circuits
Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
Valhalla:
- VintageVerb
Baby Audio:
- Transit 2
devicemeister:
- Stepic
Plugin Boutique:
- Scaler 2
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 19.1, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MotionVFX's mTitle Restyle

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, journey, ambience, ethereal

Celestial Veil - Ethereal Ambient (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-10-19 | This track was originally intended for a music competition but I liked the way it was developing, so I took it in a direction away from the competition guidelines and finished the track the way I felt it ought to be done.
I channeled my inner Michelangelo and carved away to reveal the track that was already there.

Also, @andrewhuang and Baby Audio's Transit 2 came out just as I was arranging and editing, so I used that in a couple of places in this track. I appreciated the envelope mode most, as that was how I was using the original Transit but I had to MacGyver the enveloping work myself.

## Keywords
Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, unwind, sleep, meditate, meditation, dreams, dreaming, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, background, ambience, binaural beats, drone, rest, nap, slumber, all night, eight hours, sleep noise machine, sleep machine, sleep sounds

Fractal Bloom - Digitakt 2 - IDM - Ambient Techno - Played Live

Artifonica 2024-09-21 | I arranged and recorded this IDM style track live on the Digitakt 2, and the Mini-Lab 3, featuring sounds of the great Yamaha DX-7.

I learned many things from this, including that OBS hates me. The Bitwig screen showed through - but only as a still, so all the interesting things I did in the DAW isn't visible. Also, the audio didn't record, and the acid line came through in my headphones but weirdly didn't make it to the recording.
I also learned I need to get a longer arm for the camera - I couldn't fit both devices on screen at once.

Pulse Shift - Live - Minimal Techno - Tech House (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-09-07 | Over the last week or so I have been learning how to use the Digitakt more, and building another techno track. I recorded this as part of a live stream where I built out, arranged and played this track live!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
I built up the core loop on the Digitakt with a couple of loops and sample packs loaded in, and during the live stream I created the different arrangement patterns live on camera. Then at the end of the stream, I live arranged and created this track.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created entirely on the Elektron Digitakt 2, routed through Bitwig and OBS for recording purposes.

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 19.0, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up

## Keywords
Dance, minimal techno, tech house, upbeat, move, live

Live Techno Jamming on Digitakt 2

Artifonica 2024-09-01 | Over the last week or so I have been learning how to use the Digitakt more, and building another techno track.

The stream is going to be a short one where I will spend the first part tweaking the sound and patterns, and then then part I'll get down with my bad self for some live jamming with what I have built.

I won't be talking, or even likely looking at the chat during the stream, but I appreciate the company as I try to get more used to making ephemeral live music.

I have also trimmed the video so it kicks into the action sooner. I'll update the time stamps once YouTube is finished with its processing.

00:00 Noodling begins
01:50 Intro pattern
03:18 Breakdown pattern
10:29 "Empty" bar pattern
14:58 Outro pattern
19:10 Oops! Recreate "empty" bar pattern
21:22 Transition card
21:40 Live jamming!

Thanks for watching!

Effervescent X - Techno - Digitakt 2 - Played Live

Artifonica 2024-08-17 | This techno track was created on the new Digitakt 2.
This is both a new genre, and my first experience with an Elektron device and workflow.

There's still a long way to go but I got further into the complexities of song mode and pattern conditions with the Digitakt than I ever did with any other groove boxes. Thanks to @truecuckoo for the deep dive video!

I look forward to exploring the live sampling features in the next one.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes

Made entirely on the Elektron Digitakt 2, using song mode, using samples I imported and some factory samples. This was quite the equipment **and** genre learning curve to get a coherent track in a short time. Which is why it's shorter than a typical techno track - as I get more used to the Digitakt, I'll stretch my wings further into more complex structures.

This will be my daily driver until the Oxi One comes back from the shop, so I should get some heavy reps in using it :)

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created on the Elektron Digitakt 2.
Piped through Bitwig to get the audio out, I also ran it through Gullfoss for some subtle shaping, and Pro-L2 as the mastering limiter.

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MotionVFX's Music Video plugin

## Keywords
Techno: Dance, didgeridoo, minimal techno, upbeat, move, acid break

Sputnik & Friends - Music - Minimalist Ambient - Space Ambient (1-Hour Edit)

Artifonica 2024-08-03 | This is a minimalist ambient track, in the style of the early pioneers of ambient music, working with very few instruments, tracks, and effects. This 1-Hour edit extends the development of the sequence.

In the spirit of the minimalist approach, I chose a single instrument (the SEM) and the E Pentatonic minor. Each track (bass, the pluck, and the metallic bell) started with only playing a single note in a polymetric rhythm, with the bass evolving into using the remaining notes in the scale to give the track more movement.

The interest and character in rhythm comes entirely from the use of the three different length delays (dotted 1/8, dotted 1/4, dotted 1/2) that change and evolve over time, so the music has enough repetition to be memorable but enough variation to retain interest.

Overall I am very pleased with how this track came together and would encourage others to try placing strange new restrictions on your workflow, to see what creatively comes out and what new things you might learn!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly Ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
The motivation for this was a community competition called Assemblage 07, which called for a minimalist ambient piece.
In getting myself into the mindset, I chose the Oberheim SEM as my only synth for this track. It is a versatile synth that was around and used in the era, so it felt right. Plus I'm a sucker for the Oberheim sound :)

This is also the first time I've ever really worked withe a spring reverb - but something about the metallic edge it gave to the instruments added to their 70s character.

The track is in E Pentatonic Minor, with the Bass repeating the root E, plus the 2nd and 4th as accent notes from the scale. The other two instruments each get one of the two remaining notes from the scale, the pluck gets the minor 3rd and the metallic bell gets the 5th.

The real movement comes from using Stepic to generate CC signals that controlled how much of each delay was being used for each instrument - so not only were the rhythms polymetric but the delay sends were modulated polymetrically, leading to some very complex interaction.

# Behind the Scenes

## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
Arturia:
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Dist OPAMP-21
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Efx REFRACT
- Filter M12
- Filter MS-20
- Rev Spring-636
- Tape MELLO-FI
XLN's:
- RC-20
Native Instruments:
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
devicemeister:
- Stepic
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-C 2
- Pro-L 2
- Pro-MB
- Pro-Q 3

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Minimal, Minimalism, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, space, science fiction, sci-fi, retro, ambience, complex

37 Steps (Oxi One - Aira S-1 - Berlin School - Ambient - Live Mix)

Artifonica 2024-07-20 | This instrumental track is chill, rhythmic, ambient, and played live. It is named after my new keyboard.

For this track I pre-programmed one sequence line using Keystep 37 but the rest was all playing live using the Keystep 37 in Arp mode, the Oxi One, and the Aira S-1 providing bass.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
I recorded this live, using the webcam I had on my computer, awkwardly mounted to look down over the instruments I was controlling.
I have learned that next time I do this, I will need to replace my fixed focus webcam so it doesn't jump in and out of focus.

# Behind the Scenes
## Gear
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, with a focus on the software versions of the MiniFreak and Juno-60
Using the Arturia Keystep 37 and the Oxi One to drive the sequencer and arp lines.
Supported in the bass by my Roland Aira S-1.
For the first time using a Korg nanoKontrol2 as my mixer controller.
Video created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6.

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, journey, ambience, live, Berlin School, Ambient, Chill Ambient

Night Gallery - Remastered - Dark Ambient (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-07-06 | This track in the Night series takes you to a long abandoned art gallery, in a decrepit building with rain leaking in but mysteriously much of the artwork is still on the walls. As you walk through, ghostly whispers talk to you in the storm.

This is the 2024 remastered version - I recently listened to the original and decided I had learned a lot in the year since this first came out, and I am much happier with this re-edited and re-mastered version.

I removed a bass element, and took a heavy hand with EQ to create more separation with the track elements. The rain and wind sounds are still present but aren't quite so prominent, which makes for a nicer listening experience on a wider variety of speakers.

Ancient Archives (Sampler)

Artifonica 2024-06-22 | What a week it's been: Solstice, World Music Day, and I powered up my new studio space!

To celebrate, here's a sampler for a new track I am creating: Ancient Archives. A cinematic ambient piece where I enjoy stretching myself in new directions... but I don't know how to finish it out yet.

In the meantime here's a short arrangement for your enjoyment

Keywords
Cinematic Ambient, Hive, Druuums, Striiings

Dreams of the Hive #ambient #teaser #shorts

Artifonica 2024-06-01 | Here's a #teaser for Dreams of the Hive, available soon on streaming services.
Let yourself float away into the dreams of the others in the hive, connected through this calm ambient piece.

Here's a link to the radio length edit:
youtu.be/Mosxrle9iNw

And here's the full 1-hour edit:
youtu.be/7zful1LI5uY

## Keywords
Ambient: meditation, chill, relax, sleep, dreaming, space, soundscape, ambience, peace, calm, ethereal, lucid dreaming, bliss, TTRPG

Guild Complex - Dune - Desert Ambient - Dark Ambient (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-05-18 | A Dune inspired Desert Ambient / Dark Ambient piece, exploring the sounds of the Guild Navigators, in their alien environments behind closed doors.

What strange sounds do they hear, in their spice enriched atmosphere?

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
This month I am moving house so I didn't have the time to complete a new track but I did find an old track that I had the time to update and finish this radio length edit.

So it's back to Ableton and some of my older techniques in arranging and processing the track. I did update a lot of the signal chain processing to match my more modern sound aesthetic.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Ableton Live 11, using:
Arturia:
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Comp DIODE-609
- Tape MELLO-FI
Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- mReveal for transitions
## Keywords
Ambient: Music for moodiness, change mindset, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, dune, desert, space, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, journey, ambience, alien

Warp Engine - Drone - Ambient - Sleep - 90 Minute Edit - Music Video

Artifonica 2024-04-20 | This is a drone track, putting you in the engine room of an warp capable starship as it hums its way across the stars!

Put your feet up on the shiny console and let your mind drift off to the soothing sound of the regular pulsing of the engine.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
The original inspiration for this was the Star Drive track, with its underlayer of engine noise, which I evolved into a more rich and complex sounds with zoning out in mind!

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
Arturia:
- Delay TAPE-201
Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- Massive X
- Absynth 5 (RIP)
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
Cableguys:
- Halftime
Soundtheory:
- Gullfoss
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MotionVFX's reStyle

## Keywords
Ambient: Drone Music, meditation, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, unfocus, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, journey, ambience, dark, white noise

Starnight - Meditation - Space Ambient (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-04-06 | Starnight is a slowed down, processed track to provide long, slow, and gentle transitions, swells, and movement.
It provides a smooth listening experience that doesn't intrude or disrupt your thoughts and dreams. I also added in a binaural layer to help promote meditation or sleep.
This is the Radio Edit, for people who just want the gentle vibes but don't have time for the full 8-Hour Edit!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
The track was based on another one of my long ambient pieces, and then run through PaulXStretch to re-texturize it.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
- u-He:
- Diva
- Arturia:
- Arturia (V Collection and FX Collection), most notably the OP-Xa, sent through Efx Fragments
- Pigments
- Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- Kontakt
- Hybrid Keys
- Straylight
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
- Eventide:
- Blackhole
- Plugin Boutique:
- Scaler 2
- TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
- Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2
- PaulXStretch

With thanks to @PolarityMusic for helping me debug my custom Note Grid device.

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- @MrAlexTech 's Magic Animate
- BorisFX's Particle Illusion for the stars and pulsing globe

The music video gave me some trouble when it came to rendering, with it being an 8 hour long track - my poor computer first ran out of hard drive space, and then RAM, and finally crashing trying to render. In the end, I leveled up my Resolve skills again, and tracked down which clips were adding to the render load, and and made heavy use of Render-in-place. The biggest culprit seems to be the animated "artifonica." text! Thankfully, downsizing the length of the video for the 1-Hour Edit was much less taxing because of the pre-rendering.

## Keywords
Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, unwind, sleep, meditate, meditation, dreams, dreaming, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, background, ambience, binaural beats, drone, rest, nap, slumber, all night, eight hours, sleep noise machine, sleep machine, sleep sounds

Dusk Before The Storm #ambient #teaser #shorts

Artifonica 2024-03-30 | A teaser for Dusk Before The Storm, a melodic, gentle and slightly melancholic ambient piece.

The radio length version is here:
youtu.be/U5cs9n3iLbA

Keywords:
#Music, #ambient, #berlinschool, meditation, relax, unwind, soundscape, sequenced beat, sunset, rain, storm

Sputnik & Friends - Music - Minimalist Ambient - Space Ambient (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-03-16 | This is a minimalist ambient track, in the style of the early pioneers of ambient music, working with very few instruments, tracks, and effects.

In the spirit of the minimalist approach, I chose a single instrument (the SEM) and the E Pentatonic minor. Each track (bass, the pluck, and the metallic bell) started with only playing a single note in a polymetric rhythm, with the bass evolving into using the remaining notes in the scale to give the track more movement.

The interest and character in rhythm comes entirely from the use of the three different length delays (dotted 1/8, dotted 1/4, dotted 1/2) that change and evolve over time, so the music has enough repetition to be memorable but enough variation to retain interest.

Overall I am very pleased with how this track came together and would encourage others to try placing strange new restrictions on your workflow, to see what creatively comes out and what new things you might learn!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly Ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------
# Process Notes
The motivation for this was a community competition called Assemblage 07, which called for a minimalist ambient piece.
In getting myself into the mindset, I chose the Oberheim SEM as my only synth for this track. It is a versatile synth that was around and used in the era, so it felt right. Plus I'm a sucker for the Oberheim sound :)

This is also the first time I've ever really worked withe a spring reverb - but something about the metallic edge it gave to the instruments added to their 70s character.

The track is in E Pentatonic Minor, with the Bass repeating the root E, plus the 2nd and 4th as accent notes from the scale. The other two instruments each get one of the two remaining notes from the scale, the pluck gets the minor 3rd and the metallic bell gets the 5th.

The real movement comes from using Stepic to generate CC signals that controlled how much of each delay was being used for each instrument - so not only were the rhythms polymetric but the delay sends were modulated polymetrically, leading to some very complex interaction.

# Behind the Scenes

## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
Arturia:
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Dist OPAMP-21
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Efx REFRACT
- Filter M12
- Filter MS-20
- Rev Spring-636
- Tape MELLO-FI
XLN's:
- RC-20
Native Instruments:
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
devicemeister:
- Stepic
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-C 2
- Pro-L 2
- Pro-MB
- Pro-Q 3

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Minimal, Minimalism, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, space, science fiction, sci-fi, retro, ambience, complex

Dreams of the Hive - Ambient, Relax, Chill (1-Hour Edit)

Artifonica 2024-03-02 | Close your eyes and float away into the dreams of others in the hive, connected through this calm ambient piece. This extended release makes the dreams last even longer!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
I made this track entirely using Hive 2 - every sound generated in this track comes from one of the 12 instances of Hive 2 in this track.
I limited myself to a single synth for two main reasons, firstly because I just bought Hive 2 on a Black Friday sale and wanted to get to know it quickly and also secondly because I enjoy the creative freedom that ironically comes with working within restrictions and limitations in choice.

# Behind The Scenes

## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio, using:
u-He:
- Hive 2
Arturia:
- Rev LX-24
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Comp DIODE-609
- Tape MELLO-FI
Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
Baby Audio:
- Transit
devicemeister:
- Stepic
TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- Midjourney for the background image
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, ambience, peace, calm, ethereal, bees, collective dreaming, lucid dreaming, bliss, TTRPG

Many Miles #ambient #teaser #shorts

Artifonica 2024-02-24 | A teaser for Many Miles, an uptempo Ambient piece of music.
Sequencers interleave the different layers in an every changing pattern.

The radio length version is here:
youtu.be/0G6zq-Z3nuE

And the 1-hour version is here:
youtu.be/YjBcnQkceFE

Keywords:
#Music, #ambient, #Berlin, meditation, relax, unwind, soundscape, sequenced beat

OXIde - Oxi One - Music - Instrumental / IDM / Leftfield (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-02-17 | This week I unboxed my new Oxi One hardware sequencer, and I am very excited for the possibilities!

I've been working on this track for just under a week, and I have completed my first track using the Oxi One, and mostly stock instruments from Bitwig. It's a lighter, more poppy instrumental track than my usual. It's also shorter and simpler in arrangement because the learning curve on that is steep on the One!

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
The Oxi One has been much more intuitive to use and fits into my workflow more readily than the Polyend Play - but that said hardware clock synchronization remains difficult!

One new workflow for me was to use the One connected to my iPad for the initial sequence and sketching out of the idea, and so I was able to work on the idea on the couch, or on the go even. This setup drove simple instruments AuM so I could get a feel of the vibe, and when it was developed enough, I then moved to my desktop and the bones were already in place!

As you can see in the video, I created many modulation sources from the One that I use to drive not only things like instrument parameter modulation but also selecting which tracks, or mix of tracks, is heard in a section.
I learned a lot of techniques that make a lot of the workflow much simpler than what I had done. Some in time to use it in the track: like the hidden CC modulation by LFOs... by default it goes to an internal target, not MIDI CCs but that you can get to it by shift-clicking the encoder.
Others were too late for this track but still learned for the next track: like learning that even though a sequencer is configured to send out on one MIDI channel, you can save clips that send on a different MIDI channel. That'll make instrument switching a lot easier! In this track there's a CC that is sent to the group lane, which then modulates the volume fader on each instrument track. Whereas in future I will put a MIDI channel filter on each instrument track that can filter on only the channels it wants to listen to!

Overall the experience with the Oxi one has been a great one and looks like it will open up new time and location opportunities to make music.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
- Arturia:
- Acid V
- SEM V2
- Rev LX-24
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Tape MELLO-FI
- XLN:
- XO
- Native Instruments:
- Mysteria
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
- Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
- Dawesome:
- Love
- Valhalla:
- Shimmerverb
- TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
- Soundtheory:
- Gullfoss
- Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- @MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Upbeat music for relaxing, chill, chillout, relax, relaxation, unwind, ambience, vocoder, Leftfield, IDM, Electro, calm, ethereal, Oxi Industries

Starnight - Sleep - Meditation - Space Ambient (1 Hour Edit)

Artifonica 2024-02-03 | Starnight is a slowed down, processed track to provide long, slow, and gentle transitions, swells, and movement.
It provides a smooth listening experience that doesn't intrude or disrupt your thoughts and dreams . I also added in a binaural layer to help promote meditation or sleep.
This is the 1-Hour Edit, for people who need to zone out and think, rather than the full 8-Hour Edit for people who need to block out an entire night.

--------------------------------------------------
Please like and subscribe, as it really does help my music reach more people!

I am an Australian living in Seattle, I am a coffee geek, and I enjoy making mostly ambient and Berlin School inspired music, with the occasional Synthwave track.

You can also find me on:
Bandcamp → artifonica.bandcamp.com
Facebook → facebook.com/artifonica
Spotify → artifonica.com
open.spotify.com/artist/6GCPgSF1z1VhtEbtTkOyyb
--------------------------------------------------

# Process Notes
The track was based on another one of my long ambient pieces, and then run through PaulXStretch to re-texturize it.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
- u-He:
- Diva
- Arturia:
- Arturia (V Collection and FX Collection), most notably the OP-Xa, sent through Efx Fragments
- Pigments
- Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- Kontakt
- Hybrid Keys
- Straylight
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
- Eventide:
- Blackhole
- Plugin Boutique:
- Scaler 2
- TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
- Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2
- PaulXStretch

With thanks to @PolarityMusic for helping me debug my custom Note Grid device.

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- @MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- BorisFX's Particle Illusion for the stars and pulsing globe

The music video gave me some trouble when it came to rendering, with it being an 8 hour long track - my poor computer first ran out of hard drive space, and then RAM, and finally crashing trying to render. In the end, I leveled up my Resolve skills again, and tracked down which clips were adding to the render load, and and made heavy use of Render-in-place. The biggest culprit seems to be the animated "artifonica." text! Thankfully, downsizing the length of the video for the 1-Hour Edit was much less taxing because of the pre-rendering.

## Keywords
Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, unwind, sleep, meditate, meditation, dreams, dreaming, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, background, ambience, binaural beats, drone, rest, nap, slumber, all night, eight hours, sleep noise machine, sleep machine, sleep sounds

JAMuary - Live Stream, Ambient from scratch

Artifonica 2024-01-28 | This is my first JAMuary live stream, and my first "build a track from scratch" video!
Inspired by many folks doing regular streams throughout JAMuary, I am going to make an Ambient / Berlin School inspired track. Or at least that's the intent, the muse and viewers may steer me in other directions :)

The stream will go for about 30 minutes, or a little longer if the chat is chatty.
I'll start with a tour of my "stacked-Stepic" arrangement, because I've had a few questions about how it works. Then I'll start with some basic patterns, then on to some sounds choices. If there's time, I'll delve into modulation and effects.

Music will be made in Bitwig, using the stacked-Stepics semi-generative template I have created over the last few tracks.
Tune in to see how the Stepic stacking works, or just to say hi!

Dusk Before The Storm - Rain Ambient Music (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2024-01-20 | This track started out as a bass heavy piece but as the layers added it became softer and more melodic, and with each layer I added it became more melancholy. Then came the rain, mirrored quickly by the real world. For me now, it evokes the feeling of that dusky time as the weather is cold, the sun is going down, and there's a storm brewing... but everything's OK because you're wrapped up in a blanket and have a hot cup of tea!

# Process Notes
This track uses 6 Stepic sequencers, layered up to 3 deep.
After building the ambiences and sound bed layers, I still felt it needed a strong melodic lead, so I added the bell noise from the Prophet - with a random chance for any of the sequencer generated notes to actually trigger the bell pattern. Each time the bell sequence ran, it moved the Stepic instance on to the next pattern.

I used 4 different Polymers for the repeating pluck and pulse sounds. I arranged them in 2 pairs of pluck and pulse sounds. Every so often, a modulator would send a MIDI CC signal that would switch between the pairs. So if you listen closely to the background, you'll hear the different pairs moving back and forth.

# Behind the Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio 5.1, using:
- Arturia:
- Prophet VS-V
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Comp DIODE-609
- Comp FET-76
- Delay TAPE-201
- Native Instruments:
- Kontakt 7
- Scarbee Jay-Bass
- Solid Bus Comp
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
- Luftrum:
- Bioscape (for the rain, and rhythmic sound bed)
- Output:
- Substance
- ujam:
- Symphonic Elements Drums
- Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
- Baby Audio:
- Transit
- devicemeister:
- Stepic
- Valhalla:
- Supermassive
- Shimmer
- Cableguys:
- Half-time
- Sound Theory:
- Gullfoss Master
- TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
- Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6, using:
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, science fiction, ambience, golden hour, sunset, rain, storm, petrichor, calm, homebody, nature

ORBITS #teaser #shorts

Artifonica 2024-01-13 | A teaser for Orbits, a Space Ambient piece of music.
Sequencers interleave the different layers in an every changing pattern.

The radio length version is here:
youtu.be/rN55bxHGm0o

And the 1-hour version is here:
youtu.be/zRYjurDlCCc

Keywords:
#Music, #ambient, #Berlin, meditation, chillout, relax, unwind, space, soundscape

Dreams of the Hive - Ambient, Relax (Radio Edit)

Artifonica 2023-12-16 | Close your eyes and float away into the dreams of others in the hive, connected through this calm ambient piece.

# Process Notes
I made this track entirely using Hive 2 - every sound generated in this track comes from one of the 12 instances of Hive 2 in this track.
I limited myself to a single synth for two main reasons, firstly because I just bought Hive 2 on a Black Friday sale and wanted to get to know it quickly and also secondly because I enjoy the creative freedom that ironically comes with working within restrictions and limitations in choice.

# Behind The Scenes
## Music
Created in Bitwig Studio, using:
- u-He:
- Hive 2
- Arturia:
- Rev LX-24
- Dist TUBE-CULTURE
- Comp TUBE-STA
- Comp DIODE-609
- Tape MELLO-FI
- Native Instruments:
- Solid Bus Comp
- (iZotope) Ozone 10
- (iZotope) Ozone 10 Stabilizer
- (iZotope) Tonal Balance Control 2
- Minimal Audio:
- Cluster Delay
- Baby Audio:
- Transit
- devicemeister:
- Stepic
- TBProAudio:
- dpMeter 5
- Fabfilter:
- Pro-L 2

## Video
Created in DaVinci Resolve 18.6
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo and other photo touching up
- @MrAlexTech's Magic Animate
- Midjourney for the background image
- MotionVFX's mReveal

## Keywords
Ambient: Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, ambience, peace, calm, ethereal, bees, collective dreaming, lucid dreaming

#teaser Lank Rane #shorts

Artifonica 2023-12-09 | A teaser for Lank Rane, a trance track that I made entirely on my iPad, using Drambo as the sequencer/DAW. King of FM was also just released, so all the instruments were made using King of FM, with drums coming from Hammerhead.

You can find the full version here:
youtu.be/JpBztY1pOrs

#trance #ios #Drambo

#teaser Spielplatz #shorts

Artifonica 2023-12-02 | A teaser for Spielplatz, a Berlin/Ambient style track that I arranged and recorded live using my Polyend Play!

You can find the full version here:
youtu.be/ZgKvx9uQIo0

Keywords
Live, Berlin School, Ambient, hardware sequencer, chill, chillout, upbeat, ambience

#teaser Starnight #shorts

Artifonica 2023-11-11 | A teaser for Starnight which provides a smooth listening experience that doesn't intrude or disrupt your thoughts and dreams. I also added in a binaural layer to help promote meditation or sleep.

Find the full 8-Hour version here:
youtu.be/RmpCHEFX2pM

Keywords:
Sleep, dreams, sleep machine, sleep sounds, binaural beats

Orbits - Space Ambient (1-Hour Edit)

Artifonica 2023-11-04 | I was inspired to create this track by the latest update to Stepic. With the new note-trigger and MIDI play chord and arpeggiator options. I was able to stack the Stepics up to three layers deep to provide a strongly patterned and consistent set of notes that were at the same time never-repeating!

I enjoyed the challenge of approaching music production in a new way and I see Stepic being a top-tier device for me going forward. I look forward to more adventures and will try to incorporate key switching into the mix, so that a tertiary Stepic could generate key switches to be combined with the note stream to mix up the patterns more intentfully rather than relying on "random".

Process Notes:
8 instances of Stepic provide all the MIDI for the track, on the fly!
The primary instance Stepic generates a new note every 2 bars, in F minor, most of which will be F. The next Stepic takes that note data and generates chords - mostly triads with a couple of 7ths and suspended chords in the mix. The other six Stepics are on each of the instrument tracks, and they feed from either the primary note or secondary chord Stepic. The instrument Stepics then either play, or arpeggiate over the note inputs, with a similar pattern in each but with different speeds, order, and chance of note ties. They also vary velocity, note duration, and octaves.

All together, without a single key being pressed on the keyboard, the stacked Stepics (up to 3 deep) generate a musical arrangement!

I also made use of Bitwig's new project modulators to vary over time the texture and to give more of a sense of changing arrangement by varying which instrument was providing more of the high end notes, and the chance of certain notes and sequences triggering.

Thanks also to@dissonate whose video pushed me to go even more convoluted with the stacked Stepics!

Music created in Bitwig Studio, using:
- @devicemeister's Stepic
- Arturia's Jup-8 V4, SEM V2, Pigments, Augmented Voices
- Arturia's COMP TUBE-STA, COMP VCA-65, COMP FET-76
- Dawesome's Abyss, Love
- Minimal Audio's Cluster Delay
- Native Instruments' Kontakt 7, Choral, Solid Bus Comp
- Heavyocity's Foundation Nylon Guitar
- Unfiltered Audio's SILO
- Valhalla's Vintage Verb, Shimmer
- Fabfilter's Pro-L 2, Pro-MB, Volcano 3
- iZotope's Ozone 10, Tonal Balance Control
- TBProAudio's dpMeter 5

Video created with:
- DaVinci Resolve 18.5
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo, cover art, and other photo touching up
- Magic Animate, by @MrAlexTech

Keywords:
Music for meditation, chill, chillout, relax, relaxing, relaxation, unwind, sleep, dreams, dreaming, space, soundscape, science fiction, sci-fi, journey, ambience

2AM

Artifonica 2023-10-21 | It's 2AM at the club, and the trance music is pumping, and the crowd is a-jumpin'!
Let this track take you back to the dance floor and get your feet moving and your head nodding.

Process Notes:
This is my second trance track, using inspiration from Sonic Academy's recent "Trance Takeover" event. I am also not traveling and learning to use my iPad as a music workstation, so I am feeling much happier with the results of this track.

The lead pluck and the lead piano were made using @ArturiaOfficial synths, every other instrument was a Bitwig native device.

Music created in Bitwig Studio, using:
- Arturia's Pigments, Stage 73 V3, Filter MINI, DIST Tube-Culture, Rev INTENSITY
- Arturia's COMP TUBE-STA, COMP FET-76, COMP DIODE-609, COMP VCA-65
- Baby Audio's Transit
- Cableguys' Shaperbox 3
- Native Instruments' Vari-Comp, Solid Bus Comp, VC-2A, Raum
- Universal Audio's LA-2A
- Kilohearts' Trance Gate
- AudioThing's Valves
- Soundtoys' Little Alter Boy
- Valhalla's Supermassive, Vintage Verb, Shimmer
- Minimal Audio's Cluster Delay
- Fabfilter's Pro-Q 3, Pro-L 2
- iZotope's Ozone 10, Tonal Balance Control
- Soundtheory's Gulfoss
- Voxengo's SPAN
- TBProAudio's dpMeter 5

Video created with:
- DaVinci Resolve 18.6
- Affinity Photo 2 for the Artifonica device/logo, cover art, and other photo touching up
- Magic Animate, by @MrAlexTech

Keywords:
Trance, uplifting trance, dance, club, acid bass, EDM, dance music, fun, party, dancing