Centurions Way - dreamy ambient synth jam with Juno 6, SH32, MC101, Edge and Crave for HWJ challenge @droneinthewoods

drone-in-the-woods Dreamy synth jam inspired by the music from Twin Peaks for this weekend's Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge in memory of David Lynch.

Roland Juno 6
Roland MC101
Roland SH32
Behringer Edge
Behringer Crave
Boss SE50 (reverb)

composed and performed by
Keith Sutton
19th January 2025

updated 1 year ago

Centurions Way - dreamy ambient synth jam with Juno 6, SH32, MC101, Edge and Crave for HWJ challenge

drone-in-the-woods 2025-01-20 | Dreamy synth jam inspired by the music from Twin Peaks for this weekend's Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge in memory of David Lynch.

Roland Juno 6
Roland MC101
Roland SH32
Behringer Edge
Behringer Crave
Boss SE50 (reverb)

composed and performed by
Keith Sutton
19th January 2025

Moonsong (ambient ruin mix) - at Knowlton with Roland MC101, Korg Microkorg XL and Behringer Crave

drone-in-the-woods 2025-08-29 | Second video from Knowlton Church and Earthworks, a 12th Century ruined Norman church within a circular Neolithic henge.
Proved too difficult to keep this one ambient all the way through :) An amazing place to visit, especially in the glorious sunshine.
The birdsong that I have overdubbed to enhance the audio was recorded in a hedgerow in Whitehawk, Brighton 31st may 2025.

Roland MC101
Korg Microkorg XL into Boss RV6 reverb into Boss RC500 looper
Behringer Crave into Boss DD7 delay

Roland Street Ex Cube
Zoom H6

Knowlton Church and Earthworks, Dorset, UK
8th August 2025

The Henge ambient synthesisers in a ruined 12th century Norman church within a Neolithic henge

drone-in-the-woods 2025-08-22 | It's been two or three years since a friend told me about this place and finally I got to visit Knowlton Church and Earthworks in Dorset a couple of weeks ago. It was a lovely sunny day with only a few other visitors and I managed four jams, two of which were keepers :)
The birdsong that I have overdubbed to enhance the audio was recorded in a hedgerow in Whitehawk, Brighton 31st may 2025.

Korg Microkorg XL into Boss RV6 reverb into Boss RC500 looper
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave into Boss DD7 delay

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
8th August 2025
Footage from @maikfinch

Glowingly Foolish - 25 min ambient synth looping in the forest with MC101, Microkorg XL and Crave

drone-in-the-woods 2025-08-08 | Frustrated with the shortcomings of my new Zoom looper, I plugged the RC500 in again (about the 6th time), and now it is working again! Fully functional, wtf.
I was hoping to share my set from the Mandala stage at Glastonbury Festival, but unfortunately the recording didn't work. It was my best set to date and was received extremely well :) I've done a couple of jams since then but they were a bit sketchy so got deleted, but I'm really happy with this one -

Glowingly Foolish - summer shade mix

Finally getting round to working on a studio production of this track that I've written with @bayunthecat4042 from Kiev. He recorded the original kalimba samples whilst left without electricity during a blackout, and then helped me to get the chord progression together.

Check out his impressive catalogue here: dadra68.bandcamp.com/?search_item_id%3D4283773441%26search_item_type%3Db%26search_match_part%3D%253F%26search_page_id%3D4550749356%26search_page_no%3D0%26search_rank%3D1

Roland MC101
Korg Microkorg XL into Boss RV6 reverb into Boss RC500 looper
Behringer Crave into Boss DD7 delay
Midronome

Composed by Keith Sutton and @bayunthecat4042
Performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 6th August 2025

Ambient Adventure drone-in-the-woods & Perry Frank - ambient guitar, synths and world instruments

drone-in-the-woods 2025-07-18 | A 25 minute jam featuring @nigelrippon2395 and @PerryFrank.
The most fun and best sounds were made during the final set of our gig at The Woolpack. We mix into my track 'The Monument' and then into a Psyjamas loop.

Perry Frank - guitar, synths and FX
Nigel Rippon - gyil, recorders and vocals
Keith Sutton - synths, loops and FX

Woolpack Inn, Fishbourne, UK
28th May 2025

Tales From The Hedge no.3 with Nigel Rippon on recorders and percussion - ambient-chill music live

drone-in-the-woods 2025-07-04 | This is the second track from mine and Nigel's set at The Woolpack.
It was also the first time that Nigel played a selection of different sized recorders.

Korg Minilogue XD into Boss RC500 looper into Akai MFC-42 filter.
Roland MC-101
Behringer Crave

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton and Nigel Rippon
25th May 2025

From The Spring with Nigel Rippon on gyil. Ambient looping with Minilogue XD into Akai MFC42 filter

drone-in-the-woods 2025-06-26 | Last month I played an indoor gig with Nigel Rippon and @PerryFrank at the Woolpack Inn, Fishbourne. This was the first part of the drone-in-the-woods set.
This was my first gig with my new mixer - a Soundcraft MFXi. I need to save a decent tap tempo delay on it, but it's great that you can store FX settings :)

Nigel Rippon is playing a gyil, an which is a West African boraphone.

Korg Minilogue XD into Boss RC500 looper into Akai MFC-42 filter.
Roland MC-101
Behringer Crave

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton and Nigel Rippon
25th May 2025

Waterr (New Looper mix) - ambient synth looping in the forest with Zoom MS-90LP+ looper pedal

drone-in-the-woods 2025-06-20 | I've had to give up on the Boss RC500 looper due to it's general glitchiness, culminating in it no longer looping :( At some point I'm going to get an RC600, but it's not very portable and so will be for studio and gig use only.
The Zoom MS-90LP+ is incredibly cheap and has more switches that can be pressed by your feet, like loop FX on/off, undo and rhythm start/stop.
I set up a camera to film me using the pedal for the first time, but I forgot to press record!
In this video, I'm using the looper clocked to the MC101. I did have problems with getting a smooth loop with no clicks at the loop point, although this is also the case with the Boss, the Zoom seemed to be worse. It really didn't like overdubbing whilst looping in reverse. I enjoyed the half time effect and will definitely be using it more in my more ambient jams. One other major difference for me, is that the tape stop effect stops the loop, whereas the vinyl flick effect on the Boss doesn't. This is annoying for my music here, but will actually work better for when I'm looping my rock songs.
Future video spoiler: next time I use the looper as master clock with the MC101 and Microkorg synced to it and the clicks issue is resolved, even when in reverse. Plus, the clock output is far more solid than the Boss :)
I've used an old clip of a large parasol mushroom in Petworth Park to cover the two points where I had to cut out sections with loop clicks.

Roland MC101
Korg Microkorg XL
Zoom MS-90LP+ looper
Boss RV6 reverb

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 12th June 2025

The Sea (Undersound mix) - ambient guitar and synth looping on the beach at sunset with sound of sea

drone-in-the-woods 2025-06-14 | I've always vowed to stay away from sand, knowing how much damage it can wreak. Fortunately, the sand was wet and didn't infiltrate too much :)
With my Boss RC500 looper dying on me and Glastonbury festival only a couple of weeks away, it was time to get the RC30 out. With its stereo aux input plus left and right jacks, it's possible to loop two instruments in stereo at once. No midi sync though, so ambient stuff only.

This track is from my previous looping incarnation - Undersound. It was originally called The Sea, because I mistakingly thought it was in C. It's clearly not!

Fender Telecaster (Japanese circa 1986)
Korg Microkorg XL
Boss DD7 delay
Boss RV6 reverb
Boss RC30 looper

Wittering beach, UK 11th June 2025
Composed and performed by Keith Sutton

Ambient Alliance - a longform ambient jam in the forest featuring Perry Frank on ambient guitar

drone-in-the-woods 2025-06-06 | My second collaborative video with the ambient guitar maestro, @PerryFrank, except this time we were in the same place at the same time!
Perry Frank was in the UK last week playing a couple of gigs and we seized the opportunity to video a jam in my forest studio up Goodwood.
What a session it was, one take and completely improvised. We produced twenty five minutes of ambient drones, lush pads and gentle arpeggios with birdsong - suitable for chilling, meditation and relaxation.
I even managed to multitrack record the session, so get in touch if you'd like to have a mess around with the stems :)

Perry Frank was playing my Fender Telecaster (Japanese circa 1986) through Boss DD7 delay, Boss RV6 reverb and Boss RC20XL looper.

I was playing Korg Microkorg XL, Roland MC101 and Behringer Crave through Boss DD6 delay and Boss RC30 looper.

Monitored through Roland Cube Street Ex and recorded on Tascam DR40 and Zoom H6.

The birdsong on this video was recorded a couple of days later in a hedge on the edge of Brighton.

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton and Francesco Nicola Perra
28the May 2025

Forest Drone - a HWJ Weekend Challenge for International Drone Day with 2 analog synths in the woods

drone-in-the-woods 2025-05-26 | My shortest ever drone! 5 mins for this Weekend's Challenge for @HardwareJams
A different hill than usual, but still up Goodwood before it gets noisy :)
Back to using the Boss RC30 looper as I can run 2 synths through it with both in stereo. Both synths are mono analogues but I put each through stereo FX before looping.

Roland SH101 into Ibanez Sessionman SS10 (distortion+chorus) into Boss DD6 (delay) into Boss RC30 looper
Behringer Crave into Boss RV5 (reverb) into Boss RC30 looper

Roland Street Cube Ex
Tascam DR40
Zoom H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
25th May 2025

Live synths set at Bournemouth EMOM: 1) In the Grove - 2) Tales from the Hedge no.3 - 3) Moonsong

drone-in-the-woods 2025-05-23 | Last month I played a set at the Bournemouth Electronic Music Open Mic in the Poole Hill Brewery. It was a fantastic evening full of lovely people, super sounds and great beer 🙂
@bournemouthemom
On Wednesday (28th May) I'm playing at The Woolpack Inn in Fishbourne, Chichester along with ‪@PerryFrank , the ambient soundscaper from Sardinia. I will be joined by Nigel Rippon, who features on a couple of videos here, most notably - youtu.be/XafzlInVzGI?feature=shared, and he will be playing his Gyil among other iinstruments!

Korg Minilogue XD into Boss RC500 looper
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave into Boss DD6 delay
Field recordings on Boss RC30 looper

All tracks composed and performed by Keith Sutton
24th April 2025

Beltane Bells (as dusk falls mix) - ambient synth jam in bluebell woods for relaxation + meditation

drone-in-the-woods 2025-05-16 | I nearly didn't manage to get my annual jam amongst bluebells done this year but when I did, I tried somewhere new - Eartham woods.
This is another huge ambient piece, with lush pads, birdsong, and lots of reverb and slow development :)
As it was Beltane (1st of May, the pagan start to the summer) I did a version of the track I wrote a year ago.

Korg Microkorg XL into Boss RC500 looper into Boss RV5 reverb
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave into Boss DD6 delay into Boss RC500 looper
Mixed and monitored with Roland Cube Street Ex battery-powered amp
and recorded on Zoom H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
at Eartham woods, 1st May 2025

The Creek (HWJ Forest Moon mix) - 5 min synth jam with Minilogue XD, MC101, Crave, MFC-42 and RC500

drone-in-the-woods 2025-05-05 | Indoor jam for the Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge.
I'm experimenting with putting my analogue filter, the Akai MFC-42, into my indoor setup so that I can filter the loops from the RC500.

Korg Minilogue XD
Behringer Crave
Roland MC101
Akai MFC-42
Boss RC500
Boss SE50

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
4th May 2025

By The Lake (ambient in the forest mix) - longform ambient session, meditative drones and arps

drone-in-the-woods 2025-05-02 | Over 30 minutes of blissful jamming with this video, back in my forest studio.

I had a great time last week performing at the Bournemouth EMOM and Monomania in Brighton. Both were amazing nights featuring a wide range of electronic music artists and were extremely well supported by lovely audiences. The organisers of both do an incredible job promoting original music and keeping electronic music live 💙

I've got a couple of proper gigs coming up!
First is Wednesday 28th May at the Woolpack Inn, Chichester, alongside the ambient guitar god, Perry Frank from Sardinia.
@PerryFrank

Then I'm off to Glastonbury Festival! I'm on the Mandala stage in the Green Futures field on the Sunday at 3pm.

A week later I'm playing with multi instrumentalist and sonic wizard Nigel Rippon at Highdown Hotel in Worthing (Sunday 6th July) 😁

Korg Microkorg XL
Behringer Crave
Roland MC101
Boss RC500
Boss DD6
Boss RV5

Roland Cube Street Ex
Tascam DR40
Zoom H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 7th April 2025

ambient forest - ambient guitar and analogue synth looped in the forest with birdsong as dusk falls

drone-in-the-woods 2025-04-18 | To me this video is ambient , but it does contain beats and is probably more ambient-trance :)

Roland MC101
Behringer Crave
Fender Telecaster
Boss RC500 looper
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb
Ibanez Sessionman SS10 distortion/chorus

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
6th April 2025

Under a Moonless Sky - ambient guitar and synth looping in the forest with birdsong recorded live

drone-in-the-woods 2025-04-12 | This is the first of a series of three ambient jams recorded in the last couple of weeks, now that we're in BST. I've been focussing on getting really mellow :)

Korg Mickrokorg XL
Fender Telecaster
Boss RC30 looper
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb

Composed and performed by
Keith Sutton
30th March 2025
Brandyhole Copse

Nightfall | ambient drones and analogue sequences in the forest as night falls with Crave and SH101

drone-in-the-woods 2025-03-21 | Went to my usual woods for an end-of-day jam, but it was a bit too busy to get proper ambient. So I moved on to Stoughton forest, where I just had enough light to set up and get a one-take jam in, under an old yew tree clinging to the hillside.
The forest floor was covered in dry leaves that you can hear gently rustling alongside the birds singing in the trees above.
I have mixed in footage from my visit earlier in the day to the ancient yew grove at Kingley Vale, slowed down to match the vibe.

Behringer Crave
Roland SH101
Boss RC500 looper
Boss RV5 reverb
Boss DD6 delay

Roland Cube Street Ex
Tascam DR40
Zoom H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
16th March 2025

Monument (Analogue Dusk mix) - HWJ Weekend Challenge - a 3 analogue synth jam with bird song

drone-in-the-woods 2025-03-10 | I ran out of light for this one, so I couldn't see the keys on the Volca to attempt a 2nd take after setting up the synth patterns.
This was for the Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge - The Power of Three, so I decided to use three analogue synthesisers -

Roland SH-101
Behringer Edge
Korg Volca Keys

Midronome (midi clock)
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb
Boss RC500 looper
Roland Street Cube Ex
Tascam DR40
Zoom H6

Composed and performed by
Keith Sutton
Brandyhole Copse
9th March 2025

Acid Copse (HWJ Weekend Challenge mix) - chilled 303 acid in the woods at dusk with bird song

drone-in-the-woods 2025-03-03 | Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge for 303 day. First jam outdoors of the year and the birds joined me :)

Behringer TD3
Roland MC101
Korg Microkorg XL
Boss DD6

Roland Cube Street Ex
Tascam DR60
Zoom H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
2nd March 2025

Full Moon Jam ambient improvisation - synths, guitars, drones and field recordings ft. Perry Frank

drone-in-the-woods 2025-01-18 | The final video from our live collaboration at Ambient Lounge. Following our respective sets, we embarked on a massive jam into new territories.

Perry Frank - guitar and synths
drone-in-the-woods - synths and field recordings
Pete Ferguson - ac. guitar and FX

Ambient Lounge.
Jam Cafe, Chichester UK
15th November 2024

Into the Grove into Tales from the Hedge no.3 from Ambient Lounge at Jam Café with Pete Ferguson

drone-in-the-woods 2025-01-06 | Taken from the 2nd half of my gig last year featuring Pete Ferguson on guitar and FX.
Pete Ferguson's pedal setup is visible at 11:56.

Korg Minilogue XD
Roland SH-32
Behringer Crave
Roland MC101
Boss RC500
Boss RC30
Boss SE50

All music composed by Keith Sutton
Performed by Keith Sutton and Pete Ferguson
Ambient Lounge at Jam Café, Chichester
15th November 2024

Beltane Bells - ambient guitar/synth live performance from the first Ambient Lounge at Jam Cafe.

drone-in-the-woods 2024-12-12 | It's been a bit longer than usual since I last uploaded a new jam - the weather turned and I came in from the cold and wet to set up and practice for my first ever ambient gig in my home town. It was a great night, Jam Cafe has the perfect ambience and we were joined by none other than Perry Frank himself! He will be uploading some of his set soon and I will be sharing video of our collaborative set from the night :)
Pete Ferguson joined me on guitar and FX and we produced our best sounds yet, his pedals (and talent) are displayed during the video.

Korg Minilogue XD into Boss RC500 looper
Behringer Crave
Roland SH-32
Roland MC101
Boss SE-50 delay/reverb

composed by Keith Sutton
performed by Keith Sutton and Pete Ferguson
November 15th 2024

HWJ Weekend Challenge - There aint Mushroom to get this going | small-scale jam with just 3 boxes

drone-in-the-woods 2024-12-02 | A lil chill-techno jam for the Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge.

Behringer Edge into Ibanez Session Man SS10
Volca Keys into Boss RC500 into Boss DD6

Recorded with Zoom H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
1st December 2024

In The Grove (HWJ mix) - a 4-synth loop jam for Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge Día de los Muertos

drone-in-the-woods 2024-11-04 | Have set up my synths in my indoor studio as I prepare for my gig at Jam Cafe in Chichester on Friday 15th November. I managed to get a short version in of my tune 'In The Grove', suitable for this weekend's Hardware Jams challenge :)

The seagulls are being fed with paella thrown from a boat in Lanzarotte.

Korg Minilogue XD looped by Boss RC500
Roland Gaia Sh-01
Behringer Crave
Roland MC101

Behringer Xenyx 1002b mixer
Recorded on 2 x Zoom H6 and 1 x Tascam DR40

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
2nd November 2024

First Flight - a half hour synthesizer jam on top of a WWII pill box hidden deep in Graffham woods

drone-in-the-woods 2024-10-25 | On what turned out to be the last day of summer, I headed deep into Graffham Woods for an ambient session with my mate so that he could have his first practice at filming from a drone.
An absolutely beautiful afternoon was spent among the pines, and much experience was gained :)

I look incredibly serious at points and only realised after listening back that I had punched a sequence into my SH101 that was 9 notes long, rather than the 8 I had intended! I was clearly confused but kept going as it was all sounding good, just not quite right :)

A lot more drone footage was obtained but I have only used a small selection due to us forgetting to clear up and put our carrier bags and coke bottles etc out of sight!

Roland SH101
Roland Gaia Sh-01
Behringer Crave
Korg Microkorg XL

Boss DD6 delay
Midronome clock
Zoom H6 audio recorder

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Extra footage by input for color
15th September 2024

Shades of Autumn - An ambient guitar and synth video collaboration with Perry Frank from Sardinia

drone-in-the-woods 2024-10-11 | Perry Frank was a huge inspiration to me when I was starting this channel, with his lush ambient drones and evocative guitar textures set against the natural beauty of the Sardinian landscape.

We have organised a little show in Chichester next month (15th November at Jam Cafe) and have created this collab video for promotion.

Perry Frank created his stunning video first and sent it over to me to see what I could add to it. Wishing to capture some bird song and ambience, I shot mine at the end of the day, as dusk fell. I got the audio I was hoping for, but unfortunately my video is very dark!

Check out Perry Frank's channel here: youtube.com/@PerryFrank/featured

King Canute - nearly lost my synths to the sea ambient mix of synths, birds, sea & traffic sounds

drone-in-the-woods 2024-09-20 | This is two separate jams made on the same day. The first was next to the sea wall in Apuldram, on the other side of the harbour from where King Canute failed to hold back the tide at Bosham. The tide was coming in and I only just managed to pack everything up and climb up the wall without getting wet. I then went on to Brandy Hole Copse to record another jam in the same key.
I've mixed the two jams together and slightly panned them either side.

Roland SH-32
Korg MicrokorgXL
Boss RC30 looper
Boss RV5 reverb

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
27th July 2024

Robot Dream | A 5-synth arp jam for HWJ Weekend Challenge with SH101, SH32, Crave, Edge and Keys

drone-in-the-woods 2024-09-09 | Haven't had the chance to make a HWJ Weekend Challenge jam for a while but with the end of summer and the return of the rain, I remained indoors for my first jam using the Behringer Edge. Not sure if the little pink synth is going to be staying around for long - I'm considering seeing if I can trade it for a MS-1.

Roland SH101
Roland SH-32
Behringer Edge
Behringer Crave
Korg Volca Keys

Behringer Xenyx 1002b mixer
Boss SE-50 FX
Boss DD6 delay
Tascam DR40 audio recorder

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
8th September 2024

The Calm in the Wind | ambient synths in the woods for relaxation/meditation with Gaia and Microkorg

drone-in-the-woods 2024-09-06 | This was one of those sessions where I had no idea if it worked or not until I listened back! All a bit of a rush in the run up to my 50th and wedding!!
Very happy that it worked :) Work's been hectic and I've really used this track to de-stress. I hope it can help you too.

It was a very windy day and I couldn't use any of my microphone audio so I had a look on my hard drive for some bird song - I found a recording I'd made on Christmas morning! Had completely forgotten about it, was really surprised to hear how many birds were singing their little hearts out at that time of year!!

Roland Gaia Sh-01
Korg Microkord XL
Boss RC500 looper
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb
Zoom H6 audio recorder

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Lambourne hill, Stoughton 26th July 2024

StarSongX (caught in the rain mix) | ambient guitar and synth drone builds into hedge-hop groove

drone-in-the-woods 2024-08-22 | I used a more simple set up here with both guitar and synth going into the looper which was synced to the MC101.
This was the first day that the midges were out in force and you can see me getting bitten throughout the session! Then I really wasn't expecting it to start raining, but it did. Fortunately only enough that I could move under the tree that I was filming from and not interrupt the recording :)

Roland MC101 sequencer/synth/sampler
Korg Microkorg XL synth
Fender Telecaster guitar
Boss RC500 looper
Boss RV5 reverb
Boss DD6 delay
Tascam DR40 audio recorder

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
25th July 2024

The Big Sky - Hope Is The Thing With Feathers | Folktronica in the forest with oud, guitar and synth

drone-in-the-woods 2024-08-08 | The Big Sky featuring Keith Clouston on oud, a kind of Egyptian mandola . We bumped into Keith at an open mic night and arranged a jam. This video features the 2nd song from that improvised session.
It's nice to be returning to our folktronica roots :)

Jack Boyd - vocal and guitar
Keith Sutton - Microkorg XL, Roland MC101 and Behringer Crave
Keith Clouston - oud.

Goodwood 19th July 2024

Jack's channel: youtube.com/@jackboyd-official3203?feature=shared
More from The Big Sky: youtube.com/@thebigsky4128?feature=shared

STARSONG (rainy ambient-forest trance mix) ambient guitar and drones lead into forest trance + beats

drone-in-the-woods 2024-07-26 | A 45 minute epic multi-tracked recording across two sessions. The first session was recorded in my forest studio up Goodwood, featuring guitar and SH-32. Although it was raining, the canopy was sufficient shelter and the sound of the drops next to the microphone really add to the ambience. The drums are from the looper pedal.
The second session was recorded up Racton Ruin, where I laid down the Crave and Gaia parts.

Fender Telecaster
Roland SH-32
Roland Gaia Sh-01
Behringer Crave
Boss RV500 looper
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb
Behringer Xenyx1002b mixer
Roland Cube Street Ex
Zoom H6 and Tascam DR40 audio recorders

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 8th July 2024
Racton Ruin 16th July 2024

CHAPTERS

00:01 – Ambient guitar and synth drones + raindrops

16:44 – Trance section with beats and guitar

25:50 – Ambient middle section

34:55 – Trance section with SH-32 and Gaia

37:29 – Ambient end section + raindrops

Undergreen | ultra - ambient guitar and synth drone in the forest with Telecaster and SH-32 🌳🌳🎸🎹🌳🎶🌳🌳

drone-in-the-woods 2024-07-12 | This was recorded as an intro to a track that didn't work out and was going to be scrapped before I listened to it. That's why the MC101 is sitting there unused.

Fender telecaster into Boss RV5 reverb into Boss RC500 looper into Boss DD6 delay.
Roland SH-32
Roland Cube Street Ex
Tascam DR40

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Brandy Hole woods
Chichester
7th July 2024

Beltane Bellz (ambient hedge-hop mix) acid-chill with TD3, Volca Keys and MC101 under old oak tree

drone-in-the-woods 2024-07-05 | Recorded last week after a hot day at work. A track of two halves with the Volca keys doing some ambient improv in the first and then the second half sees the TD3 bring the acid.

Roland MC101
Korg Volca Keys
Behringer TD3
Boss RV5 reverb
Boss DD6 delay
Behringer Xenyx 1002B mixer
Tascam DR40 audio recorder
Roland Cube Street Ex amplifier

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
26th June 2024
Brandyhole Woods, Chichester, UK

From The Spring - synth jam in the garden using portable set up with Roland MC101 and Volca Keys

drone-in-the-woods 2024-06-14 | Whilst visiting the future in-laws I squeezed in a little jam in the garden during post-lunch snooze time :)
All the equipment fits in a small bag!

Roland MC101
Korg Volca Keys
Boss DD6 delay
Zoom H6 audio recorder
Tascam DR40 audio recorder
Headphones

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
31st May 2024

Drone jam 1 for International Drone Day with ambient guitar and analogue synthesisers in the forest

drone-in-the-woods 2024-06-07 | The first jam from my International Drone Day 2024 session with Pete Ferguson. This was my first ever live jam with my recently acquired Volca Keys.
All analogue sound sources (yes, the FX are digital)

Fender Telecaster
Roland SH101
Behringer Crave
Korg Volca Keys
Birdsong

Pete plays his guitar through EHX Freeze - Jim Dunlop Cry-baby Wah - EHX Nano Pog - Dr Tone Analogue Chorus - MXR Phase 90 - Dr Tone Analogue Delay - EHX Freeze - EHX Oceans 11 Reverb
Amplified with Roland Cube Street

Crave and Keys looped with Boss RC500, with Keys through Boss RV5 reverb and Crave through Boss DD6 delay.
SH101 through Boss DD7 delay.
Mixed and amplified with Roland Cube Street Ex
Recorded with Tascam DR40 and Zoom H6

Composed and performed by
Keith Sutton and Pete Ferguson
Brandy Hole Woods
25th May 2024

International Drone Day jam 2 - 50 mins of dark ambient guitar and analog synth drones in the forest

drone-in-the-woods 2024-05-31 | I took Pete to my spot at BrandyHole woods for the first time, and we spent a completely uninterrupted early evening as the sun set and the light slowly left the woods.
This was the second of our two jams, a longer, darker journey with echoes of forest ghosts. This was my first session with the Korg Volca Keys, and it fitted in perfectly :)

Behringer Crave and Korg Volca Keys looped with Boss RC500
Roland SH101
All three synced with Midronome
Mixed/amplified with Roland Cube Street Ex

Pete Ferguson plays Fender Telecaster through
EHX Freeze - Jim Dunlop Cry-baby Wah - EHX Nano Pog - Dr Tone Analogue Chorus - MXR Phase 90 - Dr Tone Analogue Delay - EHX Freeze - EHX Oceans 11 Reverb
Amplified with Roland Cube Street

Recorded with Tascam DR-40 and Korg H6

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton and Pete Ferguson
Brandy Hole woods 25th May 2024

Beltane Bells (dusk-falls-on-the-hill mix) ambient synthesizer looping in the forest with birdsong

drone-in-the-woods 2024-05-25 | Following the improvised writing of new tune 'Beltane Bells', I immediately wanted to try it out again but without guitar cos I play enough guitar atm with my band. I didn't have enough time to video any extra footage this time, but it was incredibly rewarding playng a half hour jam surrounded by beautiful bird song as dusk descended :)

Korg Microkorg XL
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave
Boss RC500
Boss RV5
Boss DD6
Roland Street Cube Ex
Tascam DR-40

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 12th May 2024

Beltane Bells - ambient guitar and drone looped with synthesisers amongst the bluebells on Beltane

drone-in-the-woods 2024-05-09 | The trees have been attacking me more than ever this spring and I've had to start using prescription antihistamines. I managed to get this jam in between my hay fever subsiding and my cold (read man-flu) starting. Which is why I don't look so happy in the video! I was in fact very happy to be out in the first proper day of sunshine and at the location where I started this musical journey, Brandy Hole woods.
The jam was actually 30 minutes long but the guitar solo I recorded was too loud and I overloaded the recording. So I've just chopped that section out, see if you can work out where!

Fender Telecaster
Behringer Crave
Roland Gaia Sh-01
Roland MC-101
Boss RC500 looper
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb

Roland Cube Street Ex
Zoom H6
Tascam DR40

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Brandy Hole woods, Chichester
4th May 2024

Tall Trees | synthesiser drones, ambient guitar and birdsong in a longform forest improvisation :)

drone-in-the-woods 2024-04-19 | And finally it stopped raining!
Had to work most of the Easter hols but I managed to get out early on the last day and set up in my forest studio for a proper improvised session with no idea what I was going to come up with :)
The video is a tiny bit out of sync with the audio but it's all about the music so I'm not going to try to fix it!

Fender Telecaster into RC500 looper
Roland Gaia Sh-01
Roland MC-101
Behringer Crave
Behringer Xenyx 1002b mixer with
Boss DD6 delay and Boss RV5 reverb.
Roland Cube Street Ex
Zoom H6 and Tascam DR40 audio recorders.

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 12th April 2024

STAR SONG - Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge with Korg Minilogue XD, Roland MC101 and Behringer Crave

drone-in-the-woods 2024-04-08 | A weekend challenge to backdrop celestial alignment :)

Video overlay is of a red kite, taken earlier in the day.

Korg Minilogue XD
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave into Boss DD6 delay into Boss RV5 reverb

recorded with Korg D888

composed and performed by Keith Sutton
7th April 2024

Ambient forest loop at dusk - blissful jam with live birdsong, Korg microkorg XL and Behringer crave

drone-in-the-woods 2024-04-06 | Went for a stripped down ambient jam in the woods but had problems with the looper glitching whenever I tried to bring the bass in. This is the intro to the track (hence the fadeout) and a studio version of the track can be heard here: soundcloud.com/keith-sutton/yellow?si=d54570deaeca400d8c0f5ddd50604541&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Korg Microkorg XL into Boss RV5 reverb into Boss RC500 looper
Behringer Crave into Boss DD6 delay
Roland Cube Street Ex
Tascam DR40

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 29th March 2024

Waterrr - Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge with Juno 6, MC101 and looped waves from Bracklesham Beach

drone-in-the-woods 2024-03-25 | When I upgraded looper to the RC500, I kept my Boss RC30 to use in live sets to provide ambient backdrops such as birdsong and waves. These waves were taken from a video where I left my phone recording on the beach for a couple of minutes and have ended up being used on several different recordings here and there :)

Roland Juno 6
Roland MC101
Boss RC30
Midronome

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
24th March 2024

Forest Loop (HWJ Weekend Challenge) - ambient guitar and synth looping in forest studio with Crave

drone-in-the-woods 2024-03-18 | This weekend's @HardwareJams Weekend Challenge was to make a jam inspired by a place. Naturally, I chose under the forest canopy as my 'place'.

I didn't have any time to prepare for this one so I went for a super easy set up and improvised around one chord :)

Fender Telecaster into Boss RV5 Reverb
Behringer Crave
both into Boss RC30 looper into Boss DD6 delay.

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Goodwood 17th Mar 2024

The Big Sky - Fools Folly | a long-form ambient song on battery power with voice, synths and banjo

drone-in-the-woods 2024-03-08 | The Big Sky is a duo consisting of @jackboyd-official3203 and drone-in-the-woods. It's been a long time since we last made music outdoors but it all flowed like we've never been away :)

Jack Boyd : voice and banjo
drone-in-the-woods:
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave
Korg Microkorg XL
Boss DD6 delay
Boss RV5 reverb
Behringer Xenyx 1002b mixer/Roland Cube Street Ex amp/Zoom H6 audio recorder

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton and Jack Boyd
Racton Ruin 12th February 2024

Moonsong (303 mix) | HWJ Weekend Challenge on 303 day in the copse at dusk with TD3, MC101 and Crave

drone-in-the-woods 2024-03-04 | Hit Brandy Hole Copse at dusk for an atmospheric setting for my hardware Jams Weekend Challenge entry. Was good to get back in the woods after all the rain :)

Behringer TD3
Roland MC101
Behringer Crave
Behringer Xenyx 1002b
Boss DD6
Boss RV5
Roland Street Cube Ex
Tascam DR40

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
3rd March 2024
Brandy Hole Copse

Moonsong (we-come-in-peace mix)| ultra chilled HWJ Weekend Challenge with MC101 and Minilogue XD

drone-in-the-woods 2024-02-26 | Video 100!
I did want my hundredth to be a mega-drone jam in the forest but it's too wet, so instead I visited the moon for the @HardwareJams Weekend Challenge.

2 boxes allowed only due to limited space on lunar module:

Roland MC101
Korg Minilogue XD

composed and performed by Keith Sutton
26th February 2024

Bow Hill (its-a-skool-day mix) - DAW-less electro-chill jam with Behringer Crave and Roland MC101

drone-in-the-woods 2024-02-09 | Messed around a bit with new tune 'Bow Hill', this basically involved changing the bass line so that I didn't have to call it a 'remix' of someone else's track anymore :)
Video FX are New Year's Eve 2023 sparklers.
Really getting into this portable setup, the MC101 is an incredible piece of music tech and the Crave sounds amazing for just 1 oscillator!

Roland MC101 with Arturia Keystep
Behringer Crave into Boss DD6 into Boss RV5

composed and performed by Keith Sutton
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Apple (plinky-plonky mix) - HWJ Weekend Challenge with Keystep playing MC101 into Boss RC500 looper

drone-in-the-woods 2024-01-22 | This weekend's Hardware Jams Challenge was to create a jam with equipment that you could carry on foot. Well, that's my thing! Didn't have the time to set up in the woods this weekend, so jammed out this chilled version of Apple in the studio before bedtime.

Roland MC101
Arturia Keystep
Boss RC500

Composed and performed by Keith Sutton
21st January 2024