KVR Audio

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:03 pm

This is a brand new recording of a song I originally wrote and recorded in 1999. I always wanted to redo "Synapse 2 Synapse" since it was one of my better early efforts.

Fragile Gods "Synapse 2 Synapse"

http://soundcloud.com/fragilegods/synapse2synapse/

Although I decided not to change the music at all, I spent a lot of time on sound design, programming all new sounds from scratch. I think the section at 2:43 came out pretty good. It features the late, great Cubase Interactive Phrase Synthesizer (pictured below) which was capable of generating some cool arp-like parts in between frequent crashes.

Although not properly mastered, I did gently use a brickwall limiter (Fab Filter Pro-L) to bring up the levels a little.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Synths: TAL-U-NO-LX, Korg PolySix, Z3TA +2, Audjoo Helix, Rayblaster
Drums: Tattoo, Drumatic

blipp · Post by **blipp** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:13 pm

This reminded me of some of the stuff i was listening to in the 80's from artists like "Front 242" and "Front line assembly"

The "Arp" break section does work really well and is an inspired choice.

There are some really nice melodies weaving in and out of this that i liked a lot and they contrast nicely with the industrial beats and robotic voice.

The mix sounds good on my speakers.

Nice work Frantz

layzer · Post by **layzer** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:48 pm

great tune! and the mix is spot on. lows, mids, highs all even and playing in harmony. vocals sound great for the music style too. i dont think anyone can master it any better than it already sounds.

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:28 pm

what a cool track, Frantz!

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 12:59 am

Hey Frantz. All of my crockery just fell out of the cupboard. Must be a plate reverb

Great synth sounds on here, and I really like the echo effect with the pitch/time shift on the vox. It's a great song, which reminded me a little of Dynamo Beat by Shock (an '80s one hit wonder, so you've outlasted them). Nice job with the vocals and percussion and I see you even managed to squeeze in a middle-eastern melody.

Well balanced mix.

Good work

PurpleCatfishBettie · Post by **PurpleCatfishBettie** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:47 am

excellent!

reminds me of frontline assembly/thrill kill kult/skinny puppy/etc. maybe it would just need a heavier snare; at least in certain passages?

--Cubase Interactive Phrase Synthesizer -- ...was that on the atari st?

cool arp break...

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:04 am

blipp wrote:This reminded me of some of the stuff i was listening to in the 80's from artists like "Front 242" and "Front line assembly"

The "Arp" break section does work really well and is an inspired choice.

There are some really nice melodies weaving in and out of this that i liked a lot and they contrast nicely with the industrial beats and robotic voice.

Thanks for your insightful comments blipp. Yes, Front 242 and FLA were influences, especially early 242. I've had a lo-fi recording of this track for 13 years which I finally got around to redoing. I was a little anxious about revisiting it but it's very reassuring to have someone immediately pick up on and appreciate all of the key elements.

I look forward to hearing more of your stuff. "Magnetic Winds" is still in heavy rotation.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:15 am

layzer wrote:great tune! and the mix is spot on. lows, mids, highs all even and playing in harmony. vocals sound great for the music style too. i dont think anyone can master it any better than it already sounds.

What a relief! Some people worry about the economy. Others worry about North Korea. I was mostly worried that you might say there is too much sibilance in the vox or not enough high frequencies.

Now that the mix got a thumbs up from layzer, my worries are over and I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:35 am

Cool piece Frantz! Good synth sound palette and I think you hit the right level of processing on the vocal. I'd agree with mrblitz that the snare could be beefier, but

all the way!

p.s. I like the way you squeezed scaffolding in there.

mr.me · Post by **mr.me** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 12:22 pm

Very cool! Brings back memories from the early 90's. I loved all the great sounds of ministry, revolting cocks, frontline assembly, 1000 homo Dj's...great decade of music. ...even tho it was really late 80's, just had to find it's way to my ears.

Cheers for this and great production and sounds too!

macmurphy · Post by **macmurphy** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 2:35 pm

excellent tune, really enjoyable. i loved the synth sounds and the production is spot on. wicked.

neil.

TrekStar · Post by **TrekStar** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:07 pm

nice one! I liked the sound of the bassdrum in the beginning, the ethno theme popping up the first time @1:17 and the rhythm change @ 2:43. nevertheless I was not quite sure about the vocals - I found them quite prominent in the mix.

anyway it's always cool to give old songs new life!

greetings

wolf

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:37 am

bluedad wrote:what a cool track, Frantz!

Glad you liked it bluedad!

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 3:00 am

seismic1 wrote:Hey Frantz. All of my crockery just fell out of the cupboard. Must be a plate reverb

Hilarious!

seismic1 wrote: Great synth sounds on here, and I really like the echo effect with the pitch/time shift on the vox.

Glad you liked the vocal effects. Good vocalists can just turn on the mic and record. With my croaking vocals (croakals?), I need to spend time finding new and interesting effects to make the vocals palatable. For this track, the pitch shifted delays came from Pitch Funk. There are other vocal effects that I want to experiment with in the future.

seismic1 wrote: It's a great song, which reminded me a little of Dynamo Beat by Shock (an '80s one hit wonder, so you've outlasted them). Nice job with the vocals and percussion and I see you even managed to squeeze in a middle-eastern melody.

Never heard of Dynamo Beat but checking it out on YouTube I do hear the similarity. The video is quite funny. I can assure you there is no visual similarity. I don't do robotic dance moves in graveyards dressed in a cheap vampire costume. Or at least, I won't admit to it.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:11 am

mrblitz wrote:excellent!

reminds me of frontline assembly/thrill kill kult/skinny puppy/etc. maybe it would just need a heavier snare; at least in certain passages?

Thanks mr blitz! Yes, I am familiar with all of those bands. Although I am more partial to the British and European industrial bands such as DAF, Nitzer Ebb, Cabaret Voltaire, Klinik, Portion Control, etc.

My thought was that a loud snare would get fatiguing listening on ear buds but perhaps I should I have boosted it up a notch.

mrblitz wrote: --Cubase Interactive Phrase Synthesizer -- ...was that on the atari st?

cool arp break...

That screenshot may be from the Atari but I was running Cubase and the IPS on Windows ME. It's a shame that DAWs have abandoned creative composition tools like it. You loaded your MIDI clip into the IPS and started fiddling various parameters always recording in case something cool happened. The output was arp-like but more varied and unpredictable.

Fragile Gods - "Synapse 2 Synapse"