Good afternoon! Over the course of the day I've been going through my archives of the solo synthesizer music I made between 2008 and 2015. Sadly everything I recorded before then has been lost. C'est la vie.
It has been very fun going back to that stuff and recalling some of the memories associated with making it. In the case of the stuff from 2014 to 2015 I barely remember recording any of it at all due to being extremely high on drugs a lot of the time.
The early stuff is generally quite patchy but it does get better as the timeline goes along. My roots in music are generally in heavy, dissonant hardcore rock music that I rarely had to apply any music theory to compose. So my early work is a bit more off the cuff and experimental while my later music is more melodic and... pretty, I guess? You'll see what I mean.
I will be uploading the tracks to YouTube with the year of recording in each upload's title. I have a lot of this stuff and I don't really want to foist it on you all at once, so I'm going to try to upload one track every other day starting tomorrow.
My only question is what order you all would want me to upload them in? Should I do it chronologically? The highlights first? A random order, perhaps? Do let me know, and I look forward to sharing my music with you all!
I'm probably not going to be able to post anything today, my apologies. I'm having a medical issue currently (I'm fine) but I'm gonna have to postpone the actual start of this project until early January. Thanks for your understanding, and as I mentioned, if you have a preference in what order I should upload, you now have some more time to let me know. Thanks again!
Fluttery (2015)
This is probably the closest I've gotten to straight up new age music, one of a few attempts at making a lighter, more pastoral atmosphere, right down to the bird chirps. I'm sure those were from some sample library or possibly from freesound dot org. I don't know for certain, I only have a vague recollection of recording this. Anyway, I do hope you all enjoy, and I will be posting a lot more in the weeks to come.
Twistening (2013)
This is a bit of a psychedelic one, I like those glossy synths bubbling and morphing throughout. That sound is from a Korg Wavestation I was borrowing from a friend of my dad. I think I made good use of it.
Treetop Gaze (2015)
Here's a little piece of foresty ambient with tribal drums. I think those are from some sample library, while the sound effects and synth leads are my trusty Moog. I forget what the main choir sound that runs throughout the track comes from. I think this is one of my personal favorites.
Infernal Maw (2015)
This one shows my darker side. Surprisingly not a lot of particularly synthy tones here, but it does have a cello drone from my Roland D-50, drum samples, Moog sound effects, and, blasphemously enough, actual guitar that I totally knew how to play. I like this one a lot, one of the ones I didn't remember much about recording until I heard those chiming guitars. That took me right back to fiddling around with the guitar to get a usable sound out of the thing, haha.
Spiraling Islands (2014)
A pretty simple piece. I think this one works best as nice background ambience as there's not a lot that really happens. I still like it though. Hearing those jagged analog pulsing effects again just makes me miss my Moog.
Cosmic Lights (2013)
I like this one a lot. I wanted to go for a sci-fi, aliens descending from the heavens kind of vibe. I think this is mostly ROMpler strings, random samples and some drones from my trusty old Ultranova.
The Blackened Waste (2012)
I went to college for audio engineering, and took a number of electronic music related classes. Some of the stuff I made during my peak years of musical output was made for school projects, and this is the first one of those I'm uploading. I like this one, but I kinda wish it was longer, I think I could have done more with it. I really like the swelling analog strings at the end.
I am aware that the title could be... misinterpreted. I meant, like, a charred wasteland. The title has been preserved for historical accuracy. :laughing:
Neon Angels (2014)
One of the many tracks I have no recollection of recording and had completely forgotten about prior to opening up the archives. I know the main organ sound is from my Ultranova (that patch was saved on there for years after this), and I'm pretty sure the other sound is a custom D-50 patch composed of layered guitar and electric piano samples. This is one of the tracks I've enjoyed the most in my recent trek through my musical vault, which is crazy considering I have no memory of creating it. I like how the chillness of the guitar/piano contrasts with the urgency of the organ chords.
A little self-promo, I hope no one minds. But I recently started streaming Pokemon on Twitch! I'm gonna try to do two streams a week for at least an hour.
Drop me a follow if that sounds up your alley (and pls help im having tech issues lol)
https://www.twitch.tv/lexidarling89 (https://www.twitch.tv/lexidarling89)
Analog Destruction (2013)
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... 24 minutes of synthesized fart noises.
Frost Breath (2012)
This was another school project, though I can't recall what the assignment actually was. All the stuff I did for that particular class (an electronic music focused class) was made with virtual instruments and samples rather than my own synths. That wasn't mandated by the school or anything, it's just that since project deadlines were a thing, I wanted to be able to use my laptop to work on these projects on the go without needing to be tethered to my hardware synths. I'm pretty sure the plucky string sounds in this track are some sort of dulcimer sound from a sample library.
Warszawa [Cover] (2011)
This is the first cover of an existing composition that I'm uploading; my take on a classic David Bowie ambient instrumental. I recorded this mostly live, the only overdubs you hear are the choir part and the proggy Moog solo at the end. That wasn't in the original track, and I'm not sure I would have put it in had I done this cover nowadays, but I wanted to add my own little twist. The photo in the video was taken by yours truly in the fall of 1999, it's the lamppost and surrounding trees in the front yard of the house I grew up in.
Flattened Brains (2014)
This is one of a few completely improvised one-take jams I've done; most of those are more like sound explorations, but this one is one of the most "musical". I prepared each of the synth sounds (the percussive sequence is a sampled loop) and I played keys and triggered sound effects live. Multitasking with a bunch of synths is hard, which is where there aren't too many more tracks like this one. I like this one quite a bit timbrally, but it could do with a bit more variation. C'est la vie.
Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Jan 24, 2024, 05:00 AMA little self-promo, I hope no one minds. But I recently started streaming Pokemon on Twitch! I'm gonna try to do two streams a week for at least an hour.
Drop me a follow if that sounds up your alley (and pls help im having tech issues lol)
https://www.twitch.tv/lexidarling89 (https://www.twitch.tv/lexidarling89)
I'm following what time of day do you usually stream?
Quote from: DJChameleon on Jan 30, 2024, 01:24 PMI'm following what time of day do you usually stream?
Thank you! So far it's been a bit random, based on what other stuff we have going on. I've been posting each week's schedule on Twitter (I go by LexiDarling89 on there), here's the current week.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GE3d0DDX0AAI6WN?format=jpg&name=medium)
okay nice, I'll follow you on twitter as well.
You've really thought this out. I feel like creating a streaming schedule takes awhile for new streamers to cement and get the hang of.
I might start up my Twitch channel in the middle of February or possibly beginning of March.
Quote from: DJChameleon on Jan 30, 2024, 03:57 PMokay nice, I'll follow you on twitter as well.
You've really thought this out. I feel like creating a streaming schedule takes awhile for new streamers to cement and get the hang of.
I might start up my Twitch channel in the middle of February or possibly beginning of March.
Thanks for the support!
Yeah, I want to go hard on the streaming this year. I'm already at 30 followers out of the 50 I need to get monetization, so I figure if I can really lean into it I'll be able to contribute more to our household income an a way other than the soul-suckery of my part-time retail job.
The schedule probably won't vary too much, I think it's a good groove to do daytime streams twice a week on weekdays while Aaron is at work and I have the house to myself, and then evening streams on the weekends when I've had the whole day to be with him.
Which weekdays I stream on will probably be the biggest variance, I work 1-2 shifts a week at my job and there's always errands, grocery shopping, unexpected household maintenance and any other projects that I need to set aside time for.
Looking forward to being Twitch buddies!
Glimmer (2009)
Here's a really old one. When I recorded this I didn't even have an audio interface, I just plugged my synths into a speaker and put the mic up to it, haha. Thankfully the magic of post-processing cleaned this one up, all the recordings I did that way sounded way worse as raw audio. This track is a simple keyboard improvisation on my Microkorg, the first synth I ever bought. I think it has a nice little sound, big and atmospheric with a bit of grit.
Also changed my channel name. I don't mind having my government name out there but I want to keep my branding consistent across the net.
Got a two-fer here. I uploaded the first and then threw in the second as a bonus bit of relief, haha.
Locusts (2013)
This is more of an experimental improvisation, I believe it's all one take but I might have layered on one of the different sounds. I know at least some of this is Moog, I had just gotten that synth when I recorded this track. Still not the harshest noise out there, I couldn't be Merzbow if I tried lol.
Solar Drippings (2012)
This was the first project I worked on for my of my electronic music classes during my 2012 semester. I don't think it was the one I turned in, but it was made with that intention. It has a bit of a religious vibe I think, though that's probably just because of the organ. The acoustic guitar in this track is from a sample library, and I used a pretty crafty MIDI plugin that generated realistic strums.
I suppose I haven't said this on here, so here's an update.
Due to moving, taking care of my mother and basically revamping my entire living situation, I have had to pause all streaming plans for the time being. I will update again when I am able to return to streaming.
I do plan to start some more YouTube stuff soon; I'm gonna be doing short form homemaking vlogs and adjacent variety content. More music will continue being drip fed onto my channel as well.
Thank you for understanding. <3
- Alexandria
Skitter (2008)
Here's one of my early experiments with Fruity Loops. I think I was trying to make some kind of frantic IDM inspired piece with this one. I think parts of it are really cool, though the stop-start arrangement kind of messes with me, haha.
Since I guess this will be my place for my miscellaneous creative projects, I did a fun little exercise the other day, inspired by an offhand comment a friend of mine made a couple months ago. She said it would be funny if I made "housewife business cards" to hand out to people. I know she meant it as a joke, but I actually really liked the idea, so I made it.
(https://i.ibb.co/p4S8zZs/22.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/7byTh9T/cmdscmks.png)
I will also note, in case anyone is concerned, that as of right now I am fine with my real name being out there in this context. Thank you.
I have a big announcement: I'm going to be returning to streaming! I'll be streaming at least twice a week starting first week of April. Stay tuned for more info and my schedule.
https://www.twitch.tv/lexidarling89 (https://www.twitch.tv/lexidarling89)
I've been finally making some real progress on the album I described in this post.
Quoteit's going to be electronic music themed as a "day in Lexi's life" kind of thing, with a lot of sound effects, percussion and various other sounds being actual samples of me going about my day in my house. Some sounds I've got already include vacuuming, broom sweeps, rubber glove snaps, boiling water bubbles, stacking dishes, that kinda stuff.
I've been able to set aside some time to knuckle down and compose, so it should definitely be finished by the end of the year, I'm sure of it. But in addition to the music I've also come up with an album cover, so I'd like to share that with you all.
(https://i.ibb.co/FXRzGp4/lexi1971.jpg)
I wanted to go for something that pops out, but also has the vibe of a vintage 1960s/70s obscure record, a curio you might find tucked in the back of a small town record store with shag carpets and the smell of burning incense. I'm proud of how it came out.