I have created some more sound pieces, experimenting more with rhythm and arrangement to construct a more final, deliberate track – I am not 100% sure if I will incorporate the poem into an actual song, or if I will keep the soundscape as an ambient backdrop, but I thought I would at least experiment with some of these ideas to see the potential of what the different options could sound like. I intend to record the poem so far and integrate it within these experiments to give me an even better idea of what sonic textures/compositions can enhance the poem’s meaning and impact.

I began this process by using one of the initial Neutron experiments I recorded, where I wanted it to sound like the machine making the sounds was trying to communicate – I wanted sounds that resembled paranoia, screaming, and whispering in an attempt to make it seem as though the synthesiser itself was a cybernetic entity. To enhance this effect, I ran the recording through some heavy processing, consisting of some light distortion to add some harmonics to the overall sound, a delay plugin with the left and right channel delay times being automated by random square wave LFO’s, and an AutoPan with the rate being modulated by a random sine wave LFO with a jitter. The combination of delay and LFO’s created a lot of contrasting movement – the square LFO’s provided a stuttering effect with sudden switches in timbre and loose rhythm added by the delay, and the jittering sine LFO shifting the rate of the panning contributed some FM synthesis which enhanced the frequency detail in the movement of the sound.

I also wanted to make a soundscape that felt wider and more ominous in terms of its texture and the way it fills up the stereo field. I basically intended to place the processed neutron experiment within a space that could provide an underlying ambience for the sounds to move through. Using the soft synth PhasePlant, I began with white noise and a saw wave, and used three random square LFO’s at varying rates to control the attack, release, decay and sustain of both the noise and saw wave. This created a very stuttered sound, but to add more atmosphere and timbral shifts I ran both waves through a convolution reverb, which added a metallic quality to the sounds. I then used delay to accentuate this metallic effect because I liked how it sounded like what I would imagine the soul of a machine to sound like, if they were to have a soul. Finally I used the Max for Live plugin called ‘Spectral Harmonics’ to widen the sound and fill in the dead space within the stereo field, which really brought the sound to life by adding lots of subtle movement and pitch shifting, as I also used an LFO to modulate the delay times and feedback. I really feel that the final outcome has an ethereal and expansive sound with this chromatic quality that creates an industrial, almost brutalist undertone.

Both of these sound experiments in isolation sound very mechanical and I feel that integrating recorded spoken word over them and processing the vocals could work really well to add more impact to what is being said. Moving forward I will try this out. For the moment, I opened up the options for myself by combining the two experiments together and using them as the foundation for an experimental drum n’ bass track. I think that transferring a lot of my ideas – especially given the research I have been doing – into an arranged piece of music often helps me to understand the concepts from a different, more abstract perspective. So even if this song I have made is just an experiment, it gives me an idea of the general atmosphere that I would like to expand on when I come to make the album in my future portfolio project.

The track I have made is pretty much just some drum breaks chopped and arranged into a new drum pattern, with this pattern being overlaid on the ambience I had already created. I began to experiment with some bass sounds using FM synthesis, which is a technique that I feel lends itself well to mechanical/robotic sounds, and I feel works well in the context of more industrial sounding drum n’ bass.

This session has proved to be very productive and I now have a clearer idea of the atmosphere I want to support the spoken word. At the same time, I am also building a strong sound palette that could be used as sample material for when I come to start making the album. Furthermore, the drum n’ bass track is a good insight into how the concepts I have been looking into can be translated into song form, and this provides an excellent basis for me to develop from as I move through this prototype project and eventually the final portfolio projects.