Mt Indigo

Elektronauts Our Music
#1

Okay, finally finished up a long term project. Lots of blood sweat and tears in this one.

I packaged this project in a sort of “narrative wrapper” based on 70’s occult films, sci-fi thrillers, governmental conspiracies, shadowy research institutions, etc. Maybe too nerdy for some, but I had fun with it.

If pressed to describe the sound, I would say - if Boards of Canada moved to the tropics and spent a lot of time listening to Dub Techno. Dub Techno chord stabs, daydream melodies, punchy basslines, solid crunchy beats.

10 songs. They are kind of long (~5:00-8:00) but have some breaks and variations and diversions to keep the pace moving.

Mt Indigo - Nightswimming

main website:
http://mtindigo.com/

soundcloud:

video montage of song clips (70’s/space/sci-fi/conspiracy/occult):

bandcamp (pay what you like):

Also available on iTunes, Amazon, Google, etc. for those who prefer those services.

Gear used: Lots of Ableton + Push, Elektron A4, TR-8, MS20, Juno 106, NL2x, ESQ-1, Sherman filters (plus a few other things I can’t remember right now or have since sold).

If you enjoy this project and need a composer/sound designer/collaborator for a future project, please contact me through my website above. Thanks!

1 Like
#2

Apologies for the bump. Had some technical difficulties with the release first time around. Now the project is totally finished and ready to go. Hope you enjoy!

#3

Really surprised nobody has commented on this yet !

I really enjoyed listening to this. Love the sci-fi style. I’m a big fan of thematic tunes. I just received my A4 the other day and can’t put it down. I’ve been making lush pads like crazy and writing pattern after pattern of what sounds like the theme to X-files or something LOL! Always loved Mark Snow and wondered what synths he used.

Boards of Canada influence is definitely present, but I don’t think it sounds like them.

I do notice an overtone of lofiness or retro recording sound. How did you achieve this ?

#4

Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Encouraging to get some feedback. Greatly appreciated.

Yes, the A4 is instant sci-fi for me as well. Hard not to make something sound futuristic with it. A lot of the melody parts on my record are A4 but I had to try to make them sound more retro.

I picture Mark Snow using a bunch of digital 90’s gear, the stuff I would have killed to own at the time. Samplers and workstations and incense and a really nice rug to tie the room together.

Good to hear BOC influence is not too overwhelming. I worry I am too obsessed with Boards of Canada, hehe.

The lofi sound could possibly be attributed to my meager recording skills, but mainly I used lots of different layers of automated noise from the MS20, some Juno 106 noise, some tape hiss noise, a bit of vinyl crackle, a lot of different field recordings layered up. Most of the field recordings were ambient noises from travels. Beaches around the world, some forests, my backyard at night in Summer, etc.

By the way, I’ve recently made this album a “name your price” (or free) download on Bandcamp if anyone is interested. After getting absolute zero response from labels, blogs, etc. I would simply like a handful of people to listen and maybe enjoy it. A bit of feedback from these listeners would make it all worthwhile. Cheers. :slight_smile:

#5

Sigh … alas, most record labels are stuck in a rut of pop, bad rap, and EDM right now. My ears are literally offended by what I hear on the radio. Your stuff IMO is more creative, more pleasant and intriguing to listen to than what a lot of these record labels are putting out.

I respect your approach. Put your music out there and people will find it. I prefer scanning through these forums and listening these people’s creations rather than my itunes albums or internet radio LOL Perhaps I’m bored with the music that’s produced “for mass audience” and prefer the hand-tooled uniqueness of something that’s made by and for the writers of songs.

Keep on keepin on brother!

peace
-ooo

#6

Well, the only radio I manage to listen to is the local college station. I am out of the loop on mainstream. What makes my recent experience particularly depressing is, I sure as hell didn’t try any larger labels, just smaller boutique electronic labels. No response. Not edgy enough maybe? I guess this type of rejection can be a good thing. Like a stern talent show judge. Snaps you out of daydream mode real quick. :joy:

Thanks for the kind words. They are truly appreciated. I agree, I think there is a nice little circle of music for musicians by musicians. Some of the best music I have in my collection is free from old netlabels, personal websites, forums, etc.

Mine was definitely hand-made, that’s for sure. Painstaking details probably no one else will ever notice/care about, except me. I’m talking three years in the studio, bearded Brian Wilson growing a pot-belly levels of obsession, hehe. Silly really when I look back now. I think my next project will be more of a weekend jam/record/release type of thing. Pure fun, no goals.

Cheers, ooo! Have a good one.

Bwax

#7

Wanted to say I quite enjoyed these as well. For all I know I was the only person who caught them when you posted originally, and I dug the oldschool vibes. Your first-version description of their origins was entertaining :wink:

1 Like
#8

Aahhhh! Good! I’m glad someone enjoyed that. I went for a full-on geeky approach to the “marketing”. Hmmm, might be why no blogs were interested though - too nerdy. I like that type of thing though. I’ll try and dig it up and post it below.

Found it.

Greetings -------,

As a longtime reader of your blog, I felt you might have some interest in what I have found.

This message comes to you today from The Mt Indigo Institute, Vancouver Campus. The work we do here at the Institute is controversial, to say the least, and interwoven with what can only be regarded as some of the more “mysterious” events of the last sixty-odd years. The Institute has a lower profile these days, and funding is not what it used to be, but it is still active, undertaking various projects around the globe. Chances are, you have encountered our work in some shape or form and not even known it.

I work in our archival department, transferring our vast media collections onto more modern and stable storage platforms. I recently stumbled upon a long abandoned auditory induction program. It is a collection of 10 songs designed to subconsciously maximize the inductees’ alpha brain waves into patterns conducive to advanced absorption of information. Steady and relaxing drum patterns, yet with an undercurrent of dark energy, beneath hazy synthesized chords and melodies, these songs sound like they could have been released today.

Being somewhat of an electronic music fan myself, every now and then I come across something that I feel might be interesting to others, beyond my forgotten little department deep in the basement. This is one such case.

There appear to be chunks of instruction missing, so I’m not entirely certain of the full extent of their purpose. But, it seems these songs were used mainly as recooperative aids during the Institute’s rigorous inductee training process, mostly in the downtime between blocks of tests. In any effect, I assume they are mostly harmless, and any altered neural functions should only be temporary.

My supervisor has instructed me to upload these songs to the Archive Department’s website in hopes that, given sufficient interest from the public, we might supplement our meager departmental budget.

Perhaps you would be interested in taking a listen for yourself? Also, if you feel this work is worth sharing with your readers, any member of the general public can preview the files here:

http://www.mtindigo.com

Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoy your listening experience.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

Media Archives Dept.
The Mt Indigo Institute
Vancouver Campus

1 Like
#9

Yeah, in hindsight, the above strategy was a really ineffectual and nerdy approach to “marketing” a release.

#10

So, it’s 2019 and I have some new songs. I found this old thread and thought I would group all my music here so I don’t clutter up the forum.

Summer-time travel music - a dub techno electronica island-themed series I like to call… Oceanica.

Plenty of tape hiss, waves, dub chords, thudding bass-lines, delays, echos, reverb, etc. A few songs are about 80% Rytm, especially “Shortwave Echo”, “Atmos”, and “Miami”.

This is Oceanica pt I…

Bandcamp:

Soundcloud:

2 Likes
#11

these are groovy and vibey. I can hear the rytm but not in like a typical “thats analog rytm” way. Can you give some insight into your production process ? Do you record to tape ? cassette or r2r ?

thx <3
Walter

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#12

Thanks, Walter! I don’t have the space or the patience for tape machines unfortunately. Sold the portastudio a good while back. I make templates in Ableton with a lot of channel strips, U-he Satin, etc. The noise comes from various things like field recordings, white noise from Juno 106 and MS20. I make racks and devices with these various noise samples layered up where I can dial things in to taste.

I really like Satin and Ableton’s Drum Buss effect on drums.

I start with chords and melodies and then add a bassline (usually a combo of DX-7 and 808 samples, but have recently bought Sublab) and drum parts. But some songs were composed in Rytm and some in Ableton. Mostly a mix of those. I’ve since sold the Rytm. :slightly_frowning_face:

I guess I try to emulate old samplers to a degree as well with Tal Sampler and bit crushing. Lots of Space Echo and 80’s reverb emulations too. I want things to feel old, warm, analog, etc. without keeping all that old gear around.