In September I released the 11-track record “små spor” on Metronomicon Audio. It’s a collection of mostly ambient songs made with samplers and synths.
The release was an attempt at getting stuff out there inspired by the prompting of label boss Sissyfus, who asked me to go mix down some of my many synth noodlings.
I’d love it if you would give it a listen! And by all means let me know what you think, especially if there’s anything you think I could do better. I’m aware of the bare-bones nature of most of my tracks, so I’m trying to develop and flesh them out better.
Check the record out on Bandcamp or any other streaming site in the linktree below. It is also available as a “name your own price”-purchase if you wish to own it
Hey Tamiko, congrats on the release. I skipped through the first two tunes and I love the honesty and simplicity of it. Looking forward to checking out the rest
My thoughts went to 80s Japanese ambient recordings. Bare-bones / minimalism is often a strength…I wouldn’t change much. A tiny bit more in terms of minimal field recording / textural / background ambience maybe? But that’s a matter of taste. Nice release! I’ll venture out in the snow with it later
Thank you for having a listen and giving wonderful feedback!
Yes, textures are something I often realize I’m missing when I listen back to tracks.
Enjoy the snow, lucky
I’m by no means an ambient expert, so take with a grain of salt, but most music benefits from being a conversation of some sort. Sometimes that’s an explicit call/response or chorus/verse, but it can also just be the interplay of two voices where one builds as the other recedes.
These tracks are beautiful! But they feel a bit like monologues. I’m not sure how many voices ambient should have — I don’t think it’s a lot — but I suspect it would be better if it were more than one.
As an exercise what would happen if you just combined tracks 1 & 2? Start with 1, but then rather than cutting off, it diminishes as 2 is gently introduced and eventually becomes dominant. Then gently bring 1 back up again or move on. Really vibe with the interplay, you know? I feel like you could have a lot of fun with a crossfader!
Yes, this is a good point. And a challenge I suspect not only I struggle with.
I really appreciate your response. Taking “risks” as in simply exploring ideas further than a glorified loop is exactly what I feel I need to do. Sometimes I think I’m overjoyed that I’ve merely printed some sounds to a file, but that doesn’t mean they are frozen and can’t be listened to critically in order to end up with an even more interesting result.
Never lose this joy! It more than anything else is the heart of all we do.
But then, a few days/weeks/months later, come back to those files and ask yourself “is there maybe even more here than I originally thought?”
My goto hack for this is mixing old files together, but there’s a whole world of tricks for seeing the potential of a thing through new eyes. Oblique Strategies are worth investigating if you’re not already familiar.
Loved this in it’s entirety and simplicity. Based on the description of “noodlings” I was going to liken this to a warm bowl of noodles but nothing on here felt like typical noodling to me. I listened beginning to end and my attention was always held the right amount - listening passively when sequences and phrases drifted continuously, and listening more actively on textural changes, contrast came in or the motif changed. Every track feels effective and successful in itself without additional parts, but listening as a whole journey is where it really shined. The album sequencing, whether intentional or not, really worked for me. I also loved the light touch of percussion throughout. Also feels refreshingly NOT drenched in reverb.
I occasionally try to work on more minimal instrumental and ambient leaning stuff and always do too much to it. Really inspired by this. It’s great and you should be really proud.
