ridzmakessynthwave

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Different types of Hauntology in the arts.

In the present time today, there are different types of hauntology that exists in the field of arts. Modern day culture is obsessed with bringing back retro elements to their craft, Les Roberts mentioned at a meta-level of analysis, discussions of musical hauntology, therefore, like those of heritage, nostalgia or cultural memory, skate around the edges of a wider historiographical focus. (Robert) 

These retro elements stimulate and gives the brain a hit of dopamine (Burns) , that reminds someone of a much simpler time back when they were younger. Some of the more popular and mainstream culture are inspired by the idea of nostalgia such as graphics, music, fashion and more. 

Below are some of popular culture in the 21st century that was inspired by the idea of retro/nostalgia. 

Film or TV shows : 

Music : 

Graphic Arts : 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Work for thesis // Test 3

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Arcade Dreams // remake

Original song : https://open.spotify.com/track/66TVaQ0m6hRq5aD7bgJWcS?si=a0CreFHrQxmDItm0RHm5Hw

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Explorers // remake

Original song : https://open.spotify.com/track/7cTjx17qYJNZk1jALBr5lO?si=FD4J4R3fRnSFdW1hsfDk0g

[ridzmakessynthwave]

The Midnight - Kids (Prelude) // remake

Original song : https://open.spotify.com/track/3tWt0mUXhnP2x5dXv29EUo?si=5TCQmV7ES4-gNM2aPIyyIw

Personal reflection : I believe that I tried my best to sound as close to the original as possible. I tried to get the sonic qualities and the spatial settings of my tracks as close to the originals. Now, I more or less understand how they achieve their sounds for this song and how they arrange the music for the song. I feel that there were more instruments layered in the original track compared to mind because The Midnight’s track sounds a little fuller than the one I had remade. 

I used Cherry Audio’s DCO-106 and MG-1 Plus to craft the sound of the main synth line. Polyphonic Brass or Sawtooth waveforms is one of the most common synth sound that is being used in the 80s. It can be heard on most songs that was produced in the 80s. Such as Jump by Van Halen, Thriller by Michael Jackson, Together In Electric Dreams by Human League, Drive by The Cars and more. 

In the track Kids, the main synth line is made up of layers of sawtooth waveforms, chorus to give the synth a cleaner sound and a slight high cut filter to remove unwanted or piercing high ends of the frequencies. 

For the bass section for Kids (remake), I used the DCO-106 to achieve the sounds I need. Listening to the original recording, there are two different bass sounds that is being used. One is a 16th note bass and another is a sub bass frequency. The sub bass give the grounding layer for the track and the 16th note bass gives the driving factor of the music. 16th note bass lines can be heard is lots of music from the 80s that uses synths. Songs such as Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship and Jump by Van Halen.

I chose to use a Low Brass as my 16th note bass because in the original track, the bass has a brass or sawtooth quality but has been filtered so sonic quality of the bass is not as strong or upfront. I used a template by Cherry audio and then I edit the sound of the brass to suit the music and to get it as close to the original. 

For the sub bass, I chose to use the Simply Fat template as it is a Sine wave that has been filtered to give that low bass frequency. In my opinion, sub bass is not meant to be heard but more to fill up the spaces of the lower end frequencies in the song and felt

For this song, I used Valhalla Vintage Verb as an FX send with the preset called EMT Huge Plate. EMT reverbs was innovated and used in the late 1970s and it has been one of the staple reverbs used in the 80s. I used it as an FX send because the channel serves as an aux sends for the recorded instruments. I can decide individually which instruments I want to have more reverb and which has less reverb. 

I used the SSL Channel Strip (this is a plugin made by SSL and it is based on the SSL 4000 E-series) on the master fader because the SSL channel strip adds a little colour to the sound and it is easy to eq and do a light compression on the whole track together to glue everything in place, sonically. SSL preamps or boards are often used in recording studios in the 80s. SSL 4000 E-series is the  secret weapon to most of the popular songs of the 80s. (Schmidt) 

This is a tape saturation plugin made by Aberrant DSP called Sketch Cassette 2. I used this plugin as an aux bus and routed all of the instruments to add a saturation to them. Adding saturation helps with gelling the tracks together and it adds a little warmth to the tracks. In the 80s, tape saturation was made by recording on to physical tape and bouncing it to another track to make space for other instruments. Analog tape is a highly sought after recording tone as it is difficult to achieve with modern technology as modern technology records sound signals with pristine quality. Nowadays producers use plugins to recreate that “warmth” with plugins to capture that essence of tape saturation.

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Observation of the The Midnight and other Synthwave artists songs.

This is an observation of what I got when I was listening to The Midnight and other artists in Synthwave had in common. This is one of the aspects and considerations I can look at when I am composing my own synthwave music.

1)  All of the music mentioned in this logbook has a time signature of 4/4. This gives the song a common time and it is easier for listeners to understand the song. It’s also a common time signature back in the 80s. “Almost all modern music, whether it’s hip hop, house, pop, country, rock, funk, techno, drum-and-bass, or metal is in 4/4 time. It’s so common that it is even called “common time”! (betamonkey.com)

2) The tempo varies from one song to another but the tempo that I roughly figured out was between 110bpm - 140 bpm across the synthwave and The Midnight music catalogue. 

3) Majority of Synthwave song and The Midnight have in common is the 16th note bass that is present in the song. It is usually accompanied by a sub bass to provide that low end that the 16th note is unable to fully provide. 

4) Layered synths and subtle synths to increase the mass of the synths in the music track. The Sawtooth and sine waves are the most common synth waves that is being used to craft the synth sounds for the tracks. Anything from main synth lines to lead lines and to bass lines. 

5) Gated reverb and massive snare sounds are one of the most common similarities that The Midnight and Synthwave have. Most common tom sounds used in the tracks are the Simmons Drums Toms. 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Personal reflection

Personal reflection of Synthwave test 1. 

I feel that this track is shows elements of synthwave and hauntology, from they synth used and vinyl crackle to emulate the dirty recorded tracks. I think that this track can be better when it comes to production and recording. Everything was recording and mixed in the box (Laptop). Maybe I could try to reroute everything out from my laptop and rerecord it back into my laptop to through a mixer or an amp to simulate how music in the 80s were recorded. This technique could change the character of the synth and track because I am going through an analog style process instead of digitally recorded and altered. 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Synthwave song test 1. The experimentation of synthwave. 

This is the 1st test of experimenting on a synthwave composition. These are the main instruments and production techniques that I used to achieve the sounds that I am looking for.

1) I used Arturia’s Analog Lab V with the Prophet 5 and use it for the song’s main chordal synth and main bass line. I chose this sound because most of the synthwave tracks mentioned has this element of “synthetic brass” or soft saw waveform which becomes the main synth and backbone of the song. 

2) I used the Cherry Audio’s DCO-108, a Roland JUNO-106 emulation to give the song it’s movement with it’s arpeggiated synth melody. I chose this synth because besides the Prophet 5 synth, a Roland Juno-106 is one of the most famous synths to be used in the 80s. The Roland is a flexible synth to allow customisation of sounds when being played on. I chose to use this sound because I wanted to layer the brass synth with a sound that is much mellower to give the contrast, sonically. It’s much dreamier than the brass which is more forward in the mix. 

3) I used the  XLN RC-20 to saturate the whole track to give it a warmer sound signature using the distort section and to add vinyl crackles for it’s hauntological element. I chose to use this plugin is because this plugin is able to provide me with the sounds or textures i need to create retro sounds and effects. 

4) I used Arturia’s Chorus Jun-6 to widen the stereo field of the base synth and to add a depth of effect to the synth. In the 80s chorus is one of the most used effects besides reverb and delay. Chorus can be heard on a lot of tracks in the 80s, from guitar lines to chords to synths to sometimes vocals. 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Hauntology in Synthwave

Hauntology is a term coined by French philosopher, Jacques Derrida back in the early 1990s (Coverly 7). It is a term used for elements of the past being reintroduced in modern context. The word Hauntology is word play between two words, “Haunt” and “Ontology”. “Haunt” meaning ghostly presence and “Ontology” is the study of being, in this case the past elements are the being and its return to modern context is the “Haunt”. (Fisher, 44)

Modern arts critic such as Mark Fisher and Simon Reynolds used Hauntology to describe the return of past elements into modern context of arts. They describe it as nostalgia for a lost future. (Fisher)

In synthwave Hauntology plays a part in the sonic design or landscape as they give the sense of nostalgia of the 80s in a more modern context. Elements such as tape saturation, tape machine sounds, the hissing of the tape, vinyl crackles, interviews in the 80s. are all hauntological element that adds a sense of nostalgia to a piece of music. In other words for hauntology is retro. (Roberts)

In my opinion, Hauntology is stronger when two sensory elements interact with one another. Such as Visual aid and Auditory aid. Hauntology is stronger when there are visuals accompanying the music or soundscape to help strengthen the “nostalgic” feeling. Nostalgic feelings are separated into two types of nostalgic feeling, restorative and reflective nostalgia. Restorative is a negative effect where it triggers a sense of loneliness and sadness whereas reflective nostalgia brings happiness to an individual. 

Examples of Hauntology being used in music can be found on 

1) Youth by The Midnight. In the song Youth, The Midnight uses interviews from the 80s talking about computers and computers are seen as an extension of oneself in that era. 

2) Wave by The Midnight. In this song, the band uses interviews from the 80s about the rapid increase of electronic games that is taking the electronic by storm. 

3) Saturday Mornings (Interlude) by The Midnight. In this interlude, there are a series of US commercials in the 80s that were popular back then. Such as, Transformers, Nerd cereals, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Kool Aid and more. 

4) In the song Kids by The Midnight, an audible hiss can be heard during the intro caused by recording on analog tape or synthetic tape saturation plugin.  

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Synthesizers

Synthesizers dominate the music industry back in the 80s. Almost every song on the radio and charts has synthesizers played on it (Synths That Bring Back the ’80s in All Its Glory) . Synthesizers plays an important part of Synthwave as synths gives the genre it’s flavour of the 80s. 

Nowadays synths can be found in two different forms. Hardware and software. Synth are popular and widely used in the 80s due to nature of its sound. Synths sounds are non-conventional compared to conventional instrument such as drums, piano, guitar, etc. Synths represents the future for music back in the 80s as synths could replicate or copy-like sounds made  by conventional instruments. 

Here are some examples of iconic synths used back in the 80s and the software versions in modern days music production. 

HARDWARE / ANALOG SYNTHESIZERS

1) Yamaha DX7

2) Roland JUNO-60 & JUNO-106

3) Prophet 5

4) Oberheim OB8

5) ARP Odyssey 

6) Roland Jupiter-8

7) Moog Minimoog

SOFTWARE / DIGITAL SYNTHESIZERS

1) Roland JUNO-106 by Roland (Roland JUNO-106)

2) DCO-106 by Cherry Audio (Roland JUNO-106)

4) JU-8V by Arturia (Roland JUPITER-8)

5) DX7 by Arturia (Yamaha DX7)

6) OB-XD by Disco DSP (Oberheim OB-X)

7) Prophet 5 by Arturia (Prophet 5)

8) CA2600 by Cherry Audio (ARP 2600)

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : The Midnight

Album title : Kids

Song list : 

1) Youth 

Tempo : 

Key Signature : D Maj / B min

Time Signature : 4/4

2) Wave

Tempo : 114 Bpm

Key Signature : B Maj / Gb min

Time Signature : 4/4

3) Kids (Prelude)

Tempo : 140 Bpm

Key Signature : F Maj / D min

Time Signature : 4/4

4) Lost Boy

Tempo : 136 Bpm

Key Signature : F# Maj / Eb min

Time Signature : 4/4

5) Saturday Mornings (Interlude)

Tempo : Nil

Key Signature : Nil

Time Signature : Nil

6) Explorers

Tempo : 127 Bpm

Key Signature : G Maj / E min

Time Signature : 4/4

7) America 2

Tempo : 128 Bpm

Key Signature : Bb Maj / G min

Time Signature : 4/4

8) Arcade Dreams

Tempo : 120 Bpm

Key Signature : C Maj / A min

Time Signature : 4/4

9) Kids (Reprise)

Tempo : 140 Bpm

Key Signature : F maj / D min

Time Signature : 4/4

Production techniques found in the album : 

1) Hauntology elements / Retro elements found in the 80s. (interviews about computers in that era, 80s US commercials, tape hissing sounds and arcade sounds)

2) Tape saturation (RC-20)

3) Spatial effects (Valhalla Vintage Verb, Vahalla Delay and Echoboy) 

4) Layered foreground and background synths (U-He Diva, ANA 2 Synthesizer)

5) Arpeggiated melodic synths and bass notes

6) Lead synth lines 

7) Gated reverb drums

8) Side chaining effect on the kick drum and bass

9) Instrument risers

10) Layered vocals

11) Electric guitars  

Album link : https://open.spotify.com/album/49ItLbfOzgYIVOeIdxxrnn?si=yIJvz1vhS1qy69gNf5-z7g

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : FM-84

Song title : Bend & Break

Song structure : Intro synth - 808 clap - verse 1 & verse 2 - pre chorus - chorus - verse 3 - pre chorus - chorus - music break - guitar solo  - last chorus - vocal outro 

Production techniques used : 

1) Foreground and background synth

2) Gated reverb drums

3) Layered vocals

4) Spatial effects (reverb and delay)

5) Arpeggiated melodic lines

6) Frequency filter

7) Guitar solo

Tempo : 92 Bpm

Key Signature : Db Maj / Bb min

Time Signature : 4/4

Song link : https://open.spotify.com/track/4IoCXKpR6xIZWAIU1o4Utp?si=IAuYKNGLSbeNiN4iCCEjTg

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : L’Avenue

Song title : City Lights

Song structure : Filtered intro - main synth line - Bass - percussions - main groove/rhythm to the song - main synth line - instrument drops out - synthesizer solo - main groove/rhythm - outro

Production techniques used : 

1) Frequency filters 

2) Layered synths 

3) Arpeggiated bass line and melodic synth

4) spatial effects (Reverb, delay and shimmer) 

5) Gated reverb on drums (Simmons drums)

6) Panning

7) Layered main synth theme

8) Instrument risers

Tempo : 130 Bpm

Key Signature : G Maj / E min

Time Signature : 4/4

Song link : https://open.spotify.com/track/3obveLCra8Atn1czlVIBsC?si=K3meDAelQamHU4OmenpHUg

Reflection : This instrumental song checks all the box that makes this song synthwave and capturing the feel of the 80s synth music. The intro of this song is being made by arpeggiating a synth chord which sequentially plays the notes in an ascending or descending order or at random. The percussion and drums and arpeggiated bass lines are really tight and it really keeps the track well grounded amongst all the other soundscapes that the band used for this track. The synth solo that is present in this track, elevates the track to greater heights with its simple yet sophisticated melodies. 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : September 87

Song title : Bad Dream Baby

Song structure : Intro - 1st verse - music refrain - 2nd verse - chorus - 3rd verse - chorus - guitar solo - modulated chorus - outro

Production techniques used : 

1) Foreground and background synth

2) Arpeggiated melodic synth and bass line

3) Layered vocals 

4) Side chain effects on the bass and kick drums

5) Instrument risers

6) Gated drums 

7) Electric guitars with chorus effects (rhythm and lead) 

8) Tape saturation

9) Saxophone 

10) Spatial effects (reverb and delays)

Tempo : 140 Bpm

Key Signature : Bb Maj / G min

Time Signature : 4/4

Song link : https://open.spotify.com/track/5GQyYSGz8bymILpekzEy7L?si=6tXpHQS9SsigZCJLm5pnxQ

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : Dream Fiend Ft September 87

Song title : Lightyears

Song structure : Intro + guitar - 1st verse - pre chorus X 2 - chorus - 2nd verse - pre chorus X2 - chorus - guitar and saxophone solo 1 - stripped pre chorus - guitar and saxophone solo 2 - chorus - outro

Production techniques used : 

1) layered Foreground and background synth used

2) Frequency filters

3) Guitars (rhythm and solo)

4) Gated drums 

5) Arpeggiated melodic synth and bass line

6) Layered vocals

7) embellishments from different sonic frequencies

8) Saxophone (solo)

9) instrument risers

10) side chaining effect on bass and kick drums

Tempo : 84 Bpm

Key Signature : Eb Maj / C min

Time Signature : 4/4

Song link : https://open.spotify.com/track/7MdHPubKS1QWKVwDAZWzAP?si=_KUoE_1MRA2yFWGR0KxUzg

Reflection :  ‘Lightyears’ has a very nice 80s aesthetic to the music. It has a really strong arpeggiated bass line which keeps the song driving and energetic and paired with gated reverb on the drums is an instant 80s feel to the music. The trading of solos between the saxophone and electric guitar, the little details with the arpeggiated synth and strong synth sounds makes this song a very interesting and engaging synthwave music as there are lots of layers to discover in the music. 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : Michael Oakley

Song title : Crystal Ships

Song Structure : Intro - 1st verse - pre chorus -  chorus - music refrain - 2nd verse - pre chorus - chorus - guitar solo - last chorus

Production Techniques used : 

1) Musical filters

2) Vinyl crackles

3) Arpeggiated melodic synths

4) Foreground and background synths 

5) Acoustic guitar and electric guitar elements

6) Arpeggiated bass lines

7) Gated drums

8) layered vocals

9) Guitar solo

10) side chaining effect on the kick and bass

Tempo : 109 Bpm

Key Signature : Dd Maj / Bb min

Time Signature : 4/4

Song link : https://open.spotify.com/track/0ffvaU50LWz0tUP7UfsvXk?si=MUcrW9nhQTajWJSK4fhEKA

Reflection : I think that this song captures the essence of Synthwave with the steady drum pattern of 1 & 3 for the kick and 2 & 4 for the snare and the hi hats are crochet notes. The synth choices in this song are really well thought out and elements of the 80s are captured well by the synths. For example the replicated flute sound in ‘Crystal Ships’ can be heard from songs in the 80s and being played on the Yamaha DX7. The arpeggiated bass lines are essential to the 80s music and helps to drive the song forward even though the other instruments are laid back. 

[ridzmakessynthwave]

Music analysis : PRIZM

Song title : All Night

Song Structure :  Vocal rise intro - Verse 1 - Verse 2 - Pre Chorus - Chorus - Music refrain - Verse 3 - verse 4 - pre chorus - chorus - outro

Production techniques used : 

1) Layered vocals and vocal riser

2) Vocal adlibs and vocal effects

3) Use of foreground and background synth

4) layered synths

5) gated drums (to achieve larger than life sounding drums)

6) Arpeggiated melodic synth

7) Sub frequency bass

8) side chain effect on the bass and kick 

Tempo : 103 Bpm

Key Signature : A Maj / F# min

Time Signature : 4/4

Song link : https://open.spotify.com/track/2LpkqWPeXviNcZdWUMrmWz?si=pj0Cz8ovTXuCKlIRDsboDQ