So Logical

Tracks

  1. Zygma
  2. The Myst
  3. Feel Free
  4. Helium
  5. This Is Real
  6. Play
  7. Beautiful Sea
  8. The End Of Time

Listen

Information

Christina and I got married in 2000 and Anya was born in 2002 & Kyan in 2004. Given that we didn’t go out a lot, I had time to devote to making music. By then, I had purchased a PC at home and had discovered Emagic Logic. In fact, my dad bought Logic Audio Platinum 4.7 for me in Switzerland with which I discovered the magical world of software instruments and effects. I was quite amazed by rgc:audio Triangle (easy to program great bass sounds), Green Oak Software Crystal (complex textures and arpeggios), mda piano and Daichi Synth1 (modeled on the Clavia Nord Lead 2 apparently). All these software instruments were free and sounded fantastic. On some tracks, I used a few samples.

The tracks

Zygma: Tempo: 120 bpm. Technical: Apart from a sampled muted guitar used during the chorus, this track has been made using only soft synths (the free Synth1 and Crystal and demo versions of FM7 and Pro53). Tape delay, reverb and EQ effects are used.

The myst: Tempo: 110 bpm. Technical: Evolving pad and bassline provided by the free Triangle II soft synth. All others sounds comes from Logic’s EXS24 sampler. The guitar, which is a sampled clean Fender Telecaster, is dynamically panned throughout the track. Effets used are tape delay and reverb.

Feel free: Tempo: 110bpm. Technical: I’ve obtained the sampled sitar from my brother, Ashvin. The piano and the drums also are sampled. The bassline is made with Triangle II. The other sounds (the atmospheric background) is made using the rather magnificent Crystal. As usual, I’ve used reverb and tape delay. And this time, I’ve also used a stereo delay on the piano sound.

Helium: Tempo: 120bpm. Technical: This was the first track I composed using Logic Audio. The drum samples come from Future Music #115. The bass and guitar are also samples and come from the default sound set of Logic’s EXS24. The only effect used is a stereo delay on the guitar.

This is real: Tempo: 110bpm. Technical: Bass and melody courtesy of Triangle II. The piano, pad and the drums are samples from Logic’s EXS24. As effect, a reverb is used. Do you hear the bitcrusher and the compressor on the drums?

Play: Tempo: 94.5bpm. Technical: This track is rather intricate. The main melody is an arpeggiated sampled kalimba using Logic’s built-in arpeggiator and EXS24. The tabla (again thanks to my brother Ashvin), the guitar and the pad are also EXS24 samples. The bass comes once more from Triangle II whereas Crystal provides the ping-pong background sound. The effets used are classically a tape delay and a reverb.

Beautiful sea: Tempo: 75bpm. Technical: Composed just after Helium, this track uses a drum loop obtained from Future Music. The flute, the guitar, the bass and the strings are all samples from Logic’s EXS24. I’ve only used a stereo delay as effect.

The end of time: Tempo: 120bpm. Technical: I wanted to do a dub track without really knowing was dub is  The drums come from Future Music #115. The piano is the diminutive but nice sounding (and free) mdaPiano which I’ve used only once. All other sounds are samples from Logic’s EXS24. I’ve only used a stereo delay as effect.

Technical details

Composed and recorded using emagic Logic Platinum 4.7 then 5.5.1, Logic EXS24 Sampler, ES2 Analog Synth, rgc:audio Triangle, Green Oak Software Crystal, mda piano, Daichi Synth1, some samples (probably from Future Music magazine cover disks I had purchased over the years) and my Kawai K4 as a controller. My audio/MIDI interface was the Terratec DMX 6FIRE 24/96.

Mixed using Logic Fat EQ, Logic Low Cut, Logic Compressor, Logic Gain, Logic Tape Delay, Logic Stereo Delay, Logic GoldVerb and Logic Bitcrusher. As I had crap speakers at that time, the whole album was mixed on a pair of AKG K141 Studio headphones. Bob Katz’s book, Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science, was a fantastic source of inspiration. I spent days on the mixing and mastering to get the album to sound pristine.

Mastered using PSP Vintage Warmer, Waves WLM Plus and iZotope Ozone.

© 2004 by Avinash Meetoo. All Rights Reserved.