I’m really into cyberpunk and want to create music that evokes that whole genre/world. I’ve pretty much got my setup to the point where I think it’s capable of that.
2x mother 32’s, octatrack mk2, digitakt, VP-03, Tr-09 and a digitone is what I’m working with at the moment.
I’m at the point with them all where I’m comfortable with them barring the the octatrack (considered selling it at one point but decided to keep it and I’m glad I did) and the digitone. The octatrack I know will take time to learn and I’ve dived deep on the posts here which is helping.
I’m new to fm synthesis and I’m having trouble creating the sounds that I have in my head with it. I was wondering can anyone help out with tips on how to create classic cyberpunk sounds with the digitone? A lot of the presets sound really good and are very close to what I want to create but I want to do it myself. So far most of the time what I come up with sounds a bit to harsh or corny if that makes sense. Either overly industrial or vaporwavey.
Any feedback or links to vids would be helpful, thanks
What kind of thing do you mean by “classic cyberpunk sounds”?
Vangelis, video game soundtracks like Technobabylon, Ghost in the machine ost, even some of oneohtrix point never’s early stuff. Basically anything that gives of that tech futuristic melodic vibe. I know this is a bit abstract but the scene in Akira where their going after the clown gang and there’s a neon trail that follows the bikes when they hit high speed, I wana take a visual like that and make a sound for it. Tense but beautiful, stretched out and dangerous but very melodic. I’m sure the DN is capable of that but my fm skills are lacking
I love that album, my uncle played it for me when I was young it was the first time I heard the term cyberpunk
Forgive me for saying this without having heard your music yet, but I have the feeling that you are not lacking in any synth programming skills, but instead striving for something more in your use of melody and harmony in your compositions.
With your Digitone, are you trying to make lead sounds or pad sounds, or something else?
I love Dick’s writing i’ll check it out thanks for the look out. Man, Rucker’s Software is one on my favourite novel’s ever, not a lot of people talk about him anymore
On the programming side of things I’m pretty comfortable. Your right, melody is something I struggle with. I’m trying to get sounds and progressions that sound very visual and genuine but like I said, what I’m coming up with sounds corny at the moment. But I know the Elektron sequencer and it’s ways, I feel like if I could dial in the right sounds on the DN then I could create what I hear in my head
Fm is completely different than any synthesis I’ve had a go at, but from what I’ve heard when people do it well it’s amazing. I love that it can cover so much ground. Harshness, beauty, things that are hard to describe but visual basically anything you want it to be to an extent
We listened to Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk all the time while playing RPGs in the early/mid 90s. It still holds a special place in my heart.
Dude, I absolutely love his scene! Akira and Ghost in the shell awoke my interest for drawing and science fiction! Those futurist bikes have such a cool design…
I would suggest a brain storming. Write everything down that you associate to the „feeling“ and inner visuals when thinking of those „worlds“.
For example: What sounds would you hear when walking through a street in a Blade runner‘ish universe.
You might hear hovercrafts Lifting off, blowing dust from the street. A language that sounds exotic, maybe a mechanical arm, that serves you a drink of a unknown powerful hallucinogenic liquid, neon lights wander from your con of view over the countless faces in front of you.
Is it a metallic sounding, steril utopie, or a disturbing dark dystopia? Ask yourself such things, write down notes, and experiment a lot!
Haha the bikes look killer I don’t know why they aren’t the mainstream design now days, everyone would want one.
That’s how sound design usually starts for me, I cop a visual that stimulates me and then I try to bring it to life in sound. I like the way you described it, actually pretty inspiring.
I think my problem with FM at the moment is that beyond even not being able to dial it in properly yet I’ve got a preconceived notion of how it should sound already so I’m not letting my creativity work naturally. I’m staring at my DN now thinking ‘be cyberpunk’, but I don’t think that’s how it works
read up on music theory and chord progressions. use of tension and release, let your sounds breathe. the digitone is amazing for long decaying movement. trial and error is your friend. use existing songs you like as a template for your work. what works in the track ? how is it assembled ? gather the sounds first and then arrange them accordingly. it’s hard to break out of loop mode sometimes. let’s your ears rest often as fatigue can create doubt over time. less is more. try to focus on one or two boxes at a time and don’t clutter the track if it doesn’t need it
Thanks for the advice. At the moment I’m listening to Kenji Kawai’s work on the GITS ost particularly making of cyborg. That whole track zones me out even after years of first hearing it, I could try and pick it apart but man it almost seems like sacrilege
totally agree. sometimes a piece is too good to pick apart and desconstruct.
Haha man gota look out for the nephew right?
Try to look it like this: A „bad“ FM sound is maybe the perfect sound effects, for a cyber punk themed track! Ì‘m pretty bad in FM sounddesign, but i guess it’s like everything, the more you do it, the better you become. If you like to start with the melody first, just use a preset sounds as placeholders. Until you happy with the notes of your track. Then you can design the actual sounds from ground-up on the DN.
more literal?
or less literal?
Haha yeh true cheesy sounds in context can sound perfect sometimes
I’m not fluent in OT territory, but can u sample the DN and make granular tones in the OT?
I might be diverging, but could it be a granular synth sound you’re going for? If so, can your DT inflict some fast LFO on those FMtones to get where you want?
Before that album by Billy I had a Mirage and painstakingly made slow granular samples from Skinny Puppy records, then passed it through a phaser. Man, those were simpler times.