Does Ambient Grains 3 Deliver?

I have been using a little known piece of music software called Ambient Grains for the best part of a year now so thought that I should share the secret with the rest of the web. With the release of Ambient Grains version 3, Avi (the creator of the software), asked me for some feedback so I have penned a quick review.

The release of Ambient Grains 3 has opened up a new world of possibilities. It has been transformed from a quirky (but nonetheless very gratifying) ambient music background generator for Cyberteams' other software title 'the Sharm', into a valid musical tool in its' own right.
This has come about due to the refusal of Cyberteam (especially Avi Meler the creator) to rest on the product's laurels and instead, develop the idea at quite a blistering pace (I originally purchased version 1 in Sept 06 and in the 10 months since then, there has been 2 major upgrades and also a number of minor ones!).

The first of these upgrades added a loop function thereby allowing the output to be quickly added to a sampler - instant ambient instrument anyone?
So far so good but the major drawback (for musicians) still remained in that there was little control over how the outputted sound evolved. Not a problem if all you needed was an interesting background drone, but essential when combining the sound with other instruments and mixes.
This left the user with a sometimes infuriating trial and error approach that could take quite sometime to get the right piece.

The latest version of Ambient Grains (Version 3), happily goes some way to solving this problem with what is a major overhaul of the program. There are a number of changes but the ones of most interest to us are the introduction of layers and layer properties. Not only does this provide infinitely more sound creation possibilities, but perhaps more importantly, it allows you to control how and when the sound will change thereby making it much more expressive and useful in an overall mix. It still does take trial and error, but this is more experimentation now rather than the annoying task it once was. In fact, the main drawback now is that you will easily get sidetracked by adding just one more layer or trying the take with a different harmony interval! There are so many possibilities, and indeed, different ways of working with the program, that Ambient Grains is also useful as a sketch pad to quickly give you some fresh musical ideas.

Its' true strength lies in the variety of possible uses you can put Ambient Grains to. Whether You need to create huge evolving soundscapes for film or TV work, create a virtual instrument and map sounds over a sampler for use in commercial D.A.W's, have a scratch pad for mixes or new ideas, or, even a need for a simple background music generator for your hypnosis sessions!, Ambient Grains can deliver and all without a steep learning curve (or a degree in physics). Not bad eh?

Roll on version 4!!!
For more information on Ambient Grains you can visit the website here
or click on the picture.

Barry Young

Sounds Of Summer!

Music to your ears?

Well maybe! We'll see as I have included three of the more musical pieces from the play 'Wake Me When It's Summer'.
I have been able to include the files here courtesy of humyo.com - a free file hosting service. Click the humyo link here to learn more These are all in MP3 format and should play in the humyo media player with no problems (please post comments if you have any issues).

Get your free humyo.com online file storage

Wake Me Theme - Is a short orchestrated (string quartet) version of Mike's original song idea. This version (without vocal) is just one of a number of versions and styles I played with.

Uncertain Happiness - was originally two chords that Mike wanted me to base some ideas around. As they could be played in 3/4 time, I decided to create a classical style waltz which allowed me to match the feeling I needed to convey, a feeling of uncertain happiness. This version includes a piano which makes it a 'piano quintet'

Uncertainty - This is another piece based on the same chord structure as 'Uncertain Happiness' above. I wanted to create a sort of 'drone' rather plodding backdrop. To add a feeling of uncertainty, I used a rather unpredictable flute which contrasted against the piano and strings.

As always feedback is very welcome.

Remember, if you find yourself in Amsterdam between 15-18th February, why not get yourself along to the Crea Theatre!
For ticket and performance info or to contact the In Players,
email in.players.amsterdam@gmail.com or visit the In Players website here

Wake Me When It's Summer

Welcome

Whether you have stumbled across this blog because you want more information about
'Wake me when it's Summer' by Michael Williams, or, you have already seen the play (I trust you enjoyed it - please feel free to post comments!) and came across my site from the programme notes, I hope you find something of interest here.

General Info

'Wake me when it's Summer'is a play written by Michael Williams.

Set in the North of England, five people linked by blood, death and friendship, make sense of their lives and dreams.

Wake me when it's Summer will be performed by Annika Groeneveld, Cyndi van der Heiden, Ken Kitchen, Paddy O'Connell and Polly Perkins, between the 15-18/2/07, at the Crea Theatre, Amsterdam.

For ticket and performance info or to contact the In Players,
email in.players.amsterdam@gmail.com or visit the In Players website here


My Involvement

Like most things in life, my involvement in 'Wake me when it's Summer' wasn't planned. Infact Mike already had the music and graphics areas covered when we met up. He originally approached me late last year simply to help out with a few sound effects. When he came over to England, he had also written the 'theme tune', a little piece of music with a vocal that he wanted to put somewhere into the play. I recorded his vocal and a couple of his guitar lines along with probably another 3-4 ideas he had for inclusion. These were more chord changes he liked for moods rather than any structured tunes, so I began to work on these specifically to create different emotional effects as an addition to the more ambient soundtrack he already had.

At this stage, I knew that any work that I did do for the project may not even be included in the final production of the play. I suppose I took on the project for two reasons. Firstly, I'm always up for a challenge, and I knew that given all the factors involved (i.e. having never done any music for theatre before, not living or readily able to commute to and from Amsterdam), this would certainly prove to be one of those, and secondly, because it was different enough from my research work to give me a break whilst at the same time being similar enough (effecting moods and even states of consciousness with music) to help me develop my own ideas and experiences further.

One of the biggest challenges I set myself was to try and create a waltz with one of the pieces. Mike had suggested that the piece could be played in 3/4 time so I thought I would go the whole nine yards, and, despite knowing very little about this type of music and its' structure, turn the piece into a waltz played in the style of a traditional string quartet!. After some trial and error and not a little web research into the style, I have to say that I was pleasantly suprised with the result (although I did have to include a piano part in some takes, so I suppose these would be classed as a piano quintet?).

Because of the timescales involved I wanted to use an all in one computer DAW (digital audio workstation) solution for the music. I wasn't too concerned about formal mastering as I knew that the pieces would have to be mixed with the rest of the soundtrack in Holland, so a mix was all that was required. I was therefore lucky enough to get access from a friend to 'Proppellerhead's Reason 3' software and indeed ended up using this almost exclusively for the project. After the initial learning curve, I found it really invaluable and a great source of inspiration. I will definately be buying a copy soon, and would recommend it to anybody. More information can be found at www.propellerheads.se including, I believe, a free evaluation copy!

Happily Mike and the cast liked my contributions and have been able to include some pieces into the production which I am very proud of. I will try to post some sound bites here for you to judge for yourself, time and bandwidth permitting.

Remember, if you find yourself in Amsterdam between 15-18th February, why not get yourself along to the Crea Theatre and say hello from me!