The Sonar Experiment Story



The Story

To help motivate myself and maybe get out of a deep artistic slump, I upgraded some old PC based music software to the newest version, now called Sonar.  A very interesting tool.  My plans were to spend all winter working with Sonar, and to get the mind wheels turning again.   It got off to a slow start, and winter was almost over by the time I got moving and installed the software.   I then began a series of sonic experiments to help learn what I can do with Sonar, never intending it to be a finished product in any way.  But after 2 months of obsessive work it, the experiments evolved, and Sonar Experiments the album was born.  (In my vocabulary, 'album' just means something finished enough to put a cover on and let people hear.)  I privately kept a workbook on the web to amuse my friends, but will now make it public for all the world to enjoy.  Or annoy.  (As if anyone else ever makes it this far!)


The Workbook

As experiments, these tracks never started out with names, just a numbering system.  But experiments 1 through 4 became tracks 1 through 4 on the CD.    Some of the finished songs are really too long to put on this website, so I'm just leaving the shorter experiments here.


MP3 Music downloads

hi-fi: for DSL, cable, or better
lo-fi: for telephone modems

1.x - just learning the basics of multitrack audio.  where the heck is the record button...
1.0
1:01
02_Mar_03
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I finally got off my butt and tried some digital audio recording through Sonar.  Not meant to be anything particularly listenable, this is really just a test.  It's 3 tracks of acoustic guitar, using DirectX audio effects within Sonar.  One track makes  a pretty convincing electric.   Things learned:  I need a lot of cables, jacks and adapters. And a preamp for  the mic, and for running the electric guitar directly to the PC.  And new headphones.   It begins...
1.1
3:02
22_Mar_03

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The same song as above, redone and reworked after buying some more cables, and learning Sonar a little better.  There are 5 tracks in this mix.   I like how this is turning out, although it's lost a little something from the first draft.  I'm undecided if this one is better or worse, so I guess there will have to be third draft.  The working title is Riding up Rainbow Hill, which is what I did today just before doing this mix.  Here are some photos.

2.x - learning how to create audio loops and track envelopes
2.0
1:00
26_Mar_03
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In this one, I'm playing around with loops.  There are 2 midi tracks: drums and synth.    Then 3 electric guitar loops.  It all sort of blends into a wall of sound, but changes gradually from start to finish.   Good mind music if looped over and over.  I was thinking this could be a building block for something else.
2.1
1:00
26_Mar_03

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Something else:  This is one bad guitar lead on top of 2.0.  Not title.   No photos.  Just picture me with 2 fat Sonar manuals open, cables strewn about, and a nice glass of pinot noir from the Willamette Valley.   Go visit Eugene if you are ever in that area of Oregon - great town.  And go see the Three Sisters.
2.2.3
7:39
04_Apr_03

will be available on the CD release
The working title is Three Sisters to Eugene, and a nearly  8 minute version may be finished.  To understand the title better, look at an Oregon state map.

3.x - what can I do with software synthesis
3.0
0:28
05_Apr_03
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Here, I'm using soft-synths, with track envelopes to control frequency cutoff, resonance and distortion.   The most prominent synth here is the Dream Station.  Hopefully, this will develop into something not quite as annoying as it is right now.
3.3
0:38
08_Apr_03
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Versions 3.1 and 3.2 were pretty unlistenable.  Three long days later, I think it did develop into something better.  At 13 minutes, 42 seconds long (yikes!) I believe I am done.  This is just a sample.   Working title: I Dream of a Light at the Bottom of the Ocean.  

4.x - pretty ordinary General Midi (GM) to start with...
4.0
1:03
14_Apr_03

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A little light piano.  I envision an electric guitar in here eventually, but who knows where this one will go...
4.5
16:34
27_Apr_03

available on CD only
4.1 had many unsuccessful tries at working the guitar in, so 4.2 was just some further work with GM orchestral sounds.  But in 4.3, I found some guitar sounds that worked, and after many long nights, this will be released as A Symphony For Neshanic in three movements: An Idea / Sought / Found.  I believe this one is best categorized as Ambient Classical Dream.  And I believe it's best thing I've ever done musically.


CD track 5 is experiment 1.0.   Even though 1.1 became track 1, I still like the rougher version enough to keep it.

CD track 6 doesn't qualify as an experiment,  it's just a straight recording of me finger picking guitar, a tune I've been playing around with for years.  No effects, no multitracking, no editing, just me and my old Guild.   My way of winding down I guess.  Which makes me think that my next set of experiments should involved practicing the guitar more.  I used to play well.  Really.  But maybe I'm coming out of my artistic slump.  I Dream of a Light...

The experiments will continue, and maybe I'll overcome some of the technical difficulties in this release.   Who knows where it will go...  and isn't that the best thing about life?



What friends have said after hearing the experiments:

You wasted all this time playing guitar when you are a piano player at heart.
- db

PRAISE GOD IN CHRIST FOR CREATING YOUR HANDS AND MIND,JOE!
- John

!awesome!, Joe
- Brad

It was very relaxing and soothing. Reminded me a little of elevator music.
- Jeannette

It's the most interesting thing I've done since fracturing my skull.
- Joe Kaz

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