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AKA things intrinsic to my music that I increasingly notice, the more I do them. Do you notice these too?
- Polyrhythms for no good reason
- Beginning start of 8 bars with bassy bang
- Copypasting stab/phrase only a few times through arrangements
- A-B-A structure where the B ends up being more like a C or D
- Chromatic patterns
- Notes outside the scale
- Korg Wavestation/90s PCM swoops
- Rapidly-ascending arp sequence transition
- Low bass piano declaration
- Straight ➜ swing microchanges
- Warm, dynamic overall mix profile
- Through-composed ostinatos
- Pan flutes (on occasion)
- Momentarily clashing chords (jazzy)
- Aside from modulations, almost everything in the key of D minor/F major (makes it easier to mix tracks together)
- Embracing select musical theory, eschewing a lot
- Binding multiple similar timbres to form an “ensemble unit”
- Sample that’s used once and never again
- Generic chord progressions going off-road into a haunted forest
- Hypermelody
- Treating layering like gestalt Transformers (esp. Devastator)
- Wildly floozy pitchbend
- Only cymbals when I have to
- Live-played drum patterns + generative sequences
- Micro-Amarok suites
- Overuse of parallel universes
- Combining stuff others don’t dare (or are too self-conscious to)
- Subtle pitch drifting too
- 8/16-bit sounds, but wrapped in speaker/room simulation
- Varying each clap and some snares
- Resampling whole mix through modular FX (hail Byome) then chopping up the lot into mini-moments
- Track titles/song names that have few/no Google results
- Funk-inspired basslines, with bending into notes and syncopation
- Arps that increase in intensity
- Gentle grain and texture on elements to crispify them
- Etudes focusing on a single virtual instrument (could be a sound library)
- Portmanteau sounds
- Can’t tell what is fake/real but does it matter? (The matter is the music.)
- Vocal chops, but lusher
- Goin’ that extra mile for detail, making ONE repetition slightly different
- Bouncing ball and accelerando strikes
- John Carpenter steady analog bass before it transforms (like The Thing)
- Dramatically changing midway, ending on a definite (usually not a fade-out)
- Re-playing the melody in realtime