In defining a sound of an act you might draw your attention to the singer or a specific instrumentalist. A guitarist for instance. The act might be better defined by the particular song writing style or their vernacular. It might be the arrangements? In any of these instances the act will likely define their sound and it will become recognisable. At least to those who listen. SoundTrack SoundSystem are looking to have a very broad vernacular indeed. They are drawing upon soundtracks of film and TV and are looking to fuse a huge spectrum into one unified whole. Not an easy challenge and one they are almost surely destined to fail on but it is this large spectrum that interests them more than a narrow field of vision. That said, the source is so huge. More like the delta than the source and as such STSS will inevitably draw upon their favourite tributaries to weld together sonics and beats and beds. What you can be sure of is that the inspiration started in a score. Not necessarily a specific score but it could be. Why not? However, it could be as much a whole genre that infuses the inspiration and then gets mangled into the new SoundSystem outing. So, is anything sacred or set in stone in a STSS cut? Not yet but as they build their catalogue its entirely possible that these words will have to be retracted and replaced by a far more focussed description. Meanwhile it will be best to sit back, strap up and enjoy the ride.

 

Technology used in making the STSS tracks include.

 

Logic Pro X DAW

 

SWAM moddelled instruments

 

Spectrasonics instruments

 

IK Multimedia instruments and plugins

 

Toontrack Drum Plugins

 

A number of Native Instruments plugins

 

Modartt Pianos 

 

A bunch of plug in synths

 

Real voices and instruments

 

Nektar Controllers

 

Audient interfaces

 

 

Orchestration and arrangement are critical to STSS. The objective is to set The sound stage quickly. The palette of instruments and the way they are brought together can range from the entirely acoustic through to fully electronic and mangled (figuratively speaking). Then it’s about how you elongate an idea into a piece. This can be driven by classical arrangement methods through to entirely “emotive” sound stages. It could be simple AABA through to ZZZZZ. However, one aspect of the System’s modus operandi is to establish a sonic vision for all pieces that is glued together by the mix and mastering sensibilities. This could be described as the SoundSystem part. It’s about giving the tracks a hyped up club sound stage of big rich warm undertones where its relevant and possible. It’s not just about a soundtrack. It’s about a soundtrack that gets abstracted into a new environment. Its one where those who like melodies will be satiated but those who like gut busting bass and solid beats get a dose. Harmony, progressions and mood are catered for in abundance but equally you get a nice slice of the pumped and primed low frequency or snapping percussion. 

 

Enough. You now know at least the starting point of evolution. Let’s now let it evolve.