Ambient Drone Explained - DFAM Patch

This is a walkthrough and explanation of an Ambient Drone patch that I posted using the DFAM. The patch was inspired by the work of La Monte Young.

This is the third drone I've made inspired by his work. Young composed a piece tuned to the hum of the filter in his aquarium (60hz). That's the starting point for this drone. I tuned the LFO to 60hz and used it as a sound source. As the drone progresses, I used resonance of the filter, noise, and the oscillator as additional sound sources to add layering. Finally, I added a slow sequence using tones from Young's "Dream Chord". The tones are based on ratios of prime numbers. Notably, it is absent of tones like the major third and minor third and relies on 7ths, minor seconds, and major seconds (divisible by primes 2, 3, and 7 and not 5).

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La Monte Young is an early pioneer in Ambient. Many of his compositions used just intonation which made the Subharmonicon a great choice to try to emulate his work. In this drone - I used the tones Young laid out in his "Dream Chord" and featured in many of his works. The tones are based on ratios of prime numbers. Notably, it is absent of tones like the major third and minor third and relies on 7ths, minor seconds, and major seconds (divisible by 2, 3, and 7 and not 5). "The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys" is a great example of the work that influenced this jam.