mxv

The sun shines high above The sounds of laughter The birds swoop down upon The crosses of old grey churches We say that we're in love While secretly wishing for rain Sipping coke and playing games

September's here again

— David Sylvian “September”

And here we are again, Synthtember. It certainly doesn't feel like a year since the last one.

For those who are blissfully unaware – Synthtember is something I've done for the past few years whereby I record a synthesizer-based song / track / noise of some kind every day through the month of September.

Generally, most of the tracks are a live recorded improvisation performed on analogue synths, sometimes accompanied by Jolanda, other times performed solo. I've previously had “no overdubs” and “no tinkering with the mix” rules, but I've decided to relax that particular stipulation this year.

The past few years of Synthtembers have resulted in several albums worth of song bases – that is, I've used them to further build upon to eventually create album-worthy tracks.

Sometimes it's just noodling. Sometimes I don't feel up to recording at all, but force myself and find I've created something far better than expected. Also sometimes the result is just waffle. Whatever the result, the discipline of the process I've found to be quite rewarding and enjoyable.

So, let the drones, wooshy noises, bleeps and bloops commence!