9 Soundware 1.316 Seconds

Titled after the Guinness World Record for the shortest song ever recorded (“You Suffer” by Napalm Death), 1.316 Seconds by 9 Soundware is a collection of Sculpture-based Channel Strip setting files for Apple Logic Pro inspired by extreme music. Combining the string/exciter paradigm of Sculpture with the signal-contorting resources of Logic Pro, the sound set is composed of simulations and abstractions of instrumentation associated with stupendously aggressive, challenging works.

1.316 Seconds is composed of 5 categories, “Down-tuned Guitar”, “Down-tuned Bass”, “Blast Beat”, “Death Growl”, and “Microsong”, each of which consists of 10 Channel Strip settings. Featuring .cst files designed to simulate machine gun-like mechanical riffs, as well as sustained chords, central to the sound set is “Down-tuned Guitar”. When sequenced with consecutive fifths and parallel octaves, using palm mute and sustaining sounds in conjunction, these Channel Strip settings allow for mockups of simple phrases. “Down-tuned Bass” is based on the timbres of grotesquely distorted, droning bass guitars. Similarly, parallel octaves allow for the balance between tonality and cacophony when using these .cst files. The “Blast Beat” Channel Strip settings are abstractions of the blistering noise associated with the drumming technique. While the sound design behind this category is largely conceptual (; not emblematic of drum kits), snare drums can be modeled by layering multiple Channel Strip settings (in particular Blast Beat 08.cst and Down-tuned Bass 09.cst). Comparably nonfigurative, the “Death Growl” noise instruments impressionistically portray guttural vocals. These .cst files are designed for performance in tandem with the modulation wheel. Finally, the “Microsong” Channel Strip settings produce bursts of rhythmic and randomly shifting timbres driven by LFO modulation.

The 1 MB download includes 50 .cst files.

1.316 Seconds is available now for $14.99 at www.9soundware.com.