Ugo Capeto - Heavy (melodic electronica)

BPM is 76, key is C Natural Minor.

I made this tune in about a day, going for simple chord progressions, adding some instruments to build up the sound, and then putting a lead for the melody. The VSTs in this track are Crystal and Phenome. I also made use of a "Power Chord" electric guitar sample set.

Ugo Capeto - Calypso (melodic electronica)

BPM is 68. Key is G Major.

I made this track with basically two VSTs: Crystal and Phenome. Phenome is a cool free VST that's multitimbral (8 channels), which is cool since you can load just one instance of Phenome and use "MIDI OUT" channels to get all the voices.

Ugo Capeto - Fuel (melodic electronica)

For what it's worth, this an E Major track (80 bpm).

I would like to thank the fine folks at IK Multimedia for SampleTank Free and the people behind the Crystal VST (that would be Green Oak). Dare I say that without SampleTank and Crystal, making this tune wouldn't have been possible, I think.

Confession (bear) time: I have used not one but two tempo-synced presets in Crystal ("Move along" and "Satuloop") and I am not afraid to admit it (as it is rather easy to spot, eheh).

Ugo Capeto - Phoenix (melodic electronica)

After an extended hiatus focusing on Nintendo Korg DS-10 music (see Home of the Korg DS-10), I, Ugo Capeto, am back with my DAW of choice (FL Studio), my free VSTs, and this short tune in D minor.

This tune was done in a couple of days. No more spending weeks working on a single tune.

I am sorry to report that compression due to streaming has really distorted some sounds, especially the one that starts at 0:15. Oh well, not much that I can do about it. Just wait for the album to come out with the lossless wav files.

Ugo Capeto - Mood (melodic electronica)

Unlike most of my tunes which take about two weeks or more to complete, this one was done over the week-end with longer sessions. Just like a painter that draws a sketch to capture the moment, I started this tune with the idea of not overworking anything, especially on the melody front.

Most of the track was done putting down the rhythm first with some percussion and a bass line; then the melodies were added as best as possible and without getting caught too deep in the process. I've got to admit that I am not the most proficient at laying down a drum track, but this time, I kinda made an effort.

I didn't really start with a key in mind, just laying down notes that sounded about right. After a while, I settled on B major because I kinda hate chaos.

I have re-opened the Ugo Capeto Music facebook page, so feel free to visit and like.

Ugo Capeto - Midway (remix by justoneguyinhisbedroom)

This is a flamenco inspired remix of Midway by the very talented justoneguyinhisbedroom.


That's justoneguyinhisbedroom's second and final take on Midway.

Ugo Capeto - Blur (melodic instrumental)

Beginning with this track, I think am gonna go with shorter tracks, like under 3 minutes.

VST plugins used:
SampleTank 2.x "Something Wonderful",
SampleTank 2.x "Full Orchestra 1",
SampleTank 2.x "Fingered 2",
SampleTank 2.x "Studio Natural",
SampleTank 2.x "B-3 Organ",
SampleTank 2.x "73 EPiano",
SampleTank 2.x "GM Perc Map 3",
SampleTank 2.x "HQ Free Piano mkII,
DirectWave "MandoLynnn", and
Kairatune "Bleeperlead".

SampleTank and DirectWave are both samplers. Kairatune is a neat (free) VST instrument plugin which you can get free of charge from kairatune.

Tune is in G major. BPM is 60.

Feel free to comment about the track, my technique (or lack thereof), or anything else music related.

I maintain the friendly melodic music forum where you're welcome to talk about music of the melodic kind.

If you produce melody oriented music (of any genre), I've started melodic tracks, a blog where I review melody filled albums. You're very welcome to submit your music there.

Ugo Capeto - Midway (melodic electronica)

Made this over Memorial Day week-end. Usually takes me a lot longer to spit out a new tune, but a three-day week-end has helped tremendously.

VST instrument plugins:
- basic 64 "Glass Organ",
- basic 64 "Night Beach",
- SampleTank "Fingered 2" (bass),
- SampleTank "B-3 Organ",
- SampleTank "Double Bass w Slides",
- SampleTank "Start Synth" (Moog MG-1),
- SampleTank "Carlos" (electric guitar),
- SampleTank "Beyond Voyage" (synth), and
- SampleTank "Mystery Pad".

"Basic 64" is a VST soft synth that's inspired by the sounds of the Commodore 64. I am personally a big fan of the Commodore 64 (see C64 music and C64 games).

My initial goal was to make a 100% pure fakebit tune, but the "basic 64" sounds were not that great. Since I usually only consider the presets of a soft synth (for various reasons, including laziness and my lack of proficiency at sound synthesis), the tune came to a halt rather sooner than later. So, the always handy "plan B" came into action with SampleTank (the free version, of course). It should be noted that the sampled Moog Concertmate MG-1 "Start Synth" is very chiptune sounding (square wave) while the "basic 64" sounds I've used are not really that 8-bit sounding. Ironic, I guess.

Key is mostly D major (the beginning is off key). Bpm is 80.

If you make/like melodic electronica, don't forget to visit the friendly melodic electronica forum!

Ugo Capeto - Chromios (melodic electronica)

This tune is a SampleTank and Phenome duo. Both of these (free) VST instruments are multitimbral, which is really good cpu and memory wise.

VST instrument plugins used:
- SampleTank "P Bass Fingered" + Fruity Squeeze (crusher),
- SampleTank "Carlos" (electric guitar) + Fruity Phaser,
- SampleTank "73 EPiano" + Fruity Reeverb,
- SampleTank "HPF Sweep Pad",
- Phenome SuperSawC + Fruity Phaser,
- Phenome RevBellX,
- Phenome FDanceKitB (drum kit)
- Phenome 7th-Lead2, and
- Phenome LeadMono.

The background "gurgling" that you hear at the beginning of the tune and to a lesser extent throughout the tune comes from the mp3 compression of the bitcrushed parts. The wav file and the higher kbps mp3 (192+) files don't have that problem. I rally need that heavy bitcrushed feel on the bass so can't really change it. It pisses me off, for sure. Even on Bandcamp where I uploaded the wav file, the stream has the same "gurgling". Don't know home much they (bandcamp) compress the wav in the streaming player, but it sure sounds like a 128 kbps mp3 file. Upon further investigation, it seems that both Bandcamp and Soundcloud stream at the same rate: 128 kbps.

Key is F sharp. BPM is 60.

Chromios is a Jupiter Trojan, in other words, a celestial object that shares the orbit of the planet Jupiter around the Sun.

Ugo Capeto - Floaters (melodic electronica)

VST instrument plugins:
- SampleTank2.x 73 EPiano
- SampleTank2.x Clean LP 1
- SampleTank2.x Carlos
- SampleTank2.x Alto Sax
- SampleTank2.x Start Synth
- SampleTank2.x HQ Free Piano mkII
- Fruity Pad Controller FPC
- Crystal AtmoEPiano
- Crystal "Phased to Meet You"

BPM=80. No FX plugins on this track at all. Started in D major and kinda finished in C major.

As you probably know by now, the DAW I use is FL Studio, mostly because of the step sequencer (piano roll) capabilities. The tune creation process usually goes as follows: 1) create melodic motifs using patterns and 2) arrange the patterns together so that it kinda makes sense (deleting, adding, changing stuff). The hard part is usually the latter. I really try not to repeat stuff too much but, sometimes, melodic motifs need to be repeated in order for them to stick.

Check out the melodic electronica forum and Ugo Capeto on Bandcamp.

Ugo Capeto - Solitude (melodic electronica)

Yeah, I have decided not to make videos for my tunes anymore, so, for this track and any that may come afterwards, it's just an embedded soundcloud player. Visualization videos are cool but I don't think there are too many people listening to chill, downtempo tunes on youtube. Well, at least, my chill, downtempo tunes.

Soundcloud is pretty cool although:
- there's definitely a limit on how many tunes you can upload,
- you can't replace an already uploaded tune without losing the comments (if you care about that), and
- you can't submit a tune to more than one group.
Of course, if you pay up, you can do whatever you want, eheh. As with all social music networks, don't be too alarmed if you don't get any plays/comments (why would you?) unless you participate in the social experience and comment on other people's tracks (fair enough, eheh). Personally, I don't mind one bit as I really like listening to other artists who, for the most part, happen to be very talented. It's a very humbling experience too.

I have also decided not to upload any more tunes to reverbnation. When you get used to soundcloud, reverbnation kinda loses any kind of appeal.

Anyways, started this tune 3-4 weeks ago but had to finish it in a hurry because ... I really have to work on my tax return now.

VST plugins used:
- SampleTank 2 "Beyond Voyage" (synth)
- SampleTank 2 "Fingered 2" (acoustic guitar)
- SampleTank 2 "HQ Free Piano mkII"
- SampleTank 2 "Carlos" (electric guitar) + Fruity PanOMatic
- SampleTank 2 "P Bass Fingered"
- SampleTank 2 "Clean STR" (electric guitar)
- SampleTank 2 "73 EPiano" (electric piano)
- SampleTank 2 "Ambient-Dub 2 120 bpm" (loops)
- FPC (drum loops)

BPM is 60. Key is G major. It is kind of a continuation of my previous track Deep which is heavily SampleTank based as well.

Very little drumming on this track and absolutely no reverb of any kind (no flanger nor phaser either). The only effect I've used is volume modulation on the Carlos electric guitar with Fruity PanOMatic. I don't use a MIDI keyboard, just the step sequencer's piano roll in FL Studio (which I think is great btw). Since I usually snap notes to the grid cells, every single note sounds like it has been quantized. I guess I could make it less mechanical but I'd rather focus on the melodies even if it lacks a more human feel. Same idea with note velocity and panning by the way. I guess I could work on that but I probably won't.

I really like that tune and I truly hope you're gonna like it too.

Don't forget to check out the melodic electronica forum and, if you like my music, Ugo Capeto on Bandcamp.

Ugo Capeto - Deep (melodic electronica)

VST plugins:
- SampleTank "Carlos" (electric guitar) + Fruity PanOMatic
- SampleTank "Beyond Voyage" (synth)
- SampleTank "73 EPiano" (electric piano) + Fruity Reeverb 2
- SampleTank "HQ Free Piano mkII" (grand piano) + Fruity Reeverb 2
- SampleTank "Cello 2 LP"
- SampleTank "Heavy Metal" (electric guitar)
- FPC (drums)

Tune is in C major. BPM is 40. Yeah, I know, it's slow.

The "Carlos" electric guitar chord "progression" (C4-A3) is repeated throughout the whole tune. Yeah, I am a minimalist and it has nothing to do with being lazy, I promise. To make it a tad interesting, the volume is modulated by a square wave for a tremolo effect. There's also a synth on top of it, courtesy of SampleTank's "Beyond Voyage".

I wanted the tune to be very heavy and quite melodramatic with the distorted electric guitar and the drumming that come and go. It's a long one, clocking at just above 5 minutes (at 40 bpm, it's not too hard to make tunes that go on for seemingly forever), but I think it's pure goodness. I think I should lay off the (distorted) electric guitar for my next masterpieces although I really like the coupling of a heavy electric guitar with pretty much anything else. Maybe, the next one will be chiptune, who knows?

If you like melodic electronica (who doesn't?), check out the melodic electronica forum and join (it's free) to promote your stuff, talk shop, and/or shoot the breeze using more than 140 characters at a time (unlike some places).

Ugo Capeto - Convolution (melodic electronica)

For this track, I really wanted to put forward a nice bass guitar. I also really wanted to use a new VST plugin called "The Deputy", which you can get, free of charge, at full bucket music.

"Convolution" is a term frequently used in computer vision, a discipline I kinda like.

VST plugins used are:
- The Deputy Mark II (Poly: Chopper Synth)
- FPC (drums)
- SampleTank (Heavy Metal)
- SampleTank (Clean STR)
- The Deputy Mark II (Pad: Carrying No Cross)
- The Deputy Mark II (Pad: Phased Solina)

I've used the Clean STR from SampleTank as a bass guitar. BPM is 60. Key is G major. Wrote this little tune over the week-end. It usually takes me much longer to write a tune, but this time, I was kinda motivated to finish it as soon as possible.

Don't forget to visit the melodic electronica forum to show your support for melodic electronica music.

Ugo Capeto - Crushed (melodic electronica)

For this tune, I really wanted to use a bitcrusher FX plugin for that sweet chiptune feel here and there.

In order to respect my full disclosure policy, here are the VST plugins that were used for the making of that tune:

- Fruity DX-10 (E. Bass)
- Fruity DX-10 (Fuzzy E. Piano) + Bitcrusher
- Fruity DX-10 (Tinkle)
- Fruity DX-10 (eThing)
- Sim Synth (Breathy Sorta Bass Thing)
- SampleTank (Heavy Metal) + Fruity Reeverb
- SampleTank (Studio Natural)
- SampleTank (921 Saw on L Square on R)
- SampleTank (HQ Free Piano mkII)
- SampleTank (In Carz)
- SampleTank (Autumn Chimes)

Tune is in D major. BPM is 130 (or 65, if you prefer). Hope you like it.

If you like melodic electronica like me, then, please visit The Friendly Melodic Electronica Forum and join. You won't regret it.

Ugo Capeto - Knock (melodic electronica)

This tune is a little bit out there with the two electric guitars, one of which is pretty distorted, and the soprano ahh which, to be honest, didn't really need to be there. Well, I guess I just can't help being a little bit over the top. It has a little bit of a chiptune feeling thanks to the square wave of the SampleTank Start Synth of the Moog Concertmate MG-1. "Knock" is like two songs into one since the passage from 1:25 to 2:18 is quite different from what was happening until then. Initially, that passage was supposed to play just once at the end of the song but I thought it deserved two passes. Again, I guess it's something I like to do. There are a lot of notes in that tune and it's a good thing, at least, according to me.

VST plugins used:
- SampleTank HQ Free Piano mkII
- SampleTank Carlos (electric guitar) + Fruity Reeverb
- SampleTank Heavy Metal (electric guitar)
- SampleTank Start Synth
- SampleTank Mystery Pad
- SampleTank Super AndroPad
- SampleTank B-3 Organ
- SampleTank Ambient-Dub 2 120 bpm
- SampleTank Soprano Ahh + Fruity Reeverb
- FPC (Fruity Pad Controller)
- Fruity DX10 Bang Bass

I really like using SampleTank FREE because it's multi-timbral, meaning you can have up to 16 sounds (as midi channels) with a single instance of SampleTank. Also, each midi channel can have its own FX in the mixer. When your computer is not too powerful, it's real handy. If you want to know more about SampleTank, check SampleTank and MIDI outs on this very blog.

BPM is 60. Key is G major. Note that G major is very close to C major. Indeed, G major is all white keys except the seventh degree which is F sharp. It's often referred to as the people's key.

Ugo Capeto - Pulse (melodic electronica)

"Pulse" is my latest melodic electronica tune. The name was chosen for no real good reason, except that it's a Floyd 2-CD live album (the one that came with a blinking led although the one I have doesn't have it, a real bummer). It seems I am getting rather minimalist as I've only used 2 channels for this instrumental. Well, 3 if you count the drum channel which is there just to drown a not so smooth pattern transition. So yeah, only 2 channels for the instruments but each instrument is used polyphonically (and not just because of chords) within the channel, so there is definitely some layering in there. Anyways, I really like that "minimalist" setup.

The VST plugins that were used are:
- DSK Chaos Theory (Power keys 01),
- DSK Chaos Theory (Star Koto), and
- FPC for the drums (a couple of breakbeat loops).

The 2 DSK VST plugins come free of charge from DSK Music. Please check them out if you haven't already done so.

For my past 3 tracks, I have been using FL Studio 10. All my other tracks were made with FL Studio 9. The only reason I switched to FL Studio 10 is because of the wav rendering. With FL Studio 9, there used to be some kind of hiss when rendering. The other neat thing about FL studio 10 is that the mixer is track based rather than pattern based, in other words, you can put as many different patterns as you want on a single track.

If you're into melodic electronica music, please go check Ugo Capeto's Melodic Electronica Forum. Yeah, it's my (friendly) forum.

I am starting to think that the type of music I am getting into sounds a bit like the "zen and relaxation" CDs that you can find at Whole Foods, Target, or Kohl's. There's actually some really good instrumentals in those albums.

Ugo Capeto - Accent (melodic electronica)

Minimalist but still quite melodic tune. Only 3 VST plugins have been used to make this song. They are:
- DSK Darkness Theory - Chrissmass-day (typo included). It's a bellish xylophonish kinda of sound which I really like (in general);
- DSK BassZ - Yamaha Bass;
- FPC - a couple of downtempo drum loops and one drum and bass.

I think there's a nice little hook in there (2:02 to 2:17). It took me a while to get to it but it's always nice to stumble upon a nice melodic motif. Of course, I had to repeat it almost ad nauseum.

I was kinda set on not using drums at all but those are pretty handy when you need to repeat a long phrase without it sounding like an obvious repeat. Adds some drama too.

Hate to repeat myself but Ugo Capeto's Melodic Electronica Forum is open for business.

Ugo Capeto - Buzz (melodic electronica)

This tune was made with FL Studio 10 (first time I've used 10). With FL Studio 9, I've always had problems exporting to WAV as, for some reasons, there is always some high frequency artifacts showing up. The WAV rendering seems to be much better with FL Studio 10 but maybe I need to write many more tunes to be 100% sure. In all cases, it's a good reason to switch to FL Studio 10.

Let's go back to the tune now.

Virtual instruments (VST) used are:
- DSK AkoustiK (what's with the spelling?);
- SampleTank 2.x - Free 73 EPiano, Heavy Metal (electric guitar), Clean LP1 (electric guitar), Alto Sax;
- DSK Darkness - Theory Nexus trance, A piano;
- FPC (drums).

It's in the key of F major. BPM is 69. I've put some reverb on Nexus trance (don't recall why) and SampleTank (mainly because of the guitars). No filtering (low or high pass) has been used on any of the channels.

I think the piece is a tad minimalist, not by design, but more because of laziness and lack of know-how, talent, CPU power, whatever. The tune has no structure and it goes from lighthearted to heavy and vice versa in record time.

People often say to change the velocity of the notes to make the piece more "human". Well, I don't adhere to this nonsense and have all my notes at 100% velocity as I am really not trying to fool anybody. Yes, all my tunes are made with virtual instruments and I am certainly not gonna bother changing the velocities of my notes in a piano solo (I think I've done it once or twice though).

Yeah, if you want to share your tunes and your experiences using FL Studio, mixing, mastering, etc, stop by at the Melodic Electronica Forum.

Ugo Capeto - Excelsior (melodic electronica)

Another track is in the can!

VST plugins used (I disclose everything about my tracks):
- DSK ElektriK Keys (Dreamy Wurli),
- DSK ORANZE (OranZe pad 02 gate),
- FPC (a few breakbeat drum loops),
- DSK Asian DreamZ (Luan),
- DSK Asian DreamZ (Pipa),
- DSK AkoustiK Guitar (Acoustic Guitar), and
- DSK ElectriK GuitarZ (Strat Marshall).

I have chosen not to use any particular effects on this track. Could have probably benefited from putting some reverb on the Asian instruments but chose not to for some reason.

I really like that FPC (Fruity Pad Controller) for the drums and I have really no problem putting them up front in the mix. Have just ordered some audio mixing and mastering from Amazon so I am hoping I will be better at mixing my tracks in the future.

The bpm is 62. Key is C Major.

Excelsior is a Latin and archaic English word meaning "ever higher". I am pretty sure it's the name of an hotel or two as well.

I am still trying to define my music. Although I am not sure if it's a good thing or not, I have the feeling it might be "new age". If you have a better idea, please let me know!

Although it's a pretty narrow genre, I like to think it's melodic electronica, aka melodic electronic music. Speaking of "melodic electronica", I have started a melodic electronica forum in order to showcase artists that do that kind of electronic music.

Ugo Capeto - Slide (melodic electronica)

For some reason, I wanted to have a lot of slides in this tune, hence the title.

I have used the following VST plugins:
- FPC (Fruity Pad Controller) for the drum loops. Yeah, I am really not a drumming kind of a guy, so any help I can get, I take.
- Pompadur (DSK Tech Synth Pro). Had to lower the cutoff frequency to get rid of that high pitch artifact coming from the slide action.
- Minimal (DSK Tech Synth Pro)
- La Forge (DSK Tech Synth Pro)
- Long VoiZe (DSK ChoirZ)

I would have loved to use more channels for this track but my poor laptop couldn't really handle it, but I think that 5 channels for a tune is more than enough, in general.

BPM is 72. Tune is in A major. Hope you like it.