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I’m making dungeon synth now? I’m making dungeon synth now!

 I think dungeon synth is the best catch-all term for what I’m doing – though I think dungeon synth is becoming a broader umbrella genre for everything from ambient black metal, to medieval folk revival, to synth soundscapes with a vaguely creepy feeling. And that’s what I think I like about it the most. I’ve been a performing musician since I was about 14, playing in folk, punk, and metal bands, and later becoming an electronic music producer for a number of years. Throughout those years I had lots of little solo recordings or projects that didn’t fall neatly into a genre, and I always hesitated about releasing those under whatever band name I was using at the time. I think this project gives me more freedom to experiment with genre and form – I’m also just older, and I care less about what people think about my creative work – and now I have a place to consolidate that work together. 

I am calling this project, Glass Candle. That’s a reference to the world of occult magic in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I also thought it was generic enough to serve other musical directions if I feel like changing things up. The first few recordings I put down were very gothic and gave me a strong Castlevania “dark and stormy night” kind of vibe, but as I keep working, I’m drifting into more ambient and melancholic music. It feels very freeing to have that kind of flexibility. I also stumbled into the r/dungeonsynth subreddit, which hosts a regular community project (this one runs through May 2025), where community members are challenged to record a short album in a month using a limited number of digital instruments. Songs from the submitted albums are then put together on a community compilation. I love this kind of stuff! It reminds me of the One Page Game Jam! This competition gave two options for suggested themes – getting lost in a cave or travelling in a dream. I am pursuing the route of dreams, and that has motivated a lot of heavy reverb and tape hiss. 

 
This image is a composite of like 30 layers of "photo-bashed" items

I have also been stretching my artistic limits in other areas, as I want to do all the album art and design work for my project. I’ve never been strong as a visual artist, but I have a compulsion to create visual art! So I’ve downloaded GIMP, an open source alternative to Photoshop, and have been learning a few techniques to photo-bash images, and edit them into a final product. The art in this post has all come from this experimentation – not all of these pictures are going to be used, but they are examples of what I have been able to create. Far from perfect, but fun to create!

Speaking of GIMP and open source… I am using the Reaper DAW (digital audio workstation), as it is also a free open source tool. My goal for this project was to be as minimal and DIY as possible to start. I’m using Reaper with a bunch of free VSTs (digital instruments, synths, and effects), and the cheapest midi keyboard I could find (about $50 CAD). I’ve never used Reaper before, and it’s been a number of years since I was producing electronic music (on Ableton Live 9), so this has been a steep learning curve.

I have been away from music for a long time. Despite it being the most important aspect of my life for a decade, I just wasn’t feeling the inspiration for a long time. I also didn’t have access to jam spaces or musicians to play with for several years. Having a form of music that is portable and very quick to set up has relieved some of those barriers for me. My recording studio (a small laptop, some old Sennheiser headphones, a 32-key midi keyboard, and a mouse) fits in a shopping bag, and can be deployed in about 2 minutes.

I’m rusty and I’m not looking to go back to live performances, but for the first time in years, I’m making music again and having fun with it. Judging by how the first few weeks have gone, I expect to ease into this genre and continue developing my skills and my sound. For now, I will leave you with one of my very first recordings, and the only one I have posted to date. But a short album will follow before the end of May, as part of the r/dungeonsynth collaboration.

Thanks for listening!

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