X‑9 / Inner Signals

Posted on by

Frippertronics, texture looping, and the search for a new sound

The seventh song on Identity is “X‑9 / Inner Signals”. It started as an experiment in texture looping – a chance to explore the Frippertronics approach that I had heard about but never looked too deeply into. I had listened to an interview with Dave Matthews on his approach to playing guitar, and he mentioned that he had been influenced by Robert Fripp and tried to incorporate some of those ideas into his playing. That reminded me how much I had enjoyed Mr. Fripp’s playing as well, and it got me digging around for inspiration.

The piece is divided into two distinct sections. The A section is ethereal and dreamlike; a wash of texture and atmosphere based on a simple two‑note phrase in C# minor (Aeolian). I built this section using loops on my pedalboard, layering reverb, delay, and modulation to create something expansive and meditative. This is the “Inner Signals” part, and I used Robert Fripp’s recording of “Holy Night” as a basis for its approach.

The B section is hyper‑active, jagged, and angular. It’s also in C# minor, but the feel is completely different – driving, aggressive, and rhythmically complex. For this section, I used three guitar parts (low, middle, and high), each with its own character and processing, with a bass track throughout.

On the album, “X‑9 / Inner Signals” represents a moment of introspection. After the release of “Freedom”, the protagonist turns inward – the textures and loops reflect the complexity of inner thoughts and the search for clarity. The two sections mirror that internal tension: the dreamy search and the jagged, restless questioning.

Special Recording Notes

  • Guitars: Les Paul (low part), Telecaster (high part), Strat (mid part).
  • Bass: Electric bass (recorded DI, with MXR Bass Synth pedal).
  • Pedalboard signal chain: Guitar → Freqout → EP Boost → Volume Pedal → Strymon Timeline → Strymon BigSky → Apogee Quartet.
  • Other effects: All other effects (amp simulators, Brigade Chorus, EP‑34, Logic’s Tremolo) were applied in Logic on a track‑by‑track basis.
  • Live looping: I learned about and experimented with Logic’s Live Loops feature, but opted to create loops on my pedalboard and record those onto separate tracks in Logic. It just felt easier to get what I wanted from the looper pedal.
  • Session size:
    • A section: 7 audio tracks with 3 aux tracks for additional processing.
    • B section: 6 audio tracks with 3 aux tracks for further effect processing.
  • Process note: I had completely figured out all the parts for the B section while having only a vague notion of what I wanted for the A section. It wasn’t until late in the recording of the rest of the album that I came back to work on the A section (the looping part). Fortunately, that turned out to be a relatively quick process. From start to finish the A section only took a few hours.

Special Mixing Notes

  • Processing:
    • A section: Heavy reverb (Air Studios Reverb), delay (EP‑34), and modulation.
    • B section: More aggressive processing – low part used the “Saggy Bridge” preset on UA’s Woodrow 55 amp sim.
    • EP‑34 delay: Modified version of the “Too Big Without You” preset.
    • Logic’s Tremolo: Used on the high part in the B section – 1/4 note rate, depth of 100%, giving a lot of movement and motion.
  • Panning: Wide stereo spread for texture.
  • Mix Bus processing: Black Box (“16 Mix Bus 1” preset), SSL G Bus Compressor (modified Default setting), Fairchild 670 (Modified “Stereo Bus” preset), LA‑3A (“Mix Bus Comp -1dB GR” preset), ATR‑102 (“Classic 250 Smooth Master” setting).

Special Mastering Notes

  • Target LUFS: -16 @ peak
  • Ozone settings:
    • Vintage Tape: “Clear Character” preset
    • Equalizer: Slight boost of +0.8 dB @ 11.227 kHz (Shelf)
    • Imager: 0‑199Hz = 0.0, 199Hz‑3.8kHz = 16.5, 3.8kHz‑11.6kHz = 31.6, 11.6kHz‑20kHz = 39.2
    • Vintage Compressor: “Smooth Opto” preset – threshold -19.9 dB, ratio 1.7:1, attack 30.1ms, release 97.0ms
    • Maximizer: IRC IV “Modern”, threshold -6.7 dB, ceiling -6.0 dB, Character 2.60
  • Dither: POW‑r #2 when converting from 24‑bit to 16‑bit.

Here’s the score for X9:

X-9 (Texture Guitar) – Full scoreDownload

Identity is now available on all streaming platforms (such as Spotify), or you can also listen to it on Bandcamp.