Digiphex Electronics “Flim” Cover and Project File

Digiphex’s “Flim” Tracker+ cover can be downloaded here. 

Hi Digiphex, thanks for sharing your project file of ‘Flim’ by Aphex Twin using only the 3 Tracker’s Synth Engines. You managed to cover the whole song using only the VAP and PERC synth engines without any samples, which is pretty impressive. What motivated you to create the song with only synth engines?

It is that “one synth” challenge we all like to do at times. I was messing around with the VAP synth engine to make some new patches and created a flute-like sound and it gave me the idea to try to do Flim. I was excited to try the new PERC for the drums and see what sounds it had and with that great tom sound on there, I thought I could do the tuned 808 type of sound. The snare can be made quite snappy as well with the adjustments given.

Benn Jordan mentioned you in the context of doing a ‘Vordhosbn’ or ‘Flim’ cover in his recent video on the software Aphex Twin used. He said you’ve already done a better ‘Vordhosbn’ cover, and funnily enough you sent the ‘Flim’ project file to us just before this video launched. Is this just a coincidence?

Yes, it was totally a coincidence! I had not yet seen Benn Jordan’s video when I was covering Flim. And then he said he thought about covering Flim. And you had Flim in your email well before his video came out so it was just the universe of Tracker fans converging. I am a big fan of Benn Jordan’s music so that was quite an honor.

 Were there any particular techniques or tricks you discovered during the process of creating tracks using only the Tracker?”

When I first used the Tracker and explored the FX, I realized that this is a treasure trove of preconfigured Jungle, DnB, and Aphex Twin-type effects in there and on the Vordhosbn video I showed some of those, joking about how this is an “AFX Mode.” Some of the FX that you hear in Aphex Twin are the repeats with volume increases or decreases or random sample selection. And for the Flim cover, I had not yet done a triplet section within 4/4 and I was really worried about that with Flim. Aphex Twin does that quite a bit in different songs and it is a great technique to use and one to add to the “AFX Mode” list. But I figured out that you can use micromove to get that triplet sound if the micromoves on the 4 lines are 0, 33, 66, and 99. Maybe there is an easier way to insert a quick triplet in 4/4 and I am always open to hearing an easier way to do something. But when it works it is hard to argue with.

Who are some of your biggest influences in electronic music? Besides the musicians we’ve seen you cover, are there other artists that have significantly shaped your approach to music production?

I grew up listening to Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, and others. Later on, I really liked all the artists on the Warp label and would cover their music. Squarepusher and Autechre to name a few. I was also influenced a lot by artists on the Nous and Mood Hut labels. I like Cloudface, Vaib R, Miltiades, Moodcut, CSPOK, Jack J, Gnork. And in the present, I think the music of Lone (Matt Cutler) stands out as some of the best music in the last few years. When I heard Lone “Rapid Racer” it was one of those transformative moments.

What advice would you give to aspiring producers who are looking to create tracks using the Tracker or similar devices? Any tips on getting started and staying motivated?

Covering the music of your favorite artists is a good exercise to learn the Tracker’s features well, discover different techniques and can be a helpful experience to get started doing something right now if you have no ideas. You can then make these songs your own transforming them by macros and other FX types or the performance effects until they are unrecognizable as what you started with but still sound amazing.

You’ve done a lot of great tutorials with the Tracker including ‘Vordhosbn’ and Boards of Canada covers. Where can people find more of these tutorials? 

The tutorials are in a playlist on my Digiphex Electronics YouTube channel and I have lots of the files for the Tracker on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Digiphex. I will note that one tutorial has a way to create swing that is no longer needed because the Tracker has swing now. I probably need to make a full updated tutorial at some point.