It basically means a recording of everyday sounds - like if you just went out on the street with a mic and grabbed some audio. There's a bit around the middle of your tune (and again towards the end I think) that sounds like that's what it is, but I could be wrong

That 4-bar synth loop that comes in at 1:32 - I'd almost be tempted to use just the first two bars of that, then use modulation and subtle effects to keep the track interesting.

Take that into consideration when making a track. there's no definite answer to your question

For sure, this is why I'm curious to see how other people approach it. I think having a hardware synth inclined me to spend some time just on sound design, but now I spend most of my time in front of the arrange window and it doesn't happen.

Thinking about it, I guess what I'm really interested in is songwriting rather than composition, to the extent that they're different things. Is it common for people work on sound design completely independent of writing tunes?

Just been watching that Noisia vid that Mr. Zo linked to way back, and from what matey (Nik?) was saying, it seems like he spends time just making sounds, independent of actually having a specific use for them. So when it comes to making a track, he's already got a bank of sounds to work from, and at that point his time is pretty much all spent on composition and little/none on sound design.

I really like the idea of this way of working, partly because it really bothers me to be making progress on a track then get stuck because I don't have the sounds I need. But to really have a good bank of sounds to work from, especially if you make them without a specific use in mind, you could spend roughly forever just on sound design, and you'd never get round to actually making tracks.

I'm just curious as to how other people work - do you divide your time strictly between sound design and composition? Or do you just do whatever you need or feel like doing in the moment? Or a mix of both?

I made a Reaktor patch that turns circuit hiss on soundcard inputs into feedback drones... the patch listens to how loud it's getting, and adjusts the feedback to stop everything actually exploding. Sounds kind of radiophonic?

This is awesome

This is nice man. Good progression, interesting variations, and your sounds are pretty good. I don't know if it's more than a mixdown and mastering away from sounding like a pro track, you'd probably have to ask someone with more experience than me. It good though

It sounds like a different track from 1:10 onwards. I like the second bit!

Nice, interesting read. I am quite a heavy default-rejecter (read: contrarian ass)