Ryan Malmstrom’s Blog

My years in Lorde of all Desires started with a rather limited knowledge of keyboards.  Not really knowing anything more than the sounds I would need for the band, I went to Aabe’s Music in Richfield to see what they had to offer.  I figured someone there would know what I was shooting for.  The salesman determined that I was looking for “bread and butter” sounds:  strings, piano, choirs and organ.  I opted for a “cheap” setup:  a Yamaha DX21 and a Roland Sound Canvas (SC55).  The gear:  (photos are stock from Roland and Yamaha)

Years later, I would find out that the DX21 was a little brother to the highly acclaimed DX7.  I never messed with the sounds too much, as I used it only as a midi controller.

Lorde was still in the beginning stages, as Chris, Tony and I were trying to find other members to round out the band.  We’d practice for an hour or so on a Saturday.  I don’t remember what we were actually playing, but I believe “The Scars of Withered Beauty” was formed from those practices.  Or at least the intro.  The evening would be spent finding someone to buy us beer and then hanging out in the cemetary until the wee hours of the morning.  Hey, what did you expect?  We were a black metal band.

The sounds worked out fine with the Roland at practice.  I had noticed that most of the sounds were the same used on the first Cradle of Filth record, so I was confident in the purchase.

A month or so passed and Lorde took a hiatus.  In the downtime, Chris, Tony and I had lost contact.  We ran into each other at the Milwaukee Metalfest in 1997.  Chris and Tony mentioned that they found members to fill out the band, but wasn’t sure if the keyboardist/guitarist they met was going to work out.  His name was Shawn and he was auditioning to be the keyboardist for Cradle of Filth.  I told them, whatever happens, I’m interested.  We chatted for a long time and I felt good about what I was getting into. 

Shawn, for some reason or another, didn’t land the CoF job, but wanted me to join anyways so he could focus on guitar and vocals.  They had 3 songs already written, with another 2 in the works.  They would provide me with a recording, so I could start getting my keyboard parts written. 

We practiced in the basement of Shawn’s house in Uptown.  And we practiced quite loud too.  The problem was that the Roland wasn’t cutting into the mix very well.  It sounded so thin compared to the rest of the instruments.  I can’t remember the PA we were using, but something wasn’t right.  Shawn was (and still is) quite the accomplished keyboardist and he’d always have his Korg 01W set up in the basement.  He’d let me use the Korg when my frustration with the Roland reached a boiling point.  And it would be like that for practice and eventually, gigs. 

I gave up on the Roland/Yamaha combo and was allowed to use the Korg as long as needed.  In the meantime, I would look to find something more professional.  I didn’t rush out and buy the “quick and cheap’ this time around, but I was on a budget.  I didn’t need anything fancy, but I needed a versatile synth that packed some punch.  I had my eyes on an Alesis Quadrasynth at the Uptown Music Go Round.  I liked the feel and the sounds were amazing.  I kept shopping and found the newer version of the Quadra Synth was available at Guitar Center.  My first ”real” keyboard purchase was an Alesis QS6.

By this time, we had already recorded our first EP “Crowned in Blasphemy.”  Shawn let me use the Korg on that record and was always more than happy to get together outside of practice to work on keyboard parts.  I truly valued his opinion and his knowledge of the Korg was quite helpful in live situations. 

I was able to find similar sounds on the Alesis, some of which were quite better.  I was quite fond a patch called “Phantom Organ” that inspired my first true song-writing contribution to Lorde:  “The Immortalizing Winter.” 

I did run into a few problems trying to make the switch from the Korg to the Alesis.  The string patches on the Korg were much darker, while the Alesis programs were quite rich and epic.  It wasn’t really a big deal, but the songs didn’t seem to have the same feel to them as they did on the record.  I wasn’t satisfied, so I started to combine layers of strings with a synth patch that had a heavy attack to it.  Now we’re talkin!

When it came time to record the next album, “The Scent of Malevolence,” Shawn was already dismissed from the band.  And that was actually more to my benefit.  When I joined Lorde, I wasn’t all that confident in my abilities as a keyboardist.  I never liked recording while others were in the same room, especially another keyboardist.  Shawn and I never had the relationship that was “me against him.”  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  It was great to have him around to and run ideas by him.  But it also got to be very nerve-wracking.  Give me a studio with just the man at the board and I’ll get my takes done within no time.  And they’ll be good.  Have someone sit there in the other room, ready to pounce with an opinion or just being that watchful eye and I’m probably going to sweat it out just to get my takes done that night.  It happened with the EP and without that distraction, I was able to focus on putting solid takes onto tape.

The sounds on this album were a bit more unique than the EP.  On “Diablerie’s Course,” I used a woodwind patch that had a real ethnic feel to it.  Not exactly dark and spooky.  I loved playing this song live, just to see the reactions in the crowd in response to using such an oddly placed synth solo.  It worked well, although it was buried in the mix on the album.  I think if I could change anything about the album, it would be to boost the solo.  After all, it was a solo.  It should be heard as such.

Shortly before entering the studio, I added a very slow, eerie string patch to my arsenal of favorite sounds.  It’s not very evident on the record, but during “The Immortalizing Winter,” I overdubbed the strings to follow the root notes of the organ.  It was designed to give the song a sinster feeling, which was the main theme of the record.  You can really hear the beauty of the sound at the end of the song, right before the guitar solo.  It also worked well in “Whence Chaos Cometh,” as that was the patch I primarily used. 

I did dust off the Roland for a few spots in this album.  I used a “Sea Shore” patch in the song “Solitude.” I did minor preproduction for this one, writing it on a little Fostex 4-track.  I also used a swirling synth patch on the Roland in the intro song, “Enraptured By A Long-Awaited Eventide.”

Shortly after the record was finished, we decided it would be neat to have some sort of intro for our shows.  I had become quite familiar with the 4-track, but needed more tracks to produce a “true” intro and I didn’t want to bounce any tracks.  Of course, the Alesis was only a year old, so buying another synth with a sequencer seemed like a far-fetched idea.  I had come across a hand-held sequencer made by Yamaha called a QY70. 

It was relatively inexpensive and fit my needs.  And it was just slightly larger than a compact disc, so it could fit on my keyboard.  We actually got cute and set up a 3 foot pillar on my side of the stage and put the Yamaha right on top of it.  It was a neat little stage prop that lasted just a few weeks, as the pillar cracked in half transporting it from a gig one night.

The darn thing was a powerhouse though.  The string patches rivaled the Korg.  It was a friendly tool, as it was a 16 track sequencer and even had a little keyboard built in.  And yes, I did use the little keyboard every now and again.  It was great for correcting a mistake during sequencing.  You could literally open up the edit screen, delete a note and replace it by using the small keyboard in just a matter of seconds.

The piano sounds were amazing too.  In fact, you’ll read more about it in an upcoming blog about my solo work.  But I even recorded a new version of “Solitude” and it turned out even better than the original.  I tied the ending of one of the songs from the EP called “The Feasting” and transitioned it to “Solitude.”  We did that at a few gigs and it worked really well.

I had also recorded an intro for the shows.  I wanted to try to re-record the intro from the “Scent” record, but went in a different direction when a cool, triumphant theme popped into my head shortly after purchasing the QY70.  It had that feeling of a black metal band intro, so it only made sense to expand on it.  The song came to be known as “Crimson” and appeared on my solo demo that I handed out at Metalfest, to coincide with the release of the Lorde album.  I had also submitted a song to the label, Root O Evil records, and it was put onto a compilation in time for Metalfest.

Strange things began happening with the Alesis.  For small bursts, the keyboard would seemingly go out of tune.  Impossible for that to happen with a keyboard, right?  It sure is, but that is the best way I could describe it.  It sounded like someone was going into my global settings, entering into transpose mode and changing the pitch at random.  It never happened at a gig, just only at practice. 

Just a few months after Metalfest, I came to the realization that I should probably get another keyboard and I still lusted after the Korg.  I kept tabs on what Korg had been putting out and was rather unimpressed with the X5.  It had the same synth engine the 01W had, but I felt the quality really lacked.  Didn’t seem like it was built for the long haul.  The N5 and N1 were similar, but I decided that I wanted a synth with a built-in sequencer, even though I still had the QY70.  I wanted something of a main keyboard that could offer limitless options.  I had my heart set on a Yamaha EX7 because of my newfound love of Yamaha synths and, mostly the string sections.  The fact that sampling was included in the EX7 was an even nicer bonus, but I was scared off slightly by the price tag.  And really, I didn’t need the sampling all that much.

Korg released the N264/364 series and I was hooked.  This board combined everything I was looking for:  the same synth engine used in the 01W and a sequencer.  I opted for the 61-key version, N364 model.

This synth packed creepy sounds, amazing strings and ambient patches.  Any sounds that were missing from the 01W could be downloaded.  The hard drive was kinda loud and clunky, but it wasn’t as if I needed to store sequences for a theatrical event.  I just needed to store my basic settings and sequences.  In fact, the only time I ever used the drive was when transferring downloads from my PC to the keyboard.

The sequencing was pretty basic and I used it to compose intros and interludes to use during the show.  This ‘board didn’t have a long tenure with Lorde, as I left the band and began work on my solo album.  But to this day, it was one of the best boards I had ever worked with.  The strings and piano sounds alone are worth it.  Maybe I’ll try to get my hands on one again…

Hope you enjoyed the keyboard history behind Lorde of all Desires.  Next up will be my journey into solo composition.  Thanks for reading!