Where quantum leaps in science and technology reshape the boundaries of human possibility—emerges VARIANT, an artist whose music carries the same spirit of innovation as the research environment that surrounds him.
His latest single, ‘Hand High’, is a synthesis of orchestral grandeur and mainstage electricity, bridging the cinematic with the visceral pulse of hybrid trap. With the precision of a scientist and the imagination of a composer, VARIANT sculpts sound into immersive architecture, so lets allow him to explain the studio sessions and give us a tour of the world of Score Producers.
In conversation, VARIANT reveals the intricate production techniques that underpin his work—from inventive LFO manipulations that build novel rhythmic textures to call-and-response drops. Yet behind the technical mastery lies a broader vision: to tell stories through music as vividly as a film score, fusing the immediacy of EDM with the depth of orchestral narrative.
Influenced by his work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, our dialogue also wandered into science and technology, from the promise of the “digital twin” to the paradigm-shifting potential of self-healing code. Press play on VARIANT’s ‘Hand High’ and his top 5 trap selects while reading our most recent interview.
Can you share a little about the direction, sound design and production techniques you are exploring for this release, ‘Hand High’? Any technical descriptions about different layers of the track is always nice to hear.
I am always experimenting with sounds, intentions, and worlds I want to describe in the cinematic music-scape. There happened to be a more marching epic vibe I was building and when the new hybrid trap wave started blooming. I felt that the marriage of both my cinematic taste with a main stage feel would compliment the hybrid trap sound that has been taking over the EDM scene. This is something I haven’t heard yet in this space. Some new production techniques I did is having cellos act like low French horns in the intro with short stab like strings to build the tension and momentum of the track.
To compliment this, I had marching like snares to compliment the intro into the buildup with a catchy vocal sample made to get stuck in your head.
After this, while working on the drop. I found a neat tutorial by “ashfb2b” on Youtube and Twitch to use a LFO Tool to build unique patterns with longer vocal and sustained melody samples which is what you hear at the beginning of each drop.
To give this drop more character, I then wanted to build a call and response type drop that would have a counter melody in which both the vocal and the melody elements would be in the same world but would stand uniquely on their own as well. To give this call and response a foundation to stand on, I used a nice slightly modified 808 from a plugin called “808 Cooker” by Ramzoid. I highly recommend it!
The last thing I did was bring an epic midtro to buildup for the second drop with big sounding orchestral horns, huge orchestral drums to emphasize the energy coming up to the “four on the floor” time signature style drop to end off the song with a pure dance finale.
From your understanding, what elements make trap music trap? What production techniques do you recognize in some of these top trap releases that you like?
This is a very interesting question as music is continuously evolving, but the first apparent element that I use to distinguish trap music from other genres is that the song usually start with ominous, sinister, or moody atmospheric intros in a faster tempo being around 150 bpm.
Secondly and probably the most crucial element is the use of 808s drum kits in the track as it is the heart of the genre. Paired with the 808s to contrast rolling baselines, sharp hi-hats and snares fill in triplet rhythms and or arpeggiate rapidly and include pitch variations to add flow to the song. Though this core structure has been interpreted in many different ways in today’s trap music scene, it is still a unique identifier that all avid listeners and music producers use to enjoy and create in the genre.
What are 5 of your favorite trap releases?
What are some of your favorite movie soundtracks or scores? Which Score Producer(s) have been an inspiration to you?
First has got to be “Duel of the Fates” by John Willams and the London Symphony Orchestra. It is such an epic score for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The tension it builds throughout the track is just iconic and inspirational. Another is the whimsical masterpiece from James Horner called “Becoming one of “The People” Becoming one with the Neytiri” from the AVATAR movie.
The fact how he can make you feel like you are in another world as if you are exploring it yourself through sound.
It is definitely one of my favorites to date. As far as inspirations it has been expanding. Some score producers include Bear McCreary who scored for the video game God of War: Ragnarök, Jóhann Jóhannson for his work on the movie Arrival, and lastly Nima Fakhrara and Steve Molitz for their work on the video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2.
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What are some nuanced recent advancements in technology or science that you find interesting? I know last time we touched on AI-driven antibiotic discovery, Quantum machine learning and Hydrogen fuel cell technology.
One technology that has been intriguing to me is a “Digital Twin”. A digital twin is a lifecycle-spanning virtual representation of an object or system that is updated based on real-time data and uses reasoning, machine learning, and simulation to aid in decision-making.
Essentially, this entails building an extremely intricate virtual model that is an exact replica of an actual object (a automobile, a building, a bridge, or a jet engine may all be considered the “thing”).Data gathered by physical sensors can be transferred to the virtual model and important details about the actual object’s performance in the real world are now visible to anyone seeing the digital doppelganger.
As a result, engineers and operators may better understand how goods are operating and how they will operate in the future with the use of a digital twin.
Another topic that is really interesting on where it will go in the future is “Self Healing Code”. Self-healing code embodies the idea of automated fixes for software defects and failures, signifies a paradigm shift in software development.
Computer programs with self-healing code are able to do so automatically by: Finding and correcting errors without human help, enhancing system dependability, decreasing downtime, identifying problems, deciding how best to optimize the system, and scaling on its own. This innovative method of software engineering goes beyond straightforward error correction. By continuously monitoring programs, identifying any issues, understanding their underlying causes, and quickly putting corrective measures in place, self-healing code increases program reliability and robustness. By establishing error-free procedures and drastically lowering the need for manual intervention, this revolutionary technology is revolutionizing the software development industry.
What are you working on now in the office and studio? (as much as you can share) haha
I am working on many more songs on the bass heavy side of EDM. Lots of songs ranging from bass house, future bass, trap, midtempo, and electro house. I can’t reveal too much, but the universe of music coming from yours truly is ever expanding.
How were the New Mexico Music Awards? Who were some people you met and artists that stood out to you?
The New Mexico Music Awards was an amazing event! It is definitely nice to see so much talent being highlighted that night from nominees to winners in so many genres. I didn’t get to talk with too many artists that night as there was so much going on from red carpet interviews, cocktail talks, and the luxurious dinner before the award show. But, from the people I didn’t get to talk to, some of the artists I knew were more in the Spanish/Folk genres and from the table I was sitting at was John David Peters who was also a fellow nominee candidate for “Best Arrangement Of An Original Recording”. One band that stood out to me was more in the Modern Rock category called Alter Apex. I feel that they have a good unique sound with a promising future in Rock.
What is one of the funniest or just one of your favorite scenes in a movie?
The most iconic scene that still stays with me is from the movie The Matrix When Trinity and Neo (The main characters) were fighting Agents and their minions on a rooftop in the city. Upon taking down everyone but the agents Neo tries to shoot one down but the agent is too fast and dodges bullets with ease.
When Neo runs out of ammo, he is left with one of the agents pulling a gun out and returns fire and Neo reactively starts to dodge bullets for the first just like the agent does in an epic slow-mo fashion. He is able to escape most of the bullets but gets nicked by a couple forcing Neo to fall on his back. During this time the Agent walks up to the unarmed Neo proceeds to point the gun to him and says “Only Human.” and just when we think Neo is doomed. Trinity comes in with her infamous line “Dodge This” and takes out the agent point blank in the head to save Neo.
YES!
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