Chris Holtum

Instagram feels like screaming into the void recently, so I figured that I might as well explain to the void what I am making before I completely lose patience with social media:  I’ve been obsessed with the idea of making a game that is simultaneously album for about 8 years at this point. TLDR is I'm making that, it's reasonably far into development. There have been many iterations and experimentations with live AV performances using programs made with game engines (and some accademic writing), but it has taken this long to focus in on a form that I think can do my vision justice, but is also achievable solo. A big reason for using a game as a vehicle for a music release is to be able to offer a truer representation of generative compositional approaches. By this I mean rules based generative composition approaches, not machine learning/AI. I have been particularly interested in how this can be combined with procedural environment generation, developing a few different systems for this over the last few years. It’s taken a long time for me to get here, but to give a ludic frame of reference: where I have landed is somewhere between The Stanley Parable and LSD: Dream Emulator: a narrative-focused journey through a large structure with a large number of "endings", but procedurally generated & surrealist. The project has also been deeply inspired by a series of fever dreams I experienced in 2022, when in hospital with a severe case of sepsis, as well as some other inspirations from art & literature. Trying not to go into a full-on marketing assault here as my longer-term plan is to make a dedicated page for promotion of the game development when everything is ready; the post reach on this one is really poor, suspiciously dropping off since I paid to boost a post a while back. Wanted to share here explicitly as I've only really shared glimpses up til now. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, I appreciate you. Remind you of anything you think I should try? #madewithunity #newmediaart #sologamedev

Transmission//Libation - [STROBE WARNING]   🎧Headphones recommended! 🎧   Change in structure for this audio-visual sculpture compared to last 3 I have posted. I came up with the concept and made the predecessor for this one during the pandemic; its original form was web-based, made with ThreeJS & Maximillian libraries, but converting it to a Unity scene has been on a long creative to-do list ever since to overcome some of the limitations of the browser. Decided to stick with the original drum grains I had made and edited for the original version but felt that the old synth parts I had composed were a little repetitive, so I hooked up the algorithmic composition system I made in Unity. Unlike the last couple (which have been exclusively MIDI output) the ambient accompaniment is a mixture of samples triggered with FMOD (same as drum grains) as well as two MIDI parts being sent out to hardware synths. Apart from the opening chord, all ambience and drum parts are generative.   Conceptually the piece was originally inspired by the cold digital world we found ourselves confined in during the pandemic. It is intended to represent the endless proliferation of rigid objective data interwoven with wild subjective emotions.   Instagram clip format is a bit of an experiment with this one, as the wide shot makes it tricky to fit everything in. Felt that having some insight into the performance aspect was better than a hyper zoomed in version, but let me know what you think in the comments. Please check out the YouTube version if you want to see the sculpture in all its glory – link to channel in my bio.   Thanks for watching!   #ambient #darkambient #audiovisual #audiovisualart #madewithunity #generativeart #creativecoding #creativecodeart #new_media_art #glitch #glitchart #granular #darkacademia #realtime #particles #generativecomposition #synthesizer #eurorack #sonicsculpture #digitalsculpture #digitalart #dystopianASMR #feverdream #instatrippy

Another angry jam using Unity and the ES9 to control an industrial drone patch with a PS4 controller. Full jam on my YouTube (link in bio). It's meant to be noisy. #industrial #industrialnoise #harshnoise #dronemusic #noisengineering #expertsleepers #es9 #unity #unity3d #madewithunity #er301 #eurorack #modularsynth #modularjam #analogsynth #feedback #distortion #angrymusic #experimentalmusic #noise #noisemusic #synthjam #synthesizer #brutalnoodle

A procedural revelation, its message grasped like sand through fingers. What did it tell you? #creativecoding #madewithunity #newmediaart

Another audio-visual split screen. Half for keeping up with #jamuary, but also exploring how where the sounds fit in the world I am building. There were colours. They were concealed, in mourning of a vessel that could no longer abide; its knowledge now as scattered dust. #jamuary2026 #soundtrack #madewithunity #realtime #newmediaart

Not as much time for #jamuary but still want to do a few more before the end of the month, so let's get a bit weird. Setup is something I've had in the back of my mind to try for a while: some close mic drum hits / ASMR into the Cosmos + some FX pedal feedback loop nonsense. Really like how the the rim shot came out sounding like a snare by the end. Might need to get some synths involved to soothe the entropy a bit. #jamuary2026

Still a #jamuary2026 upload, but with a longer term purpose: instrument design in a bigger project, making voices to fit the spaces. In the spirit of #jamuary I've not tried to make anything cinematic, but just a short clip testing screen recording settings and an FOV zoom I implemented recently. Pretty happy with both tbh. Best with headphones 🎧 #madewithunity

Jamuary 7: Sine waves are simulated purity. Chaos is the natural order of things. Left hand plays sines, right hand plays the noisy volume knob of the battered 90s reverb unit I got on the cheap, under the Wavestate. Routing: Wavestate -> TSR 12 -> Specular Tempus. Iridium -> H90. #jamuary #jamuary2026 #dawless

Jamuary 6: Celestial vibes for leaving the space station to. Identical routing to yesterday, but different patches and a different mixolydian scale. #jamuary #jamuary2026 #dawless

Jamuary 5: Some more ambient vibe today; pained but hopeful. Made desk space to use both the Wavestate and the Iridium at the same time, giving me a total of 10 sound layers to play with. Sorry about the occasional glitches, used a cheaper interface to save time setting up, will switch to a different one next time. Patch Notes: Wavestate -> Specular Tempus -> Pitch Factor. Iridium -> H90 Soundcraft mixer running the modulated plate algorithm on the FX send. #jamuary #jamuary2026 #dawless

Jamuary 4: some uncertain ambient for an uncertain world; a eulogy to sanity. Changed synth to the Iridium today but not enough desk space right now to use a keyboard so just using the pads to noodle. Effect chain is Specular Tempus -> H90 with the PitchFactor being used in an effect send / subtle feedback loop on the mixer. #jamuary #jamuary2026

Jamuary 3: Listened to a lot of UK (real) dubstep in 2025, so here is some 140 bpm fatness from the Wavestate featuring heavy use of the ABCD controller and mod wheel. There is a cheeky little feedback loop on the mixer adding in the odd swell too when it feels like it. Added the Specular Tempus to the front of the effect chain from yesterday - not looked up what the 'Nuance' algorithm does, but I dig it. #jamuary #jamuary2026