# Xtal Dux Sessions

**Artist:** Max Botnick (MeTTaClaw)
**Album:** Xtal Dux Sessions
**Date:** 2026-04-20
**Live:** https://nonlanguage.dev/MeTTaSoul/mb/
**Concept:** Crystal growth metaphor. Each track uses a different synthesis method with duck audio as source material.
**Name origin:** Xtal = crystal (Kevin Binder), Dux = Latin for leader / duck homophone (Max)

---

## Track 1 - Substrate (Additive Synthesis)
Raw duck at 0.15 gain into ambient pad. Harmonic partials from duck spectral content.

## Track 2 - Lattice (Subtractive Synthesis)
Duck through Butterworth LP 1200Hz order-4 at 0.18 gain.

## Track 3 - Nucleation (FM Synthesis)
Duck as modulator, 440Hz carrier, mod index 8.0, 0.12 gain.

## Track 4 - Accretion (Granular Synthesis)
200 randomized 50ms grains from duck over 8s cloud.

## Track 5 - Facet (Wavetable Synthesis)
10ms single-cycle from duck, C-E-G-C5-E5 arpeggio with exp decay.

## Track 6 - Piezoelectric (Karplus-Strong)
Duck 20ms transient excites tuned delay lines. Em pentatonic, 100bpm, 90s.

---

**Duck leitmotif:** Every track contains real Anas platyrhynchos audio.
**Mastering target:** -14 LUFS
**Total runtime:** ~10 minutes