Madmusik

Well the new software is installed but I’m having some teething problems with some of the plug-ins. There’s no time to be fixing that now and I’m off to Glastonbury from Wednesday until around Monday next week (if you’re there, come and have a dance to Bath Tub Ceilidh: on the Bandstand Wed 9pm and Blazing Saddles Fri, Sat, Sun 11 am), so I think there may have to be a slightly longer break in transmission than planned. Normal service should be resumed shortly.

In the meantime, please do take a look back through the previous posts, there’s already the best part of 100 pieces for you to explore…

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There will be a short break in postings whilst I upgrade my main studio software. Needless to say, I’ll be keen to try out all my new toys very soon and then share the results with you all. Until then, why not peruse the previous tracks and write me your thoughts.

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Further Consequences - mp3

Today’s track is a revision of a previous posting and comprises a medley of cues for a short film I’m working on: ‘16′ by Dan Wilding, produced by Cliff Productions.

The piece deals with the difficult and harrowing subject of bullying and its potential consequences. The film has a dark and menacing edge that the film maker wanted to highlight. I have created a rough-edged sound using distorted guitars and a rock-band configuration to achieve this. In the earlier version, there was also piano within the main theme (after the opening distortion) and also for a touching father/son bonding moment later in the piece. However, the piano was deemed to be too sentimental and slick, so this has been replaced by an acoustic guitar that has also been processed using distortion to maintain the lo-fi quality.

 

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Tell Me – What’s Her Name - mp3

Unashamedly synth-pop, today’s track follows a familiar formula for any regular readers/listeners. Although this falls into a genre that I don’t particularly like myself, I think it works on its own merits and trips along quite nicely.

I like the interplay between the drum loop, with its resonant electronic accents, and the piano. I also enjoy the effect of the bass coming in, along with the heavier drum loop that accompanies it. No prizes for originality but it all seems to work and hang together.

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A Quiet Place - mp3

Here’s something to soothe the soul. You may already have spotted that I like simple contrary motion between the left and right hands of the piano part, with step-wise motion to create harmonic change. I wanted to keep this simple today, partly because of time constraints and partly to reassure myself that I still can. I also wanted to do something with a live instrument, after being inspired by a gig the other night from an avant-garde jazz group called ‘Led Bib’. If you go and check them out, you’ll see that their music has little in common with what I’ve done here but that’s the great thing about being inspired: it can you lead you off in all sorts of directions.

What has come out is something more contemplative and wistful. The flute was done in one take and improvised, to preserve the moment. I find it good practice to put yourself on the spot from time to time in this way and sometimes it can be a creative challenge to make sense of what comes out through composition, arrangement or bald-faced editing. In this case, I’ve not edited anything but I have used some delay and reverb to help the flute to blend in with the piano nicely and also to enhance the atmospheric, dream-like quality of the music.

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How Now - mp3

This was knocked-out in around half an hour - of necessity as I’ve other pressing matter to attend. However, I think it works in its way, albeit not overly original.

I quickly produced the piano loop, which then asked for a rhythm loop to be added. Then the bass part suggested itself immediately and I went back to apply effects to the piano so that it seemed to fit better with the style. I then found the lead synth patch, which supplies quite a lot of tonal interest by way of the complexity of the sound. A second drum loop was added to give some extra bite and I let the whole thing break down to just the original drum loop and synth. It was a natural step to bring everything back in very strongly after this break and I also added a rhythmic synth pedal and an additional lead sound, which I played around with using the mod and pitch-bend wheels, to give some human feel to the whole thing.

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The Sun Shines Down - mp3

Here’s what I was working on yesterday but unable to upload due to technical problems. It’s not the usual soundtrack material but rather a song which I am working on for a competition. It’s not finished but all the elements are in place; it just needs tidying up and possibly some parts replaying. However, it provides another window onto my working practices.

What is displayed here is my chaotic method of working with ‘finished’ sound during the creative process, as opposed to playing and editing parts before applying EQ, effects and mastering. This way, I can hear what it is I’m working towards as I go along and it helps to inform the performance. It’s analogous to writing in rehearsal with a band all using their stage equipment, which many bands do. The sound and the energy of the performance help to inspire ideas, whereas working with individual ‘dry’ sounds can be rather a mundane and intellectual process that won’t always produce the best results.

I’ll be the first to admit that a better musician than I would be able to work in a more orderly fashion but for me a big part of what I do is the enjoyment of the process itself. My tip for today would be to enjoy playing with sounds and being creative. What comes out won’t always be a masterpiece but ultimately you will probably progress further than if you are always looking to the finished ‘product’ (hateful word that it is).

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Apologies for the delay in posting today but my studio computer seems to be overheating and keeps crashing. I hope to have something up by the end of the day.

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No-one Will Hear - mp3

Here’s another one that turned out better than anticipated. I’m not claiming any masterpiece here but there are some pleasing moments and I like the overall vibe.

Originally, I had used my piano-improv-plus-loop-at-different-tempo technique. However, the connection between the two was rather tenuous, so I found a section of the piano track that I liked and used this throughout instead and at tempo with the loop. Similarly to yesterday’s track, I have applied some long reverb and a little modulation, to make the most of the space in the music and also applied some delay, which I find brings the disparate elements together a little more convincingly.

I really like the cool brushes drum-loop and the way it responds to the various effects. For me, this is quite a sparse track, with only three sound sources: those drums, the piano and a synth patch. It’s often good to limit the amount of tonal layers, so that you are forced to use space and ideas, rather than just piling on more layers (which I’m apt to do).

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Obscured By Layers - mp3

If you were wondering why there haven’t been any new tracks for a week or so, it was half term for the schools here, so I took a break from the regular postings and even managed a couple of days away with the family, which was lovely.

Now that I’m back, there’s an enormous backlog to deal with, so the tracks for the next few days are likely to be quite improvised and unpolished. Starting with today’s. This begins like a typical piano motif from me and then becomes obscured by layers of loops and synths, which I rather like. I have deliberately used loops that are slightly contradictory, so that the piece becomes more complex and you find yourself being pulled in different directions as the parts intersect in subtly different ways (or you may just think it’s ‘wrong’: I’ll leave you to decide). Then the sparkly, soft ‘lead’ synth has the effect of homogenising the whole into something more easily digestible.

I’ve used an unusual reverb with a long complex decay over the mix, as well as some modulation, which add a little extra movement both harmonically and spatially.

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