Keeeeewl. I like that one, it's very eccentric but fun.
In other news, I made a thing. I don't think this is gonna be an EP/album cut because I feel like it was more of a sonic experiment than a song but I still think it's worth sharing because the synths on this one are ALL MOINE and I relied less on Audiotool's loops for it than I usually do. (There are only 3 in the first half, as opposed to making the whole thing out of them).
^^ I really like that a lot. Enjoyably hectic. Not much else to say.
^ Initially I felt that the chord progression was a bit staid and predictable, but the arrangement and instrumental flourishes more than made up for it. My only serious qualm is that snare drum in the middle bit; it would be far more effective if you cut out every other hit and left some space in the beat rather than thwacking the listener over the head with it. (Alternately, you could be crazy like me and only leave every third snare hit to create a dotted rhythm, or cut out two, two and one in a cycle to create a nice implied driving beat, but that's just me being me.) All in all though, I really like most of it.
^^ I really like that a lot. Enjoyably hectic. Not much else to say.
how do you feel about the merger of trap beats and surf guitars
I didn't really think about it in genre terms at all. It's simply a very angular, frenetic beat that has some interesting sonic contrasts in it. Whether it's trap or surf or whatever doesn't factor into it. Genres are descriptive, not prescriptive.
That said, the fact that it felt natural probably means that you pulled what you were going for off.
I have considered trying to make an album of material like that after I'm done with the one I'm working on (which is nearly complete). But I have a much harder time making that kind of uh, weird...acid-y, dance stuff on demand than I do other genres for some reason.
The unfinished version of the above piece got a grand total of no views in a period of, what, two days? The version that I uploaded two hours ago has 3 views and a favorite.
The biggest difference between the two, besides how finished they are, is that the newer one is tagged with 'jazz'.
I have considered trying to make an album of material like that after I'm done with the one I'm working on (which is nearly complete). But I have a much harder time making that kind of uh, weird...acid-y, dance stuff on demand than I do other genres for some reason.
You could just do an album of all kinds of different stuff. Your work does have a very particular feel and sensibility regardless of genre, so it would still sound coherent so long as you sequenced the tracks properly.
I have considered trying to make an album of material like that after I'm done with the one I'm working on (which is nearly complete). But I have a much harder time making that kind of uh, weird...acid-y, dance stuff on demand than I do other genres for some reason.
You could just do an album of all kinds of different stuff. Your work does have a very particular feel and sensibility regardless of genre, so it would still sound coherent so long as you sequenced the tracks properly.
I dunno. I prefer to keep my albums themed (that's why I scrapped half of The Beta Tape).
You are a naturally thematically-minded person. I do not think that you need to preestablish a theme for one to coalesce in the process of your assembling an album. Nor does a unified theme need to take the form of a single genre or style; an emotional tone that either remains consistent or progresses logically (i.e. a narrative) is perfectly sufficient.
Then just start thinking about what song goes well after another. Make a playlist of finished tracks and arrange them in a way that sounds good to you from song to song, then trim the fat by removing songs that don't work anywhere. By the end of the process, you will have an album tracklist.
I already do that. I just don't like having wildly different songs on the same tape, because then adjectives like "scattershot" and "unfocused" start being applied to you, and not necessarily without reason.
I think that you worry a lot more about what other people will think of you than is strictly necessary. Being lacking in self-awareness is bad, but so is being really self-conscious. It is deleterious to one's judgement in subtle and pernicious ways—and I can say that from personal experience.
Even setting that aside, your work is pretty consistent overall. Not samey, but you have a very particular sensibility with respect to arrangement and melody that carries throughout your work regardless of whatever loose genre tag that you hang on it.
I am an aspiring musician who would also not mind being a music critic so I suppose that's only natural.
I'm actually much less self-conscious than one might believe though, but none of you follow me on twitter so you didn't get to see me pissing on about how "The Other Line" is better than "Streetz Tonight" the other day.
In any case, I just like albums to have a singular mood. I'm not great at conveying narrative (can you really be if all your work is instrumental and your name's not DJ Shadow?). I don't think I really do stick to one genre all that much (some of the songs on Beta Tape are instrumental hip-hop, there's a pretty old school trip-hop song, there's some improv-y, spacey electronica stuff, and there's "Night After The Fire" which is somewhere between an ambient piece and just a sound collage), so while I am aware of genres I do not let myself be defined by them.
^^ And so am I. But then, I am a bit of an exhibitionist and a perfectionist. It is a paradox well-suited to the performing arts.
I can also identify with wanting an album to carry a mood, but I do think that being able to move through different moods without strain is less difficult than you seem to be making it out to be.
I've restrained from sampling things before because they're too "new", or because they're of traditional music of another culture, or they're too high-or-low fidelity. Etc.
You really shouldn't concern yourself with most of those. If it sounds good to you in context, throw it in. The only case in which I might tread lightly were I in your position would be something like indigenous religious music, but as long as you treat the material with due respect, then I think you're good.
well the problem with that is that I can generally not tell what indigenous music is to be used for, as I do not speak the languages it is in.
in any case, a good example was me arguing with myself over whether or not I should sample "Breathe In, Breathe Out". I ended up doing it and it made the song in question better, so I suppose that just proves that I'm being silly.
Relatedly that's probably the only overly-identifiable sample on The Beta Tape. I'm becoming better at obfuscating my sources but I don't really know if that's a positive, negative, or a neutral.
Well, just keep your sources in mind. If what you're sampling explicitly says, "This song is of deep religious significance," then take greater care than if it were conveyed to you as being the equivalent of a sea shanty or a dance jam.
The Beta Tape is now completely finished aside from some minor editing I have to do to cut blank space off the ends of some of the tracks. It totals in at 13 tracks and 37 minutes. The final tracklist is below.
Spidertunnelopenstosky
Sketch of a Wasteland
The Night After the Fire (Real Authentic Folk Version)
Don't Go in The Woods
Time Bridge
The Other Line
From Under The Conch
Ghostpepper '97 (Trippin')
Yokohama
World of Tarnish Interlude (f. Fever Carpets)
Broke
I Ain't Never Been to California (Extended Version)
I like that. The synth line could be introduced more subtly, and the whole thing (but especially the first part) could just be longer, but that is definitely interesting. I especially like the use of the sirens and the vocal samples.
Comments
how do you feel about the merger of trap beats and surf guitars
bam bam.
Stuff I cut from what was going to be America the Beat Tape.
zimbabwe
has anyone listened to this yet
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
*makes ghost noises*
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
We like it.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
The unfinished version of the above piece got a grand total of no views in a period of, what, two days? The version that I uploaded two hours ago has 3 views and a favorite.
The biggest difference between the two, besides how finished they are, is that the newer one is tagged with 'jazz'.
lol no
also "I Wondered Where You Would Drop" now has the most likes of any song I've ever put on my soundcloud. Irony's a bitch.
edit: actually I'm wrong about that. I forgot how many "Lightning Gun" got. But still.
sure. Just bug me about it at some point so I don't forget (I do wonder what you're doing with all my vaguely dancey tracks).
also if anyone could come up with a plausible genre for that to be tagged as, I'd much appreciate it. I don't care, but soundcloud peeps do.
I dunno. I prefer to keep my albums themed (that's why I scrapped half of The Beta Tape).I am an aspiring musician who would also not mind being a music critic so I suppose that's only natural.
I'm actually much less self-conscious than one might believe though, but none of you follow me on twitter so you didn't get to see me pissing on about how "The Other Line" is better than "Streetz Tonight" the other day.
In any case, I just like albums to have a singular mood. I'm not great at conveying narrative (can you really be if all your work is instrumental and your name's not DJ Shadow?). I don't think I really do stick to one genre all that much (some of the songs on Beta Tape are instrumental hip-hop, there's a pretty old school trip-hop song, there's some improv-y, spacey electronica stuff, and there's "Night After The Fire" which is somewhere between an ambient piece and just a sound collage), so while I am aware of genres I do not let myself be defined by them.
Silly concerns mostly.
I've restrained from sampling things before because they're too "new", or because they're of traditional music of another culture, or they're too high-or-low fidelity. Etc.
well the problem with that is that I can generally not tell what indigenous music is to be used for, as I do not speak the languages it is in.
in any case, a good example was me arguing with myself over whether or not I should sample "Breathe In, Breathe Out". I ended up doing it and it made the song in question better, so I suppose that just proves that I'm being silly.
Relatedly that's probably the only overly-identifiable sample on The Beta Tape. I'm becoming better at obfuscating my sources but I don't really know if that's a positive, negative, or a neutral.
well the first part is a....interpretation, of "I'm God" by Clams Casino.
second part is really more another song entirely that just uses the same samples.
The Beta Tape is now completely finished aside from some minor editing I have to do to cut blank space off the ends of some of the tracks. It totals in at 13 tracks and 37 minutes. The final tracklist is below.
I feel that Sredni might like this one.
also I creeped myself out with it, whoops.