Day 130: Shorty Say

Not sure what this song is.  Don't know what genre, don't know that the lyrics mean anything, don't know much.  It's different... that's the only thing I can say for sure.

Lyrics:
Shorty is sweety,
She don't know how to live.
Shorty is a sweety,
She don't know what she give.
I barely know her name.

Shorty is a sweety,
when the lights go out.
Shorty is a sweety,
She gotta shout.
Hop in the car.

Shorty, I don't think I'll ever forget you.
Not as long as I live.
Shorty, I don't think I can get you out of my head.

Day 129: Get a Little C-c-c-closer

Still learning how to use Beatchop by Quadelectra.  It's similar in many respects to Buffre by Peff, but seems to arrive at certain types of sounds easier.

Beatchop

Buffre

To me, Buffre seems to be great at quickly creating glitch style anything, mostly due to the built in bitcrusher.  Beatchop is more of a stutter/jitter type effect.  Are they related? Yes.  If you add a bitcrush effect to Beatchop many people would be hard-pressed to tell you which is being used.  There is a fair amount of overlap, but I know that I'm getting some different results when experimenting with the two. Just as with Sugarbytes Slice Arranger or Ochen K's Glitch - the outcomes are all slightly different.  Slice Arranger is kind of an auto-mated version, but still creates some pleasurable results (to my ears).

Slice Arranger

Glitch

Lyrics:
I just want to see you smile.
Can you get a little closer to me?
I just want to hold your hand.
Can you get a little closer to me?

Day 128: Liar, Guns, and Noise - OH MY!

Another one in the "noise" column.  This is one I've had in my pocket for awhile.  Playing with Simon J's FM Refill.

Lyrics:
I've got this gun cocked, locked, and ready to fire.
You better duck.
Don't stand there, you're a liar.

I've got this gun cocked, locked, and ready to fire.
Don't stand there, I might miss,
and you are a liar.

Day 127: Be True

I've been vascilating back and forth for several days on whether or not to keep this going.  Finally, today I had an epiphany.

So now that we've gotten that out of the way I'll be making music until I choose not to.  What to do or how to do it will not be influenced by anyone else.  I will make whatever kind of music in whatever way I choose and don't give a shit who likes it or who doesn't.  Genres be damned.

Here I come.

Day 126: Last Night They came to me...

Title of track says it all.

Day 125: Aspersions

When I started this I thought the hardest thing about keeping it going was going to be finding the time and not running out of ideas.  Turns out it's the feeling that I'm annoying people.  Part of me wants to say "Don't listen!" then the other part wants to shut it down right now.

I'll see if I can't keep it going for a little while longer.

Day 124: Next to the Abyss

A dark minimalist ambient piece exploring some darker subject matter.

Lyrics:
You're standing on the edge of a cliff.
You forgot to wear your wings today.
Gun in your hand.
There's no one there.
Thinking very hard about what to do.
There's no going back.

You're standing next to the abyss.
You don't have a torch in your hand.
Everyone has forgotten.
You don't know this land.

Day 123: Art of Noisiness

The cacophony of today's piece may accurately represent my mood today.

Lyrics:
Start your engines,
Stop your cringing,
Since you're on the fringe,
Don't think about revenge

Slow your patrol,
Before you fall in a hole,
Everybody is on a roll,
Even if they aren't they're in control.

Yes I built this house
No I'm not a mouse.
If you think you can find a louse just try it.

Last week we went to the show.
We wondered where you were and why didn't you go
Tearing down is much easier than building
As long as you carry that sword you've been wielding.

Day 122: Like a Dragon

Was watching a documentary about graffiti artists all over the world last night and a guy in Sao Paolo said "This city is like a dragon."  He followed up the metaphor with a comparison that made sense, most of which I can't remember.  I stole the line from him.

Lyrics:
At the bottom of the river where you lay.
At the bottom of a well, I hope you'll stay.

From the top of the mountain, head in the clouds.
I can hear you shouting,
Shouting so loud.

This city is like a dragon,
Going to eat us up.
You are the hero trying to save us all.

Standing on the hilltop, sword in your hand.
Blood on your face, your claws are sharp.
We run from you, but we aren't fast enough.

This city is such a monster,
Going to chase you down the road.
This city is a hungry machine.
Don't stop feeding it.

Day 121: Finishing Unfinished Work

Started on today's piece a little while ago and it just wasn't making sense.  Worked on a few versions of it and didn't like any of them.  Was going to try for something completely different using Reason 7 and then I realized "There's nothing wrong with this.  These ARE the droids I'm looking for!"

It originally came from KristinaJoy over at hitRECord.

Day 120: Using Reason 7 - First Pass

I'm happy to say I'm getting to beta-test Reason 7 and so far it's all that has been promised.  I guess I'm

not supposed to go into drastic detail because of the EULA you have to agree to as a beta-tester, but there are some functions that are specific to this new version that are featured on this track.

It's a little bit of madness here and there, but I kind of love it.

This track contains a couple of samples of "Persion Love Song" by Dead Can Dance, from the album Toward the Within.

Lyrics:
This love song will ruin us.
I can't keep my love for you a secret.
Put me back in your pocket where I belong.
This world is too much for me.

Day 119: Frequency Modulation Synthesis - Post-Rock Style

Another piece using Simon Janvier's FM Synth Refill.  For some reason I keep going to post rock when using his patches.  Not really sure why.


Lyrics:
You gave me your greatest gift.
I said thank you.
Won't even hold my hand.

Behind the house you gave your greatest gift.
In the grass, you gave it to me.

Behind the house you gave it to me.

Day 118: In with the Old

I foolishly managed to leave my "good" computer somewhere else so I had to break out the good old $50 Hackintosh. The computer is somewhat difficult to use for anything other than surfing the web, so this is a shorter piece. Hope you enjoy all the same.

Day 117: Get Adventure

Just a short string work with taiko drums and guitar.  Please enjoy.

If you have a film that this could be used in let me know.  It's pretty much ready to just be dropped into something.

Day 116: Welcome to the Darkness

Inspired by Low's Songs for a Dead Pilot EP.  At least sonically.

Lyrics:
You've got to welcome them with open arms.
They control everything.
You've got to extend your hand, you don't have.
You've got to open your mouth for them.
You must wave your hands.
Welcome them with open arms.
Open Arms.
You've got to welcome them.

Day 115: Nostalgic for Simpler Times

Had this one sitting on the hard drive for awhile.  I used to be in a band called Rehoboth Edom and the guitarist had (and still has) a very signature style of writing guitar riffs.  This piece was me trying to imitate his style.  I felt like it succeeded, but where it would have taken him thirty seconds writing these two riffs, I spent 30 minutes.  Anyways, I've tried putting several different kinds of accompaniment with this duet and none of it sounded right.  Finally decided it was best left the way you hear it here.

Day 114: Wall of Sound

A while back I wanted to try and create a "wall of electronic sound".  Most rock musicians are familiar with this concept, so I thought it would be fun to do in electronic music.  The result is this track.

Day 113: Beautiful Noise

The WBL5515 is a nifty little noise maker that the developer was nice enough to give away for free.  It makes a neat little noise or two, but is a little challenging to make into something musical (or has been for me).  Today's piece is an attempt that started out as a little noise art and turned into a kind of sweet-ish ambient work.  There's still some noise and dissonance there, but nothing like what it started out as.  Added some drums from Nine Volt Audio to keep a pulse going and it kind of turned the thing into something normal-ish (gasp!).

Day 112: Is Life?

I wanted to see what kind of madness would ensue if I automated manipulation of Buffre on a loop and on Malcos Mouth Refill.  I thought it was a pretty acceptable amount of madness.  The words are in random order and have no meaning.

Day 111: Making the Old New Again

While listening thru my catalog the original recording of today's piece came up.  It was originally done with Garageband in one or two takes.  I think one for vocals and one for guitar.  I exported it and took it into Reason where it took the shape you hear today.  Taiko sticks and drum by Nine Volt Audio.

Day 110: Another Very Malcos Day

If you missed the last "Malcos" post, here's another chance to hear some more of his awesome work.

I made a sincere effort for this piece to be very minimal.  It's hard for me sometimes, cause there's just so much room for awesomeness in the spectrum.  I think I kept it pretty sparse.  Hope you like.

Lyrics:
This is not your father's sword,
This is not his gun.

Go back from whence you came, please.

Day 109: A Brief Statement

Just a short little statement with strings.  I imagine it as a short montage in a film or possibly something for a commercial.

Day 108: Anything is Possible

As a fan of absurdist humor I will occasionally make jokes that people don't understand.  This might be one of them, but before you get offended please know that the following is meant to be as completely ridiculous as it sounds.

You should really know it's a joke because I wrote in 5/4.


Lyrics:
You know I'm in a foot race with Jesus.
You know there's a chance he might win.
There's a T-Rex in 3rd place.
Robocop is the referee.

This could never happen.
But anything is possible, 
Or so they say.

The long arm of the law.

Day 107: Chop It Up

Just a little experiment with Beatchop by Quadelectra.

Day 106: Everybody Gets to....

Sometimes you trip and fall down the rabbit hole.  Way, way down.  In this particular instance I swear it started with the most honest intentions and sort of spun out of control from there.

The acronym IDM stands for Intelligent Dance Music, a stupid genre name if ever there was one.  It should probably be called NRDM (Not Really Dance Music) 'cause not many people are dancing to it.  Anyway, it's a style of music that I grew to love in college and that love has never left me.  Other people do it better than me, but it won't stop me from taking a stab at it.

Bonus points if you can make out the lyrics.

Day 105: Piano Ballad

If you've been following this blog at all, either here or on Soundcloud, then you have probably figured out I'm not a fan of the sound of my own voice.  As a result, I rarely have any kind of "ballads".  Today will be the exception to that rule.


Lyrics:
Waiting in the back of the theatre,
Where she told me she'd be.
She said we'd leave for Rome tonite.
It'd just be her and me.

So I'm waiting for her.

Waiting in the back of the theatre,
Where she told me she'd be.
Just the ghosts of past performances to keep me company.

So I'm waiting for her,
but I don't think she's coming.
Not tonite.

Day 104: Industrially Speaking

Everyone keeps secrets.  Some are big, some are small.  Sometimes you keep a secret because of an organization (an organizational secret I guess?), sometimes it's something only you know, or at least you think that (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, select, start).  This is a little bit about keeping secrets, but also about relationships.

Here I've dipped into the "everything is distorted on some level" bag of tricks.  What can I say other than I'm a sucker for it every time.

This is probably the only song you'll hear today with Sturm & Drang in the lyrics... so it's got that going for it.


Lyrics:
Come a little bit closer,
I've got something you should hear.

Look to the sky,
Now walk the steps,
Unto perfection, 
Unto the beginning of the end.

You are the wind and the rain,
You are the one who keeps me sane,
You are the breeze that blows thru me.

You are the holy ghost,
You are better than most,
You are the secret I keep closely.

Look to the sky,
Now walk the steps, 
Unto perfection,
Unto the new beginning.

Sturm and Drang and not much compasssion,
You said "You forgive me" after a fashion,
You are the only one,
Yes, you are the only one.

Crucifixes and crosses and demons,
You aren't the only one who can see them,
but we are not leaving you,
no we are not leaving you.


Look to the sky,
Now walk the steps,
Unto perfection, 
Unto the new beginning,
The beginning of the end.

Day 103: May You Be

Oddball short of a piece.  Started out thinking "This is going nowhere." but kept at it and am happy with the end result.

Lyrics:

You are my animal 

                  (I can't sleep)

You are my animal 

                  (I can't sleep)

You are my animal 

                  (May you be)

There's no turning back from here.

Day 102: Over Shanghai

The other day while perusing Reddit I came across an entry that said something like "Joseph Gordon-

Levitt wants you to create content for his new show.  Really."  or something like that.  So, being someone who creates a LOT of content I checked it out and it was legit.  A site I'd never heard of called HitRecord.org takes content from users all over the world and gives them the ability to mash it up in any way they so choose.  It's non-exclusive and if they end up making money with it you get a share of the profits.  If they don't, it's better than it just sitting on your hard drive until it crashes and all your beautiful work is gone forever.

So, I checked out the site, found some video I liked, then immediately set about making music for it.  Today's offering is that result.  The video will be posted on the blog here once it's done.  That will be in a day at most... hopefully.  In the meantime, enjoy.

Day 101: Just Like a Dream

Today we continue the theme of serial killers and synthesizers. 

This one's about a "superfan" who is obsessed with someone famous. A fatal attraction, if you will.  Partially inspired by the "crazy ex-girlfriend" meme that's been floating around for awhile.  She's at the top if you've never seen her.

Loops provided by Nine Volt Audio

Lyrics:
You have your finger on the pulse of our lives,
While we're standing next to you in line.
You like to think that we have arrived,
but we have much, much, much more time.
The only way that you'll let us move on thru our day,
Is the only way that we can get out alive.

I'm not just a fan,
I'm the other half of you.
I'm not just a fan,
I complete you, you know that it's true.

Watch you walk down the road,
Follow you to your house,
I think you'll be waiting inside,
I think I'll be waiting inside.

Just like a dream,
This is just like a dream.
Don't you agree now?
You follow my lead now.
I'll let you eat now,
But don't try to breathe now.

I'm not just a fan,
I'm the other half of you.
I'm not just a fan,
I complete you, you know that it's true.