This was started with an Active Step Recording experiment on the Volca Keys for the arpeggio that runs throughout the bit. I kept dropping out and changing the keys subtly for the duration. Note: There is no beat or rhythm even though the whole thing was done at 100bpm.
After creating this, I found a “Filter Delay” effect that allowed changing the sound filter per left and right channel of speakers so this arpeggio doesn’t just have a variance on the keys being played but also the timbre of the sound per channel. Essentially its changing notes then it changes quality per Left/Right speaker channel independently. So, IT’S ALIIIVE!
I added some space delay piano, a little MicroKorg here and there, and I actually noodled around on the bass guitar a bit.
Good murder of a Sunday.
UPDATED (Thursday June 25, 2020): I learned how to re-pitch audio file SEGMENTS and fixed the sour notes on the bass solo at the end. I’m much happier with it now. I also did some volume changes on the bass solo. It starts at 1:45 if you are in a hurry to compare the two. Give it a listen if you want to challenge your ear a bit.
It’s all about the money, folks.CoronaVirus We Care Music
I was tired of seeing and hearing about all these huge corporations doing somber solo piano music commercials about how much they care about people “in these trying times”.
I thought I would take a whack at trying to make a coronavirus “we care” song of my own.
This is what I came up with. Feel free to think of some corporate bullshit to say on top of it. Try to get in the spirit of depriving your employees of income while you spend millions on trite music like this with somber stupid stock video footage to make people think you give a shit about their survival. This usually helps!
Say things in a low deep caring concerned corporate type voice-over like: “in these trying times” “when people must survive against an invisible enemy”
Feel free to leave your own stupid insensitive stock voice-over script in the comments. Maybe I can get Bitchin Bob to do a proper voice over.
This is in NO WAY an ad for Wawa.Wawa Nurr Nurr.mp3
OK. This is crap. Found this laying around my hard drive on an old Windows Desktop back up. This is where I move things on a hard drive when my desktop gets too littered with icons.
From what I can tell, I made this as a tester file (not unlike my Lowering of The Table tester file). It is dated 9/25/2016 and it’s 20 minutes of noodling that was clearly improvised. The multiple beats and timings don’t match up at all, except in rare instances (so settle down Bob).
There are some vocals near the end of me singing in the vocoder. I have no recollection of what I was saying/singing. If you can figure it out, let me know in the comments. I may make a song about YOU! ??
I didn’t know what to call it. It is labeled as “Wawa Nurr Nurr.mp3”.
I didn’t think it was worthy to make it public, but :
I’m getting old
I pay nearly $200 a year to keep this blog up
We’re living through a pandemic.
Might as well shake the tree of its junk onto the public stage.
Personally, I feel, I am MUCH BETTER than this track (lately), but see if you can live through all 20 minutes. It’s a challenge for me and I CREATED THE DAMNED THING!
Today I lowered the keyboard stand to match the height of the surrounding desks. This meant unhooking stuff and rehooking it which means ANOTHER TESTER TRACK TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING RECORDED. (Which also means, it was a scratch track, so dont think for a minute this is supposed to sound “good” or be “official”).
The Lowering of the Table Tester File
And now I can SIT at the keyboard stand instead of STAND at it. Thank you quarantine.
Wow! So much time has passed since the 2015 release Hozpitality-To Go. There has been a lot of moving around and acquisition of new noise making devices and volunteering of new noise making people.
As you know, Hozpitality is a collective. Anyone who wants to make sound and record may do so. Since moving the “Hozpitality Home Studio” around a lot, more people have come on board. They will be listed in the Personnel List below.
Track List:
Beach Week (4:16) This was a drum pattern recorded by Bush, keys by CeMeGo, and vocals by Gloria Snatch (now known as Eriyyka BaDont). Please do not miss the Beach Week video (which is the first music video for a Hozpitality song). The lyrics/vocals for the song were created after watching Brett Kavanaugh hearings. He still likes beer. Yeah well so do we all, but we don’t get to be a life long supreme court justice (you dick).
D and C Drone for DC (5:43) This was extracted from a long jam session (May 2019) between Derek and CeMeGo. Derek plays bass. Not sure about the drums. Keys and noise by CeMeGo. Probably first recorded use of Korg Minilogue XD (closer to the end).
Don’t Know What To Say (3:45) Bitchin’ Bob souls up a hit. Drums and 2 chord melody by Bush. Extra keys and augmentation by CeMeGo. This is a touching song, about hats, impaired vision, and lots of grumbled Joe Cocker styled wailing.
Exceptional (5:33) A jam session created in April of 2017, chopped up, and repositioned by Bitchin’ Bob and CeMeGo. The Novation Launchpad was heavily abused for the drum pattern.
Epipen (2:33) A lounge statement calling out Big Pharma. The skyrocketing price of Epipens used to ward off an allergic reaction causes us to do a timely lounge piece. Gloria Snatch on vocals and Randy Glands on keys.
Guest Parking (with CHOB) (10:02) The voice sample is audio from an instructional video explaining how to park your car in a parking lot and remember where you parked (very ridiculous). There is also a dramatic reading of the guest parking rules for a certain overpriced apartment community in North Bethesda, MD.
The Tootsie Throwdown (4:34) Derek plays bass and croons about Tootsie (the cat). What else do we know? Right?
High Mystic Water Rhythms (5:27) This is not the first time CeMeGo has stolen drum sounds from the band Rush. This is a mash up of drum samples from Rush songs “High Water” and “Mystic Rhythms”. This was one of the first experiments with the Novation Launchpad.
Staying Up Late To Make Some Beats Tonight (But You’re Not Alone) (4:10) Instruments, vocoder, and junk by CeMeGo. Yet another stolen traffic report sample from WTOP radio.
Exceptional (Bangin Remix) (4:35) The heavy rocking mid section of the track Exceptional had us dancing around so hard, we had to jam on it. This is what happened.
Tools used: Ableton Live 9 Suite (too cheap to upgrade to 10!) A bunch of free .VST files from the Internet Adobe Audition (too useful unfortunately!) Fender Aerodyne Bass Korg Electribe Sampler 2 Korg Kaossilator Pro Korg Mini-KP (red box) Korg MicroKorg (lots of stuff and vocoder) Korg Minilogue XD (still new). Korg Volca(s) (Bass, Beats, and Keys) Novation Launchpad
Scott Walker (the singer not the politician) is one of my favorite musicians. He passed away yesterday (March 25, 2019) to very little fanfare. This is typical for my musical taste. The people I laud as ground breaking and genre bending get relegated to the small print in most websites. The people that they have influenced get the big headlines. If you don’t know who Scott Walker is, click here.
Scott Walker’s music has had an influence on my taste and music production experience. He comes off as smug and arrogant but he makes a lot of sense. Most know of my frustration with the overrated deification of singers in modern music. It is not to say that there is no talent required to be a singer, it is just that there is too much emphasis on the human voice as an instrument in modern “pop” music. I captured an interview snippet of him talking about what it is like to work with singers. I COULDN’T AGREE MORE.
Scott Walker on singers
Added the video because I love the song. Listen in headphones or speakers with vast separation.
This track started about 4 months ago with just some drum loops I programmed. I stumbled over it this evening at 9pm and I stayed at it till 2am until I finally had enough. I actually played some relatively bad bass guitar on this. I think I drowned it out with other bass lines so you cant tell how bad I am.
The WTOP traffic report was thrown in as a distraction. As always, I found a phrase or two that sounds funny when trimmed and repeated. This adds to the pointless lyrics.
Here’s what I used:
Ableton Live (of course)
Addictive Keys Plug-in (for the piano)
Bass Guitar
Korg Kaossilator Pro (for the crazy drum solo bridge)
Korg MicroKorg (sounds and vocoder)
WTOP Traffic Report
