This weeks piece of music is a more beat driven orientated affair and I’m very happy with the outcome. This mellow track was composed and built on the Teenage Engineering Op1. I then added a few clap samples from a 909 at the end and about halfway trough an effect soaked Melodica comes into the track.
Give it a listen below:
Ok I’ve Cheated… A little bit. Although the opening track is my TOTW, The album “Benji” by Sun Kil Moon is truly outstanding and easily my favourite album this year up till now, so I had to include the whole thing.
If you have an hour, sit back and listen to it. It takes you on a journey. A dark voyage that you may not like to travel down often. The album may be bleak in many ways and full of death but it still manages to convey that life goes on and you should appreciate what you have for the brief time you have it:
This Week I wanted to crate something with a more summary mood. I started with the initial OP1 brassy pad sound that you hear from the beginning and iterated on it to build up the track.
Unfortunately midweek I managed to fall whilst climbing and badly injure my left arm. Although I haven’t broken anything it’s made playing instruments over the past few days painful and I was worried that I wouldn’t finish the track. Luckily a close friend and collaborator John George stepped in to provide the bass line and help me with some of the arrangement to get it out on time:
This is my favourite track by Simon & Garfunkel and that’s no mean feat considering they are some of the finest songwriters in history. Although the track is stunning lyrically, what really sets this above their other works is the mix. The track slowly blossoms into something darker as we go deeper into the profile of the subject. Instrumentation is built upon from a traditional acoustic guitar setup to feature rich tapestry from many different instruments from across the spectrum.
All of these instruments feel like they are suited to fit the story. The heavy tom that sounds like a hard punch on the chorus, the sorrowful and contemplative sound of the pedal steel guitar and then the string swells and deep brass towards the end all contribute to the piece.
The Boxer is quite simply a masterpiece. Something that was made by artists at the top of their game and with the love, care and attention of people who truly believe in what they are doing. I will never tire of it and it will never leave me:
This track was grating when I first heard it a few years ago but it has slowly become a track I have to listen to regularly. Old style punk with slightly tongue in cheek lyrics and a classic punk guitar riff that keeps the track bouncing along:
I recently picked up M01d, A Software Replica of the Famous Korg M01 for 3DS. Although still getting used to it, I thought the perfect way to give it a baptism of fire would be to use it solely to make the track of the week.
Krubera is a dark and roomy sounding track that was made using purely the sounds available on the M01d including effects. The reverb available on the M01d was also a deciding force for the track and was a major contribution towards its composition.
Give it a listen on Weekly Beats Below:
The original idea for this track was to create something along the lines of Acid house. It didn’t take long before it had gone in another direction but the use of the 303, 909 and Piano samples are still there although re-appropriated for the track.
This is also the first track where I’ve had a direct collaboration with another musician. Adam Wheeldon provided Live guitar and Bass for the Piece.
City to City is one great album. Most tracks end up being overshadowed by the amazing baker street but Right Down the Line has its charm:
Summery,catchy power pop at its best. With Class Historian the Oklahoma based BRONCHO have knocked it out the park. A track that suites the current heat wave but is addictive enough to stay in my playlist when the inevitable rain comes:
This week’s track was a little different. I wanted to create a track representing a sunrise. I knew I wanted a wall of sound approach to imitate the suns awesome power and after a few Ideas I decided that the use of radio static (the audio remnants of the big bang) was a perfect imitation.
This track is made up of many layers of different recordings of static with pitch shifting and automated EQ to add rhythms and melody’s to the track. I then accentuated elements that I liked with a heavily distorted electric guitar and a bass line from Monark, which I recorded through an FM radio using a transmitter: