A few months back The Sound Evotion Competition caught my interest enough to explore the possibility of making a submission for Round 10. The basic gist of the competition is to use a ‘sample pack’ (of basic useful sounds) and make any song within the given guidelines. I normally wouldn’t do something like this, preferring to work unrestricted: but I liked the usability of the samples and thought some composition-rules, plus a deadline, might actually aid me in producing something unique. So away I went…
Unfortunately, because of the busy activities of the end of the year, only half a song was created. I missed the deadline (Sorry Sonicade ). Nevertheless I have recently had time to finish it off, fairly much as I had originally intended. If the round were still open this would be my submission. You can download the mp3 here:
New England xrns file - This means that you are free to remix the work however you want.
What of the song itself? Because of the competition restrictions it does not contain all the analogue elements I’m working hard at putting into all my other songs at the moment, e.g. voices and guitars. So I’ve tried to counter that by making the tune rather curly and odd. Yes, the dedication is to the place where I currently live, New England Australia. The attempted aim is to capture ‘the vibe’ in instrumental form - I’ve gone for a dreamy tension exploring both the open nature and the alienation of the countryside. The rest you can make up for yourself.
The release is trying to buy myself some time while I work on bigger long winded projects. This is my way of saying “I’m still here! Here’s a goody!”.
Hey thanks for the reply Beatslaughter! I was a little worried that this one was too weird for everyone…
I think possibly the long intro has been scaring people off, it really takes it’s time (although it is constantly evolving).
Yeah you certainly tapped into the chill vibe. Things can be very still up here. Especially out of town. But don’t forget it peaks up in the middle there - I’m actually worried about the busy section there and how that translates in the mastering… it’s possibly borderline.
ooh wow i like this… (typing as i listen) really interesting! nothing is like you would expect (well what i was expecting anyway ) in some way it reminded of some chemical bro’s stuff… but not to much… it’s a compliment anyway. tension building is awesome !! replay (goes download rns, thx!)
Sure… It is kinda naked out there. That aspect actually caught my ears in a pleasing way, so you can see how people hear things differently. But maybe a ramp volume on it would soften things.
The idea was to create as much beat confusion as possible in the intro but have it all emerge as a groove together later on. There are not many songs I can be confused by because of the rhythm, so when I do hear that confusion I tend to like it.
The intro was a bit too long for me … Nothing really caught my ear and kept my interest until the drums faded in. I like the drums a lot … very interesting drum pattern! I like the pads around the 3 minute mark. They offer a sweet contrast to the pseudo-glitchiness of the drums.
3:17 - GREAT! I got goosebumps right there. Excellent mini break and drop back into the whole track. Excellent lead line and sound …
The buildup in the middle is sweet. I rarely hear that kind of stuff in electronic music … a crescendo across the whole track … just building and building.
Thanks Sonus! Love it when I can get someone to have goosebumps -> that’s the juice.
Yep, add another nomination for the intro being too long. Regarding the lead, I though it was a rather difficult sample to work with, and it’s possibly only just too loud.
If you like the 5 beat stuff you should check out Silo (from Denmark). Sounds very similar to this song in places.
Just listened, but I guess I won’t have anything new to say. The sng evolves very slowly, but as soon as the pads come in, it gets really beautiful. I love it.
Wow thanks for the feedback, DDspeed, Itty and Ambivalence! Truly massaging my ego here Nah, only kidding. Good to see people giving it a go…
Regarding the ordinary drum samples: you can blame Sonicade! He chose the samples for the compo-pack. The crash is especially nasty.
Ah, I’m very glad Itty liked the intro: somebody got it! Otherwise it just appears as an overly long minimal weirdness fest. Hmmm, girlfriend music eh?
Yeah give those beats a look: I’d love to hear this song with a full proper prog-kit. You could get some really interesting 5/4 fills happening.
Glad I ‘can be’ a decent musician! I bloody hate it when I’m not decent!
I enjoyed this song, the intro is cool, some how sounds old MOD-style to me. The tracking techniques used in the song are educative. Totally a NICE SONG.
). Nevertheless I have recently had time to finish it off, fairly much as I had originally intended. If the round were still open this would be my submission. You can download the mp3 here:
Congratulations, Foo?, you’re a decent musician.
