Messages

To Nyu001:
Did you read my PM? I sent you my proposal for the next theme. I saw that you were online today but you didn't reply. So please PM me or I'll be mean and just host the next competition
-we don't want to keep people waiting, do we

Hey, I was wondering which samples you used, as it sounded really good. I've tried doing noiry things multiple times now, but it always comes out quite bland. Thanks in advance!

[djres!]

First off; all tracks inspired me. These aren't things you hear every day and all the tracks were very original. I certainly learned something (freakish?) from all of them. It was hard to pick a winner...

The winner is: djres!

Reviews:

- Boojiboy: What a funky freak! There are things I really like about your track; most of the funky loops, in some places the wah-effect and the strange build-up (too bad it's followed by a fade-out). Sadly, the wah-effect gets annoying over time. That and the pad make it just a little too corny.

- Funkmast: Indeed a Freak of Nature. I don't feel comfortable with the things I hear but still they're very recognizable. I like how it starts with something along the lines of Happy Birthday... and then converts into something totally different. Too bad it's only 1:21. You could've gone much further. I like the vocals and the grainy production; they suit the DIY/"I just recorded it" mentality. I'm not liking the choir-samples though. Nice little track, overall.

- Hammerite: Wow. Like standing in a dicotheque while on some weird brain-altering drugs. Again, too bad it's short and doesn't really go places. Beside that, it's a freak... but not really a freak of nature. More like a freak of alien nature.
A really nice experience nonetheless.

- djres: Amazing! The lo-fi beat and some of the effects remind me of post-rock, but not quite. I can also hear something like a sitar in the background. I really like the rhodes-like piano.
At the 3:00 mark the beat comes in WAY to loud but it seems to blend in later. A strange effect.
I think after that point the track gets too distorted, while it's a nice effect with the keys which stay clean.
Also, the production of the track is a bit too lo-fi.
Overall, the very organic mix between beats, weird effects and totally different instruments like sitar, rhodes and synths make this track a mesmerizing winner. I'd really like to know more about the way it's made.

Congratulations all!
Looking forward to the next compo...

Hey.
Well I live in the Netherlands and the 16th won't be over until midnight. (GMT+1 I believe)
Tomorrow I have to go to school but might be able to review in the evening.

So, if you have to finish something, there's still time! 

Oh and djres... does your track count for the competition?

[Freaks of Nature.]

Freaks of Nature.

This contest is called Freaks of Nature because I want you guys to make something that is in a way very normal, but also very strange. For example; you could use a standard scale, but put a very strange abnormality in it. Or have some sudden weird effects or chord changes.
As long as the "normal" factor stays visible.

For instance, when you look at a picture of these siamese twins:

You can obviously see two babies that would've been very normal... if they weren't stuck to each others head that is.

Or look at these hands:

They're normal hands, but they can do something that's kind of freakish.

Wow! What's this!

It's a photoshop of me without glasses by a friend of mine... Four eyes! That's two too many!

I think you get it now. So, ordinary things with a very weird twist that you don't see coming. Or do. Be creative!

(Also, please use a link that leads directly to your song. Yes... again.)

Thanks Jens!
And that was a very nice description of the piece I made.
I will try to start a new one soon.
Just started studying... "Composition & Music Production" at the School of Arts Utrecht here in the Netherlands. ^^

EDIT: New one started.

The forming of a seashell.
I don't know much about chemical reactions so I won't go into details. 



http://www.box.net/shared/37lub2zhfh

Here's my entry. I tried to mix the "earthly" approach with some alien influences.

http://www.mediafire.com/?7nzl1txjdm0

I like it... it's very clean... what do you use to record?

I guess some of the sounds could blend in better (with a little compression), but I kinda like it this way. It's very very clean and also sounds a little silly in a good way.

It's very nice. Catchy, silly, etc.

Oh yeah forget about me. 
I know it's not very vikingy but you could at least have given an explanation...

Oh well, I'll just join the next one.

In this one the scientist-viking lost his house and goes travelling.
He goes and sees southern Europe (around the middle of the song), as you can hear.
But everything comes to an end so he goes back to his own country to build himself a new house and lives happily ever after. With a beautiful viking-wife and LOTS of viking-babies ofcourse. Which goes without saying. Obviously.

http://members.lycos.nl/maaark/MyMusic/TravellingViking.mp3
Right click=> Save as...

If that doesn't work; go to http://members.lycos.nl/maaark/MyMusic/ and download the file.

buy a bass guitar! that's what I did... I'm a guitar player and bought a very simple 120 dollar bass guitar to get some bass tracks down... great purchase.
If you play guitar then it's really something to consider.

Hey manÃ,  I have a bass guitar .. but it tricky to record and get the right sound .. I use it when I'm recording songs and such but a vsti with diffrent bass types and sounds would really make it easier.

btw. do you have that guitar in you avatar? I love that type of guitar .. I just bought an Epi Dot, great guitarÃ, 

deFineLicht: Ok, thanks anyway

Yup, I own the Ibanez AS73 TCRÃ, 
Bought it in San Francisco while visiting the states.
Great guitarÃ, 
The Epi Dot, also. 

I ment the vsti's you used I should have said software instruments

I use Edirol Orchestral for my strings, horns and woodwinds. And some various other free ones for diffrent stuff ... you don't have a good bass guitar vsti do you?
I've been looking for a while now, and I can't seem to find anything that sounds good.

buy a bass guitar! that's what I did... I'm a guitar player and bought a very simple 120 dollar bass guitar to get some bass tracks down... great purchase.
If you play guitar then it's really something to consider.

Here's my entry...
Slide-guitar for the westernish effect, lots of reverb and weird effects for the space vibe.
It's called Spacecowboy Madman. It's about a space cowboy going insane of loneliness.

http://members.lycos.nl/maaark/MyMusic/SpacecowboyMadman.mp3

If it doesn't work, go to http://members.lycos.nl/maaark/MyMusic/ and download the file manually.

Pretty weird.Ã, 

Well, I'm not a native speaker, I meant Midterranean influences (is that correct?)

I thought the mix was already rather bassy, but it could be my speakers... I didn't really realise I used a flat and natural 9 in the same F chord, but now I think of it, I seem to be doing that in other songs too... strange...

Thanks for the constructive comment!

Ah I read your first post again, and now I get what you tried to say.
Well, I'll probably get it's flaws out sometime.
Maybe this sunday even!

I mainly post here to get feedback about what to improve the next time I start working on something. 
This way, I hope to climb the ladder of music, and one day (like 2030 or so, wow sounds like the far future!) reach an acceptable step.
I dream of being like Nikolas one day, Greek, clearing polluted minds with my tunes.

With "on the next one" I mean "new song/tune/random notes!"

Heh, I didn't make it with an RPG game in mind, and I still can't see how those two would fit together, but thanks 

As always, thanks for commenting.

The strings are not pads, it's a string sound I got out of Reason, the string chords are played on my midi-controller.
When I'm experimenting I like do to things quick before the "wow-this is cool"-kick I get is over. So when I'm done, I often forget to tweak or even change the sounds of some aspects of the experiment.
Yeah, the chords could be more diverse, but that is what I'm trying to learn right now... how to make the progressions nice, smooth, etc. without interrupting the flow. I do this by experimenting, and sometimes it interrupts too much, and sometimes I leave it too bland.

So, on to the next one! (when I have some time to spare...)

Since the Music Competition thread hasn't been started again, I gotta do something else with my creativity.

This is something I made this weekend...
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=49171

As said on icompositions;

"What do you get when you combine Oriental-, western music and a glitchy loop (made with a bedroom sink, kitchen supplies, screwdrivers, and the radiator) ?
I think it would sound like something like this.

Made with Ableton Live 6 and Reason 3.
VST's used: Guitar Rig 2, Glitch by dblue, and some compressors/reverb things Ableton has built in."

So let me know what you think...

If it's still alive, I'd maybe like to make some tunes for it... but only in MP3...

Aw man, the little throphy-tapes are awesome!
Now I want to participate... maybe I'll cook up something glam-rockish... that's 80s, right?