what is going on in your musical life

yes I really can't be bothered with heavy-handed "DO YOU SEE?!?" chat

Been messing with short loops a lot lately. Like, just one bar or even just a half a bar. Just trying to do stuff that's harmonically different from what I've been doing over the last year or so. I usually don't record that stuff, as it can get kind of tedious to listen back to. But, for sure, it's been steering me away from the more grey / bleak tones I've been traveling in for the past several months. I expressed some interest some while back that I would like to get my music, just generally speaking, into happier territories and timbres and these exercises seem to be working as far as that goes.

A couple of the loops that I thought turned out well were this one, which is a very esoteric melody that I (sort of?) came up with. I linked to it in the description for the loop, but another lifetime ago when I was an aspiring hip hop beat maker, I created, what I envisioned to be a short interlude type of beat where I sampled and chopped a guitar riff from the intro of 'Sunshower' from the first Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band album. So, it struck me that my skills as a guitarist have improved greatly since I made that beat over a decade ago and that I could probably just play the riff for real. So, that's what I did. Just tried to expand on it with something else.

The other one is here. The idea for this one was to play just one chord, but in as many different voicings as I could. So, I got my chord book out and played as many differing variations of C major seventh that I could and just added on layers until a melodic line hit me.

And, finally, I did this one yesterday evening and I really like how it came out. The more I do those short loops, the more I'm starting to realize how valuable that one big, ornamental chord change can be. Like, you build this nice layer of very pleasing harmony and then just break it wide open with one carefully placed B minor seventh chord (or whatever) that makes the song take a turn that the listener perhaps wasn't expecting. I love that stuff. It's a rough take off on an idea that I sort of learned from the song 'The Motivator' from the T.Rex album Electric Warrior. Most of the song is just E major with a hammer-on on the A and D strings. It actually gets kind of droney if you try to play it without a drum track or rhythmic base, but it has an incredibly quick, but well placed changeup to C major and then A minor, and then right back to that E major. It sounds boring, but the harmony and release that emerges when those changes hit are just magical. So, I've kind of started to develop my own take on that kind of playing.

I've really just been having fun playing a lot lately. More fun than I can remember ever having while playing by myself than ever before. I used to get together with some buddies back in Reno and jam on Sunday mornings. We never really "got anywhere" when we played, it was just a really natural and good environment to be in. All three of us were really interested in the same music and we all had the same ideas about making music that was perhaps a bit indicative of its influences, but which also had a lot of unique things to say. More often than not, we just kind of worked grooves without much busy soloing or any really "flashy" playing, but that was kind of the point. Just really fun to get ideas bounced back at me from a perspective that I hadn't considered. I feel like I'm getting to that sort of point within my own head as, through the looping exercises and purposely "limiting" myself, I'm starting to see and hear things that would not have occurred to me otherwise.

Nice. The first one sounds a bit like Ph.D.'s "I Won´t Let You Down" – similar melody.

Every once in a while, something comes out of my brain and I'm genuinely confused as to where it came from. Case in point. It's probably the best thing I've done in quite some time, but it's so far removed from anything I've been into lately, I am really struggling to come up with context. The only thing I can think of is when I was really into Michael Jackson back in the late 80s and early 90s, I would buy any and all singles that he released because they were cheap. Now, I was ten when Dangerous came out, so I was just into the a-sides on the singles, but MJJ would oftentimes put these house remixes on the b-side and my young listening ears had no idea where that stuff was coming from. Now I know that there was obviously a huge house music scene going on at the time and this was obviously an attempt to get his music (back) into the dance clubs. But, being only ten or eleven years old, I had zero knowledge of that. So, these house remixes just kind of sounded like these jumpy, slightly familiar variations on a song I knew. It was pretty challenging music for me at the time, because I didn't really like "dance music", but you know, when you're that young you're not really cognizant of "Hey, this isn't my favorite music, maybe I should flip the tape over", compounding with not having any money to just buy a new tape, you make due with what you have. So, I would often listen to these house mixes and find aspects about them that I liked. And it wasn't just Michael Jackson that would put those house remixes on his singles (but I bring him up because that was the first instance I recall of encountering them). Sometimes, r+b groups would put one of those house remixes on the b-side of their singles and it was the same kind of scenario: look for the aspects I liked. And, inevitably, I would always hear a sort of moody and melancholy timbre that I would zero in on. So, maybe that's where this new recording comes from. I honestly have no idea.

Is there such a thing as "sad disco" and / or "sad house"? I feel like that's the sort of groove I was going for with this new recording.

When I think of songs that would have a similar type of mood that I was shooting for, things like 'Ceremony' by Joy Division / New Order, 'Missing the Moon' by the Field Mice, 'The Noose of Jah City' by Archy Marshall / King Krule, the J Dilla cover of EW+F's 'Brazilian Rhyme', and I'm sure there's some others that I'm drawing a blank on right now. But, stuff like that: definite groove, but kind of sad.

Oh yeah, I guess this context might also matter: that new recording is a remix of this original from earlier this year.

I'll ask my coworker about sad disco/sad house bc I'm pretty sure she makes it lol. "dark ambient"? "ambient techno"? we basically repeated the "what is ambient" argument in the musical controp thread verbatim the other week

v nice tracks Austin, I dig the remix quite a bit. I've found that the ideas that come seemingly unprompted or unrelated to other work are the best, most beguiling, and rewarding ideas and places to go. best not to question it and for sure try to capture it again when it strikes

totally prepped for my two performances this week
it's helping to keep my mind focused on things that are not horrifying on the micro or macro level
focusing on music really helps un-fuck my head; i wish there weren't such a stigma about self-promotion because it really helps diffuse the tension/horror.

a necessary evil for all artists unfortunately. with that in mind, here's video of me performing my latest tape collage "Sipper of Tea"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNypuCkpInw

I wonder how much there actually is a stigma vs how much people worry about striking the wrong tone, overdoing it, etc. It's mostly the latter imo.

if it's genuinely a necessary evil, can we reduce some of the stigma by doing it without shame? is that possible? i have been wondering this.

yea just do it, if anyone judges or shames you they're wrong. for real. it's a hustle, like anything else

I think so, genuine excitement is vastly preferable to false modesty or apologizing for your work.

that's how i feel about it -- and many people who like me as a person would not know an event is happening unless i tell them, so it's purely informative
i wish accomplished people didn't display shame about it, i guess -- their shame leaks over into less-accomplished people like me and it seems unwarranted

their problem. never understood the "oh don't look at me, don't look at me" or pretending to be embarrassed about success - it's an infantile, stupid, vestigial Gen X trait

Recital for a half dozen friends a little later tonight. Chopin Op 28 no 20, Satie Gymnopédie 1, and accompanying my housemate singing Thom Yorke “Ingenue”. Wish me luck.

you're living my dream, which i failed to achieve because i gave up! good luck, you'll do great!

I like your tape pieces a lot, flappy!

Yeah, that's interesting stuff. That's not a Tascam Portastudio, is it?

And that's very cool, silby. Hope it went well.

yeah it's a tascam 424 mkiii
thanks for the kind words!

Wow! I got one of those in 1999 to put together the portfolio that I ended up using to get into a composition course and switch to a music degree. Used it all the time for several years to record, mess with tapes, and make no-input mixer noise. When I first switched to computer recording, I even still used it as a (crude) interface. Looking at what they go for now, maybe I should have hung on to it.

Might do "Freddie Freeloader" at a jam tonight, if my drummer friend is up for it. My guitar duo will be performed by a couple of McGill guys this weekend.

At this: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cowan-cicchillitti-duo-tickets-49760096789

I still have a 4-track cassette Portastudio. Haven't used it in a while but I love retaining the option.

Another new one, from yesterday. Back into Disintegration soundalikes.

my latest record, a mix of doo-wop/hip-hop/techno and ambient

https://operatorplug10.bandcamp.com/album/dolls-2018

first song is markedly more upbeat than the rest

as far as instrumentation: live keyboards, some electronics (hardware/ableton plugins), samples from movies (buffalo 66/love and friendship/slums of beverly hills), guitar (track 2), majority of all sounds are played live (i don't quantize as a rule, tho some of the beats are looped), also incorporates field recordings from vancouver

Cool shit!

Another attempt at completely demolishing a semi-oldish tune: https://austinato.bandcamp.com/track/untitled-99-austins-astralpop-autopsy-remix

I'm feeling genuinely grateful that this month I get to do pretty much all the things that I do. Had a great brass band gig last weekend (which was a block from my house and David Murray stopped in later), I have a short DJ set tonight opening for a friend's band, and next weekend are the jazz gigs with Ler0y J0nes that I've been shedding for.

Wow

hi 5 jordan! i feel similarly about this month but mostly this week. If someone asked me to be in their Halloween cover band of a band I actually want to play the songs of, I would be almost fully satisfied.
making things happen does take a lot of effort, but it is worth it imo. have fun tonight and enjoy your jazz gigs! i am playing tomorrow with 2 ilxors! if you know me/us irl you probably already know this because i have been talking about it incessantly :)

so the exhibition I mentioned upthread was on Friday and I managed to put together just over half an hour of music for it. I wasn't completely thrilled with what I finished - another few days to work on it both in terms of song and sound design would have really helped - but everyone seemed to appreciate it and I got speaking to a guy who asked if I would be interested in doing something for his science fiction event, which is exciting (despite my lack of knowledge about science fiction). It was a real buzz, to be honest - there were people there who I didn't know who seemed to be actively enjoying it and the friends I brought along for support said they overheard some nice things said. I was happy with how it sounded on the night, in the room, and it's 30 mins of music I can develop I didn't have three weeks ago, so I'm considering it a victory.

It's also motivated me to get a bit more serious about this. I've been to so many local things where people play music that I think is on a par or worse than stuff I'm doing, and if I thought I could make my laptop loops come alive on stage then I would definitely start looking into trying to play gigs.

joy, that is outstanding! I would love to do something similar with my music, as "soundtrack" is basically where I see my music heading. Of course, I'd really have to buckle down and practice a lot more before I would be ready to play out.

Couple more "new" songs from this weekend here and here. Really pleased with my recordings lately.

That's great bj. Having a forced deadline to generate material sounds very appealing rn.

very cool boxedjoy

thanks DJI xpost

We recorded the set from Friday -- here it is! Someone said it sounded like a lavender-scented bog, feel free to decide for yourself. Drums/percussion, harmonium, electric guitar <3 https://bit.ly/2EnyvOv

that's me on guitar

recorded by tarfumes!

whoa...

thta shit drones so hard. i love it!

damn, that sounds really, really good. I especially like when you can't quite make out what the percussion is doing and it all blends together. Looking forward to giving it a listen in better conditions/headphones later.

yeah, great job you all! love the NAP trio name, too :)

yes

thank you! i am hoping we can scoop up another gig or two. as a frequent show-goer, i think this would be comforting to hear on a cold wintery night.

Enjoyed the drone jam.

LL were you micing the drums through some kind of processor/pedal setup? Sounds very cool.

the drum set was un-miked (miced?) but the kalimba/tongue drum was being run through amp+ delay iirc? i was playing that somewhere in the middle for a few minutes (you can tell it's me because the drum set stops). otherwise it was manned by the harmonium player.
thank you!

the band i've been playing with recorded at electric audio with steve albini last week. in 20+ years of playing music i've never recorded in a pro studio before so i was pretty nervous but it turned out good. we recorded live to tape, so no mixing after the song was on tape, which actually ruled because obviously he knows how to get good sounds in his studio with his gear (the drums in particular sound amazing) and it means no mixing. unfortunately for me this band has a whole album they did before i joined that they haven't released yet, so they're going to try and get that out first before we put out the stuff i'm on, but i still think it might come out sometime this year?

― na (NA), Tuesday, May 8, 2018 9:19 AM (five months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so six months later and the album i am not on is still not released (and neither is the one i am on). my bandmate has been trying to set up an album release show for months now so it can be officially released. he's now aiming for december or january. so i guess the albini-recorded album that i AM on will come out sometime in like ... 2022? never? it is mastered now at least. meanwhile my bandmates want to get together to write new songs and i'm like why? we have two whole albums that aren't even out yet, why are we writing new songs? tied up in this is that i kind of want to quit the band but feel bad doing it before the album i'm on comes out

That's a shame. Hope you can get everything sorted.

I made a little jam on my Circuit last night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KLVo2HITE

n/a that is frustrating -- idk what the solution is but the problem is clear