Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

May Composition Challenge - GET WRITING!


Skol303
 Share

Recommended Posts

Nice to hear what you guys have come up with! Love the honky-tonk themes running through them.

This is what I have so far. It's generally finished, but I may just keep re-uploading it with tiny tweaks because i'm more compulsive than I should be.

[url="https://soundcloud.com/jaedry/old-guns"]Old Guns[/url]

Now, to work on trying to get my electric violin sound like a fiddle and create some country tunes..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I entered the last two months...then got really embarrassed about my awful efforts and deleted them :D

However this month I think I've made something that I'm not totally ashamed of :D

https://soundcloud.com/robotrobotrobotmusic/song-for-wilhelm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had a very quick skim-listen to the entries so far and they're sounding great :) Well done all.

I'm hoping to get something done this month - keen not to break my run of having never missed a challenge ;) - but the pending arrival of Skol Jnr The Second [i](working title)[/i] may put the kibosh on that. We'll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1431606927' post='2773096']
I've had a very quick skim-listen to the entries so far and they're sounding great :) Well done all.

I'm hoping to get something done this month - keen not to break my run of having never missed a challenge ;) - but the pending arrival of Skol Jnr The Second [i](working title)[/i] may put the kibosh on that. We'll see.
[/quote]

it's ok, i gave up my run of being in every one some time ago haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1431606927' post='2773096']
but the pending arrival of Skol Jnr The Second [i](working title)[/i] may put the kibosh on that. We'll see.
[/quote]

Ah..good news on the incoming. :)

Make sure you are at home on delivery date,
you don't want the Stalk leaving it behind the back gate..... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've a good few days yet before the curtain, anyone up for a longish story..? No..? Yes..? Don't all shout at once. OK, then, if there's no dissention, I'll take that as a 'Yes'...

I'd seen in a recent topic here the subject of quieter drumming brought up, and a reference to a new product, a sort of 'hi-tech' version of Hot Rods (bundles of twigs used as drumsticks, for the incult among you...). They intrigued me enough to order a couple of pairs from the States, and they took a bit of time to arrive. No sooner unpacked than I wanted to try 'em out, of course. I wasn't too well, but, when it's Xmas... By sheer coincidence, I thought I'd try recording the session with my 'phone. I had a quick 'warm-up' type of run around the kit, idly beating out whatever came to mind, and stopped the recording after a few minutes. The tips of the new sticks were shattered, not a good sign, as I'm far from a heavy hitter, but that's another tale, so I'll leave that there.
Meanwhile, I'd been seeking inspiration for the current Challenge, and laid down a rudimentary 'sketch', using my Superior Drums vst and Xaviere guitar. An idea came into my fevered brain: could I do a 'live' drum track this time..? I could, I suppose, but it's a hassle setting up for tracking in our music room, as the eldest's PC is in the room above, and my PC is the other end of the cottage. Never mind, I thought, I'll see, at least, what the sound is like from the 'phone recording. Hmmm... Somewhat 'low-tech'; even worse, I'd just been messing about, not playing to a song or anything. Undaunted, I checked the speed. 114 bpm. Damn..! My guitar was recorded to 120 bpm..! What about the 'pulse'..? Hmm... Not really the same as Superior, but roughly compatible. A scarlet devil on my left shoulder whispered 'Go for it..!' into my ear, and so I did. The rough 'phone track was stretched to match 120 bpm, a fair few edits to try to line up my drums to the metronome (not entirely successful, of course..!) and a bit of standard Cockos compression and EQ and we're away..! I mixed a bit of Superior into the final cut to beef up the lo-fi 'phone track and render the whole thing a bit less Frankenstein, and that's it..! Phew..! That was fun, wasn't it..?
No, I'm not through yet; that's the preamble to the main part of the tale. What..? Yes, you may go to the loo; I'll wait till you're back...

OK..? All settled..? No, cheers, I'm OK with my tea. You go ahead, though...

Where was I..? Ah, yes; recording my drums... So, it's too much bother to go the whole hog and set up a complete session. The 'phone is fine as an experiment but, really..! It's not what anyone could call 'quality', and I have no control whatever of the mix etc. What to do..? The solution, I thought, would be a field recorder of sorts. I had a look at the Zooms, for instance, the H1, H2 and H4. All very interesting, but I came to the conclusion that, ideally, I'd like to be able to use at least 2 mic channels simultaneously, with Xlr sockets, and phantom power. That puts the kibosh on most of the offerings, at least below a certain budget. Did I mention budget..? No, and for good cause; I've little to [s]waste[/s] [s]spend[/s] invest in such frivolities..! It's not that I'm poor, it's just that I have little money..! Still, undeterred, I plough on with my perusal of various digital (and even cassette..!) recorders. My favourite port of call is, of course, my local (that's to say: French...) second-hand market, equivalent to Gumtree (LeBonCoin...). Yes, I'd already burrowed through the BC Marketplace and found nothing I could afford. An item caught my attention: a Fostex MR8-HD. It's an 8-track recorder with 4 Xlr sockets, and can record (unusually...) 4 tracks simultaneously of the 8, at 44100, 16 bit. The medium used is an internal 40Gb hard drive with uncompressed Wav files. All well and good; even slightly higher spec than required (4, rather than 2 tracks at a time...). It's not battery operated, though, so needs access to a mains plug. Not a problem for our music room, however.
Low cost, certainly, but still a tad too expensive, and not easy to source, in good nick, fully functional. Now, however, comes the really interesting part. I spotted one of these beasts on t'bay UK. Blast..! It's collection only, from Cambridgeshire, and the auction closes tomorrow, midday..! Never mind, I'll try my luck. I put in a holding bid of £53 and contact the seller to see if he'll send to France. My luck is in..! He replies very quickly. Blast..! My luck is out; he says he only wants collection, not posting. Sadly, I ask him to cancel my bid. The auction ends.
What..? No-one has bid beyond £30, and my bid wins..? The fellow writes again, saying that it was too much trouble to cancel the bid; he'll send to France after all... Great..! A Fostex in top condition for £30..! Wow...
Still, the auction was for collection only. I ask him to work out the shipping cost from my address details and give me the full amount to be paid. The next day, I get another message through Ebay; he's sent the parcel, it cost £34. What..? He's sent it..? I haven't paid him yet..! I go to Ebay, but have to change my address to a UK one (my elder brother's will do fine...) so that Ebay will permit me to pay. I can't change the end of auction sum from £30, so I have to use my IT skills to unearth the Paypal destination of the Ebay payment, and send the complement to cover the postage costs. All is now squared; I've only to wait for the postie to pass, beginning of next week, and I'll be able to track 4 channels at a time, in hi-fi, using our decent mics, and copy over to Reaper for further processing, and all for under £70..! Chuffed..? Yes, somewhat. Pleased as Punch that there are still, on this strange planet, those with enough faith in human nature and confidence to post stuff to strangers on the back of a couple of Ebay messages.
End of story, for now. Hey, where are you all..? Was it really that bad..? OK, I'll turn the lights out and lock up. More later when the parcel arrives. We'll see if there's a sour note at the end; for now I'm confident. Now back to the studio for the rest of tonight's programme; thanks for listening.

Edited by Dad3353
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1431669983' post='2773737']
A very enjoyable read for a first novel. The author writes in a very conversational style which helps endear the hero to the reader.

I'm very much looking forward to the sequel. The start of a franchise perhaps?

8/10
[/quote]

:lol:

I claim nothing on 'style', Edgar Alan Poe had it all sussed out before ever I was born, but with a slightly more sombre subject in general..!

8/10..? :gas: I'm flattered..! Best not to encourage too much, though; one should beware of what one wishes for... ;)

Edited by Dad3353
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ref: Dad's Four track. I have to agree. There are times when old fashioned hardwear is so much easier to use. I have some old cassettes of things I did on one and they sound great. I am not altogether covinced that progress is anything more than going round in circles faster. It's all good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1431697895' post='2774091']
Ref: Dad's Four track. I have to agree. There are times when old fashioned hardwear is so much easier to use. I have some old cassettes of things I did on one and they sound great. I am not altogether covinced that progress is anything more than going round in circles faster. It's all good.
[/quote]

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:167485]

So you, too, are getting old, eh..? :rolleyes: :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The days are long, it's chilly out, not much energy and typing this keeps my fingers from drumming on the arm of the armchair (driving the household nuts, I am...). I'd try knitting, but my hands are rather too frail already. I've some audio books, but they send me to sleep. So... What else to do, eh..? Suggestions on a postcard, please; nothing scabrous (I wouldn't be up to it, anyway..! :blush: ).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1431716606' post='2774372']
Oo eh, missus..! Get you..! :rolleyes:

:lol:
[/quote]

Unfortunately my skills in small talk and my poor recall combined to a very unscrabrous evening , though my dancing skills did seem a touch magnetic to a couple of young ladies , well , I say magnetic, I think I repelled them .

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1431243945' post='2769040']
Nice!
I could definitely imagine that going on in the bar while Audie Murphy stands on a box battling with the likes of Broderick Crawford!
[/quote]

I have only just clocked why you were first in here Mr Smalls , You do have a connection with Arizona ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1431732902' post='2774558']
I have only just clocked why you were first in here Mr Smalls , You do have a connection with Arizona ;)
[/quote]

"Name's Smalls, Leonard Smalls. Friends call me Lenny, only I ain't got no friends."
:hi:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Despite various injuries, a lack of talent (and sometimes patience ! ), I've decided to have a go at the challenge...mmm

I thought the donkey (mule?) on the left looked a tad dis-heartened and have written it from his point of view :unsure:

Also,I have little concept of mixing,eq (ing?) etc,etc...so it will be what it'll be and I shall wait for the howls of derision and laughter and try better next time....

I've also under-estimated the time involved, although I still managed to get through the epic by Dad3353... !!!

Nige

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im not around much this month but I was compelled to submit an entry after reading up on the fight at the Corral. This entry is focused on the Clanton brothers and the emotional aftermath of the battle. Its very rough and edgy with very little time given to it but I really like it and hope to finish it properly in the future if I get around to it. please enjoy.

https://soundcloud.com/theboysings/run-ike-run-clanton-boys

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1432035421' post='2777399']
Im not around much this month but I was compelled to submit an entry after reading up on the fight at the Corral. This entry is focused on the Clanton brothers and the emotional aftermath of the battle. Its very rough and edgy with very little time given to it but I really like it and hope to finish it properly in the future if I get around to it. please enjoy.

[url="https://soundcloud.com/theboysings/run-ike-run-clanton-boys"]https://soundcloud.c...un-clanton-boys[/url]
[/quote]

Jim Morrison is alive..! Don't touch a hair of it; it's finished properly just as it is. Excellent..!

'Sgonna be another difficult month for picking winners, eh..?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='fingers211' timestamp='1432112918' post='2778198']
Here's the entry into the novice section.....


[url="https://soundcloud.com/nigel-jewell/derek-the-deaf-donkey-goes-too-far-west"]https://soundcloud.c...es-too-far-west[/url]
[/quote]

Welcome to the party; we're all novices (well, most of us, anyway...). What a magnificent entry as an entry..!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...