August Composition Challenge

[NickD]

That's a banger... Sounds massive! The kick sound is awesome!

[Doctor J]

Thanks, I was messing with the kick EQ and volume right up to the end, I couldn't get it to work, but I put a high-pass filter at about 80Hz on it which made it a lot better. It's a 20" drum. I was really worried it would sound puny when I bought it but it's got a lot of meat to it.

[NickD]

It worked!

[lurksalot]

I think I might squeeze one in after all!

Its not ready yet and probably won't be ready at the deadline , but I think we have sussed out, that by then, I will have fallen in love with it and convinced myself that it is an absolute masterpiece, that will have the worlds music illuminati knocking at my door desperate to sign me up with a multi million pound contract*.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I shall of course decline and keep to my roots at the lower end of the Basschat forums   

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, lurksalot said:

... knocking at my door desperate to sign me up with a multi million pound contract...

 

Ooo... I do soooooo hate it when that happens. 

[Nail Soup]

2 hours ago, lurksalot said:

it is an absolute masterpiece, that will have the worlds music illuminati knocking at my door desperate to sign me up with a multi million pound contract

Yes, I'm pretty sure that Basschat is one of the places they visit to scour for talent 😀!

[Nail Soup]

I didn't think I'd be able to get anything done this month either.

Buuuuuuuut.......... I've finally had some inspiration and I reckon I'll be able to get it ready before deadline.

👍👍👍

[Leonard Smalls]

4 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I'm pretty sure that Basschat is one of the places they visit to scour for talent 😀

 

You'd be surprised how many times the bwggers have knocked on my door waving their so-called million pound contract expecting me to prostitute myself to them and write songs for Steps!

I've had to call Rentokil in more than once...

[Nicko]

3 hours ago, lurksalot said:

by then, I will have fallen in love with it and convinced myself that it is an absolute masterpiece

See my recent thread on your recording method.  I get this every month.  

 

This month is nearly done - and it's a cracker.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Nicko

[lurksalot]

4 hours ago, Nicko said:

See my recent thread on your recording method.  I get this every month.  

 

This month is nearly done - and it's a cracker.

We read from the same hymn sheet I reckon 😁  

[Nicko]

Here it is guys.

 

When I saw the image I initially thought it was Baker Street - a station i used for my daily commute for a few years - but it's obviously late at night and I don't work late so the only reason I ever saw it like that was when I'd been for after work drinks.  

Tech stuff - as usual.  A Fender tele was used for both guitar parts - lead using a Mesa Triple Rectifier and rhythm using a Marshall both simulated in Amplitube   The lead guitar has a tough of delay added which is synced to the BPM and seemed to tighten it up a bit (yes I know it's still a bit loose).  I've not used this idea before but it seems to work).  Squier CV Precision again using Ampeg SVT simulations in Amplitube. MT Power Drums, keys from Xpand II and some dodgy vocals by yours truly.  BVs are panned hard left and right on separate channels with different eq but are just copies.  I had a bit of trouble with tuning - I think because the temperature has been up and down like a whore's drawers the last few days but hopefully sorted in the final mix.

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Nicko

[lurksalot]

A bit gutted at the minute , having a quiet pint or two in that London , HOW MUCH , while mrs lurks and lurksalittle see a show, and thought it an ideal time to have a listen through …..forgot my pods FFS 🤦‍♂️

[upside downer]

Here's mine with four days to spare! Probably because it only has two instruments on it. And now, some pretentious twaddle about the tune 😁

 

 

A meandering, sometimes uplifting, sometimes melancholic melody that weaves through our lone hero's introspection on another of those nights where he is lost in time and space alone with his thoughts.

 

 

First outing for the electro-acoustic Irish bouzouki using a dash of delay pedal and subtle strings supplied by the Yamaha YPT-240 keyboard.

 

 

 

[lurksalot]

that was a manic weekend , interspersed with health issues and transport complications due to rail and tube strikes !

 

The guts of this was laid down before the weekend but the lyrics, such as they are .....   were added with the weekends experiences in mind!

 

 

The drums were punched in using EZ drummer and used a couple of presets , bass and guitars using Waves gtr3 FX and a splatter of Waves Manny M Reverb to tie it up .

All rolled in the glitter offered from Ozone 8 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed to add ........ Hark, I hear someone at the door already, I do hope he has a cheque book and pen ! 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by lurksalot

[Nicko]

17 hours ago, lurksalot said:

The guts of this was laid down before the weekend but the lyrics, such as they are .....   were added with the weekends experiences in mind!

Having heard that I'm wishing I'd actually based my lyrics on a station announcement - in particular the reported utterrings of Jah Wobble "I used to be somebody.  Repeat. I used to be somebody"

[Nail Soup]

Here's mine: Tube Overdrive

 

Blurb:

I've been reading about how Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica LP was made, and listening to a lot of Beefheart. The picture inspired a Beefheart-style wordplay... the musician term Tube Overdrive Vs how someone taking the Tube prefers it Over Driving (a car). Musically I tried to use the same compositional techniques as were used on TMR. Also used some tube overdrive and tunnel reverb on the vox!
 

Technical Notes:

DAW Studio One, Drums- Piano roll in Studio One's drum program, Bass: Vantage Avenger, Guitars - Squier Tele, Vox, SM58.

[skankdelvar]

From my soon-to-drop new album Songs For Moaning Bastards

Lyrics ↓

 

Spoiler

The TRrain Song
 

Distant footsteps make no sound
no one's here because you're living under ground
Violent silence, always there 
when you think you know the truth and no one cares
 

You never see the sun and you never feel the rain
you're standing in the darkness and you're waiting for a train 
 

Distant whispers never found
and you stop believing when you're under ground
All your fury, all your pain,
you could never give it up to see the sun and feel the rain
 

You never feel the rain and you never see the sun 
and you're waiting in the darkness for a train that never comes

Acid on your tongue and the thunder in your brain
and you're living with your failure and you're waiting for a train
 

'A steady patriot of the world alone, 
Friend to every country but your own'*
Vicious rumours, boundless crimes
It's your fate to rail at these modern times
 

You never feel the rain and you never see the sun 
and you're waiting in the darkness for a train that never comes
You never see the sun and you never taste the rain
and you're standing in the darkness and you're waiting for a train 
You never feel the rain and you never see the sun 
and you're waiting in the darkness for a train that never comes

 

* Lifted from George Canning (1770-1827)

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by skankdelvar
Lyric credit

[lurksalot]

Fair play , I was not expecting such a great turnout this month , most excellent 👍

 

I will set up the voting thread when I get in tonight 

[skankdelvar]

Quick PS:

 

This month I decided not to use MT Power Drum Kit and instead deployed Monster Drums, a freebie by Indonesian developer Agius Hardiman.

 

The nice thing about Monster Drums is that it's a sort of wrapper for a range of 20+ different sampled kits for use with different genres including pop, metal, reggae, East Asian trad and pop.

 

Includes Linn and Cajon kits. Sounds can be routed to individual or grouped channels. The kit packs are fairly small, mostly less than 100mb so no round robins or (afaics) velocity specific samples. Works OK, though and fairly light on CPU.

 

It's just gone up to V2 (64bit only) but I think the 32bit version may still be lurking somewhere.

 

The only annoying thing is that the developers page takes a while to load, otherwise the package is an easy install.

[Dad3353]

12 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

... and instead deployed Monster Drums, a freebie by Indonesian developer Agius Hardiman...

 

I concur; this is a very efficient (and free...!) easy-to-use drum kit, which works well straight out of the box, so no need to faff around. Many options, though, all easy to access, to get variety or inspiration. Recommended; worth a trial, at least.

Good Call, Skank. 

[NickD]

I'll have to take a look at that... Nice one, thanks! 

 

 

[lurksalot]

Ok dudes , we are in , no dress code , run what yer brung , fill yer boots 

 

 

[Doctor J]

On 23/08/2022 at 21:37, Nail Soup said:

Here's mine: Tube Overdrive

 

Blurb:

I've been reading about how Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica LP was made, and listening to a lot of Beefheart. The picture inspired a Beefheart-style wordplay... the musician term Tube Overdrive Vs how someone taking the Tube prefers it Over Driving (a car). Musically I tried to use the same compositional techniques as were used on TMR. Also used some tube overdrive and tunnel reverb on the vox!
 

Technical Notes:

DAW Studio One, Drums- Piano roll in Studio One's drum program, Bass: Vantage Avenger, Guitars - Squier Tele, Vox, SM58.

 

Love this, massive Beefheart vibe, deeeelcious 👌🏻