Composition Challenge #8 - ' Searching for that new sound'

PolarityMan

DesVegas said:

very heavy ambient?

jazz gabba

AndyJP

Because you know I'm all about that seabass. No turbot.

Grunfeld

Of course "new" does not have to = "good".

I can do that.

Antique_Guitars

Yeah we don't want good songs! :-)

thecolourbox

How are people doing on this one? I'm guessing various unusual fusion mix ups will be the order of the day, currently I'm trying to work out what garage (as in the trashy lofi rock rather than the beatboxy style underground darrrrnce music type) classical might sound like, or how some modern classical/avanta garde-y elements could be used in a useful way.

Kind of wary that direct mashups could end up sounding like the kind of generic sounding Mark Ronson esque whimsy, or like those things that 12 year olds dance to on Britains Got Talent

PolarityMan

thecolourbox said:

How are people doing on this one? 

Still searching...............

Chuffola

I have something but I doubt its a "new sound" but I'm stumped on that front.

So, unless lightning strikes me I'll stick some Mongolian Yak Chants over it and call it Ambient Livestock Trance.

thecolourbox

I had a really good new fusion idea the other day, i really like blues, but then I also like rhythm, so i think I might do the obvious thing and mix the two.

Therefore mine shall be in the new style of Blues and Rhythm

steamabacus

I've not had much time to think about this challenge but I had a session this afternoon and I have an idea of what I'm doing now.

Funnily enough, just a week or so before this challenge was announced,I had purchased a boxed set of the Mighty Boosh series 1 and 2 just so that I could watch the 'Priest & The Beast' episode again. Rudi van Disarnio is right up there with Nigel Tufnel in my personal guitar gods! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have a track up on my SoundCloud page called 'I Have A Door!' that was influenced by this Boosh episode. I recorded that track about 7 or 8 years ago on my archaic old Win98 computer - it's a very basic backing loop (done on Cubase 3.7) of a sampled drum loop, a guitar loop done on my DL4 and a ropey bass line recorded on a ropey borrowed bass. I then just played lead guitar over that short loop and recorded it live onto minidisc.

I treat these challenges as projects to kick my arse into getting to know my 'new' computer recording setup better (only 10-year-old technology! Cubase SX on a WinXP machine!). So I've decided to re-record a version of 'I Have A Door!' with my 'new sounds'.

I've spent the afternoon setting up a new song in Cubase SX - of the original audio, the only thing that will remain will be the sped-up drum loop of the original as this is a big part of the feel of the original rhythm track. However, I've augmented this with Addictive Drums and will replace all the guitar and bass parts and work out a new expanded arrangement. The challenge is whether I can create a fuller, more fleshed-out track but still retain the feel and drive of the original spontaneous recording.

I've spent a lot of time this afternoon practicing the bass parts. I only ever play bass when recording something and it's such a physical instrument compared to the guitar. Getting the phrasing under my fingers takes a fair bit of practice - I've managed to avoid any blisters but my arm and hand muscles are feeling the effects of a tough work out. It's coming together, though. A bit more practicing and it'll be presentable, I think - there's a quite fast funky line where the phrasing is vital. Too sloppy and it just won't work.

Thankfully, recording guitar parts is a lot more straightforward for me.

Fretwired

I've been thinking about this the wrong way .. I've been after a new guitar sound [created some weird noises with some pedals and midid] when in fact 'Find the new sound' could refer to a genre of music or a mash up. I've had a Eureka moment.

steamabacus

I have an arrangement!

I'm not sure I'm going to have time to do everything I want with this track but I've had a productive Saturday afternoon. I recorded the bass parts and finalised an arrangemnt. I need to record some guitars now but I'll probably have to leave some of the guide guitar parts. To get the arrangement together I've recorded short one or two bar sections of the various parts and cut-and-pasted them into shape. Once I've got the arrangement, I prefer to re-record the parts as single, continuous performances from beginning to end of the track but I don't think I'll have time to do that with all of the parts.

So I've gone from the original basic loop in Cubase VST ...



to this arrangement in Cubase SX ...

thecolourbox

I'm really struggling to come up with something here, though I think that's more my creativity ability than the challenge. Normally though I'm operating within something I'm familiar with, so have some good reference (ie copying) points but with this all the cool ideas I think I'm having are incorporating styles I know nothing about, which is then hard to work with.

My original idea was basically an exact rip off of an existing song (I just didn't realise it at the time, sorry J. Casablancas et al) so I'm not sure how I can dress that up - I'm thinking the sound and aesthetics of the recording are the thing that has to be "new" because I'm strugging to think how melody could be something new and original?

octatonic

I've just emailed off an entry.

thecolourbox

Can you give me any hints

steamabacus

'New' is subjective, isn't it. Do something that is new to you.

thecolourbox

Any music from the last 30 years that isn't Stripes or Strokes then (and they are pretty retro ha ha)

Fretwired

I'm not going to make this one ... been far too busy.

octatonic

thecolourbox said:

Can you give me any hints

Sort of moody, slow tempo electronica- with throat singing.

thecolourbox

I'll bear that in mind, thanks

All my attempts tonight at making a new sound have just sounded like crap 80s music, which makes sense given I play a lot of 70s to be fair but still!!

steamabacus

Well, crap 80s music was the 'new sound' back then - even if it was just an 8-bit digital re-hash of 50s 'wall of sound' production aesthetics.


Maybe you're thinking a bit too literally? Who's to say what the 'new' sound is (it's all been done before, anyway). It could be something in the style of Neu!, it could be a Bossa Nova,it could be 'Nu' Metal,  it could be post-Morton Subotnick electronic weirdness,......