music - tm

"Maroon March" [mp3 removed]

Work in process, possibly; it's still a bit MIDI-ish and I might add a second theme.

Update: I left it alone.

"McSterioso" [mp3 removed]

Continuing with a "down and dirty" series using just a software sequencer and software drum machine. McSterioso is another googlewhack, meaning a word that's never been used in bot-searchable form before (but still might not qualify as a scrabble word).

"Almost Gentle" [mp3 removed]

This is almost all virtual beatbox--the pitched sounds are electronic "toy piano" notes that I retuned to a slightly fuller, almost not-quite-Western scale, using velocity (i. e., how hard the key is virtually struck) to control pitch. Thus an almost gamelan-esque vibe.

"Almost" all beatbox because I added some low bass notes on a synth to give it some "bottom."

"Bassboggle Variation" [mp3 removed]

Added a second syn-flute to this tune plus some more sax and took out all the bass and rhythm so this is more like a chamber piece now.

"Bassboggle Variation (Beatbox)" [mp3 removed]

Same as above but with a bass line and beatbox demo loop used in this older tune underneath.

Update: Yeah, I know, "syn-flute." Generally synths should sound like synths and not other instruments (samplers are a different story) so we're into some defaults kitsch here. The great thing about having rules for yourself is you get to break them.

Update 2: Reworked the "beatbox version" to make it more like the original tune and less like the "chamber piece." It still has the flute-and-sax middle section instead of the rhythm break but is less artified in terms of overlayed melodies. Also bumped the volume. It's now more of a "proper tune" even if a bit of a silly MIDI goof.

"Drum Thing 2" [mp3 removed]

This is a short, straight up drum and bass tune. It's what they would have called a "dark roller" at Breakbeat Science (back when I used to hang out there and shop for vinyl--I kind of miss the drill), but the synth bass is a bit geeky for that. It's almost all commercial samples, I just wanted to see if I could do this, all the retriggering of amen breaks, etc. I am now closer to understanding the music I collected in some depth about 7 years ago. In a future post I'll show how all this works.