i have been having some ear problems which is literally the worst thing for a weekly music challenge!! so, this week i just wanted to write/arrange some stuff and not worry too much about sound design or mixing since i couldn't wear headphones for long. here is an extremely midi arrangement of a little melody i have had in my head for a while. now i can set it free. lol
Picking back up after being sick last week, I kept things pretty simple. I started witha simple melody and added some drums to accompany it. I then filled out the rest. Finally I added the ZOIA to the mix and really liked the way that Loop Forest helped give the whole thing some texture. I saved it for the second half of the song to help it feel like it evolves a little bit.
Major props to the Rhodes preset that came out for the OP-XY last week, too.
Each week I think I'm going to do something very minimal and spacious, and each week I end up filling the rests with notes. This one's no exception, but given the busy tax-preparation weekend, I'll take what music shows up in the ether.
For this one, I impulsively did something I haven't done in five years: changed strings on the PureSalem Mendiola. Admittedly, I like the sound and feel of old strings, though this old set had a layer of oxidation and a ding in one of the plain steel strings, so it was time. While I did that, the neck wasn't under tension for a while, and it bowed back just a little...so there's some additional fret buzz in there. (I've loosened the truss rod a little; getting closer to ideal.)
The vibe here is contemplative, with some resolve. I'll take it.
The usual no-effects inline, though there's convolution reverb send from each track, and compression/eq on the stereo out.
The title comes from the Irish town of Clonakitty, which is at the end of R588.
walking alone, its cold outside - sunny windy
I am quite happy with this week. Not necessarily about the final product but more about the process. I usually am the person who uses only the default presets in plugins but I spent some time working on the bass sound using different effects in Guitar Rig 6, aiming for a heavy bass sound a la Muse. This was inspired by getting to see Iggy Pop in concert this week. The bass tone was nasty! in a good way.
And also inspired by Iggy Pop were the horns and keys, hence I added some there.
Another thing that was a good exercise was working on programming drums that sound realistic instead of relying solely on loops. I think the result is not bad and should get better as I continue to practice.
Overall, a good exercise for a good aggressive punk rock track.
More modular this week, VCVrack as always as I'm not made of money.
