First, thanks for the reply. It's really sweet : ).
xerkon wrote:Nice! I think you're off to a good start! I am also working on some music, in fact my first song ever, so it's cool to listen to something from someone else who has recently "been there."
Post it to the boards. I'd like to take a listen once you feel it's ready. : )
How long did your first song take, once you started working on it? I can get really lost in the details and so I keep having to remind myself to focus. However, since I'm just starting, everything I do is a learning experience and therefore not really wasted time.
I completed the first song the day I got the circuit. It's surprisingly easy to wrap your head around. I'm not too happy with how it sounds solo with that shimmering synth, but the structure is there. I'm similar to you, I often get my head stuck in how little loops sound and have since found that I've been composing small ditties instead of the track like I did on the first night. I've got to take inspiration from FSOL's ISDN series... patching bits and pieces together can work in the right moment, and I think future mixes will include things I simply mess around with. That's the joy of music - Play. When it turns into 'not play' then I think some of the energy is lost and you can tell. It's like you said, a learning experience first and foremost. I have cerebral palsy down one side of my body so can't really play many instruments, so discovering something like the circuit is a godsend. Back when I was very young I experimented with a RMX-1 and SH-101 but never really clicked with the former as a hardware sequencer. The circuit is much more hands-on when it comes to plasticity which I'm thankful for (hoping for the same with FSOL's synth).
I'm kind of a perfectionist, which I don't think is too healthy because it makes me scared to even put anything out there that later I'll (probably) wish was better. That's a pretty inhibiting attitude and not very helpful. Besides, is a "the prefect song" even possible? (I know from FSOL that "The Perfect Sound" is possible, ha ha.) It is so weird how music is just a sensation in my brain.
I think the perfect song is in the eye of the beholder. It might be possible for a sound engineer who has been in the trade for a while to know what the right master should sound like, or what sounds fit better together, but that comes with experience. For me it's about feeling (and I say I mastered the Circuit, but I only just started messing about with it's FX section the other day).
We all know that, but I really stopped and contemplated it for a while. Right now, your music is causing an electric signal "that only amount to 5/1000s of an ampere, in a specific region of the brain." (Okay, that's not really right but I couldn't resist). And the fact that you can influence me from god-(and you)-only-knows-where is even more mindblowing. A few hundred years ago we would have had to be in the same room for any of that to happen. Bizarre. Don't even get me started on speakers!
I know : ). It's kind of insane the way we have tools at our disposal which previous generations would have considered god-like. It makes me think of a time when we can link our heads together and create music which sounds like out of the speakers together by sharing our imaginations. I've had my auditory hearing enhanced with the right psychedelics to get close to hearing sounds as though they were 'real'. It might seem fanciful now what I'm describing, but who knows where we'll be in a hundred years from now. Thanks for the comments btw. : )
I really love Autechre for making the music they want to make (so far your songs have reminded me of them a little bit. would they happen to be an influence?) with 0% regard for anything else. They could have built on Incunabulum and Amber and probably been more popular, but they went a way that not too many have gone. It's clearly not about the money.
Autechre are an influence, yeah. FSOL, Psilodump, Plaid and a lot of netlabel stuff as well. I listen to a lot of different genres, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like songs that do funky things with structure. You mention Autechre. There is a beautiful track of their's called Sublimit which is just hauntingly beautiful in the latter half. They're from my neck of the woods too.
Anyway, I'm rambling on. Did you ever feel discouraged during your process? I struggle with depression which makes things tough sometimes. I really love music, it's my favorite thing in life--and there are times when the thought of it makes me shudder. (not too many of those, thank god. Most of the time music acts as an anti-depressant for me, but then there are those days...) So sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed. But I'm doing better now than I have in a long time, which is great.
Nah, you're not rambling. Your response is inspiration to keep at it. I also suffer from depression and psychosis. Music for me is that shot-to-the-body. When you're down and you feel hopeless and you hear a tune that you haven't heard before, or even revisit one that you love, it gets you moving, thinking of possibilities (for example, the last tune on my mix is by a good friend, who blew me away when they played it for me). I don't think there's any other medium which quite has that resonance. I'm glad that you seem to be doing better lately. I know times can be tough (particularly in your neck of the woods with that disaster of a president), but just remind yourself of the sage words you tell me. Music is a door which can open you up to so many things.
Thanks for sharing your stuff with the world!
Zerc
Thank ye. Also, remember to share your stuff when you're ready. : )
Mon Jan 08, 2018 6:49 am
