Steve Mueske

Man, I could do this all day. Here is Andy Timmons doing a live version of Cry for You. Every time I watch this, I cry. May be my favorite 8 minutes on YouTube. Emotional, powerful. Chops for days.

Is this THE Ivo Ivanov? I'm excited! The DAW looks cool. Were you involved in its development?

@Old Technology There are no guitars in any of my NMF sketches. If you are talking about NMF 4, that's Repro 5 doing arpeggios, with a little sauce. The melody line is an Asian Kontakt instrument, ghunang, I think. For the Pentachrist stuff I've done so far (not on this reel), it's been a mixture of Hydra (heavily processed) and me playing through Guitar Rig 6. I picked up an Axe FX III, which I'm going to be using on future recordings; it's hardware, but not an amp. It's a really good modeller. I haven't recorded anything with it yet. Still setting up templates and such. We can take this offline to discuss more if you like.

Mike, wow, this track is very cool! You have such a wonderful indie feel and your music transports me. Really digging it. Your voice reminds me of an artist I know from Arizona. His name is James Britt. He has an album called Small Guitar Pieces that you might dig. The way he sings and the way you sing are very similar. @Popthree I never do this, and I'm sorry if this is offensive in some way, but here is a link to that album. Most tracks don't have singing, but some do. He created this album from improv sketches that were cutup and arranged in the tracker Renoise. https://jamesbritt.bandcamp.com/album/small-guitar-pieces

Ryan, I like this direction you're headed. It's an interesting blend of prog and punk. I, too, am interested in rock and metal. My favorite Sirius station is Octane. Looking forward to hearing more! @Old Technology

Okay, here is my NMF 4 piece. I imported a bunch of stems from abandoned projects on an old hard drive. I took one out for a spin this week and added a bunch of stuff, etc. It's still just a sketch, but there are some cool things in it, I think. Anyway, it's the top track on this reel. I'll be back to comment on your tracks shortly. https://rcrft.co/reel/whoisthemuesk/nmfsketches

I followed everyone in this thread that still has an account. I'm on Instagram as @themuesk. https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1e5a646v8rrgh&utm_content=58lb5tk

Sorry I'm late guys. I started a new job this week and have been working 11-hour days. I listened to both tracks after my shift last night. I want to listen one more time today (when I'm not dead tired, LOL!) and will post something in a few hours. Hang with me! I haven't abandoned you guys.

It's that time of the week again! Drop your tidbits here. I'll be back to post something later tonight.

Ryan, I have imposter syndrome (like many people), so I find your comments both reassuring and amusing. Trust me, I finish about three songs per year. Of those three, I probably start 20. I'm constantly working, but I'm always riddled with self-doubt. Most of it teaches me something in some way or another. I listened to your track late last night, but was too exhausted to properly comment. What sticks out in my mind is the wonderful texture and the growly bass. One thing I love about your work is how you seemingly effortlessly shift through ideas. I know what you mean about areas of a song always needing more or less. I think we're alike in that we are stewards of the song, that is, the song always teaches us, over time, what it wants. Mike, you know I'm a fan. I love all kinds of music, and I love listening to your work. What you do is unique and important. Your music is inspiring, and I'm sure I'll be learning a lot from you. I listened to your piece last night, too. Thank you for dropping some music, which I very much enjoyed. I love jazz clubs. Before I moved, I went to a local jazz club called The Dakota, where I've seen Roy Hargrove, Hiromi, Nooky Jones, and recently got the chance to see Al DiMeola, which was about as close to a religious experience as I'll ever have. VoiceEx, really looking forward to hearing new music from you, Brother!

That guy has a whole series of these, and they all kick ass!

Welcome to New Music Friday #3. Looking forward to listening to what's in store this week. Okay, so I spent the bulk of my time finishing the song from last week (three solid days, because I get obsessed). I wasn't happy with how it turned out (though I'm glad I let it sit for six months before digging it out of storage). The piece I'm posting for NMF3 is a new Pentachrist song I'm writing. All I have in the project so far is the intro and the next minute or so of drums that I've started programming. Without guitar and bass, it may seem disconnected, but everything will fit. Hopefully. It does in my head anyway. I apologize for the early draft, but I committed to the idea of posting whatever I had of this track this week, and it's what I'm focused on next. https://rcrft.co/reel/whoisthemuesk/nmfsketches I'm traveling to the Atlantic coast this weekend, so probably won't get a chance to properly respond much until Sunday evening.

OMG! That sounds incredibly interesting. I'd love to check it out!

Tomorrow is New Music Friday! What is New Music Friday you ask? It's a kind of informal salon where we drop by, post whatever we're working on, in whatever state, listen to each other's work, and support each other. See you in Song Critique. Hope you'll join us! It's fun!!

I'm a longtime NI software user (since back before they even did Komplete). Right now I have Komplete 13 and Stradivari violin. I have a ton of third party Kontakt libraries and Reaktor ensembles as well. I've been collecting them since Kontakt 2 and Reaktor 3.

@john I took your comments to heart about the arpeggiated sound. To make a long story short, I began this project in another DAW as part of a test drive. As part of my process, I periodically save stems in case something happens to the project. In this case, the session wouldn't open on my old computer and when I migrated to a new system I did not install that DAW and recreated the session in Reaper using the last batch of stems. I discovered that the BPM was off by 6. I changed the project, reimported the stems and continued working. I decided in this version to focus on the rhythm, since that's what underpins the song and every textural element. I have spent the last four days obsessing over finishing this. This is a long-winded way of saying you still may not like the sound of the synth, but you were right about the timing. That it's in 13/8, every element is critical. So, thanks for speaking up about that. I'm not sure I would have investigated were it not for that nudge.

NMF1 - No, it will be longer. Just putzing around with it right now. NMF2 - It's a difficult signature (13/8). That arpeggiated key thing was actually the first piece in the composition (it's in the original, too). I'm pretty happy with the orchestration, but I'm not sure I've dialed in the mix automation stuff. This was my first attempt at mixing with all the available stems. I also think that grinding bass could be EQd deeper. I'm going to take it out for another spin. RE: geography horse (Bill), I'm not sure he comes by Songstuff much anymore. It's Ryan's track. You probably had Bill on the brain because of my track.

@john My apologies, I forgot to replace the week 2 file. It's there now. I updated the week 1 file (and will continue to do so as I toy around with it), but forgot to update the week 2 one.

@john Did you get a chance to check out the other tracks in this thread?

I guess I didn't know there was a difference. Not really sure what "member only" means. I mean, you have to be a member to post here, no?

I have not tried this software yet, but two of the developers are involved with the Surge team (Surge is hands down the best free open source synth on the planet.) Bespoke is a modular host, looping, and live coding environment. It looks similar to Max. https://cdm.link/2021/11/bespoke-free-modular-jamming-livecoding-production-tool-looks-serious-at-1-1-0/

Hey, finally I get to hear some new music from you! This is a gorgeous track, John. Thanks for entrusting us with this. I'm excited to be here at the beginning of your next journey. Keep 'em coming!

Ryan! Welcome back! It's really cool to hear new work from you. Adventurous, fearless. I'm so excited you've decided to post something.

I could listen to this all day. Emotive, wistful. Just gorgeous. Thanks for participating again! I look forward to hearing what you come up with.

Okay, let me start by confessing that this is not the piece I had intended to post this week. That one is still in its infant, development phase, even for a test drive. I had wanted to do a minimalist collage, but I'm still generating audio. The piece I am presenting today is a fully realized reconceptualization of a track called "How to End a Story, the final piece I wrote for the album Look." It began as a collaboration with @geographyhorse (William Sanford) and myself and grew through many iterations, back and forths, etc., until it was nearly unrecognizable from the original sketch. I invited musicologist Mike Ethen to write a few improvs based on Bill's performance. He gave me three, and I picked one and included the performance in its entirety. I then gave the stems of the original track to my friend, sound designer and electronic artist Jon L.Smith, who sent me back stems of completely deconstructed material. I let everything sit for six months and decided to do a new version of the song incorporating all elements from the stems, MIDI files, and whatnot. This is my first stab at version 2. It is my first collaboration with more than one artist. This is a collaboration with myself and three other artists, that I assembled, mixed, and produced. I don't think it is quite done, but it is close. I'd eventually like to release it. Anyway, here it is. I am grateful you are here, and I look forward to hearing your contributions. https://rcrft.co/reel/whoisthemuesk/nmfsketches I moved the track to the top of the list. Previous weeks' tracks will be moved below it.