New Music Friday #2

[Steve Mueske]

Hola, sports fans. Welcome to the thread for New Music Friday #2.

 

For those of you who may not know what this is, every Friday you are invited to post something you are working on. It doesn't have to be finished and it can be whatever you want, a snippet, a loop, a beat, an idea, a test drive, a remix, or whatever you are working on (or distracting yourself with while you're working on something else).

 

The intention is to have fun and to encourage regular posting. I think this is an exciting adventure for all of us, hopefully to keep us motivated. To keep things light, this is not intended to be a thorough critique thread. Think of it more like a friendly salon where we each get to hear what we are up to on a regular basis.

 

Let's go!

[Steve Mueske]

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.

[Steve Mueske]

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.

[Old Technology]

@Steve Mueske That its a really haunting piece. I love the textures and elements of the second half especially. That second half went into such a peaceful and beautiful place.

 

@Popthree I had a listen to a few of your ideas. I like how you evoke feelings with such minimalism.

 

I haven't made music or posted here since before the pandemic I think. You would think with all that free time I would have made something. This is something I've been working on and my attempt to get back into the swing of things.

 

 

 

[Steve Mueske]

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.

[Old Technology]

I'm glad too see some names I still recognize on this website after so long. Life just gets in the way you know. 

[john]

Hey hey

 

A work in progress “For You”…

 

 

Cheers

 

John

[Steve Mueske]

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!

[john]

2 hours ago, Steve Mueske said:

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!

 

Thanks Steve!  It was fun to do, writing while recording, instead of writing then recording. Ok, I worked out the main piano riff first! There’s still a few mix issues, but nothing too major.

 

59 minutes ago, Popthree said:

nice one @john  a fully realized song.  why am i not surprised?  i like it.  a lot.  the melody is nice and works really well in the feel you've created.  it's easy on the ears.

 

I may well have posted it up at an earlier stage had it not been for three things.
 

1. I get obsessional when I get recording. I forget to eat and drink, and ideas come in a flurry I want to set down.
2. I started the track before Steve posted his new music Friday topic.
3. I am planning on recording all my new tracks as full arrangement, guitar+vox and piano+vox. Additionally I might do an alternative arrangement and/or find people to create a remix.

My first version recorded for each track relates how I envision that track fitting within the context of my other tracks. I tend to have fairly complete imaginings of songs very quickly. I have woken up before with a full idea of a song I wrote in my sleep… though not full lyrics, just the music. The other versions are more for either promotional purposes or as rewards for people on my mailing list etc. I have a few I plan to do as stripped back tracks. Some tracks are definitely better suited to one way or the other. My electronica tacks sometimes cannot be done effectively with an acoustic instrument. Some tracks are very adaptable.

 

I have written a new riff for my next track. I can tell you now it’s not a simple 1+1.

 

Thanks for having a listen guys!

[john]

I meant to say that I’ll remove this mix from my soundcloud tomorrow, I just wanted to share and take part . I plan to release this properly via a full release process sometime after Christmas.
 

It might be worth having a member only board version of new music Friday too?

[Steve Mueske]

1 hour ago, john said:

I meant to say that I’ll remove this mix from my soundcloud tomorrow, I just wanted to share and take part . I plan to release this properly via a full release process sometime after Christmas.
 

It might be worth having a member only board version of new music Friday too?

 

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?

[john]

All boards you need to be a member to post in.

Some boards are visible to the public, others are not.

 

It makes little difference just now as the public cannot currently view the critique board posts, just that the boards exist.

 

We we’re thinking of introducing two levels of boards if we ever get round to free and subscription boards. A free critique boards being publicly readable, subscriber boards not publicly readable.

 

Most online music forums are publicly readable.

[Steve Mueske]

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

[Steve Mueske]

@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]

I did indeed.

NMF1

@Steve Mueske I love what you have. I really like the percussion part. The choice of sounds for the percussion is sweet. The arpeggiated synth part that comes in about half way through. When it kicks in the second time it was even better, though it had been set up the first time. Are you going to keep it to 1:30.

 

NMF2

The way it starts is right up my street. Less keen on the arpeggiated sound about 20 seconds in (guessing the timing). I get the need for the part…. Just the sound feels a bit too clean and rounded IMO. Still like the track though

 

@Popthree You do ambient guitar like a master dude! Another great piece Mike.

 

@geographyhorse Scratch that…

 

@Old Technology I enjoyed your track. It opens really well with that choral pad. The background noises felt like conversation, traffic, church music… even before the organ came in. The organ + choral combined beautifully.

[Steve Mueske]

9 minutes ago, john said:

I did indeed.

NMF1

@Steve Mueske I love what you have. I really like the percussion part. The choice of sounds for the percussion is sweet. The arpeggiated synth part that comes in about half way through. When it kicks in the second time it was even better, though it had been set up the first time. Are you going to keep it to 1:30.

 

NMF2

The way it starts is right up my street. Less keen on the arpeggiated sound about 20 seconds in (guessing the timing). I get the need for the part…. Just the sound feels a bit too clean and rounded IMO. Still like the track though

 

@Popthree You do ambient guitar like a master dude! Another great piece Mike.

 

@geographyhorse I enjoyed your track. It opens really well with that choral pad. The background noises felt like conversation, traffic, church music… even before the organ came in. The organ + choral combined beautifully.

 

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]

37 minutes ago, Steve Mueske said:

 

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.

Bloody hell lol Sorry Ryan. That’s what happens being distracted lol Yeah it’s been a while since I last saw Bill here.

[Steve Mueske]

@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.