#firstly that bass line hits hard
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peuldoongie · 9 months ago
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PLAVE - WAY 4 LUV
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cannibal-nightmares · 7 months ago
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everything everything is so awesome im glad someone i follow also likes them <3 thats all sorry i just love music
Never any apologies on my page 8D I can ramble about music incessantly, so thank you for your ask; I'm so glad to hear the same that you like them, as well! I've not organically met anyone in person who has heard of them, only friends who've discovered them through me or the wonders of finding shared-interest-mutuals on the internet. "Warm Healer" was my first Everything Everything song I had heard back in 2016-2017ishh; the tone of the polyrhythmic bass guitar INSTANTANEOUSLY hooked me in for good, then their interesting lyrical narrative was swift to follow suit... Also let's not ignore the madness of the fantastic cover art of "Get To Heaven," my god the colors, the design, the lines, the figure... And then, of course, the subconscious love for Radiohead (unknowing this was an element at play until around the release of "Re-Animator" when--to my knowledge--the band was more upfront about their inspirations and it all suddenly made sense).
Before the release of their lyric book, "CAPS LOCK ON," I had a list of B-sides and rarities, including stuff from Modern Bison, which featured Jonathan Higgs and Jeremy Pritchard from EE. On the list was/is "Wizard Talk," which has to be my favourite Everything Everything song on two points: Firstly, as much as Higgs loves to bend and snap vocal capacities with unimaginable peaks of falsetto + fast vocal cadences that leave their music uncategorizable to genre (and etc...), "Wizard Talk" is--in my opinion--unlike anything they've ever put out stylistically. "His voice sounds like he's playing marimba runs," I have repeated to friends over and over and over again, begging people to listen to this song. And then, secondly, comes the profound lyrics of this song. EE loves to play with elaborate metaphors to dance around politics, the state of the world, and social narratives, but "Wizard Talk" feels emotional on a level beyond their common frustrations, especially having been such an early track from the "Man Alive"(?) era, and also in contrast to the stark emotionality of "Re-Animator." Idk man. It hits hard. It's sad. It's hopeful. It's beautiful. You feel the character's defeat and his acceptance in that the hope he seeks is, will be, and always has been abstract in nature while he has spent so much time looking for a concrete and tangible handle to hold onto. It feels like their most vulnerable glimpse at what Jon really has to say. That song has meant a lot to me for a long time, so I am glad EE finally released (some of) the extras from "Man Alive" in the Deluxe re-release.
Ah, anyways, the B-side archive. Something something something, if I remember correctly, there's a few songs missing from the Man Alive deluxe release and even "CAPS LONG ON" is missing a few songs. I won't be cross-referencing this information right now, I'm in bed. Regardless, I will say that a song or two off of the re-release are completely different recording takes and mixes which I find of intruige (again, only if I remember correctly, I think it's at least "The Kids Are Obese" but dooonn't quote me on it..)
Anyways, what else... I've done a ton of art based around EE, some of which is lyrically inspired, others of which are direct tribute art to the band (including a piece to "Magnetophone"!) They're currently sitting at my third-most listened to band of all time, according to my LastFM page. I love them so very very much and I'm so glad you do, too; I hope your ask could maybe inspire others, as well ^^
Can't ask me anything about music and expect a short answer, heh, I still have so much more to say about EE. I am very passionate about music.
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frankbedbroken · 2 months ago
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frankcore august 2024 update!!
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already more than halfway through september lmfao i suck at this. regardless, here's some musics! this time around there's a Lot of art pop and trip hop related projects, fair few bits of electronic here and there, as well as some tracks in the more experimental end of hip hop and some more guitar-centric stuffs.
in regards to art pop (and other adjacent pop styles, sort of): jenny hval's moving, literally larger-than-life euphoria on spells, martha skye murphy with need and its more solemn and slowly enveloping atmospheres, the ever experimental hakushi hasegawa with a cut of his latest project featuring dizzying blends of jazz, pop and psychedelia, and jessica pratt stealing the show on an a$ap rocky track of all places to be featured in. as for the rest of the pop and r&b on the list: tinashe presenting an ambient-esque r&b piece somewhat in the line of oklou's galore, your-favourite-artists-favourite-vocalist cecile believe's soaring synthpop, strange blends of laidback r&b and pop vocals with latin-american soundscapes and some electronic touches courtesy of argentinian producer / vocalist moro, a cut off mag bay's newest project (solid! not my favourite from theirs but i'm more partial towards their shorter-form material anyway), and a great cut of dnb-infused k-pop from bebe yana.
the trip hop and downtempo related cuts here come from firstly james k and hysterical love project, both of them bringing curious blends of trip hop and ambient pop as well as some more influences from dream pop in the case of the hlp track; ms ray's signs in comparison is a bit cheerier, taking a bit more of inspiration from sophisti-pop and the sunnier side of downtempo, similar in a way to avalon emerson's sandrail silhouette, which is also a great track. on the other end of the spectrum, jabu and chester giles deliver a very nocturnal and dubby piece built mostly on giles' spoken poetry laid atop the somber, looming sample loops. the rest of the electronic sounds here are somewhat varied: a sickeningly short burst of "rally house" courtesy of aesthetic-extraordinaire and extremely versatile producer nuphory, a classic ukg cut from todd "the god" edwards complete with his signature micro vocal chops and rolling grooves, a distorted, club ready flip of sugababes' 2000s hit "round round" courtesy of uk-bass-sensation-that's-sweeping-the-nation duo two shell, a delightfully catchy and satisfying footwork banger from underground producer username, and jazzy and glitchy drum and bass sounds from xploding plastix.
in terms of hip hop, we've got poppy yet aggressive delivery from slayyyter and tommy genesis atop hard-hitting trap knocks, a bouncy, speaker rattling, hyphy-esque beat from ivy lab, and nana フリーク版 by chilean artist akriila, off of her debut album epistolares, which has solidified as a very close second to brat as my album of the year, partly because of cuts like the above mentioned, an extremely hard-hitting industrial hip hop banger (in a way, similar to iglooghost's coral mimic also from this year) with a defiant edge to the lyricism and delivery. i really could've picked pretty much any track from that record, it's that good imo, check it out if a varied ride consisting of club-ready perreo, poppier sounds of drum and bass and even some chilean folk for good measure sounds like a thing you'd be into.
to wrap up, the things i haven't mentioned yet: a curious blend of baggy-esque indie rock with r&b vocal delivery from tama gucci (artist whom i've always adored their voice and whose output is super underrated imo), classic midwest emo with a bit of a twee edge from everyone asked about you, dreamy hypnagogic pop from chanel beads with a bit of a similar vibe to the mica levi track from last week, and the third single off fontaines dc's romance (much like mag bay's album, it's pretty solid, though i feel like it dips a bit in quality by the second half, aside from the closer ofc).
tube it!!
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itsclaudies · 1 year ago
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Introduction To Digital Music Techniques - Choose Your Own Adventure
Option 4
For the creation of this piece I already had an idea for a track, but the final product ended as a completely different track with a completely different vibe. I began this piece with a voice memo recording of a song I had written a few weeks earlier, it consisted of a Beabadoobee inspired soft alternative rock guitar track where the focus was on the strumming pattern and the track’s overall simplicity.
I really struggled with the transferring of my original voice memo demo to a properly recorded and produced track with multiple elements outside of purely vocals and guitar. Firstly I had trouble with recording the guitar track, I couldn’t get it to sound clear or texturally pleasant, re-recording it over 5 times and still being unsuccessful. To try and expand the interest and depth of the track I attempted to create a bassline. I still wanted it to be played live and sound authentic despite not owning an actual bass so I wrote it using the bass strings on my guitar. From there I attempted a first recording of my vocals on my mic at home.
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Original Voice Recording
Just before showing my draft to Damien I removed the initial guitar track as I genuinely could not make it work as hard as I tried but kept the bass track which ended up working amazingly. Damien mentioned a tactic to enhance the bass sound further, by doubling the track, pitching the double down an octave and adding a plate reverb to it which I applied and loved so I kept it as the main focal point of the track. From here on I referred to ‘Love’ by Lana Del Rey as inspiration for how to transfer the sounds and atmosphere of this track to a digital, fully produced product, noting the similarities of the prominent bass. I was really intrigued how this track managed to remain so simplistic with the focal point being mainly on vocals and the bassline yet managed to grow, change and develop organically and create such a rich and depth filled atmosphere. 
From here I knew I had to add elements to expand the layering, or ‘layer cake orchestration’ of the piece so I looked towards full midi sounds and synth pads. I found a vocal pad synth called Dream Voice and a sound called Dark Pad and used the vocal pad to follow the original chord progression whilst utilised the Dark Pad to create a subtle alternate melody. Also inspired by the Lana Del Rey track, I employed the use of a midi string ensemble to add a richness behind the original melody and drive the piece forward. I also added some subtle higher frequency elements such as a synth twinkle and a long drone held on the note B to add depth to the accompaniment. 
I wanted to utilise my voice as an instrument so I added a lot of layering through harmonies and doubling. For the main vocal line I wanted to keep it thinner for the initial part of the track as the instrumentation was thinner as well, then as the accompaniment grew I moved to doubling the track, along with bussing the two lines through some reverb. I kept the harmonies simple in the first movement of the song, only using them to slightly embellish certain lines, but once I move into the bridge and final chorus I utilise the harmonies to create a large build and final break within the piece. 
By far the hardest element of the piece to get right were the drums, in fact I'm still not completely satisfied with them. Since the track consists of a slower pace I really struggled with finding the place for drums, however I knew that without them it would feel as though something was lacking within the piece. I found it very hard to get the drum track to stay in time with my recordings, my self entered hits were sounding ever so slightly off but quantising them just made them worse. Eventually I managed to get the hits as close as possible. For the final build of the piece I decided I needed a heavy and intense drum fill to top the track off so I resorted to the logic digital drummer track and after having a dilemma over how none of them were fitting quite right landed on a final beat that I feel completes the feeling of the piece.
Overall I had a lot of trial and error with this piece, from being unsure of how to properly execute my initiation vision, to slight digital mishaps, and eventually coming to a complete work. I definitely believe overall it could be executed better and sound more professional, but based upon my current skill level and creative experimentation I am quite happy with how it turned out.
Bass & Vocal Layers
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(vocals were compressed together used the track stack)
All Other Layers
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SoundCloud Link
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laurelleghuleh · 4 years ago
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𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 | 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐒𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
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𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff, one-shot
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 6.7k
𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐧: Ao3, Wattpad
𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: post-time skip, aged-up characters, implied/referenced sex, sensitive topics(?)
𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: This is a kind of “interactive” one-shot. At some point, you’ll find the link for the playlist I’ve created for the story. It’s not mandatory, of course. The songs are mentioned and their lyrics are quoted anyways.
I tried to keep the reader as gender-neutral as possible, I hope it works.
To be honest, I wrote the first half of this one-shot at 3 am after a very deep conversation with a friend of mine about struggling with self-love as “young adults”. It wasn’t meant to be public but I felt like sharing it. I hope this will help or at least cheer you up as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Lastly, italics when Daichi sings/for the lyrics and English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes!
Thanks for reading this, Laurelle.
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Taxes, laundry, rent, bills, grocery shopping, bank accounts, job interviews. These were just some of the things whose thought alone made you already shiver. Adulthood and the multiple responsibilities that had come with it scared the shit out of you, at times it completely fucked up your sleep schedule, and put your sanity at stake, but at least you weren’t alone in this. At least, you had Daichi.
You two had faced college together, one at each other’s side, and now you were again together in that new chapter of your life called adulthood.
By then, you two had been living in that little, yet cozy apartment for a few months. The Karasuno team had lent you a hand by making the move less hard, unpacking boxes and decorating the empty shelves with an unnecessary amount of frames, random objects, and souvenirs from their trips. All of this as Daichi was training at your hometown’s Police Department and as you were trying to find your place in the world, between part-time jobs and “real” job interviews.
The new routine was dull, draining, at times even overwhelming. The closer you were getting to make your dream life come true, the more your daily life felt like a nightmare. The more you felt tired, unmotivated, ultimately empty. And you couldn't help but wonder if that was really worth it anymore.
You started to slowly give up on your hobbies and passions, to spend your free time on the new couch, just spacing out, and to eventually forget about yourself. You didn’t want to sound too pathetic but life seemed to have lost its flavor. At that point, it just tasted like disinfectants and instant noodles.
Those fucking instant noodles … You thought as you looked at yourself in the mirror that evening. None of your planned outfits for that night fitted anymore, none, and at the sudden realization, that familiar smell of instant noodles rose inside your nostrils. But instant noodles weren’t really the point. Your outfits not fitting anymore wasn’t the point either. That you in that mirror was the point. That stranger. That empty shell.
The familiar boomy sound of keys twisting inside the front door’s lock, a click, and Daichi was finally home.
“I’m baaack” You heard him say - almost yell - and then saw him coming inside the kitchen to greet you.
“May I have a kiss?” He shyly asked, placing his hand on the small of your back, drawing little circles to get your attention.
“Sure,” You turned your head for a quick, soft peck on his lips, then got back to your chore.
“Still in your PJs, babe?” He commented, his voice small, clearly weakened by his long, draining day at work.
By that time, you were supposed to be ready to head out, but something in the process went wrong. On the other side of the city, a nice restaurant - highly suggested by Michimiya sometime before - was waiting for you and Daichi to arrive in twenty minutes.
“Yeah… I have to finish cooking these for tomorrow before we head out…” You murmured as your words fell down to the pot beneath you.
That wasn’t a lie, but in all fairness, you were only trying to avoid the truth. Little did you know you were about to experience what living with a future detective really meant.
Besides his professional deformation, when it came to you, Daichi never failed to sense when something was off. Even just from a slight change of your tone. He was so used to your voice that the most insignificant variation of its sound seemed to conceal a tiny, secret message only for him to decipher.
Anyways, you kept looking down, your mind somewhere else, your eyes still lost in the little fog coming from the pot. You still didn’t dare to look at him, which was rather unusual. Strange. Kind of suspicious.
Daichi rocked his head in your direction, trying to find other tangible clues for that particular case he wasn’t expecting to face once at home. Yet nothing was really out of place, except that gloomy aura all around you. Therefore, he decided to just play it cool for the moment and let you be.
Maybe he was overthinking. Maybe he was just being paranoid. The only thing that really mattered was that night to be perfect for both of you.
It wasn’t a special occasion or else, just Daichi’s first free evening after a whole month of night shifts. And in addition to that, that dinner had been meticulously planned the previous week. Nothing could have ruined it. Nothing.
Yeah, he was just being paranoid, for sure. Nothing to worry about.
Daichi moved away from you and walked towards the front door again. Then, he plugged his phone on the little speaker at the entrance and played the playlist you two loved to blast whenever you were at home, cleaning the house, or just swinging from a room to another.
And that was when everything got even more suspicious in Daichi’s perspective.
The first song came on (“Come Through and Chill” by Miguel, J.Cole, Salaam Remi ), the little bass drums slowly filling the room, vibrating from wall to wall, gradually reaching your feet through that old wooden pavement. And yet, you stayed completely still.
Suspicious .
“Everything ok?” He casually asked you from a distance, putting the phone back down on top of the speaker.
“Yeah, good, good. You?” You mumbled, trying to hide your words under the rhythm.
Even more suspicious .
It wasn’t only your voice, but your posture, your face, just your aura that seemed so… Different. Even though you two hadn’t been living together for long at that point, he could simply tell what looked ordinary and what not. You knew each other and dated since college, which at that point meant years of studying the other up close, not only as partners but firstly - and mainly -  as friends. Two best friends always looking out for one another. Those had been years of sincere trust and affection.
Funny thing was that neither of you could imagine that a casual encounter in a cafè would have taken that turn. But Suga knew. And Asahi too. Everybody knew, except you two.
One morning, the vending machine of your department was out of order, and that was just the tenth curveball of that day. It’s not even thirty past eight and I already want to go back to sleep , you sighed, walking outside the campus, looking for a cafè or something.
As fate would have it, the tiny, little-known coffee shop you found right behind the corner was Asahi’s workplace, which brought both Suga and Daichi to have their breakfast there every single morning.
Your first time there, your order was mistaken with Daichi’s, one thing led to another, and after a while, you two started hanging out frequently. Then even more consistently. Then no Asahi or Suga around. No coffee shop. Study sessions at his place. Then at your place. A movie night that actually looked and felt like a proper date. And eventually, that friendship blossomed into something else, something pretty serious.
You didn’t even realize when or how that happened, it just felt right. You two didn’t even have a real “date” for when your relationship had begun. For the sake of simplicity, you both used to count from your first kiss, both aware that whatever you two shared had started even before that, even that morning in that tiny, little-known coffee shop.
That was the type of love that comes easily, without warning, silently tiptoeing into your life.
Back in your apartment, once freed from his jacket, Daichi made again his appearance at your side, now wearing a playful look and about to hit his favorite line of the lyrics. He almost made you startle.
“Hello, stranger… It's been a minute since we last kicked it” He sang and swung around you, positioning himself right behind you to wrap you in a warm hug. Then, gingerly nestling his head in the curve of your neck, he breathed against your skin, “Now that I’m home, I’m all good… ”
Bear hugs were Daichi’s thing and also your not-so-secret Achilles’ heel, for sure. So, you just leaned in his embrace and welcomed his familiar, calming scent. But still, you didn’t have the courage to face him.
Very, very suspicious .
Your oddly detached behaviors made his brow pinch and his mind wander as he left soft pecks all over your jaw and neck. No reaction , Daichi thought, taking mental notes of your actions.
At that point, he gave you one last, gentle kiss, this time on your shoulder, right where the hem of your shirt met your skin, and then silently made a step back. Daichi’s first thought was to temporarily let you be. A quick shower and a change of clothes were very much needed after that long day. He thought he still got time to unravel your mood.
Still focused on the pot, you heard him tell you, before disappearing in your bedroom, “I’ve been thinking about tonight all day, love. I literally can’t wait to try this restaurant!”
You felt a knot in your stomach.
Why was it so hard for you to simply tell him? To simply put into words how you felt? You knew he would have understood, you knew how sensitive Daichi was, especially when it came to you. But to look so needy, so lost in his eyes made you feel just weak. Not vulnerable, not emotional, just a weak person in need. And the last thing you wanted was to look or feel like a burden to Daichi. You knew how stressed and overworked he was. That was a pretty tough period for you both and you felt like you had no right to complain. Daichi never did, and all you wanted was to be as strong as he was.
It didn’t take much for Daichi to be ready, all cleaned up and dressed for the occasion. Nothing too elegant or pretentious, he was a very casual type of guy even when it came to clothes, but that was still your night. A little more effort won’t hurt , he thought as he picked his outfit, preferring a classic, white, button-up shirt to his favorite sweater - his safe choice whenever he didn’t know what to wear.
He just wanted to look good that night, to look good for your eyes only.
Right when “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee started, Daichi’s unmistakable cologne stood above the food’s thick smell coming from the pot. You immediately turned around.
He looked handsome, as always. The view made your belly twitch again.
“Hey hon, remember that time we went to see Spiderman with Suga, Asahi, and Kyoko?” He started to speak, crossing the room with slow strides in your direction.
“You fell in love with this song on the spot. Oh my god, I think you blasted it in the car at least ten times on our way back...” He said wrapping his arms around your waist again, making you turn and trying to initiate a slow dance with you.
“I know you’re scared of the unknown, you don’t wanna be alone” He sang, “I know I always come and go,” The lyrics hitting way too close to home, “But it’s out of my control”
At that point, he held you tight, roaming his big, callous hands all over your back as he glanced at the pot from above your shoulder.
“That looks delicious, babe. Can’t wait to eat it tomorrow. I just know it tastes as good as it looks…”
There he was again, being all supportive and loving no matter what. So damn cheesy, he could have made someone sick. But not you.
You weren’t much of a chef yourself and you knew it, but you tried your best. And Daichi appreciated it a lot. He was so proud of you, always so blindly proud. He was undoubtedly a better chef than you were, but he still left you space to experiment and try out new things.
You never thought you could enjoy cooking that much, but probably Daichi being a foodie played a role in that. A foodie, well, possibly the biggest foodie you knew. The thought alone of food could make him insane, let’s say slightly irrational like he wasn’t functioning normally.
That was at the beginning when you both had all the time in the world to even plan a food competition and invite all your friends over to eat and vote for your plates. In the beginning, when that apartment’s walls were still white and bare, when the only furniture you owned was an old red couch and several boxes with all your things still packed inside. In the beginning, when there were way fewer things to care about in your daily routine.
“It’s ready, I guess. I should turn off the stove… ” You mumbled against his chest, then turned around still sweetly trapped in his embrace.
“Then you’re left in the dust… mhmhIdon’trememberthewordsmm” He kept singing behind your back, “ You’re the sunflower, I think your love would be too-”
When the little flame disappeared under the pot, a sharp sigh accidentally left your mouth.
“Daichi…” You breathed, squeezing his right hand still gently pressed on your belly.
Daichi .
You rarely called him by his first name. You’d usually go with “love” or “babe” or whatever sweet name came into your mind at that specific moment. Daichi . “Daichi” was something like a safeword, a code for “I’m dead serious right now”, “Your mum is calling” or, like this time, “Something is wrong”.
At that signal, the Karasuno’s former captain knew exactly what to do as if a ball had just flown past an invisible volleyball net right in front of him. That was just the confirmation he needed to make his move.
Living together, making a long-term relationship works, sticking together regardless, all of these for you both were based on the little things you started to learn about one another. Most of the time failing but never giving up on the other person. And this, this was one of those “little things”.
Daichi .
Wordlessly, he went straight to his phone and turned down the music at its lowest, the songs just a light, almost unperceivable background. You turned in his direction, watching him attentively, in silence, until he beckoned you to follow him.
You did as told and walked with him towards the living room, where he guided you to sit on the couch, your right hand gently secured in his.
He sat down on his heels, right in front of you, and waited, waited for you to say something, giving you all the time you needed to process your thoughts.
Minutes passed, the music still softly playing in the background.
Spendin' all my nights alone, waitin' for you to call me
You're the only one I want by my side when I fall asleep
Tell me what I'm waitin' for
Tell me what I'm waitin' for
I know it's hard but we need each other
(“SUGAR” by BROCKHAMPTON)
When you lifted your gaze to meet his sweet eyes, like two big, dark chocolate nuggets, you still didn’t know what to say. Automatically, his lips parted to catch your attention.
“Love,” His voice so tender it literally broke your heart to keep that facade any longer.
Your lips puckered, your nostrils widened, your eyes got unexpectedly watery until the first of many tears started to run down your face. When your head fell forwards, hiding between your hands, Daichi immediately got you. His arms circled your frame, welcoming you against his chest as you kept weeping noisily.
Daichi stayed silent, his head pressed against your shoulder, moving in sync with each of your sobs.
“Let it out, babe, don’t hold it back.”
At those words, your weeps only seemed to get worse to the point you didn’t know anymore why you were crying in the first place. Maybe you just needed to let it out, to rest, and let yourself get lost in Daichi’s embrace. His warmth felt like home and it was so comforting that after a while you finally cooled down. Nothing was wrong anymore, you were safe and sound.
“When you’re ready, I’m here to listen.” He whispered.
You nodded against his skin, then drew back, revealing your puffed and reddish face. He immediately stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Once back, he kneeled again in front of you and handed you tissues and a glass of water.
“Thanks,” You murmured and then blew your nose.
Daichi just stared at you, his eyes wandering all over your figure as you shrugged and sighed. You opened your mouth only to close it a second later. You didn’t even know where to start. Your bottom lip quivered, you felt like you’re about to cry again.
“What’s going on, love?” His voice small and tender.
You sighed again and gave a quick look to the clock behind him. It was almost time to leave. Actually, at that point, you were already late. Your eyes found his again and a thought occurred to you. He looked so happy until a moment before, singing and dancing, all dressed up, ready to leave and try that restaurant. But now there he was, all worried for you, down on his knees, not caring if that position was messing and creasing his shirt.
“It’s really nothing. Just had a bad day. I should go get-” You tried to stand up, but Daichi’s hands stopped you right there, pinning you down again.
“Are you sure, that’s just it?”
You couldn’t physically bring yourself to lie to Daichi. Not even for the smallest things. Not even for a white lie.
“To be honest, I don’t really feel like going out tonight…”
His eyebrows twitched. First clue unlocked.
“That’s fine. Let me just give them a call-”
“No, no. There’s no need. We should go anyway. It’s really nothing.”
Daichi was never really fond of you being difficult, he’d rather prefer you being straightforward. But sometimes, your pride overtook you. Nevertheless, that was not the right time to point out you were being too stubborn, so he just reassured you, saying,
“Listen, it’s up to you, babe. Your wish is my command, you know that, right?”
Daichi was always so kind. From time to time, you even believed he was way too good for you. Too good, it’s almost unfair , you thought.
“Really, it’s nothing… I’ve been thinking about tonight all day too. I couldn’t wait to finally spend some time with you…”
He giggled, your sweet tone instantly reassured him, “You know we can always stay at home and just watch a movie, right? Just tell me if you don’t feel like going out and I’ll call the restaurant right away.”
“Well, it’s not that… I… I…” You sighed. You really were being too difficult that time. “To be honest, I don’t know what-” Your voice cracked, “I really don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Daichi leaned closer and kissed your forehead, then stood up and grabbed his phone. From a distance you clearly heard him talk to someone, apologizing and saying something else you didn’t quite catch. The restaurant , you thought. You instantly walked towards him and tried to oppose, but Daichi politely hushed you and just hung up.
“Why did you do that?” You asked him.
“Cause it seems like you can’t decide right now. The restaurant can wait, really, but whatever is going on with you cannot. And now, if you want to tell me more about it I’m here, if not I’ll just let you be, or if-”
You grabbed his hands, stopping him. Your head swung from side to side as you collected your thoughts.
“It’s just that… I don’t know where to start.” You said and plopped yourself down on the couch.
He softly asked you when that started, if you remembered what little event had possibly triggered your current mood, and suddenly the right words found their way out of your mouth.
It had just been one of those everything-goes-wrong kinds of days, no rest, and too many things to do that eventually you found yourself already in front of the closet without even realizing it. Your eyes were drained and unfocused after all those hours in front of your laptop, working, sending emails, and stuff like that. Your stomach was aching and bloating after eating the previous night’s leftovers. Your legs were sore. Your mind was blank, empty, and at the same time also full of imprecise thoughts about work, what you needed to do before heading out, the dinner, the clothes, that mirror right in front of you.
You described to him this confused overwhelming sensation you had been experiencing for the previous months and all along Daichi was carefully listening to you, nodding and humming. From time to time he tried to comfort you, saying that it was quite understandable since you both started a new, complicated chapter of your lives since there were so many things to be settled and done, etc. He even apologized if he had accidentally neglected you in some way. He was so stressed and focused on work, he barely noticed what was going on with you. But you didn’t seem to listen to his words. Every single time you just replied with the same anxious thoughts you had already said before.
At some point, Daichi interrupted you, saying, “Babe, look at me and be honest,” then grabbed your hands and looked straight into your still reddish eyes, “Do you want me to listen … Or do you want some advice ?”
That was a thing Daichi had learned with time, not only from you but also from his experience as a captain. Sometimes people just need to vent, some other times to be taken by the hand and helped, but there are also other times when people may even need both.
You sighed. “Both I guess?”
He hummed and kept listening at other incoherent stuff you mumbled next about yourself, your image, your perception of yourself, “And that damn outfit! I’ve been thinking about it all day! It was my only option and it didn’t work! I looked terrible, I could barely stand my reflection in the mirror… Why do I have to feel so miserable about a damn outfit?! And then I put my PJ back on and I thought I looked like a fucking cartoon! I wanted to hide under a blanket and just disappear… I must sound delusional right now…”
New clues unlocked.
“No, absolutely, you’re not delusional, love. But... Let me ask you this. What is really bothering you? How you look or how you feel ?”
You tilted your head and pondered his question. At that moment you realized you had never thought about it that way before. How I look or how I feel… , you kept thinking for a while.
However, you still weren’t able to unravel that truth, therefore you just kept rumbling about those stupid clothes not fitting you anymore for another solid couple of minutes.
Daichi chuckled.
“That just means you need to do more shopping, babe,” He pointed out and leaned in to pepper your neck with soft kisses. You couldn’t help but giggle as his kisses alternated with random names of your favorite shops where you two could have gone to the next day to buy something. But eventually, you lightly pushed him away, not because you really wanted to but... Something wasn’t still quite right and you didn’t know what it was. That made you feel ultimately uneasy.
Daichi drew back on his heels, his hands still on your sides, sweetly caressing your hips. He stayed there and just contemplated you as your mind spun around and other vague thoughts piled up in your head.
“So, is there something else?” He softly asked.
“I guess so… It’s not about the clothes. I think it’s me. I look so different and I feel so different, I can barely recognize myself.”
“Love, you have so many things to do, I know it’s hard to find time for you to eat clean or be active. Maybe I should propose less pizza and stuff—”
“No, no, babe, it’s not you... I just feel awful about myself.”
“You feel , but you’re definitely not. I guarantee you that.” Daichi immediately comforted you.
“You know the saying, love is blind…” You tried to joke around.
“It sure is. I could love you with my eyes closed, but even with my eyes wide open, I can’t see anything wrong with you.”
Daichi’s love confessions were sappy at their core, but his voice was always so direct and honest they always sounded like facts. And they never failed to catch you off guard. Daichi used to be shy and awkward in the beginning of your relationship. He was constantly blushing hard and messing with his sentences whenever it came to talk to you. However, with time, his affection and ways started to be so sincere and straightforward you didn’t even know how to contradict him or how to even say anything back.
“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes…” His tone suddenly painted with melancholy, “Then you could see how beautiful you are, how precious, how…” He felt it too. He felt he was getting too emotional, so he tried to take the edge off, coming back to his goofy side. “No, no. Rewind. You might end up dumping me. Nah nah, not gonna happen!” He muffled, hiding his head against your belly, curling up with his torso over your lap.
You couldn’t help but laugh. You loved him so much.
“Jokes aside,” He said, lifting his head and looking up at you. “Tell me, babe, is this really such a big deal? Because if it bothers you to this point, you should think about it more carefully... Can I help you in some way?”
“Honestly, I-I don’t know how you could help me,” You confessed, “I feel like I’m not taking care of myself, but I also lack motivation to actually do something about it. It’s a dog chasing its own tail, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I get it… Well, I could encourage you, first. But then I could also help you and try to do things with you, like…” He thought about it for a couple of seconds. “What if I call Tanaka? He's a personal trainer but he also knows a lot about nutrition. He may suggest something delicious but fast and healthy for us to cook. It could be beneficial for both of us. We have been literally eating our stress away recently. You know what, I feel bloated too…” Daichi added and then proceeded to touch his tummy.
You lightly pushed him again and started to shower him with compliments. You couldn’t wrap your mind around the fact that Daichi could ever possibly be insecure about himself. He was… Daichi. He was just perfect.
He smirked at your reaction and got closer to shut your mouth with a sudden, deep kiss.
“Can I tell you a secret?” He whispered, just an inch away from your lips.
“Sure, what is it?” You said almost laughing. A secret?
“Ok, look at my pants,” Daichi said, drawing back until he stood up, right in front of you.
“Yeah, I’m looking at them and they look really good on you-” You started to say and tried to make him spin around to point out how good he looked in those dark pants. That was actually your favorite pair, you loved the way they highlighted his muscular legs, how- But he stopped you right there.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ok, thanks, but have you noticed that I’m not wearing any belt? And actually haven’t worn one in a while?”
You frowned. Where is he getting at?
“And you know why? I don’t really need one anymore. These pants stay up regardless,” Daichi confessed, giggling, “What I mean is… Look, you still like how they fit me. I still like how they fit me. I just know that you would like them even in another size. I would like them as well.”
You just stared at him, quietly pondering his words.
“Anyways, the pants are not the real point. These are just pants. Those things that didn’t fit you aren’t the real point either. You see what I’m trying to tell you?”
You did. You got what he meant, but you were still doubting yourself somehow. Because, in your mind, not fitting your old clothes was just the result of something that slipped out of your hands as you struggled to take care of anything else, except yourself. It wasn’t about your weight or the clothes, it was about losing track of yourself in the process.
“You think I’m perfect while I may, well, I am certainly not. Same goes for you. None of us is perfect, never been, never will. We are just us,” He got closer and sweetly brushed your hair behind your ears, “But for me, in my eyes, you are. And apparently, I’m too in yours. And that’s all that matters.”
Again, just straight facts.
Also, whenever he gave you one of his motivational speeches, he really looked like a captain. You could vividly picture the scene in your head, his teammates carefully listening to him, hanging off his words, right before an important match or even just a regular training session.
“I know it’s extremely cheesy to hear, but it’s also the truth. You’re perfect just the way you are and you’ll always be to me…” His voice small as he kneeled again in front of you. “Even now. Even if you feel lost. The you you’re looking for is still there, it’s not going anywhere. You just need some time and patience to find yourself again.”
You immediately cupped his face, about to tell him something, but before you could spell a single word, he whispered,
“But… But if this is a problem, something you want to change or improve, something you need some help with, then let’s do it, let’s do it together. No. Better. Let’s do it right now!”
Daichi immediately stood up and ran back to the kitchen, where you used to keep your little notebook. Once back, armed with a pen and unmovable willpower, he sat down again and opened the agenda on your lap. Going through your schedule, he noticed how packed it was, pages and pages filled with appointments and notes, but that didn’t scare him.
“Mmm… So, here’s the plan. Our lunch breaks on Monday and Friday look pretty long. We could… Meet at the park. You know, the one right after the supermarket, down the street-”
You nodded, showing him you were following him.
“We could jog a little and then eat something together! That way we’d see each other, have some fun and do something good for our health too… I know jogging doesn’t actually sound much fun, but I swear we’ll have a good time, babe. What do you think?”
Your lips curled upwards into a soft, little half-moon. You couldn’t say no to that.
“Sounds like a plan…” You simply commented.
He looked relieved and then added, “Also, remember that lunch at my mum’s next Sunday? Why don’t we just skip it and go somewhere fancy, like a spa-”
“But we promised-” You tried to object.
“Babe, I know, I know, but we can go some other time. She’ll understand.”
“Okay…”
“It’ll be beneficial for both of us, for real. To be honest, I think I’m this close to a breakdown too,” He laughed.
“You’re right, we should definitely go… You know, I was also thinking about joining some sort of club. I feel like I don't have a hobby or a passion anymore. It’s always work, work, work, the apartment, work, work, work. I feel so… Arid? Mentally. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah… Me too, I was thinking the same exact thing this morning actually… Maybe I should join a volleyball team again. Nothing serious but like a team to play with, just once in a while-”
Your eyes widened, “Oh God! Yes! Absolutely! You should definitely do that, love!”
Daichi nervously chuckled. He wasn’t expecting such an enthusiastic and energetic reaction from you, not after having seen you so blue and distant since he had come back home.
You loved seeing him playing volleyball. You still remembered vividly the times you used to sneak a peek at his practice and matches during college. The first time you saw him playing, all sweat and absorbed in the game, you did a double-take. He looked so hot.
“Alrighty, I’ll definitely think about it… Don’t worry, love, we’ll figure something out.”
“As we always did…” You added, shyly smiling at him.
That situation made you wonder. Life could be hard at times, but if you had the right people around you to rely on, to fight with, or simply talk to, it didn’t seem like that tough anymore.
“Yeah…” He smiled back and instinctively leaned forward to hug you tightly as you welcomed his frame against your chest.
After a few silent minutes, you muffled against his shoulder, “Thank you… I don’t even know how to tell you how thankful I am right now… ”
And in all fairness, there wasn’t much else to add.
“You could start by being less hard on yourself, love,” Daichi said, still pressed against you, “You’re doing so great…”
“You’re way too good to me.” You murmured back, your voice slightly above a whisper.
At your words, he brushed his head from side to side against your shoulder, silently disagreeing with your affirmation. He was just as good to you as you deserved.
Right at that moment, “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar and H.E.R. came on and Daichi thought that there couldn't have been a better time than that for that specific song to start.
He drew back from your hug and guided you to stand up with him, then walked backward to reach the center of the living room, his eyes still fixed on you.
“Siri, turn up the volume!” He ordered his phone to do as he took you in his arms.
You simply stared at him and followed his actions, like a puppet under his spell. His arms welcomed your figure and your fingers locked, your two bodies perfectly molded one against the other as you slow-danced to the rhythm, allowing yourself to utterly enjoy that moment.
A strange feeling warmed your belly, like an overwhelming wave of happiness was overtaking all your senses. Your mouth instinctively opened to shower Daichi with random compliments, words of gratitude, and all sorts of sweet nothings. He loved to be praised by you but after a while he tried to playfully hush you, holding you even tighter and whispered next to your ear a line of that song that seemed to be written right for you. Better, right for him to sing it for you.
“I just wanna see how beautiful you are, you know that I see it, I know you're a star.  Where you go I follow, no matter how far. If life is a movie, oh you're the best part…”
The music eventually faded and an hour later you and Daichi were once again in your bed, curled up in your sheets, as you leafed through Netflix’s catalog, fruitlessly. In the end, you just end up cuddling and ultimately dozing off. Nothing special had happened that night, but you felt so restored, at peace, as if everything was completely fine again.
When you woke up the morning after, Daichi was already gone. You were used to this too. No night shifts meant early shifts. But this also had its perks, like the tiny heart-shaped post-it notes he liked to leave in the bathroom for you to read them as you washed your face or brushed your teeth. The breakfast? Ready on the kitchen counter, another post-it note on top of it. And then another one, on the front door, “I can’t wait to see you at lunch <3”
At noon, you two met up at the park as planned. A little warm-up under Daichi’s careful instructions and then you were ready to start. Just a casual jog, nothing too demanding, as you enjoyed the fresh air and the good company of that day.
During the whole run, Daichi kept encouraging you like a real captain and a loyal partner would do, saying that you were doing great, that you looked very good in those leggings, that you were half done at that point, and then that you could do it, you were almost at the end at that point.
“The last lap, babe! We’re almost done!” Daichi shouted, turned his head in your direction, and gave you a wide, shining smile.
“I-I think I’m done for today…” You panted as you struggled to keep up with his pace.
“Six more minutes and we’re done! C’mon! Don’t give up!” He incited but you soon waved the white flag, signaling him your surrender.
Daichi halted and got closer to you. A strange, gloomy aura suddenly spread all around him. A mischievous grin appeared on his face right when he whispered, an inch away from your sweaty face,
“Quitters don’t get their prize, you know that?”
Your breath almost failed you, when you told him, “Yeah, yeah, you can eat my lunch, I don’t want it anymore…”
But apparently, Daichi had another prize in his mind, another type of meal .
“Mmmh, that’s not the reward I was planning to give you…” His voice sounded dangerously seductive for the location you two were at the moment. Your eyes widened at the sudden realization.
His hands slowly roamed from your hands to your shoulders, then cupped your cheeks. His tone got back to normal when he playfully squeezed your face and said, “Six minutes!”
Six minutes passed and the jog was finally over. A little picnic at the park, a quick shower together at home, and then you were good to go. Your afternoon’s tasks awaited you.
That evening Tanaka and Kyoko joined you for dinner. They were both more than happy to give you some advice, to recommend easy and healthy recipes, and to see how the apartment had changed since their last visit.
Later that night, you and Daichi were again in your bed, tired but definitely satisfied. Your back was pressed against his broad chest, your body secured in his warm embrace, your thoughts were quiet, both your body and mind at peace.
You had worked, you had jogged, you had had some fun with Daichi at the park, you had also found some time to finish that book you had forgotten on your desk. Well, actually, Daichi had been texting you during the whole afternoon to remind you to take some breaks from time to time, to have a snack or read something. The dinner with Tanaka and Kyoko had cheered you up more than planned and that full, yet satisfying day was finally over.
You were still lost in your thoughts when you felt Daichi snuggle up, holding you even tighter than before. His left arm was wrapped around your figure while the right one was on top of yours, his fingers gently rubbing your hand, then your wrist and forearm, drawing imaginary patterns all over your skin. As he got closer, ultimately closing that tiny gap between you two, his head found the crook of your neck and gently nestled in it. Then he asked you, his voice hoarse with weariness,
“So? About the jog, did you like it?”
“Weeeell, let’s say that I liked it but mainly because we did it together.” You confessed, “Would I do it alone? I don’t know… Maybe?”
“Fair enough,” He replied and placed a sloppy kiss on your shoulder, his fingers still loosely tracing your arm. Then there was silence, the room was from time to time filled only with the muffled sound of those soft pecks he kept on leaving on your skin.
“You know,” Daichi whispered at some point, between a kiss and another, “Jogging is not the only option…” He paused to clear his throat, “There are other types of activities that we could do…” Another kiss, his breath warm against your neck, his tone husky with desire when he added, “That we could do indoor…”
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ludomusoetme · 4 years ago
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Blog posts for Introduction to digital music
Blog Posts:
Version 1.0
Greetings everyone, and welcome to the blog relating my adventures in writing music!
It’s been about 5 years since I’ve last composed something… so this should be interesting.
Pretty much all of my previous work has been paired with something, generally moving image or game. This is the first time  i’m writing something just for the point of listening, and especially in an electronic style. Almost everything I have written before has been for acoustic or live performance (and generally limited by my own performing prowess).
In order to get started I first needed to figure out what kind of style I wanted to write in. I had recently acquired a playstation VR and was very tempted to write a song in the style of “Beat Sabre”, which is a music game where you slide notes with lightsabers, very worthwhile if anyone has a VR device.
Whilst this was incredibly tempting as the music was generally electronic, fast paced and energetic, I decided to challenge myself and do something that ISN’T intended for a game/screen for once.
Because of this I decided to try writing in a style I have never done nor even attempted before: Chill/Lo-fi beat. The idea of a chill groove where the focus is not on melodic or emotional representation, but on the overall feel of the piece really gelled with me. I must admit I was inspired by the liturgy of Lo-fi Zelda beats I sometimes listen to for relaxation purposes…
Whilst I wasn’t so keen on making it super Lo-Fi as that would limit my mixing design, I still found this inspirational enough to get started and begin working on a project.
My goal for this was to have a chill groove that was laid back, yet still dance-like. I decided straight away I wasn’t going to go with a slow tempo. A lot of these songs have beats at around 90BPM but I found this too slow. I wanted something that was chill, yet made you want to bop your head along.
As such I settled on a 130BPM tempo, but was going to be focusing on a half-time groove the entire way through.
I started taking a look at different loops for in logic’s loop library to see if I could find anything I liked. (There are so many loops there… and so few that hit what I wanted!)
I decided to look at instead organising some plugins. Having never used plugins like this before, I did some research and received great acclaim for Spitfire audio’s LABS plugin. I grabbed it and enjoyed the soft and electric piano sounds.
Version 1.1
Trying to wrap my head around writing lo-fi beats with particularly hard for me, I ended up watching a lot of YouTube videos regarding drum patterns and mixing. For me drums are something I have never done before. Usually I have worked with either just a bass drum or percussion separately, sometimes timpani, but never electronic drum patterns usually. I find the idea of setting drums up very difficult.
After attempting to just cue up a Midi track and manually write in drum sounds, it really wasn’t working when I tried to write out the pattern and feel that I wanted.
Instead I decided to start with the melodic/harmonic inspiration and then work on drums later.
To start my melodic process I had a look through logic’s loop library again to find some inspiration and get a base sample I wanted to build upon. I eventually found a series of midi samples called “House baby piano” which fit the mood I was going for.
After laying these out, I decided to work on getting the drum pattern in, mixing could come later, for now I needed to feel how my song is supposed to ‘feel’. 
I tried finding a drum pattern in the loop library, but couldn’t find anything I liked. Turns out its hard to find a “half-time, chill drum pattern”. Instead I decided to foray into writing drums using logic’s ultrabeat drum synthesiser. There was a preset called “lofi glitch” that had a decent starting palette, and from there I used the ultra beat to try and position notes until I found a pattern I liked. After this I still wanted some more manual control than what the Ultrabeat would offer me, so I penciled in just the bass and snare sounds. I would come back to adding more variety and interest once I had the core feel down.
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Once I had figured out a style I liked using the Ultrabeats, I attempted to EQ the individual parts such as the bass drum, but couldn’t find a way to do so in the Ultrabeat under a single channel. Instead I decided to transcribe my beat into its component parts and then write them in midi all on seperate tracks so I could have more control over the specifics of the sound.
By transcribing the beat out, I also had more than 32 subdivisions to work with, and this allowed me to create more variety and interest from the ground up. It allows for less basic repetition and therefore more human feeling. I was also able to slightly shift certain notes if I wanted to.
I wanted to have a constant beat on the high hat when it was present, but found that it was filling up far too much of the higher register of my song. It also had a harsh sound because of this. What I did to counter this was apply a harsh rolloff on both the upper register and lower frequencies. This allowed me to get an accompaniment for my bass drum that still carries the tempo and fills some space in my drums along the time axis, without filling up too much across my overall frequency composition of the mix.
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Whilst EQ-ing my snare, I actually found I much preferred the sound if I boosted it around the 3rd harmonic (around 1k), as it developed a nice crisp snap that was hidden before hand.
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Once had I had the basis for my drum beat down. I began to play with my sample, the House baby piano. Whilst I liked the vibe, it could stand to be improved a bit, as such I added in/tweaked a lot of the sample to create some more interest. I found the velocity indications very useful for creating human sounding tracks. Sadly my electric piano broke when I moved house a month ago, so I had no midi controller to use to actually play in note velocity, as such I was setting most of them individually.
Version 1.2
After playing with the groove for a bit I decided to go back to basics, pull out the structure map, and see about making a song that captures the same trajectory as “Cataplexy” with a different style and feel. Instantly I encountered an issue… Up to this point, I don’t actually have a “melody” to work with. Currently my melodic interest is the baby house loop I used earlier, it carries a nice tune and fits the chill vibe I wanted. I don’t specifically want an overly catchy melody as that would detract from the overall vibe I am striving for. As such I am happy with something a bit more chordal, however there isn’t enough room to play between timbre and instruments if all the musical information in one instrument section.
Instead I decided to take the house baby sample and split it amongst a few different instruments to give me more room to alter the sound profile and create different “Melody” lines like Cataplexy. This way I can have a “spooky” sections and a “bells” section just by changing which instrument is playing.
I ended up doing a lot of transformation to find a sound I liked. Firstly I took the original instrument sound (Trem EP) and decided I liked it as the “Bells version”. For my “Reflective Version” I ended up using LABS (Electric piano). Finally my “Spooky Version” was taken by Alchemy’s (Mellow Chimes).
After sorting out the different melodic versions, it was time to create some interest. I wanted the “reflective version” to be at a higher pitch than the normal sample, but also wanted to add some interesting pan and echo effects. I ended up making 3 different LABS (Electric Piano) lines, each with a different echo effect, and was able to split the sample up between octaves and between these tracks to provide some interest.
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I decided the top line would focus on the final notes in the sample that are leading notes back to the first beat of the next bar. This would have no tremolo or echo effects and instead focus on a re-centre-ing of the main sample.
The middle line was going to have a 1/4 note echo effect as well as heavy tremolo also set up to pulse on these echoes. As such the sound would move across the listeners perception of space as each note was played out. I only wanted the first, long notes, to fit in this category.
The bottom line contained the notes before the extended pause in the sample. So I could add some interest into this part, I added a 1/2 echo effect as well as the tremolo. This turned a simple sample into a varied and interested melodic/harmonic movement.
For a bass line, I isolated the bottom line of the “House Baby Piano” sample and moved into a (Smooth and Gentle) Retro synth. I doubled this line, panned hard L/R, and then set up a Phaser and stereo delay that were slightly out of synch to give some interesting musical effects. I didn’t want the bass to be overly prominent as then it would clash with the bass drum and the bottom of the piano line. I also transposed the notes down an octave to give it some free space.
Whilst EQing the bass I made sure it wasn’t clashing with the bass drum frequency too much. Thankfully the root note has a  fundamental that sits at 100hz with the first fundamental at 200hz, so there was very little interaction negatively. 
Version 1.3
After implementing feedback I finally managed to find a way to get the velocity of the kick drum to read properly. The ultra beat had a very tiny window between what it accepted as velocity for the softest and loudest note and it took a while to find which part of the software controlled that particular setting.
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(Nice and easily laid out isn’t it….!?)
Version 1.4
Ahh bass drum, we meet again…
I found the bass drum to definitely require some humanising, as well as adding some harmonic distortion so it sounds less perfect and robotic. The Tube EQ plugin allowed me to add some low boost and drive to my drums in general with a bit more intensity to make them feel like they have well… drive, to the beat. It really added something that was missing in the overall mix by having this slightly bite-ier sound.
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I also thought my B section was a bit simple. Whilst this was good I decided to add some extra flavour by playing with the Remix FX and adding some downsampling and subtle filter automation during the B section.
Version 1.5
Final release time! Did a last minute mix and decided to actually unplug my headphones and play it through my sound system (a Bose Soundbar). Whilst this is hardly the best mixing setup, it at least has a bass module attached so I could listen to the bass sounds appropriately. This also gives me a pretty good idea of what it would sound like when played on someone else’s sound system that isn’t a professional music/audiophile. What I found immediately was that when not on headphones, the bass drum sounds incredibly Boof-y and required some pretty hard readjustment of the TubeEQ. What sounds great on headphones blows out massively on a sub. As such I reduced the fundamental frequency in the EQ as well as dropping the low boost from above 5 to around 4. This ended up with still a good sound on headphones but MUCH better production sound when played through a sub.
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deadcactuswalking · 4 years ago
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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 30/01/2021 (Wellerman, Fredo, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA)
I’ve never been more thankful for a song being this big – “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo spends a third week at #1, blocking “WITHOUT YOU” by The Kid LAROI at #2. Thank God. Anyway, we’ve got 10 new arrivals so let’s cut the chit-chat and start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.
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Rundown
Of course, after this brief rundown we always do. Thankfully, the site actually updated last week, so I can go through this as routinely as possible. For drop-outs, it’s a lot of recent new arrivals falling out either off the debut or a few weeks after – most of them being pretty crap – but we do have some notable drop-outs, like “Forever Young” by Becky Hill, “Plugged In Freestyle” by A92 and Fumez the Engineer, “pov” by Ariana Grande, “Love is a Compass” by Griff, “Tick Tock” by Clean Bandit and Mabel featuring 24kGoldn, “Lasting Lover” by Sigala and James Arthur, and finally, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. Now to move onto the chart proper, we do have some movement to discuss. Firstly, we have some fallers, those being “Dynamite” by BTS at #32, “positions” by Ariana Grande at #39, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #41, “All I Want” by Olivia Rodrigo at #43 off of the return, “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI at #46, “Best Friend” by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat at #47, “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #48, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #51, “Wellerman” by the Longest Johns practically being replaced at #52 (We’ll discuss this more later), “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #53, “Notorious” by Bugzy Malone and Chip at #55, “Looking for Me” by Paul Woodford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax at #60, “Bad Boy” by the late Juice WRLD and Young Thug unfortunately purging to #62, “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion at #67, “Pinging (6 Figures)” by Central Cee crashing off of the debut to #72 and “Diamonds” by Sam Smith at #74, joining our two returning entries – which are just older songs getting another brief pick-up at the bottom of the charts. Those are “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper at #75 and #73 respectively, by the way. Oh, and we also have “Martin & Gina” by Polo G at #65, but I honestly can’t see that song going anywhere – and I really like it. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have any gains, however, as finally, we can see some rising hits trying to fill in the cracks, like both of Rudimental’s debuts from last week: “Be the One” with MORGAN, TIKE and Digga D is up to #58, whilst the incredibly worse single “Regardless” with RAYE is cracking into the top 40 at #40. Sigh, well, we do have some more promising gains, like... “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals at #38? “Friday” by Riton, Nightcrawlers and Musafa & Hypeman at #37 off of the debut? Okay, 2021 might end up being pretty rough, huh? Thankfully, we have a plentiful amount of new arrivals to waive any of my fears, so let’s just start with those.
NEW ARRIVALS
#70 – “Overpriced” – M Huncho
Produced by Quincy Tellem
Oh, come on! Okay, so this is M Huncho, UK trao’s answer to the late MF DOOM, except without any of the lyrical complexity, storytelling abilities, genuine wit, charming sampling and production techniques, brilliant discography... he’s pretty much just a guy whose main gimmick is the mask, and it’s on this single cover too, seemingly in a museum. This song in particular is just one of these melodic trap cuts with wavy acoustic guitars blended with synths beyond recognition, topped off with odd bass mastering and a checked-out performance from M Huncho, who spends way too much time on his verses going “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo”, before the beat switches for a verse that fades out after like 20 seconds. What’s the point of any of this, honestly? It’s not awful – the bass does kind of knock – but I really don’t understand why this is here, or why M Huncho is a big name. It’s not even as good as AJ Tracey’s trap bangers and it’s not even as funny as D-Block Europe, which I’m surprised by, considering that he had his own stupid hit with “Pee Pee” around this time last year, and that song was actually good. Also, M Huncho, what do you think your fans get from you dissing them? If you’re going to brag about your “house by the lake” and then rap about how some unnamed individual “still lives at their mum’s in a council estate”, consider that a lot of your audience will still live with their parents in council housing or be surrounded by people who do. Someone who really came from poverty should know that this is classist and disrespectful to your own demographic. Yeah, this is worthless. Why’s this guy still charting? At least Young Adz knows how to write a hook.
#65 – “New Love” – Silk City and Ellie Goulding
Produced by Silk City and Picard Brothers
Okay, so we do have some energy on the chart – or at least half of the credited acts have. Silk City is a duo of producers, those being Diplo, a true weirdo in mainstream EDM who’s honestly kind of fascinating and oftentimes a fluke genius (especially in its work in Major Lazer and Jack U with Skrillex), and Mark Ronson, one of the greatest producers of the 21st century so far, probably most known for “Uptown Funk!”. These guys did have a hit together with Dua Lipa in 2018 in the form of “Electricity”, but it’s been a while and I’m interested to see how they work with the complete non-presence that is Ellie Goulding. It’s with some level of disappointment that I say that she’s not a non-presence here, as this is otherwise a pretty neat house tune with some excellent 90s keys and a deep-house groove I think is pretty fun. The strings in the pre-chorus are great and build-up to a fantastic chorus... or at least the instrumental is fantastic, because Goulding is a waste here, mixed way too high and honestly just faltering her vocals here. She sounds awkward through multi-tracking and even worse without it, as she clearly goes for a rough swagger that cannot work with her light, almost fairy-like voice she’s relied on much of her career. The intricacies of this production are really admirable, but Goulding was clearly an afterthought. With a real diva on vocals, or honestly just a sample of a soul or diva house track, this could be excellent. As it is, I’m bored. Next.
#63 – “Typhoons” – Royal Blood
Produced by Royal Blood
Oh, okay. Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Royal Blood are an English garage rock duo that rock pretty hard, and don’t go for anything else beyond that, which to me is a breath of fresh air, and, yeah, this is good. Is it as good as their debut? Of course not, their biggest hit “Figure it Out” is still incredible, and this one goes for a more synthesized 70s feel, even accentuated by disco keys in the pre-chorus. The riffs are still here though, as that main guitar line is pretty awesome. I see this as a mix of garage rock revival bands from the 2000s like the White Stripes, as well as some stoner-adjacent bands like Queens of the Stone Age, with a more classic hard-rock groove and Mike Kerr’s signature yelp, and it works for what it is, so I’m excited for that upcoming single. Nothing’s particularly impressive here, but I’ll definitely go for this over the rest of what we have charting, so I’m not complaining. This is good, you should check these guys out, even if they tend to be a bit derivative. That tense bridge with the looming background vocals and intensifying riff is genuinely epic, by the way, even if there isn’t much more of a pay-off behind just... the chorus again, which ends up rendering as flat as a result. Regardless, it’s a good break from the norm – which for a chart week like this, I’m especially glad is here.
#61 – “Your Love (9PM)” – ATB, Topic and A75
Produced by ATB, Topic and Rudi Dittmann
German DJ ATB was showing his girlfriend his new recording studio when he got carried away with a single guitar sound and made a song out of it, “9PM (Till I Come)”, named after the time the track was finished. Later on, he took the track and added some whispered vocals from Spanish model Yolanda Riviera. This happened in 1999, by the way, when this song was released to great success in Europe, leading to a hilariously dated album cover but still a UK #1. The song is honestly kind of bad, relying on a pretty typical house groove, ugly MIDI guitars and that seductive vocal loop. Regardless, since 90s nostalgia has come way too fast, Topic has remixed the track with A75, a collaboration we’ve seen before on “Breaking Me” from last year, which sucked. To be fair, the original song is pretty empty, so I’m interested to hear A75 add some vocals... and he just sounds pained over a deep-house rip of the original. The ugly MIDI melody stays, just now it’s drowned out and even more synthesized – this is the guitar sound you liked so much? I hope she left you. Let’s move on.
#59 – “My Head & My Heart” – Ava Max
Produced by Jonas Blue, Earwulf and Cirkut
Speaking of being bored, here’s pop singer Ava Max, with a new lead single from the deluxe edition of her debut studio album, Heaven & Hell. This one’s produced by Jonas Blue, which, alongside a redundant “Jonas Blue remix”, is probably why it’s charting. What’s sad is it’s not really very good, as the vocals are over-processed over fake hand-claps and clipping mixes that make those plastic synths sound even worse. Admittedly, I like the rubbery future bass-esque bass line here, but that’s really as far as my appreciation for this goes, as the writing is non-existent, and Ava Max is barely here. It’s honestly really similar to “New Love”, except this one’s not even as interesting as that track, going for an exhaustingly tired house-pop style that while she is a natural fit for, it does make the 2000s synth-pop she started with sound inspired in comparison. Oh, and the “Jonas Blue remix” is practically a glorified bass-boost that makes this sound even uglier, so, yeah, skip this.
#42 – “Apricots” – Bicep
Produced by Bicep
Bicep is a Northern Irish electronic duo from Belfast, and this is an instrumental from their most recent album, Isles, which clearly must have stood out enough for it to debut at #42. I can understand why too, as that sample from Hugh Tracey’s African music recordings, particularly the vocal sample used, is really infectious and interesting. I don’t think everything surrounding it is enough to really make it less annoying, as it running through nearly the entirety of a four-minute track makes this sample lose its lustre too quickly. It runs its course far before the song has the chance to build up into a house track, with that sample crushing everything that isn’t the percussion in the mix anyway. The keys are really cool, and I can’t fault the strings and ambiance that keeps the song building up for as long as it does. It also takes a sample from a Bulgarian folk choir, which they paralleled to the Celtic folk they grew up hearing, and honestly, this is just a cool blending of global music rather than an actually good song, ending with me respecting this more than actually enjoying it. The synths by the end sound fantastic as does the Bulgarian chanting, but it doesn’t really have a great climax or drop to make the build-up worth it, defaulting to a generic house groove by the end that fades out before it can have any real impact. So, yeah, this isn’t bad, but feels like a waste of some really great ideas. I guess I can say that “Northern Irish remix of an English ethnomusicologist’s recordings of African music that also samples a Bulgarian folk tune” isn’t quite as much of a developed idea as “Kazakh remix of an American rapper of Guyanese descent’s trap song in a Brazilian house style released on a Russian record label”.
#35 – “Lo Vas A Olvidar” – Billie Eilish and ROSALÍA
Produced by FINNEAS
It’s not often that songs in non-English languages chart in the UK. Whilst in the US, Latin music is such a force that it’ll launch hits for many Spanish-speaking artists, this isn’t the case in decidedly smaller Britain, where a still multicultural society tends to produce art that is always in English. To be fair, we don’t have a place like Puerto Rico, and the few songs I’ve talked about this year that have been in a different language... well, basically the one song I can remember off the top of my head, was in a Nigerian Creole language. So, why’s a Spanish song by Spanish artist ROSALÍA charting so high? Well, it’s also a Billie Eilish song, and it’s also from the HBO teen drama Euphoria. Yeah, a teen drama makes a lot of sense for Eilish to soundtrack. This has been teased since 2019, and is actually ROSALÍA’s first song to chart here in the UK, so is it any good? Well, yeah, actually, it is. Both Eilish and ROSALÍA have excellent whispery tones that complement FINNEAS’ muted, ambient production perfectly, and their harmonisation sounds great, with both singing in Spanish here for the most part. That chorus is pretty janky, though, and I don’t really see the point in the Auto-Tuned interludes, even if they both sound great playing off of each other with a lot of tuning in the outro. This is pretty minimal and dare I say awkward, kind of eerie, so I don’t see it sticking around, but as a longing break-up track, they both sell it well. Next.
#28 – “Skin” – Sabrina Carpenter
Produced by Ryan McMahon
Joshua Bassett’s response flopped immensely, meaning that now it’s Sabrina Carpenter’s time to shine, because if it’s anything she gets out of this Disney love triangle, it’s a hit song, and people clearly want to hear more from the women than they do from Josh. Telling. Now I’m not one to follow Disney teen drama because this is all a marketing gimmick. I mean, the songs dropped every Friday so anyone who can’t see through this is either blind or... a child, and considering the audience, that second one is more likely, which is fine. Popular music is, ultimately, in the hands of teenagers and record executives, and all of these break-up response diss track... things, tend to feed into both hands, whilst also giving these talented young actors a bigger break. This is Carpenter’s first charting hit in the UK, after all. The song is decidedly worse than “drivers license” though, and by a lot, as the mixing here isn’t even competent, as Carpenter’s voice clips through these ugly pianos, worsened by how her voice does not sound great here at all, as she struggles through that terrible chorus. She may say that this isn’t a response to Rodrigo, but given the lyrics and how quickly this rushed release was put out, are we really supposed to believe that? The percussion here is gross as well, drowned in bad reverb that makes this just sound grey and dull. The strings building up to a climax are barely there, and when they are, they sound like they’re elevating a really garbage performance from Carpenter, who can barely keep up. This is supposed to be a ballad yet it sounds so stiff and controlled, meaning that Carpenter trying to let loose on the vocals makes this awkward and painful. I’m sorry, but this is really bad, and I hope it doesn’t stick around. Thankfully, I don’t see that happening.
#20 – “Back to Basics” – Fredo
Produced by Dave
Lil Chocolate Frog’s got a new record out this week that I’ve yet to hear, and this is the lead single, produced by his long-time friend and collaborator, Dave – who’s awesome. I’ve typically been less kind to his mate Fredo but honestly, his ever so slightly off-kilter style has grown on me too, and this song is a pretty good introduction to that. It’s one verse over rattling trap hi-hats and a really eerie vocal sample, and Fredo flows casually and smoothly over the beat, in his typical careless, just barely there style, which works well over a pretty subtle beat like this. Fredo’s lyrics are pretty interesting here too, as amidst flexing and gun-play, he has some pretty funny lines, although far from Dave’s wordplay, rather relying on fun one-liners where he says he’s “kind of Christian”, doing revision on drug trafficking, will run for mayor, and because of how much of the gang violence is sadly amongst ethnic minorities, he himself is racially profiling his “opps”. One line near the end of the track actually made me laugh, when he says he counts up twenties while eating porridge. It’s not funny on paper, sure, but the delivery is gold. He shows more character here than he has since “Funky Friday”, also with Dave, so I’m pretty excited to hear this record, which Dave actually executively produced. It’s also got the late Pop Smoke on a track with Young Adz, so at least I’ll let out more of those laughs. This lead single is pretty good though, and I can see it going top 10 next week with the album boost.
#3 – “Wellerman – Sea Shanty” (220 KID x Billen Ted Remix) – Nathan Evans
Produced by Saltwaves, Billen Ted and 220 KID
Last week, the sea shanty “Wellerman” charted as a cover by the Longest Johns. It’s a fine acapella cover, and this version, by Nathan Evans, was originally similarly acapella, except for the tap of a table as percussion to keep time. This version got even more viral on British TikTok, and if I recall correctly, he quit his job to be signed by Polydor, which is pretty scummy on Polydor’s part. I mean, you know this guy won’t have any more hits. Regardless, this version debuted at #3 thanks to a remix by DJs 220 KID and Billen Ted, three English producers. According to their Spotify duo, Billen Ted used to be a death metal band of all things but then transitioned into writing for dance-pop tunes, and have worked with 220 KID, even if this is technically only their second single. This remix is actually pretty cool to be honest, as it takes the original track and adds some needed energy, mostly through this generic 90s house beat and some admittedly really nice pianos. It’s nothing special, and I would usually criticise something this generic, but the song’s not even two minutes and it’s a pretty inoffensive remix that genuinely adds to the original song through that brilliant flip of the original hook melody in the drop, so I can’t complain. This won’t last, but I’m not mad that it’s here.
Conclusion
I’m actually somewhat pleased with this chart week, which I wasn’t expecting initially, as you can probably tell from my above cynicism. Regardless, we’ve got some variety here (though I don’t see much of it sticking) and I’ll give Best of the Week to Royal Blood for “Typhoons”, with a tied Honourable Mention for “Back to Basics” by Fredo, and, God damn it, “Wellerman” by Nathan Evans and remixed by 220 KID and Billen Ted. Shut up, it’s fun! Worst of the Week will probably go to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Skin”, with a Dishonourable Mention for the complete lack of effort that is M Huncho’s “Overpriced”, just being mildly offensive if anything. Here’s our top 10:
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For next week, I mean, a girl can hope for some Weezer, but it’s more likely that we’ll be met with a Fredo album bomb and some scattered efforts from that middling Lil Durk deluxe edition. For now though, you can follow me @cactusinthebank for more ramblings and thanks for reading. I’ll see you next week.
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arrow-romantic · 4 years ago
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The Middle
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Chapter 1/?: First Day of My Life
Content and/or warnings: Anixety, negative thoughts, light flirting, break ups, canon ships implied. Linda/W@lly. AU.
Timeline is odd but semi explains itself. Autistic main character, gay characters.
Characters: Earth 1 H-unter Z0lomon, Fr3ddie Park[me], L!inda P.ark, Ir.is W.est, C.aitlin Sn0w, Jimmy Ol.sen[mentioned], brief v.ibe content.
Summary: Freddie wasn't expecting to drop coffee on a stranger that day, but he did and everything changed.
Words: 1,400
“Yours is the first face that I saw; I think I was blind before I met you. I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been but I know where I want to go”First Day of My Life; Bright Eyes
When Freddie’s alarm went off at at 6:30 he realised that he’d not slept yet. He had promised himself that he would go to bed in a few minutes that was at midnight. He rushed up out of bed to shower before leaving his and his sister’s condo. It had taken ages but he finally convinced his parents he could move out without a hassle when he was nineteen, on the condition that he move in with her. Which had been fine, except for the first week when she forgot he was there and brought Barry to the condo and they stopped their makeout session when they saw him.
That was six years ago and honestly living in the city was expensive, so he stayed with Linda. He refused to move back home. “Are you going to work?” she asked him from where she was stress baking inte the kitchen.
He jammed his feet into his trainers, flattening the heels without a care. He hesitated, he wanted to ask why she was stress baking. He really did, but he also promised Caitlin he would help her. He bit down hard on his lip for a moment. “I’m going to help Caitlin in the lab for a few hours, but I promise I’ll come right back home!”
“I’m not your keeper,” Linda rolled her eyes and went back to baking.
Freddie was already out the door and rushing down the street to get      to Jitters. He made his way in and got into the line. Hopefully he’d just missed the big morning rush by the time he got there. “Hey, Freddie!” Tracy grinned at him. “Your usual?”
“That’d be awesome, thanks Trac’. Could I also get two Flashes and a vibe?”
“Going to S.T.A.R. Labs today or does the editor have you on a coffee run again?” she asked casually as she started on the order.
“S.T.A.R. Labs, and I’m late.” he chagrined. His cover story was that he took photos for Iris’s articles about S.T.A.R. Labs’ contributions to the city and to the scientific world. Neither she, nor his bass was aware that he was a vigilante.
Tracey laughed. “Dr. Snow is not gonna be pleased …”
“Yeah,” he laughed softly. When she gave him his coffee he rushed out, unfortunately backing into a rather tall man. In the process he knocked the man’s coffee into his tan jacket.
“Oh FUCK. Dude I’m SO sorry!” he scrambled to balance the coffee tray into one hand so he could give the guy his napkins. “I am SO sorry. Uh, fuck. I swear I'm usually more careful. I'm so sorry. I'll fix this I-uh.”
The man stopped and watched Freddie’s fumbling for a moment, just a little awestruck. He’s cute. The man thought a bit dumbfounded. “It’s alright,” he smiled a little. “It’s not too hot.” He felt like he’d just been hit with a ton of bricks. He didn’t believe in love at first sight, but man this fumbling man, apologising for coffee … he felt something, a spark.
Freddie quickly grabbed a crumpled business card from his pocket. “Tell Tracey, the manager to put your new coffee on my tab and call me if that needs to be dry cleaned. I’m so sorry. I have to go.”
He accepted the card on autopilot. He knew for a fact that the last time he felt butterflies like this he was in his early twenties.
He was already forgetting the man’s face when he rushed into the S.T.A.R. Labs elevator and shoved on his mask. Maybe if I’m lucky she’s late too. He was not lucky, not even a tiny bit. “So nice of you to finally join us.” said Caitlin, a bit tight lipped.
“Look, I’m sorry. Last night was …”
“Whatever.” Caitlin sighed. “Alright, everyone. This is Nightfoot.”
The two kids, probably around fifteen just looked at him. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “I’m Nightfoot and I’m here to help you guys out with uh, powers and stuff.”
“...Okay.” said one of them a bit awkwardly.
“So, uh firstly I struggle with social cues, so if I ask you to clarify something I promise I’m not being condescending.” He started a little awkwardly.
There was a bit of reluctance from one of the kids. They had pressed a little; as they were not aiming to make these kids superheroes. That wasn’t the goal: the goal was to get them to a point where they felt comfortable going to school without the fear of accidentally using their powers resulting in harm to themselves or others. When the kids left however, Caitlin had stuck him into a chair and ordered him to wait for her.
He found himself getting a bit bored again as it was taking her a while to deal with things. He started to spin in his computer chair, thoroughly bored with the prospect.
“Hey, ese,” Cisco said casually. “How was the class?” he asked as he pulled off his Vibe gear.
“It went … okay. One of the kids was real worried we were gonna shove them onto the team though.” he began to explain.
“Well, do you want to go train or something?”
“I’m waiting for Caitlin.”
“Oh, I’ll leave you to it then.” Cisco headed out.
Cisco came running back into the room when he heard Cait exclaim. 
“I was gone for five minutes!”
“Well, when you yell at me I get stressed and can’t come down.” Freddie shot back, currently stuck to the high wall by his hands and feet.
Cisco sighed deeply, heaving his whole body. “I’ll get the broom.” he replied and headed down the hall to grab a set of brooms. He began to work to poke his hands and feet in the hopes of encouraging his grip to slide.
That was an ordeal he never wanted to think about again. After that he went to let Caitlin draw his blood. “I still wonder what gave you such an odd assortment of powers.” Caitlin mused as she eyed one bottle of his blood. “and why it turned your hair white …”
“Yeah, we’re not any closer to answers?”
“About your powers? No. Your hair though, I think I’m getting close.” she seemed pleased with herself, and awfully interested in his biology. His combination of powers had taken them all by surprise when he initially reached out to them for help.
There was a loud beeping that filled the room. “What’s the sitch, Cait?”
“Are you ever going to stop doing that?”
“No.” He grinned.
“Hartley just took a chunk out of Emerald High School.
His phone went off then.
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-----
When he finally returned home, he could tell Linda wasn't pleased with him. Which of course made dinner even more quiet and awkward for the four of them, until they started to gush about Linda's job. He was glad his parents were behaving somewhat. They were divorced and their father had a difficult relationship with them, but they managed.
By the end of the night, things were quiet. “I’m sorry,” Freddie finally said as he started to take care of the plates. “There was a thing with H.artley…” he trailed off.
“It’s always something with you,” Linda was exasperated as she nearly slammed the plates into the sink. “It’s not just H/artley. You’re always lost in your own little world! Nothing going on around you matters! You’re so self centered. If it doesn’t affect you it doesn’t matter.”
He hated that argument. He hated being told he was selfish. “You know that’s not true!” He hated that it was always selfishness somehow. There was never an understanding. “and don’t imply I don’t care about the state of our family, that is not fair and you know it.”
“I’m sorry.” Linda sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “It’s just a lot. You know dad is a handful.”
“I really didn’t mean to forget.”
“I know you didn’t. But you did.”
“and there’s nothing to do but move forward. I’m tired, I haven’t slept yet. Goodnight.”
He never went to sleep. His brain wouldn’t turn off. So he sat awake, working on photos and writing anything that came into his brain. He considered calling Jimmy, the time difference would mean they could talk for a bit but he knew that was a bad idea. He may have been mostly over their breakup but there were things his voice always dragged up.
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littleworldbigdreamsblog · 4 years ago
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Forgive Me-Chloe x Halle (A Review)
Introduction 
I cannot describe how much I love this song and the entire Ungodly Hour album. I have replayed it countless times. So now that I have calmed down I could take this apart and appreciate it for what it is....ART. This song and video really plays on nostalgia, control and our generations idea of what a break up looks like.  
The Artist(s) 
So the first time I have ever heard or seen these beautiful girls was from Grown-ish. My friend actually described them as “little Beyonces”. At the time based on their content I agreed but after seeing what their music is like now I would say they are very different because of how much they have evolved.
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So to the basics Chloe x Halle is a sister duo who have been singing since they were little kids and their range really proves that. Chloe the older of the two has a more soulful voice while Halle has an eerie, almost haunting voice. This is why their harmonies are so fire because of how different and unique their voices are. It just works! 
The song 
Listen to it here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc9Y58TeZk0
So the lyrics are so to the point where I feel everything was on your face. There weren’t much allusions and or symbolism but it was still very effective in conveying every single emotion. So the song explains being betrayed by an ex. As seen in most popular songs about exs they tend to be depressing ie see any Taylor Swift song (no shade) but this one had me feeling empowered. Like yes you lied but I can and will do better for myself. 
The whole concept of “Forgive Me” is I am hurt as it is like you wasted my time and energy but I am not going to drown in it and you are going to be mad because I don’t want you back. For instance in the chorus Halle sings “ So forgive me, forgive me/I've been going too hard in your city/So forgive me, 'cause I'm not teary/Best believe I move onto better things” So in all it is this idea of the best revenge is showing someone that hurt you or left you behind that you are happy and doing well. 
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And y’all that just the chorus. 
These verses and the pre-chorus is the build up. It shows what went wrong in this relationship. I assume there was some cheating and he lied to cover it up according to the lyrics when Chloe says “You ain't gotta tell me what it is/ 'Cause I saw the messages/ You must got me fucked up”. The guy seems completely silenced by being confronted about it because he attempts to “plead the fifth” but that doesn’t even work. She is already gone! 
From the second verse also we see that it seems she knew about the affair and just watching the relationship fade. I am reminded of some people both male and female who stay in the relationship so when they break it off...they are somewhat emotionally detached. This is a means to protect yourself because it is a common thing in our generation to “win” the breakup. And maaaaan I think she won because we see evidence of him regretting what he did like in the lines “ Baby, don't you see, what you done threw away/Know it's hitting you, on the loop, on replay”. 
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I can appreciate this song a lot on a personal level because after a break up while it is easier to solely slander and criticize your ex, I think it takes so much more effort to put yourself first and try to be without. I mean getting back to who you were before being in love and then being betrayed is hard but it is healthier  and more productive than bad-mouthing that ex who isn’t worth your time. 
He or she is your ex for a reason right?  
I don’t think I need to talk about how flawless the vocals and arrangement are but I still am going to. As I noted previously, their voices are very different and uniquely so. The very subtle harmonies with Chloe holding that melody and Halle doing the adlibs/ background vocals is perfect for this song and its arrangement. Now I ain’t no music major but the chords, the bass and the harmonies were so reminiscent of late 90′s and early 2000′s R&B Pop music with heavy hitters like Aaliyah, Tony Braxton and even TLC. I grew up on that music and it really brought me back to the feeling I had when discovering that music as a kid. I can’t begin to describe the type of nostalgia I felt.   
The video 
Visuals. Visuals. Visuals. My guy, the shots from this music video totally floored me. I mentioned earlier about the arrangement reminding me of Aaliyah and so did the visuals. I literally had like 3 Aaliyah videos in my head: Try Again, We need a Resolution and Are you that Somebody. This isn’t to discredit Chole x Halle’s creation, it serves to say it is so good it can stand next to Aaliyah’s aesthetic and say “hey sis” in the most loving way. I am not sure if that was their intention but it genuinely made us 90′s babies happy. 
On another note I felt like the visuals aided the lyrics. I think this is where the big brain thoughts are going to make their appearance.
DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER this is strictly my opinion/ 3 am thoughts based on some research.
 In the video there is a consistent theme of Chloe x Halle being these sexy dominatrices ie strong dominant women (mostly in a sexual way). Being a dominatrix is mainly about having control and calling the shots during sex both mentally and physically with the submissive’s permission and kink in mind. The reason I bring up sex is their wardrobe, lots of black leather, chains and those skin tight pants. If you see a picture of a generic dominatrix outfit it is similar to their outfits.How does this tie back to the song? By moving on and being happy that leaves them in control and that is symbolized by their clothing choice. But why would they make it sexual? Because firstly sex sells and they look amazing in leather and this general aesthetic works for them. Secondly in a break up there is a huge power struggle or dynamic and the clearest way that depicts that power struggle was from the choice of clothing and props. Does it stay very true to BDSM culture? Based on some research I did yes it does aesthetically. Relating to the lyrics of the song also yes as it focuses on having that control and existing in a newly developed power dynamic. Do you see the parallels?
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Aside from the wardrobe, the overall theme was dark. Like are they really digging this man’s grave? Yes ma’am!. This shows how dead that relationship is and as much as he wants her back, she has to think about herself and her well being. That is so incredibly powerful.  
Also even from the pictures I chose, there is an underlying religious tone. What I understand from it from looking at the dance and certain visuals, it is maybe a play on going to confession. Like being happy after a break up is a sin and she should repent her sins but she won’t. She won’t say sorry for moving on. She will however say “forgive me for putting me first and not crying over you”. 
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So we have come to the end and I can’t explain to you my loves how amazing this song is to me. Amidst all the chaos in the world there was a certain calm when this video and album dropped. It is inspiring to see these young beautiful black female artists communicate their experiences through art. To be honest, it kind of got me writing again and this is the product. Hope you enjoy it :). If there is anything you think should be added, let’s have a conversation, I am open to hear your thoughts. 
And please go listen to their album Ungodly Hour...it is amazing. 
References: 
Lyrics : https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/chloexhalle/forgiveme.html
BDSM info: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/working-as-a-dominatrix_n_5c66ea02e4b033a799423973
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/30/dominatrix-classes-be-more-assertive-work-and-life
https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/sex-and-love/what-is-a-dominatrix
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flowri1983 · 6 years ago
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The one where Stiles likes nightclubs.
No one in the pack knew what Stiles did every third Thursday night, and everyone in the pack knew not to ask. 6 months ago, he had simply and firmly stated that he needed a night away from supernatural bullshit and for them not to disturb him. (Okay, so maybe he had screamed at Erica and Isaac when they dropped into his bedroom unannounced for the THIRD time in a week but still). The agreement was that after 5pm the third Thursday of every month, no one texted him, called him, dropped by or tried to reach him through his Dad?! (“jeez Stiles that was one time” Scott had whined). Derek wasn’t curious. He wasn't. Couldn’t care less.
There were theories of course. The most common being that he was either jerking off or had a secret girlfriend, on account of how relaxed and laid-back he was upon his return on the following Friday. He was clear-headed and calm, and less frantic in his movements. Like someone had let the air pressure out of him a little. Derek soon quietly assessed via some subtle scenting (that he would never admit to) that neither of those theories were the case. For one, he’s pretty sure that as a 19 year old guy, Stiles had been jerking off since he knew what jerking off was so that wasn’t anything new for him, and secondly he didn’t come back with somebody else’s scent on him which would be hard to avoid if he was seeing somebody.
Derek wasn’t going to complain...exactly. He was always grateful for days when Stiles wasn’t as much of a vibrating ball of nervous energy, but there was something unsettling about the whole thing. What was it that made Stiles calm in a way that he never was the rest of the month? And why did it unnerve Derek so much to see Stiles this way? In pack meetings the day after he found himself hyper-aware of the lack of Stiles’s constant fidgeting, his flailing limbs and expressive hands. He found himself watching out of the corner of his eye waiting for Stiles to move in an explosive way but there was nothing. He was....smooth in his movements. Relaxed in his frame in a way Derek hadn’t seen before, and Derek spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. Why did he care about Stiles’ body language?
(come on, he knew why he cared but wasn’t going to explore that, nope.)
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Derek never intended to break Stiles’ rule, he didn’t. He wasn’t looking for Stiles, he was simply following up a lead on some rogue hunters in a neighbouring town. His sources had led him to a small, underground nightclub. Made sense really, lots of dark booths for secret meetings, and the heavy bass-line pounding through the building was perfect for covering up unsavoury conversations. Derek was loitering by the bar, nursing a club soda and trying to blend in with the crowd when he saw him. In the nightclub. On the dance floor. Dancing.
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When Stiles was younger, and he was trying to get to grips with his ADHD he soon realised that music helped him. The more repetitive the better. He could concentrate so much better with his headphones on, music loud in his ears drowning out any other distractions.
When he finally snapped at the pack that he just needed some goddamn peace and quiet - he didn’t mean that literally. He just needed some time away from the crazy, supernatural shit. And being the ‘go-to guy’ was fine but not when it become ‘go-to at all hours of the day or night and be expected to drop everything-guy’. That first time, when faced with a ‘free night’ he had worried he’d get bored and go straight back to the wolves, but then it struck him. He knew what he wanted to do, what he needed to do. He was going to give in to the craving he felt with his whole body.
He found out about the club from Danny, who said he’d been there a couple of times with an ex. They played loud music, and didn’t check IDs on the door if you were cute enough. Turns out, in Meadow Hills Stiles was cute enough.
So this was what he did, every third Thursday. He’d get in his jeep and drive 40 miles to dance and lose himself in music for a couple of hours. The only person who knows where he goes is his Dad, because he promised himself he’d never let his Dad worry. He knew the pack were curious, once Erica has suggested he had a secret girlfriend and he could barely hide his smirk at that. Firstly, it had been a good long while since he’d paid attention to girls in that way. About the same amount of time, in fact, that he’d known Derek. His potentially fluid sexuality was pretty much solidified when that snarky, grumpy asshole had become a part of his life. Secondly, well, there was no secondly. Stiles wasn’t dating anyone, not even in secret. That wasn’t what he needed.
He tired to explain it to his Dad, his compulsion to go to the club.
He explained how the loud, pulsing music drowned out all the busy thoughts in his head. How it allowed him respite from maps, bestiaries, investigations and theories. For one night the only thing he needed to think about was the beat, the tempo, the lights, his body.
His body that was constantly moving in time with the music, sweat prickling down his back from nothing but joyous exertion. There was no fear, no dread. He moved his legs to dance, or to walk to the bar for water - he wasn’t running for his life from monsters. He was entirely in control of every motion in his limbs. His natural nervous energy finally had this electric output that carried with it no consequences or judgement.
He took comfort in being surrounded by flashing lights of every different colour instead of lines of string connecting victims to threats. This wasn’t a murder board, or something to be figured out, this was just pure sensory immersion.
The people who touched him in the club weren’t doing so with murderous intent or emotionally laden with familial comfort. It was fleeting, searching, but never violent. (People were on the whole pretty decent, the regulars soon learned by the way he brushed off every interested party that Stiles was someone who wasn’t at the club to hook-up. He politely made it clear he wanted to dance and they left him alone, moving on to better targets.)
Perhaps the thing that really sold it to his Dad was when Stiles admitted that on nights he’s been to the club he never had nightmares. He brings home ringing ears and a pleasantly exhausted body and he just sleeps. So, once he had persuaded his Dad that he wasn’t a) drinking b) trolling for no-strings sex or c) doing drugs, John had just shrugged with faux-complacency and said “well, you do what you need to do to be...okay. I just want you to be okay.”
And he was okay. He was for that brief period each month, at peace. With his surroundings, his body, his mind. It was a sort of clarity for him. Until the night he makes his way to the bar and he walked straight into an apparently dumbfounded Derek Hale.
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Seeing Stiles dance, it hit Derek like a punch to the gut. Stiles looked....free. His long limbs moving in controlled, smooth motions in time to the music. His beautiful long neck thrown back in pleasure with the lights of the club making his face a kaleidoscope of blues and reds. Derek had never seen Stiles look like this, never. He’d never seen him look so graceful, or so utterly beautiful. He was breathtaking.
Derek felt a sudden and inexplicable mixture of guilt, longing and envy. Is this how free and unencumbered Stiles could be without the pack, without Derek, dragging him down? Could Derek ever help Stiles feel this way? Or would it always be something Stiles could only get from this dark, loud, anonymous place?
Before he realised it, the song had ended and Stiles was there blinking with incredulity in his face. He looked angry, probably assuming Derek had followed him there. He could see the boy’s eyes get hot and his fists clench by his sides, so before he could launch into the diatribe Derek knew was coming he reached out and placed his fingers against Stiles’ mouth, stilling him.
“I didn’t follow you, I won’t tell anyone. This space, this night, is yours and yours alone, and if it’s what you want, I’ll pretend never saw you here. But if you ever want to not be alone, I...I’d love to be the one to share this night with you.” He walked away, leaving a very Stiles stunned behind him.
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A month later, around 6pm on a Thursday Derek received a text that simply stated:
- I think I’d be ready to dance with someone, tonight.
Here’s a link to it on AO3
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kpop-musicreviews · 5 years ago
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A Review of A.C.E’s “Under Cover” EP
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Do It Like Me
This song did so many things that I wasn’t expecting at all. Firstly, based just on the introduction, I was expecting this to be a super hard hitting song, but instead Jun started the first verse with very smooth vocals. In the second verse, we got a unison syncopated rhythm between the voice and instrumental which was a really cool combination. The instrumental through the song was pretty interesting because each voice tended to stick around one pitch the whole time, which added to the effect of the song. The second chorus instrumental was a bit different from the first one, and the bridge modulated in a really weird way, I myself am not even totally sure what they did there but something changed melodically. And then they went back into the chorus and it was all super chill again. The thing about this song is that it was laid back feeling but it still felt a little menacing, like the guys were challenging the listener. All technicalities aside, this song was just a really fun one to listen to and I liked it a lot!
Under Cover
This. Song. Hits. Hard. From the moment I watched the MV, I knew I had to do a review of this group. I really like the little intro to the song, I think it’s a great precursor for what is to come in the rest of the song. The grungy guitar that comes in is just so aggressively present and in-your-face. In one of Byeongkwan’s parts before the first chorus, he has a little part where he says “beobeobeobeok” and from the first time I heard this I just kept thinking about how deceivingly difficult it is to articulate that word clearly and in time. Also, I love the falling bass throughout the song; I think it adds to this sort of sinister sound that the song is going for. The drums in the prechorus are no joke either, they really add to the intensity of the buildup. And then, the chorus. It reminds me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. I just love that they say “under cover” and then the beat hits right after. I think that was a great stylistic choice. I liked the transition from the chorus to the second verse because it felt natural. I also liked when Byeongkwan says “pop pop, pop pop” and there gunshot sounds to back him up, making his voice feel more powerful. And my god, the way Chan sings the beginning of the second prechorus with that slight tremble in his voice is so captivating. I had to listen to that part multiple times. All in all, I am just really loving this song. It’s really exciting to see a group doing a concept like this because I feel like I haven’t heard anything like this in a while. (If anyone has recommendations lmk, I hate to be missing out on anything else like this!)
Mr. Bass
The whole time I was listening to this song, I just couldn’t get over the fact that the beginning reminded me so much of 24K Magic by Bruno Mars, haha. The bass groove in the song is super funky. I felt like Wow’s part where he says “1, 2, 3, 4” etc felt a little out of place. I think if they had started on a lower pitch and did something a little more melodically I might have felt that it fit better with the flow of the song. For example, I felt that his part in the bridge was perfectly fine and flowed well with the other members’ parts. I think this song in particular made me appreciate Jun’s vocals even more. He has such a steady tone and a strong voice, which I’ve been really enjoying.
If You Heard (들린다면)
If I’m being totally honest, this song sounded more like a typical boy group song. However, I’m still totally here for it and I think it was a nice way to end the album (the digital one, at least). I liked Donghun and Byeongkwan’s harmonization, and I liked Wow’s parts a lot more in this song because they had more of a melodic line. I liked when they sang “oh”s at the end together, because that’s always a good way to end a song, right? Overall it was a relatively easy listen with some cool piano and guitar/bass parts and a fun but slightly melancholy melody.
Overall Feelings
I am totally in love with A.C.E now, thanks to this comeback. I honestly can’t say that all of their b-sides were my favorite, but they definitely weren’t bad. There was no point whatsoever where I was bored listening to their music, and that’s saying something. I have to say, it seems to me that Byeongkwan is sort of the star of the group, the one that gets pushed to the front a lot. I think any kpop fan will know what I’m talking about.. some groups just have that one member that the company favors or whatnot. To me, that’s Byeongkwan. I think we see a lot of him in the music video and he also has a lot of lines, whereas I can’t exactly say that I remember many of Donghun’s parts. That’s just what I’ve taken away from this as I listened to their music and watched their MV. What do you guys think?
In any case, this was a good album and I am really excited to check out their other music because this album hits so hard!!
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Thank you for reading my review of A.C.E’s “Under Cover” EP! What did you think of the boys’ comeback? Are there any other artists you’d like me to review? Feel free to DM me, comment, and leave things in my inbox!
Upcoming reviews: AB6IX, Weki Meki, D-CRUNCH, and more!
kpop-musicreviews 🎶💚
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maximura · 6 years ago
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BTS: FAKE LOVE
While I’ve been asleep, BTS dropped the Extended Version of Fake Love. I’m still pretending to be on hiatus but truthfully, they’ve dragged me out of retirement and I think it’s time I talk about this. 
1. Firstly, how dare they. 
2. Original Version. I actually hated it when I first heard it. I hadn’t seen the MV and it just seemed like a bitter version of DNA. But by the second listen, with the MV and lyrics, it was so obviously different and immediately made more sense. I wasn’t really expecting it but Fake Love is one of my favourite title tracks they’ve released. The guitar, bass line and 80s synths in the background honestly made me so nostalgic. The style reminds a lot of 2000′s emo rock tracks. 
3. Extended Version. Okay. Listen. They pitched everything down and actually added a 2000′s emo rock backing track to it. There’s both acoustic guitar work AND actual electric guitar shredding AND distinctly rock basslines AND the crescendo of drums leading up to the chorus. It is SO FUCKING 2000s Emo Rock. The arrangement sounds like what they do to a lot of their tracks for live stage shows. I thought I loved the original version but the rock version is going to be the definitive version to me. It’s what it should’ve always sounded like. If anything was missing from the original, they’ve managed to put it all in the Extended. Excuse me, I need to go scream into the void.
4. The Lyrics. Oh man. The Lyrics. They are so depressing, full of frustrated vulnerability and completely relatable. BTS and BigHit have a knack for this exact thing; making the bittersweet sound equal parts bitter and sweet. It’s great when they try new things and release fun tracks in between but their strength lies in bittersweet tracks. It’s the winning formula and I’m still actually surprised that I haven’t gotten sick of it yet. And this is coming from someone who went on hiatus because I had Kpop-Fatigue (it’s a real thing, haha). 
5. Park Jimin. It is no secret at all that out of the seven members, he’s number seven for me. Nothing against him. I just never got him. But this era really changed all this. Fake Love is a group effort and I don’t want to diminish their legendary teamwork but let’s not front, that high note in the chorus is fucking amazing and deserves focus. I firmly believe that he is the only one in the group who can deliver it in the right way. He’s got this fragile but aggressive shrillness that really works. This is probably too dramatic and premature but it almost reminds me of the time I first heard Sia’s legendary high note in Chandelier. Just really surprising and piercing. 
6. The MV(s). They’re okay but veer too closely into Indulgent Territory. It’s blatantly symbolic and metaphorical, so I appreciate them putting that much thought and consideration into everything they do. That said, I love story-driven music videos because they really add to the overall experience. If ‘Fake Love’ had a video like ‘I Need U’, it would’ve been too much of an experience though. Haha. Maybe BigHit made a good call after all. 
7. The Choreography. It’s fits the song in every way. It’s modern-interpretive but has enough hip-hop elements to prevent it from getting too lame and sappy. I’m not sure where I’d rank it because it’s still so new but it’s right up there with their classics. I don’t know why I should be but every time I watch them dance I’m surprised at how good they are at twitches and locking, it’s always so sharp and they hit their moves hard, even when it’s a more fluid part. That’s the type of control you can only get from 10000 hours of practice. 
8. Anyway, thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
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frankbedbroken · 5 months ago
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frankcore may 2024 update!!
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we're already in the middle of the month so it's a bit late for me to update this but whatever, this is first and foremost something i do for myself at the end of the day and if it just so happens that someone reads it then cool. anyway, this month's roundup is a lot heavier on the electronic and hip hop, and it's also mostly emphasizing some of the weirder, somewhat darker and hazier sides of each paradigm.
on the one hand, a lot of the electronic stuff on offer here tends to intermingle with hip hop either in terms of the usage of rhythms inspired by hip hop or by featuring actual hip hop (or adjacent) artists on the songs themselves, though there are some outliers to this along the playlist. for the former, you've got the dark yet impossibly enchanting trip hop vibes of bows, side project from long fin killie frontman luke sutherland, whose singular vocal delivery just takes the atmosphere to another level completely; there's some glitch hop / pop hybrids courtesy of baths and iglooghost, the first bringing in a very melancholic vocal performance laid over a haunting and almost oppressive instrumental and the second being a lot more ethereal and hazy in terms of its vocal delivery and synth design; later on, a Lot of sample manipulation in different veins of electronic from the fear ratio with their remix of dbridge turning an otherwise unremarkable track into a frenzied, constantly spiralling sort-of-glitch-hop "beat" with a demented sounding melody, moody good making a trip hop track with vocal samples near impossible to parse and looming, ondulating guitar lines, seekersinternational pulling audacious blends of ambient, dub, jungle and ragga that sound like you're catching pirate radio signals (could've picked a lot of tracks from that project, the group is one of my favourite recent discoveries) and carl crack delivering some of the most menacing and dizzying atmospheres through very little elements: an endlessly looping vocal line, extremely distorted boom bap drum patterns, some noise here and there, and not much else yet it manages to create an immense sense of dread (positive).
as for the actual hip hop and edm crossovers: the new machinedrum album is great, and one of my favourite tracks is this very bright and inviting glitch hop track with mick jenkins and jesse boykins iii delivering great vocal performances; hash gordon providing an immensely hard-hitting track with very aggressive and confrontational lyricism and vocal delivery over an always changing instrumental with elements of electro and breakbeat; and after a long time since it was first premiered, the skrillex, hamdi and taichu collab, which you can make the case that it's very much similar to a lot of other hamdi tracks, as it tends to be the case with a lot of his material, but hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it, the track works really well still, although i would've liked to have heard taichu having a longer verse but given that the track is mostly club oriented, so it makes sense, i suppose.
we've got a couple of outliers to these two classifications of the edm-centric tracks too: firstly, an absolute banger of a uk garage track from oomfie kelbin, wonderfully shuffling drums that just plunge you right onto the dancefloor accompanying some of the most shimmering and wavy synth lines i've ever heard put into the context of ukg; elysia crampton, sound-collage-etc extraordinaire taking an already great cut from rabit and putting a dancefloor spin on it with incesssant drum patterns and vocal samples; and miles whitaker of demdike stare alongside andy stott delivering a haunting blend of uk bass, jungle and footwork that very much lives up to its namesake.
as for the hip hop that hasn't already been mentioned: delightfully hazy abstract goodness from the ever-consistent cities aviv with his classic laidback delivery over a beat that sounds like it's playing through a vhs recording (hypnagogic pop influence, as some say); kendrick lamar perfoming an absolute evisceration of character for six minutes over one of the most drama-filled, impactful piano lines i've heard in a beat probably ever (you could argue not like us is the more defining track of the beef in the way that it manages to humiliate someone over a club jam, but man, do i love me a good callout and an amazing alchemist beat); and a really hard-hitting cut from short-lived industrial hip hop duo food for animals, essentially taking a lot of stylistic cues from dalek in terms of flow and lyricism but amping the glitchiness and aggression of the beats up to 11.
in regards to everything else on the list: different strands of r&b and soul, it's always good to have some of that on the list, starting off with a classic janet jackson joint from an absolutely essential album that i still need to get to lol, miss ravyn lenae presenting a surprisingly successful marriage of pop rock and neo-soul with expectedly wonderful vocals and hooks for days, and the second single from clara la san's debut album, with much of the same that made the last track of hers featured on one of this posts so compelling to me also present here. then, a couple of argentinian bands, with jaime sin tierra's very comforting psychedelic dream pop (i'm pretty sure that's not really the genre they're most well known for but this track fits that bill at least) and clamor's energetic and exhilarating emocore revivalism. we've also got some melancholic rock-related cuts with nicole dollanganger's crushing portrayal of her struggles with eating disorders, and dean blunt, vegyn and panda bear clashing in a longing plea for companionship. finally, some of the more edm-inspired sides of pop with always underrated fave vocalist ivy hollivana in a track that feels very in line with some of baths' work but with some modern hyperpop influence, and underscores dropping what appears to be a loosie from the wallsocket era that just absolutely rips, that bridge after the second chorus is one of my favourite moments in music so far this year.
that's it for the month!! tube it!
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gearboxrecords · 6 years ago
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Thelonious Monk - Mønk
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Sammy Stein - Something Else
Tapes of an previously lost Thelonious Monk performance have been rescued and mastered by Gearbox Records, and are now available on an LP. Mønk is from the idiosyncratic pianist’s prime period and feature his most critically acclaimed quartet recorded live on March 5, 1963 at Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen. He memorably collaborated with saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop on the Columbia studio albums Criss-Cross and Monk’s Dream, both released in 1963. Ore went on to play with Sun Ra.
Fifty-five years later these tapes have been saved, then cut using Gearbox’s legendary all-analog process. (They use the same lathe as Blue Note did back in the day.) The results on Mønk open a window onto Thelonious Monk in his prime, one year before he would become one of only five jazz artists to appear on the front cover of Timemagazine.
Already a renowned jazz pianist who had worked with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Monk began to employ improvisational technique which included gaps in the music and repetition of phrases in different formats, while also using the keyboard to introduce disharmonic chords. Though grounded in gospel, Monk started experimenting and introducing his own improvised sections in pieces. With his idiosyncratic style, both in his playing and off-stage, Monk undoubtedly had an influence on jazz musicians like pianist Bud Powell who followed, inspiring them to improvise and play according to their heart. He was one of the key musicians to help forge links between bop, hardbop and free jazz.
Mønk is a wonderful showcase of that prowess. Thelonious Monk’s playing on this night features many of the artistic and rhythmic improvisational traits that brought him such acclaim and admiration. As this celebrated quartet reimagines and explores Monk’s classics, that approach to the piano is inimitable and unmistakable.
“Bye-Ya” opens Mønk with a dramatic drum solo from Frankie Dunlop, whose hard-hitting style comes to the fore throughout, adding punctuation and structure. The sax line is lovely, rolling and backed by a walking, strolling and constantly supportive bass. The drums pop in and out like a timely reminder and the lower notes of the wonderful Charlie Rouse on sax are completely in control and absolutely gorgeous. This track shows the strength of the integrity of the quartet – and Monk’s piano, needless to add, takes its own lines, adds little points of interruption and commentary to make the track speak to the listener. The ever-so-polite clapping from the Danish audience halfway through is in contrast to the musical shenanigans on stage. The piano solo from those dextrous fingers of Monk, along with his disharmonic interpretation of the theme later in the track, tell you this is Thelonious Monk at his definitive best. The clapping is more enthusiastic as the track finishes.
“Nutty” makes masterful use of space and melody. The theme is set early on and repeated several times before Charlie Rouse’s masterful solo begins – and masterful is the right word, as he takes center stage musically, with Monk accompanying with some style. It is hard to express Monk’s ability as an accompanist, and he is rightfully considered one of the best the jazz world has known. Here, he is intuitive and almost psychic in his support of the solo, and the bass and percussive lines are pretty near perfect too. This allows the solo to develop, whilst offering solid scaffolding underneath. The piano emerges for a solo with the bass accompanying around the half way mark, and the drums never let you forget they are there as part of the music, not just to maintain the beat: Their emphatic complimentary strokes and beats add direction and strength. Monk does a few things which are so Thelonious Monk, including a little disharmonious section just when the theme is really getting going – almost like he’s saying to the audience: “Well, did you hear that? What I just did there? No? Well, how about this? Still the tune, though – Ha!” All the time, the bass is constant and steady.
“I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” is simply lovely, with some slight syncopations and weird harmonies worked in but not enough to throw the listener. It’s a clever and very Monk-ish thing to do and many who followed take this little trick, which adds interest and variation. After the piano introduction, the track moves along with sax, bass and drums all adding their weight and input. The sax solo is again wonderful and demonstrates the choice Monk made was right for this quartet. The piano rises, drifts, crashes and falls away as Monk sees fit, and this is a beautifully woven track. It’s tight as velvet, smooth as silk and strong as sisal.
“Body and Soul” opens with Monk serving up a smorgasbord of styles and deliveries, all for the listener’s enjoyment. Trinkels, triplets for doubles, then some classic-influenced methodology, all delivered with a twist and put together in a way which many players wish they could. The great thing with Thelonious Monk is he plays in the moment, and you can almost feel his emotions chasing each other here. Gorgeous does not go near this. Sometimes, the thought that such a recording could have been lost is too much. Mønk is amazing.
“Monk’s Dream” is totally band-delivered. The quartet here display just how tight their bond is, with Rouse altering dynamics and taking the lead for much of the track, whilst Ore and Dunlop are tuned in, seeming to foresee Monk’s unpredictable shifts and turns, intertwining with one another and him effortlessly. It is testament to the caliber of the musicians that they smoothly and effortlessly take the cues which Monk distributes so liberally, but so quickly one after the other and do not let it phase them at all. This create a sense of ease and fluidity which could be lost with lesser players. There’s a reason this is considered to be the definitive Monk quartet – and “Monk’s Dream,” perhaps more than any other here, confirms it.
Lost recordings of this stature are rare, especially when it comes to major players like Monk, making this a treat for enthusiasts, Thelonious Monk followers, historians and music lovers. Credit goes to Gearbox, a vinyl-led label that cuts and masters using original analog machinery in their London studio.
“The original tape was a Scotch broadcast tape amongst a collection of delights we bought from a Danish producer who had literally picked them from a skip some 20 years ago. He was going to use them to sample and remix during the acid-jazz heyday but didn’t have time,” label founder Darrel Sheinman says. “This album represents several years of hard work: Firstly, to source the tape and clear the Monk-related rights issues, then to create a special all-analog recording which is analog all the way from the source to the stock on the shelf. AAA means Analog recording, Analog mix, Analog master – no digital in the path. We felt this was the only way to produce probably one of the best Monk renditions we have ever heard.”
I asked Shienman what he felt the recordings and release meant for the label, which has already been instigators in saving recordings from tapes, mastered using their own machines, for example, from BBC sessions which would have been lost to time due to the quality deteriorating. “Well, it is not a remaster, as it has never been out before. It is a milestone for the label,” Shienman said. “Whilst we have released other great jazz artists on the label such as Dexter Gordon, Michael Garrick and Tubby Hayes, we have never had one of the ‘holy trinity’ [of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk]. Special!”
I asked him how he feels it contributes to the already vast store of Monk music. Darrell simply said: “You can never have too much Monk.” On the process Shienman comments, “The quality was excellent. We did only minor tickling on the EQ [equalization, or balancing the sound]. All analogue, an easy mastering job.”
The liner notes for Mønk have been written by Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus, and jazz writer Stephen Graham. The collector’s edition of the vinyl – limited to 500 copies worldwide – will also come with a previously unpublished, signature-embossed 30×30 print of Thelonious Monk by British journalist and photographer Val Wilmer. The record will also be pressed on audiophile, transparent vinyl and comes in a vintage style tip-on, hand-numbered sleeve. There will also be a standard vinyl/CD release and Mønk will exist on all digital streaming platforms as well.
The overriding sense here is the connection between the players. All great, all capable of filling (or emptying) a place at will, these masters of their instruments listen, interpret, and at times with uncanny foresight, seem to be there just a shade before Monk: They really “get” his playing, which took some doing at the time.
Some might wonder why recordings – especially “lost” recordings – are so important, and also ponder the fact that many artists made personal recordings and many recordings have been lost. But the fact is few musicians had such an influence as Thelonious Monk, and latterly John Coltrane, and this is why it is important that any recording – and, indeed, perhaps especially those kept (as the ‘Trane tapes) by the artist – are shared because those who have followed in their giant footsteps can have a sense of a clearer path. The gaps are filled and the picture is complete.
Of course, practice sessions, jams and collective ensembles are now lost to time, but the listener can, with the help of these recordings, gain more a sense of the progression of these artists and how they developed over time. The more you hear, the easier the path is to trace. Found recordings also instigate a fear in the listener – the fear that, had it not been for some peculiar twists of fate and uncanny collisions of events, recordings like Mønk could have been forever lost.
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krkekcnehx · 7 years ago
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Negan’s Rose - Chapter 4
Word count: 3039
Warnings: mentions of being underweight. I don’t want to spoil it but maybe just maybe some freaky deaky.
This one took me a while gorls feedback would be great xx
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You lazily silenced your alarm, groaning at the shrill ringing sound of it in your ear. You were yanked out of your blissful sleepy state by the the familiar alertness and the streak of anxiety you always felt waking up, anticipating walkers. Your eyes took a couple of seconds to adjust to the quiet room and your surroundings and your panic instantly evaporated. You weren’t out in the cold woods, exposed to the dead and the walkers, you were at the mysterious sanctuary and you were safe, if not still a bit confused. It was going to take time to adjust to this new feeling of security.
You stretched your arms and legs out, letting out a yawn as you blinked a couple times, waking yourself up. You took a swig of water from a fresh bottle that had been left in the kitchenette and brushed your teeth over the sink. You splashed some of the water over your face to wake yourself up and took your two tablets hoping to clear up the lingering dizziness from your injury. It was a warm morning, but the concrete floor kept you cool as you made your way over to the small dresser. It was nice to wake up in light comfortable pyjamas instead of your usual heavy survival ensemble. Your shoulders felt lighter without the weight of your backpack, something that would also take a while to get used to. So did your bare feet, free of your heavy boots and worn socks. You picked out a black vest top and a striped blue and green t shirt with a little bird on the pocket. You recognised it and checked the label, seeing that it was Hollister. You laughed softly, you would’ve never set foot into a hollister shop before. Teenage Americana summer beach romance clothes weren’t your thing. It reminded you of high school and the sickly sweet perfume from that shop that all the girls in your year wore. You were never one of the lip gloss girls and it felt strange to even think about vanity or self appearance in this new world when you just wanted to survive.
You found a pair of blue tracksuit bottoms and slipped them on, not wanting to wear anything too fitted until you gained some more healthy weight. Pulling the shirt over your head you noticed the red marks on your shoulders from carrying that wretched backpack around from so long. You avoided looking at yourself in the small mirror until you were dressed, not wanting to deal with your body. You had become dangerously skinny and lanky, your bones tired from constantly being on the move and your already deathly pale complexion seeming paler, however you had a hint of colour in your cheeks from your good sleep and having ate properly.
You considered wearing your hair down, but you were starting your new job today in the garden and wanted it off your face and neck. The trainers had a firm sole and were instantly comfier than your boots. You opened the blinds, letting yourself bathe in the warmth, standing with your eyes closed as it worked it’s magic on your freckles, letting it fill up the room with it’s cleansing energy. A knock on the door brought you out of your trance as you made your way over to it.
You presumed that this was Arat and let your eyes trail over her face, firstly noticing the small frown line in between her eyebrows, then noticing her strong nose and cheekbones. Your eyes dropped to her lips for a second and you admired her sharp defined Cupid’s bow. Your eyes met hers as the frown line softened and her lips parted slightly.
“I’m Arat, I’ve been assigned to show you around” she said in an authoritative but soft voice, her lips curling up hinting at a smile before going back to a line. You couldn’t deny that she was very pretty in a strong almost masculine way. “I’m rose.” You replied, realising this was the first time you had told anyone here your name. “Rose” she repeated softly with a small smile, almost unaware she had even said it. It was comforting to hear another human being call you by your name and you almost didn’t recognise it after being isolated for so long. The two of you fell into an understanding silence for a few seconds and if you weren’t wrong, you would say she had a tiny crush on you. She handed you your familiar switchblade, interrupting the growing intensity. Her glowy bronzed skin contrasted with your translucently pale hand as you took the weapon. Her smooth hand, nails chipped and painted black, lingered on yours for a split second before she dropped her hand. “You’ve been trusted with this, only use it if you absolutely have to.”
you murmured a quick thanks as you put it in your pocket, and with a “Follow me” the two of you were off.
She took you to the bustling metropolis that was the marketplace, explaining the points system to you. It was full of people but the energy was very sullen and the people seemed to merge in with the grey architecture of the room. Then you were shown the cafeteria which was reminiscent of hogwarts with its long tables. Arat grabbed two trays passing you one as you waited in line for breakfast. It was starting to get busy with all the workers getting up in time to start their shifts for the day but you managed to get a decent portion. Plain porridge and if you had the points, a squeeze of honey. Arat took you to a table at the quieter far end of the hall where a few saviours were seated. You recognised simon and although he had an air of arrogance you felt more comfortable now that you knew two people here. Arat introduced you as you took your seats. A blonde disheveled man caught your eye and you took in his disfigured face, not holding eye contact for too long for fear of making him uncomfortable, training your eyes onto your porridge instead. “The Sanctuary’s unique charm growing on you goldy?” Simon taunted with a smile. “It’s very uh, grey” you said sheepishly in response. The blonde man let out a soft laugh at this and introduced himself as Dwight. He had a reserved, quiet nature and didn’t say much for the rest of the conversation. Not wanting to overwhelm you, they chatted about supply runs and sanctuary gossip leaving you with your thoughts. You focused back into the conversation when you heard the name Negan talked about, a small sliver of fear and excitement darting through you as you remembered Arat said you were to meet him today. “Oh, rose” Dwight said your name softly like he had just remembered something. “If the run goes well, negan usually hosts a party for the saviours in the basement of this place. You should come by as my plus one.” A small blush coloured his cheeks and he averted your gaze as he said the last part. “I’d love to, I’m dying to meet the guy.” He smiled at you but it faltered as you said the last part. You didn’t have time to dissect it Arat noticed the interaction and quickly interjected. “You don’t want to be late for your first shift. Come on.” You detected a hint of jealousy in her voice.
Working in the garden was tough labour, but you enjoyed being out in the nature and feeling the dirt and earth in your hands. It was good to start slowly building back up your strength. The garden was massive and impressive with rows upon rows of vegetables that you spent the day tending to. The people were friendly, but kept their distance. You had been given special treatment with your own bedroom and free medical supplies and word had gotten round. The sun was beginning to set as you finished your shift and made your way back to your room. It was six pm and you managed to miss the rush of workers in the shower block, quickly freshening up and shaving parts of your body that had been neglected for a long long time now.
It was exciting to be getting ready for a party and you hadn’t felt the familiar buzz since college. The nicest clothes in your small dresser were a green flared sleeved blouse that complimented your hair colour and eyes, and a pair of tight black trousers. It felt alien, almost wrong to be dressing to look nice for once, not for convenience and survival. You let your hair down from it’s braid and it rested on your shoulders in neat waves. The blouse was floaty enough to cover up how skinny you were but still showed some skin. Dwight knocked on the door and you gave yourself a fleeting glance in the mirror on the way out, reminiscing on how you used to spend so much time applying makeup and straightening your hair. You still had the subconscious desire to look nice but it wasn’t as ever present now. Caring about things like that just seemed futile. Dwight greeted you with a shy smile and a murmured “you look nice.” You liked his quiet energy and grounded nature and wanted to become good friends with him in the future. The walk was mainly silent but it was companionable silence, not awkward.
You could feel the thumping bass in the corridor as you got nearer the designated party basement. You were quickly learning just how big the sanctuary was and were probably most definitely going to get lost at some point. The doors swung open as you two entered the room, and the atmosphere was electric. The room was filled with saviours and workers, dancing to the infectious 80s beat that pumped through the speakers. It was a popular song called Blue Monday by New Order and it was impossible not to dance to it. Someone had found a dance hits compilation cd on a run and it was a big hit with everyone. “Let me buy you a drink” Dwight shouted over the loud music and you felt a small hand on your lower back as he ushered you over to the bar. You leaned back onto the bar as he waited on the barman and you scanned the room, looking to find simon or Arat, instead catching the eye of a dangerously handsome man leaning against the wall across from you. He was surrounded by five women all dressed in black cocktail dresses, pandering for his attention. It was hard to see with the low light and all the people, but you could make out a small smirk on his face as he gazed at you with a drink in his hand. He had jet black hair and tanned muscly arms that were clinging to a simple white t shirt and you couldn’t look away. You weren’t sure if sexual tension could be created from a single look across a busy room but you felt a heat and a longing stir inside you. “Earth to rose?” You heard Dwight say with a laugh as he brought you out of your transfixed gaze. “I said, what’s your poison?” You forced your eyes away from this mysterious stranger and feigned a laugh to Dwight. “Sorry, got lost in my head there, vodka’s fine with me” you lied. Vodka always went to your head the quickest and some of your best and worst night outs had been fuelled by the precious Russian potato juice. You maintained idle chit chat with some of the people around the bar getting drunker and drunker as an hour flew by, sneaking glances at the man across the room, your face turning bright red every time, as he caught you, every time. It was like as if there was a magnetic force was pulling you towards him and you could feel his eyes on you all night.
Arat stumbled off the dance floor and made her drunken way over to you, laughing and smiling as you tanned another shot. It was nice to see her this relaxed knowing how tense she normally was after meeting her only once. “Hey girrrlll! Get over herree” She slurred, grabbing your hand and dragging you into the floor. The music had changed tempo to a seductive bass charged melody with a hypnotic rhythm. You swayed to the rhythm, running your hands through your hair and closing your eyes getting completely lost in the song. It felt so good to be immersed in a song for the first time in so long. You felt a pair of firm hands on your waist behind you, immediately knowing who they belonged to. He leaned in so his rough beard was touching your soft cheek as he spoke into your ear sending a thrill down you.
“So this is the little devil that’s been eye fucking me all night.” He drawled his words out slowly and seductively. His voice was deep and dripping with filth and re lit the fire that had been burning all night from the sexually charged fleeting glances. You leaned back into his strong body as the hands on your waist explored the plains of your smooth stomach under your blouse, the contact making you shiver. His hands were warm and firm and you wanted them all over you. You moulded into him perfectly and could feel his rock hard erection through all the layers making you gasp slightly. You slowly started to grind to the music, feeling his hot heavy breath on your neck, realising you had synced yours with his. “You’ve been driving me crazy all night doll” you liked this nickname and you could feel him laugh wickedly as his voice drove you wild. How could someone’s voice alone set you on fire like this? You deliberately rubbed against him eliciting a small groan from him and an electricity to pulse through your clit. You were already soaked and felt a longing in your core. He suddenly grabbed you by the wrist firmly making you wince. He noticed and loosened his grip gently, rubbing his thumb across it as he pulled you to the small door at the back of the hall. Nobody noticed the two of you leave amongst the sea of bodies, or so you thought.
The cool night air was fresh as it hit your rosy cheeks and was strikingly chilly with all of the heat in your bodies. The electricity between the two of you was primal and tangible and you had never felt this with anybody before.
He shut the door and immediately pushed you gently but firmly against it. You could make out his features vaguely under the moonlight. Your vision was a little blurry from the alcohol but he had a strong chiselled face and grey sprinkled stubble. His hair was slicked back but disheveled and a single strand was hanging over his face. The look in his eyes was burning with desire and wonder as they bore into your own, which were wide with shock and an intimidation that you didn’t know if you were comfortable with. You were so drawn to him in that moment that you couldn’t look away. You waited on him to pounce, make his move. You anticipated a rough, passionate kiss but instead the look in his eye softened as he brought his hand up to your face, gently cupping it as your aroused panting slowed down. You were caught off guard by this surprisingly affectionate action but your face naturally leaned into the curve of his large strong hand, the roughness contrasting with the smoothness of your cheek as he brought his calloused thumb over the plains of your cheekbones. You were both communicating non verbally and it was a strange mixture of lingering arousal and unspoken understanding. Like a messed up yin and yang. “fucking magnificent” he muttered softly as he took a delicate curl in his large fingers, placing it behind your ear. He leaned in so his lips were inches away from yours and you could smell the warm scotch on his breath. His lips parted slightly and your heart rate sped up as he closed his eyes. You waited on the kiss, desperate to feel his lips on yours to satisfy the longing you had felt all night but a fuzz from his walky talky interrupted the hazy atmosphere as he groaned, picking up the line. “This better be fucking good Dwight” he spat out. He was irritated and a frown had set in place. You lowered your head, suddenly feeling awkward and disappointed, not sure what to do with yourself. “A fight’s broke out between some of the workers at the bar. One of the bastards tried to steal some liquor it’s getting ugly negan.” Your eyes widened at the mention of his name and you realised just who you were with. He took a step back from you. “I’ll sort it.” He replied abruptly. There was an intensity about the way he looked at you while talking into the walky tally to someone else that you liked. The way he never took his eyes off of you was almost erotic. The haze from all this affection and the alcohol was making your head spin and you could feel all the alcohol in your stomach churning. His eyes met the ground as he ran a hand over his face in an effort to compose himself before letting out a sigh. You moved away from the door letting him open it, the music and shouting from the fight pouring out into the calmness of the night. “I wanna see you again, this isn’t over.” He said with an authoritative voice, giving you a lingering look before heading back into the party. You felt a warmth in your chest at the possibility of seeing him again. You had had intense spontaneous seances with people before but nothing quite like that. As soon as the door closed, you threw up everywhere.
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elliepensom · 4 years ago
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MD4316 - Final Assessment Performances
As we had already chosen our group prior to the assessment rehearsals beginning, it meant we were more prepared and had an advantage over our time limit. In the first rehearsal, we looked at the lyrics that Anya and Rose had collaboratively written. This meant me and Josh could really get a feel for both of the songs and start figuring out a structure and instrumentation.
4 years:
After looking at the lyrics to 4 years, it was clear to us all that a ballad style song in a minor key would suit what was written.
The total time we spent piecing this song together amounted to 2 full rehearsal sessions. We felt that although the writing process was quick, the song had really come together and from that point it was just a case of refining and practicing all of our parts until the day of the performance.
Lyrically the only thing that really changed in rehearsal was the ending verse (Outro). When reading the lyrics you can see the emotional journey that takes place. We wanted to bring this journey to a nice ending which contrasted the rest of the song, so we felt it had to be something more positive and hope inspiring.
Lyrics:
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Instrumental roles:
Anya - Vocals & lyricist
Ellie - Violin & composer
Josh - Piano & composer
Rose - Vocals & lyricist
Anya suggested that a slower, expressive violin part would really suit this ballad style. I came up with the violin part by firstly just listening the song. I felt that with a ballad, harmonies can be a powerful way to emphasise different sections and compliment the vocals. By listening to Rose and Anya's vocal lines in the pre-chorus and chorus, I was able to find a subtle mid range harmony which worked well in thickening the vocal texture and didn't take over or drown out any of the lyrics.
After figuring out these parts, it created a natural dynamic build up which led really nicely into the solo section. Myself and Josh wanted this section to build up even more and have a main violin solo as well as a piano solo. The idea for a key change came about as we just wanted to make the piece more interesting for the listener.
The feedback we recieved in our rehearsal sessions made us overall feel really confident about performing this for the assessment. The only thing that concerned us about the song was that it sounded very theatrical, something you would hear in a west-end show. Although that isn't a bad thing, it wasn't what we had intended and we sought out a few different ways to counteract that feeling. One thing that made a huge difference was by cutting down the length of the solo section. Cutting the instrumental down meant that we prevented the piece from having that really dramatic build up which features in a lot of theatre pieces. It also reduced the time Rose and Anya had to wait for the outro verse and overall meant we had more time when performing to communicate with the audience and set up for our next song.
Chords:
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Awkward Encounter:
Like our first song, the rehearsal process for this went just as quick. Rose and Anya both had the lyrics all done before we had even finished reahearsals on four years! Again this helped in saving a lot of time as we could really focus on creating and refining our other parts whilst we had these sessions altogether.
Lyrics:
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Instrumental Roles:
Anya - Vocals, drums & lyricist
Ellie - Violin & composer
Josh - Piano & composer
Rose - Vocals & lyricist
We wanted to make this track sound completley different to our other one. After reading the lyrics, we felt that a more soulful sound would fit. We looked at artists like Amy Winehouse and Alicia Keys and focused on the main instrumentation in most of their songs.
Like in Winehouse's 'Back to Black', we felt that a hard hitting, staccato, piano intro would really suit what we had written and contribute really well to our song plan.
Rehearsal audio:
Once we had the basic piano rhythm and structure down it was time to focus on the other instrumental parts.
As you can hear in the first audio clip, I originally thought about trying out some chord stabs on my violin as a way to tie-in and follow Josh's piano part. When hearing this back however, I didn't like the way it sounded. Sometimes there are timing delays between the keys and the violin as well as the general string scratches which come with the stabbing technique.
After hearing what we had got back, I felt like the song needed a full band set with some brass, bass and guitar. However, the performance date was drawing closer and seeing how busy everyone was in their own bands, we didn't want to hinder anyone by asking them to session on this track. This is when it was put forward, for me to play the bass for this song instead.
After some though about this concept, I thought that the violin would make this piece a little more original, as its generally not a common solo instrument within soul music. I also realised that Josh was also playing a bass part in his left hand on the piano. I felt that if I did play the bass, it wouldn't add anything to the song and would just be drowned out by Josh's part and the drums. I also had fears the song would be too bass heavy.
After playing it through with the violin we all agreed that some solo lines after the chorus could sound really good against the drum and piano parts.
Getting Anya on the drums was also another great decision for this song. It also put us a little closer to having that full band set-up, we thought would suit this song.
Again when playing through the whole piece, we felt that by keeping a thinner texture of only piano and vocals in the verse compared to all of us coming in on the chorus would allow us to build up the song really nicely and help Anya focus solely on singing in the verse and drums in the chorus. Keeping the piece fairly minimal in the verse sections also meant it would be more of a surprise when the violin and drums cut in.
Chords:
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Final Performance Video:
Looking back through everything we had done for this assessment, as a group we worked very well together. Outside of rehearsals and lectures we managed to have frequent communication about what needed to be practiced, written and booked out. We tried taking rehearsal room bookings in turns, although sometimes there were issues with the actual booking site for some people. However, because of our communication we always managed to solve issues really easily.
Although we had talked about the ways we could perform both pieces, it wasn't until the soundcheck the day before everything really came together.
Similar to our self analysis task in our music and meaning lecture, we looked at our songs, heard the messages and moods they were portraying, then from this, planned how our performances for each song was going to go. We had planned where all our positins would be and where any props that we would need use would go so we had easy access to them.
For 4 years we really wanted to play on the theatrical/moody feel the song has. As I have found out from previous performances, sitting down when you play creates an entirely different atmosphere for the audience compared to when you stand. The decision to use bar stools/higher set chairs we felt played into this mood really well. Going from the stools in 4 years to standing in awkward encounter meant there had to be a change in the way we decided to perform. As awkward encounter is a high energy song, using the chairs would create the wrong atmosphere for the song, hence why we decided to stand up and get people dancing. This is the contrast we wanted to create between our songs. We wanted our audience to feel more emotional and solemn after listening to 4 years, then they could be hit by the energy and upbeat feel of Awkward encounter.
After our rehearsal process was so successful, I had set myself really high standards for this performance. Straight after the performance I wasn't very proud of how well I played as I know I can do better. Whether it was just down to tiredness or nerves, in my playing there are a fair few mistakes and places where my overall technique falters. I feel that for me this could just be a one-off instance and during my next performance I will really try to concentrate more on my technique. Watching our performance back, I feel like it wasn't the best run through we had done, but as a group we still played together pretty well.
Over this past semester I feel I have learnt a lot more about using imagery within songwriting and also lyric writing as part of a group.
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