Video for ‘be suspicious of well written lines (they’re the ones they’ve practiced)’
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
music
Recording has finally begun.
The best kind of songs are the ones that you can still play with friends in the pitch black on a beach after too much alcohol.
One set of commitments has finished for the next few months, and another set have taken its place. There never seems to be the balance that lets you survive to a reasonable degree whilst leaving space and time for music, or other… stuff that’s done purely for the love of it.
Once things settle down, hopefully there’ll be some tangible progress on the whole collaborative-sample-thing. The wonderful FOE have agreed to send some bits and pieces over, which is incredibly brilliant. You should have a follow of them over on their site.
Infact, they’re so good that you should watch the video below. Hannah plays all of the instruments on the record herself…. parallels to the bowtie, although I can’t claim to be quite as good looking as she is.
A collection of recordings and samples is building up nicely now for what will (hopefully) be a rather interesting semi-collaborative record. Even if that will take months…
On that point, if any musicians out there fancy submitting some recorded bits or samples or song structures or anything else for that purpose, you know where to send them to. They’ll definitely get used somehow.
With habeas corpus all packaged up (digitally at least) and off of the workbench (literally with respect to the Amiga tracks), minds turn to what’s on the horizon.
The collab project, involving samples and sounds recorded/given specifically for the purpose by some rather wonderful artists is slowly trickling in. Does It Offend You Yeah?, Moor Hound, French For Cartridge, Shoes and Socks Off and Yer Beauties are some of those that have donated already. It could take months before anything’ll be ready, but it’ll be worth it.
That aside, there’s a few 8-bit tracks coming together that may be destined for some sort of compilation; everything else going a bit quiet till the summer months start proper and time gets freed up.
It’s done!
Since we’d already posted up the album cover for habeas corpus, here’s the back cover/inlay/whatever you call such things in a digital-only release.
Another fifteen tracks of music in handy downloadable/streamable format… although if you loved the first set, we can’t guarantee you’ll feel the same about this.
Click on through to get your hands on a copy. Or two. Or as many as your bandwidth can carry.
The next unexpected bowtie release has got a name, and this is the artwork that has (literally) just been finished – credit to Kaylie for her initial drawing.
There’s still some loose ends to tie up, so the overall progress is sitting at about 90% – with the full thing expected to be online in the next couple of weeks for your downloadable pleasures.
Head over to the 8 bit collective for a listen to flurry of conversation – a track recorded using a Gameboy and other such equipment; it’ll eventually appear on a full-release.
As you may probably have picked up from the previous posts, it’s been a bit of a tough slog getting into the whole electronics modification side of chiptune music.
It reminded me a bit of learning to drive. You keep thinking – how on earth can I find this so difficult when so many other people find it so easy?
After hours and hours and hours of accumulated research though, I’ve finally taken a big jump forward and managed to front-light the Gameboy Color so I can use it to compose stuff on whenever and wherever. I did also add an extra 3.5mm line-out, but discovered that Maplin had given me the wrong jack… mono instead of stereo… which put the kaibosh on that plan.
Either way, soldering mistakes and cut hands aside, things are starting to settle in. Here’s a couple of shots of the Gameboy in all its illuminated glory; nestled snugly beside the other electronic gear.
As with any creative area, you can all too easily get absorbed in the gear and equipment side of things, and overlook the fact that the uh.. whole point of it is to do make something with it.
I’ve been so consumed lately with trying to get things soldered and the frustration at being unable (yet) to make much headway with electronics and modifying them to make cool sounds that I thought it best to actually write some tunes.
It’s okay to be excited about new things and the possibilities they bring… as long as you act upon the possibilities too.
A sneak preview of a new track from a release which is going to be based around chiptunes, and aptly titled ‘giving up on circuitry’, is up over at the 8 bit collective. Composed and recorded on an old Gameboy before I butchered it to install some LEDs.
unexpectedbowtie 