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.
The past week I’ve become immersed in a whole new world of exciting sounds – that of the chiptune. You’ve probably heard about people making music with gameboys and old computers.. It’s something that I’d dabbled in years ago, but never quite had the creative energy or enthusiasm to carry through to any worthwhile end.
However, unexpected bowtie is the perfect place to experiment and see just what a Commodore 64 sounds like when played alongside a musical saw. I’m pretty sure that can’t be a combination that’s been brought together that often before, surely? It’s actually pretty wonderful to see how things can interact. A tune that I’d just written up today electronically came out of something originally composed on the accordion, which I then ported over for quite a different feel, and even having the accordion playing the bassier notes in the background. Quite a shift about from what it was in the first place.
I had been concerned that it had all gotten a bit guitar-led and folky round here with the last release, so this new venture just proves (even if just to one’s self) that it’s really all about experimentation in all its kinds, rather than being stuck to any set of defined limits. Like has been said elsewhere – I keep forgetting that there’s no rules.
Either way, the dizzying amount of cables and different technical things that are required even to just hook up something like an Amiga 600 to a modern LCD screen is pretty daunting, but I’m managing to get my head round it all (well, maybe). Despite the minor hiccup of having err.. ‘misplaced’ my old C-64, it should mean that within the next few weeks I’ll be fully kitted out to record directly from the old sound-chips and see just what can be done.
In the meantime (and before I possibly electrocute myself in the noble pursuit of sound), you can listen to a track that lasts a whole sixty seconds – composed on the Gameboy, and filled with guitar and musical saw. Nice.
Without being entirely sure of where this all may head, you can check out the finished mix of ‘let’s get explicit’, composed with Commodore 64 sounds, guitar parts and other samples over at the 8 bit collective. – and only from there at the moment.
The past few days I’ve fallen victim to a horrible ‘flu’ type ailment. Yes, yes, we all know that it’s hardly ever the flu proper, but ‘a cold’ doesn’t quite cut it when you’re confined to bed with a barrel-load of drugs and hankies (for some people that may well describe a great day in).
As a by-product, there’s been lots of time to explore the wonderful world of electronic music creation. Think blips and bassy parts recorded from the greatest computer of all.. the Commodore 64.
Despite providing me with a healthy dose of tinnitus from listening all day through the Sennheisers, there should hopefully be an interesting injection of chipset-fired sounds to come in the near future. Jumping from banjos and mandolins to Gameboys and thuds is a bit of a strange thing to reconcile, but the possibilites are rather exciting. Watch this space.
It is with great excitement that I can divulge a new unexpected project on the horizon. We have assembled a gaggle of talented musicians who are going to record, scrimp and gather up loose riffs, vocals and other noises to put them towards a rather unique collaboration.
You’ll almost certainly have heard of some of those involved, and the ones you haven’t are just as wonderful, having been hand-picked from the alternative music world by yours truly. We’re not going to name names yet, but all shall be revealed in due course. It’s all rather delightful.
Flying in the fact of what I said yesterday about not writing much, here’s a new track.
Instead of writing much at the moment, I’ve had other things take over the musical side of life.
One of these is to get (much) better at the old accordion playing.
This is what I’m listening to for inspiration.
One day I hope to reach the dizzying heights of this man and his moustache.
At what point do you take a collection of songs that are independent of each other, written over months and changes in preference, and meld them into some sort of coherent ‘album’ form?
Or do you have to bother?
Regardless, it’s now a new year, and here’s a song that was technically all recorded in 2010, but for argument’s sake, since it was finished today, it counts as the first of 2011.
Managing to reclaim some time from the other demands of life, a new track has come together.
‘future on the road’ can be found in the usual place.
It’s pretty late. I’ve had about 3 hours sleep in the last 24 and I’ve spent the best part of the past 6 of those adjusting guitars; trying to keep my lips wet enough to manage a tuneful whistle; singing and re-singing melodies; scribbling words in my battered notebook.. and almost crying in disbelief that Cubase had autosaved all of the work after crashing unexpectedly.
It feels pretty good.
unexpectedbowtie 