Skol303

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1349446677' post='1826473'] I'm still stuck where I'm going with this one at the mo.[/quote] [quote name='arsenic' timestamp='1349451342' post='1826552'] I must admit, I'm stumped by this months picture. [/quote] ^ Damn. Sorry guys! Maybe I should've picked a different image? Or maybe take Dave's approach (above) and drink some cider for inspiration!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1349393091' post='1825904'] OK here's mine. It's call SHlTSHOERIOTFACE and it's inspired by badly dressed riotfaces. [url="http://soundcloud.com/silddx/shltshoeriotface-dscrf"]http://soundcloud.co...eriotface-dscrf[/url] [/quote] [i]VERY[/i] nice! Love how it changes from "in your face" rock/metal to mellow dub around the one minute mark. Totally caught me by surprise and the change works really well. I mean, two genres in one track isn't something you hear often! Clever stuff. And the playing is great (you're pretty damn handy on guitar as well as bass, assuming that's you on both?). The production sounds good too (I'm listening on cans). Nicely mixed and you've got some lush FX going on, especially in the dub section, which really fattens up the track. In all, good job Silddx! You've set a very high bar for the rest of us. I've yet to start mine but will be doing so next weekend. I've got something going on in my head, I just need to 'splurge' it out somehow

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1349122609' post='1822205'] Well done mate, well-deserved! [/quote] [quote name='krysh' timestamp='1349163597' post='1822461'] congrats to all participants and to skol. great job! [/quote] ^ Cheers guys!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1349097058' post='1821689'] Oi! The photo's the inspiration, no descriptions please! [/quote] Good point! Apologies. I'll STFU about it now and get my thinking cap on...

Thanks guys, I'm genuinely chuffed and really appreciate your words of encouragement! As someone said already, we managed to knock out an album's worth between us all in a month, which is great. Here's hoping these challenges keep on rollin'. Gotta love this community!

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1349081257' post='1821344'] Okay, perhaps a little less mellow this month then... [/quote] [quote name='silddx' timestamp='1349084088' post='1821401'] That picture's more muthaf***in like it! I'll get to work [/quote] He he, yeah I wanted to keep the challenge on its toes and switch the vibe from last month. It's a photo I found on Flickr of a 'mosh pit' taken in the early 80s (US). I liked it because of the energy and ambiguity - it could just as easily be a photo of a punch up. Hopefully there's some inspiration to be found in it for everyone...?!

Wow! I'm stunned Thanks to everyone who voted. I really enjoyed this challenge and it's given me the confidence to try new things with my music (not least singing!), which can only be a good thing. Cheers to Charic and everyone who took part. And to Silddx and Bluejay for the last minute plugging. And... yeah I'll stop now. This month's photo is up: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188167-october-composition-competition/ Not sure if it's everyone's cup of tea, but I'm hoping it offers a change of pace from September's more serene image. Cheers y'all

Anchored for me, purely out of habit. I really need to learn to use a floating thumb as my muting is shoddy at times.

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1348600537' post='1815874'] Sorry, sorry, sorry...I cheated My band is called Tacsi and I linked to a song we wrote last year, it wasn't written this month.[/quote] Ha ha, well at least you're honest! I thought the song had been inspired by the picture, especially as it had lyrics about cold water, or something (or was it cold sea? Or cold tea?? I can't check as I'm at work, but it was something watery...). Nice track anyway; I really like it. PS: genuinely stoked that I have 6 votes! Cheers folks, that's warmed my cockles on what is an otherwise crappy day

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1348493124' post='1814251'] Relax. You are the bass player. Provided you don't catch fire, noone will notice you anyway. [/quote] ... but if you [i]do[/i] happen to catch fire, it would be a mightily impressive moment and one that the audience wouldn't forget in a hurry. So it's a win:win whatever happens Seriously though, good luck!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348486106' post='1814086'] September's compositions are up.[/quote] Yup, time to get voting peoples! The top entrants go through to the next round, where they get to live at one of the judges' houses, eat all their stuff, do some serious crying and perform like monkeys for the promise of a Christmas number one duet with Lady Gaga. At least I [i]think[/i] that's the deal... right?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348492965' post='1814248']I used the Import > Raw Data... function in Audacity and then tried the different data interpreters until I got some interesting waveforms and not just digital pink noise from start to finish.[/quote] Aaah, clever! I'm definitely going to try that. I use Audacity all the time but never even knew it was capable of this. Great piece of software. [quote name='charic' timestamp='1348493015' post='1814249']I think you can use jitter for stuff like that too[/quote] Cheers Charic, I've never heard of Jitter but will check it out.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1348485735' post='1814075']We've practically knocked out an album in less that a month [/quote] ^ I was just thinking the same! Going to re-listen to them all tonight. It's great how everyone was inspired by the photo in different ways - and interesting how so many folks ended up producing something downbeat and melancholic... a symptom of us being moody bass players, perhaps?! Anyway, good luck to one and all in the voting! We're all winners; group hug, etc, etc. Does it help to have a heart-wrenching back story as with the X-Factor? If so I'll post some photos of me in my youth, wearing some truly traumatic home-knitted jumpers. That should do the trick. Cheers

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348476467' post='1813907']You are completely at the mercy of how the image translates into sound - a lot of the time nothing even vaguely musical or rhythmic is generated. Luckily this image generated a sequence of notes which I've used although in a much slower form and slightly rearranged as the original was far to frantic and atonal to go with the image.[/quote] Out of interest, what software do you use for generating audio from images? I'd like to try this out myself some time.

[quote name='JamieMillsBass' timestamp='1348439179' post='1813744'] Heres mine. Gave up on the mixing completely because I'm useless at it. When I first looked at the pic I thought it looked nice, then when I looked again I thought there was a bit of a sinister thing to it, as if something really bad is about to happen, so I tried to get this into the tune. It's all bass, no guitars at all and the wee solo bits at the start were all improvised. I'm not really totally happy with the layout but it's all I could do in the time, anyways, enjoy!![/quote] Wow. Super smooth tone and great playing - I wish I had your skills! I like how it builds momentum from start to finish; very natural and the change around 2 minutes is great. Mix sounds fine on my headphones. [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348439238' post='1813745'] Rather than use the picture as inspiration, I used it to generate audio data, which I then cut up and re0arranged to form something a bit more musical. There's some delay, reverb and compression applied, but otherwise everything you hear was generated from the the data in the JPEG.[/quote] That is insanely genius! It's like something from the mind of Aphex Twin… really clever stuff and you've done a good job in creating something musical from it. Reminds me of an experimental electronica night I used to frequent in Manchester (sadly no longer running), called 1bpm. Going to share this with a few mates who will no doubt love it! Good work

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1348342928' post='1812670'] Ok, so the picture sums up an image of Somerset (where I now live) for me. So, inspired by my trip to Glastonbury (the town, not the festival) I came up with this composition which I decided to enter partway through recording and mixing. So just about based on the image at the start of this thread! [/quote] Nice work Mornats! You've got a good tone on your bass and I love the chords that kick in around 1:25 (my favourite melody in the whole track - really nice). The drums are solid too, they almost sound as though played live (maybe they were?). The mix itself sounds good through my headphones; well balanced and nicely produced.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1348304105' post='1812030']...being a 'good' singer isn't just about high notes and technique, it is also about expression and character your vocal on this is very fitting for the context/vibe you arae creating. Fit for purpose, I think the expression is.[/quote] Cheers Bilbo, appreciate the feedback and words of encouragement! I'm a very self-conscious singer but I might break out the mic a bit more in future. Glad you think it all hangs together ok. [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348305306' post='1812050']That's great Skol, I agree with Bilbo on the vocals, perfect for the track. Drip hop is the future....[/quote] Cheers Dave! And likewise, good to know the vocals aren't as bad as I'd imagined. [quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1348308103' post='1812096']I quite like that Skol. The only thing for me is the duck call or bird sound jiving out all the way through.[/quote] Thanks Garry. I know what you mean about the nightingale sample; I think I ended up being oblivious too it by the end of the mixing process. I was trying to use it instead of a lead synth, but it probably ended up a little too 'chirpy'. More's the point, I've had comments from friends that the water noises aren't advised when the drinks have been long but the journey to the toilet even longer! Although it's good to know the track induces an emotional response in folks [quote name='arsenic' timestamp='1348311713' post='1812155']That is great. Good use of the natural sounds .Nicely different.[/quote] Thanks Arsenic. I had the idea of using field recordings the minute I saw the picture. It took a lot of faff chopping them up and looping them in time, but definitely something I'll try again. [quote name='charic' timestamp='1348335689' post='1812528'] That's really different and I found myself really enjoying it. The mix sounds really good on my monitors too I particularly liked the panning and the fly sound right near the beginning actually seemed to pop out a bit [/quote] Cheers Charic. Good to know it sounds ok thru monitors. Thanks again for setting up the competition, I've really enjoyed it and it's great to hear so many different interpretations of the picture.

Ok, finished! Finally… or more like 'abandoned' as most of my mixes end up. http://soundcloud.com/skollob/nightingale-basschat I kinda went 'off piste' with this and did something very different to my usual drum 'n' bass / dubstep / angry electronic stuff. Used a bunch of natural field recordings for the various water and wildlife noises (sourced under creative commons license from www.freesound.org). Also sampled a few toy instruments from Skol Jnr's collection! The very minimal bassline is all mine (I'm a poor player so kept it simple). As are the vocals - in fact this is the first time I've [i]ever[/i] recorded myself singing. It could also be the last I've really enjoyed this process and thanks to Charic for setting it up!

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348258782' post='1811645'] Here it is, got away from me a bit this one did. Not too bad, even my banjo hating wife quite likes it. [/quote] Nice playing. Very upbeat and I definitely get the cider vibe - I was practically weened on the stuff growing up in Hereford! I really dig the banjo too. The intro in particular is great. Interesting how everyone has conjured up a different mood from the picture!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348229053' post='1811116'] When I had a quick look earlier there was a load of stuff about signing in with Facebook which I'm not prepared to do. [/quote] Yeah, you can log in to SoundCloud (and Basschat, I think?) using a Facebook profile if you like - but I always prefer to set up a separate account as I'm no fan of Facebook either!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348220607' post='1810958'] I might be posting something (if I get it finished in time). How do I post to the Basschat Soundcloud account? [/quote] Very easy. This will probably make it sound more complicated than need be, but what you need to do is... 1) Sign up to SoundCloud (it's free) [url="http://soundcloud.com/"]http://soundcloud.com/[/url] 2) Join the Basschat SoundCloud group by clicking on this link and then clicking the button 'Join Group' (just beneath the title) http://soundcloud.com/groups/basschat 3) Click on the link marked 'Upload & Share' (top of page) to upload your music. 4) Once you have a track uploaded, click on the 'Share to group' button (located in the menu immediately above the track itself); choose the Basschat group and Bob's your uncle!

Another entry I just found on the Basschat SoundCloud group, in case anybody else missed it... http://soundcloud.com/tacsiband/shaking-3 Sounds great!

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1348158935' post='1810213'] My entry. I know the mix is awful but I don't think I'm gonna get time to redo it... Oh, and the tiltle is relevant, I'll be impressed if anyone gets the reference.[/quote] Very nice! I'm all up for alternative stuff and this certainly floats my boat. I think you're being hard on yourself as the mix sounds fine to me (I'm listening on headphones - no monitors at the moment). Maybe loosen up a wee bit on the compression; especially around the 2 minute mark when the distorted guitar kicks in (sounds like it's 'flattening' the other instruments a little). No big deal. Generally the mix sounds nicely wide and 'sparkly' (that's the best technical term I can offer!). Anyway, nice work like I said. I particularly like the percussive/glitchy elements during the first half of the track - reminds me of early Aphex Twin (Ambient Works, etc). I'm guessing Ponizovje is a reference to Metal Gear Solid 3?? (yes, I have access to Google… and yes, I'm a games geek).

I always think of the bassline first, then generally struggle to play it second... then cheat and programme a synth instead! I definitely need to improve my chops, as it'd be great to just noodle whatever comes to mind.

Sounds great. [i]Really[/i] nice mixing... very punchy and clean-sounding on headphones; remains so when cranked up too! They should be damn happy with this