lurksalot

A last minute upload after my computer didn't want to co-operate last night! guitars and bass through a couple of waves GTR3 FX , with EZ drummer doing his bit

I’ve written a song , I’ve tried about a dozen takes on the vocal , it needs more takes 😂 I will keep trying until deadline, then you get what you get🤘 I’ve got a wedding to go to , half a days work , and grand little lurks is staying , this could get messy !

I saw Seasick Steve in the summer , just him and a @Dad3353 lookalike on the drums , good enough sound , especially when they were both ripping it up .

My policy is to listen to the others after mine is just about done , or at least after the point I realise that mine is a killer with a superb vocal and I have absolutely fallen in love with it I digress

The start of another month of music making to be inspired by last months winner @Doctor J As he has noted in his choice of picture "Choosing the picture is more pressurised than recording the music! " A 'pressure' I have been chasing for a while ..... So without further ado we have the following for you an excellent reminder that today is the first meteorological day of Autumn Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded this month. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ No Bagpipes. the Edinburgh festival/fringe truce has been sacked off . panpipes only if you have too. ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you. A line or two offering an insight to your inspiration/track choice will be good as well , it works nicely on the voting thread. The Deadline for entries is Midnight on Friday 23rd September good luck everyone

Well done Doc , a great song. PM me with a pic when you are ready and we’ll start up a new one

I had a quick play with it , but it seems a lot of work to get a vocal down even before tying it up with a track . you can manipulate the vocal wav file with pitching software that can take some of the oriental out of the voice. the tutorials are pants that I’ve found !

Ok dudes , we are in , no dress code , run what yer brung , fill yer boots

August is coming to its conclusion and that means one thing, it is time to choose the toon of the month A joint win by @Doctor J and @upside downer in July with 2 excellent tracks produced the choice of image from the latter, with the comment .... "This image from Alan Schaller's Metropolis collection, which examines 'how we are dwarfed in the modern world around us and often lost in it'. It properly brought out the creative juices did this one , marvelous Now is the time to settle down with your choice of beverage and let your ears be filled the some great new music. Then choose your favourite 3 tracks for your votes 1 @xgsjx All the parts are monophonic (that was my own challenge). All aboard the train to here..... 2 @Dad3353 Well, she said 'Platform 2, eight o'clock.' It's now... Let me see... Hmm... Half-past midnight. Maybe she's not coming..? I'll give it another hour or so... Can't get much more minimalist that this, this month. 3 @Leonard Smalls It's about a lonely bloke thinks he's been stood up on the Metro. Not only that but he hasn't got a clue where he needs to get to. So he contemplates just stepping off in front of the next train, but instead, checks his phone and discovers that a perfect French fella has just swiped right on him on Grindr. Previous date forgotten, next one eagerly anticipated! 4 @NickD I loved the Negative space in the image, which gave me my title, and that sent me down the wormhole of my own reflections while waiting for the tube, and my wondering at the perceptions of others there, surrounded by people, and yet alone. It's a bit about how the city will consume you if you let it 5 @Doctor J For some reason, I envisioned a male escort on his way home after a late... ehhh... shift, I suppose. He's a good guy, alone in a world which just doesn't understand. 6 @Nicko When I saw the image I initially thought it was Baker Street - a station i used for my daily commute for a few years - but it's obviously late at night and I don't work late so the only reason I ever saw it like that was when I'd been for after work drinks. 7 @upside downer A meandering, sometimes uplifting, sometimes melancholic melody that weaves through our lone hero's introspection on another of those nights where he is lost in time and space alone with his thoughts. 8 lurksalot The guts of this was laid down before the weekend but the lyrics, such as they are ..... were added with the weekends experiences of that London in mind! 9 @Nail Soup I've been reading about how Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica LP was made, and listening to a lot of Beefheart. The picture inspired a Beefheart-style wordplay... the musician term Tube Overdrive Vs how someone taking the Tube prefers it Over Driving (a car). Musically I tried to use the same compositional techniques as were used on TMR. Also used some tube overdrive and tunnel reverb on the vox! 10 @skankdelvar From my soon-to-drop new album Songs For Moaning Bastards Well there we have it , a fantastic selection yet again! Choose your favourite 3 Voting will close at midnight on Wednesday 31st Good luck all

Fair play , I was not expecting such a great turnout this month , most excellent 👍 I will set up the voting thread when I get in tonight

If you use a DAW you can monitor through that , I use Reaper which is free to download on ‘trial’ which never expires. if you haven’t used DAW before, it is a steep learning curve , but there are loads of tutorials on you tube to get you going

that was a manic weekend , interspersed with health issues and transport complications due to rail and tube strikes ! The guts of this was laid down before the weekend but the lyrics, such as they are ..... were added with the weekends experiences in mind! The drums were punched in using EZ drummer and used a couple of presets , bass and guitars using Waves gtr3 FX and a splatter of Waves Manny M Reverb to tie it up . All rolled in the glitter offered from Ozone 8 . Ed to add ........ Hark, I hear someone at the door already, I do hope he has a cheque book and pen !

if it did that I could save a few pennies on singing lessons , but it might lose my subtle tonal divergences

A bit gutted at the minute , having a quiet pint or two in that London , HOW MUCH , while mrs lurks and lurksalittle see a show, and thought it an ideal time to have a listen through …..forgot my pods FFS 🤦‍♂️

We read from the same hymn sheet I reckon 😁

I think I might squeeze one in after all! Its not ready yet and probably won't be ready at the deadline , but I think we have sussed out, that by then, I will have fallen in love with it and convinced myself that it is an absolute masterpiece, that will have the worlds music illuminati knocking at my door desperate to sign me up with a multi million pound contract*. *I shall of course decline and keep to my roots at the lower end of the Basschat forums

Pretty much exactly the same, but I may have different starting points if something jumps out. if I am really stuck , I have a digital piano that plays itself with different styles etc and I can start knocking tunes up on it quite quickly just using one finger to tell it what chord to play ! then a week of singing lessons to get the vocal just right 😁

I might struggle this month , I’ve made a rough start but I’m only going to be able to access the studio for about 4 evenings before deadline.

A distant echo...

August is upon us and that means one thing, it's time for another challenge! A joint win by @Doctor J and @upside downer in July with 2 excellent tracks and a subsequent choice of image from the latter, with the comment .... "This image from Alan Schaller's Metropolis collection, which examines 'how we are dwarfed in the modern world around us and often lost in it'. That's deep! Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded this month. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✔️ Bagpipes. the Edinburgh festival/fringe truce * . panpipes only if you have too. ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you. A line or two offering an insight to your inspiration/track choice will be good as well , it works nicely on the voting thread. The Deadline for entries is Midnight on Wednesday 24th August good luck everyone * well, you don't have to, honestly

Well done gents, excellent entries 👍 If you can sort a picture between you and send it over, I’ll start the new one this evening 😁

I don’t mind the show itself , however if you catch any BBC content , the show is continually promoted to death , and it just drags on soooooooo much

voting is go ....

June was a hotly contested challenge, and with congratulation to @Dad3353 @Leonard Smalls @Nail Soupand @skankdelvar for their most excellent compositions. As it was his first win, the honour of picture choosing has fallen to Nail Soup , who offered the following ..... "Its a small ornament I saw on holiday in the hotel lobby" This has provided obvious inspiration to some fantastic work , raising the bar yet again! Have yourself a listen through and choose you your favourite 3 , The choices on offer this month are as follows 1 @Dad3353 Passing on the Message, from generation to generation, as has been done for generations past, and will continue for generations to come. Simplisism, with the Mother Tuba encouraging the Baby French Horn to have confidence, to follow, then lead, staying synchronised, all the while having great fun..! There's a lesson there for us all to learn, maybe..? 2 @NickD The image spoke to me of circus tricks, which in turn tickled my sinister bone. There's always been something about circuses that makes me uneasy, and I've always had a sense that behind the thin veneer of spectacular glitz and glamour there's probably rampant animal cruelty, violent, alcoholic clowns, and all sorts of dodginess. ... this idea of the sideshows distracting us from hideous goings on, naturally led me to draw comparisons with dodginess going on behind the curtain while we watch amazed at the current shitshow. 3 @Leonard Smalls This month I done a song about Infinite Regress, which is where in an infinite series of entities, each entity depends entirely on the existence of the previous entity. This is often illustrated by the idea that the world is supported on a turtle, which is in turn supported by another turtle. So how far do these turtles go? All the way down. But every fool knows it's hippos, not turtles! Hence, we have this achingly beautiful melody: (good luck ☠️) 4 Lurksalot OK then, I have enlisted the help and vocal skills of Fat Harry White , the Hippo of Luuurve , and he is on form let me tell you 5 @xgsjx I give you Hippo toe to toe at the hippodrome - Toe Toe 6 @Nail Soup The picture evoked care-free playtime between parent and child (with my parents and also myself with my kids when they were younger), so the lyrics are from there. The music came from a quick mess-around with some jangly C86 ideas. 7 @Doctor J I took a literal approach. The Hippo, nature's most untrustworthy beast. 8 @upside downer A lolloping, lazy saunter with a vaguely hip(po) hop groove. Mucking about at night is all well and good but, c'mon, the blazing sun is on its way; let's get ourselves in the refreshing water. It could be a bit tricky limiting your choice to 3 , but the voting will close on the 31st July. Good luck to all

I thought the same till I saw Elvis Costello at the Liverpool philharmonic , and they right royally messed the sound , and then tonight.. car fest , in a field off the A41 , Simon Fowler (Ocean colour Scene) fantastic , just beautiful, seasick steve, brilliant and taking me by surprise , Mcfly , jeez these guys were having fun and sounding incredible. a good evening all round 👍