lurksalot

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The voting thread is up and running , how is that for efficiency

It’s time to listen through this month’s fine selection of toonage folks, based on the picture chosen by last month’s winner Mr Smalls ( and …. Ahem …myself!) This picture then , chosen by Lenny himself, in his usual eclectic taste, offers a little insight into the image. "A Zulu delegation who came over to the UK to honour those who'd fought at Rourke's Drift, one of whom was my great grandfather (whose grave you can see in the pic).." . 1. @xgsjx I took inspiration from the pic, listened to several Zulu songs & then got the vocal samples from Splice. 2. Lurksalot I've gone for a simple tune this month , I couldn't really get my head around lyrics for it, so I've left it quite empty deliberately, but tried to get the feel. 3. @Dad3353 A solemn occasion, so a sombre mood seemed appropriate, to commemorate the Fallen. A tribal tribute, with a military tinge, and weather to suite. Not really dance-hall stuff; more for reflection on the wisdom of taking the Queen's shilling, or following the Witch Doctor. Sad days for all; there are never any victors. 4. @Nicko I had to look up the battle and when I realised it was what the film Zulu was based on I couldn't get "My Name is Michael Caine" by Madness out of my head. That lead me to doing something vaguely inspired by the UK Ska sound - not sure whether I got there or not. There are two famous paintings of the battle both called "In Defence of Rorke's Drift" which have both been criticised for glorifying empire. I've tried not to make comment on the rights and wrongs of the battle. 5. @Leonard Smalls For some reason this made me think of all the tiny wars going on in our cities - where kids feel the only way they can survive is by carrying a blade... 6. @lowdown I have always had a fascination with the defence of Rorke's Drift, along with the punch up over at Isandlwana earlier in the day and have read dozens of accounts, watched various documentaries and generally, been curious about the whole episode that happened over those two days. This goes back to when my Dad took me to see the opening of the film 'Zulu' in the West End, back in 1964. KwaJimu' is 'Jim's Land' in the Zulu language.. 7. @upside downer The title translates as "Thank you, my friend". The few words are along the lines of "Hello again" and "Thank you", taken from an online English to Zulu site so I apologise if the quality of the translation isn't up to scratch. 8. @Nail Soup I abandoned early on any attempt to incorporate Zulu-based music. Also abandoned an idea to have a narrative based on Leonard's Great-Grandad's story. But two ideas did come to me ...... the "Zulu" in the phonetic alphabet and the reconciliation process which the UK and Zulu descendants have been involved in. These combined to lead me to the young persons word of apology, which in phonetic alphabet is Sierrra Oscar Zulu Zulu. Disclaimer: I didn't, and haven't, checked that those are the correct words for S, O or even Z! One word from Leonard's GGD's life story survives in the lyrics - Himalaya, the name of the boat he sailed to Africa in. Well there we go , another fine selection Voting closes at Midnight on the 30th April ,

late shout for any more , I've listened through these and fair play guys , some stonkers in there , all very interesting takes as well , top stuff

I go with mates mainly , I’ve got a few friends who like different genres so it’s not difficult to find a gig buddy

I've gone for a simple tune this month , I couldn't really get my head around lyrics for it, so I've left it quite empty deliberately. I do of course reserve the right to over complicate it in due course , but I have been messing with all sorts of sounds to underscore it but nothing has taken my fancy .. Enjoy

I’m going in there I think, it looks very interesting 👍

😂😂😂😂😂

Well said , I use the 1 part of that , and have just about got the hang of it , a step to 2 would be a 100% knowledge leap , I don’t think I’m quite ready yet

Many thanks all , I really enjoyed doing that one , congrats to Lenny I really liked his, mind , it was a good bunch all through . Anyway enough chittle chattle try this for size........

Well many congrats to young @Leonard Smalls and myself ( ah shucks)who managed to scupper Douglas's hat trick. A picture then , chosen by Lenny himself in his usual eclectic taste, and offers a little insight into the image. A Zulu delegation who came over to the UK to honour those who'd fought at Rourke's Drift, one of whom was my great grandfather (whose grave you can see in the pic).. . Usual rules apply. You know the drill: ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and written/recorded this month. ❌ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ❌ Bagpipes. ( Christmas truce now expired) . Also on thin ice with panpipes, to be perfectly honest. ❌ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you. A line or two offering an insight to your inspiration will be good as well , I think it works nicely on the voting thread. Deadline wise , we will call midnight on the feast day of St George ( and yes, you probably have till about 19.00 on the 24th, but don't bank on it though, the 24th is a Saturday and I might not be at work all day , I might sneak half a day off and get the post up early! ) Dive In , enjoy

😁 well done Lenny , back on top again great tune dude 😎 I’ll let you have the honour with the photo if you’d like to choose one

It’s not that difficult , but there are plenty of subtleties , one thing to consider is how to seal the door to the floor as the floor is a continuous slab from the path , it could be difficult keeping moisture from under there

But of a misnomer that one , mass helps, so 6mm or 8mm glass will cut down noise transmission , but triple 4mm is nothing special and not worth the added cost , argon gas in the units will help

It doesn’t look very high , you’ll have to be careful with your headstocks 😁

Great idea , I may have missed it but have you got damp proof membranes in there somewhere, I can’t see that you’ve included any under the base and brickwork ?

The voting page is up guys , its a great listen through again

Its voting time again and we have a great entry this month , 12 tunes to savour and regurgitate until the flavour of your favourite 3 just smacks you in the voting finger, and you subsequently cross up to 3 boxes BC Added Value a couple of notes are included to help shine a light on the entrants thinking when writing the tunes , deep dude, deep ! Based on the picture chosen by @Dad3353 who was last months winner. enjoy these voting ends on midnight 31st of March , good luck all 1 @Dad3353 I wanted a sort of 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' idea behind a Viennese waltz, to build up some suspense, without going too far overboard. I ended up with a simple enough theme, slightly developed, leading to the inevitable outcome seen in the picture. It was all going so well until... 2 @xgsjx So the quad biker is the lady singing the song. She jumps from the top of the hill & feels on top of the world. Hears a clink & feels like a drop-in. 3 @Nicko The inspiration for this is fairly straightforward - live for the moment and wait for it all to go wrong. I started with the lyrics and they more or less dictated an 80s AC/DC style song. Unfortunately I can't sing like Brian and I can't play like Angus but in parts it's what I wanted. 4 @Leonard Smalls The fact that the wheels have fallen off struck me as an exhortation to take to 2 wheels. Which for me means riding about on sweeping sunny roads on a 1000cc classic Italian Vtwin, so we have a lazy, not rushed beat, with a faint air of mild threat (as the film classification board would say) caused by the racket, the leather and the armadillo in the trousers. 5 @Lurksalot This one seems fairly self explanatory with the title, but the lyric, which while describing the event pictured, can also relate to my latest apprentice who has found his wings after 5 years, and has flown the nest as it were, ah well, just gotta break in a new one I guess 6 @Nail Soup The phrase "two wheels better" came to mind, in my case meaning bicycle rather than motorbike. The lyrics evolved to be from a female protagonist to subvert the old trope of a woman being interested in someone with a flash car. The Orwellian origin of the phrase led me toward the politically charged musical area of post-punk a la Gang of Four, Au Pairs etc. Not sure if I got there! 7 @skankdelvar It's 1957 again 8 @Doctor J The pic made me think of the classic TV show Kick Start and, from there, the other great theme tunes of youth TV programming from my childhood. I've gone for a TV theme tune of sorts. This is the show where things go wrong, though, so any chord progressions and melody must be wrong too. Curse my childless loins for not having actual children to exploit for vocals, so the tightest pants available were donned. I do apologise 9 @adamg67 I just looked at the pic and played what I saw, chanelling the Datsuns (the band, I mean) to get there: Adrenalin, speed, everything blasting along full throttle until... mechanical failure. 10 @MoonBassAlpha I started out under the influence of the Sneaky Little Devil type slow grooves, toyed briefly with cod-reggae and ended up here. Not sure where here is, there aren't any signs and I arrived here very quickly! 11 @SH73 Been a long time 12 @upside downer A simple tune with some hackneyed blues lyrics about purchasing a quad bike from a Mr. Osbourne of Aston, Birmingham.

I don't think I can polish mine any further and I've run out of glitter as well ! This one seems fairly self explanatory with the title, but the lyric, which while describing the event pictured, can also relate to my latest apprentice who has found his wings after 5 years, and has flown the nest as it were, ah well, just gotta break in a new one I guess Technically , Ez drummer holds it down , I plonk the low end on my Gordon Smith with a bit of doubler and chorus , an Ibby 6er through a couple of Waves GTR3 presets ( I think I've found my fave now) a couple of forays with some odd delay FX and of course , by huge demand , the voice of an angel delivering the tale .* enjoy * it took about 40 vocal takes to this level of perfection

Well that got a mixed reaction ........ And a from @MoonBassAlpha

I was going to ask the warbler from the old band , but he's had a bad throat and hasn't got around to singing last months entry yet

I’m not far off with mine now , I’ve sketched it out , recorded a draft , and put lots of bits of playing together to get 3minutes . Having done that, I then have to learn what I have just put together so that I can actually play it 😁 oh , and sing it , we have words this month

Where the hell did the unicorn come from 🤦‍♂️

Yup , keep it green 👍