lurksalot

If you have a signal chain you like, put that into the interface , mine is a scarlet2i4 , but I tend to plug instruments straight into it and do the FX in reaper .

Congrats to @AndyTravis on last month's success. We start the second half of the year with a reminder of some of the weather that broke after the lovely June sunshine. "Taken a good few years ago, walking home from the pub in a storm. Lightning and Street Lighting…" Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, there wasn't a truce worth noting this month, and if there was, we probably missed it! ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline wise , we will go for midnight on the 24th which means you'll probably have till tea-time on the 25th A line or two of blurb as well for the vote thread will be lovely. Have fun

Well Done @AndyTravis well deserved , a worthy winner 👍

Used to play roadhouse blues, it was great to set the levels , bring the vocal in then play it through. then of course the guitarist just turns every thing up for the set proper !

Congrats to @upside downer for a great win in May , and crazily we are nearly halfway through the year. So without further ado, here are the tunes inspired by the image ... "These are troubling times. Let's all try to be a bit more like this happy, blissful soul." Have a listen through and vote for your favourite 3 entries 1 @Dad3353 Wanted, to Buy: Adult Trampoline. Mine was very recently stolen; urgently required as I'm coming down very fast now. 2 @AndyTravis Lazy summer days, unplanned fun. 3 @NickD It was an interesting journey... It was going to be a chilled Bossa, then it was going to be a chilled bossa with a lo-fi triphop thing going on, then I found a little loop that I really dug and started messing around with, and the Bossa idea went out of the window. It ended up as a kinda sparse, kinda brief, lo-fi ditty about escaping the rat race and running to the sun. 4 @Leonard Smalls I felt the pic needed summery discofunk with a housey piano and lots of funky clav. So instead I did this experimental piece based on Derek Bailey and Steve Lacey's freejazz improv classic, Company 4. 5 @Tripehound Bit of an ambient feel as the subject matter is intriguing but also melancholic. 6 @upside downer A pretty little ditty with a feel good vibe to make you want to forget all your troubles, jump up, kick your heels in the air and enjoy the simple things in life. 7 @Wolfram It's been a long day, the beach party has been epic, and now with the last of the midsummer sunlight the DJ is chilling things down with some minimalist, ambient textures. 8 lurksalot A bit of a noodle fest using garageband to show a happy ending That's your lot Enjoy the listen that is a pretty tidy bunch in there and place your 3 ticks in your favourite's boxes voting will close at midnight on the 30th June

I can't leave it any longer without missing my own voting thread ! any way , let me get collating the vote thread

OMG I ditched the middle , I shortened the start and the end , I then joined the end to the start. somehow it created a new middle …..with glitches . it will now be a chilled sprint , and I’ll roll it in glitter (post it a bit late ) and start the vote thread in the morning

Tv coverage FFS if I wanted to see lots of people , I can go loads of places , just show the bands , Joe Public looking apathetic or dad dancing is just crap

I thought she was going to 5hit herself , twitching with the ‘in ears’ on the harmonies, but found her feet at the end when on her own , then they couldn’t stop her 😂 but what a craic to play to that crowd duetting with your daughter , dream stuff

Good can on ya bud , I’d like to hear the story of how you nail it 👍

I’m nearly ready with mine there are just 3 things that I don’t think are quite right yet. the start the middle and the end

One thing I don't understand is why wage increases to doctors, nurses, police and fire brigade would increase inflation, there wages don't get charged out to consumers and the Govt could just print more money to pay them, It might sound daft, but I've seen a few argue this.

We are set to go ...

Congrats to @upside downer for a great win in May , and as if by magic we have got to June already So without further ado, here is a note to accompany the image ... "These are troubling times. Let's all try to be a bit more like this happy, blissful soul." Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and deadline. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, there wasn't a truce worth noting this month , and if there was, we probably missed it! ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline wise , we will go for midnight on the 24th which means you'll probably have till 9.00 on the 25th ...though I might be a bit later than that if I am away on the Saturday... Mrs Lurks has the diary ! A line or two of blurb as well for the vote thread will be lovely. Have fun

Well done Upside downer , great stuff! if you PM me your choice of picture I will start up June.

Not mine dude …. I’ll get my coat

The vote is up , but I think I forgot to press ‘submit’ to the link I normally put here 🤦‍♂️

Do what you can Andy , I’ll edit if I can , but I’m not sure how that works without spanners in the works , but if you are quick

After a great winning entry from @NickD last month he offered up the following picture for May. A picture that has brought out a fine selection for your delectation. Have a good listen through and cast 3 votes for your favourites Favourite 3 please , enjoy ... 1 @NickD I started off working towards an ambient electronic track, as that's how the image felt to me, but as I started getting lyric ideas together, they largely centred around the idea of doors, real and metaphorical, be it to another realm, or some earthly change or opportunity. From that it developed into more of a 'song' than a cinematic thing, so I ended up with a bit of both... I think! 2 @Leonard Smalls Right-O! In my occasional series of covers, here's the Motel's "Total Control". Though it's slightly reworked as a rant against the billionaire newspaper owners who shape public opinion in order to further their own agendas.... 3 @Dad3353 An exercise in Mind Control. Listening to this track whilst looking at the picture brings about a new state of consciousness; at the fourth listening session, her eye will wink suggestively. Guaranteed; I kid you not. 4 @upside downer Green door, what's that secret you're keeping?' asked Shakin' Stevens many moons ago. Now, he's baffled by the bizarre sight in front of him, so much so in fact that he is lost for words. He'll just have to make do with this relaxed, mid-tempo, gently mysterious synth groove to try and decipher the meaning of it all. Don't let it drive you crazy, Shaky! 5 @Doctor J Eyes are everywhere, everyone is watching everyone else. Especially stalkers. They're really watching hard. 6 lurksalot this was intended as a political rant , but seems to be a bit soft to hit anything too hard 7 @Nail Soup My initial thought was remembering back to when I was a child... my friend told me that his parents had told him that they could see him all the time, wherever he was, whatever he did. I told my Mum about it and (looking back) her body language showed no little disapproval at their parenting methods. So it's about the "eye in the sky watching you until you die". The music came naturally but didn't support a full set of lyrics, just the single refrain. 8 @Wolfram The photo immediately put me in mind of an Enigma album cover, and I was (and am still) a big fan, so that's where I've gone with this one - "I See You" - a dreamy flight of fantasy. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed putting it together! added entry ... if you have already voted for others, I can't edit or change the poll counts. 9 @AndyTravis There we have it , another fine crop for you. choose your favourite 3 Voting will end at midnight on 31st May have a good weekend

OOH didn't you just starting to compile the vote thread right now, not sure if dinner might slow me down , but stand by your beds!

this one sounds OK till I open my gob on it ! so here is my entry to the May 23 Challenge, based on the picture chosen by NickD, last months winner. EZ drummer does the main work , guitar through Waves gtr3, 2 different patches blended , Bitsa 'bassinator' low end with a bit of chorus , and of course the voice of an angel over the top of it ! lyrics for those interested

I sometimes wish my last band resignation had been delivered personally to the guitarist in a similar manner !

I’m not far off , just got to learn to sing for this one 😂 it would probably sound best as an instrumental , but you can’t really rant without a few words 😁

Dive in

Following another quality field, @NickD led from the front to pick up a well deserved win. Being keen to give everyone something to do on a bank holiday Monday, he has provided the image and some background toot suite.... "Is it a drunken hallucination, a dream, graffiti, a really expensive nightclub, an inter-dimensional portal, a doorway to the astral plane, a very arty yoga studio, or the entrance to a secret society only Bill Gates can see?" 'Image credit - Freepik' Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and deadline. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, the Grand National truce has just expired, and the Coronation truce has been postponed till the next one . ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline wise , we will go for midnight on my sisters birthday which is the 24th which means you'll probably have till tea time on the 25th ...when I'm back in from work! A line or two of blurb as well for the vote thread will be lovely. Have fun