July , Tis the time for another Composition Challenge

[lurksalot]

Who'd have thunk it , I got to share the top step this month with @upside downer and @Baloney Balderdash congratulations.

 

As it was a first time for Mr Balderdash , he has had the choice of image for us to work on and compose to, thus...

 

"Here is my suggestion to the image for July. A mystic contortionist, admittedly AI generated (but on my intricate description):"

 

 

 

✅ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline.

❌ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on

❌ No Bagpipes, Please, I think they would get tangled. 

❌ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you..

 

Deadline-wise, we will go for Midnight on the 25th July ... Which in reality, means an early one on the 26th , unless I'm working on a weekend!  

 

A line or two of blurb as usual for the vote thread will be super duper smashing lovely. 

 

Good luck, Have fun 

 

 

Edited July 1 by lurksalot

[Stub Mandrel]

Something themed on a wandering finger, perhaps? One seems to have migrated from left to right...

[upside downer]

I'm more worried about the old boy with the sickles for hands in the background. What if he needs to pick his nose?

[lurksalot]

or an older Lineker overhead kicking a planet 

[Stub Mandrel]

20 minutes ago, upside downer said:

I'm more worried about the old boy with the sickles for hands in the background. What if he needs to pick his nose?

 

Funnily enough, I rewatched Time Bandits last night, and he was in that:

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

Flip Joint (The Contortionist).... Post Math Rock?

 

Solo bass, single track, 2nd take, instrumental, played on my 28.6" scale 4 string Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, equipped with just a single bridge EMG Geezer Butler J pickup, from the P/J set, wired directly to the output jack socket, and tuned in B standard tuning (baritone tuning), recorded through my "amp-less" setup directly into my Zoom H4n handheld recorder, and only edited through a simple Wav editor.

 

Edited July 2 by Baloney Balderdash

[Lord Sausage]

I'm gonna try again this month. I have a bit of time. Gonna go with an idea of twisting something as it goes along and have some mystical elements.

[Al Nico]

Production Tools.

MT Power 2 drums - Donation ware - 120bpm
Little wooden Bajolele, Double tracked and panned stereo (SM57).
Claps - Hands x 4, (SM 57) panned wide layered with centre clap sample 
Guitar - Budget Jackson V with Schaller hot vintage neck humbucker into Line 6 virtual plexi and 4 x 12.
Bass - Spector with EMG-SSD passive with real solder bobbles - compressed.
Synthesizer - Xfer Serum - played on PC keyboard .

Line 6 USB1 audio interface - Pentium 2nd Gen PC - Ableton 9.

 

I already recorded the ukes a few months back, so built a track using them. The image drew me to imagine a futuristic fairground organ style circus sound. Happy tune with running bass, side snare and clapping.

Key of C, the happiest key. I can't really say I wrote the tune, more fitted together a load of typical musical clichés, and probably some nursey rhymes and music I've probably heard before, until I had a big happy futuristic showbiz extravaganza. I had fun making it. Left it a bit sloppy too because it seems to work like that? Very different to what I usually make.

 

 

[Quatschmacher]

On 01/07/2025 at 19:54, Stub Mandrel said:

Something themed on a wandering finger, perhaps? One seems to have migrated from left to right...

I’m trademarking “five finger shuffle” as my title. 

[Chiliwailer]

Cheers for the cool pic @Baloney Balderdash, was inspiring as it somehow reminded me of the early 90s, listening to ambient beats as a kid, so here’s a kind of homage with that in mind. 

 

Posting it now rather then wait for the mix to settle as I’ve been spending way too much time on this track already and, as usual, just need it over with now 😣

 

Old Age : New Age - the then young contortionist used to perform in the early 90s in ambient beats clubs. Now living off-planet, he’s a midnight street artist in the underground scene. Guitars are kind of ‘synthy contorted’ in his honour.

 

Edited 12 hours ago by Chiliwailer

[Lord Sausage]

I'm still nowhere near.

 

However, I have a riff based on the central guy's body shape. His floor hand, other hand and knees, roughly make the shape of how a dominant 7th triad falls on a guitar. His feet stick out. So i have a riff based on dominant 7th with a little sticky out bit.

 

I'll have a mystical section and maybe some mystical sounding melodies. Also the contortion/twisty idea. I'm gonna twist the scales I'm using as the piece goes on. 

 

Hope I can get it done in time

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Lord Sausage

[Al Nico]

@Chiliwailer Good sounds and mix. Bass is soft and strong and magical all at once.

[Chiliwailer]

2 hours ago, Al Nico said:

@Chiliwailer Good sounds and mix. Bass is soft and strong and magical all at once.

Cheers, appreciated. Your tune had me grinning - and tearing it up on a growly Spector, good stuff 👌