January Composition Challenge

[lurksalot]

Does anyone need something to do over the holiday period?

Well here is your chance , as the December challenge is now at the voting stage we have the opportunity to commence for January.

After a tie between  @Al Nico @Leonard Smalls and @Chiliwailer I did a quick first past the post photo challenge this morning and the winner was....

 

Mr smalls , who has contributed the following to get your lips around ...

 

"Tis a Raasay cask strength..."

 

 

RULES ... 

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

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

❌ Bagpipes, really! it maybe a wee dram on show , but be careful out there.

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

 

Deadline-wise, we will keep the theme going and aim for breakfast time on Burns Night 25th January

 

A line or two of blurb as usual for the vote thread will be grand.

 

enjoy.

 

 

[Leonard Smalls]

Btw, the dog is The Jackal. The whisky is around 63%abv, and the telly wot you can't see was showing French crime thriller, "Spiral"...

[Leonard Smalls]

Y'all will be pleased to hear that I've been working on some Jazz-Dub...

[Leonard Smalls]

On 01/01/2026 at 16:38, Leonard Smalls said:

Y'all will be pleased to hear that I've been working on some Jazz-Dub...

Or not... 

'Tis a musing on whether it's best to be eternally just comfortable, or to venture frequently outside your comfort-zone.

 

 

Bass is my trusty Wal, with a spot of guitar (strat), Rhodes plug-in, drums programmed in EZ Drummer using Clyde Stubblefield Phat Kit, trombone is stuff recorded many moons ago for a previous compocompo by my old m8 Nick - I've taken some liberties with everything as it's all cut up to within an inch of its life then smothered in Quadraverb, Objeq Delay, Temperence Reverb or Dubstation apart from bass which is a single take improv from which it all stemmed...

Track has a good coating of Bassroom, Mixroom and Ozone 9.

[Al Nico]

After a few whiskeys, I like to dance.

 

Lead instrument - Cork Hill performed by Jeff Campbell https://youtu.be/ExhqsLG80ZU?list=RDExhqsLG80ZU
Drums - samples plus some 'big drums' made with filtered white noise with NI MASSIVE.
Bass - Spector into Ignite Amps SHB-1 bass amp VST (excellent free bass amp VST)

And that's all.

 

 

Edited January 4 by Al Nico

[Leonard Smalls]

On 26/12/2025 at 16:06, lurksalot said:

❌ Bagpipes, really! it maybe a wee dram on show , but be careful out there.

 

16 hours ago, Al Nico said:

After a few whiskeys, I like to dance.

 

He's a brave boy!

[Al Nico]

On 05/01/2026 at 11:56, Leonard Smalls said:

 

 

He's a brave boy!

Meant to acknowledge Scottish and Irish in praise of them producing the best Whiskey in the world, to the infectious beat of a jig. Celebrate greatness, was my aim, and swoop first prize too.

Edited January 10 by Al Nico

[Al Nico]

error

Edited January 10 by Al Nico

[lurksalot]

well, it's Scottish and scotch and who doesn't think that inspires dancing ....

 

 

So rock and roll guys and gals, or is that pushing it a touch ?

 

it's the Raasay Reels 

 

 

midi sounds on the keyboard for the most part , and I guess the fiddle isn't that accurate, but you'll get the drift , bass and acoustic were real instruments though , in Reaper and roundly slapped and smothered with Ozone 

Edited January 13 by lurksalot

[Baloney Balderdash]

And my contribution this month:

 

A mystical glass of whiskey, with a quite oriental side effect :

 

3rd take, played on my LTD B4-JR, 28.5" scale length, tenor bass, tuned in A standard tuning (as in the upper 4 strings of a 6 string bass in regular B standard tuning), directly into my handheld Zoom H4n recorder, and only edited through a simple Wav editor.

 

Edited January 18 by Baloney Balderdash

[upside downer]

Tomorrow morning is the deadline? Argh! Thought we had until the end of Sunday. Oh well, bang goes tonight's TV watching...

[upside downer]

...still, there's bugger all on TV anyway, so here it is all done and dusted.

 

This fella has had more than enough of the ol' hooch. The shine has gone from his marvellous moonshine days and too many hangovers and trouser accidents mean that the firewater has got to go down the plughole.

 

 

Two guitars, one bass, artificial drums and one crap singer. Mixed up and spat out by the triumvirate of Wavepad, Audacity and Ableton.

[MoonBassAlpha]

Oh dear, looks like I'm going to be a late submission on this one. I  still need to do the drums, and work out how to make my bass sound like a baritone sax.

Bear with!

[lurksalot]

8 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Oh dear, looks like I'm going to be a late submission on this one. I  still need to do the drums, and work out how to make my bass sound like a baritone sax.

Bear with!

don’t panic , me and Mrs Lurks have had a pre-anniversary day away in Blackpool and have stayed over*.
so I will be back just after lunchtime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* not IN actual Blackpool obvs, I mean, we have standards, no, we have taken a room on an industrial estate a few miles out 🙄. 

[MoonBassAlpha]

Take your time, see the sights, take in the scenery...

[lurksalot]

2 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Take your time, see the sights, take in the scenery...

how long do you need 😁

I can hear the clanks and groans of a PC firing up ! 

[MoonBassAlpha]

I've just uploaded! The track is apparently being processed so can't share right now

[MoonBassAlpha]

Reflections on a sad year, a roaring fire and a warming dram

 

Oh, yeah, failed in the bass-as-baritone-sax experiment. But, hey, you gotta try things out!

Edited 32 minutes ago by MoonBassAlpha
Additional info

[lurksalot]

OK guys 

Dive in , a whole range of takes to this one