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Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Mar. 09 2004, 10:47 Or its full name, "Concerto Schizophrenia II: Buses". Sorry if it sounds too pompous for its own sake, but I like it! Well, the idea is to make one lengthy musical piece... you know. I have never tried something like this before, but its' going nicely, and I already have 30 minutes or material. I'm aiming at 75... The "Schizophrenia" part is pretty much accurate. The piece represents a constant conflict with itself, constantly going dramatically off balance and being taken in several wacky, weird excourses (like four homemade spoofs on radio commercials, serious). The "Buses" part... well, I like the imagery it creates. If you look at the album "Fear Of Music", by Talking Heads, you have song titles like "Animals", "Cities", "Drugs"... so I thought, why not "Buses"? The 5-minute extract I present here comes up at more or less 20 minutes. It starts with a brief reprise of several themes and motifs, before I start singing a Latin chant written by a friend of mine, Christina Nordlander (and yes, it is an actual Latin chant, and it makes sense: she spent several weeks writing the poem. Chris simply rocks). But here's the catch: the voice is double-speeded. And, later on, there are MORE voices added in the mix: in the end, there are nine double-speed voices. My friends say it sounds like the Chipmunks... and after the singing, there are sounds of childrens' toys (borrowed from my one-year old niece). Well, I hope you enjoy it, and I would like to read your comments. If you think it's too weird... well, yay! PS: The file is low-quality, by the way, to reduce the file-size. And hey, you don't expect me to post my in-progress work at 256 kbit, eh? Buses (5 minute extract) -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Jammer Group: Members Posts: 643 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Mar. 09 2004, 11:41 I agree that the title might sound a bit pompous. I prefer "Schizophrenia 2: Buses". It would avoid this problem, but hey it's your work It'll be interesting to hear how the finished result shapes up The excerpt tended to be a bit repetitive at places. It would be good if the drums weren't used initially when the Latin chant comes in, so you build up variation within this section. A vocoder effect on the voice à la Sheba would be cool, as the phonetic content of the speech isn't that audible. It would make the vocal melody clearer and help it to stray away from the chipmunk suggestion that your friends had. Are you planning to have elaborate multitracked harmony later on? I can imagine it would sound effective. I liked the soft toys at the end. Very Amaroky, and I see that being music as much as anything else! Back to top

MusicallyInspired Group: Musicians Posts: 1445 Joined: June 2001 Posted: Mar. 10 2004, 09:17 The music itself sounds good. But those bloody MIDI instruments just make it unlistenable for me. And, sorry, but so does the chipmunk voice . I'd like to hear this whole arrangement with better or real instruments. Good job on the arrangement, though. Nice work. -------------- BrandonBlume.com "The beauty in life is in the embracing of the variety of things. If all the world was blue there would be no colour blue." Back to top

Music, the ancient language... Group: Musicians Posts: 407 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: Mar. 10 2004, 15:37 Sorry, man. This ain’t good. It’s weird, and original, and I hear the underlying musical ideas and creativity, but at the end it just isn’t listenable. You just don’t put much expression in your midi. Music can be so much more… And about the chipmunk voice: although I have to admit it sings a catchy tune (with some imagination), it’s also quite out of tune at times. I’m no midi-master, so I can’t really tell you what you should do to improve it. But something like getting some soundfonts that don’t remind to old computer games, or to incorporate some basic effects, can be a step in the right direction. -------------- Read everything I write at own risk. I cannot be held responsible  for depressions and/or suicide attempts of any kind, caused by reading my posts. Back to top

Yuval Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 203 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Mar. 11 2004, 03:09 I guess Im the only one who really likes it ha? Ignoring midi instrument, which dont ruin this much to my humble opinion, I think its very good, and thats only after frist hearing. I promise that Im going to listen to it further. The only suggestion I would give, especially becuase this extract sounds like a build up for something to arrive later, its abit too long and reaches its own peaks. I love the rythem games u've done there and really like the way it ends. Tell christina she did a good job and keep on the good work. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Mar. 11 2004, 06:21 Actually the whole piece started off from an idea for a computer game tune. It sounds quite video-gamey all the way through. It's very geeky, you know. There are many different elements in the piece opposing each other constantly, so the extract shown here is just another of those different elements, rather than a separate artistic masterpiece. I originally made it available to show my friends the result of the Latin words, and posted here because... well, why not? Yes, I know the voices sound too strange and out of tune. The double-speeding trick was an afterthought, and I definitely like the finished result. Hey, so many other avant-garde bands play and sing out-of-tune, and you don't hear everyone complaining, okay? Yuval: actually, this extract is like a broken build-up. After the music stops, something completely different comes up. So yes, if it were building up to somewhere, I would certainly have reduced it. But anyway, thanks a lot for all comments, positive or not. At least this piece has reached a certain level of "popularity". I would also like to listen to my songs played with real instruments and such, actually... we'll have to wait a little... -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Crises Group: Musicians Posts: 142 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Mar. 11 2004, 10:41 I love it! Put on some really good soundfonts, sounds a bit too cheap. Change the chipmunk voice (which ruins it imo). This could be fucking awesome if you tried those two things. I love the arrangement, well done. -------------- - Johnny - Back to top

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