Category: Music

Daily Loop #7

I posted a few of these clips to Twitter in the last week or so, and didn’t really get the idea to put them on my blog, so I’m fixing that now (1/7).

My brain exploded when I figured out how to do sampling with Abelton Live. Sure, I’ve messed around with a TASCAM Porta-4 about 30 years ago, and who hasn’t spent some time with Garage Band?

But Live is a special beast.

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to just make something each day. The drum beats, the bass lines, and the samples. Usually I’ll go on YouTube and sample old TV commercials, but lately I’ve been capturing the audio from Instagram Stories.

As I thumb through the never ending videos, every so often a few audio clips collide and make for something interesting. That’s where the beeps and boops above come from.

Daily Loop #1

This video was posted on 1/1/2021 on Twitter and Instagram, and even though I preach the “put your stuff on our own website” message, I forgot to put them on my own site. Better late then never.

Video is from Pexel, and the beat and boops and all that are from me. I’m a third generation musician, and have been playing music on and off (mostly off) for about 30 years now. These loops are the hook to get me opening up Abelton Live and stretch my musical muscles again.

Lubalin Closing Out 2020 on a High Note

I came across this video recently, and fell in love.

The beat, the singing, the facial expressions… turns out this is only the second “funny video” he’s done?

His latest video ‘Floating’ is very somber, and so well done.

Check out the comment section, too:

“Came here because of the attorney general. Stayed for the talent.”

That’s in reference to his other clip, below:

It’s neat to see someone have this well-crafted vibe, the look and presentation, and then they put out something that’s well done but not-so-serious, and see how it just hits.

As of the writing of this post, he’s got 160,000 followers on Instagram.

Goodnight, Metal Friend – MIX 09

This is a short one – less than 25 minutes – but still I think it’s a good one. A few guitars in this one, which is always a treat. Music by Archean Nights from France, Shum & dMH from Ireland, Oneirich from this ‘Dark Ambient Vol. 16‘ compilation, and Mirrortouch who is a young latinx producer named Juan Quintero-García.

I love the sleep music in my Headspace app, but sometimes I want something a little… darker. I love finding this music. Digging through the dark ambient and drone metal sections of Bandcamp, settling deep into the different songs and making sure they fit, with no sudden shrieks or loud percussion. Then fitting the songs together in Serato, and fading out of one track, and into another, at a good point, too. Not too fast, not too sudden. It’s a big bunch of skills and challenges that I really liked picking up this year.

Bandcamp Roulette Christmas Edition

Photo by Kaique Rocha from Pexels

Ever set out to do something, and then everything falls to pieces? That was me today, which is very fitting for this wretched 2020. Found the energy to set up my camera, route the audio, and set out to do another one of my Bandcamp Roulette videos, but then my video editing software decided to lay waste to my efforts, and here we are.

This year has left me short-tempered. I know it’s messed with lots of people, in lots of ways. Pick your poison, this year has been rough. That’s why I set out to find some Christmas music on Bandcamp today, to find some refuge in wonderful voices singing familiar melodies. Most of these came out in the last few days. What I found took me for a ride.

First is ÝRÝ, delicate and serene. Instrumentation is sparse, which is fine because it makes way for the vocals, which is are oh-so-good.

Next is Tenneson, which is “seven incarcerated musicians at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility.” Musically not my thing, but the people behind it are. We all make mistakes in life, but there’s still beauty in our tragedy.

Two traditional tunes, but it’s always nice to hear someone new doing them, in this case Sasha Samara. Super smooth.

‘Hello Christmas’ from Guy Capecelatro III is soft and gentle, pretty stripped down. “A week ago none of these songs were written,” says Guy.

This one from Death Hags is sweet and airy, and perfect for a dreary, snow-less Christmas 2020.

Not usually one for very-specific lyrics, but as my roomie pointed out we’ll be talking about 2020 and COVID-19 for the next 100 years. Kathryn Hoss does a great job with this.

This one is soft and warm, with vocals by Katie Danielson.

“Wrap me in your arms Like a Christmas present / I’ll tuck you inside of my sleeve / I never liked this season, but I love those lights we hang / And the good things we choose to believe”

Without my computer mishap today I would have never heard ‘Like a Christmas Present’ by Tanbark (Chloe Nelson and James Jannicelli from Brooklyn, New York). Something things just happen for reasons we don’t get at the time.

All that to say, there’s a lot of amazing music on Bandcamp. There are so many artists out there releasing such good music, and it’s easy for them to get lost in the fray. Seek it out, it’s there. Hopefully you find something sweet from this little collection I put together.