Thank you both my friends, for injecting positive energy directly in my veins!

Glad to see you again @Grape Ape, even if it happens finally that you don't have enough time for this particular edition, the "Non-Contest" will keep going on with plenty of new episodes, I hope for long, long time! Have a happy Tour!

Of course @Aidene creation haven't to be autobiographical, but thanks to you I recognized an aspect of my existence in yours, that is really the essential!

At this moment I try a new approach: 1. Connect any mike. 2. Take any guitar, instrument, or even a cardboard and 3. improvise completely, (guarantied 100% random, accidental music!). 4. Repeat indefinitely, until completely exhausted.

Let's see if it could finally, someway... works?

 

Last edited: Jul 19, 2024

@Amore_de_la_Vida i am trying improvisation more these days also. The Loudest Sound track started off as a simple improv on the keyboard with just the idea of the concept in my head.....so that melody came out randomly. I didn't edit it all but just added some layers on top to finish the song like the layers in the collage. I knew i wanted something minimal sounding though as i am generally more inclined to 'gild the lily' and add too much in my music. I just knew i wanted the contrast of the loudest thing actually being the quietest thing.

 

My grandmother from West Virginia used to call boys peeing "shaking the dew off the lily".

I'm probably going the same route, a basic melody and gilding the lily.

I didn't comment sooner as your song hit me in a couple of ways and I felt all ajumbled. Firstly I'm very gullible and took your libretto literally that you had a very, very low self esteem and harsh voices in your head but I had never noticed it before and felt terribly for not supporting you better or more (when I read many years ago The Celistine Prophecy I thought that it was a work of non-fiction, lol), and the second, it triggered me because I heard lots of those lines verbatim by my parents growing up and kinda caved a bit.

 

yeah dudee i started a song for #1 but i don't think i'd ever finish that song lol

 

hahahah

as much people like to think that, we artists are NOT our art.
Sometimes a song is just a passing feeling, something you're feeling at a specific moment.
but people will think thats how you're feeling all the time everyday

 

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so for this one, i get feelings of elegance and cool, a little cold and fragmented - its focused around a women in the picture, though shes very far away in some other time like a distant memory with a gloomy aura around her. the connection to her is like a tribal instinct thats more artificial than organic, with every piece of the collage woven and connected towards her as a focal point. theres a lot movement and paths from that moment in time with her. some sense of understanding came through knowing her, thats connected too and essential to your nature

so yeah, those are the feelings that i arranged from with this as an inspo. its electronic tones and styles this time out of necessity (made in hotel rooms/bus with a mini midi keyboard and headphones), but gotta get it how you live type shit, was fun

genre: ethnotronica & jersey club

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@Grape Ape I love that !!! .....to me it sounded like a collage of electronic and those organic sounding 'Asian' motifs. I would like to listen to more of your music on the strength of that track......do you have links to Soundcloud or wherever please

 

@Aidene : cool glad you dig it, that sound is actually something called a "dolceola", never heard of that shit before this but, guess its like a mini piano - but yeah i agree with the asian-y vibe tho

my actual music sounds nothing like this lol; i just used styles i thought matched the artwork - i might send you some though, youve always been chill - thanks for the kindness

 

My foot is hitting the floor on this mood, later my neck follows and.. sounds good (volume levels and that) Not bad being made in hotel + bus
Which is your gear? (computer, midi keyboard and headphones)

 

@Choosename : yo whats up! good to hear from you homie

i have a MacBook Pro that i take when i travel, Logic Pro X is on it, then the midi keyboard is this Akai MPK mini thing i asked my tour manager to find for me; it serves its purpose

the headphones are these AKG K702 cans ive listened to music on a lot for years, so i know how stuff should sound on them and theyre pretty flat - but i also have this Apogee Groove headphone converter thing i plug them into, makes these headphones sound beautiful, the difference is crazy; theyre definitely my favorite headphones. i look like a Jet Set Radio character wearing them, but its whatever lol

think youre gonna enter something this time?

 

Wooow! Exacly as @Choosename said, my feet move by themselves, cannot control them anymore, nice swing! The giant, seismic bass doesn't overwhelm the rest, so - is it a miracle or not? - we can hear and appreciate absolutely everything you have done, including details!

I like the ultra-simple, airy, melancholic arpeggio we hear starting 1:16, announcing the break at 1:36. But before that, there's these Greek-like harp playing the main theme, which brings an acoustic, crystalline dimension to the stage.

IMHO the most remarkable aspect of your song is this constant dialogue (...through several dimensions of space and time? Or is it just my imagination?) between a man and a woman, making your composition very alive and warm...

...And also very narrative, because behind the words we understand there's a whole - complex, I would say, but here again, perhaps an invention of my cloudy brain - love story...

All in all - dunno how you found time and energy to create that during touring! -, very well done, elaborated, executed, mixed... and felt!

P.S. ...As the beautiful spirit @Aidene, I'd appreciate a link to your other creations, whatever the styles / genres / context are! Thank you in advance!

 

Last edited: Jul 25, 2024

@Amore_de_la_Vida : merci mon ami, you are valued. when i feel the time is right, i will definitely send you my music so you can know who i am through it and whats very close to me. youve shown me you have a strong and wise character as a person and i appreciate that in you

youre definitely correct and im impressed you picked up the essence of the vocal sampling, without English being your native language - its definitely based in complex feelings around a romantic experience, and how the aftermath of that influenced me, your intuition is correct

 

Nice @Grape Ape , chilling the summer!!!

I am in the Apple side of the moon too + Logic X + Akai mini. Thanks for answering my questions, you don't know how helpfull was for me. I have the same gear, except the headphones, that I use a Bose Quietcomfort III with a Sonarworks profile that are 100% comfort for me, also you can use wired or bluetooth with noise cancelling. So I am ready to compose on the road, like you!

The Apogee Groove headphone converter, is 250 $... I have read that Apple USB-C to jack 3.5 adapter improves power hungry headphones in a cheaper way, just in case any wanna try.

Yes I would like to get into this time, that things get clean and chill (thanks to @Aidene to get the baton), last time there were some bad mood I prefer to skip. But still I have a really stressfull pace until September, moving from my actual home, to another place with my dog. And a ton of stuff to move too. So third contest would be mine, this second I will just take a listen to other intrepids

 

Yeap, the level got super high! And is a perfect fit for the initial reference piece of art. Real challenge here!

PS: Get me a seat on that VIP peep listening group of @Grape Ape

 

Well we shall see... I really want to work on something for this but the last three times I've gone into a music room and tried to work on anything it's made me physically sick. It's definitely a problem. Maybe that will abate bit by bit but every time I sit down in front of my DAW now my blood pressure goes into the red.

 

@Choosename : oooo, yeah i feel you, moving can be a drag. my plan is to never move places again for the rest of my life lol, see how that goes i guess. hope everything goes well though and you and your dog enjoy your new spot

 

Your track truly transmits emotions.


I feel depressed after hearing it.

 

What i saw in the original artwork is something like a conscious way of harnessing the power of 'randomness'. So here's my version of the loudest sound. It's a collage of random yet ear catching samples sitting on my pc at work and some tweaking. French lyrics come from some recordings i did a few years back while playing FF14. In the end this apparent randomness actually became very personnal.

Spoiler: trad

- "Bastards ! After this vile assassination attempt, here they are now trying to bury the truth !"
- "I can not understand... How can people believe the old doctrine should be maintained ? How long will they continue living a lie ?"
- "One of two things. Either we're dealing with dangerous madlads... or these people have a precise idea in mind..."

ps : May it be clear, i don't care about politics. If this is particularily up-to-date, the meaning is not in favor of 1 side or the other..

 

Very interesting. Surprising bass but not in a unpleasant way. Your main theme itches... i think you've really done well transcribing the raw feelings, almost tribal as you say, it gives you when thinking back about it. It feels like this elegance is also because in the end, we can't stop thinking about it, may it be once in a blue moon, nothing we can do about it. She'll forever remain a big part of ourselves.
Big fan of the delay feedback

Good luck or rather fun with the rest of your tour and your moving ! Cheers

 

@aschnt Great track !

Very evocative interpretation of the loudest sound ! Really enjoyed listening. Excellent use of the vocal samples too! Thanks also for the English translation of the original French ...and i reiterate.. excellent!