Wow... I can't believe i made it. Just four months and 8 days after Iwan. 60 minutes. The 1st second from minute1, the 2nd second from minute2, 3rd second from minute3 etc., all the way to 59. My god. It's funny how a year and a half of random musicmaking can be bundled together like this into a single little minutelong package. The really crazy thing is that I, as the dude that made these things, actually recognize EVERY SINGLE second-long segment as they're played. Really takes me back. Great idea, Iwan!!
Anyway.. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Made it!
Err, this is similar in style sortof to minute57 I suppose. Same key too, sounds like. Maybe that's cuz i started with the same drumkit, I think the tuning of the bass drum could be just the sort of thing i'm not really consciously aware of that could make me start in a certain key.
Yesterday's minute sort of got me to stick some LCD Soundsystem on the iPod as I was cycling home though, and that inevitably resulted in this. Damn, I love that guy.
Had a really good band practice today. Started making this on the way home, felt original to me while i was making it but now listening to it i think i pretty directly ripped off both Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem.
Tried re-amping the bass. First time I learned about this technique was while we were mixing the Lightwires album. What you do is take a specific track, run it through an amplifier (guitar amp, bass amp, whatever) and then record the output via a microphone right there in front of the amp. Seems kinda pointless perhaps, but from what our mixer/masterer said, it's a really common technique in professional mixes, especially a lot of music that's partially computer-generated (i.e. Justice). Takes a very... clean and precise waveform generated by a digital synth and sort of brings it into the real world of analog overtones, can add all sorts of depth and life to things, especially bass tracks. Use an old school hardware analog synth, he said, and you can avoid a lot of re-amping.
So for this one I stuck the Zoom H4 next to one of my speakers, muted all tracks in reason except for the bass, played it through the speakers and recorded it. Then imported the new bass track from the stungun, sync'd it up in Ableton with the rest of the song, recorded a few quick vocal tracks and BAM! Done.
If you listen to the non-reamped bass in the actual reason file, you can really tell the difference: 03-01-2009.rns Refills used: 260dB: The Drum&Bass Refill Reason Drum Kits Reason Factory Soundbank
Out of time. Somehow, am recording this on the sofa in the last 15 minutes before midnight. Not too bad, considering! Well.. have only listened so far in my earbuds, maybe sounds terrible on speakaz. Nonsense lyrics as well. All done on the Zoom H4, aka the stungun.. Nice that it can function as a digital 4-track. Will have to experiment more with this in the future.
Oh, also have been listening to Neko Case tonight. Dunno if i like her, but she at least gave me the idea for what to do in this last minute situation.
All music is an attempt at communication, isn't it? At least in the strict sense, it is the transmission of data from instrument to ear. And it seems to me that almost all of the time, this is accompanied by some purpose, some goal of imparting either a feeling or idea to the listener.
I thought it would be interesting to create a minute that somehow does not do this, does not represent me as creator trying to communicate with the listener.
At first I thought I would try to make a minute that would resemble an undending wall, an insurmountable obstacle between me and the listener. This is what resulted:
This is essentially a self-defeating enterprise, insofar as that if I truly wanted to communicate nothing via this minute I would be precluded from making these notes to accompany it. But please, try to listen to this minute all the way through on its own, and try to divorce yourself from the knowledge of my intentions. What does it sound like to you? Does it make you think of anything?
Well, this is not what I was expecting to post tonight. Played some tennis earlier this evening, and before I left for the court I recorded a quick guitar minute that I intended to build upon once I came home.
But then, in the train, this happened. Started as a drum pattern and bassline. Then it morphed into something of a dreamlike return to something reminiscent of the funk and smoke of 1970s east africa, or at least that was how i imagined it. Once I got home i recorded the guitar, panned things extremely like they used to do on recordings in the 70s, and imported a nice little audioclip of the man himself, emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. enjoy!
So this is it guys! One of us has finally reached the frontier. The 60th minute; a minute for every second in a minute! I'm going to make the leap, the big one. Once one passes through this barrier one goes from being mere man to being a MinuteMan. I bet y'all are excited as i am, boy oh boy! Of course before you may wander into the dimensions beyond, you must prove yourself worthy of the title and fit to venture out on the journey into the unknown.
As it is written in this sentence that i'm typing right now, one can only transgress to the next level after passing the sacred minute test. This test puts forth the challenge of posting within a week 7 proper and true minutes that exemplify that you have truly understood and mastered the art of minute music making. Ideally one would post one minute everyday. Unfortunately i've been caught up in the wallpaper scraping game. Having posted 7 minutes within a week and thereby reaching the 59th minute i believe i'm ready nonetheless.
What comes now is kind of a right of passage and also a celebration of the art of minute making. I'm now going to mentally prepare myself for this final stage, the one that will make my transformation complete, by drinking 4 liters of banana milk and taking an ice bath. The procedure takes the utmost concentration and dedication. One slip-up may prove fatal. If i don't report back in a day or two it means i've failed the test and am now most likely dead or living in Luxembourg under the name Fransz von Schlagerau. Hopefully i will see you once again after i've arisen as a MinuteMan, Man of Minutes.
I've noticed that the 'minutes' on this blog are getting longer and longer. Somewhere along the road we lost our minute music making ways. Corrupted by an evil and deceitful world, we chose to ignore our founding principles. Losing ourselves in endless musical statements that wither away in redundancy. The principles that made us what we are today we have forsaken. Being a man of tradition however i figured it was my task to restore in honor the proper musical minute. Yesterday there were two and here's yet another one.
Well, i tried to update the playlist but as happened to me earlier it won't work. I don't know what i'm doing wrong. Here's the list with direct links to the best of 2008:
