Taiji

This, I guess, came out of reading "A Message from the People of Taiji, Japan" (http://www.furcommission.com/resource/perspect3.htm) awhile ago. It's not a political statement at all and I take no side in the issue. It's just a glimpse of a traditional Japanese whaling expedition.
posted by sluglicker (6 comments total)

Fascinating. Stuff like is what makes this site so damn good.

How did you put this together? Did you record that ocean? those whales? that drumming?
posted by micayetoca at 10:15 AM on March 23, 2007

Thanks, micayetoca. No, I didn't record any of it except the "harpoon". I got them from a sample library. I didn't have any instruments until today. I bought a used Casio keyboard for $50 and I'll experiment with that. What I'm trying to do is learn how to record stuff and mix. It's taking me some time to learn that part of it. Any technical advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated. An idea I had was to use just natural sounds/things I make like bottles, wood pieces, etc. and try and make music like that. Do you know of anyone who has done that? I would really like to hear something along those lines. Thanks again.
posted by sluglicker at 10:28 AM on March 23, 2007

WOW pretty much sums up how I feel about this. It had a very visual effect on me. I really felt "there".

Way to go sluggo!
posted by snsranch at 4:03 PM on March 23, 2007

Yeah, sluglicker, good on ya, mate! (I'm feeling a little Australian today.) But, c'mon, man, where do you really come down on the whaling issue? ;-)

Regarding this: An idea I had was to use just natural sounds/things I make like bottles, wood pieces, etc. and try and make music like that. Do you know of anyone who has done that?

I've done a lot of that. Lots of making music with stuff that's not designed to make music. I think, among MeFiMusic posters, micayetoca is also someone who has probably done a fair amount of that as well. I think it's a good idea. For me, half the battle in creating music that I'm happy with and proud to present is having things sound interesting, sound different. To not just always go with the standard guitar/bass/drums or whatever. I think music will move further along, evolution-wise, if more people start getting a lot more adventurous and experimental with their sonic tools, their instruments. So, by all means, bottles, pieces of wood, rolling marbles around in a bowl full of water, whatever, go for it! Make a joyful noise!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:32 AM on March 24, 2007

Recording myself is the part of making music that I find myself liking less and less everyday. It's just very complicated and I never get the sound I want, so, instead of giving you my own advice, I'll point to some posts on the subject that were posted in AskMe, and you can find a lot more there, check it out.

As for the alternate instruments, I always love it when it's used to make actual music, rather than "soundscapes". Tow Waits, for instance, is a master at using stuff you wouldn't notice, but add a great texture to a song, such as rocking chairs. His song Murder in the Red Barn is the perfect example.

There's also people like Harry Partch. Another quite interesting band is the Argentinian Les Luthiers who build insane instruments like those you can see in that link.

And last, it's funny that flapjax mentioned me, because I would have mentioned him as the ultimate Metafilter Music who will put virtually anything to good use and actually get decent sound recordings. In order to make this a round one-stop collection of links, here's the direct link to the songs he has posted here.
posted by micayetoca at 5:32 AM on March 24, 2007

Thanks guys. Really appreciate your comments and links (there's a lot there!). I hear people say 'It's all been done before' and there's some truth to that, I suppose. But for some some reason don't understand, sounds captivate me. Today, I went to a burger joint and next to the parking lot was a storm drain spewing out a shitload of water; it had been raining. I stood in the rain outside my car and listened to that for five minutes. It was like listening to a song. I know, I'm kind of strange. I would have liked to have had a portable digital recorded. That was a keeper.
posted by sluglicker at 10:43 PM on March 24, 2007