Sailor Martin sings about what he knows. Ukulele, toy accordion, tambourine, wooden fish that makes "clopping" noises, and, at one point, a duet between a tin whistle and a plastic ocarina. The 15th and final entry in the RPM challenge. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 9:26 PM PST - 2 comments

Song I recorded for my solo/obnoxiousness project Birdlaw. I wanted to make a song that sounded like Chrome . [more inside]

posted by orville sash at 7:14 PM PST - 0 comments

4th song of my rpm album - well, what's a trillion between good friends?

posted by pyramid termite at 10:13 AM PST - 1 comments

First finished track for a non-existent blaxploitation film I call Ready Demolition. I plan to write and film a trailer for this fake film with some friends sometime soon and either this or another song will be the background music.

posted by grubi at 8:18 AM PST - 2 comments

This is an instrumental cover of The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel - I think this originally appeared at the end of a movie starring J Lo and Richard Gere called Shall We Dance Recorded for a friends wedding for the bride to walk down the aisle to. Hope its enjoyed by all

posted by Admira at 5:27 PM PST - 4 comments

Sailor Martin find true romance. A song featuring ukulele, harmonica, wooden sand-filled egg, tambourine, and a duet between Sailor Martin and himself. Song 14 in the RPM challenge. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 3:21 PM PST - 1 comments

History loses its grip...and smiles dissolve in to the unknown [more inside]

posted by 4midori at 1:38 PM PST - 0 comments

Cumbia-step made on Ableton, based on a classic Peruvian cumbia by Hijos del Sol. [more inside]

posted by cloeburner at 11:13 AM PST - 1 comments

this is the 3rd and title song for my new rpm album - it would seem to be about someone else but sometimes i think it might be about me [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 9:35 AM PST - 1 comments

In 1921, Nobel laureate chemist and physicist Marie Curie was touring the United States when she finally succumbed to the inevitable effects of a lifetime of exposure to exotic forms of radiation, growing suddenly to almost forty feet in total height in less than a week... [more inside]

posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:39 AM PST - 2 comments

The Number of the Beats give you a taste of what life is like after the show. [more inside]

posted by dagosto at 10:26 PM PST - 4 comments

Came up with this on a Sunday afternoon, after a long sleep in and a greasy breakfast. Short, instrumental guitar piece like the rest I've posted :)

posted by Admira at 3:55 PM PST - 3 comments

A tropical shanty featuring ukulele, some horrible whistling, a cheese greater, and a glass struck by a spoon. Entry 13 in the RPM Challenge. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 2:10 PM PST - 2 comments

Ooo! Spooky! Well, it should be pretty obvious that this song has almost nothing to do with literal werewolves, and everything to do with a predatory mindset, but that doesn’t keep it from weirding my mother out every time I play it!

posted by soundacious at 12:59 PM PST - 1 comments

2nd song on my rpm album - this is a kind of mellow song

posted by pyramid termite at 9:20 AM PST - 0 comments

Reccommend some good advanced/Intermediate level Reference Books on Audio Mixing, Audio Mastering or Audio Recording. What are the best 'guides' for the intermediate. [more inside] posted by mary8nne at 1:50 AM PST - 6 comments

Another laid back instrumental guitar piece performed on my classical guitar. One of my favourites, though I possible went a little overboard with the compression. Hope its enjoyed by all.

posted by Admira at 3:50 PM PST - 2 comments

A dance song from Sailor Martin, or, rather, a song about uncontrollable movement. Ukulele, harmonica, finger snaps, and a kazoo pushed through some sort of crazy filter. Song 12 for the RPM challenge. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 1:42 PM PST - 1 comments

A really simple, happy song [more inside]

posted by azarbayejani at 12:29 PM PST - 2 comments

At least I hope it will be. [more inside]

posted by chococat at 11:21 AM PST - 14 comments

Another track from my last-minute RPM Challenge entry, "The Very Best of Spaz Rock - Volume I: Monsters of Spaz." Kind of a laid back, funky/clunky little number with soothing moments. [more inside]

posted by saulgoodman at 11:16 AM PST - 4 comments

this is the first song of my rpm album, kerosene alley - jj cale got the green light, but i had to make do with the yellow

posted by pyramid termite at 9:03 AM PST - 2 comments

Perhaps a cover but more a self-made karaoke of Cocco's "Hoshi ni Negai wo".

posted by NemesisVex at 5:12 PM PST - 0 comments

My keyboard comes with the typical drum patch. And layering. The two are not intended to be used together. This mercifully short (under 2 min) sketch shows what happens when you go down that one way street the Wrong Way... [more inside]

posted by AppleSeed at 4:34 PM PST - 2 comments

Where do I start when it comes to buying recording gear? [more inside] posted by BrnP84 at 4:03 PM PST - 16 comments

Lately I've been in a mood to sing vintage romantic standards in a very straight up way. Some day I want to do a version of this song inspired by Anita O'Day. This ain't it. You can still feel free to dance, though! [more inside]

posted by miss lynnster at 3:00 PM PST - 2 comments

Instrumental piece on a classical guitar, recorded with two parts. Kind of slow, relaxing, and was an attempt to make slight harmonic clashes easier on the ear. Don't worry, its not twelve tone serialism or anything!

posted by Admira at 2:11 PM PST - 1 comments

Inspired words of actor Sean Penn, Sailor Martin sings a very short song of social change, accompanies by ukulele, harmonica, jew's harp, and tambourine. Entry 11 in the RPM challenge. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 1:38 PM PST - 4 comments

this is the second song i've written in 10 years, and the first good one.

posted by TonyRobots at 11:11 PM PST - 3 comments

A dark, drone/noise piece that develops slowly

posted by wastelands at 10:09 PM PST - 0 comments

in which we discuss sente, and determine that all of the engines are on fire, the body of the aircraft is on fire, the fucking air around us is on fire.

posted by kimyo at 9:42 PM PST - 4 comments

This is a demo of a song I wrote for my band. [more inside]

posted by Ironmouth at 1:54 PM PST - 5 comments

I came up with this little ditty when on a road trip to Bega, a country area of New South Wales, Australia. Its a quick, bright instrumental piece, played on my classical guitar.

posted by Admira at 1:47 PM PST - 4 comments

Guitar heavy electronic number [more inside]

posted by azarbayejani at 10:28 AM PST - 2 comments

A Sailor Martin song about discovering your lover is not who you expect her to be. Tambourine and ukulele. Entry 10 in the RPM challenge. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 10:27 AM PST - 1 comments

polyrhythmic minimal techno, with restrained use of vocoders. [more inside]

posted by subtle-t at 5:37 PM PST - 3 comments

Slow instrumental guitar piece performed on classical guitar. Similar in style to my previous pieces Together and Touching

posted by Admira at 1:29 PM PST - 1 comments

A raucous garage-band blues number, featuring ukulele, tambourine, and harmonica. Entry number 9 into the RPM challenge is a song about a mean woman. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 10:11 AM PST - 0 comments

A song in honor of the young artists in Portland, Oregon. [more inside]

posted by ford and the prefects at 6:03 PM PST - 4 comments

WARNING (OR PROMISE): Highly abstract and very, very long. [more inside]

posted by chimaera at 12:56 PM PST - 6 comments

A drinking song from the British Isles, written for an performed by Sailor Martin as song eight in the RPM challenge. Ukulele, egg, handclaps, and a tin whistle. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 9:54 AM PST - 1 comments

A love song to my girlfriend and hiking. Banjolele, percussion, and whistling. [more inside]

posted by Corduroy at 2:46 AM PST - 4 comments

Two questions: [more inside] posted by chimaera at 10:08 PM PST - 7 comments

An instrumental samples/drums/synthemulators beat inspired by (and made over a number of) really damned cold Canadian winter nights*. [more inside]

posted by Hoopo at 7:09 PM PST - 3 comments

I've pinpointed the reason our economy is in shambles. It wasn't the subprime mortgage crisis. It wasn't Bernie Madoff. It wasn't even the president. The moment our global economy collapsed was when Bob Barker retired as game show host. [more inside]

posted by man vs sun at 11:08 PM PST - 7 comments

Essentially, I wanted to see if I could do a convincing blues instrumental. Recorded on my strat quite some time ago, don't remember all the settings. Hope its enjoyed by all!

posted by Admira at 10:43 PM PST - 3 comments

An instrumental from Sailor Martin representing his state of mind most of the time: noisy, jug bandish, sloppy, yet unexpectedly chipper and mellow. Listen closely and you can hear Sailor Martin singing along in the background. Entry number 7 for the RPM challenge.

posted by Astro Zombie at 10:15 PM PST - 4 comments

A relaxing drone; noise waveforms are dominant again

posted by wastelands at 9:12 PM PST - 3 comments

The proposed and rejected intro for the overdue and never-to-be-finished "Big In Japan" album. [more inside]

posted by Hoopo at 6:53 PM PST - 1 comments

A short menu intro for flesh, a horror/ puzzle game being developed as a mod for the HL2 engine [more inside]

posted by 5imian at 1:34 PM PST - 0 comments

A brief musical invitation to a St Patrick's Day Party (after the parade). [more inside]

posted by erikgrande at 8:50 PM PST - 2 comments

Just imagine strolling down a brick sidewalk, sun streaming down, day full of possibilities.

posted by pwally at 7:33 PM PST - 5 comments

A happy-sounding very sad song. [more inside]

posted by millipede at 7:03 PM PST - 4 comments

My 6th RPM song for Sailor Martin. A close harmony country song about love and deception. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 6:11 PM PST - 2 comments

One of my boys destroyed his left arm while skateboarding this past weekend. This ones for you SKATER X! (And yea, we have more jello, don't worry about it.)

posted by snsranch at 5:26 PM PST - 6 comments

I recorded this on my iPhone while walking home from school, using the awesome 4-track app GigBaby!. [more inside]

posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 5:22 PM PST - 5 comments

The second effort for this year's RPM Challenge from my experimental, noisy super-happy-fun project, "The Very Best of Spaz." Like its ocean dwelling namesake, this Immortal Jellyfish always manages to revert to its juvenile form. [more inside]

posted by saulgoodman at 7:15 AM PST - 7 comments

A song about having no money and or recording space/equipment, but doing it anyway [more inside]

posted by Hoopo at 10:38 PM PST - 5 comments

A song I wrote, I kind of need to give myself a kick into doing more. For anyone that listened to the ABBA cover, thanks, and here's something a bit more upbeat. It's kind of weather related pop.

posted by equality7-2521 at 4:34 PM PST - 4 comments

Rehearsing some totally new Gershwin torch songs. Well, not new for the Gershwins. They're pretty dead. New for me, though. :) [more inside]

posted by miss lynnster at 12:28 AM PST - 7 comments

The fifth song for the RPM challenge. Sailor Martin does a song in the style of Andrew Bird. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 9:30 PM PST - 2 comments

My first ever RPM challenge song, a sludgy, fuzzy guitar riff-driven groove in the grand tradition of Oneida, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Sabbath. [more inside]

posted by saulgoodman at 8:17 AM PST - 4 comments

The fourth Sailor Martin song for the RPM Challenge. An out-of-tune concertina, a ukulele, a tambourine, and a sailor's fantasy. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 7:43 AM PST - 2 comments

last minute valentine's day song for all those lovers and fighters out there.

posted by es_de_bah at 9:02 PM PST - 3 comments

The third and final installment of my 2009 Valentine's day project. Celine Dion + Rick Astley, as if the internet needed another rickroll. [more inside]

posted by The White Hat at 8:52 PM PST - 3 comments

Something blossoms out of something else, it would be ugly on its own, but coming from something so putrid it is sublime. [more inside]

posted by idiopath at 7:00 PM PST - 3 comments

A song I wrote last night. Inspired by a bit of last week's Science Friday on NPR's Talk of the Nation.

posted by tinyfolk at 9:50 AM PST - 1 comments

Bare bones demo of a song I'm working on about the circus. Thoughts would be appreciated.

posted by jhighmore at 9:28 AM PST - 4 comments

Third RPM song for my puppet Sailor Martin. Ukulele, harmonica, and a whole lot of inappropriate. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 6:15 AM PST - 1 comments

Just what it says on the tin. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 6:15 PM PST - 4 comments

Extra dark and ominous; uses mostly noise waveforms instead of sine waves

posted by wastelands at 1:24 PM PST - 6 comments

What is the best way to speed up the tempo of an audio file without raising the pitch or losing sound quality? [more inside] posted by umbú at 9:46 AM PST - 12 comments

Guitar Rag, with banjo. [more inside]

posted by The White Hat at 6:49 PM PST - 10 comments

My second song for the RPM challenge, written for my horrible puppet, Sailor Martin. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 6:23 PM PST - 2 comments

I'm learning Python. While working on my first cool lil program (a spiffy random number generator that does ExtraCoolStuff(tm)), I took a break and this came out. I'm also growing a beard. [more inside]

posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 5:03 PM PST - 1 comments

Some more crazy cumbia I´ve made on the gameboy while traveling in Peru. [more inside]

posted by cloeburner at 10:45 AM PST - 0 comments

Here's an attempt to cover O Superman without copying it; no synths, no vocoders, no sampling or looping. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 4:06 PM PST - 24 comments

(to your solution)

posted by ageispolis at 3:01 PM PST - 1 comments

an instrumental space jam, an ode to a scintillating satellite girl, and because we miss kurt so.

posted by kimyo at 4:56 AM PST - 2 comments

This was requested by micayetoca, and so here it is. Features Marxophone and autoharp. [more inside]

posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:22 AM PST - 4 comments

The first RPM challenge song written for my creepy puppet, Sailor Martin. The title is self-explanatory. The electric guitar he is singing along to is actually a ukulele. [more inside]

posted by Astro Zombie at 10:28 PM PST - 3 comments

Cumbia'step made on the gameboy while travelling here in Peru. [more inside]

posted by cloeburner at 7:51 AM PST - 3 comments

another romantic electronic song

posted by god particle at 6:47 AM PST - 3 comments

Some of you may remember this thread (from last April!) in which I suggested an Exquisite Corpse-style Massive Mefi Collaboration. This project has been inching along, in the background while most people were asleep, ever since. I am now done with the "collection" phase; this post is to remind any stragglers that were still thinking about wrapping anything up that the time to do that is now. [more inside] posted by Karlos the Jackal at 12:46 AM PST - 9 comments

A theme song for an iPhone game. [more inside]

posted by 3FLryan at 9:53 PM PST - 5 comments

This started as a weird tune with pseudo-Indian wailing/cat meowing vocals, guitar feedback, and a one-note sitar solo. It still has those elements, but the track ended up being an almost radio-friendly, catchy (?) pop-rock thing. [more inside]

posted by edlundart at 7:08 PM PST - 12 comments

The news of old flame's pending nuptials had me, unexpectedly, floored. [more inside]

posted by freya_lamb at 3:52 PM PST - 7 comments

I decided that God Particle's 1988 needed lyrics, so I added some text-to-speech from Phoenix's Last Transmission From Mars. Everything is better with sad robots! [more inside]

posted by The Whelk at 9:21 AM PST - 2 comments

the RPM Challenge 2009 progress thread: How are you going? [more inside] posted by mary8nne at 6:21 AM PST - 24 comments

I recently got a copy of Korg DS-10, a synth emulator, how can I get it to make more than a handful weird sounds? [more inside] posted by hellojed at 10:42 PM PST - 11 comments

A short arrangement for solo banjo of the stunning Gilbert & Sullivan tune from The Pirates of Penzance. [more inside]

posted by The White Hat at 9:10 PM PST - 9 comments

This is a song I've loved for a long time by the Minneapolis band Trip Shakespeare. For some reason, now felt like a good time to cover it.

posted by umbú at 8:20 PM PST - 5 comments

I was inspired to do this quick a capella interpretation of The Clash after reading Ironmouth's opinions on how singers aren't creative since all they're capable of is mimicking things that geniuses wrote. [more inside]

posted by miss lynnster at 12:13 PM PST - 9 comments

Moody 120bpm synth techno soundtrack, inspired by a car chases at night. Created on the Korg EMX-1 / Kaossilator.

posted by lord_yo at 11:16 AM PST - 7 comments

I'm a singer & guitarist who loves playing live, I usually play at open mic nights, but now and again I like to try and push myself to get out there and put together gigs of my own. One thing I find is once I get past playing about 6 songs, I am looking for a little more variation than just my voice and guitar. I'm thinking either of playing backing tracks, or playing more instruments as I play the guitar. Does anyone already do this? What are the simplest things I could add to give myself more options? Are there tricks for keeping it my gig and not sounding like I'm tied to a backing track? [more inside] posted by equality7-2521 at 6:38 AM PST - 14 comments

I love different cover songs, so tried to make a tragic love song out of an old Scandinavian disco song. I think maybe all ABBA songs are tragic beneath their shiny sequinned disco pants. It starts quiet, builds up and ends up quiet again.

posted by equality7-2521 at 5:19 AM PST - 6 comments

This is a rerecording of an old song, done for the February RPM Challenge. Features geetar plucking, good ol' reliable double tracked lo-fi vocals, and singing saw imitation whistling. [more inside]

posted by Corduroy at 9:55 PM PST - 6 comments

We all have our obsessions.

posted by chiefbluefeather at 10:56 PM PST - 4 comments

So, for this year's RPM Challenge I have decided to go all out and write a rock opera. This is one of the few songs I have worked on so far, and the first one that has been completed. Granted, this should be somewhere in the middle or the rock opera, but, still, it's the first one finished, so I'm posting it anyway. [more inside]

posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:12 PM PST - 7 comments

Actually, Karlos the Jackal has a thought, that he sent me in some MeMail. I think it's a GREAT idea, and I thought I'd reprint it here for everyone to read and kick around. Here's his letter: What do you think about starting a thread in Music Talk about the current challenges at the beginnning of every month? People can share reactions to the new challenges, discuss what did and didn't work for them with the old ones, share ideas about possibilities for future challenges, etc. More good ideas might come up when people are kicking them around rather than trying to come up with stuff in a vacuum. Added benefits: MeFiMu Talk would be more "active," and the thread would call more attention to the challenges. Just thinkin'. posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:56 AM PST - 16 comments

A song about a Devil's X-Ray.

posted by Jawbones at 7:47 AM PST - 4 comments

MefiMuChallenge submission and my first real attempt at multi tracking vocals. [more inside]

posted by BrnP84 at 12:18 AM PST - 3 comments

A mashup of ELO and another well-known artist. [more inside]

posted by flatluigi at 2:15 PM PST - 15 comments

Do you socialize with dozens? Do you feed-read hundreds, friend thousands, and follow tens of thousands? Do you still get shy one-on-one? [more inside]

posted by allaboutgeorge at 4:24 AM PST - 1 comments

happy

posted by god particle at 2:27 PM PST - 12 comments

From my new CD, Roomful of Ghosts. Official video version here. Unplugged Pig video version here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:16 PM PST - 17 comments

A moodier, down-tempo track from Tangemeenie's 2001 debut album, "Faust," produced using cheap digital recording gear, loop-based techniques and trick lighting. (I apologize in advance for my "jolty singing style".) [more inside]

posted by saulgoodman at 8:13 AM PST - 4 comments

Sketch for a song from a guitar oriented ambient project I'm working on [more inside]

posted by sloe at 10:11 PM PST - 4 comments

So, when I got a copy of the excellent Music From The BBC Radiophonic Workshop a while back, I got a wild hair to sequence tracks of that nature. This is one of them. I wanted it to sound like music from an educational science film.

posted by ford and the prefects at 2:50 PM PST - 3 comments

More noodling in Reason.

posted by itchylick at 12:20 PM PST - 2 comments

This ear-piercing ambient piece was made in 2003, part of a release called Ultraviolet. I was listening to a lot of Terre Thaemlitz at the time, particularly Soil.

posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:25 AM PST - 1 comments