Silly instrumental in 11/8.

posted by chococat at 9:51 PM PST - 4 comments

In 10/4 for the odd time challenge: an invitation to a mild-mannered New England Bluebeard’s castle, whose secret chamber of horrors is apparently nothing more than a collection of quaint decorative arts. [more inside]

posted by mubba at 5:41 PM PST - 2 comments

Somewhat reminiscent of Sonic Youth's cover of the Carpenters' "Superstar", this song still seems to have a unique quality all of its own. When we recorded this Ummagma track, we didn't know about that cover but since then, this has been the feedback received and we also feel a similarity there too. What do you think? I'm also posting the lyrics here. [more inside]

posted by Brodyaga at 11:42 PM PST - 0 comments

Another early (and small) piano piece of mine but this time more experimental having moved from just atonal in a Stravinsky/early Prokofiev style to a more Cage/Feldman-like aesthetic. [more inside]

posted by bfootdav at 5:37 AM PST - 1 comments

April's challenge is to play something backwards. It could be a backwards guitar solo, or a song based off the chords of another song played backwards, or a melody played backwards, or ANYTHING. YOU GET IT, RIGHT? Feel free to tease us by not revealing what the source material, if there is any, is. Tags 'backwards' and 'mefimusicchalenge' please. posted by unSane at 6:59 PM PST - 4 comments

Indietronic ethno-ethereal fusion is how I would describe this Ummagma track, which is the first Ummagma song you've heard here with male vocals. I feel like this tune has a strong gypsy fusion lifeline running to it from some mysteriously brilliant source, call it what you will. :) Once again, any feedback is appreciated. We've also ventured into indietronic a little here.

posted by Brodyaga at 10:06 AM PST - 1 comments

Nasty. Brutish. Shortish. In 5/4. [more inside]

posted by Grangousier at 8:49 AM PST - 4 comments

A love for the golden 4AD era, Pink Floyd and the likes of David Sylvian have all been woven into the thread of this music. "Lama" was both inspired by these bands and reflects their contribution to a new generation of musicmakers. Looking forward, but knowing where our roots lie… I sincerely hope you will all enjoy this Ummagma track. [more inside]

posted by Brodyaga at 7:04 AM PST - 6 comments

For another MFA class we were meant to come up with a creative response to Judy Grahn's poem A Woman Is Talking To Death. Also I'm trying to process changes in relationships. Two birds, one stone, and one very sore dry throat. [more inside]

posted by divabat at 9:58 PM PST - 3 comments

Fiddling with some down tempo piano [more inside]

posted by Katine at 7:06 AM PST - 3 comments

It's funny how sometimes it takes all but a few minutes to write a song, while the development of another song can really stretch out. This was one of those stretches - "Risky" was a song that was written "in chunks" - the basic instrumental bit was written in Kyiv, Ukraine before a big move to western Ukraine and then to Canada, where the rest was written & recorded before finally being dragged back to Ukraine, where it was properly mixed and mastered. The time span from start to finish: 5 years. All that moving around was us, by the way, not just the tracks bouncing around in cyber space. Thus is the history of this track. I'm posting the lyrics too if anyone wants to have a go at them or "sing along" …. yeah, right… any feedback is welcome. Peace. [more inside]

posted by Brodyaga at 9:32 AM PST - 4 comments

You've probably heard DragonForce's highly entertaining power metal piece de resistance before (maybe in Guitar Hero III). This is like that, only not. [more inside]

posted by ZsigE at 4:40 PM PST - 2 comments

A sub-2-minute garage-pop type of deal [more inside]

posted by Crane Shot at 12:44 PM PST - 3 comments

I am making a little set of audio bits about Vermont's towns, this is the theme song. [more inside]

posted by jessamyn at 9:33 PM PST - 7 comments

In more ways than one, the flipside of "In A Heartbeat". and an example of Reggie - the pallid suburban knock-kneed whiteboy version of Reggae.... [more inside]

posted by Hoops McCann at 2:11 PM PST - 2 comments

Revised kick under chorus. And now with 10% extra compression! Strictly limited (heh)!! HURRY!!! [more inside]

posted by Hoops McCann at 12:41 PM PST - 2 comments

interesting insight into the creative process [more inside] posted by Hoops McCann at 12:38 PM PST - 5 comments

For solo piano. Maybe a kind of dissonant minimalism. Definitely atonal. [more inside]

posted by bfootdav at 10:45 AM PST - 2 comments

Nicki Minaj from a acapella rapping in 5/4 over an obnoxious beat with excessive handclaps for the odd time music challenge

posted by chrchr at 4:17 PM PST - 11 comments

A long time and a bit ago, there was an It Gets Better challenge, and the late lamented Major Dundee posted this in response, along with instruction to ride it hard and put it away wet. So that's what I did. [more inside]

posted by unSane at 3:30 PM PST - 4 comments

Song description: pop [more inside]

posted by Hoops McCann at 10:43 AM PST - 7 comments

Hey Mefi musicians, here's an interview with the guy who engineered the new David Bowie Record. Now all of you run out and buy a Neve board, OK? posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:36 PM PST - 3 comments

So I'm taking a Sound Arts class at school - and since I'm the only person who signed up for it, it's become just me and my instructor mucking about on Garageband. This is my third creation, and first song; I provide the words and vocals, and Apple provided the music. [more inside]

posted by divabat at 4:52 PM PST - 3 comments

Here's something brand new from a show I did last week. Dusted off the trusty old drum machine for this one, and brought in a couple of squeezy dolphins and an old friend from Kansai to help out a bit. Video (or is that a fax?) here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:59 AM PST - 7 comments

8th and final song of after the opera war [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 5:44 PM PST - 0 comments

song 7 [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 5:14 PM PST - 0 comments

posted by modbom at 9:33 AM PST - 6 comments

song 6 of after the opera war - here, i go after a fuller, looser, more trippy sound [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 5:31 PM PST - 1 comments

song five, a drum machine, synth and guitar going wild over a rebirth loop (the light at the end of the tunnel is really a train) [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 5:29 AM PST - 0 comments

I thought I had uploaded this 1998 live living room recording but I guess not. Yet another example of my old band's Bee Gees fixation. [more inside]

posted by litlnemo at 3:25 AM PST - 2 comments

song 4 [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 5:08 PM PST - 1 comments

One of my favorite harmonies has long been two major chords separated by a major second, which I first remember hearing in Higdon's Concerto for Orchestra. This is a little meditation on that sound in largely 7/8.

posted by Lutoslawski at 5:20 PM PST - 5 comments

Acoustic tune for this month's challenge [more inside]

posted by Crane Shot at 8:44 PM PST - 1 comments

song 3 of my rpm album - did anyone else do one this year? [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 4:56 PM PST - 0 comments

Here I attempted to make a piece that tells a kind of story. I'm pretty pleased with this one, though it definitely sounds at its best played through actual speakers. If you're listening to this on a laptop or through headphones it's a bit anodyne. [more inside]

posted by Zarkonnen at 4:41 AM PST - 2 comments

This — and not my post from a year ago — was actually the first sketch of my cover of "Keep Your Hands To Yourself". Be warned, this is not pretty, more like a scribble on a wet napkin than a drawing. It's first-take everything, rushed, and I think it was my first stab at using GarageBand. (Everything before that had been made with Audacity or 4-track.) [more inside]

posted by not_on_display at 10:58 PM PST - 2 comments

From a Third Person show from a couple nights ago in Nagaoya, Japan. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:46 PM PST - 3 comments

song 2 of after the opera war [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 4:36 PM PST - 1 comments

Went into a studio this last weekend without songs written and this is one that came out. It's kinda glossy post punk. [more inside]

posted by l2p at 1:50 PM PST - 2 comments

Taylor Swift needs to write more songs about classic Star Trek episodes, but until she gets around to it herself I'm doing what I can to rectify the situation. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 1:29 PM PST - 8 comments

Wait. [more inside]

posted by chococat at 9:24 PM PST - 5 comments

Two riffs, 2.4 beats, entirety of verse and chorus in title.

posted by ignignokt at 8:59 PM PST - 9 comments

[SPOILER FOR SLEEPY PETE] Half of a blind collaboration with sleepy pete. [more inside]

posted by not_on_display at 5:20 PM PST - 6 comments

track 1 of this year's rpm album - after the opera war - this is based on a dream i had and i'm not sure what it means [more inside]

posted by pyramid termite at 8:42 AM PST - 1 comments

Thanks to Hoots Hoops McCann for this one. March challenge is to record something In a time that is odd to you. [more inside] posted by unSane at 6:03 PM PST - 13 comments

Not sure whether this has been done before, but how about songs that aren't in 4/4? Or not in 4/4 from top to tail (this leaping immediately to mind). Additional kudos to whoever can handle the weirdest time signature. I was in a prog band millions of years ago that did a track - I kid you not - in 13/8. I still have nightmares. Another idea is to cover a track by a non-Western artist, maybe from a particular continent (Africa gets my vote). Something that might well have a rock and/or roll influence but which has a very distinctive non-Western flavour. posted by Hoops McCann at 12:31 PM PST - 13 comments

Another in a short series of defibrillated oldies. NSFW or minors. Or sensitive miners. Splendid for Mynahs though - if trained to sing the offending "fuck you, I'm all right Jack" verse when the snaggle-toothed vicar calls with his dog-eared leaflets.

posted by Hoops McCann at 12:02 PM PST - 1 comments

Circa 06: sped up samples, off-kilter rhythms, synth bass, all washed in reverb

posted by ageispolis at 10:15 AM PST - 2 comments