Trouble With Classicists

Rinse, repeat...

Ok, so despite a similarity in the opening bars, here's a substantially different version of "Shino" — a different , smoother vocal, a sharpened instrumental mix, a few new lyrics, and a new section: a coda.  Is it there yet?  I'm not sure — probably not.  The vocal may still be a touch too mannered and structurally it's still a bit misshapen.

A few interesting things to compare to the last version of this:

1. The vocal now has now been processed to a cold metallic sheen — I think it works, given the subject matter, almost as if it's being sung behind bars.
2. The rhythm section now drops out in the section verse — the effect is much more dramatic.
3. The coda feels like it could use a solo or counter melody of some sort.

It's still kind of a weird song — not the most tuneful thing in the world, but with the right balance, it has potential.

The writing process has been interesting thus far — I can't say I ever would have predicted it would turn out this way.  Having started as something of a late-70's/early-80's YMO/Kraftwerk homage, as I've worked to embed the vocal in the mix, the song has begun to acquire a more digital, glitchier, more modern sound.  And I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.

Adblock

Download shino_vox_mix_2.mp3

And Then The Vocals...

Ok, well, this wasn't exactly the debut of my vocal and songwriting skills I had in mind for TWC.  But I pledged to do a warts and all process here and received some encouragement from the masses to go in that direction.  Besides, producing something I wasn't terribly sold on was going to happen sooner or later. 

Adblock

Download shino_vox_mix_1.mp3

So what we have here is a moderately-interesting J-pop technopop track that has now acquired a lazy vocal of dubious intonation and some post punk overtones of questionable necessity.  Still, it's a start.

A few observations, and let's begin with the criticisms:

The Cons

1. I may have added a melody, but it's not really a positive here — not yet anyway.  The verse wanders a little and the chorus is more of a chant than a tune.
2. The song's harmonic foundation never fully establishes itself (though given the subject matter, that may have its advantages from a tension standpoint).
3. With the addition of the vocal, the backing track becomes overly busy and hyper-syncopated.

More minor criticisms would include the raggedness of the vocal itself and an unbalanced form — as of now, we have a verse/chorus/breakdown/verse/chorus followed by an abrupt end.  But both will fix themselves as the process continues.

The Pro's

1. The opening line has some requisite drama.
2. Though it won't be confused with "Yesterday," the chorus isn't without appeal.
3. A few things about the vocal one could generously argue recall John Cale — in particular, the phrasing of the "dust" line at the conclusion of the first verse and the way it ends kind of mid-phrase.

There's a more interesting question that occurs to me, though.   A critic commented a few years ago when Burt Bacharach teamed with the unlikely partner of Dr. Dre to release the underwhelming (but not without its pleasures) At This Time.  He argued Dre's foursquare beats clipped Bacharach's usually circuitous melodic style.  And even though this song shares nothing with Bacharach's work, writing enervative melodies over dance beats and static harmonies is a real challenge.  For me, anyway.

Above all else though, what the evidence proves is that sometimes songwriting isn't a pretty process.  For every great story about "Caroline, No" being written in fifteen minutes, with inspiration flowing like wine at an Italian wedding, there's about 4 million more that are grueling work filled with  difficult and often embarrassing moments.  You can probably guess which camp this song's gonna be in.

The Feedback Loop

So Todd Burns comments that "Shino" lacks a strong melody:

I liked this one: I particularly enjoyed the cut-up vocal parts during the drum breakdown in the middle. One thing that I think that you need to think about more, however, is melody. The drum programming may be top-notch and interesting to listen to, but if it's undergirding a melody that doesn't strike anywhere close to that soft gooey candy center, then it's all for naught. This one doesn't do much for me.

First, thanks to Todd for his insights — and though his post goes from "I liked this one" to "This one doesn't do much for me" in the space of five lines, I appreciate the fb and will happily grant sleep deprivation as the likeliest culprit.

Still, his comment seems a good opportunity to clarify something about Trouble With Classicists. "Shino" isn't the only track here that lacks a strong melody — to be sure, if anything one element is clearly missing from each of the tracks posted to date, it's melody.  That's because none have yet been written for them (or at least not recorded) — though it's a little unorthodox, I often write that way.  And though I recognize listening to works in progress and songs lacking melodies is a little different from writing that way, perhaps one way to approach these tracks is to approach them as working tapes along the lines of what we've heard in various "sessions" box sets or instrumental twelve-inches — half-finished canvasses upon which the main focus has not necessarily yet been revealed.   

So, expect some tracks to work as is and others to require a little more imagination.  Regardless, my hope is to post tracks with plenty to chew on and debate.  In the cases of "Shino" and "Udo Kier," a vocal perhaps...

And now, to return the favor to Todd, I will attempt to finish that Robert Fripp review I've been promising him for the last several months...

Shino

Another really over-the-top "technopop" homage in the vein of Sakamoto's B-2 Unit and YMO's Solid State Survivor -- again, with a heavy focus on precision programming, featuring lots of herky jerky starts and stops and metallic FM-y sounds.  The idea here was to kind of merge a late-70s analog computer music sound with that of the slightly colder records that emerged early in the following decade.  As a result, you have a few Kraftwerk-y percussion sounds underpinned by some pretty leaden Linn Drum samples.

There are a few cut-up vocal effects in there -- a complete nod to the Sylvian "tapes" stuff from the early 80's where some processed Japanese singer would just burst in for a split second.  I like it here.

Download Shino.mp3

The Concept

So, what are these songs with the funny pictures below?  Allow me to explain...

For some time, I've been contemplating the best way to re-energize a creative process that, quite frankly, has been scattershot and somewhat lethargic.  Don't get me wrong; I'm proud of what I've written and think I've recorded some unique music.  But having completed a record back in 2002 but then lost the will to market/promote it, I've found myself somewhat out in the wilderness, with countless unanswered questions and creeping doubts about my ability to finish what I've started.  If such uncertainties have not quite had the effect of freezing my creative impulses—I have been working these last several years, under the various guises "Goneboy," "The Me" and others—they've at least put something of a chill on them.  A medium-low grade crisis of confidence, you could say.

Some of the basic questions I've found myself asking:

1. What's the goal here?  Recording albums?  Singles?  Do I need the validation of my work being released?  Of being reviewed?
   
2. What exactly is my musical calling, anyway?  Am I a singer?  A songwriter?  A singer-songwriter?  Or am I a producer?  I've worn all these hats, with some success.
3. What style am I working in, exactly?  Does it matter?  Where my first record featured an orchestral pop sound (one I feel a natural affinity for), I've since been drifting toward certain throwback electronic sounds (the Fairlight synthesizer, 70s futurism) that have largely flown under the radar of the retro chic set.  The sheer variety of sounds and styles I've worked in these last several months and years would seem to indicate either a workman-like, craftsman's approach or a lack of enthusiasm. Possibly both.

To be sure, there are other questions as well, such as when is something "finished" — when I say so or when listeners tell me it "sounds done"?  Am I conducting scientific research for a great manifesto or simply dabbling?  Is it worth dedicating all this time to music if the results do not rise to the levels I would expect?  And so on.

It's not exactly in my nature to agonize about such questions in such a public way, and for sure, I don't intend for this blog to feature a series of confessions and neuroses. Rather, the idea behind Trouble With Classicists is to provide a forum for sketches, songs, and other various works in progress — not only a window into the creative process but to present a series of snapshots in motion.  Each night I work, I intend to mix down the results, encode them as mp3's and post them here, as they develop, so the listener can hear songs as parts are added and subtracted, changed and re-worked, and so forth.  My hope is that the blog will be not some exercise in navel-gazing featuring dozens of versions of the same track with differences inaudible to all but recording engineers and subscribers to High Fidelity, but rather something more dynamic and approachable, including explanatory blurbs highlighting the differences and intentions.  In some instances, I may also write about ideas I have before I've recorded them.

But as much as the goal here is to bring ideas to a greater state of completion, the most dynamic aspect of it is the prospect of participation — to garner feedback from you, to provoke some level of interaction, and infuse some energy into what can often be rather lonely process. 

So, I hope you find the contents interesting and will comment freely and enthusiastically.  Let me know what ideas you like, which you don't care for, and why. 

And with that...

Download bamboo_condos.mp3

A track in some state of completion.  It began life as a YMO/Ryuichi Sakamoto homage (check the ring modulated keyboard melody and lame title) before it swung hard in the direction of Act-era ZTT (featuring post-punk anti-hero, Thomas Leer).  Not much from a melodic or compositional standpoint, but a minor triumph, if I do say, on the micro-programming side of things — the result of many months of grappling with Fairlight sounds.  Not a lot of stuff sounding like this right now...

Koto Assassin

Download koto_assassin.mp3

Yes, Giorgio

Speaks for itself, really.  Has already undergone a few major tweaks...

Download yes, giorgio.mp3

Udo Kier

An opening salvo of disco, still lacking some in form...

Download udo_kier.mp3