A “Tipsy” Recording. :)

Hi there, how have you been?

Just wanted to share another instrumental theme, “Suco de goiaba” (stands for “Guava Juice”). A memento of small, simple happiness. :)

Orc War March. ~.~

Hi there, how have you all been?

This week I want to share an original Orc War March for an Audio Catch gig. :)

As a comissioned work, I composed this with this description of the Orcs in mind:
“The mentality of an orc is quite simple, it can be summed up in an unrestrained id. Their minds are similar to a 2 year old’s, they simply want what they want and will do whatever they need to do to get it, without considering anyone or anything else and those wants are usually simply food, fighting, and fornication.”

So, no complex melodic lines or rhythm patterns; just plain and staightforward “work” (if we could call their dirty deeds work) song.

I used STRICTLY organic instruments to make this. Everything there really exists and helped me to keep that “real” feeling–even some lack of metronome can do wonders in such case.

The sentence “Mirdautas vras” stands for “It is a good day to kill”. :)

On Effects Percussion

Hi there, how are you all doing?

Talking about music ambience it can be very interesting to hear instruments switching roles inside an arrangement. This time I want to point one of my favorite techiniques out for reaching such results: sporadic percussion.

In gereral rhythmic instruments are used for guiding harmonic and melodic ones over a tempo line; but if you manage to pick a particular sound that stays “apart”, clear from all the others that’s a good opportunity to explore its “mood” vein. :)

Here’s a nice example on the matter, taken from one of the finest videogames soundtracks ever (IMMO): Soul Star, by Nathan McCree.

Here we can listen to some high percussion (a tambourine, some cymbals) standing above everything else and shining without the duty to keep up with the main rhythmic line. Beautiful.

That’s it, have an awesome week!

A New Prayer In Form of Music. :)

Hi there, how have you been?

Once again I want to share a recording that came out almost without me noticing it… After meeting a friend who is facing a tough family issue I grabbed my acoustic guitar and recorded this. So take a listen and take my best wishes of strenght for those in need–if that’s your case feel free to call it yours as well. :)

Enjoy, see ya!

Both Emotional AND Compelling.

Hi there, how are you all doing?

This week while studying soundtrack crafts I noticed an interesting way to trigger a particular situation within a soundscape project: how to make something sound emotional without being necessarily quiet/introspective.

There are situations in life (or movies, or games for that matter) when you must push things forward even in a moment of sadness because there may be no time for the wounds to heal before acting. Here the soundtrack can be particularly helpfuf to keep the protagonist running despite the tears in their eyes…

My tip would be: in one hand, get a slow (I mean, with long notes), emotional (preferably minor) melody (choosing the right timbre would do miracles here too); in the other hand get a nice rhythmic cell to keep the wheels running.

Just got two wonderful examples on the matter. One is from the awesome theme for Blade Runner movie by Vangelis, where we got a strings synth doing the melodics while a synth bass coupled with the timpani keep the rhythm tight:

The same way we have one track from the huge library of Okami–a Capcom’s game released for PS and Wii. Here traditional percussion lay below wind instruments aiming for the heart:

I hope you like this, see ya next Monday!

You Can’t Get More Brazillian Than This: Pandeiro!

Hi there folks, how are you doing?

Just like I did a couple weeks ago with an alfaia I’m here to share another stereo recording of a percussion instrument: a pandeiro!

Pandeiro!

Despite being world-wide recognized as a samba instrument the pandeiro has been used in several cultural manifestations here in Brazil since it was brought by the Portuguese in its earlier forms.

With the alfaia–which was a bimembranophone percusion instrument–we got some unpredictable harmonics and a somewhat delayed natural reverb; now here we have a more compact, solid sound nevertheless having a nice mixing option when it comes to equalization.

In that former recording I posted a flat sample. With this one I decided to equalize it before making it available… So I could make it sound more “understandable” for people who doesn’t have a sound edition tool or something.

Enjoy it. Have a nice week!

More On Percussion and More On Arab Music

Hi there folks, how are you doing? A little late again but my Sunday was a tough nut to crack, I must tell you. -.-

Here I am messing around with curious percussion instruments again… And flirting with arab music (which I absoulutely love) once more. :P But actually this one isn’t a real musical instrument… It’s a dancing instrument–if I can put it that way… lol

Talking ’bout the Zill! (or Sagat, or Snuj as some call it here in Brazil I’m not sure why) The Zill consists of a pair of finger cymbals used in belly dance performances. Here’s a pic:

Tiny finger cymbals... The Zill.

Despite being small if well-crafted they can produce both sparky rhythmic sounds and a nice, clear, long-lasting tune–and in an impressive loudness level too. Here you can take a listen to a sample recording I did when I had the opportunity to place my hands over such beauties. :P

That’s it for now, have an awesome week! :)

Recording Percussion Instruments

Hi there guys and girls, how are you doing?

Today we were doing a recording session on the first “single-like-something” of our musical project and as the time for capturing an unique percussion instrument came by I was struck by an idea… To make something a little different.

But let’s make things a little clearer here. :P

That unique instrument I was talking about is an alfaia, a big Brazillian folk drum with a particular deep, low sound. I must tell you it’s capable of filling both rooms and souls all around alike. (Here you can see how it looks like:)

That's an alfaia. It's big, loud... And heavy. :P

Well, how can you even begin to get such a feeling into a recording? We did an experiment today and I’m very happy with the results…

We decided to place an extra mic for that recording. Aside the regular top mic (for getting the main “dry” kicking sound) we’ve got another one at its bottom as well. The result is a nice, warmer sound, a mix of the clearer drumstick pattern plus a monster natural reverb, somewhat detuned and full of unpredictable harmonics.

Take a listen to the top side (R), the bottom side (L) and both mixed together. Beautiful and alive–and that’s a flat recording, we can still get much more by equalizing it.

See ya, have a nice week!