Random Acts Of Human Kindness - StaticNomad

Hello.

This track was going to be the first 4 mins of a much longer deep shuffle blues epic. But I changed my mind and decided it would be better to keep this as a short track and then use the other material I had already composed for the other epic track.

Together they would probably be about 15 mins and I'm trying hard these days to do some shorter tracks (but I find it difficult). Here is the longer one, which is also a deep exploration of chillout shuffle blues (but it gets much more rocking than RAOHK):

There Goes Gravity http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/156081.

I think the bass in RAOHK is probably best during the solo (from 1:57).

"I like also intro and the vintage synths"

I don't know if that pad intro synth is vintage but someone else said the same so I guess it is. I use it for the intro of another track I'm still working on.

"Very interesting guitar soloing - lots of little motifs played but very expressive"

Yes - my actual live playing is not as good as you hear. I carefully edit and join together the best bits of guitar solo jamming so try to find all the best little motifs and join them together in a fluent, expressive way. This is probably my best chillout guitar solo. 3:02-3:14 is my favourite section.

"structure of this composition, I mean there's no really versus/chorus"

Yes, it is strange - like many of my tracks. There are a couple of minutes of moving around different riffs and sounds and then it's a 2 min solo (so, half of the track) and then the end. No verse or chorus or bridge or middle 8 but not just a blues jam.

"a resonance of the sitar over guitar"

Yes, I think it's very unusual. Never heard anyone try that with blues before. Not much sitar in blues music! Now check out the sitar and tambura in There Goes Gravity. Lots more guitar riffs and soloing in that track.

Thanks for your very accurate and detailed review.

Hi. I’m fine, thanks. Good to hear from you.

“I like that all the tracks listed play together kind of like a movies OST.”

Damn – that sounds like you actually listened to a load of them in one go!

“your style has grown onto the listener”

You know I don’t exactly make pop music. I’ve always felt that my sort of lengthy, complex stuff needs to be listened to a good few times so that people can some sense of what’s going on and how it all fits together. It’s not really suitable music for people just browsing on Looperman expecting to hear a nice, simple short catchy tune. This is the shortest track I’ve ever uploaded.

People really do need to own my stuff to get into it properly (sorry that’s not possible just yet). I’m not writing one album but about 8! I just keep putting off releasing even one as I don’t yet have the artwork though tracks for the first two albums are pretty much done. Though I do always worry about mastering as I’m no expert and want my stuff to be as good as possible.

I’ve had strong interest from a few people on the site about me releasing/selling some of my stuff so must get round to it sometime.

This one was going to be a 15 min track but I chose to turn the extension into its own 11 min track and leave this one as it is. Here’s the extension, which I’m pretty happy with:

There Goes Gravity http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/156081.

In RAOHK, I’m particularly happy with the second half guitar solo. One of my most melodic and best constructed. I do also particularly like the strings early on. You’ll hear the same string part at different ponts in There Goes Gravity. And the same shuffle drums, though they get heavier and more insistent and also seem to get faster (though it’s all at the same tempo, as with almost all my tracks).

Thanks for your thoughts.

Yo. I changed my mind on this one and am fairly sure I'm going to leave just as it is. What it could/would/should/still might become is my latest upload called There Goes Gravity http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/156081.

That's all the extended stuff that I already mostly had when I uploaded this (which was just an experiment to see how I felt abut this short length).

I'm trying all the time to not do such gargantuan tracks as I do listen to people's whinges about the great length. But I must also always bear in mind that some of these complaints probably come from people not at all into lengthy, far out music so I must not change and deviate from what feels right just for them. It's really hard to know, isn't it?

Maybe a little like someone always reviewing your stuff telling you to be less weird and make your music sound more like Coldplay or someone.

Yes, the guitar tone during the solo seems pretty perfect. And the sitar touches are pretty unusual but also kind of subtle. I can think of no other blues track with a guitar solo and sitar underneath.

Yes, the chillout drums drive the whole piece and totally inspire most of the instrument playing.

You get gardening but don't forget There Goes Gravity. You may enjoy that even more as it gets really psychedelic towards the end. And it's got more sitar and tambura stuff in it.

Thanks very much for the neatly expressed high praise. Unsurprisingly, I can't really fault it.

The refining touches are what I do on a constant basis and they sort of become the track. So, you start with a good riff and then keep adding extra touches and fills and layered riffs and spot effects and so on. And then those extra details end up becoming just as important and distinctive as the main riffs and parts.

I love all that detail and I hope it's the kind of thing of thing that makes my music stand out from various other instrumental tracks that perhaps drag a bit in some sections or don't really go anywhere after a while.

I'm a bit bored of working on this track but it's now up to over 14 mins long so I'll upload it fairly soon. Well, as much as I can fit on here (so, probably about 10:50).

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Hello again.

Yes, all that "other stuff that is enjoyable to listen to" is already added in. I'm just trying to finish up the big electric voodoo psychedelic rock ending and then it should be done.

Some of the other stuff is more sitar and drones and also some funky vocoded guitar.

I'm with you on this being good as a short track but it's also good to hear what it turns into. It's tempting to have a short and very long version but I guess I'll probably just put the long version on my blues album when it's done.

Yes, heavy layering whilst also leaving space is mostly a matter of listening closely and trying to sculpt and remove things that interfere with the beat or any particularly good notes or parts.

Also important is making sure that when you're adding other layers and playing them in that you try to play mostly inbetween the layers you already have. If you do play over the top of another part, maybe make the new playing long, simple notes so that there's not too much of a clash. Or short ones that don't prevent you hearing the actual tune of another part.

Difficult thing for me to explain!

This isn't that heavily layered a track for me. I feel I have to layer things so that it's not just a simple, instrumental tune that sounds like it should have vocals.

Thanks for stopping by...

Hi. Yeah, maybe a little like those Floyd chaps and I can see why you say that.

Not sure if they ever really did any lazy shuffle grooves (probably) but they did, famously, do some awesome 7/8 in Money. That's a damn clever piece of music.

I don't think they ever really featured strings as in this one but I could be wrong there (not that it matters too much).

I'm a big fan though they're only one of thousands of influences. But their finest stuff really is about as creative and original as rock music gets.

I'm also not sure if they ever really did any blues epics, which is what the full version of this certainly is.

I'm trying hard not to make it too boring as it features a hell of a lot of guitar playing, as with quite a few of my tracks. And it's all either shuffle or lazy triplet drum feel.

Maybe it'll be ready in a week or so.

Thanks for checking in.

Ah, cool. I get it. I wondered if you'd maybe blacked out for a couple of days. Perhaps lost your memory and been found almost naked in the grocery store. If you've seen Breaking Bad (well known TV show), that's the main character's way of getting out of being missing for a weekend cooking meth out in the desert. It's his excuse to his wife and it works. Who would want to believe anyone would make such a thing up?

I'd like to come back to great pieces of music I know well and hear them again seemingly for the first time. Maybe in old age, with severe memory loss. Something unusual to hope for, no?

I'm a bit biased but if I were reviewing my tracks I'd find it a bit bewildering and I might sometimes need 5-10 entries of 3,000 characters if I really wanted to describe all the little bits. Though I guess there's only so much you can say about liking another riff or drum fill and maybe it's boring and even more unnecessary to even attempt to describe all of it.

Thanks again as I always look forward to your reviews. Though not the Latin spam. I wish Maffin would review more of my tracks as he did one of the best I've read on this site on my Low Key Love track. Genuinely interesting reading, as you probably remember.

Just one more reply to you to go!

Sorry for the slow reply. I wanted to make it a good one.

I do try to be in my own league and always do something that feels like it was made by me and no one else. I think that's mainly why almost the only samples I ever use are drum loops (and hits). They almost don't count, if you know what I mean.

If I play and/or program all the riffs and parts I just have better control over them and can make them do a lot more and change them as necessary and feel like they're mine even though I use some fairly standard hardware and software.

I guess it is quite smooth.

There's a lot more guitar playing to come in this one. I'm just struggling with the end mega guitar solo right now. The track's up to 14 mins so I really hope it doesn't feel too long or self indulgent or boring.

I try to play guitar with both close control (of the timing and the bend I put on each string) and also some slapdash laziness to give it some character and make it a little messy and sort of free flowing at times. I often don't get it right.

Fortunately, detailed audio editing eventually fixes most of that!

"your ever expanding productions"

Yes, I have so many. Some I can hardly even remember and many I can't remember all the sections in them even if I try hard.

I really hope I don't run out of ideas and do the same repetitive stuff I've done before in 10, 20, 30, 40 years' time.

Must keep innovating, getting new sounds, learning new instruments etc in order to prevent that from happening.

Thanks for the appreciation.

I still haven't listened to any more Ry Cooder since we last spoke about him and your comparisons of my playing with his.

I'm a bit in love with those strings and you can hear their compositional origin if you check the cinematic track in this track's description. I'm currently still using them a little in another unfinished track so probably need to fix that as I don't want three (quite different) tracks to feature pretty much the same string part. Otherwise I'll need to start paying myself royalties for all the samples I steal from my other work!

I thought you might particularly like the sitar bits during the second half guitar solo. Not sure if you like sitar - just guessing you do because of your love of bhangra. Not sure there is much sitar in bhangra. Probably but I wouldn't know.

Much more sitar and tambura and filtered, swirling droney sitar stuff in the full length version of this that I'm still working on.

2:45 transition is big sitar note backing up the big, bent guitar note.

Thanks for the words.

Yes - I'm playing all these instruments. See my track description eg "features one of my best electric guitar solos". Doesn't that indicate that I'm playing it?

Or you could read the longish answers I've already given that talk about my playing here and even the named instruments that I'm using (eg model of guitar).

Some good detail in your review, as normal. Yes, amazingly short for me. This has got a lot of comments for the number of plays. It was at something like 10 comments for 30 plays - the best ratio I've ever had.

First bass you hear in this at 0:20 is synth bass. Then at 0:40 it's my processed guitar thing that I do a lot of.

1:19 it moves to bass guitar. I will try to explain the uneasiness and dissonance. This track is made on the same DAW timeline as a whole bunch of other tracks. I took some bass from another track and stuck it in there at 1:19. But that bass playing is not playing to a shuffle groove so it shouldn't really be in time. But it works OK.

Depp synth notes you mention are that synth bass again, just with a cutoff filter sweep applied to make it sound more like a synth than a bass.

I know what you mean about the slightly nasal guitar solo parts and that's an interesting word to choose. Lots of beauty but also a slightly strange feel. Yes, a bit like Gilmour and probably also like thousands of other guitarists. I don't try to sound like anyone else and don't try not to sound like anyone. Musically, I don't really know what I'm doing - I just play as I feel along with the music, always trying to do interesting things with a lot of soul and passion and groove.

You totally understood what I was doing with the sitar. That instrument is sitting on the timeline (as it features in other tracks) so I thought I'd try augmenting the guitar solo in a few places. No my intention to turn the track into an eastern/Indian thing and I don't think I did. Unusual to have sitar under a guitar solo unless you're making it a full-on Indian track.

Yes "good friends" is an accurate way of putting it.

3:08-3:10 is the best part of the solo.

Lots more to come from this one. Ending works OK here but that end fades perfectly into the start of the second half of the track and the continuation of the shuffle blues odyssey you will get to hear sometime soon.

Good to hear from you.

You win 10 bitcoins for your review:

()()()()()()()()()()

Thanks.

My production style is mostly inspired by baby's bottoms.

They inspire me to make the mix as smooth as possible.

Glad you liked it though I certainly don't see it as weird. Maybe you mean 'unusual'.

I try to make every track I do unusual and distinctive as I don't work in any particular genre and don't want to.

It would have helped if you'd said a bit about why you found it weird. Maybe it was those little bits of sitar during the second half solo.

I see it as more beautiful than weird but you're free to hold any view you like of it.

Thanks again.

You will have to wait a little longer for an extended taste.

But it will taste so wonderful. You will have to invent new words just to describe the never-before-heard flavours in it.

I hope life is not too boring or painful for you while you wait.

Patience!

Hi. I agree that I don't need to extend the length and that it's fine as it is.

However, I already have loads of other sections and the transition right at the end of these four minutes into the main track is just great.

Yes, I could leave it like this and people would enjoy it (as they already seem to do).

But I tend o make long form music that really explores a number of musical themes and sounds. I've never done a proper shuffle blues track so this is it.

No, no chance of this becoming downloadable in the near future. I'm putting together a whole bunch of albums that will probably be released for free. This will be on the blues album.

I guess I'll have a Bandcamp page or similar with albums free to download.

Actually, the answer may be yes, possibly in the near future but not from this site.

I hope that answers your question.

Thanks for the interest.

Hi. Thanks for your thoughts.

The Indian elements are just the two types of sitar I have in here that can be heard during the guitar solo in the second half. They are sample-based instruments that I played in from the keyboard. I didn't try to make this an Indian track. I just like the sound of the sitar and I think it really adds something interesting to the guitar solo.

Yes, the drums are very relaxing and drive the whole piece. They make me play the guitar in a different way and you will hear a lot more cool blues rocking and soloing in the full version that I will upload when it's finished. I've never done a proper shuffle blues piece before so this is it!

The first bass sound you hear is synth (when the drums come in) and then after that it's a processed guitar part (as bass) when strings stop playing. Then after that it's all bass guitar with synth bass sometimes on top.

I started as a bass player when I was about 14 but have been mostly a guitarist for many years now. I was a much better bass player when I was about 17 and don't play it much anymore.

Glad you found this so beautiful. I think it's both interesting and relaxing.

Thanks for being a fan and for listening so many times.
I think the track being this long is good but I have many parts other parts that I have already composed but not yet finished.

So I will add those to it and you will get your wish for it to be longer.

Thanks for waiting patiently but I won't be making it available for download here. Not until it comes out on my blues album...

Hello. This one is right up your late night street. Damn, it's got a lot of comments for the number of plays. It was at something like 10 comments for 30 plays - the best ration I've ever had. Reminds me of your level of popularity on this site.

Maybe it's something to do with it being so much shorter than most of my other tracks. Perhaps commenting at all on something that's over 10 mins is just too daunting for most people. Or maybe they're awful tracks but this short one is great. Anyway, I don't make music for Looperman members, I just happen to post it here.

It's going to be a lot longer because I've already got a lot more recorded for it, just not yet finished. The drums stay at the same tempo but get busier and less sparse so appear to pick up pace. That kind of shuffle groove I find incredibly easy to play loads and loads of blues guitar on. I could go on for hours so am finding ways to give each section real character. And there's a hell of a bass riff driving it all plus my usual other range of sounds.

Late night in the city didn't come to mind when making this but I know what you mean. Morphine are the greatest group for that, not that they're even a blues group.Or jazz. Just their own unique genre.

I do like this one's legth and would be happy to leave it at this length. But the other stuff I have is irresistible and it'll be interesting to hear the range of guitar soloing though I think the best solo is in this version (after 2 mins). Noitce the sitar playing occasionally under those guitar solo notes.

The solo was one take of playing but then chopped up and reordered as not every bit of it was great. I was just noodling about so had no real structure. The careful editing has really given each section each progresses through some character. One of my best solos, especially as I'm not really a lead player or soloist.

Have a listen again when I post the extended epic version.

Greetings. Very laid back blues and first proper deep shuffle blues I've done.

Not really that many effects. Not sure if you mean on guitar. Mostly just delay, reverb, a little distortion - nothing unusual.

Not sure who Godfathers are. A band, I guess.

My bass is a Vintage 5-string (can't remember the model) though I rarely play it so I'm not very good anymore. Used to be much better in teen years when that's mostly all I played. Little practice these days means no stamina in left or right hand and picking fingers get blisters so easily.

But there's some nice bas guitar in this track.

Main guitar is still the first I ever bought (in 1996) and it's small and light and comfortable and cheap. It's the Epiphone Les Paul Special II (Vintage Sunburst). I also use a Variax but don't like it much and find it hard to play but it still pops up in my tracks.

Main resonator is the Ozark 3515bte and other one (that I don't like) is a Republic Resolian Steel Antique Brass.

You confused me by saying you enjoyed the resonator on here as there is none! The splashes you heard must be the sitar bits during the second half solo. Can't think what else you could mistake for resonator. I almost always say I track description if its in the track.

I do my best to feel the music and play to the groove rather than just widdle about all over the place. This is a wonderful groove for laidback playing and even more so in the later parts (that you haven't heard) when it appears to pick up pace and get more insistent.

I could do blues playing over this type of groove all day. Comes very naturally.

I hope you noticed that the drums are mostly just the EZ Americana kit. If not, you will now!

Good to hear you want to hear more. These 4 mins are really just an intro..

Thanks. I dig it too. An interesting blend of sounds is what I aim for with each and every track.

I feel I always have to get something slightly unusual in there so, with this one, it was an occasional touch of sitar during the guitar solo as well as the different strings in the first minute or so.

Yes, I like it this length but have some killer other stuff to get to that's already composed, just not yet finished.

The transition right where this track ends into the major bass riff is just great. I have seriously considered leaving this as this length but I cannot split up that great transition that no one has yet heard. I've only it for you lucky Loopermen, Looperladies and Looperhermaphrodites.

I would like to do some shorter stuff but I've never done a proper deep shuffle blues epic so this is it. And it needs to be long to get in all the ideas and the extensive guitar playing. Long form mega musical exploration is just what I do. It suits my far out style.

Yes, some nice melodic bass guitar in the background during the second half solo. First main bassline you hear (0:40) is actually guitar though my octave pedal - something I do a lot. Actually do it much more these days than playing my bass guitar (something I should change).

The rest will be uploaded over the top of this track.

Take care till then.

Thanks but I certainly can't say this is the best guitar solo ever. That would be one hell of a claim!

I'd have to really sit down, listen to a lot of music and think extremely hard to choose even my top 50 favourite guitar solos. There are just so many good ones, and of hugely differing lengths.

Three I would go for would be Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe and All Along The Watchtower solos and various solos from Creedence Clearwater Revival's amazing 11 minute version of Heard It Through The Grapevine. I'm sure David Gilmour and Jeff Beck would also feature in there somewhere. And some heavy bands and also old rock 'n' roll solos.

But this one is definitely one of my best ever guitar solos and I'm not really a lead guitarist. More of a textural groover and riff merchant than a lead guy.

Glad you liked it.