Yo, Golden O.

Good to hear from you again and sorry for the slow reply. No idea why the track still doesn't play for you. So, just for you, I've uploaded it to my Soundcloud page:

https://soundcloud.com/endlessrotary/valvedriven

Post any further thoughts back here and I hope you enjoy the bits that were missing for you. I like to think they're worth hearing. But, hey, I'm a bit biased!

I only extended the last part by around 11 seconds after Valvedriver himself pointed out it could be quite a bit longer. 11 more secs/8 bars or whatever seemed to feel right and I also tidied up a few other areas.

I am indeed from the future, however that's not go anything to do with writing UK day/month/year dates. I think I've finally worked out the logic of why Americans write it month/day/year.

I've got a new upload with some heavyish stuff in it (Questions Screaming For Answers) though not as heavy as this one. I'm also working on a jazz metal track, which is probably going to be quite strange. Definitely quite a challenge. Someone's got to successfully merge those two genres and the psychedelic musical gods have chosen me for the task.

All the best to you.

Yo, FourFatCats.

Sorry about the laptop destruction but I did warn you. Desktop is safer as you can put it away under the desk. Which I guess would make it a deskbottom, right?

Yes, I know what you mean about the track appearing to slow down. However, a boring technical point is that almost all of my tracks are fixed tempo on the sequencer throughout but I do all sorts of different stuff with the drums to make things appear slow or faster. I often double the tempo and go into swing jazz or d'n'b or double kick metal as most of my tempos are 80-100 so quite slow. This track is also fixed tempo, which i think is 100bpm.

Anyway, I like the more spacious dark chill in here and it was trying out using the choir instrument that drove the completion of the track. It also reminded me of a certain Valvedriving gentleman so that's why I've dedicated it to him. It wasn't consciously influenced by him but it just reminded me of his vibe so the dedication is appropriate. And it's a good title so I think it works out well for everyone.

Glad you liked it. Another heavy one coming very soon though this one incorporates drum 'n' bass and isn't dedicated to Valvedriver.

Cool, man. Don't know how you found this one because I haven't had it featured for a while. But you did so thanks for listening.

I try hard not to disappoint - mostly myself but I feel that if I can manage that, I'll probably eventually come up with something that other people can also enjoy.

Word up, DI.

Good to hear you like this heavier trip from me. Hey, I still managed to get some good chilling in there.

Yes, 1:17 to 4:10 is the chill middle most reminiscent of Valvedriver. Basically, it was the addition of the choir vocals that made me think of his stuff. They were also the big catalyst for working out where to take this track and how make it go heavy again so I just had to dedicate it to him.

Oh sure - someone could add vocals to this. Though they'd have to be good! But, as always, I try hard to make my instrumentals sound great without vocals. I decided a long time ago that I didn't want people to say "Yeah, sounds good but could do with some vocals".

I've kind of failed if you're wishing for something else to be there. Track needs to work as it is though I guess you're saying "Vocals would be nice" rather than saying it's desperately lacking them.

Yes, after 4:10 it goes crazy and doesn't really let up until the end. While chillout grooving is my main thing, I'd say I'm also quite good at mental crazy heavy where everything goes wild. Done that in loads of tracks though they're not all metal.

Thanks again.

Dark greetings from deep inside the Valveland borders.

I hope this FreeRadical was Radically Brutalised/Brutally Radicalised by this beast of a track. In a musical terror training camp somewhere in the Afghan mountains.

Glad you thought it had everything. It had more as there was a funky guitar section in the choir chillout middle that I removed. It was cool when I listened back to it on its own as a loop but it didn't fit the flow of the track so it had to go.

For all the mass of stuff I cram in my tracks, I do actually leave quite a few things out. The flow is way more important than adding more and more just because I can. Hey, I'd never finish anything if I didn't draw the line somewhere!

I do like to do some heavier, darker stuff when I can get it to sit right though chill groove is more my natural musical home. No surprise I got some of that in too. I think I probably do in every track. Not matter how heavy shit gets, there's always room for some chill. Sometimes just so you can build back up to more face melting stuff.
I'm not sure which bit you mean by "harmonic bass" as there's a lot of bass work in this.

Maybe the slap bass note at 1:39? Or the bass screech at 0:09 or the undistorted version at 1:25.?

"you've really hit the ball out of the park with this one!!"

Thanks. I like to think I valvedrove it right out of the volcano.

"flows effortlessly from part to part."

Only through loads of hard work (lots of effort and head scratching) and it works better in some tracks than others.

"don't know how you come up with all these ideas"

I do and I don't. Guess I gotta run out sometime, right? But I've also got to hold some stuff back for music making when I'm an old man. Better take up some new instruments before then. Maybe newly invented ones.

Thanks again.

Take care.

Yo. Thanks for the high praise.

Slash and Hetfield are definitely better than me but then I'm no professional and don't really play live so don't get the practice in. I also do a hell of a lot of cheating with my playing through edits of the best bits so I assure you I'm not this good in a live situation.

I find it hard to do perfect runs and takes but, with editing, I can make it sound like that's what I actually played all in one go.

"guitar work at 1:40". I think you must mean 0:40 as that's where the guitar first enters. Pretty simple playing there though a bit more complex for end of bar fills.

I use wah here and there though often as a tone control rather than all-out wah. I have mixed feelings about it and it does need to be used carefully. But it's on quite a few guitar parts in this, especially your favourite Slash section.

Choirs in the background? I thought I made them more foreground as I really like their melodies so I'm not trying to use them as backing elements to add depth but more like as lead singers. They definitely do make it all more epic and their inclusion was the catalyst for driving the track forward and taking it into the epic territory I knew it must go into.

Guitar at 4:58 is the shortish harmonic wah funk section. That's just me doing a harmonic chord across just a few frets (no fretting of the actual strings) in my regular slide blues DADFshrpAD tuning and then strumming funkily away whilst operating the wah. And then editing all the best bits together. That's the funk to go along with all the metal and chillout stuff.

Good to hear what was your favourite section - that always interests me as I sort of have my own though I try hard to make every bit as a good as every other (very difficult).

No, I certainly don't have tabs to this as I don't write them (or sheet music). No one's ever asked for that but it's cool that you do as it shows additional interest. If you really want, I can just tell you how to play some sections (ie some of the main notes involved) as that should be enough to jam along.

Thanks again for the interest and let me know if you want to know how to play some sections.

Word up, Texan metal bro.

Yeah, you've missed a bunch of my tracks in the last couple of months though I did slow down quite a bit for a while and had something like 6 weeks inbetween uploading sometime around October/November.

"F'n total kick ass shit"

That's what I aim for. Unless it's a chillout track. F'n total gently caressed ass shit, perhaps? Or maybe not.

I will now have to check out One foot Out The Door. Hope it doesn't sound too much like my intro. That would disappoint me. Don't actually listen to Van Halen at all. Never listened to a whole album.

" once you hit the drop its undoubtedly StaticNomad"

Yeah, then I'm in my chillout groove comfort zone - comes much more natually to me than heavy shit.

"5:00 which you really packed full of some tasty psychedelic guitar"

General consensus seems to be 5:17 is where it gets proper tasty. Harmonic wah stuff before is, sadly, only OK. Thought it would be much better.

"hoping you would revert back to that opening groove to end it"

Yeah, I thought many times about how I was going to return to it (and its triplet metal grooves) but it never seemed necessary. One problem is that I like to do something considerably different/enhanced when I bring a section back. Problem is that I'd kind of already covered everything in the first 1:20, which I see as a short masterpiece. Maybe it still would have been cool to bring it back in pretty much the same form again.

Maybe I will try making that happen as I'm still playing around with extending this and I've just this second had an idea as to how I might bring the intro back. Quite short track for me, eh?

"guess we all agree there isn't enough metal on here"

Yeah, it's not MetalMan or LooperShred or whatever.

I was confident you'd dig this and it seems you dug the shit out of it. Good digging.

Greetings Mr Extratesticle,

You haven't been around for a while (as you, obviously, know).

Yes, some nice heaviness here though I try to always make it quite clean and controlled. And melodic.

My drum setup is a combination of Superior Drummer, loads of loops and some other hypersampled acoustic kits I still use in reason that are inferior to the various Superior and EZ kits. I only have a few Superior expansion packs (kits) but I have nearly all of the EZ Drummer ones, which Superior also plays.

The main heavy one used here is the Metalheads EZ kit. While being great for metal, it's surprisingly versatile and I've used it in chillout tracks and even jazz. I use lots of drum loops in my stuff though generally mixed in with the programmed kits. But here there are no drum loops so I guess it kind of all sounds like a hard rock drummer. At times with more than four limbs.

1:18 drop is awesome and, as the guitar part ends, is simply me turning off the distortion on the weird bassline, which is the intro to the track. Yes - very dynamic and unexpected. Then I'm in my much more comfortable chillout home and can groove more easily on guitar etc.

"choir pad"

I guess you mean the multiple choir voices? They're a bit more than just a regular choir pad and play quite a few different melodies based on different vowels here.

"4:10 Also like this riff, has a cool vibe which ties on nicely from the last part."

Yes, I vary that main synth bass quite a bit after it enters the track in the second minute. Then it plays right to the end, including throughout the end heavy sections. Even when there's distorted bass guitar on top. Very fat bass sound that I've used in loads of tracks.

"some kinda pearl jam-esque vibe"

That's a real surprise to me! I'm a big fan of their early stuff albums Ten and Vs. However, I gave up on them in about 1997 and haven't heard anything probably for 15 years. Maybe the big riff on 5:17 makes you think of them. Not sure. I wasn't aware they had anything this heavy but feel free to suggest anything (album or song) I may have missed over the years.

Thanks again...

Yo, slow reply cos I was extending the final concrete face-smearing section by an extra 8 bars (11 seconds). 'Twas indeed too short. Hope the extra makes a small difference. Adding even more just didn't seem right.

Yes, I had the first few mins mostly done and the bass riff on 5:50 but was flailing about in chill grooving not knowing how to really take it heavy again. Those female vocals provided the additional far out vibe I was looking for. Couldn't stop thinking about your music as I was working on them. Crossing in to Valveland has that effect.

I didn't do a single thing to actively sound like your music and it's also significantly different but has some things nicely in common.

Drop on 1:17 is a fave surprise bit of mine. Big dynamics there as the distortion gets turned off the weird bass riffs and the drums come right down.

2:15 bit of evil first guitar note, eh? Just following the synth bass riff notes.

3:04 first (high) choir note is one of my faves.

3:50 not sure how the drums "slow to a crawl". That's where I layer in another kit to make things heavier to build shit up. I think it's got some attitude.

4:10 epic heavy chanting!

5:17 was actually played by my balls. But as they're not very good guitarists (no fingers!) I had to make some key edits to make things even cooler.

6:10 breakdown. Yes - I'm really happy with the drum build 5:50-6:29. Had to as it's the same bass riff over the top.

6:15 return of a previous vocal though now heavily effected.

Not sure it's that different from my usual stuff but then I like to think every track I do is markedly different from my others though still has lots in common with them.

So, have you started work yet on your track dedicated to me? The Electric Bromad? Static Valve? Make sure to get some funky banjo and slide resonator in there plus some big drum variations.

Glad you liked it as I can't imagine I'll do another in your honour. This is probably it forever. Just as well it ain't shit.

Your forum game sounds like a good one and I will write that up and post it soon.

My valves can't be driven anymore as I broke them all making this so it's back to chillout grooving instead. Send me some others from your extensive collection if you have time.

Yo.

Yes, The Valve seems happy with this one.

I consider the first heavy section, till 1:17, a short masterpiece and would be happy to have it as a standalone track. Take note of there being no guitar before 0:40. That's all just synth bass and bass guitar through distortion. So, the squeals you hear eg 0:08 are synth bass.

To hear the same squeal undistorted, go to 1:25. 1:17-1:36 is the same 40 secs of bass and guitar though I also add in some slap bass notes (second is heavily delayed) and then the synth basses arrive. I'm very pleased at using the same weird, cutup synth bass and bass g bassline both heavy and clean.

Yes, I expected you to like the choir voices and appreciate some of their dissonance. Lots of beauty there too.

"then a skiffle"

No idea what that is. Surely not like the musical genre known as skiffle.

"I am equally impressed with the pounding drums"

Indeed. Fully valve driven with multiple huge pistons pumping at a furious rate. Large machinery with even larger balls. Testicle factory.

5:50 is my bass synth riff. Cam up with it on guitar but laid it down first on keys. Proper dark, menacing metal riff.

"cool stereo guitar scratches in the background"

No, no guitar in the background. From 6:16 for a while you can hear a heavily effected version of any earlier choir vocal brought back in. I struggled to get the choir ladies to return in the heavy sections so there are only small touches. The 6:16 fading in one builds things nicely before we get the big riff kick in on 6:28.

Note the build of the drums in that breakdown section - really pleased with that movement.

I've now uploaded a slightly lengthened and improved version so check that out.

Yes, fairly abrupt ending (improved slightly now). Had loads of ideas for endings but they didn't really work and I didn't want to make this too much longer so abrupt it is, with menacing decay from the cymbals as they fade out.

When will you make a track dedicated to me? Maybe call it The Electric Crumad. StaticCru? You can put in one reverse cymbal but no more.

Metallic greetings, Golden O.

Good to hear you're grooving to my unusual metal. This is one of my shorter tracks though I have quite few under 8 mins and I'm trying to make even more. This one may actually be a bit too short so I'm considering adding a proepr ending to tie things up as this abrupt one isn't very good.

"beyond hardcore" will do as praise for me.

Yes, that intro should get you roughly grooving away. It does every time for me. Until the guitar enters on 0:39, it's just a distorted sample cutup mix of bits of synth bass and bass guitar (samples of my own playing, no one eles's).

At 1:17, it drops down into weird chilling but the bassline you heard for the first 40 secs is pretty much exactly the same, just without the distortion.

"that low bass or guitar (forgive my ignorance)"

Your (non-) ignorance is forgiven. I don't really know how many people will be able to tell that the new low riffs are the same as previously heard, just undistorted. Perhaps not many - I can't say. I think taking the distortion off is a fun way of revealing what's already been playing.

Yes, around 2:15 my regular sort of electric blues playing comes in, initially just following that simple 3 note bassline. Then I run around the neck quite a bit as just following those three compelling notes would not be sufficiently interesting. I mix things up by adding another fizzier sort of synth bass. Later on, I'm adjusting the filtering on the synth basses to add variety and make things more intense in the heavier sections.

Yes, I love the female choir stuff and it was a huge boost to this track and what spurred me on to complete it after being stuck for months with the first few minutes. The vibe created by those ladies is really quite far out stuff.

"at 4:10, it takes off, as if madness consumed the track"

Yes, heavier drum beats there and massive synth bass and now those ladies are sounding quite epic. Really stirs me every time I hear it.

Sorry about the weird previous waveform glitch business. I can't explain it. I reuploaded a different version of the MP3 but that did nothing (still that big blank chunk in the middle) but now it seems to have fixed itself. Weird.

Not to worry - you should now be able to listen to the rest and see the complete waveform.

"No shit bits at all, my friend"

I don't really think there are any shit bits in this. That's just my shorthand, fun way of asking if any sections could be better. Some sections definitely could though whether or not I'll manage to achieve that remains to be seen.

Any other thoughts, let me know.

Until then, thanks for listening and appreciating something that I guess must be a bit different for you. Also a little different for me to make.

Take care

Greetings, Mr Vulvadriver.

Nice track broing whilst dodging red hot slabs of steel is, like, totally rock 'n' roll. Extreme track reviewing. Living life on the edge there.

I sometimes do reviews whilst swimming with sharks. Only got a few scratches so far.

Turns out hammerheads like hip hop. Who would have guessed?

I look forward to your additional words when your face has cooled down a bit and those valves have been (over) driven as much as they need to be. Hell, someone's gotta do it...

Damn, with useful critiques like that, you should become my full-time live-in producer or something.

If your idea really is that I throw away everything in the track apart from only 40 seconds, I can confidently say that won't be happening.

And what the hell is "the tonal rest"?

That has no real meaning to me.

Yes.

That's Spivkurl's weird track title.

mn straight I be drivin dem valves. Gave them steel bitches a heavy pounding. A certain guy who works in a steel yard will have to find the time to replace them. But he's got valves of every description so no problem.

Shame you didn't enjoy all of it. I like it from the off but guess first riffs are too weird for you. First 40 secs are synth bass and bass g bits chopped up and reordered, then distorted. They were leftovers from Opioid. I never played the parts like that but it seemed to groove with those triplet drums.

Much quieter drop around 1:17 is almost exactly the same thing, without distortion. I like to show how the same thing can be cool both heavy and chilled. Or not cool either way if you find it too weird.

"Doesn't seem to be in time" Bass riffage is a real sample cut up job. I accept it has a weird fee. Was the foundation of the whole track so greatly inspired me.

Yeah, some weird squeaks n stuff though that's synth bass. No wah.

0:39 enjoyable shred pretty easy to play though there is also an interesting tonal effect that gets added after a while. Plus short widdly solo leading into big chill drop weirdness.

I'd expect you to be less into chill middle but like idea of "a whole cloud-full of angels who used to be hard partiers." Guess they're evil angels. Quite a few different melodies sung by those ladies. Obviously me playing them in off the keys. No pitchforks used to get actual ladies to sing evil melodies.

And then back to new badass though first just with synth megabass, drums and ladies, no guit until funky wah harmonics around 5 mins.

What is "plain snear music"? Sneering? Typo?

I was hoping to inflict some anal destruction upon thee with this one. I fired up the Anal Obliteration guitar distortion preset as well as the Colonic Explosion mastering preset.

5:17 I see as the"ultra-heavy funk". A simple riff partly embellished by chopping out a few notes of guit playing from elsewhere (eg from the very end section, just as well both use the exact same guitar tone) and thus making my playing sound cooler than it really is. I am a good guitarist but also a massive editing cheat!

This was so nearly called This Mean Motor Scooter in tribute to you.* But I got thinking of Mr Driver once those evil ladies arrived and I found myself having crossed over the Valveland borders. The border is actually open (no immigration control) though they don't get huge immigration numbers because it's a dark, foreboding place not suited to everyone's tastes. A bit like this track.

Yes, Mr Driver drives his valves in a more industrial fashion. Mine is more hard rocking band based, with actual guit fiddlin'. Shame I didn't stick any banj in here but I can't find my microphone since moving into the shed so can't record it.

Good luck repairing your exit hole.

*Will have to do Evismaed, Quivering Cunt Muscle or another interesting phrase as a tribute to you.

Hey there. I wondered what you might think of this one as it's definitely not the kind of thing you're into.

I figured that the more chilled out middle section would be your favourite.

I really hope there isn't so much distortion going on that you can't recognise parts. Maybe it seems that way because you don't listen to much (any?) heavy music. I do listen to lots of it so my ears are very familiar with it (and much heavier sounds than I'm using here).

I try to keep my distortion carefully controlled so that things remain reasonably clear, melodic and with a good groove at all times.

"It seems like it is too much for me at once."

Maybe it will make more sense if you listen again. But no problem if it doesn't - you can't like everything, even if you appreciate the detailed work going on (same as in all my tracks).

"mystical metal?"

Yes - I think the choir voices add the mystical element though you don't hear them much in the heavier actual metal sections. I wanted to get them playing more over the heavy stuff but it didn't quite work out so the guitar and bass took over. Maybe I'll achieve this some other time in another track.

Thanks again.

Damn, I already wrote you a good, long reply but seem to have forgotten to post it and now I've lost it. Got to type it all again.

Yes, bad boy guitar riffage at 0:40. Quite simple 2/3 chord thing though some of the fills at the end of the bars are a bit more difficult.

1:17 the weird stuff you're hearing is almost exactly the same as the first 40 seconds. It's a cutup mixture of synth bass and bass guitar. Except, for the drop down into the quieter stuff, the distortion has been removed. I'm very pleased that it works both quiet and heavy. Not sure how many people would recognise that they're the same thing.

Yes, guitar entering around 2:14 is more my regular sort of blues grooving. I'm much more comfortable doing chillout blues grooving than metal riffs.

Choir voices are maybe the standout interesting element in this and make it much more than your average metal instrumental.

3:55 rhythm change? I think you mean 3:50. There I'm just adding the fatter metal kit on top of the kit that you've heard in most of the chillout middle section. All part of fattening things up so that we can ease into some proper heavy shit.

4:14 not sure what's happening there that you don't like. Maybe you mean the very low choir voice on 4:17.

Yes, killer riffage at 5:17 - seems to be a popular section with people. Good playing but made better with some little edit cheats that make it much more interesting and groovy.

3 min track of that sort of playing is possible but I think you'd need vocals to stop it getting boring.

6:15 interesting sound is one of the previous choir vocals run through some interesting rhythmic effects. So, sort of like breathing.

No tapping at 6:48 - just hammering-on (trills). Really easy to play. I'd quite like to do fast tapping but I can't seem to manage it. I only do tapping occasionally in tracks and it's not really the fast metal type.

See 1:07 part in this recently uploaded track for some groovy guitar tapping.

Searching For Things That Don't Exist

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/162692

Thanks again for the standing ovation for one of my heaviest ever tracks. Might even be first track on my heavy music album.