StaticNomad

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.

Word up. And now more words:

Yes, sleepytime intro and I then wake you up slowly by easing in some drums. Back to a groovy swing jazz dream sleep in a few mins though you've got to be fully awake for the crazy laser show later.

1:53 guit fiddle is grooving foundation of this track. Thought I'd use much more of it in the track but the spine tingling slide resonator took over and is just much deeper and more stirring.

Not sure I've ever heard Reba McEntire. Does her singing sound like high slide resonator playing? My kinda girl.

3:12 please note switch to bass g. Makes a huge difference.

"dramatically change the feeling of a song's movement through drums alone."

Yes, those drum changes change my playing, sounds, mood and so on. I'm only an adequate player without a good groove. Much more badass with one!

"an underwater sunset beach party full of tiny little happy creatures."

Images like that are partly the reason I like you reviewing my stuff. You have a great imagination and can be excellent with words. Happy creatures there might be contained within my slide playing, which is quite different from before (and later). Almost a bit too pretty. Not really blues playing, though can't say why. Perhaps cos it's over dream swing jazz.

Every good ambient slide trance dream swing jazz track needs a nice space ninja laser show ending. And thus I continue that ancient tradition. Unimaginative but it's what the genre and the paying public demand.

Space ninjas were tricky to record but I sent them up into orbit with the Gravity crew when they shot that Clooney-Bullock movie you might know (great visuals, poor/unnecessary characterisation and dialogue).

:"828 I get a whiff of the 80's."

Yes, maybe a bit 80s. That's quite a classic trance type of synth sound though I hope I use it in a slightly unconventional way (keeping the slide going behind it). Makes it more musical and organic than lots of predictable trance.

Interesting you point out synth bass problem at 9:03 as there were sometimes playback problems with that very line but I'm now not hearing it at all! But you must be right. Funny I can't now hear it.

"Take it sleazy."

Just how I've taken it, as well as a little bit wheezy, breezy, queasy and cheesy.

Yo.

Yes, intro was enjoyable and relaxing to make. It's a continuation of my only ever proper drumless track (Visible Aura) that I had to remove due to 50 track upload limit.

First organ-based granular synthesis sound was supposed to be a placeholder then I got so used to it I decided I like it a lot. The pads are the heavenly part of this.

Gentle drums at first before we get fatter and more badass. Simple but effective beat at 1:19.

"1:53 the sounds you normally make"

Yes, funky git riff 4U there. Three finger palm muted picked chords with different fills. Then my classic slide resonator stuff. It's become a real go-to sound and a major musical identity for me. I still don't know of anyone else using it across so many genres. Most major players mostly do it in country or blues. Some spine-tingling notes eg 4:09.

4:19 - no fuckin way - a Conscious Key Change! But still sliding about. Now introducing some beautiful keys. Two different synthstruments. One patch is called 'Water Piano' and can be heard in the first min of my track Into The Out There.

"really get lost in listening to this one"

I did and that's very much the idea. Heaven's a good place to get lost but at least you're never far from a honey mango.

Swing jazz section (5:16) is real dreamlike stuff, especially when slide returns at 5:38. Dream slide jazz.

"break @ 6:47 is epic and almost gospel like"

Same sound as the first notes of track. Just lower notes this time. Needed a break to join swing jazz with rest of it and I thought drumless section would be good.

"we have heard your talent so much we are starting to take fro granted"

I know what you mean and I sort of do too. I've done so much in my many tracks that sometimes I find it quite predictable how new tracks are going to go so I get a bit bored doing more and more lengthy far out stuff. Must branch out. Learning new instruments would help, as would working with vocalists. Actually working with other human being musicians is the utimate goal. Still have some unfinished female vocal work from a few years ago that you'll like.

"then the bass goes all fret-wire."

Don't know what that means. Bass in the fast trance stuff is same bassline from 3:12 until 9:02 when it kicks in to synth bass. Slide trance!

9:36 hands in the air drumless breakdown for slide trance clubbers and then the mad laser show. Everybody go mothafuckin crazy.

No idea how to end it so just went with dramatic stop and lingering strings. And short enough to fit on the site at 128K.

Thanks again for your high praise.

More neat pop singles from me coming very soon.

Thanks, man.

Congrats on doing the decent and proper thing and letting that intro ease you into the rest of the track.

As usual, as the minutes unfold, you know you're going to hear more and more stuff. I don't just repeat sections for the sake of it or just so I can make the track long. My tracks are long because there's so much interesting stuff to fit in. I could easily have stretched this one out to 15 mins.

"The title matches the song (well, up until 10 minutes through)"

Yes, the zappy laser show doesn't quite fit the heavenly vibe but it is a bit of fun and it does at least fit with the 170 BPM dance mood I've taken things into. Got to have a little bit of a rave in heaven, in amongst all the beautiful chilling and sitting around being fed honey mangoes.

"shit gets serious ten minutes through"

Once I start making things more powerful, I also look to make them even more powerful, deep and so on. If I'd go on for a while longer, I would have probably brought in some heard, heavy metal drumming and made things a lot heavier, maybe darker. More big, distorted guitar riffs. There's just a bit of distorted bass at the end, though I'm not quite sure it fits.

"the fact that you could fit that into a slow, calm song demonstrates your skills."

Thanks but it's just a matter of building up to it. Once things get properly grooving at 1:53, I've moved away from gentle, widescreen chill and into the world of the fat beat (a world I like). Though the widescreen chill does continue for a while behind the fat beats. Go to ease listeners smoothly into each change of vibe.

"in my opinion, this may be your best work"

You're more than welcome to that opinion. I feel have a good few better ones though it's hard to say as I like to think that every track I've ever done is unique and offers a good few things that no other track (that I've made) does.

I'd nominate this as a better track. Certainly a lot more badass.

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/155188

And this one that I made before you were even born (I think) is definitely better:

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/103956

Thanks again for your opinions. 'Tis appreciated.

Glad you dug 6:58 - 7:55 as it's sort of only there to bridge chillout swing jazz stuff to the fast trance blues in 2nd half. So, I return to the main lead slide resonator theme (from 3:12) but add a few new things eg some vocoded guitar parts (7:19).

Am feeling the hip hop a bit more in that section. A secondary hip hop kit plays the same thing as the acoustic drum kit in a lot of this track (starting at 1:53, as I fatten shit up).

"Each segment builds and builds"

I guess I tend to make a few tracks within each track. Stuff has to build as I like both chilling and hard rocking so must find a way to get things louder. Not so keen on big, awkward jumps. Unless it's specifically for that effect.

"The ending of this version is explosive, like that"

It's fun though I'm not sure it fits the rest of it. Maybe that's good as it's a surprise though I have loads of tracks that build into heavy explosive stuff so not a surprise if you're familiar with my work.

"Is this the slowest intro you have so far?"

Perhaps. Track is 85BPM throughout but intro notes I guess are half tempo so 42.5 though tempo is a funny thing. 85 BPM at double time from 7:54 = 170 BPM.

"Your slide guitar pieces are cool"

Thanks. I'm surprised at how much I can do with it. Done it over so many styles, not sure how many I'll end up doing by the end of my musical career (the Nomad death). It's become my go-to sound and main unusual musical skill. Power, groove and beauty all in one.

"imagination in your music is like magic in a sense, full of wonders."

It is me wondering all the time, thinking of far out stuff, trying to musically connect with things not of this earth. Dreamy escape into other worlds and places.

"Is that an ep your using in this section?"

Don't know what an "ep" is.

5:16-5:39 there are a couple of acoustic drum kits, synth bass, some string stuff, heavenly synths, pretty lead keyboard part also going through a filter swept EQ and reverb FX combo, a complementary keys part and that's it.

"what timing did you use for the drumming?"

Just a swing jazz pattern. I make great use of drumming MIDI files from Superior and EZ expansion packs. That's a real drummer doing that fine playing, though I've carefully edited and layered stuff. I probably couldn't program that up from scratch, not that I need to these days as I have so many great MIDI drum. Yet, I crave more....

Damn right 1K year version is badass. Tough mix there but I only used 10,000 audio tracks. Had to hook up to another planet's power supply to run all that shit on a supercomputer the size of the Grand Canyon.

"How things been?"

OK. But I'm struggling on new, awkward tracks. Trying to merge chillout jazz/blues and grunge/metal but I'm so much better at the chill stuff than the heavy. Must channel some more evil!

Thanks for perhaps your best review yet.

Thanks.

It certainly starts off chilling you out and then gradually gets groovier and more insistent. You can really freak out and do some crazy dancing at the end. I hope it's a nice, enjoyable journey to get to that uptempo stuff. I felt I needed to introduce it gradually.

My favourite stuff is the mid tempo fat groove shit with that very emotive lead slide guitar playing. That really inspires me.

Thanks very much.

There are a few good reasons why there’s so much attention to detail in my tracks. The main one relates to my composition process, if you can even call it that.

I don’t actually compose these pieces much in advance. I just jam over looped sections and then edit the shit out of everything until I come up with something that has some sort of pleasing structure. So, there are endless errors and awkward bits and sections that don’t neatly transition together. So, I have to give everything a lot of editing love and go and correct and trim so many small details.

And through close attention to things, I often create new sounds and surprising little transitions. I believe in improving hundreds/thousands of small things to make a big overall difference. I also go looking very deeply into the track to see if I can squeeze more out of any riffs or parts or fills or whatever. And I generally can and then go ahead and use them. That’s why my stuff is so long – I just keep spinning out all those cool things I find.

And then I have to work out how to make smooth transitions so that’s more and more detailed work. I have to be able to listen back and not have anything really annoy me.

I’d actually like to do some simpler, rawer stuff but that doesn’t look likely to happen any time soon. I’m quite set in my track-making ways. So: detailed, deep, complex stuff it is.

Glad to be able to inspire someone. Many people have and continue to inspire me. I always hoped in my younger years to be able to make stuff that might inspire/surprise/amaze/intrigue others.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Word up, FreeRad.

I think I’m going to try to contact all those million Loopermembers (apart from your good self) and get them to review one of your tracks. If I can get just 1 in 10, I will swamp you and keep you typing replies into your old age. Even 100,000 copied and pasted replies would take quite a while.

Yes, lots for a free radical such as yourself to like here – especially the faster trance stuff. Not sure you’ve really made up Orbitalesque. You can add the –esque suffix to loads of words if you want.

Maybe people will one day come to say Nomadesque or Static Nomadic to describe sounds/combinations reminiscent of some of mine. Or maybe they won’t as that isn’t actually my artist name (Endless Rotary), just my name on this site.

9am head nodding is good.

Yes, loads of time spent on the drums, which I use a great deal to drive changes in the track and get me to play instruments in a different way. I’m quite the drum/groove obsessive so really need good, interesting grooves to play well.

“good tempo changes which seems to be a trademark of yours”

Yes, my trademark, so to speak, is mid tempo grooves (80-95 BPM) that flip to double time (160-190) though I often keep the other instruments playing at their original tempo so it’s just double time drums. One reason I do this is just because good riffs sound good backed by slow or fast drums and also because my stuff is almost all flat tempo in the sequencer so this adds more tempo variety. But I, sadly, don’t do gradual tempo changes due to DAW limitations. So, now slowing down or speeding up.

I made a conscious choice not to do any tempo doubling/halving in my track Bright Side Of The Sun. Not something I want to do in every track.

“I always think your stuff is really clever”

Thanks. It kind of has to be due to the odd and sort of lazy way I work. I don’t properly compose these pieces but jam away until things take some shape. So, I’m forever trimming little bits here and there and having to force transitions to work. When I play over the different looped sections, I often have no idea where they’re going so have to use a bit of ingenuity to get pleasant-sounding transitions. I often use drum hits to mask awkward edits or audio pops etc.

Yes, synth at 8:30 I think is the trance one. Modified synth patch is called ‘Trance Pluck’. Emotive sound but not one I’ve ever used before.

“a bit acidic and mental which is something I wasn't expecting.”

Yes, not sure it really fits this track and would perhaps be better suited to one of my more badass tracks. But it’s kind of fun and indeed right up your dance music street.

Could have gone on for way longer with this one but managed to keep it just under 11 mins so can squeeze it on the site as a crystal clear, audiophile’s wet dream of 128K MP3.

Thanks, FreeRad.

Sorry for slow reply but it's a good one.

Good point about not much Loop activity. Still damn those who failed to offer feedback on my nice tracks, bro.

Wide pan first synth intro was just a placeholder I intended to improve later. I got so used to it I decided it was more than good enough. Nice string and heavenly voice stuff comes in so it builds suitably.

Not sure why you didn't like notes at 1:00, 1:13, 1:23 but that can be hard to explain. They're two note chords I think are in the scale/mode I'm using (whatever the hell that is, I wouldn't know) but a bit melancholy. No doubt minor key stuff.

1:53 funky guitar riff was the foundation of all grooving in this track (it even returns at 10:32). Bassline is pumping underneath. I really surprised myself with how well the lead slide turned out. I made it go on for a lot longer than planned. The huge boost happened when I picked up that bass g and got funky at 3:12 - gives the track so much more depth. Synth bass was cool but that bass g offers so much more. The bass playing is returned to and plays a lot in the fast second half.

Wah on the resonator could have worked and I have done it a bit in the past. I only have one wah plugin Cubase effect so maybe should try it out. But I think that resonator does everything I want it to. 3:51, 4:08, 4:14 spine tingling high notes!

And then a key change at 4:19.

4:42 keys are quite beautiful. I also use a filter swept effect at various times that I've used in a good few tracks to make them more far out and dream-like eg 4:59, 4:14 etc. The keys continue into the new swing jazz section. And with more, quite different lead resonator. Really surprised how much slide is in this track. Who else makes slide guitar music like this?

Regarding not enough keys in swing jazz section, it's all keys 5:16-5:39, which seemed enough. I'm no great keyboard player!

6:46 pause. I had to have some way of bridging return to main theme. Sometimes a chillout stop after fast drumming works brilliantly. And gives people a welcome break from incessant deep grooves.

9:36 calm before storm is just allowing that trance lead to be heard without fat drums. Classic dance trick there. Another little rest of banging drums for listeners. And then go wild at at 9:58.

And then I'm zapping shit up at the end with my "laser show". Not my fave sound but works OK here.

"I'd like to see you get a little more dangerous and outside the Static box."

Not totally sure what that means. I've got some new things in this track (eg laser show trance) plus lots of good old old. Maybe you mean more evil and badass but it's not that sort of track.

"safe enough for the theme song for Heaven"

Look: if you want more badass, you should just go to hell. I'm convinced that's where you'll go - just for the soundtrack! You might even be composing it. Perhaps you'll live in heaven but do contract work for hell on the sly...

Yo.

So hard to say how long it takes to put this complex, lengthy stuff together. Many different sessions of varying lengths. I’ve made this one over the last 2-3 weeks whilst working on others as well as having a week’s break when it was pissing me off. So, pretty quickly made for me.

Yes, I can get tired of listening to long pieces over and over again. However, it’s also a damn good test of whether parts/sections are good enough. With this one, I found myself enjoying listening to it over and over again – a good sign. I’m always amazed at how many small things I can keep improving when listening again and again (and to different parts) and taking some action over anything and everything that pisses me off in any way. So, endless little volume corrections and small touches of automation, guitar edits etc

One difficulty in making such long stuff is that I’m generally working on fairly short looped sections at a time so it can be hard to see how the whole thing is coming together. I always start every new session by listening to the whole thing from the start, just to familiarise myself with every sound and element present.

I like the phrase “the laser show” and agree it’s a bit odd. Probably doesn’t quite fit in this track, which is much more on the beautiful side. I do have an idea to fix that – vocode that laser sound with a more beautiful synth sound and see if they merge in a way that softens the laser. Or maybe I won’t bother. Laser craziness ain’t exactly my signature sound but it is kind of fun.

“I liked how the guitars took over and ended it all”

That’s mostly distorted bass that you’re hearing, not guitar, though there is also a return to the very first, funky clean guitar part heard in the track. Strange having clean guitar over distorted bass. And now it’s uptempo, racing stuff rather than the original mid tempo funky.
This track has actually been No1 on the intergalactic Thousand Year Track charts for the last 3,000 years.

“the 1,000 year version is beyond my listening capacity”
Not if you make it into my heaven. Lots of time there for you to bask in this musical millennium journey. Whilst munching on some mangoes.

“congrats on finally finishing up that one!”

Yeah, it took quite a bit of computer processing power and I had to incorporate about a thousand genres to keep things interesting. Some have never been heard on this planet. So, that’s something to look forward to if you make it into my heaven. That and all the mangoes.

Thanks again.

Greetings. Yes, first couple of minutes are probably some of my biggest ever chilling.

That's because this track is a continuation of my only proper drumless track that I've ever done, called Visible Aura. Not sure if you've heard it though I've now removed it as I have 50 tracks on here and have to delete one every time I upload a new one. That's even more chilled out than this.

All the synths in here are from Reason, same as in about 90% of my tracks.

"I think you have enough concepts here to make the entire full-album song, only by using the sounds of this track!"

Maybe though you could perhaps say the same about quite a few of my tracks. But I try hard not to use sounds too much and always introduce a few new synth sounds in every track I make. So, no way I would do a whole album just with this number of sounds.

"Your keyboard playing from 4:42 is very fine"

Thanks. I was actually thinking of you when doing that and was sure you'd like it. I think Crucethus will too.

I had to make sure those higher keyboard notes didn't interfere with any of the guitar parts so went and edited them carefully after playing (including lowering the velocity of many notes).

6:24 double time drums. Yes, I had to make that jazz section do something more interesting as it's the same sort of varied slide guitar playing on top. And that double time drum section is a taster of the heavier fast stuff that comes later.

"From 10:21 I can hear a different guitar electric playing (regular? vocoded?)"

No, that's just distorted bass guitar there (playing the same thing as the synth bass under it). No guitar though most people will probably think there is when they hear that sort of sound. But that's the distortion they're hearing.

Actually, at 10:32, the clean guitar part from 1:53 returns though I doubt many people will recognise it as pretty much the same part. It doesn't sound funky anymore because the drums aren't funky.

7:54 is the most obvious vocoded guitar section, though I use it subtly in various other places in the second half of the track eg 7:08. I've used that sort of vocoded FX setup on guitar parts in a few tracks eg There Goes Gravity though I always use a different chord to drive the vocoder's internal modulating synth sound (obviously, the right chord for the track).

"a very cool trance or electro type of a synth programming"

Yes, that synth at 8:28 is not the kind of sound I normally use. Classic trance there! But I didn't want to make this a typical trance track with boring drums and a lack of melody.

I don't know if you know that some people talk about a style of delta blues guitar playing that repeats and repeats and they call it 'trance blues'. You can hear some of that at 8:50. So, I was going for something you could call 'trance blues trance', even though that's a pretty shit name.

Have a listen for some of the little slide guitar bits in the breakdown section starting 9:36.

Glad you liked it as I was sure you would.

Thanks, man.

It's important for me to suck people in, so to speak, on the first note of every track. A hard thing to always manage but I do try.

"Your spin on the blues is quite awesome"

I do love blues but a lot bores the shit out of me so I've always wanted to do some very alternative takes on the genre. I think this qualifies and I can't really think of another blues track like it. Also, if you take away the slide guitar, I don't think it's a blues track at all.

Thanks again.

Thanks for listening. This was a pretty deep track to make.

Lots of beauty and an interesting electronic soundscape behind that slide guitar playing.

Hi.

I think the liquid thing maybe has something to do with some of those smooth slide notes. I love deep chillout and have always wanted to do some very alternative blues in that style so I think this is it.

I'd say it's a short epic, something I'd like to do more of rather than my usual lengthy epics.

"Writing is never my strong point,so please forgive me.!"

You're very much forgiven, even though there's nothing to forgive.

Thanks for the continued encouragement and high praise for my playing and production work. I just try to make music that is both deep and interesting to me.

I hardly expect to be properly popular and think I what I do is just for people into the deeper side of music and musical soundscapes. So, people who listen in the same sort of way as I do. It's nice to find them!

Yeah, you should get into slide. I did in about 2005 after watching a Black Keys DVD (back when it was just the two of them and they were really good) and have never looked back.

I really haven't. I changed my tuning to DADFsharpAD and that has remained my tuning ever since. I'm a bit lost if I play in regular tuning these days. So, I use that tuning now for all guitar playing, not just slide.

Slide would really suit a lot of what you do and it's an extremely sensual way of playing. Opens up all those microtones. I recommend a glass slide on the little finger. Can't understand people who put it on the third as that screws up your fretting hand whereas if you don't want to use it, you've still got three fairly unhampered fingers so can do all your usual shapes.

When I'm playing with the slide, I try not to overdo it so that when I add the slide, you really notice it. Some passages are pure slide (quite a few in this one) but it's a killer physical acoustic effect to hit from time to time.

Yes, this is a shorter one in which I don't switch into a whole bunch of other styles. It's a lot more consistent. Like a few ideas rather than my usual 10,000 in one track.

I've done slide playing across so many different styles (jazz, funk, electro, metal, grunge, blues, rock, d'n'b, reggae etc and more to probably come) but this is one of the more consistent blues ones, even though it's no regular blues.

"You said you trimmed some guitar bits"

Damn right I did! I do that all the time in every single track as I'm one of the laziest players out there. I'm the king of "fix it in the mix" though with me it's more "write the composition after jamming away for a while" as it is fixing bad notes and general errors/average and not especially interesting playing. I don't know if there's anyone else who has the same working method as me but I guess I'd only find out if I actually worked closely with someone on playing, recording, editing etc
"not knowing when to stop adding to the composition"

Yeah, you do that a bit and it could be said that I do it a lot. However, I try to make all that layering my special sort of unique sound. Complex and constantly changing but hopefully nothing interfering too much with anything else. So hard to know if I always (ever?) get it right. And that's partly down to the editing and mixing skills.

Anyway, I liked it, you liked it and that's the main thing, even if it is a bit rough around the edges in places. A bit like a lot of my work, I guess.

Good to hear from you on a pretty old track. Hopefully it's kind of timeless!

Hello. Thanks for searching for new tracks from me (like a proper fan). It's true that I haven't uploaded a new one in ages (about 6 weeks) but I have a new one now (Bright Side Of The Sun) and here are two others you may have missed that I suspect you'll like:

Reckful

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/160356

3,000 Miles Of Funk

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/160058

Anyway, Opioid:

Yes, clean funky autowah guitar sound that I should use more.

0:40 some sort of synth bass part made many years ago with my Korg Z1 that I've used in a few tracks (the exact same part!). I love that sound.

""cure-ish" guitar at 2:00"

I had no idea that sounded like The Cure. I'm not a fan but I have heard a fair bit of their music over the years. I respect more than like them (not keen on Robert Smith's vocal style).

Yes, one of the major highlights of my music in general is just how many short little interesting bits pop here and there. I really do try hard to reuse these parts and make the most of them but sometimes it's best to hear them only briefly. Sometimes it's more memorable.

I very rarely do any slap bass but used to a lot more in my teenage years (I started out as a bass player). The slap here was probably played in about 2002 though there is also some in my new funk track Bright Side Of The Sun.

""Alien sounds" at 3:30"

Lead Korg Z1 synth part that is indeed quite alien (see Evisma's description). I should use that sound more often.

Sorry you didn't like the change at 5:00. I do. That'd where the track changes direction and becomes more acid synth. I guess you're not so into 303 stuff. That's more for people like Crucethus and other dance music lovers. Me too but it has to be done right (most of it I find quite boring and unimaginative).

You also don't like the synth arps eg 6:31. Probably because it's over more of the synth dance stuff. I know you prefer the rock/funk/guitar stuff. That's OK.

Yes, 7:00 epic strings - very powerful and bassy Korg Z1 sound.

7:29 not distorted guitar but an earlier funk bass guitar part (eg 2:15) put through one software amp. Classic example of me reusing parts. This time it's hard to recognise it from before.

"Lasers"?

No lasers here! Must be some of the crazy distorted, delayed lead synth parts arriving on 7:47.

8:07 I love that weird melody.

Finally some heavy guitar comes in on 8:26. Before it was just bass g, drums and synth.

9:43 I'm really pleased with the beauty of that guitar part (and drums). Like a whole new track but also a calm ending.

Thanks again for all the praise...

Thanks.

I don’t know if it’s really fully professional work but I’m getting better all the time and have greatly improved the overall quality of my mixes in the last few years.

I'm still not happy with this one but I do enjoy it.

Hi. I do like this one but I’m still not completely happy with it. But it’s quite different for me as it’s only synths, the structure is unusual (3 or 4 drum-free breakdowns) and it's really quite a short track for me. And I really like the didg and pad sounds. Oh, and the arppegiated leads.

I checked out your Astral Projection link and thought it was OK. I’m familiar with lots of music like that but find it a little boring. Hard to explain but it’s maybe too much psychedelic drug music and lacks musicality for me.

“I like a kind of a steady drum groove and slow tempo”

Me too. That’s the kind of thing I’m best at playing along to. I never seem to start fast tracks. There are fast sections in my tracks but they always comes from making the drums go double time. I can play along to fast stuff but I’m much happier at a good slow or mid tempo groove.

“lots of complex textures”

I never come up with those as planned things. They just come from experimenting many, many times with different layering of sounds. I try to get things to fit together in interesting ways that I haven’t really heard anyone else do.

Glad you liked it.

I think it’s a fun track.

"Never heard of you."

Yes you have. I've favourited a couple of your tracks and had a back and forth conversation about one of them - the one featuring only industrial machine sounds that is really quite melodic.

You just didn't remember my name from those discussions.

"I have to say what a compliment it was suggesting that something of mine made them think of you."

Thanks very much. I'm not sure which of my tracks you've checked out or exactly what you thought of this particular one. If you want pop, classical, Afrobeat, punk, gabba, garage, house, grindcore metal and so on - I'm not your guy. But, if you want far out, psychedelic journeys featuring a lot of deep grooves and some strong melodic content, I'm your guy.

Most of my tracks are much longer than this one and also contain loads of guitar, bass and banjo so feel free to check them out. This one was me in a pure electro mode. No instruments played here. But also no samples used.

Thanks for your thoughts.