StaticNomad

Thanks. I will try to keep it going.

I didn't think of this as having a cinematic sound when making it but perhaps it does.

It took me many years to get anywhere hear a pro sound and I'm never quite sure if I really do have it, hence my curiosity about how other people hear my tracks.

Thanks again.

Sure, I didn't really expect anyone to know of any other cello music like this. Just wondering if anyone knows of anything even vaguely similar.

"You can get some fkn cool sounds out of that cello."

I can though they're not to be confused with some of the acid arpeggiated synths though I guess they may be layered together in such a way that something here that is a synth might be confused for a cello.

"I've bowed some of my cigar box guitars and gotten really neat sounds, some very similar to a cello"

Yes - that's the bowing you're hearing. I sometimes make my cello sound a lot like a guitar but that's mostly been when applying distortion. Then you're really just hearing the distortion and associating it with guitar, which is where you tend to hear it.

I have not heard Cru's All Hallow's Eve rave.

Thanks again.

Hi.

I think yours is the first serious offer I've ever had on this site of someone offering to add some vocals to my music.

I did check out a good few tracks of yours but I feel that I don't need any vocals on this one. The reason is that, as I work mostly without vocals, I'm used to making tracks work without any. In other words, I don't just make a backing track, waiting for someone to contribute vocals. I instead get my various instruments (mainly cello here) to do a lot and maintain the listener's interest.

Thanks again for asking. It's always good to hear that someone's into what I do.

Regreetings.

No kidding about the short time I've been playing and recording cello. I probably started recording it in the first few days of playing. I have no idea if I have a natural talent for it. I think it's more a talent for playing stringed instruments in general.

I still make loads and loads of mistakes when recording cello (and other instruments) but one of my top skills is editing of audio parts. So, my playing ends up sounding much better than the raw, recorded version after my careful splicing together and layering of the best takes.

Good to hear about you getting to hear American jazz fusion players play in Paris many years ago.

Thanks for the additional thoughts.

Hey, thanks for checking this out.

Great to hear you think it's freakin' brilliant.

Yes, ever-changing drum styles are a big part of my music, for various reasons. I try out so many different drum styles and often find that quite a few will fit so then try to work out how I'm going to get them all in (without overdoing it for the sake of it).

Also, I do a lot of stuff in the same key so having evolving drums helps give different sections in the same key different characters, hopefully hiding the lack of key changes.

"cello tracks are outstanding"

That's good to hear as I've only been playing the instrument for 5-6 months.

"Paris in the mid-late 70s"

No idea why it reminds you of that time but I'll take it anyway. I wonder if you heard music like this back then in Paris.

Thanks again.

Word up, alliterative a*hole.

Surely your greatest alliterative intro ever. Your true calling may be as an alliterative greeting card writer. The land can go scape itself.

"sitting in solitude"

Very true.

Cool intro is a mixt of spiccato playing on the high string and regular bowing on the lower strings. Tricky switching between different bowing techniques.

"theme music for '80s detective shows like Columbo or Murder She Wrote."

That's a surprise. They don't have any Eastern vibes, do they?

"How are you getting the volume swells around 1:30"

Careful bowing, with emphasis at the right points. That cello sound is really muscular. Deep and moaning.

"abruptly have an interruption with half the band stopping"

Yeah - I told them to fuck off and let The Nomad do his thing uninterrupted. They never returned so I finished the rest of the track on my own, playing all the instruments simultaneously in real time. Genius me.

"3:07 kick is great"

Not much skill from me as that kick is simply part of a drum loop. My skill is just in choosing it. And then letting it breathe, with the somewhat minimal instrument playing around it.

"experimental shit after 4:00 is killer."

I agree. Most of that is "beyond the fingerboard" harmonics. You just roll a finger to move up a semitone as the distances between notes are so short though it's pretty damn haphazard so required lots of editing. Very alien sounding.

4:19 I think that's the start of a cool, distinctive lead line. That's the "beyond the fingerboard" harmonics.

"woodwind or some kind of flute breaths mixed in there"

I think that's all just cello. I keep finding new connections on the cello between bowing and blowing. I even got a bit of a bluesy harmonica sound out of it in one of my new, unfinished tracks.

"7:30 lead line sounds like some smooth bass guitar in sections"

No, I can't hear anything to do with bass g there. That's when a new, dark guitar part enters. Maybe some of its lower notes sound like bass g.

"an outro full of breath and ghostly feeling."

The breathy stuff is partly cello, partly ominous pad sound. Nice chillout, dark stoner couple of final minutes. Could have gone heavy but never even tried it. Ominous chillout seemed quite sufficient.

I hope you're exceptionally well.

I had a real tough kayaking journey the other day on my own. Got one leg stuck in the mud up to the knee. Tried to dig it out with the paddle. Broke the paddle and then had to leave my sandal behind just to get my leg out. River current was later so strong that I couldn't paddle against it so had to get out of the boat and pull it upriver. Stepping barefoot on the river bed was not fun. Then decided to put a spare shoe on that bare foot. Had to wear one soaking shoe the rest of the night out around town but it was OK as the weather is warm right now. Crazy Nomad adventures...

Muddy Nomad, outta the butt end of the banana vessel

Hello.

You are the second person to say that this is perfect. I don't think it's anywhere near that good but thanks anyway.

I like to make nice.

Yo.

Very sorry about the very slow reply. Most unlike me.

"Well, that narrows it down"

Well, so many of the weird sounds are cello but not all so I thought I should mention that. I'm not going to go through and give a time reference for each and every one that either is or isn't.

"my initial thought first time through was to slowly fade out the vinyl crackle"

The vinyl crackle ends because it was simply part of one drum loop that stops. It wasn't something I'd intentionally added and then removed.

"Nice Clyde Stubblefield style drum break"

Yes, I agree now that you point it out.

"4:00 Starting to boot-scoot now"

A boot-scoot indeed, which is a funny term. I like fast swing jazz drums.

"5:36 Uh oh, very minute audio click"

Extremely minute. Perhaps I'll just check exactly what's going on as the drums and bass return.

"6:24 Electronic stoner/doom commences"

I agree though I hadn't thought about it being doom. I just found it slow and dark though normally when I feel I'm in doom mode I get the guitar out and dial up some badass riffage. But I never attempted that here, instead preferring to get the cello to do as much as possible. Without distortion.

"I can pretty much just put this section to the end on loop and be happy."

I'm happy if I can make someone else happy.

Thanks again.

Yo, Bradobro.

I noticed that when you wrote this review you were writing loads of others around the same time. I never write any more than two, maximum three, a day. There just aren't enough Looperman tracks I either like or feel sufficiently moved to comment on.

Yes, it's a fairly powerful and distinctive intro.

"Is it electronic cello?"

Excuse me for potentially being pedantic but no, it's electric cello ie not an acoustic cello but still a real cello though it needs to go through an amp. So I put it through my guitar rig rather than using a mic, as you would with an acoustic cello.

I think electronic cello would be a synth/sample-based cello patch. I occasionally use some of those but they sound nothing like my played cello, which is new in my music in the last few months.

"0:19 is quite warm, silky"

Yes, that's where I layer probably about 4 bowed parts together to get that big, emotive rise that takes us neatly to the arrival of the bass and drums.

"single movements of the bow (for the most part) to create space."

Yes, that's because I'm still a total novice when it comes to bowing and don't really have sufficient control of it yet to groove doing alternate up and down bows. I wish I could.

"drum beat is solid and keeps everything together nicely"

I agree. Two loops that mesh together perfectly. Strong groove but doesn't get in the way of the more interesting stuff on top.

"2:48 was quite ear-perking for me."

Cool. I love to perk your ears.

"You have some really cool stuff going on in this segment"

I agree but I was strongly considering getting rid of it to cut down on the the running length. It was the last major section that I came up with.

"3:48 sounds like a jazzy bass is playing in the background"

That's the synth sub bass. It provides all basslines in the track apart from the first bassline around 0:20, which is cello going through my octave pedal so that it sounds like a proper bass.

"It's quite juicy, and I like juicy."

You've heard that exact same synth patch in many of my tracks. I know I shouldn't keep on using but it does such a good, solid unobtrusive job though I do sometimes also bring it to the fore and make it sound pretty badass.

"The beat gets a little repetitive for me as this segment goes on"

Sorry - I tried to vary that swing jazz groove in subtle ways but maybe I have failed. My drums tend to vary a lot so I'm trying to actually make them a bit simpler. You still hear much more drum variety in this track than in most people's music.

"7:30 - is that a guitar or cello?"

Definitely guitar. No way it could be cello. You can hear the sound of the guitar strings in there. I kept the guitar real minimal in this one though the playing in that section isn't great. Maybe I'll go back and try to improve it.

"a pleasant listen"

My pleasure to be able to offer you a little bit of pleasantry. It's why I do it...

Static Bromad.

Yo.

The intro was a bit difficult to play as I have to move quickly between two different types of bowing. So, there's a lot of editing and layering going on in the intro (before the drums come in). Still doesn't sound quite right but it is quite interesting and distinctive.

"Beat fits perfect, chill, psychy and groovy"

Yes, I think it's all those things.

Great to hear you love it.

Greetings, Neocellobro.

"You certainly wield a wicked Cello" is a cool phrase.

You know I've been concentrating on the cello for the last 4 months or so and trying to get it to do as much as I can in each track it appears in. I'm not really big on practice on any instrument so this is my way of finding a reason to play and try out new techniques and stuff as I learn this somewhat difficult instrument.

So, so much cello in this, including a few slightly different playing techniques. As regards time signature and tempo, yes I keep the drums moving through different styles. If I hadn't done that, I'm sure the track would feel long and samey and boring and as if it hadn't really gone anywhere.

"movie score to like a Quentin Tarantino version of Lawrence of Arabia."

That's an interesting idea and I know what you mean and it could work really well. I recently rewatched Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and I thought a lot more of it than I did on first viewing (I now really like it). I bring the film up because it had some cool, odd musical choices in it that gave things a really interesting feel. There's even a David Bowie song in it!

"harem girl sequence as 1:22 to 2:43 with some nice belly dancing nubiles"

Yes - I get that sort of feel from it as well. Sorry that section wasn't longer but I knew I had loads more sections to get to so I thought I wouldn't hang around and just get right on with the next one (which has some really powerful cello riffage).

"Love the effects on the cello, sounds like some overdrive/distortion in spots."

I was pretty sure that I hadn't used any overdrive on the cello in this but there might be in some of the darker swing jazz sections in the middle. Otherwise the effects are just delay, reverb and chorus plus some amp modelling from my guitar floor effects unit.

"you would have been a God to the hippies with this if you were around in the late 60's early 70's man"

Quite possibly. Maybe I can still be a god to them 40/50 years later (and beyond).

"You need to find a time machine!"

That may well be possible:

"The DeLorean Motor Company has announced its intention to manufacture the iconic DMC-12 sports car again..."

http://www.dezeen.com/2016/02/01/delorean-reproduce-dmc-12-car-back-to-the-future-gull-wing-doors/

Thanks for the thoughts and good to hear you're still firmly stuck in the Nomad groove.

Yo.

"the mixing is spot on"

It really has to be with the kind of music I make otherwise it doesn't work properly. I'm not making catchy songs or dancefloor anthems so everything has to be sound good as it's supposed to be music you listen to over and over again.

"I love the chosen instruments"

Good. There aren't very many of them as I've kept it quite minimal and tried to get the cello to do as much as possible. I've been doing that a lot in the last few months.

"The way you use the cello is pretty unique for my ears"

Yes, probably so. I generally use quite a simple combination of effects (mostly delay, reverb, chorus, sometimes distortion) that means that I my cello never really sounds like a traditional cello, as used in classical music. I'd quite like to get that sort of classical vibe as I think it would inspire a different style of music making. But I also like the sounds I get using these effects.

"The short jazzy break at 2:50ish is awesome"

I was thinking of getting rid of that whole section that follows (the one featuring Fender Rhodes) but then decided that I like the drum loops too much to get rid of the section.

"that are coming in at 5:35 are a bit to sudden for my taste"

That's where there's a big, sudden drum fill as the swing jazz drumming returns. I wanted something exciting and explosive but maybe I've got it wrong. I don't mind hearing that.

"The slowing down to the end is really strong and gives a very dark and mellow touch."

Yes - I like that slow, dark vibe. The reason I did it is because this track was made out of another recent one that you liked:

The Mythical Gates

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/177482

So, I still had all those slow, shuffle groove drum parts sitting on my timeline so I decided to reuse them (and change them). I think a slow, dark chillout ending is a good way to close things out and makes it seem like a real journey.

Thanks for the thoughts.

Yo, Monsieur Rhodes.

"The scratch adds an edge"

What's the scratch? Do you mean the very first note of the piece (and some others after it)? That's spiccato bowing on one of the higher strings. Basically, you don't rest the bow on the string and draw it across it, as with regular bowing. Instead, you give it a sharp sort of glancing blow, essentially bouncing the bow off the string. You can get flute and shakuhachi sounds using that technique.

Of course Rhodesy enjoyed the Rhodes piano chords! They're pretty simple and repetitive but work fairly well.

Thanks for checking in...

No, I definitely wouldn't say it's that good. I'm not quite sure what a perfect piece of music would be though you've certainly got me thinking quite deeply about it.

I could point out quite a few small sections (or single notes) in this track that could be better.

But if it seems perfect to you, I'll accept that.

I guess the first question for you to consider is whether you would want any element of the track to be in any way different. If not, then it might be close to being perfect to you.

Other people won't like the track at all...

Hi.

This is the second track of mine in the last month or so that you've wanted to go on for much longer. The other one was this:

The Mythical Gates

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/177482

They're actually both from the same project so are at the same tempo (100BPM) and share a few sounds and settings. Both have strong Eastern elements.

"driving beat that comes in was a dream"

That's two drum loops layered together. They seem to fit so neatly that they sound like one unified sound.

"talking weeping cello doing things cellos aren't supposed to do."

That's a good description and I agree that the new cello riff that kicks off the section after the first drum groove section does have a mad sound to it. It seems quite muscular and powerful but I'm not quite sure why. Despite getting all these weird cello sounds in this track, the only effects I'm using are delay, chorus and reverb. The rest is just playing techniques.

"story telling journey music that words would only dirty."

Only if they're dirty words. If they're interesting/intelligent words they help me make sense of what I've made and give me some useful things to think about and perhaps take into future compositions.

"Got to go have another listen"

Keep listening. I hope it's the kind of music that stands up to repeated listens.

Thanks again.

"Notice how I typed normal here so you wouldn't be like woah"

I noticed that and am hence not now "like woah".

That regular style of writing looks much better. And is easier to read. I'm not quite sure what you feel the capitalisation adds in terms of a benefit.

"It's extremely poignant and actually triggers one's emotions."

Sure - I'm all about triggering emotions though poignant wasn't one that I thought of when making it (or since listening back). But anyone's free to interpret it however they like. How could I stop them, even if I wanted to?

"I've never heard this style of music before"

I'm not sure I have either. I guess I've heard all the separate elements before but probably not combined in this way.

"hopefully I can implement this style into my own productions"

I'm not sure what to suggest except that you get more psychedelic, complex, detailed and so on. Lots of (or at least some) carefully controlled delay helps add to/create a psychedelic mood.

Hi.

Yes, this is quite psychedelic. I make a lot of that type of music though with lots of other genres incorporated into that type of mood and feel.

I will check out your track and leave feedback if I have anything useful to say.

Separately, why do all of your words start with a capital letter? Isn't it annoying (and a waste of time) to keep switching to the shift key when starting a new word?

Oh my, my mythical gate keeper...

You have reviewed another of my nice tracks bro. It was no longer a featured one so you may even have tracked it down all by yourself.

Not too much funkiness here (a shame for a funk soul brother such as yourself) though 4:31 double time shuffle is kinda funky.

"stretched sounding underlayment"

That sounds like stretched underwear (eg a wedgie) but I think the "underlayerment" here is the long, legato synth bass notes. There's also an 800% timestretched female vocal starting 0:50 that I love.

"Guttural bass at 1:38 is cello"

No, something I like to call "bass g". I couldn't get that low and with that tone with cello. I like that bass playing. Nice high note fills 2:20 and 2:30. No cello in this track. There was some but I removed it and used it to start a new, Eastern dance track.

"picked from your many layers, surely"

Yes, lazy fucker that I am, I only vaguely know what I'll play when I record so I get down loads of stuff and then spend ages editing it, doing some very creative things and making it sound like I was actually clever enough and fluent enough a player to come up with it all in one go.

3:52 is a nice load of Eastern guitar playing. Very spooky and moving.

"a lot of that, thanks to you"

I've got to encourage you to try new stuff. Some you won't even try, some you might, possibly resulting in some new coolness.

"6:17- You stretchy bastard, you"

No timestetching there, but that is a dark, dark section. I think it's a flattened fifth riff (the devil's music).

"6:55- A drop-out that I am envious of"

Yes - nice drop. I keep the same sort of drum groove but switch from a heavy kit to a lighter one and let the delay of the string part ring out, which really eases the transition down. The waveform shows that I'm dropping the energy there, kind of floating down into something else after a dark, relatively heavy section. Then beauty follows.

7:34 is another good drop.

"My stuff lacks a lot of air compared to yours"

I recommend wearing a pair of Nike Air Jordans when mixing.

"all while the city around me is exploding"

Damn, I thought you'd moved to a proper war zone. That or the Missouri-Iowa Meth Wars have finally kicked off. Methheads do know how to blow stuff up, even if it is mostly themselves.

All is mostly well, thanks.

Nomad, scrambling to reach higher ground

Hi.

Yes, I know what you mean about getting some more badass guitar in here and I can hear it myself. I'm sure there are some fine guitarists who would have loved tearing shit up over this sort of groove and vibe.

However, I've got loads of other tracks with big, distorted riffage and soloing in them so I decided that I wanted this to be pretty damn laidback, thought with some added weirdness and unusual vibe from the Eastern playing.

I hope the lack of "giant, fuzz drenched, speaker blowing guitar riffage" here hasn't spoiled the track for you. Just think of it as a deep chiller that isn't ever going to get heavy.

If you'd like to hear just some of my more badass, ballsy guitar playing, try these:

Chasm

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/172322

The Bigger The Fatter The Better

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

Valvedriven

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/163181

Thanks again.

I had not thought about it being sexy before. Maybe it's quite a sensual, warm and inviting mood.

Chillout sex - no hard grinding.

Hi.

"Very soulful sound"

Yes - I try to make deep music that might move people emotionally and perhaps even physically. I don't make pop music though perhaps I could if I had to. But would I want to?

"vocal glitches in it really gives it great atmosphere."

That's just cut-up vocal loops with lots of delay. They really add to the atmosphere and kind of merge with the pad sound (which merges with the synth bass).

0:50 is my favourite vocal. That's an 800% timestretched one from another track of mine. In that track it was heard at the original tempo. It sounds better here.

"guitar coming in at 1:50 give it even more flavour."

Yes - I cannot resist playing lots of blues guitar over this type of laidback shuffle groove. It's really easy and you can do heavy or gentle playing. Or fast. Anything, really.

"Was interesting for the whole track even if it took almost 9 minutes"

That's my aim. It's unacceptable to me if any of my sections are boring so I have to keep doing all sort of things, big and small, to maintain listener interest and justify the length. I assure you I could have made this a lot longer and a couple of people have said they wouldn't have minded if I had.

Thanks.

Hello Mr Tweed.

"first 1:40 or so is really influenced strongly by that darker pad sound I think"

Yes and no. The darker sound is the synth bass. There is a pad there (right from after the drum fill intro) but it's quite a light sound.

"guitar at 1:50 moves it into a bit brighter place"

I agree - a more beautiful place before it gets darker as the guitar goes Eastern (around 3:53). Arabic, maybe.

"you have played the spaces (rather than just the notes)"

Yes - I could play blues guitar all day over this sort of groove but I was trying to come up with something distinctive and different that wasn't exactly soloing, more something between hitting different arpeggiated chords and other fills and stuff. Better guitarists than me would no doubt come up with something better but, after lots of editing of the guitar parts, I'm fairly happy with what I've got.

"4:31...now we`re cooking the kind of blues I dig"

Yes - that's fun, bright, stomping stuff. But I played none of the guitar there over that groove. It's leftover playing from before, over the laidback shuffle groove. It just sounds quite different because of the change in drum groove. The bassline is pretty much the same so it just goes to show what a massive difference a (double time) drum groove can make.

I could have gone mad with that stomping blues section, adding loads of slide playing and funky, pumping bass guitar parts. Yet I resisted.

"the outro section kind of floats you to the end"

Yes, gently floating stuff and a chord change from the bass on 6:55. Out of the previous darkness and into the triumphant light. Uplifting guitar follows the filtered strings.

Oh sure - it could be way, way longer as I'd planned to bring the stomping blues section back and add all the slide playing and stuff. Maybe sometimes I should ignore my aim of making tracks under 10 mins and just go over if it feels right.

Thanks again.

Greetings, Mr Sman.

I think you last favourite of mine was one called Great Leap Backwards though I've removed that from the site so you won't be able to go back and compare it with this one.

Yes, a nice, warm slightly wobbly bass that I like so much I've used in at least 20 tracks, though they're mostly quite different tracks.

No, this doesn't make me think of bikers at all. A bit spooky, I guess, but I find it more beautiful than being "full of dread". I guess that's the Eastern stuff creating that vibe for you.

Yes, I agonised over whether to make it go on for a couple of minutes more and I still could, fairly easily. But I am continually trying not to go over 10 mins unless I really, really have to.

"This aint blues."

If you remove the bluesy guitar, I agree. I wouldn't know what to call it then, apart from atmospheric groove chillout, I guess. But as there's quite a lot of that guitar playing, blues is the closest rough genre I can think (as a single genre label).

Thanks again for the feedback.

OOohh...Metabolic is basking in The Nomad's cosmic bluesy chillage.

Despite being lost for words, I salute his pure magnificence.

Thanks for the thanks.

Yo.

I also like the atmosphere here. Kind of minimal and the warm sub bass and drums provide a vibe I can easily chill to.

"haha 8 minutes long static i think you failed at that"

No, not really. You may not be aware that I regularly used to make tracks 10-17 mins long. I've had a lot of success in the last 2 years in doing things such as splitting really long ones in two and also trying to make sure I don't go over 10 mins.

A couple of months ago, I even posted three tracks in one month that were all under 4 mins!

Here's the only one of those three that's still online:

Midnight Sun

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/175138

See Silverman's comment as he wants this to be even longer, which I could easily make happen though I'm not sure if I should. Yes, this is long but the key question (always) is whether it's too long.

Great to hear you enjoyed it and, yes, I am proud of it though I still feel something is missing. Perhaps it's because I have other riffs I could still add to it (eg funky basslines for the uptempo blues section) and I wonder how they would sound but I'm not sure if I should even try recording them as that would probably take this up to more like 11 mins.

Thanks again.