StaticNomad

Yo, Dennel.

Great to hear you really liked this one. I've become more of a fan of it since finishing it and find quite a few sections and melodies quite memorable and catchy.

"Could you be the world's first Rock & Roll Cellist?"

No, definitely not. I don't know much about the world of the cello (ie outside classical music) but there are definitely people who can really play (unlike me) who are rocking it up a lot. The metal group Apocalyptica have been around for years and they play cellos hard and heavy. I've even seen them live. There's also a female cellist called Wendy Guo who specialises in live metal cello and a whole bunch of rocking cellists I guess I don't yet know about.

From my experiments in cello playing in the three months that I've been playing, I have concluded that you could pretty much entirely replace a guitarist in a rock/metal band with a cello player. I'm interested to see if anyone has done just that. Yes, there are certain guitar techniques that I guess you can't do on cello (tapping, tremolo arm, strumming, slide etc) but bowing really adds an extra dimension to the sound. Basically, just whack that cello through some fat distortion (as in this track) and you can seriously rock it up.

Look out for a new track from me in the next few days with a whole load of interesting rocking cello in it. It's not metal but it's not supposed to be. Instead there's hip hop, saxophone and big piano basslines plus loads of cello, which is meant to do everything the guitar would normally do.

Anyway, yes there are keys in this track - Fender Rhodes. I don't think there are any cello harmonics but there is a load of pizzicato playing (ie cello played with fingers, like a double bass) entering at different points in the first half.

If you want to hear some cello harmonics, check out this cellout track from a few weeks ago. Drums are mostly hip hop:

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/176476

"constant, relentless, pounding-groove"

Yes, that relentless groove is for one simple reason: every heavy section has the same dance drum loop sitting underneath the other hard metal/rock kits. it provides some real low end and makes this also a dance track. There are various other drum loops as well but I think that particular one is there pretty much all the time during the heavy sections.

"this track works on so many levels, innovatively and sonically"

Thanks. That's what I go for with every track I make. It has to be very interesting otherwise I'm not interested in making it. I have to merge genres and try out new sounds in every new piece.

Thanks again.

Hi.

It sure did dip a bit in the middle, but hopefully not in quality.

I needed to join these different sections together and legato, ambient chill was what I decided seemed to work. I guess you preferred the hard and heavy stuff but I had to find a way to transition smoothly and chillout is easy to go into and come out of.

Yes, it came back very strong for the final heavy movement. I like the addition of the synth arps to set that heavy section apart from the earlier ones.

No, don't really need any lyrics here but, as always, the right sort of vocalist could certainly make some work.

Thanks for listening.

Hi.

Thanks for commenting.

I actually really struggled with the bass on this. It's all synth bass but I felt very unmusical playing these different lines in. It's hard to explain but I felt very musically limited and I had to do a lot of editing work on these bass parts. I've got something like 6 synth basses here, coming in at different points. Maybe I can go back and edit them a bit more to make improvements, I'm not sure.

It is a pretty clean and clear track, with some funky chill vibes.

I don't do much 'pure electro' as most of my stuff features a lot of played acoustic instruments - different guitars, bass, cello and banjo (as well as lots of synth work). But occasionally I do a track with none of them, just synths. I haven't done one for a couple of years, actually.

Thanks again.

Hi.

Thanks for checking this out and sorry for the slow reply.

" it seems I tend to annoy you"

No, not really. It was just that one comment on my other cello-heavy (and heavy cello) track in which you asked for some "real cello". The track was full of real cello playing so it looked you had somehow mistaken all the cello sounds for cello samples I'd triggered from the keyboard rather than stuff I'd taken a while to play and edit. A bit like telling Jimi Hendrix one of his tracks needs some "real guitar".

Yes, this track has a very different feel from the other and there are more obvious cello sounds, which I assume is what you were looking for from the other track. No distorted cello riffage here though there is quite a bit of reverb and delay on the many cello parts I recorded. I think this one has quite a classy, graceful chillout feel and I loved listening back to some of the sections on a loop while making it.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Sure - go get one. Or both.

I warn you now that bowing is extremely complicated and fraught with error and bad sounds. At least it is for me. And I've been playing stringed instruments for well over 20 years (2 months on the cello).

Yes, I like the heavy sound here and I think it's unusual. It's still a surprise to me that all that heavy riffage comes from a cello.

You seem to be basically saying the same thing again. And I think I understood it the first time.

So I'll have to say the same thing again: there is pretty much a clean acoustic cello sound in there. Well, technically it's an electric cello as that's all I have. And it does have some reverb and chorus on it but that's just to fit my far out vibe. Listen at 4:23 and you'll hear it come in underneath the distorted Rhodes.

Sorry if that's not what you wanted. I'm doing my best though I still real struggle with the bowing.

Yo.

Congratulations on not telling me a musical joke.

"I find it fantastic what you did with the cello"

That is excellent to hear, however this is much more of a problem:

"Maybe would have been nice to have some sort of real Cello in there somewhere"

All the cello is real!

It really is all real, electric cello really played by me. For real.

I go to some trouble to include as much useful info as I can in my track descriptions so people have some understanding of what they're hearing and how it was made. It annoys me how many people on this site put up almost no info so you have to ask things like "Hey, is this all samples?", "Are you playing the guitar here?", "Whose vocals are these?" and so on.

Yes, I only briefly referred to me playing the cello in my track description but if you go down and read some of my replies, I talk about it quite a bit.

Perhaps I've confused you because I accept that the cello does sound unusual here. I would never guess that all that heavy, distorted riffage is cello. Perhaps you're just asking for some more obvious, traditional bowed cello sounds. You can hear some of those sitting underneath the distorted Rhodes as things get funky just before it goes heavy again for the third and final movement. The bowed cello there just has reverb on it so there's no processing to fool you.

"the second part that is some sort of progrock"

Yes - I hadn't really considered that but I agree. The introduction of Fender Rhodes and strings (sample-based violins) merges nicely with the distorted riffage and is quite progressive.

"Did you plan this to begin with or did it happen naturally?"

I do not plan any of my tracks out, which is one of my great musical weaknesses though I also turn it into a strength. I have no real idea where something is going and am not able to really work out what the structure is going to be before starting. I just keep jamming and editing those jams and adding synths and moving whole sections around as I try to make something unusual and interesting (at least to me). When I'm successful, I get things that are quite different from other people's music as well as strange relationships between instruments and odd mergers of genres.

"Smooth transition between the styles"

That's great to hear as I have to work really hard at that. The track structure is often dictated by how smooth I can get the transitions. If I can't get a smooth transition, I have to go for a different structure.

If you'd like to hear a recent track with much more obvious real cello sounds, try this one. No distorted riffage but loads of layers of cello, employing various playing techniques:

The Warm Glow of Yesterday

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/176476

Thanks for your thoughts.

Sorry, I can't remember which are the three you loved.

Here are the tracks for the first album:

Circular Motion
28 Levels Above Top Secret
Right Place Wrong Century
Three Miles Late
Reckful

That's a full length album as two of the tracks (2 and 4) are 14 mins long.

All of those tracks are currently on Looperman though I have since remixed and remastered them so they will sound better when released.

Thanks again for the interest.

Hi again.

"the strings muddle the line between guitar and bass"

Yes they do. I'm still surprised that one cello riff through guitar distortion can sound big and fat like a guitar and bass playing the same riff together.

"The digital, I like it, didn't mean it in a bad way."

That's OK. All my stuff is very processed and "digital". But I use real, recorded, played instruments (played by me) as well as sample-based instruments that sound quite real to my ears.

"You ever release some of this songs to the public?"

No, not yet. Most of my online tracks are on Looperman, some others on Soundcloud and some older ones on a website I never use called Mixposure (kind of like Looperman but so much worse).

Nothing on Youtube but my albums will most probably be released through Bandcamp.

Thanks for the extra thoughts.

Yo.

"those violins just sound awesome"

The only violin parts in the track last for about 20 seconds, from about 3:20 onwards. They're my filtered, soaring string sounds (one that I have used in so, so many tracks).

"a litte mix of industrial chill out stoner with distorted violins."

So, when you say violins I think you must mean cello as that's the main instrument in the track. All the heavy riffage is distorted cello parts though there are also quite a few undistorted cello parts - you just have to listen out for them.

"it sounds really digital"

Yes, I think that might be because every time you hear the heavy acoustic drum kits, there's always the same dance drum loop underneath. As there are no bass instruments in the track (something which still surprises me) I think that fat kick helps add bass to the track. I know a kick drum is not the same as a bassline but it seems to work here.

And then towards the end you get some proper digital electronic stuff with the synth arps I use.

"industrial chill out stoner"

is a pretty good description.

It seems I cannot make a track that doesn't contain at least some chillout elements. All my heaviest tracks still have not only chillout elements but also chillout sections.

Great to hear you really enjoyed it.

Thanks.

Nuanced greetings.

Yes, this is the track I was referring to. Sometimes I listen to other people's tracks and they sound so much louder and clearer than mine and I feel just a little inadequate. I'm always not sure if my overall sound is loud, powerful and clear enough.

"plain ol' boss-ery"

No, not really a word. One I do like, though, is 'badassery'. The collective noun from 'badass'. Not a real word but makes great sense to me. I think there's quite a bit of it on display in this track.

"Reminds me a bit of Metallica at some parts"

Yes, maybe with the chugging riffage but you won't find Rhodes or synth arps in their music. I'd say they haven't done anything good in 20 years though their 80s and 90s stuff is still very good.

" the keys (?) that you played at 3:12"

Yes - Fender Rhodes, a very rarely used instrument in any heavy music. And with good reason, as it's much more of a jazz/funk/chillout type of sound. I add it for odd and unexpected flavour, something you know I love to do.

"that jazzy transition at 3:50"

Yes, those swing drums there are entirely just a transition. I really didn't want the track to start becoming jazz as I thought it would spoil the asskicking vibe but I did need a way to bridge between sections. That little drum groove seems to work nicely.

No, no timestretched guitars there, just a synth pad plus some cello underneath. No guitar anywhere in the track.

"Ever thought about making a tutorial video?"

I have not but it's an interesting suggestion as I may well have some unusual little techniques and/or music making philosophies. As I work alone and never see how others work, I wonder if I have developed some odd, little ways of doing things that might be of interest to others. I'm not really planning to do it but I'd probably call my tutorial video series something like Production Tipz n Shit with Tha Mothafuckin' Nomad.

Great to hear you'd be up for watching it. Maybe one day, if I can be bothered. I'm not the type of guy who's much into promoting himself.

A new cellout dance track coming next week.

Take care,

Nuanced Nomad

Yo.

Dirty old engine intro with a morphing filter applied to it is a kind of chugging, chilled way to start things off. I really still think all this dirty cello riffage sounds just like guitar and I'm certain no one would be able to guess they're hearing a cello if I hadn't disclosed that. There are some other, undistorted cello parts in this but it overall really doesn't sound like cello music.

"a weird sound at the end of each measure that sounds like Japanese words that someone is saying in stereo"

That is a surprising comment and I will have to go back and listen hard for that. It would be fun if that was somehow in there. More likely is that you have indeed lost it. But did you ever really have it?

"you are advancing this sound well beyond apocalyptica ever did"

The difference between me and them is that they can really play the cello and I can't. Not yet. Well, I'm good at plucking (pizzicato) but the bowing is so hard and I can't really play consistently fluent riffs. I hit the wrong string(s), hit crap tones, get lots of shitty, whingey, scrapey sounds and so on. I have to do loads of editing of my playing to end up with something decent. Adding the heavy distortion really helps mask my fuckups. No distortion and they are very exposed.

I once saw Apocalyptica at a music festival in Czech Republic. Worst festival I have ever been to! Quite a story as to why it was so awful. I'll leave that for another time.

Did you like the addition of delayed Rhodes in the second heavy movement? I think that's an unusual instrument for a heavy track. Later on, going into the third heavy movement, the Rhodes gets funky and distorted.

"Strings at 3.25 are exquisite. and then you hang them out to dry in the neversphere. hmmm sounds like a familiar plan. "

The "neversphere" is a nice term I may find some use for. Is this being too familiar a criticism? Sure, I've done stuff like that before but sometimes you just do whatever you have to to bridge sections together. The stringy pad chill helps break things up and I'm really quite pleased with the arrangement of this and the variety between the sections and the length. Seems just about right, without me trying to do too much.

" I christen this genre Cellosludge."

I think cellometallo is a more amusing term. Reminds me of Nutella. But you're welcome to cellosludge though I think it might have to be dirty, heavier and less of a dance track to really be sludge. I'd say I make stoner, grunge and some metal but not really sludge.

"That Bubble an Squeak synth was cool"

Yes, those synth arp melodies have really stuck in my head.

Nice upload will be cellout dance music. Not as good as this track, even though they were until recently joined together in a confusing, overly long mess of a track. More track splitting success for me.

Later, Mr Cru

The Bow Mad Bromad, celling shit up.

Hi Danke.

Good to hear you liked this one as I think it has an unusual sound.

"there aren't much groovy kings as you"

Yes - you know I love a great groove. I'm also quite a slave to the groove as I'm not really able to play anything good on my instruments if I don't have a good groove to play along to.

"the main riff is like a dump...tones of bricks"

Yes - that's me putting the cello through the main heavy setting I use for guitar and then using the bow in a grooving, bouncing sort of way. That cello playing technique is called 'spiccato'.

"rock, metal, chill, fusion, electro"

Yes - lots of genres here. I can't help having a bit of chill, even when it's a heavy track. I use the chill sections as a break from the heavy stuff.

Thanks again.

In word.

Thanks. I am a doing real kind of man.

And sometimes unreal, just for balance.

Thanks. I am a doing right kind of man.

And sometimes wrong, just for balance.

Sorry you can't download this but it will feature on my first released album, whose artwork is very nearly done. Should be available for free on Bandcamp soon.

I've got about 15 albums of material made over the years, which I'm working on compiling into different types of albums. Some chilled, some heavy, some funky etc.

Yo, Mr Knives.

Thanks for coming and checking out this track, which is quite a special one of mine.

Even so, there are still some things about it that annoy me. I may need to turn the bass down a bit at times, or perhaps EQ to make it less muddy as it is a mixture of different takes and playing techniques (bass guitar, synth bass etc).

" I've always loved mixing this kind of instruments that wouldn't normally go together"

That's the sort of thing I also love doing. I'm always trying to show people that any sound can go well with others. That is true but you have to actually do it and really make it work.

"Makes me feel like I'm in the desert watching some weird slow mo dance ritual with fire."

That seems quite accurate and it does somehow conjure up a desert feel. Probably because of that resonator guitar sound plus the Eastern melodies. And then you have the dark, psychedelic strings that add some sort of supernatural mood.

"the melody goes changing with some new instruments every so and then without every truly committing to it"

Yes, I keep changing stuff throughout my tracks. I try to keep things interesting and a little bit unpredictable all the time.

"hope you explore this vibe again"

I'd really like to. I guess I'll just have to try starting some slow or mid tempo far out hip hop vibe and try making it all dark and psychedelic.

Thanks again.

Hi.

Yes, your comment is much shorter than some others but that's OK. I've come to understand that quite a few people in life don't really have that much to say for themselves. It's relatively few people on here who are capable of/can be bothered to write decent reviews that say anything more than "Yeah, I like it".

Good to hear you were chilling to this as that's also what I felt when making it.

Tally mothafuckin' Pruit, yo!

About time we brought her back.

Keep your spit away from my lovely cello. Well, unless you polish it afterwards.

Intro is nice and it's predominantly cello harmonics plus some plucked (pizzicato) slides that I find deep and moving. First bowing arrives 0:29 (high shimmer).

"3:48- What is that sound?"

More cello, of course. I can't explain why there is a connection between bowing and the sounds of wind instruments (apart from the irrelevant blowing/bowing* connection) but there is as you can also produce flutey sounds with the bow.

I first heard/saw that when watching a double bass player bowing and was certain I heard flutey sounds sometimes when he went up high. I asked him about it afterwards and he said yes that was intentional. That guy was playing a 150-year-old double bass, which is pretty impressive.

"Oooohh, 4:00 change" is pretty cool. I add some amp distortion to the bass g (and one cello part) there to give it some added balls. Not trying to go badass but you know I like balls on everything. Except women. They're better without.

"4:48-5:12 is a special section"

Yes - some nice shit and the return of my chimey guitar instrument playing some sad, moving stuff.

"6:07- The sorrowful grieving of the narrator"

I find the high bowing in this section quite beautiful. Damn awkward for novice me to bow the top two strings but that's what I'm doing there. Same goes for 7:54 when it gets bigger and crazier. Similar playing but sounds different.

"I do like the bell-ish outro/intro.I do, however, agree with Master Wayne on it possibly sounding better with a more natural instrument"

I might get rid of that part right at the end, just leaving the low cello note hanging.

"This song seems special, and I feel it should be treated differently."

I've kept the other synth stuff quite minimal and I think it sounds different from my other tracks. Cello is the focus and there may be more of it than guitar in my guitariest tracks.

"the melodies you wrote carry more weight than most"

No idea why. They're really all just jammed, happy accident melodies produced through layering and seeing what happened to come out. Not planned or imagined, as always (my great musical failing).

"I dug the bits of reverse drums in there, too"

Ah yes, you're a sucker for anything reversed. When will you make a whole track just consisting of reversed sounds? The small reverses here are just part of the series of glitch effects on one hip hop drumkit in the middle. Just to give the drums a strange feel and make that section stand out.

My next track will be cellmetallo, no guitar. The Bass Bro gonna drool over my badass cello riffage.

Hope you're well.

Static Cellmad, celling shit up.

*I do enjoy a nice bowjob

Hi.

Good to hear you heard the beauty in this - I feel there is a lot.

Yes - a new instrument for me though I first wanted to play the cello aged 16, many years ago now. I have wondered if I need to keep learning new instruments so that I can have new ideas and playing styles as I constantly worry about running out of ideas on the instruments I already play. I don't think I'd like playing a wind instrument - strings are definitely my thing.

" there is something really weird happening almost all the time with my perception throughout the day"

I'm not sure I can help you with that.

" thought you must have used only one cello loop then"

I'm not sure what you mean. There's one main, looped section of cello harmonics mixed in with pizzicato that starts the track off and continues for a few minutes. But it doesn't get boring because there's so much other cello stuff that keep being introduced. There's some bass guitar too. The main cello loop does indeed have lots of delay on it, which gives it some nice movement.

"Before the Sphere represents basically an 'open' evolving music while this one is probably more 'just groove' type of track."

No, they're really both just my usual groove-based type of music. I am a slave to the groove and not very good at forming structures (or even riffs) if I don't have a good groove.

I listened to the Marcus Miller link and he is a very good bass player. Not really sure what that has to do with this track. And the cello link is lovely playing. I am not at all able to play like that yet. I wish I could!

"spectral dimention and space illusions you created on this track are quite overwhelming"

Thanks. It's hard to explain but I think it has something to do with all the cello layers and some of the delay used. It's a gentle piece of music, in which I make constant use of cello slides to give a very deep, emotional overall sound.

Thanks again.

More cello experiments coming soon.

Yo, Mr H.

I sure am giving the cello a good workout. I've hardly played any other instrument for the last 2 months. I'm trying to get half decent (nowhere near that yet) so I can really properly incorporate it in my music.

Until then, I'm having to do so much editing of the parts I record as there are so many errors and shit, unintentional tones.

" Some of the higher stuff you played around 6:30 was very cool"

I agree. It's really laidback, kind of classy playing but there are also some nice little rapid bowed runs. I find playing the top two strings (as I'm doing here) really quite difficult as they seem to be quite far away from me so I have to adjust my position just to see what I'm doing.

"some of that dobro would fit in the end part."

Quite possibly but I was adamant that I wanted to try making it work only with cello as the lead instrument. I've hardly played any slide in many months.

"I didn't care for the synth in the end so much. Things were sounding pretty organic then that popped up"

No problem if you don't like it but what you say is a bit of a surprise because that same synth sound has already occurred quite prominently twice in the track. So, check it out at 0:48 and then 3:12. By bringing it back at 7:30, I'm only returning to previously established themes so hopefully it shouldn't feel too out of place. Despite being cello-heavy, I don't see this as a natural, acoustic, organic kind of track. It's still really quite processed and progressive. So, I think the trancey arp synth fits that vibe.

"You just may be the next Jeff Lynne."

Ha, I'm a massive fan of his but I don't believe he plays cello. You're thinking of one or two of his bandmates in ELO, one of my favourite groups of all time. They are a much maligned and seriously underrated group.

Thanks again.

Hello.

From your words, I'm guessing that you're mostly a hip hop guy and that you mostly felt the hip hop drums in this one. They are indeed hip hop drums but not loops.

"these more kida dark instrumentals"

I don't hear this as very dark but no problem if you do. Deep but not dark.

"Just for the sake of shedding"

Shedding what? Skin?

Glad you liked it.

Yo, BradoBro.

Sorry to hear of your cello problems. I had problems too, which is why I put off starting to really play it for about a year. Definitely not the same sort of problems as you're having but I seem to remember you saying that you weren't happy having bought something that was just too cheap.

Yes, the slides in this are nice and probably pop up all over the place, though I'm employing a bunch of other techniques as well. First time that I've actually bowed the top two strings. I find it kind of awkward to reach them (mine is 5 string though I think I'd prefer only 4) so only make simple chord shapes (5ths) and limit my movement so that I don't screw up too much.

"Minimalist drum kit that I really like"

Yes, it's mostly a hip hop drum kit, with rock kits taking over towards the end. It's quite busy at times but, yes, I've tried to make the drums a bit more background to allow all the cello activity to shine.

Glad to hear you found this cello track relaxing. I think so too.

Next cello track will probably be the opposite - cellometallo.

Good luck with your damaged cello.

Static CellMad

Hi.

"specially the bass strings, sounds like a fretless bass"

That's all cello. There's bass guitar as well in some sections but those big slides are all cello parts.

I add a slow attack effect to the cello when recording which helps give it a "liquid" effect. And it does also make it sound like a fretless bass, as you say.

"Love progressive chill out."

Me too. I try to make all my music progressive as I'm not that interested in making regular, traditional genres of music.

Thanks again.