Song-A-Day 2023

Tori’s Reef

With the bombast and majesty of Hymnos behind me, and being increasingly deprived of a good night’s sleep, I decided to do a more laid-back track. I’ve been listening a lot to what is now called “lo-fi,” but which used to be known in a positive sense as “chill” or derisively as  “Muzak.” It’s wonderful music, especially in the background when you’re engaged in something pleasant. When Mary and I go on our scuba diving vacations, we listen to a lot of new age, soft instrumental, and nuevo flamenco music, especially artists like Vangelis and Ottmar Liebert (and Luna Negra). … Continue reading

Hymnos

The last four days have been electronic or beat-based, so I was in the mood to go back to some orchestral instruments. My sample library acquisitions over the last couple of years have been as much of an expansion for me as when I got my first sampler in the late 80s, my first really good workstation synth in the late 90s, not to mention what digital audio workstations (DAWs) have done to make professional-level production achievable in the smallest of spaces. I’ve made use of the Eric Whitacre choir library before, but wanted to do something that really featured … Continue reading

Slow Light

I’m not sure what I intended to write for today’s track. After the mid-level bombast of Mind Your Own, I was hoping a song would show up, but not chasing after one in earnest. I did want to start with the rhythm of it, though, so launched BT Phobos.  Created by Spitfire Audio and musician BT (Brian Transeau), Phobos is a really interesting experiment that didn’t quite hit the mark. Bear with the tech explanation for a second. A convolution reverb is one that creates a reasonably good simulation of the acoustic profile of a particular physical space. They are … Continue reading

Mind Your Own

I love Big Beat. Fatboy Slim, Mint Royale, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy… its’ one of my favorite genres. When energy is needed, whether it’s on the dancefloor or just vacuuming the living room, there’s something about the frenetic chaos and multilayered samples that just grabs me and gets me moving. Whether or not I intended for this to be Big Beat, and how successful I was in the end, remains to be seen… I’ll need some listening time. It veers wildly into old school jazz-funk or R&B, but the sample over the top of everything just sort of nails it all … Continue reading

Mare Frigoris

Today’s piece is the type I often agonize over posting to Song-A-Day. It will become one of my collection of deep ambient works that I love to listen to while flying, meditating, or relaxing, but I always worry about boring my fellow participants. That should never be a fundamental concern, of course. Creativity is a strange beast, though it’s not always what people think it is. Here one of the most eye-opening statements regarding it I ever came across: “Creativity is not a talent; it is a way of operating.” John Cleese This is far deeper than it seems on … Continue reading