Progress

SmokeyVW

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Description

album: Mindscapes
track 1: 4:47 Atlantis
track 2: 4:18 Playground
track 3: 5:41 Tigre Blanco
track 4: 3:48 Covalent Bond
track 5: 6:07 Where Do I Stand?
track 6: 0:42 Time Flowing Backwards
track 7: 5:32 Tiny Soul
track 8: 5:12 Fade
track 9: 4:49 Induction
track 10: 6:06 Progress
track 11: 3:23 The Clairsentient
...more albums...

Song Description

A song about progress.

About that pic.

Loops:
my loop "Balinese Scattering" played on "Asian Kit"
my loop "Smokey Bass" played on "Upright Jazz Bass"
my loop "Moody Singers" played on "South African Singers"
"Nian Hua Cymbals 02"
"Mexican Mariachi Drums 06"
"Andean Stroll Guitaron" (edited)
"Andean Stroll Guitaron" (edited) played on "Russian Balalaika"
"RnB Beat 06"
"Desire B Violins 2" (edited) played on "Tonewheel Organ"
"Choral Synth Pattern 24" (edited)
"Desire B Violins 2" (edited)
"RnB Beat 08"
"Irish Reel Bouzouki 02" (edited)
"Scottish Ides Drum 01"

Here's another rather different version of this song: That's Progress.

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Song Stats

Hits: 1260
Comments: 25
Fans: 5
Plays: 130
Downloads: 59
Votes:
Uploaded: Mar 25, 2007 - 10:08:52 AM
Last Updated: Sep 19, 2008 - 10:56:12 AM Last Played: Nov 04, 2009 - 12:54:56 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs

Song Actions

Comments

paddler

paddler said 959 days ago (March 25th, 2007)

Spacey choral - listening as I write
Love that ambient female choiry sound - like the way it modulates.I recognise that picture too - isn't that something thats in the progress of currently being built,in Japan or somwhere? The choir very subtley just faded out - quite manic bassy sounds like something being constructed out of concrete.Good hammond sound,doubling up of rhythm in a banjo type sound.Very unusual sound overall,original and interesting.Sort of sums up a sci-fi world of progress/non progress,beautiful but scarey.Very creative ad original,thanks

Check out my latest song called Tiger Flame (Halloween Challenge)

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 958 days ago (March 26th, 2007)
	. i guess i should add some more info to the description about the picture. i'm glad you picked up "beautiful but scarey" - i definitely had that in mind. thanks for listening and commenting Check out my latest song called Settle

BAMPOT	BAMPOT said 959 days ago (March 26th, 2007)
	Love this. This is so up my street it aint funny. Great work my friend. Gonna check out your other tracks on the strength of this one. Check out my latest song called LA LUNA

SmokeyVW

SmokeyVW said 958 days ago (March 26th, 2007)

.
i have already dropped by to visit one of your tunes. most excellent! please do try some of my other tunes, but beware my tastes are all over the map.

maybe you subconciously heard the Scottish Ides Drum loop towards the end of this song? i used that to tie the rhythm back to the opening voices.

the opening is basically in 70 BPM.

the middle part is is 140 BPM.

the ending is 70 BPM.

mostly the middle part has a beat like this: one-TWO-three-FOUR.
after the break, the Scottish drums come in doing: one-two-THREE-four.

but you can hear the Scottish drums as playing one-TWO-three-FOUR being played at half speed - a hint at the original 70 BPM origin. (at least here in the USA, that beat brings to mind funerals for many folks, a hint at a darker meaning in this song)

Check out my latest song called Settle

Macaudion

Macaudion said 958 days ago (March 26th, 2007)

Very, very well done!
I came here, not in the mood, or having time to listen to music, but to just go and do what I needed to do...

Well, I'm not ready for this experience to be over with yet.

And it does host the traits of what progress can be at times - sweet working motion

Lots of cool and interesting sounds, and their all thick w/ character. Dign' the way you used percussion on this, and in a few ways. too.

Is "Progress" what this started out to be? Curious.

I haven't commented on anybody's music at MJ's for quite some time, work and traveling and many other things have had me captured. I haven't even been here for quite awhile, so mums the word.

Somehow it seems, that this tune was made for me! I'm happy!

Thanks, Smoky! Macca

Ps - what kinda gear are you using to put this together? Like, what software, hardware, instruments and stuff.

Check out my latest song called 123 iGetU

SmokeyVW

SmokeyVW said 958 days ago (March 26th, 2007)

.
no. the title "Progress" was added at the end. i'll explain.

this came from experimenting with the World Music JamPack instruments.

first, i fooled around with the "South African Singers" software synth. a previous song also featured that synth. i love the sound - it's inspiring. and i fooled around with several Balinese loops eventually creating the opening sound you hear here. i especially like the gong that sounds like waves gently crashing on the shore. to me, this became a South Pacific paradise sound at 77 BPM.

second, i fooled around with Andean Stroll Guitaron, Russian Balalaika, Irish Reel Bouzouki, and various other JamPack synths and loops. i built up a strong catchy beat pattern at 128 BPM.

one day they collided. i slowed the first 77 BPM part to 70 BPM, and sped up the second 128 BPM to 140 BPM. that way they could retain their moods, but be crossfaded.

much later, when i was mostly done, i realized i had created an expression of a modern nightmare that has disturbed me very much over the years. you take a nice calm paradise with waving palm trees, add some tourists, which leads to more tourists, which leads to tourist accomodations, which leads to the final destruction of the very paradise itself. that's called progress.

googling about for images, i finally found a symbolic image of a palm tree. a very unusual palm tree (one of three actually), that is an absolutely perfect icon for my nightmare. *sigh*

but, despite all this nonsense, i'm glad this tune made you happy. i could be entirely wrong about the true meaning of this composition. really. i discussed this idea somewhere else recently. what really counts is what you feel when you hear this, not my random musings!

thank you very much for listening - i hope to see your comments all over the site again soon!

Check out my latest song called Settle

Macaudion	Macaudion said 956 days ago (March 28th, 2007)
	Came back for another listend ...and then, I realized that I hadn't fav'd or downloaded a copy. That's what happens when ya don't do what yer supposed to do! Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed response. Truly appreciated! Macca --- I just love music! Check out my latest song called 123 iGetU

	said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	Mechanical Paradise Tropical WestWorld. I enjoyed this - your transitions/sound evolutions were deceptively smooth (until the final voice deflation, purposely meant to be disruptive), your textures intriguing.

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	. i am glad you enjoyed this you picked up on the smooth "sneaking up on you" effect i was going for! thanks Check out my latest song called Settle

kristyjo	kristyjo said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	Love the piece. You use those loops very creatively - to express some very complex ideas. Good music, including your replies here, which add a lot of depth to the listening for me. Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	. this is one of those times that the creativity happened first intuitively, then the complex ideas got noticed and tacked on afterwards. thanks for listening and commenting your comment, and the others, prompted me to add some detail about the loops i used in case someone has World Music and feels like experimenting. it's loads of fun! give it a try! Check out my latest song called Settle

stooey	stooey said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	Sounds like Kraftwerk!! Which is a good thing. Check out my latest song called Loop It Oldfieldlian

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	. i am an operator... with my pocket calculator... B^) thanks stoooey Check out my latest song called Settle

stooey	stooey said 957 days ago (March 27th, 2007)
	How did you know That is my favourite Kraftwerk song! Coming in Second is Autobahn. (What a shocker!) --- That's not my real hair....and the guitar is a fake too! Check out my latest song called Loop It Oldfieldlian

bud	bud said 956 days ago (March 28th, 2007)
	Great "Quiet Village" opening there's a nice Martin Denny vibe to this - I've noticed your interest in the genre before. As I've come to expect from you there's more than meets the ear going on here. Very cool mixing of the tempos and voicings. Quite enjoyable. Check out my latest song called Expanding Toys (Halloween Remix)

SmokeyVW

SmokeyVW said 956 days ago (March 28th, 2007)

.
hmmm, you have again referred to a specific vibe i don't know by name. that's a good thing! i'm learning more about genres from your posts than anywhere else. your depth of knowledge is impressive you know.

(unrelated - i just tried listening to recording of the name Mississippi played 10 times slower than normal. lots of room for something new in that. stay tuned!)

thanks

Check out my latest song called Settle

bud

bud said 956 days ago (March 28th, 2007)

Quiet Village is a song on Martin Denny's
album called Exotica released in 1957. It started the whole Hawaain/Latin lounge genre that was too groovy before the sixties. I'm sure you've heard it - just not by name.
Can't wait to hear the Mississippi project..
BTW - I just threw up a little experimental interlude to break away from beat driven music for a minute.

Check out my latest song called Expanding Toys (Halloween Remix)

	said 956 days ago (March 28th, 2007)
	Hey...way cool! This is a great bit of tuneage Smokey. Very creative. So many sonic textures. Beautifully layered mix. Conceptually, this one could go on an EP with Vic Holman's "Hail The Machine" and my newbie "Assembly Line." Seems we're feeling and thinking much the same way about these things. Be well! http://www.macjams.com/song/30366

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 956 days ago (March 28th, 2007)
	. thanks for the tuneage pointers. i agree, there is a link there. coincidence? & thanks for listening! Check out my latest song called Settle

Parichayaka

Parichayaka said 955 days ago (March 29th, 2007)

So different...
I could help but enjoying it! What I like most about your music, is that you never know what to expect. And all your musical experiments turn out to be interesting and fun, to say the least. Your track does get a little busy towards the end - but I really don't mind - there's so much creative stuff going on. The music sounded almost childlike (in a really good sense!), inventive - much like what I first thought of the idea of building an artifical island in the shape of a lollipop - oh palmtree - excuse ME:)

Another great smokey track thunk up way outside the box:)

Check out my latest song called f12

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 953 days ago (March 31st, 2007)
	. funny about boxes. i often feel i'm trapped in my own box, while i see other people around me breaking out of theirs. i guess it's all relative... yeah, i does get busy towards the end, but i kinda wanted it to. thank you for listening & commenting Check out my latest song called Settle

echoroom

echoroom said 954 days ago (March 30th, 2007)

Creepiy smiley
This feels like ... something roten in Denark, a chilled little tune with a whiff of decay about it. Something about the female vocal tune gives this a menacing edge. the change sounds like technology swamping the human voice, and i love how this accelerates this.
Sounds like teh soundtrack to my panic attacks.

Really graet piece of work, sort of thing I hear that inspires me to get out of my comfort zone.

Steve

Check out my latest song called Deeper (w/t Racerat)

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 953 days ago (March 31st, 2007)
	. i had fun playing the 70BPM against 140BPM. i guess you were picking up on that. i wonder if people living on tropical islands, before progress washed upon their shores, suffered from panic attacks? thanks for listening!!! Check out my latest song called Settle

branchgraft	branchgraft said 916 days ago (May 7th, 2007)
	pure ...enery.. the very definition I'd say.. good piece! Check out my latest song called Nuclear Sentry Rider

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 869 days ago (June 23rd, 2007)
	. thanks for dropping by! try listening to this new different version: http://www.macjams.com/song/32880 Check out my latest song called Settle

Fan List

bud

Artist Info

Name: Bill

Eclectic, at best. I learned some music theory at school, and read a ton about it since. I've listened to lots of music over the years. I once played guitar in an actual garage band and actually got paid to play! Once. Although live performance is an... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

Ambient music is a loosely defined musical genre that incorporates elements of a number of different styles - including jazz, electronic music, new age, rock and roll, modern classical music, reggae, traditional, world and even noise.

More songs in Ambient:

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