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Description:
The title comes from reading "The Willows in Winter" to my son Maurice, which is the sequel to "The Wind in The Willows" and thinking of Toad and the sort of idyllic natural landscape. While messing around in Logic, I ended up creating a "Drag and Drop Sample Kit" in Ultrabeat from some random samples that I've collected, and some of the sounds reminded me of croaking sounds when played. Lots of ambience in here. Most of the samples come from soundsnap.com, but they are really from all sorts of places, and I don't remember where. Then I added some more Logic software instruments. There's a Junosphere preset that reminds me of a Juno I used to play a lot back in the '80s. I had a studio that a roommate had used for some practice and his musical mate left the Juno there and I did a lot of recording with it on my little Fostex. In a drugged up delirium when I was laid up due to back pain, I scored a nature movie using that and other tape samples. Just for personal interest but I remember there were frogs in it at some point. I wonder where that tape went?
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, I was thinking of adding some acoustic guitar to this to make it more The Books-like, and I may yet do that, but this is at a good point. Good enough to bounce it down and call it mix#1. Maybe it's too long? Your input is appreciated!
Hardware:
Kurzweil KME-61
Software:
LP8
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very interesting &mdash 08/17/08 - 10:37:56 AM
I like this. That rhythmic frog/toad like sound is really nice and captivating, gentle. The cow sounds that come in later are a bit distracting, out of place to me, too out loud and literal. All the other sounds are more suggestive or delicate and create a cohesive world, even if actually sourced from very different places.
It's really like feeling the living pulse of a place. Gives Toad an eerily real life quality to him.
I'm sure you could come up with a guitar part that would end up sounding really nice on this but I don't hear it enhancing this as much as something else might. I'd rather hear a more unusual melodic instrument used instead. I can imagine one of those strange old organs Mikkinylund has in his collection being used in a creative way, air squeezed through some old bellows and seeping out a quivering harmony. [ Reply to This ]
thanks! &mdash 08/17/08 - 02:56:25 PM
I had a little trouble with that cow sound myself, and I already used that sample as a theme for another piece so I wasn't too sure about it myself. I kept it in there because Maurice was a little amused by it. But I can change that sound in the Ultrabeat kit and I think I'll repost this with that substitution. I do have an old sort of beat up concertina around so maybe I'll take that bit of advice as well. I'll save the guitar playing for something else!
Great comments! [ Reply to This ]
I love ambient songs &mdash 08/17/08 - 01:59:41 PM
Very enjoyable tune, lots of nice sounds going on in there.. Thanks for sharing.
Take care
----
Kenta [ Reply to This ]
Cool ambient piece! &mdash 08/17/08 - 03:13:08 PM
Actually I saw one of those big fat toads in my garden yesterday. Rather muddy compared to the one in the pic, but still...
Musically I like this a lot. It's fun with the FX to the atmospheric soundscape you've created here! For me the cows were not perfect with the rest of the sounds, because I see one of those rain forrest museums/zoos in this. Probably more than the Willows, thanks to the many human voices in it.
And it's not too long!
Thanks for sharing!
/Henke [ Reply to This ]
exploration &mdash 08/17/08 - 04:29:09 PM
in every sense a soundtrack to exlpore by. Love the pace and and transition of sounds. ditto on the cow :-), that'd be the only nit. otherwise excellent mix. [ Reply to This ]
Toad Hall &mdash 08/17/08 - 06:19:43 PM
new sound here ..yes you did use many ambient and
atmospheric vibes on songs I recall ..but this is
all new to hear a full ambient song of yours ....
its the very much flm score ..true chill out ...
thnx alot for sharin !!!! [ Reply to This ]
Interesting it is. &mdash 08/18/08 - 01:09:08 PM
The synths swirling way in the background are gorgeous. The voices give it a dreamlike quality, reminiscent of some Kate Bush stuff, where voices hover at the edge of consciousness. I think it would go better sans la vache, but I understand your reasons. I think 2:10 -- 3:00 is the high point, conveying nighttime pastorality. But that's just me, probably. The resolution at 2:50 is perfect and might have been the way to end the piece, maybe by repeating it later. (?) On that note, I might have tried it without any percussion. The percussion adds structure, which you might want, but there is an underlying floating beauty to the piece, beneath the structure, that seems to be begging for freedom, if you know what I mean. Top production, as always. [ Reply to This ]
the vache qui rit &mdash 08/19/08 - 06:29:14 AM
Actually, I've taken that cow out in my new mix. It's pretty easy to swap out samples in the ultrabeat kit; you just drop a new sample in there. It really changes things, and I'm liking it without the cow; now it's a toad croaking proper. I also have added a pump organ software instrument; I tried my concertina, but it's so badly out of tune it introduced a new meaning to the word dissonance. I also have tried a mandolin part; I just want to have some real instruments in there. I've modified the velocity of the Japanese tour guide that is one of the louder samples in the Ultrabeat kit. I really like the drum part if that's what you'd call it, but I can see what you mean. Thanks for the comments! [ Reply to This ]
Love it all &mdash 08/19/08 - 12:25:31 PM
the pace is great and apart from the dreaded cow LOL (second cow later seemed OK though) there's a very ethereal feel to this, lovely sounds throughout, especially the warm deep rich ones. As was said the voices give that edge of consciousness feel to it all. Cheers M [ Reply to This ]
Jim, &mdash 08/19/08 - 09:16:22 PM
That cow might make a nice barbeque ;)
Lovely ambient post - guitars could work really well, depending what you did with them of course.
I really like this as it is (but I'm glad you're cooking the cow!).
Cheers,
Neil [ Reply to This ]
Barbeque &mdash 08/19/08 - 09:17:35 PM
Astronomy : ) &mdash 08/20/08 - 02:05:00 PM
Jim! This is a great piece! I really enjoy the calmness of the piece with all the different sounds. It's pretty unique and very enjoyable for sure. I could see this piece actually being used for an astronomy video. It's a very well balanced piece and I look forward to your future works. Keep it up! :D [ Reply to This ]
2:21 &mdash 11/20/08 - 12:13:57 PM
I especially like the transition at 2:21
Very nice sounds and love the use of ambient [ Reply to This ]
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It's really like feeling the living pulse of a place. Gives Toad an eerily real life quality to him.
I'm sure you could come up with a guitar part that would end up sounding really nice on this but I don't hear it enhancing this as much as something else might. I'd rather hear a more unusual melodic instrument used instead. I can imagine one of those strange old organs Mikkinylund has in his collection being used in a creative way, air squeezed through some old bellows and seeping out a quivering harmony.
[ Reply to This ]