Welcome To Part 2!
Per splurge criteria, I would eliminate songs and select my favorites to work on or to include in a final album. Or, I would spend less time producing each song and keep them as ideas.I'm not doing that.
I made 29 songs and I want to put all of them on an album.
I'm not afraid to use them again or copy them. Project files are probably only good for 5-6 year before planned obsolecense renders them useless with a software updates, missing sound file, dongle change, or HD expiration."If my iPhone 7 takes a big sh🤬t, all the project files will be gone and I will only have these exported songs." That is one of the manny unexpected hidden benefits to exporting when I am done creating a song.
Let's dive into again and pickup where the last post left off. (https://steempeak.com/music/@steemseph/details-about-the-songs-on-tetrahedroseph-s-new-album-jackie-lee-vs-bruce-chan-hip-hop-battle-part-1-of-3)
Song Title, Key Signature, Time Signature, Tempo, Duration, Creation Date
11. Why Was Jackie A Cowboy, A minor, 4/4, 130bpm, 03:23, 10/18/2019
Do you remember the movie where he was a cowboy? I didn't want to see it. I didn't see it. Maybe I should see it. I will if it's free to watch.This songs has 13 tracks. I like how the percussion sounds like horses galloping. I can hear pops and clicks in this song. Those pops and clicks are there because of the samples I cut up. Listen to the low hum bass parts. It's kinda nasty, but it also fits the strangeness of the songs. Like a "bad record" effect. Her the pop/click sound when the tale of the bass cuts off? That is what happens when we cut a sample without access to cross fades and then add lots of compression to it. I like it for this, for me. I might try to hide it for a "client." I'll revisit this technique again later.
This songs and the next run right into each other when I play them via an iTunes playlist.
12. Steps On Your Head Three Times, G minor, 4/4, 198bpm, 01:48, 10/18/2019
Yup, he could do that. It would hurt and make me laugh if he did it to me. I got superman punched twice once... maybe it was three times in a row, I laughed to my self the last time and on my opponents next attempt my foot broke his rib. It happens. He got greedy. We were "smokers" (kick-boxers that fight before the main events). :)Big start in this tune. It's the dub-step we've all been waiting for. I snuck in the traditional Chinese percussion though. Can you hear it?
There are only 10 tracks, but it sounds very busy and prefect for a high action/drama sex-girl cop anime series intro.
13. Pork Dumplings In The Bronx, D major, 4/4, 110, 04:22, 10/18/2019
This title is a parody of the movie title Rumble In The Bronx. I saw it in the theater. I didn't like it too much, but I was glad to see a Jackie Chan movie in the theater and in America. The bloopers at the end were fun. The over dubs made it hard for people that were not accustomed to viewing over-dubbed movies.Pork Dumplings In The Bronx is the first time I used the Yangqin sampler loops. I detuned it and cut up the samples. I like it a lot. The detuned Yangqin can function as a bass in some of my splurge songs.
Sometimes I speed it up or slow it down to make it's chord changes fit my song. I use GarageBand's "Transposition" settings see in the image below to lower an instruments pitch by one, two, and sometimes three octaves.
The image above is showing the "Settings" button that appears when I want to change an audio region's octave. I use this tool a lot. I like it for the string instruments... and everything!!!
I should also mention that Pork Dumplings In The Bronx is the first songs where I've used a sample of a Dizi. It's a type of flute.I felt like the songs needed a texture or instrument that wasn't plucky or percussive sounding. I wish the Dizi and the Yangqin were also MIDI software instruments. I would use them a lot more.
14. Jackie Doesn’t Practice Excuses, A minor, 6/8, 61bpm, 03:15, 10/20/2019
This title was inspired by someone I know who was making up lots of excuses. At the time I wondered if and when Jackie C might make excuses for his shortcomings, off shore bank accounts, or whatever.More chilin' with beats, but this time a songs that's not a 4/4 time signature chill. It's not easy creating with 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures on GarageBand. I've seen worse, but there are less samples and loops that work without creating rhythmic illusions. Rhythmic illusions are fun... if you want that, but I didn't. Rhythm is king, but It's not a counting game all the time. Make them dance! Wait, in 6/8? Let's just move on.
I had to actually perform the bass and Guzheng parts. I'm so tired, boo hoo hoo. I just want to press buttons. Boo hoo hoo. This songs has more of that detuned Guzheng, but this time an electric bass guitar. There are two Guzheng tracks. One is "regular" and the other has lots of FX on it.
I like this song, but the end leaves me wanting more. I think I like that, but it was almost too easy.
15. Broomstick Trick, G minor, 6/8, 148bpm, 02:55, 10/20/2019
This title is dedicated to a broom stick trick that Jackie does with his foot. He kicks it up into his hands or spins it around or something... he talks about it in a BHTS video, right? I guess I should do some more research.Another song in 6/8 because I wanted to see if I could use a bunch of loops and samples intended for a 4/4 time signature in a song that was 6/8. I did lots of splicing, cutting, and hiding instruments that drove a 4/4 time signature.
Is it a counting game? It is isn't it. I can count it because I made it, but honestly there have been a couple times where I've walked into the room listening to the songs and wondered "where the hell is the down beat?" It's caught me of guard a few times. I should have made the KICK DRUM LOUDER! It's on beat 1 and 4.
People can't dance to this shit. Broomstick Trick sounds more like fighting and running and then fighting and then running again and then fighting again!
At this point in the splurge process, songs sound less experimental and I think I can see patterns. Experimentation is more subtle now. I've become more efficient and less attached. It still takes a little too long to fixing parts when trying to make them sound a less like the original samples and loops.
Many other types of splurge concept albums are brewing in my mind. This project is fun and finished. It's only the beginning. It's been a wild ride so far.
Thanks for reading this far. Keep those core muscles tight and hold yer back, here we go again.
16. Does Jackie Sleep, D major, 4/4, 110bpm, 04:11, 10/21/2019
Just a name to imply that the song is a lullaby. Is it though? Maybe too many splashy sounding cymbals. Abrupt sounds can be disruptive. What do you think?I am becoming quite fond of the Yangqin and Guzheng. All of the Guzheng parts were lowered an octave and only portions of the Yangqin's regions were lowered an octave. There are nine tracks in Does Jackie Sleep. I wanted lots of percussion because I thought it would be an interesting challenge to create meditation music with lots of percussion. Five of the nine tracks were percussions and one could say six tracks of percussion if we include the trap drum set.
17. Meditation With Jackie, A major, 4/4, 40bpm, 08:24, 10/22/2019
This song and title and the series of smilingly relaxing songs are inspired by many conversations about meditative music for breath works sessions or yoga sessions. I plan to have many more meditative song creating session. Not me meditating, but me creating songs that go well with meditation. Maybe even chats. Not this album series though. Look for that in future splurges.Yangqin and Guzheng loops come together again to create soothing tropical waterfalls for our ears. Percussion jumps in to bing us back. Yes, lots of detuned stuff here too. Please forgive me Yangqin and Guzheng professionals.
These songs should sound like they run together sometimes. I might be old school, but this album was intended to sound like one giant song with lots of sections. I hope Bandcamp and the majority of music players out there can play the album without breaks.
18. Choked Out By Jackies Leather Belt, E minor, 4/4, 40bpm, 12:30, 10/22/2019
Getting choked out is like sleeping, right? Getting chocked out is like an embracing misspelling on permanent artwork, right? I need a QA manager. This songs is 12:30 long. That's serious brain damage. Anyway, Jackie does lots of belt defense tactics in movies, right? I gotta do more research to verify, but let me know, thanks.The koto drumming loop creates the intro to this song and eventually the percussion takes over. YES! Percussion for meditation. It's easy with lots of reverb and delay. My self-imposed challenge was to create a non-disruptive, meditative, percussion sections. First without drum pulse and then later in the song with a drum pulse and a traditional chinese persuasion ensemble to make it beautiful. I will be toying with this concept in the future.
19. Jackie Rhodes And Warbles In China, C major, 4/4, 189bpm, 00:51, 10/24/2019
I'm not gonna lie. That title is click bait. Don't hate the player. The "Rhodes" part is to pickup on searches for Rhodes electric pianos. I have personal blog that receives most of it's traffic because of an old post about a Rhodes piano. TThe "China" part of this songs title is to get culturally divers people, and the "Jackie" part of the songs title is to get the usual Jackie/movie/martial arts fans. I'm gonna be rich!
While I was splurging out this alum my friend contacted me and asked if I could make some music for his project. I agreed and imediatly go to work. The timing was good and I quickly created two "songs" that had various sections the he could cut out and use as he had described. It was a shot in the dark in the end he was very happy and he created this video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GSm7LltoC/
<https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GSm7LltoC/>
By the time you read this, there might be other songs in this Nature Journal Entry series. I wish https://www.instagram.com/schoolhouse_farmhouse/ was on Steem. Help me tell them to visit us here on Steem Platforms.
Eventually, I transformed those two songs into what you hear now on this album. The originals are similar yet very different. I could put "remix" in the songs title but, I wanted to hide the similarity. I'm turning myself in now.20. Jackie Kicks Chimes Hanging In Window, C major, 4/4, 197, 01:32, 10/25/2019
This is the second song I was referring to in the other song's details above. A friend asked me to make songs for his project. He sent me a sample of a songs he liked. The song had chimes in it, so I decided to start there by trying to use chimes also. It was hard to find wind chimes.Whoa that big drums sound is crazy! This whole song is crazy, but like I said, I was trying to hide the similarity. Anyway, part of this song was used in this video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6TC827FMO2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link<https://www.instagram.com/p/B6TC827FMO2/>
The video below was also created by my friend and it contains music that this song, "Jackie Kicks Chimes Hanging In Window" was molded after. That is a weird way to say it... hey look birds have red!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6nxByPlJ5Z/<https://www.instagram.com/p/B6nxByPlJ5Z/>