It's been a while since I actually wrote any songs, but here's all the stuff I recorded along the way... There are a few different genres and some of it is pretty ropey, but hey some of it is also great (If I do say so myself)!
I basically made three 'albums' worth of stuff, Inauguration was recorded using sounds entirely from my trusty old Yamaha MU50, on Cakewalk 3, both of which I bought when I got my first computer.
In The Heliacal Rising of... I branched out a little, had a more powerful machine and was able to actually use samples and Fruity loops to help with the recordings. Monkey is more of the same really, just a bit more developed.
I've just been restoring a load of old, old music I have on cassettes - the files on my PC have long since been Windozed, so this is the only way I could get them back! Some of these I thought I had lost for ever!
I'm pretty pleased with the results - I used Sonar 5 with a couple of useful VST plugins to get rid of the tape hiss and enhance the sound.
So here are the first bunch of tunes I wrote back in '98 using a computer I bought with cash (my first ever!), a Yamaha MU50 sound module and my old, old Yamaha PSR600 keyboard - a bit long in the tooth, some of 'em but this is history, right here...
As time went on, I upgraded my PC and started playing with soundfonts and samples. These tunes were all written when I lived in Bedminster 1999-2000, I had a more fancy keyboard then too - a Yamaha SY77 that my girlfriendatthetime's dad decided he didn't want under his bed any more. There is much more use of Fruity Loops for the drums because it was around this time that it became available as a plugin and I didn't have to record the drum tracks separately!
This is the last set of electronicky tracks I finished, around 2003-time, arranged in a nice pleasing order for your delight and enjoyment!
Just a list of the songs...
This tune showcases the amazing Ohm Boyz delay plug-in, along with the Devine Machine and a little ReFX plugin called 'The Claw'. This is current, latest, hot off the presses music from my bedroom....
Yes yes, I know it's pretty ropey! This is the first tune I wrote on my first computer wot I bought with my own money - so of COURSE it has to be here!
I was pretty pleased with the effects on the MU50, this tune was really my first real exploration into SysEx messages and things like that. Of course this isn't really relevant anymore, but at the time it was mind-blowing what you could do with Yamaha XG!
The original (and my favourite) version of the Vortex!
1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.
2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.
Which is why it's a happy tune... (jungle warfare samples, live guitar & keys)
One of my favourites, this is feel-good stoner drum and bass. All written in Sonar with a minimum of complications, basic midi sounds out of my MU50 and keyboard and a couple of cool VST's. What more do you need?
Some ramblings, samples and a nice electric piano sound. Stops a bit abruptly, but there you go. This was all recorded in Sonar and Fruity Loops.
Um, just an improv wigout... chilled out trippy drums and funky autowah guitars. A bit of throat singing and other little samples to keep it interesting.
Again, heavily influenced, another drum and bass tune...
This tune was made entirely using soundfonts from a Computer Music CD
Cheesy dance track, hilariously I tried to play the delay on the piano instead of ACTUALLY using delay on the piano.
Slow, hypnotic, someone listening to a bit too much Omni Trio, perhaps?
I used the Devine Machine to mash up a few drum loops from my Jungle Warfare CD's, which I put into Sonar where I added a 2-note synth line, playing with the VST instrument Pentagon to create both a synth part and a bass line. The SY77 just fills out the top end a bit.
Ladies and Gentlemen, A tribute! I give you the Vortex...
...I'm only doing this because I like your robot...
The aliens are coming! One afternoon with Fruity Loops. What else can I say? More Jungle Warfare Samples and a slightly alien theme...
I wrote this at a time when I was listening to a lot of Moving Shadow compilations....
This song was built up from the bassline, I always heard the 1st beat in a different place to Kieron, so when I actually got round to recording, he had to learn how to play it all over again! Jungle Warfare Samples, Fruity Loops and my guitar... Bass was recorded through the Fender Bassman on my Line6 Amp.
LYRICS
I don't know if I told you that there ain't no other
way of life for the criminal kind,
you couldn't hear it, but I did discover
how to get out of this frame of mind.
I don't know if you want it but you've got to grab it
before it's out of sight
like you never understood than when you be my lover
all of the time it's like, it's like,
I wanna be whole again...