Uneducated

[jonetsu]

A smooth piece w/o percussion, in two parts. The first part has only several Repro-5 synths (native Linux) whereas the second part is based on piano (pianoteq, Linux) with u-he Linux/native synths ACE (bass), Diva, Dark Zebra and Bazille as atmospheres.

This piece was made 'off the grid', giving it a kind of natural breathing. 'Off the grid' means composed, played and recorded without any bpm ticking. It's a soft piece dedicated to the freedom inside.

https://soundcloud.com/nominal6/uneducated

jam228-9-Uneducated.jpg (6.89 KiB) Viewed 848 times

[milo]

This is a really nice piece. Good balance of sounds, interesting synth tones, and nice melodies. Going "off the grid" -- can you really do that with electronic instruments? -- gives it a really gentle feel. Like camping in the mountains, and realizing how nice it is to be away from the 60 Hz buzz of electricity which is all around us all of the time.

[jonetsu]

Like camping in the mountains, and realizing how nice it is to be away from the 60 Hz buzz of electricity which is all around us all of the time.

You've pinned it exactly.

As for using synths w/o bpm ticking, eg. w/o observing the 'grid' is simple as playing a keyboard. There are no sequences, no arps in there. It's all played. So the piano track is played and the rest is added 'naturally' with the piano track as reference. The DAW as a (cassette) tape recorder.

I was tempted, once all played, to make it fit into the 'grid' by adjusting the notes although I found that the atmosphere as is was so beautiful as it was that I resisted that temptation. I only slightly adjusted the timing of some notes. That's because the player is not as good as he thinks

[GMaq]

Hi jonetsu!

Nice pensive piece! Very evocative of not being encumbered indeed and a beautiful blend of sounds and pads. I particularly like the combo of the vocal type pad and the deep bass underneath, they layer together nicely and the piano in the later section also gave a nice impression of free space..

As far as off the grid, I rarely use a grid or even record to a click (luxury of having a good drummer) but of course it serves it's purpose in some musical styles... I think we vastly underestimate the value of tempo fluctuation as a dramatic device to convey emotion, those infinitely varying milliseconds of "human-timing" are just as useful as the microtones in a guitar string bend or a violin vibrato to say what we want to say authentically..

This is simply a well put together piece and the fact it was on or off grid really had no bearing on my enjoyment of it... Thanks for sharing! Nice to see you post again!

[jonetsu]

I think we vastly underestimate the value of tempo fluctuation as a dramatic device to convey emotion, those infinitely varying milliseconds of "human-timing" are just as useful as the microtones in a guitar string bend or a violin vibrato to say what we want to say authentically..

I totally agree. There's much more to it than the 'grid' so to speak, in every sense of it.

I'll be moving next month. I thought, maybe I can drop by to say hi before leaving. I can bring a couple of Guiness. More in pm later.

Cheers.

[GMaq]

I think we vastly underestimate the value of tempo fluctuation as a dramatic device to convey emotion, those infinitely varying milliseconds of "human-timing" are just as useful as the microtones in a guitar string bend or a violin vibrato to say what we want to say authentically..

I totally agree. There's much more to it than the 'grid' so to speak, in every sense of it.

I'll be moving next month. I thought, maybe I can drop by to say hi before leaving. I can bring a couple of Guiness. More in pm later.

Cheers.

Oh? Cool, I'll keep an eye on my Inbox..

[folderol]

This is very nice indeed. Something for quiet reflection at the end of a long and difficult day.

[jonetsu]

This is very nice indeed. Something for quiet reflection at the end of a long and difficult day.

Something akin to that indeed.