Sunday, November 18, 2018

With the Rider Came the Storm



So, as planned, finished up two in-progress songs this weekend, here's the first. I always loved the soundtracks created by Ennio Morricone for 70s Westerns, so I headed off to recreate something similar (all without going back to listen, so just from the impressions in my memory).

Got a chance to put the new Aerodyne Jazz bass through it's paces, and used both the Strat and the Tele for the guitars (and the Ovation for the acoustic of course).

After some consideration, I did decide to add brass and some "nonsense sound" vocals, as those were part of my impressions I had floating about and it wouldn't have seemed right to try without them!

To turn mp3 into mp4, added a couple of screen shots from Red Dead Redemption 2, another part of the inspiration for diving into this too; one screenshot run through the excellent FotoSketcher for extra atmosphere.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Enya Morricone

So last weekend I added Omnisphere to my collection of soft synths, which sparked a weekend of instrumental stuff. I called the weekend Enya Morricone weekend, as I had one Enya style track I started, and one Ennio Morricone style western track.


Through the course of the week, I started another Celtic-style instrumental, though purely guitar based.

And I also picked up and worked more on the western-style instrumental, have it all mapped out and recorded, will just wait a bit and give it some polish before calling it done.

Writing and recording ain't very photogenic - so here's a shot from Red Dead Redemption 2, through FotoSketcher
The western instrumental goes by the name "With the Rider Came the Storm", still playing with it this weekend, we'll see if it gets to a point that is somewhat done - I'm optimistic!

I decided it was time to upgrade my bass. Not my main instrument, so I didn't need anything flash, just a good, solid workhorse, with the Precision and Jazz pickups in it. After some consideration I went with...


… a Fender Aerodyne Jazz bass. Made in Japan, so solid workmanship if "nuthin' fancy" and just in the sweet spot of quality vs price, with the right range of sounds. Looks pretty snazzy too! Picked it up on Friday Nov 16th from the Guitar Center in Nashville, as wanted to try it out before purchase, not being familiar with it. Already it's in use on "Awake.." and "Rider.." so maybe y'all will get to hear it soon!

Have a good one!
   Tom