[Chill] Causality

I've just hit Play Walt... So far so good...
 
back in a min

Hey Walt,
 
Its good man.
 
I wouldnt invest too much more time into it, it gets the vibe across, it has a full spectrum and mixed and produced well, nothing sticks out badly.
 
If you wanted what could be added, a brass horn swell here and there, with create more tension. But its not a necessary addition for me.
 
Cian

Lovely sounding mix Walt, your stuff always sounds so warm and full, yet crystal clear. Not my favourite piece of yours from a musical/thematic point of view, but its quality is undeniable.

Well done - very cool tune.

Walt,
 
I havn't heard many songs about the concept of free will, except for Rush's song of them same name, which I found  banal and uninteresting, despite the frantic, high powered instrumental. (You can't hear most of the lyrics, anyway.)
 
This is more of a spoken word number over a flowing rhythmic dance groove. It reminds me of Gil Scott Heron quite a bit, who was a rapper before we had that term.
 
This track has a really cool jazz-flavored feel with lyrics that aren't preachy- and they fit (rhythmically) the instrumental well. The repetition (in time) with delay really works.
 
Cool and interesting number.
 
Cheers,
 
Bert
 

"@Bert Guy: thanks Bert!  Now I'll have to go listen to some Gil Scott Heron.  "Interesting" is exactly what I was going for on this one.  Glad you liked it!"
 
Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaoXAwl9kw&list=RDqGaoXAwl9kw#t=21
 
Cheers,
 
Bert

Geeeesh...well if you weren't at those board game conventions maybe you would have gotten it finished sooner:)
 
I love the whole concept of this Walt. I love this kind of mental debate too...so I liked it all the way around. Very well mixed. I love that jazz vibe!
 

is there a new Shaft movie coming ?
awesome bass line, you just see the guy standing there with his afro 70s haircut.
taking 1 piece of the percussion and putting that mono in the center only, might add an 'analog,vintage' feel to is, not sure though.
(just thought the percussion maybe better in less stereo sound).
great stuff !

 Great sounding mix of course. I really like the syncopation you have going on there with the bass. I think it is a superb interesting track the way it is but I think would greatly benefit from a soloing instrument here and there. Sax, trumpet, or guitar. Really interesting as is though.   

I loved it. Sounds really good. Nice job all around. 
Think the keyboard solo is too wet (just a tad too far back IMO). No matter. Killer groove!

@Starise: Thanks Tim!  To be honest, I am not sure which side of the mental debate I agree with, but it's interesting to think about, philosophically.  As for the music, thanks for your kind words.  This started as a "subtractive production" exercise, trying to create a misleading rhythm in the intro, then revealing the bigger picture gradually.  Afterwards, I decided to add the piano, which is what I think gives it the jazz vibe.  I admit I'm not the best pianist, but I guess I found some chords and riffs that seemed to work with the "dancy" rhythm underneath.
 
@philz: Thanks Phil!  I appreciate your time and ears. :)
 
@Wouter Schijns: Thanks for your creative imagery, always appreciated. :)  The bass is actually played on my keyboard for this one (although I often play one of my electric basses).  I just loved the sound I get from the Scarbee Rickenbacker Palm Mute intrument in Kontakt, and decided to go with it.
 
@Bob Oister: Thanks Bob!  I seem to go for "clever" when I can, and just hope I don't go too far in that direction.  As for the main song vibe, "chill" is at the center of the dial these days, and this one has a sprinkling of "jazz" and "dance" to go with it.  Glad you enjoyed it. :)
 
@ohgrant: Appreciate your taking the time to listen Grant, and thanks for your comments!  As for a solo instrument, there is a lead guitar track that plays for much of the first half of the song, and piano that solos for the 2nd half of the song.  They're not as "in your face" as might be in a rock or pop tune, but something more up front or aggressive might change the vibe of the song too much.
 
@theguitarplayer: Thanks John!  Yeah, the philosophy stuff is a bit of a brain burner, but I'm hoping not to focus too much on the philosophical content, and just sort of acknowledge that there's something to think about if one desires to do so.  As I mentioned to Tim above, I don't have any firm feelings on the subject myself, and am trying to stick to the music. :)  In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed the improv!
 
@Rimshot: Hey Jimmy, thanks. :)  You may be right about the saturation on the piano (and maybe other things too).  I'm thinking about making the mix a bit drier.  Your ears are appreciated.
 
@evadianepug: Thanks Warren!  If someone had played this song for me 10 years ago and said it was going to be ME, I'd have laughed in their face. ;)  I've been charting into some new musical territory in recent years.  So far it's been a fun ride!
 

This is so awesome.  Just the instrumental grooves alone would have been perfect, but i like the spoken bit choices.  I've thought about doing something like this but haven't found vocal phrases that seemed a good fit.  This is ideal.
 
Well done!

Love it!  P-Bass with a pick?  Tell me about the drum loop.  Did you make it?  Very, very, cool.  Great air and wide stereo.   Would love to hear about the ingredients. Double thumbs up!  It's done already!
Thanks!

@michaelhanson: Thanks Mike, glad you liked it. :)
 
@cwestmont: Thanks CW.  I searched around a bit on the Internet Archive, looking for public domain audio clips.  I found the Free Will debate and listened for a few hours, and eventually picked out some short snippets, which I edited down and used in the song with some tempo-synched delay.
 
@rebel007: Glad you got into the groove!  But as for adding more spoken parts, I wanted to keep it relatively simple, and not too controversial along the way.
 
@jmasno5: Thanks John.  Sorry to say that this was one track that I actually did NOT play a physical bass on.  The bass is this one: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/scarbee-rickenbacker-bass/
I just love the sound of it and decided to use it on this song.  Besides that, I also used Arturia Spark for the main drum kit, Addictive Drums 2, Reaktor (Rhythmaker/Levvo), and NI Cuba for additional percussion, AAS Lounge Lizard and Scarbee Mark I electric pianos, Zero-G Epica (Dream Pad patch), Colossus (for some vocal "ooh" samples, which I chopped up considerably), and finally some Alicia's Keys (piano, obviously) for the solo bit at the end.  The only actual physical instrument that I played was the guitar (on my Fender Strat, plugged into NI Guitar Rig 5).
 
As far as the drum loops go, I started with a few different ones that I got from the Spark synth, but then I think I modified one or two of them in some small ways.
 
@CreatingNoise: Thanks Tony, glad you liked it!  It was definitely fun for me to make it.

Walt Collins
 
 
@jmasno5: Thanks John.  Sorry to say that this was one track that I actually did NOT play a physical bass on.  The bass is this one: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/scarbee-rickenbacker-bass/
I just love the sound of it and decided to use it on this song.  Besides that, I also used Arturia Spark for the main drum kit, Addictive Drums 2, Reaktor (Rhythmaker/Levvo), and NI Cuba for additional percussion, AAS Lounge Lizard and Scarbee Mark I electric pianos, Zero-G Epica (Dream Pad patch), Colossus (for some vocal "ooh" samples, which I chopped up considerably), and finally some Alicia's Keys (piano, obviously) for the solo bit at the end.  The only actual physical instrument that I played was the guitar (on my Fender Strat, plugged into NI Guitar Rig 5).
 
As far as the drum loops go, I started with a few different ones that I got from the Spark synth, but then I think I modified one or two of them in some small ways.

Well you put it all together and that is one cool piece of art.   Yes, I own 6 basses but I almost bought the Scarbee Rick when it was on sale at NI.  Maybe next time I will.  Thanks.