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Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: May 30 2011, 15:58 Hi, I don't know if anyone would be interested in this, or if I'm in contravention of rules of the forum, rules of decency, rules of self aggrandisement, or any other rules... but.... I'm writing a short series of blog posts on how I write my Purple Rhapsody tracks - the first is online now. It will take you from the initial inspiration all the way through to the finished track. The link to my blog is http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog.html and there are sound snippets on there of how the track progresses. I should point out that this is a 'live it as it happens' thing because the track isn't actually finished yet so you can follow along with my progress as it gets closer and closer to completion. Good idea? Bad idea? Suggestions for what I should focus on in my next post? Just let me know, either on here or by commenting on my blog. Hopefully I'm not offending anyone or "blowing my own trumpet" I just thought I'd share something more than just my music for a change. The link again is: http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog.html EDIT: This direct link might work better on some browsers - I have a Javascript error on my main blog page... http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=146 EDIT 1st June - Part 2 is online now. I discuss melody and show that I really don't know what I'm doing! http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=147 EDIT 4th June - Part 3 is online now. Mixing and mastering get my attention this time... http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=150 Cheers, Terry. PS: I've put the tracks on Soundcloud but set them as private. I _think_ that means the snippets will not appear in my track list on Soundcloud but WILl work in my blog posts but please please please let me know if they don't and I'll make them public. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

hph Group: Members Posts: 70 Joined: Nov. 2009 Posted: May 30 2011, 16:19 Very interesting, thanks for the link, Terry. By the way, I love the piece of music you used to demonstrate the developing process of your music. The piano version is already very good. I like "making of" - stuff. So keep it coming.   hans Back to top

Philippe Tavares Group: Members Posts: 1612 Joined: Feb. 2005 Posted: May 30 2011, 16:20 No it's really a great idea but we can't see correctly in your website ; seems that the window is too short to see the complete page , hope you see what i mean ! Please do something i'm interested ! The end of first part of your piano contains some chords of Enya i guess !   Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: May 30 2011, 16:25 Quote (Tubular Tos @ May 30 2011, 21:20) No it's really a great idea but we can't see correctly in your website ; seems that the window is too short to see the complete page , hope you see what i mean ! Please do something i'm interested ! The end of first part of your piano contains some chords of Enya i guess !   Hi, IS this direct link any better...? http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=146 Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: May 30 2011, 16:35 Quote (Tubular Tos @ May 30 2011, 21:20) The end of first part of your piano contains some chords of Enya i guess !   Purely coincidental! The only Enya album I ever owned was 'Watermark' (or I think it was that one, it had Orinoco Flow on it! I'm really not very familiar with her music but I do love her voice (and I'm always more than happy to be compared with a successful talented musician ;-) ) Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

Philippe Tavares Group: Members Posts: 1612 Joined: Feb. 2005 Posted: May 30 2011, 17:04 and i think it's watermark chords !.. Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: May 31 2011, 11:58 Quote (Tubular Tos @ May 30 2011, 22:04) and i think it's watermark chords !.. Drat! I'm not making excuses but... I haven't listened to that album for at least 10 years. I had it on vinyl and haven't had a record player for that long. Any track in particular that it reminds you of...? (And then I can go and listen on Spotify before slapping myself.) The good news (or bad if you're an Enya fan) is that my plan for the second part will probably be done in a completely different way to anything she's done. I hope. Maybe. Gulp! ;-) Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

HR lover Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: Sep. 2010 Posted: May 31 2011, 15:27 I like it Ginger Daddy. I have one question though. How did you make that bass part connect to the rest of the music?, because I'm always screwing that part up, and it never seems to fit in! -------------- Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: May 31 2011, 16:22 Quote (HR lover @ May 31 2011, 20:27) I like it Ginger Daddy. I have one question though. How did you make that bass part connect to the rest of the music?, because I'm always screwing that part up, and it never seems to fit in! Thanks HR Lover, glad you like it. Do you mean the rhythm of the bass or the EQ of the bass? Well, whichever you mean I'll try to explain what I was thinking at the time... My original stab at adding a bit of rhythm and bass at 0:45 failed because it was too raw so I had to really think about what to do rather than just trusting my instincts. For the bass sound itself I had to make a decision between a real bass (I've got a lovely 5 string electric bass that I love playing) or a synthesised bass and because most of the track was sounding quite synth-based I decided to stick with that theme - I might go back later and try it with a real bass. The most important decision for the bass though was the rhythm of the notes. Because the rest of the arrangement is very busy I decided that it shouldn't be a continuous 'chug chug' type of rhythm but should instead be sparse. I tried hitting the 1st and 3rd  beats of the bar with double hits (with the first hit on the beat) but it was just too regular so I changed it so that on the 3rd beat it was the second hit that was on the beat. Hopefully that makes sense while listening to the snippet on my blog. From there it was minor tweaks - making the first couple of repetitions a little bit more sparse by missing out the first beat of the second bar before doing ti every bar, and applying a bit of 'less is more' (which I'm generally really bad at doing). As for making the actual bass sound fit in with all the other instruments... I haven't done a final mix yet or looked at it view a frequency analyser  but I think it benefits from being a synthesised sound with quite a narrow frequency range so it's audible without having to be too loud. I think also that the rhythm of the drums complements the bass by being very regular and filling in the beats that the bass doesn't play on. Sorry for waffling on a bit... obviously all the above is just my humble opinion and I'm more than happy to be corrected, criticised, or otherwise. Hope I explained my thoughts coherently! Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: June 01 2011, 14:47 Hi, Thanks for all your support so far! Part 2 is online now. I discuss melody and show that I really don't know what I'm doing! http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=147 Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

ex member 137 Group: Members Posts: 370 Joined: Feb. 2009 Posted: June 02 2011, 16:06 Quote (Ginger Daddy @ June 01 2011, 20:47) Hi, Thanks for all your support so far! Part 2 is online now. I discuss melody and show that I really don't know what I'm doing! http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=147 Cheers, Terry. O'h I'm sure you do. Back to top

hph Group: Members Posts: 70 Joined: Nov. 2009 Posted: June 02 2011, 16:46 "The complete track so far" is *very* good. Tastefully arranged, relaxed and easy songwriting, a really superior performance as far as I'm concerned. thanks for sharing the 'making of', hans Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: June 03 2011, 12:09 @dunlooser - To be completely honest with you Kev - I do know a bit of musical theory because I took music at high school when I was a teenager (and managed to get a grade 'B' ) but I've only learnt about frequencies, mixing, and mastering from magazine tutorials and experience. So, I was possibly a little bit too self-deprecating but I really do feel like a novice most of the time. @hph - thanks for the positive comment, Hans. And I'm glad you sound like you're enjoying the 'making of'. I'm feeling very exposed while writing about my thought processes and creative decisions but so far I think it's been a good idea. Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: June 04 2011, 16:10 Thanks to everyone who has read, listened, and commented so far... The third and final part is now online. In this part I talk about options for finishing a track and rough guide to how I mix and master. My blog is here: http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog.html and the direct link to specific blog entry is: http://purplerhapsody.co.uk/blog/?p=150 And.... the final track is also downloadable too....! Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

Philippe Tavares Group: Members Posts: 1612 Joined: Feb. 2005 Posted: June 04 2011, 16:28 ...i'm very busy today and i will be also tomorrow ; i'll watch and listen to your very interesting explanations and tuts very soon . I've listen to the track anyway and it's avery nice track , i like the melody !   Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4761 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: June 04 2011, 22:23 "Infinity plus one" is a great title for an album... In Cantorian transfinite set theory, that would be written w+1, where "w" is a lower-case omega. If I may be pardoned for a digression, I've long been fascinated by Cantor's ideas. Not content with proving that some infinities are greater than others, he also postulated something called the epsilon numbers. The "lowest" epsilon number occurs when you raise w to the power of w an w number of times! Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: June 05 2011, 09:41 @TubularTos - glad you like the melody... does it remind you of anyone else...? ;-) @nightspore - I agree about Cantor. Was it him that did the thought experiment about a hotel with an infinite number of rooms receiving bus loads with infinite numbers of guests? Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

ex member 178 Group: Members Posts: 251 Joined: Oct. 2010 Posted: June 05 2011, 15:40 Hi Terry This is a great idea! Perhaps we could have a space on the forum so if people really want to know how we create our compositions then we can disect them for the listener? I have different ways of writing... sometimes I even come up with the title first which inspires me for the mood of the piece, then I have a melody which comes into my head (which I have to whistle into my iPhone before I forget it!! as with Barafundle. The new composition (as I mentioned via Soundcloud) is superb! The piano melody is lovely and reminds a little of the "Robert Miles - Children" compositons. Martin Back to top

Ginger Daddy Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: April 2002 Posted: June 06 2011, 11:45 Thanks Martin! And thanks again to everyone that read, listened, and supported my endeavour to lay bare my inner workings ;-) Cheers, Terry. -------------- http://purplerhapsody.co.uk - no words, just emotions Back to top

hph Group: Members Posts: 70 Joined: Nov. 2009 Posted: June 06 2011, 13:14 Sounds really great, Terry, I like the piece very much. Mastering is very difficult for an amateur. I'm still learning and learning but I couldn't reach a level that makes me feel I can do it alone. So if I publish some stuff on CD I'll hand it over to a professional before sending it to the record company. Your stuff sounds fantastic IMHO, you've done a great job. thanks again for sharing the making of, I'm alway interested in that kind of stuff.   Back to top

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