Beat Battle League Season 2, Round 2 - Space Elevator Entry
Hello Steemians!
After I read through the contest rules I spent some time thinking what space elevator music means to me. I wanted to make a song that would play in an elevator, rather than it just be some sick ass space vibe song. So I started out by listening to some earthly elevator music and took some notes as to what that means.
- Elevator music is NOT meant to be listened to actively
It's a form of background music and therefore shouldn't be attention grabbing, but rather fade out and just kinda be there.
- Elevator music doesn't have much bass
This kinda connects with the other point. Bass is very attention grabbing and having a full lower end in the song defeats the purpose of it just being in the background.
- Elevator music doesn't have fancy progression
Again, big changes in the flow of the song grab your attention and make it an active experience.
- It needs to be loopable
Most elevators only play one or two songs, which means that the song itself needs to be able to start from the beginning again without messing with the flow of it.
- Elevator music isn't mixed particularly well.
This is a wierd one considering the guidlines, but elevator music is generally some form of live Jazz and as I was making it whenever I got the mix cleaner it grabbed more of my attention. I wanted to keep it simple and backgroundy while still having a groove.
After I got through the elevator part I started to look at the space part. I just decided that space meant using reverby synths instead of pianos, vibraphones and guitars.
Going through these notes I tried to summarize what I wanted:
A synth based live jazz song with simple progression and no low end, that loops into itself and isn't catchy
Again, it shouldn't be grabbing your attention, it's background music.
So, following my set guidelines, this is what I came up with:
picture is from rick and morty
Honestly the hardest part was the mixing. As I said earlier, I didn't want it to sound like it was mixed well, because well mixed songs are meant to be listened to and this song was meant to just be played. With little to no emotional value. No one should particularly like it, no one should particularly hate it. Usually when I mix it's either full in or full out and finding the weird inbetween area where it sounded good but not too good was a challenge for me.
Anyways I hope you enjoy it! :) It was definitely a more conceptual piece of music than it is something I would listen to, but I was really focused on the theme of the contest.
damn there is a lot of good tunes this round and this is surely one of them.
Truly amazing the replication you accomplished ... I'm ready to proceed to the check-out aisle ...
"A synth based live jazz song with simple progression and no low end, that loops into itself and isn't catchy"
...May be an oxymoron depending upon how one defines 'Jazz' ;-)
Absolute brilliance at achieving the middle of the road! Paradoxically this could mean you actually failed, since it is evoking strong favorable emotion from me ... ;-)
Well you know post enjoyment vs product enjoyment right?
Anyways feels nice to have actually hit the mark I wanted to hit. Thanks for the support :)
Indeed ... I'm just about a completely brainwashed consumer ... so product enjoyment is everything to me ... ;-)
support well-deserved, that is (sincerely!)
Wow wow this is awesome.
Love your research and how you set the guidelines for yourself on space elevator music. And you most definitely executed on it. This channels the theme so well.
Those synths you use create that spacey elevator music to put on in the background. And love that sound you bring in around 1:19 and the one you bring in around 1:59.
You'll learn you can't control how people feel about your music. People like different types of music and all don't think like you and there's little you can do to change that. Some of the most well-known songs the artists who create disliked them but yet the audiences loved them. Sometimes the artist just has to create the art and put it out to the world.
Much appreciation for all the time and effort you put into creating this entry.
Much love and respect.
Glad you enjoyed it :) I realize that art is subjective and the way everyone percieves it is different and it's probably correct to but you foot down and say that it's exactly what it should be :p
The concept was very out of my comfort zone, which is also why I decided to set these guidelines. I think it kinda set me up to stick to something I wouldn't otherwise do.
I'll be doing more of these contests. Always looking for ways to get out my comfort zone :)
Hahahaha you are on it :)
And glad to hear that you will doing more excited to hear more of your tunes. And I've noticed I personally experience growth when I go outside my comfort zone. So hopefully the experience helps you grow.
Thanks again for sharing this tune with us :)
To your point, who doesn't like 'Hall of the Mountain King' ?! ... Grieg! The Bolero? ... Maurice Ravel... Apparently Holst didn't like the popularity of 'The Planets' although he worked over a decade on it... I think it was mainly signing autographs that irritated ...
I really actually liked it dude... Lol. Especially the pads that happen a couple times, so cool. Was there a flang, or phaser on some of these? Very cool.
I phased the hats cause I thought it sounded spacier :)
Thanks for the listen!