- Log files for Weekend Astronauts -

Plankton · 05-05-2015, 02:34 PM

It's deep and emotive. I was gonna say "It needs a guitar solo" but that's just snide, and it really doesn't. Maybe at 3:12 would be a nice touch, but it's pretty stellar as it stands.

Piotr_13 · 05-25-2015, 07:14 PM

Ok, fine.

What do you want to name the song?

I don't know, you pick.

Ok Fine.

So it's our latest track. Wasn't really sure how it would turn out, if it would even see the light of day, but with some gentle back and forth between the two of us, we came up with the song you hear now.

How did it start?

On the rebound of May First, (our last song) this one, I was quite worried about. Weekend Astronauts generally doesn't do two songs one after the other unless the mood is right and a certain chord (no pun intended) is struck.

Well, I recorded a couple of chords in which you can hear in the intro. Wasn't too much of a special thing, but simplicity sometimes is the best way to create.

After recording those chords, I put a stock drumbeat to it, and cut out the mulitude of kick drums in order to let the music breathe a bit.

My approach is generally "If you can't think of something, play it"

So I did. And once I had those simple chords down, I was able to layer more on top of it to create more of a structure.

Freebase Dali · 05-25-2015, 07:22 PM

I took a bit of a liking to it. Didn't really warm up to it at first, but then put my head in it and started getting engaged. Mostly mixing at first, but then I looked to my left at my long-abandoned, sad guitar setup and thought "I should probably dust it off".

Added some underneath guitar and fixed things up, finished the structure and outro'd.

All the pieces were there. It's not a usual thing where I get a project that's pretty much done. Usually we back and forth things from the outset, but this time the whole idea was basically there. There wasn't much to add except support and a few mixing decisions.

All in all, I think it came out well. Of course, I'm straying from our original promise of a sample, but I'm feeling more like we're not really in a position to throw something out there without your input, so, if you want something... let us know.

And as always, enjoy!

YorkeDaddy · 05-26-2015, 02:49 PM

Funny enough "OK, fine." is honestly a great name for that track and if you hadn't told that little story about how it got it's name I would've been like damn that's brilliant :P

Sick track all around though, great work

Freebase Dali · 05-30-2015, 09:12 PM

Sleepgunner

https://soundcloud.com/weekendastronauts/sleepgunner

I have a Digitech RP500 that has a pretty neat patch that lets you whammy an octave, and I was playing around with it when talking to my music partner and came up with the main riff, trying to screw it up a little. I knew what I wanted the end result to be, and I kind of placeholder'd some drums in there at first to show him the mode I was going for, but he had to go on a field excursion, as he's still in the Army, so he didn't get to contribute anything what with my lack of patience.

I couldn't really wait for him to get back. I kinda went all out. In fact, as I write this, he hasn't even heard it. He heard the initial guitar stuff with the original placeholder drums and that's it.

So, hopefully he likes it, and you guys as well.
Let me know if you want me to sample something from it for you guys.

Plankton · 05-31-2015, 08:02 AM

Really cool Dmin (Db G) progression to jam over (although it's killer as-is of course). Bending up from the Db to D and back gives it a nice eerie touch. I was hanging out in the E F G D Db area mostly.

Nice track.

VEGANGELICA · 06-08-2015, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Sleepgunner

https://soundcloud.com/weekendastronauts/sleepgunner

I like this.

Like the name you gave it, "Sleepgunner" creates a drowsy, mellow, yet alert mood with its calming beat and all those intriguing, little cricket-like rasps panned left, center, and right, chirping along without any clear pattern (that I can discern).

The chirps and rasps help breathe life into the song and keep me alert during it, wondering what will happen next. The arrangement does that, too, with the phasered guitar duet section that continues as a solo when the other sounds drop out mid-song.

I especially like the moments at 1:01 and 1:56 when you insert a small hiccup of silence. Lovely.

Two mental images come to mind when I hear the song, which I imagine would be great in a movie score to accompany scenes such as these:

The first scene is of sitting on the porch swing on a summer night, rocking back and forth while watching the distant lightning strikes and cloud flashes of a passing storm, far away on the horizon, while the crickets nearby chirp unseen in the yard.

The second scene is of driving alone at night on a raised interstate through a city around 1:30 AM, when few people are on the roads and almost all the city is asleep. The highway stretches ahead and curves gently above and below other concrete roads in the inner city as you cruise past hunkered brownstone buildings occasionally winking their lit rectangular windows at you due to the few people still awake.

I can imagine hearing your song in both situations.

[An aside: when you say the word "placeholder," I can't help but snicker impishly as I remember your "Placeholder Trilogy."]

BTW, I like your newish Weekend Astronauts image. I imagine the astronauts are you and Piotr lovingly holding your music-baby.

Freebase Dali · 06-11-2015, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plankton

Really cool Dmin (Db G) progression to jam over (although it's killer as-is of course). Bending up from the Db to D and back gives it a nice eerie touch. I was hanging out in the E F G D Db area mostly.

Nice track.

Where's a recording???

Freebase Dali · 06-11-2015, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

I like this.

Like the name you gave it, "Sleepgunner" creates a drowsy, mellow, yet alert mood with its calming beat and all those intriguing, little cricket-like rasps panned left, center, and right, chirping along without any clear pattern (that I can discern).

The chirps and rasps help breathe life into the song and keep me alert during it, wondering what will happen next. The arrangement does that, too, with the phasered guitar duet section that continues as a solo when the other sounds drop out mid-song.

I especially like the moments at 1:01 and 1:56 when you insert a small hiccup of silence. Lovely.

Two mental images come to mind when I hear the song, which I imagine would be great in a movie score to accompany scenes such as these:

The first scene is of sitting on the porch swing on a summer night, rocking back and forth while watching the distant lightning strikes and cloud flashes of a passing storm, far away on the horizon, while the crickets nearby chirp unseen in the yard.

The second scene is of driving alone at night on a raised interstate through a city around 1:30 AM, when few people are on the roads and almost all the city is asleep. The highway stretches ahead and curves gently above and below other concrete roads in the inner city as you cruise past hunkered brownstone buildings occasionally winking their lit rectangular windows at you due to the few people still awake.

I can imagine hearing your song in both situations.

[An aside: when you say the word "placeholder," I can't help but snicker impishly as I remember your "Placeholder Trilogy."]

BTW, I like your newish Weekend Astronauts image. I imagine the astronauts are you and Piotr lovingly holding your music-baby.

Thanks for the cool analysis! To be honest, my thought process behind the whole thing kinda differs (not that yours is in any way invalid!) but I thought it would be interesting to show. I was more in the mode of a Western setting, kind of a gun-slinging showdown that no one showed up to, getting late, the sun is setting, and we're on the border of a Spanish town. But something is off. Train rolls in, the beat, but it's from some other place. Doesn't belong, nor do some of the other elements. Sort of a dissonance against what would otherwise be a congruent scene. Like a dream where you're in a setting and something else comes into the picture, not belonging there, but somehow existing without too much alarm to wake the dreamer. The sleepgunner stays there with the scene around him but not existing in it in any real fashion.

At least, that's the emotional impression I get when I was thinking about it.

My picture of the landscape in this case is ultimately that of an old, empty battlefield being used by ghosts in a dream.

Freebase Dali · 07-04-2015, 02:14 PM

Lapse

Latest thing.

05-05-2015, 02:34 PM	#21 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	It's deep and emotive. I was gonna say "It needs a guitar solo" but that's just snide, and it really doesn't. Maybe at 3:12 would be a nice touch, but it's pretty stellar as it stands. __________________ See location...

05-25-2015, 07:22 PM	#23 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	I took a bit of a liking to it. Didn't really warm up to it at first, but then put my head in it and started getting engaged. Mostly mixing at first, but then I looked to my left at my long-abandoned, sad guitar setup and thought "I should probably dust it off". Added some underneath guitar and fixed things up, finished the structure and outro'd. All the pieces were there. It's not a usual thing where I get a project that's pretty much done. Usually we back and forth things from the outset, but this time the whole idea was basically there. There wasn't much to add except support and a few mixing decisions. All in all, I think it came out well. Of course, I'm straying from our original promise of a sample, but I'm feeling more like we're not really in a position to throw something out there without your input, so, if you want something... let us know. And as always, enjoy! __________________

05-30-2015, 09:12 PM	#25 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Sleepgunner https://soundcloud.com/weekendastronauts/sleepgunner I have a Digitech RP500 that has a pretty neat patch that lets you whammy an octave, and I was playing around with it when talking to my music partner and came up with the main riff, trying to screw it up a little. I knew what I wanted the end result to be, and I kind of placeholder'd some drums in there at first to show him the mode I was going for, but he had to go on a field excursion, as he's still in the Army, so he didn't get to contribute anything what with my lack of patience. I couldn't really wait for him to get back. I kinda went all out. In fact, as I write this, he hasn't even heard it. He heard the initial guitar stuff with the original placeholder drums and that's it. So, hopefully he likes it, and you guys as well. Let me know if you want me to sample something from it for you guys. __________________

05-31-2015, 08:02 AM	#26 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	Really cool Dmin (Db G) progression to jam over (although it's killer as-is of course). Bending up from the Db to D and back gives it a nice eerie touch. I was hanging out in the E F G D Db area mostly. Nice track. __________________ See location...

07-04-2015, 02:14 PM	#30 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Lapse Latest thing. __________________

05-25-2015, 07:14 PM	#22 (permalink)
Piotr_13 Groupie Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: In a van down by the river Posts: 34	Ok, fine. What do you want to name the song? I don't know, you pick. Ok Fine. So it's our latest track. Wasn't really sure how it would turn out, if it would even see the light of day, but with some gentle back and forth between the two of us, we came up with the song you hear now. How did it start? On the rebound of May First, (our last song) this one, I was quite worried about. Weekend Astronauts generally doesn't do two songs one after the other unless the mood is right and a certain chord (no pun intended) is struck. Well, I recorded a couple of chords in which you can hear in the intro. Wasn't too much of a special thing, but simplicity sometimes is the best way to create. After recording those chords, I put a stock drumbeat to it, and cut out the mulitude of kick drums in order to let the music breathe a bit. My approach is generally "If you can't think of something, play it" So I did. And once I had those simple chords down, I was able to layer more on top of it to create more of a structure.