I thought I would tell you the background info of the songs I’ve included with the C/Fe Sampler. I normally don’t do this, mind you, as I am much more interested in what songs mean to the listener rather than myself. I will try not to write too much but I always find there is a multitude of reasons for doing things, especially music. Honestly the most frustrating parts of writing this post for me will be the parts I leave out, as I always think of more reasons as to why I did something. As of now, to keep the posts from getting too long, I will stick with doing one song a post. The subject matter of this post will be my first track on the compilation, Scrap.
I tend to stick with simple titles to songs that give aid to the visualization a song while still leaving the imagination open. The word “scrap” when I was in high school was slang for fight, and this song very much denotes a course of rather dramatic events leading up to a fight. The word “scrap” also brings to mind scrap pieces of metal, which some of the opening sounds in the song mimic. And the word “scrap” is also associated with junk or scrap heap, which complements the song’s dirty, junk like feel. Also I enjoyed the contradiction between the implication of the word “scrap” and some of the sounds in the song, such as the muffled choir sound at the beginning. Choirs tend to be associated with monks and churches and such, which really creates a nice dynamic for the title “Scrap”.
Musically this song came from several places. I had just finished playing the video game “Ico” whose soundtrack absolutely captivated me. It used these muffled, shrill choir sounds for emphasis in the few battles that took place in the game. So I took some choir samples in an old version of Reason and modified them to achieve a similar effect. I improvised the intro and recorded it down.
This song was written in either 2006 or 2007 so my memory is a bit foggy in places. I remember intending to place something of an electronic rock beat with accompaniment similar to And One, Funker Vogt, and Feindflug but quite a bit darker. And One always has a great feel for rhythm in their songs and often use these non-constant basslines in sections of their songs that add a nice energy to things. Funker Vogt usually has an entertaining if not overused lead synth. And Feindflug always creates these great marching epic rhytms and melodies. Personally, I think if you go listen to these bands and then Scrap you’ll find little to no similarites, but I did find inspiration there.
The guitar during the chorus sections in the song was really inspired by arpeggiators. Being a classially trained guitarist, I tend to frown on not actually playing the instrument I’m recording, meaning I have a hard time letting myself use the appregiator, among other devices. Well the idea here is rather obvious, I decided do some hammer on style lead guitar to mimic an appregiated synthesizer. I also am constantly looking for unique ways to employ guitar in electronic music, as guitar in electronic music tends to be rather basic and bland. The lead guitar around the second verse was really just a desire to put a lead instrument there and include something that a traditional metal band would use that wasn’t a power chord. Plus I’m always looking for more ways to differentiate the sections.
The start and stop portions of the end really came from my listening to too much Mindless Self Indulgence and wanting to do an EQ cut of the chorus section. MSI really enjoys their studio tricks, which really doesn’t help them live, but I always felt it gave their songs an interesting feel and decided to try it out. I found it quite fun. And since I approached the song a bit more like a rock song, the increasing drum rhythm at the end seemed and felt rather appropriate.
Well there you go. More than you ever wanted to know about my song. But this blog, in my opinion, is really for the people who have heard the music and want to know more. I’ll post about Paths (lost) and Dirt Hero #10 eventually too.
Sincerely,
John B.
MusiM
