TRACK 2: Busy Weasel Bounce

Second track for y'all now; cheesy space house. I love tablas. I also love latin percussion. And buzzy rave synths.

Also, the ending after the main buildup is still a little unresolved. I've put some glitchy effects over the verse synth line as a placeholder, and it still needs some work, but it's more or less there. Let me know what you think. Blam!

Busy Weasel Bounce by Buttonbasher

Gear: Dewanatron

Dewanatron, a duo comprising Brian and Leon Dewan, are 100% punk rock. They make barely controllable electronic curiosities that make weird noises and no sense in equal measure; it's impossible not to love their anarchic approach to electronic instruments.

They're also enormous nerds.

TRACK 1: The Intro

Hello Internet. I've been making a fair amount of spacey noises over the past year; while a lot of it is experimental rubbish purely to get to grips with recording again, some of it ended up being quite good and deserves a bit of an airing. I'll be uploading a new track every Friday from a collection named 'Elements and Lessons'.

The tracks are mostly constructed from samples culled from 70's Prog rock, old funk records, and VST software synths. As a result they're ambient, glitchy and weird.

This became the intro to the set. It's built around two samples; the first is from a ridiculously over-the-top eighties Prog band called Pallas, and the second is from the soundtrack of a Ralph Bakshi animated film called Wizards. Enjoy.

Intro by Buttonbasher

Gear: Teenage Engineering OP-1

If you're a fan of Swedish House Mafia you'll have seen this thing used as a prop in their video for 'One'. It's absolutely amazing, if only for the screen and the fact it has a mono FM radio built into it. And for the screen.

Musics: Outhouse Phantom

This dude has the courtesy of listing the (often modified) gear he uses on each track. He manages to make some pretty sweet textures with really minimal setups.

Cool Thing: 3D Audio

This is quite old by now but it seems really weird to me how producers really haven't cottoned on to how AMAZING an album would be if you recorded acoustic elements this way. Imagine an orchestral album recorded with depth like this. Or a metal album. Or a live album!

Musics: Buck 65, Oh Gawd Damn

I think that's a Leadbelly sample in there. Damn fine tune

Track: Hard Road to Harlem

A nice mix of light and heavy; the plate echo on the second drum break is only a small thing but it makes a real difference. I'm still not convinced about how it leads into the bongos (which also sound a bit too clean and smooth).

With hats and cymbals, I like adding points in a volume envelope at random. This humanises them a little and makes the drums sound like someone playing a kit - little organic variations that pleasingly wonk things up.

Hard Road to Harlem by Buttonbasher

Noodling: Numero Uno

Woo! First post on the shaaany new blog. This track is nothing more than an experiment in acoustic recording, something I've never really got to grips with properly. Some details on gear:

Bell-sounds are a resonating circular saw blade, balanced on one finger and struck. Mic'd through my 'orrible little Marshall amp.

Amp lined out to the Laptop, recording into Reaper. Track dublicated and panned for a stereo cheat, EQ'd more bass and some reverb.

Bounced out to WAV and sequenced in Acid 8.

Drums have had most of the midrange pulled down, making them sound 'scooped' as if they are rising up from below.

Circular Saw Test Recording by Buttonbasher