by Rusty Mike » 01 Mar 2022, 21:40
Got another one here. Pretty far out of my normal zone. I try to always learn new things with these projects.
This is a 5/4 time rendition of Greensleeves, the traditional waltz. It started mostly as an exercise in meter. I wanted to see if the tune could be adapted to 5/4 time, and experimented with some small polyrhythm phrases. There are examples of 4 over 5, 6 over 5 and 8 over 5 throughout.
I had two sources of inspiration. The first is a recording of Take Five by Acoustic Alchemy, which has this reggae type groove that I really liked. Some of the sound profile such as the synth comping were based on that recording. The other element was Brubeck's Blue Rondo a la Turk, a song I've like since first hearing Al Jarreau's rendition in the early 80's.
As I started to work through the arrangement, it took on a life of its own (no surprise there). The instrumentation is largely comprised of stock and custom-programmed patches from Arturia's V-Collection, using the Synclavier, Matrix 12, SQ-80 and Casio CZ engines. Drums are a combination of battery from Ujam's DEEP and cymbals/percussion from Steinberg Groove Agent. There's a Roland SA ePiano patch from my RD-800 buried in there as well. This track uses effects to a greater extent than anything I've done previously.
Nord spotting: The acoustic piano is the Silver Grand, run through Arturia's Mello-Fi effect. My first attempt at adding lo-fi stuff.
Unlike my past ventures, the bass and drum parts are largely original. The drums are based on the groove I mentioned above with the embellishments courtesy of Groove Agent. I started with a Band In A Box baseline, but ended up crafting my own to fit the groove.
Not sure I'm done polishing it yet, but I wanted to share. I feel the first pass at mastering took a little life out of it and want to try to get something back.
Mike from Central NJ, USA
Tools: Ten fingers, two feet, middle-age brain, questionable judgement and taste
Current Nords: Piano 5 73, Electro 6D 73
Ownership History: Electro 2, Electro 3-73 SW, Electro 3HP, Electro 4D, Stage 2EX 76HP
- The author Rusty Mike was thanked by:
- Berretje