Monday 20 October 2014
Sunday 19 October 2014
Sunday Post
Warfare in the London Underground, an indecisive djembe instructor and a whole lotta cassette manipulation found its way into tomorrow's new 'Wou-Wou...' release, '24-Bit Multimedia Monster'.
But it's not the first time my dictaphone snippets have been sprinkled into the mix. In fact the thought of taking a recording of say, bird song from 2011, a drum pattern tapped on a table in 2007, and then mashing it all together with something I'm working on now, is so exciting to me. It feels like magic.
But it's only over the last few months that I've learnt to take these snippets and play with them properly. Morphing them into instruments and stretching them to make oddball rhythms. And it's with '24-Bit Multimedia Monster' that I share my first example of this sort of creativity with found sounds, however crude.
Have you ever found a sound? Or know where to find a juicy one? If you're not feeling precious over it throw it my way (wouwouandthewormling@gmail.com), I'm always on the look out for 'em.
Happy thoughts,
- The Wormling
Sunday 12 October 2014
Sunday Post
On top of giving away one of my illustrations and getting played on the radio for the second time! I have also being delving back into my little red book of chance this week.
Behind its mock leather cover lays a composers nightmare: 45 pieces of music, mapped out by the indifferent hand of fate. A plethora of awkward chord progressions, sewn together by breakneck tempos and irregular time signatures are crying out to be realised. And did I mention that 'The Furry Gamble' gets a look in too!
Thanks to modern music making software, everything is achievable, even if it's not pleasant to listen to. Any composition that isn't too physically demanding will feature at least one live instrument, and all the tracks will manipulate found sounds and ambient recordings, which I will use to craft sample based instruments, broadening my audio palette and grounding these strange tracks in some sort of reality... if reality is needed that is.
So far I've chipped away at the first 9 tracks, which will make up the first 3 EP's. There will be 15 EP's in total, each housing 3 tracks.
Each EP focuses on a certain number of rules and restrictions. For example the music in the first EP only uses major chords, the music in the second uses only minor, and by the time I get to the last EP everything from the mood to the number of bars and sections will be decided by chance.
The plan is to release one EP a month starting January 2015, but the exact date hasn't been set yet.
Course, this chance malarky doesn't stop at music... but I'll quit now before I get into detail about my little navy blue book of prompts, for another Sunday maybe.
- The Wormling
Tuesday 7 October 2014
The Wou-Wou & The Wormling Wednesday Giveaway - Ground Rules
The premise is simple enough. Every Wednesday I'll give you the chance to win one of my original doodles from my bloated back catalogue. No hidden agendas or costs, just my way of showing my appreciation.
How it works:
At approximately 9:00am GMT I will post a photo via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter advertising which doodle will be up-for-grabs. Gathering you want it, you then have a 12 hour window in which to leave the comment "the early bird catches the wormling". I will allow spelling mistakes, but it has to be that sentence or your name won't go into the hat, and you won't be in with the chance of winning. The hat pull will happen that same night once the results have been gathered, and if your name gets picked I will hastily contact you for your delivery address of choice.
No postage and packaging cost will be necessary, but a donation to my paypal 'donate button' to the right would be kind. Better still, I will attach my address so you can send me one of your doodles, poems, stories, favourite recipes... if you so wish.
In the event that no-one bids for the doodle I will still place it into a sealed envelope, but instead of sending it off to someone, I'll leave it around and about for a stranger to "hopefully" find and enjoy.
Happy thoughts,
- The Wormling
Monday 6 October 2014
Sunday 5 October 2014
Sunday Post
Call it indecisive, call it generous, call it whatever you will... because there will be not one, but two new homemade tracks for 'Music Monthly' this October!
The first track is called 'Pixel Envy' and will be available to stream and/or buy from tomorrow, the second, '24Bit Multimedia Monster', will be unleashed on the 20th. Both will be dressed in the accidental artwork of my partner-in-crime Chelsea (purposeandform) Ellis.
But wait, I've more good news, especially for those of you who favour the artsy side of 'Wou-Wou...'. Starting this Wednesday (and continuing every Wednesday thereafter if all goes to plan) I'll be giving away some of my original artwork, for free! No hidden agendas, no "Share This Photo..." malarky, just honest clean giving. More info Tuesday!
Happy thoughts,
- The Wormling
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