Feb 09 2006
Create(!) Remix Contest
Create(!), a local instrumental electric free improv christian group, has been pushing the envelope for ages, both in performance and on record. Just when you think they can’t go anywhere, they reinvent themselves in some new and wonderful way. I received an email from them that announced a remix contest. They posted the individual tracks that, together, make Six Dreams Divided from their upcoming album, A Prospect of Freedom. Listen to the album version of
Although I’ve never done a remix before, I have collaborated with The Refrigerator Mothers, an off-shoot of the Hop-Frog Collective. In that effort, I received a number of tracks from them, manipulated them in various ways, and added many tracks of my own. It was that experience that emboldened me to try my hand at the Create(!) Remix Contest.
I downloaded the 6 tracks: Drums, Bass, 2 Electric Guitars, Bass Clarinet, and Trumpet.
The track is lovely, with a quiet beauty that showcases the group’s sensativity. It ebbs and flows organically, and the musicians listen carefully, playing with and off each other.
I found a section that, to me, was a brief moment of transition. In it, there was a blossoming of energy. I took that section and looped it, repeating it about 8 times. I began, then, to listen to each individual track, and try to find ways to process them so that they’d be new, yet retain something of their original character. I worked with each track as an independant entity, trusting that, when all was said and done, they’d sit comfortably together. After several iterations of this process, I felt that I had pushed each track as far as I could.
Still, I felt that something was missing. Create(!) has always been an instrumental, and mostly electric, band. Somehow, I felt that a human voice was needed. I found a phrase from the New Testiment, 1 Corinthians 14, paraphrased “Sing with the Spirit. Sing with the Mind.” I recorded this phrase using my own voice, then ‘time stretched’ it about 1000%. It went from being about 3 seconds to about 3 minutes. It retained a vocal quality, but was transformed into an abstraction. I was done.
Hear
Let me know what you think!
First of all, Sander- Hi!
It has certainly been a very long time; say, 1990, or so. Calvary Chapel Seal Beach, if I recall correctly…
Anyway, really cool job on that track re-mix. Where did you learn this? You said you had no/little experience with this, but you have got the “touch”. You took a mediocre sounding track, and gave it polish, dynamics, and an interesting sound. I like this track much more than the original.
But, that’s just me.
Maybe it’s the remnants of fungi past, huh?
Write me, okay? I kave many questions for you. I am still here in Long Beach, but I am moving very soon. Still LB, though.
Nice BLOG, Dude!
Yours,
greg worth