Programmer’s Revenge
This is a screenshot from some sampling software I’ve been playing with, Recycle 2.1. Once you’ve sliced up the sound you want to steal into individual pulses, it allows some primitive processing to change the envelope (shape), threshold (eliminate unwanted sounds between the slices), and frequency characteristics (basically a tone control) of the sound. Each section has a few presets or you can tweak away until you get the sound you want. I chose the last one in the pull down menu here and it muted the sound enough to make it nearly inaudible. I’m guessing the programmer got complaints when he was working on this section and programmed in this preset to be used while he was playing with other parameters of the sounds. (Hmmm, “Neighbour” – must be a Brit)
I use headphones, the noise canceling kind, but you never know what it’s going to sound like until you hear it through speakers. Especially deep bass sounds that can overwhelm on the stereo even though you could barely hear them on the headphones. When you play with a loop, you generally play it over and over again until you get the sound you want.
This is a totally new approach to music for me even though the hardware has been around for a couple of decades and the concept is a basic one for all music. Without some repetition, a piece of music has no individual character. Loops are basically motifs, like the 3 notes then 1 that start and then permeate all of Beethoven’s 5th. Still, the idea of cutting and pasting little snippets together on a computer, analogous to clip art or C++ programming libraries, is new to me. It’s fun.
The snippet I was working on here was one measure of a drum pattern from Caravan (not the infamous one!) from the Hobo Sapiens LP (I still like calling ‘em that) by John Cale. Mark Hoback listed this as his #2 (with a bullet) CD on his list of the Top 10 of the year for 2004. After he graciously sent me a copy for Christmas, I can see why. Here is what he had to say about it:
2. John Cale – Hobosapiens: Yeah, surprised me to, this old geezer coming back with something so strong. Every sound is there for a purpose. When Cale is at his best, he is the Dark Brian Wilson, intentionally unsettling. Rich and luxurious, chocolates with bugs in them.
The mix for this CD is picture perfect, but the drums really stand out – especially on this track. The pattern is simple but the drums sounds are nothing short of wonderful, something my computer didn’t have in its sound bank – until now, thanks to the sample I just stole, that is…
5:03:49 PM 
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