Thanks for checking it out.

I'm fairly sure cello is pretty damn rare in techno. Yes, no doubt there's some with added string parts but I mean techno where the lead instrument is cello (and multiple layers of it).

The mixing is decent here though I'm dealing with a lot of different elements and multiple cello layers and lots of drum loops so it wasn't easy.

"cello is also extremely noteworthy"

Thanks. Cello is hardly an obvious fit for this type of genre so I had to spend quite a while working out what might not sound out of place. I guess I wanted it to all sound futuristic and not just like a techno track with backing, traditional string parts.

"4:57 was an unexpected, and extremely well done switch to different themes and ideas. "

It is a big switch but I bring back so many of the sounds you've heard in the first half to bind it all together as a "continuation of a story".

I certainly could split the track in two but I prefer it as a lengthy techno epic. All the same, I do feel that it goes on a bit too much in the last minute or so so I need to go back and see how much I can bear to remove.

Thanks again.

Regreetings, Davy Crucket.

Empathic Blowhard? What's that supposed to mean and how did you come up with it?

"VD is the Clap picked up from multiple percussive elements"

That's a very oblique and cryptic percussion reference. How could I have guessed that?

No fuckin' way - you're now sending me Celine Dion links! When you said Celine, I thought: "No, surely The Cru Dawg ain't sending me Celine Dion videos. Must be some other Celine".

I watched a bit of them and, amazingly enough, didn't like them. Why didn't you just tell me about Lindsey Sterling separately? Yes, she sounds good though I'm sure there are loads of great violinists about. Not something I know much about. I don't know much about the cello world either.

"To me the cello is the most expressive instrument"

I don't really know what is, apart from the human voice (though mine expresses an inability to hit notes or have any decent tone).

If we ever meet, I will Crubake you for at least 45 minutes in a preheated oven. I shouldn't think it'll do any good, though. You'll still probably taste disCrusting.

Static Ovenmad

Hi.

No, this wasn't inspired by Blue Monday and I didn't think about it once while making it. Or until you mentioned it. However, I am a massive fan of that song. Does this really sound like it? I'm not hearing it. Something to do with the bassline, no doubt.

But there are so many changes in this one. Which section do you think sounds like Blue Monday? The first minute or so?

I have another, very different track that does actually remind me a bit of Blue Monday in the second half (because of the bassline) when things start to get uptempo and then a slide solo enters. Check that track here:

A Little Bit Of Infinity

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/164118

Good to hear you enjoyed the track.

Thanks.

Damn, I had to work hard at those transitions as this was a pretty difficult track to make. I spent ages having loads of different sections sitting around on the timeline, not having a clue how to connect them.

Some of the sections I didn't manage to get in here are now leftovers to be turned into other tracks.

Yes, cello can be pretty far out, haunting and eerie.

There are also some pretty cool, eerie cello sounds in these tracks:

The Warm Glow Of Yesterday

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/176476

Love Fades

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/179671

Thanks again.

Perhaps sometimes but I prefer longer ones.

Good to hear you found it awesome.

Friendly
Nomad

Greetings, Mr Swindla.

Thanks very much for the support and appreciation. It is appreciated.

"i always love the layering that comes out in your tracks."

It's a huge part of what I do, partly because I have very little idea of where my tracks are going a lot of the time so I just try to jam along and add parts that I find interesting and which might fit.

Layering creates relationships which I rarely imagine in my head beforehand. There are always surprises from how different sounds interact so I try stuff and see what works and what is detracting from the track. I often seem to make melodies just from the interaction of different jammed parts. So, the melody seems to be spread between a few instruments rather than all coming from one instrument. I'm good at grooving along with different instruments but not as good at coming up with lead melody lines.

" I can't wait to hear what else is next in the world of the StaticNomad."

That's good to hear. Next is more cello-dominated tracks. I'm teaching myself how to play just by recording it a lot and seeing how it comes out and what other techniques I can use to add to whatever I've already recorded.
I have a whole bunch of cello tracks right now that aren't really working as I'd hoped.

They're frustrating me but this has happened many times before. Eventually I make some sort of breakthrough and everything (mostly) turns out just fine. But I always wonder if any particular track will be one that I just cannot manage to turn into something good and complete. There's no way of knowing.

I also think I should get back into my other instruments (eg guitar) as I think I might have been going a bit too cello crazy in the last 8 or so months.

Thanks again.

Greetings.

Great to hear you found it so cool.

Yes, I think it is quite forward-thinking and futuristic. I'm guessing that it's the drums that you found retro. Perhaps they're reminiscent of some 90s dance music. They're probably quite old drum loops so that makes sense.

"it works excellently on it's own"

That's always the aim. I'm sure my stuff could be great for soundtracking all sorts of visuals but the aim is for people to enjoy listening at home in an album kind of format. Some tracks might work on a dancefloor though I'm not really sure as I've rarely tried doing that.

"a really good balance of complexity without being overbearing."

Yes - I like to make stuff buys, complex and interesting but there comes a point when you realise that adding yet another layer of sound isn't going to help. Saying that, sometimes I've got a few cello parts going and think "That'll do" and then I, just out of curiosity, try playing something else over them. And then that new one locks in with the others and adds something worthwhile.

How many layers is too many? There's no real answer to that.

To stop things being overbearing I also usually try to have some lighter, more chilled out sections, to break up all the intensity.

Thanks again.

Hello.

This is indeed a pretty wild and crazy trip. I love layering more and more sounds together to create something really fat and complex, with loads of twists and turns.

I guess the forward drive comes from all the banging drums. A solid groove is the essence of all my music making and instrument playing.

Thanks again.

Yo.

Shitloads of cello here, and in yet another style for me, which is surely a bit of a progression.

"the techno groove and especially how you chugged to the beat with the bow there"

Yes - that bowed chugging is called spiccato and I think it's really funky playing along with the solid drum loop and synth arp bass. Cello does not obviously go with techno so I had to spend a while trying out loads of things. This was, at many different points, really quite difficult to make and I'm not done yet as I agree that it's probably a bit too long. I will go back and try to remove some sections from the last 2 mins though it may not be a simple task.

Thanks for letting me know about The Green Children as that band looks quite interesting. 2 Cellos I know very well and they are up there as some of my favourite musicians on the planet. Their skill and accuracy is exceptional and I swear they rock as hard as the very hardest rocking of bands anywhere in the world. Their cover of Voodoo People is totally badass though they don't actually play it as a techno cello track - it mostly sounds like a straight ahead rock song. Live it's just two cellos plus a drummer so no techno elements.

I went to see them in concert a few months ago in Greenwich, in London. They were playing in a very picturesque location - the Old Royal Naval College. They both studied music there and their cello teacher was in the audience. The building has some serious history and has been used in loads of films, some of which I bet you've seen (Patriot Games, Bond films, Tomb Raider etc). Have a look at their full list here:

https://www.ornc.org/past-features

Good to hear you enjoyed my techno cello explorations. More cello tracks coming soon...

There Cru was just a-walking down the street, singing Cru-Ah-Diddy-Diddy-Crum-Diddy-Doo (over the latest hit song by Mr S. Nomad).

The opening synths do indeed have purpose and it's a simple but effective bassline. No cello until 0:28 and it's certainly not vocoded so perhaps you're mistaking synths for cello before then.

"beat at :46 has a groove with the strings sounds like Amish disco"

I like the idea of Amish disco. Probably no synths in Amishland. I presume they also have no computers so probably don't have fat beats like these. But acoustic cello would be allowed. Do they drink cider? Possibly.

"keeps building in intensity."

Yes - often a key feature of my music. 1:54 it gets somewhat Eastern and heavily psychedelic. And sort of trancey.

"Less psychedelics and more sub bass as we break it down with that groovy beat."

Yes, at 2:54 there's a move away from the intense, heavy psychedelic stuff to something more chilled and spacious, with the groovy bass coming to fore. Got to provide some variety and give the listener a break from intense stuff.

Lots of layered high string stabs as that section progresses. Might even be 7 or 8 cello parts as things get more intense around 3:56.

"percussion style on this song has a few layers"

Yes - loads of drum loop layering that's related to what you do though. Not sure if you've influenced me (a bit?) as I layered drum loops long before I'd heard of Cru.

"second half is like a cranky creepy cousin just waking up from a 2 day nyquil"

Good to have a breakdown and get rid of the drums and then build everything up in a different and intense way again. 2nd half is very different from first but uses many of the previous sounds and instruments so there is hopefully good continuity.

"7:15 on with those string phrases reminds me of Morocco"

Didn't think of that at all when making it but I think I can now see a link. No idea why as I'm not playing anything Moroccan. Just very simple bowed cello notes. And then a cool funky high cello lead arrives at 7:38 and gets seriously embellished, with more and more layers being added.

"thought the build up was going to lead in a wicked guitar solo"

That would totally have fit but I'm playing very little guitar these days and seriously focusing on celling it up and using it as much as possible so never considered adding guitar.

"it went into synth farts instead"

Good synth farts, I hope.

Last couple of minutes is probably too long and needs to be edited down but I thought it might be your favourite cos it's banging dance music, with fun squelchy synths. Aburpt ending should be better but I tried lots of things and could do no better.

Yes, it's a dangerous, mystical journey but where is the venereal disease? Did you pick up some genital warts when you travelled through Morocco?

Static Squelchmad.

Hello, Mr TWeed.

What I have been up to for the last 8 months or so is mostly cello playing and making tracks out of that cello playing as I try to learn a new and difficult instrument. I've played very little guitar (or other instruments) all year.

"no deep observations from me tonight (is there ever)"

No, there probably aren't often many but that's up to you. People only give what they want to give and are capable of giving.

I am morally/ethically compelled to give comprehensive reviews as that's what I hope for from others so it would be hypocritical to expect/hope for that but not do the same myself. Do as you would be done by.

Good to hear you liked it and enjoyed the flowing river of cello.

Thanks. I will try to keep it going.

I didn't think of this as having a cinematic sound when making it but perhaps it does.

It took me many years to get anywhere hear a pro sound and I'm never quite sure if I really do have it, hence my curiosity about how other people hear my tracks.

Thanks again.

Sure, I didn't really expect anyone to know of any other cello music like this. Just wondering if anyone knows of anything even vaguely similar.

"You can get some fkn cool sounds out of that cello."

I can though they're not to be confused with some of the acid arpeggiated synths though I guess they may be layered together in such a way that something here that is a synth might be confused for a cello.

"I've bowed some of my cigar box guitars and gotten really neat sounds, some very similar to a cello"

Yes - that's the bowing you're hearing. I sometimes make my cello sound a lot like a guitar but that's mostly been when applying distortion. Then you're really just hearing the distortion and associating it with guitar, which is where you tend to hear it.

I have not heard Cru's All Hallow's Eve rave.

Thanks again.