KVR Audio

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 1:32 am

I remember when Music Has The Right To Children hit the record shop shelves in 1998. I thought, who are these upstarts?

By the time of the release of A Beautiful Place Out in the Country, my preconception had luckily subsided so much that I listened to it, and it blew my mind. Now the BOC sound is almost like a religion to me

But what is it that makes it what it is, breaking it down:

-The drums, heavy, but more trip hop than IDM
-Main motives/riffs can be very simple, like the Beach at Redpoint (H, H A), still appear complex and rich
-Clever usage of film/tv samples, to create atmosphere
-Heavy use of chorus

JerGoertz · Post by **JerGoertz** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 1:52 am

Wow & flutter, distortion, etc.; anything that makes things sounds like they were run through old gear and recorded to tape which sat in an attic for years...

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 2:56 am

Hardware. Acoustic instruments. Resampled and run through fx. Real playing.

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 3:17 am

Sh-101 and PBS documentary audio from the 70s.

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 3:28 am

Musicianship: simple melodies and a basic song structure; the sounds are actually played (unlike EDM repetition); all is on tempo and pitch-- even the modulation-- which creates nice harmonies; it is mixed to maintain listener interest. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they started with the availability of free, public-domain video!

ccDuckett · Post by **ccDuckett** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 4:08 am

Don't forget the ability to blur the line between nostalgia and alienation. I was just thinking the other day- there's almost as much time between now and BoC's first releases, as there was time between those first releases, and the era that music was evoking...

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:02 am

... and they 'blur the line between nostalgia and alienation' with the slow tempo, groove, key and chord progression, yesno? I also see some BOC sheet music and chords online.

SampleScience · Post by **SampleScience** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:14 am

One thing that helps understand the BOC music is to analyze their chord progressions and play with them:

https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/vi ... da/roygbiv
https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/vi ... -and-omega
http://twoism.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=102521

Also, you can have a look at their source of inspiration:

http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2013/09/23/musi ... ren-sound/

As for the production techniques themselves; slight pitch detuning, rich chorus, tape echo, tape simulation, flanger/phaser at a very slow rate, a bit of subtle reverb.

anomandaris1 · Post by **anomandaris1** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:29 am

Lower the pitch (20-30 cents) of your instruments for more "relaxed sound".

sqigls · Post by **sqigls** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:02 am

for somebody who has avoided this act, what can people recommend to me as their best tracks?

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:39 am

Crunchy drums
Desolate, melancholy melodies
Occasional dialogue samples
The sound of tape

Keep in mind that they are not "simulating" their tape effects. They actually do record to real tape to get that sound. Or at least they did on the first albums... no idea what their current production workflow looks like.

I have a particularly strong affinity for their influences. In the 1980's, I used to go to a lot of animation festivals, and I quickly noticed the best shorts were always "Produced with a grant from the Film Board of Canada". Those poetic, evocative animations and the abstract soundtracks to them were a huge source of inspiration to me. I've also been going to a couple of local film festivals for the better part of 30 years now which celebrate the history of low budget b-movies and educational and industrial 16mm films from decades past. Combined with my memories of growing up in the 70's and 80's with after school specials and that sort of thing, and that is pretty much the formula for BoC. I suppose they also have a bit more hiphop influence than I ever did, but that seems like a fairly minor component in most of their output.