Fairlight on a Rainy City Night (sounds better on headphones)

[dark water]

Hello everyone,

Take a trip through a dark, rainy city at night with only a Fairlight to accompany you!

https://soundcloud.com/user-434633776/f ... headphones

This track is made entirely from Fairlight instruments and FX (played by me).
Effects added are delay, reverb, panning and limiter.

My room has a few dodgy acoustics at present, so it's probably better to listen to the song on headphones if possible.

Many thanks for listening.

[layzer]

interesting, never heard a song that uses a tuba for the lead

[dark water]

Thank you Layzer for listening

Tbh, I wouldn't usually use such a sound for bass lead in a song - interestingly the patch was saved in a flute folder, rather than a bass folder, by the Fairlight library developer, so it might sound 'more usual' a couple of octaves higher - but something about it caught my attention and hopefully it carries the part okay.
Maybe this is the start of 'more tuba' in songs


Self-critically, I think I need to work more on my contrasting elements in songs, create stronger counter-melodies and interesting chord changes, as perhaps (imo) the tuba and other parts here sound too sweet and not challenging enough.
I've been making dub reggae probably for too long, which usually features simplistic arrangements (but swathed with textural effects and space), so it will be good for me to step outside my comfort zone and explore more sophisticated chord changes and counter-part melodies etc in future songs to increase tension, release and intrigue.


Many thanks again for listening to this rainy city Fairlight track

[seismic1]

Gotta love those '80s style Fairlight sounds. That wavering higher-pitched sound reminded me of Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson from the mid-80s. Don't forget, PG had Tony Levin play a tuba on "Excuse Me".

Qomalangma. Did you get to the top?

Good work

[Allomerus]

Nice sounds. The Fairlight certainly had a big influence in the 80s. Well with bands/artists I like!
Enjoyed...
Well done!

[dark water]

Many thanks Allomerus and seismic1 for those very kind comments. The Fairlight is such a beautiful sounding instrument and you're right about Peter Gabriel's wonderful tracks (and I had forgotten about Tony Levin's part of that record)




With Qomalangma / Mount Everest, I was extremely lucky (a story I won't bore you with, suffice to say that currently the Chinese regime don't let single travellers into its politically hot self-claimed ''region'' so I had to pull some stunts...) to visit Tibet in October 2014.
Tibet really is a beautiful country and during my trip, I saw amazing temples, lakes and of course Everest / Qomalangma.





I didn't have the equipment nor climbing experience to go beyond base camp at 5,200m and even on that stunning clear morning in the photo on my Soundcloud page, the air was so thin that I was struggling for breath after climbing a small incline for the picture. Myself, the Tibetan guide and my driver had got up in darkness around 4am and driven in a small 4x4 across rocky, gravelly terrain to reach base camp for around 7.30am, and to be met by that wondrous and rarely clear view of Everest / Qomalangma's summit.
Stunning country, and a hugely surprising and impressive level of English amongst the native population. Chinese has a firm grip on it currently though, after invading in the 1950s, and is determined to destroy the native culture and heritage.

[seismic1]

Great photos. That sounds like a magical experience.

[dark water]

Great photos. That sounds like a magical experience.

Absolutely - also a pretty clean (from pollution) country, which surprised me and added to the pleasure of visiting there.

Cheers