Back to the Beginning

The first of my weekly tracks for this year. Enjoy!

r.domain - Back to the Beginning

r.domain - Idiophoney

Experimenting with guitar textures for a new duo performance outfit called Idiophone-itis. Drums and guitar/laptop.

r.domain - Idiophoney

r.domain - Seeping Madness

The calm before the fear sets in to a final resolve.

r.domain - Seeping Madness

Live performance Video snippet

Fully improvised music by Adam Ritchie (guitar, laptop) and Derek Pascoe (tenor sax) at de la Catessen as part of AFUM. An excerpt.

r.domain - Erase Your Head

Remove the scar tissue, the mind relaxes. Scar tissue reforms. Erase your head.

r.domain - Erase Your Head

edp looping guitar ambient nin experimental impro

r.domain gig

r.domain - Impro Snapshots

4 Snapshots of a 40 minute jam.

r.domain - Impro Jam

edp repeater loop guitar impro ambient experimental mp3 vg99

r.domain - As the Sun Sets

Blissful calm as the sun sets.

r.domain - As the Sun Sets

guitar vg99 edp echoplex ambient bliss

r.domain - Ambient Glitch 01

Solo improvised guitar. Lush cleans glitch and meld.

r.domain - Ambient Glitch

ambient guitar glitch edp impro mp3 vg99

r.domain - Bass Glitch 01

Bass glitch freakout.

r.domain - Bass Glitch 01

bass glitch impro edp loop

r.domain - A Passage Home

A playful harmonic 6-string bass piece created with the EDP.

r.domain - A Passage Home

edp 6 string bass impro podcast mp3 looping

r.domain - EDP 3 Bass Loops 6.6.08

A night of impro bass looping with 4 loops to show for it. From glitch to mad to groove.

r.domain - EDP3

bass impro edp looping instrumental

r.domain - Hardware Failure

Solo 6 string bass with ebow improvisation.

r.domain - Hardware Failure

bass impro looping dark ambient experimental sound

r.domain - EDP02

Here's 2 loops I melded into one piece. One for Friday and one for Saturday. This is all electric bass. No midi.

r.domain - EDP02

Technorati Tags: bass, edp, looper, impro, guitar, experimental

r.domain - EDP01

My first loop created with my new EDP and at the same time testing my new midi bass setup too.

r.domain - EDP01

Technorati Tags: edp, loop, midi, bass, impro

r.domain - 29 - The Nameless

Comfortable, rolling thoughts flow into hesitation. Determination pushes through with fleeting shadows then comfort returns.

r.domain - 29 - The Nameless

podcast free mp3 vg99 roland guitar ambient instrumental

Creation of Harmonic Flight

Only 2 sounds and guitar parts were used. Both were custom patches designed in the VG99. One being the textural patch and the other a lead style patch. Both parts were improvised and both were recorded in one take. Done :-)

Technorati Tags:music composition vg99 roland improvised guitar

r.domain - 28 - Harmonic Flight

Psychedelic time at the late night jazz bar. Harmonics soaring over the pulsating ocean.

r.domain - 28 - Harmonic Flight

Technorati Tags:roland, vg99, guitar, podcast, mp3, ambient, impro,
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VG99 Podcast Commences!

Following will be the first of the VG99 podcasts. All sounds are made with the VG99 exclusively (unless you hear a drum kit) and a guitar.
I've decided not to put a time limit on the songs this time and the frequency of the songs will be between 2 and 4 weeks. Comments are welcome.

Let me introduce........

Preproduction pt 1

Thought I'd post the making of a track. This is the first part of what will become an Ordasi track (myspace.com/ordasi). The rest is yet to be written. Feel free to comment.

Untitled pt 1 (preproduction)

Technorati Tags: audio, production, dark, industrial, ambient, podcast

New concept

I'm very sorry for the lack of posts over the last months. I've been consumed with bands activity. Mostly Murdergrin and Tzun Tzu BUT....
in a couple of months time I'm planning on starting up another 'song every 2 weeks' so please stay tuned.
For now, feel free to browse my site at aritchie.com to check out some of my other musical activity. I might throw up a surprise track or 2 before the 2 months are out :-)

Peace.

r.domain - Speaking in Tongues

"Tibetan monks chanting - temple drums - machine noises. Refined and sublime. A monastery near a city." - arachnaut

r.domain - Speaking in Tongues

Technorati Tags: dark, drone, improvised, speaking, in, tongue, ambient, mp3, vocal

r.domain - Feline Stalker

This is a track I created for an online Reaktor compilation where rules are set for composition. Only one particular modular synth was allowed to be used.

r.domain - Feline Stalker

Technorati Tags: reaktor, synth, modular, composition, experimental, dark, sinister

Creation of Remix 666c

Remix 666c is remix of Pod 07. The only bit that is not from Pod 07 is the distorted bass hit. That is from Pod 08. Everything else is Pod 07. Did you pick it? hehe...
Most sounds were sliced into fine loops which were then treated in realtime so some of the added sounds are from feedback loops created from the mixer etc. A great deal of eq and reverb was used in conjunction with panning, resonators, delays, filters, compression, tube saturation and some pitch variation.
I've received some great feedback from this remix including french dark ambient artist Cedric from Sator Absentia. Check his stuff out. Very cool!

Technorati Tags: composition, experimental, guitar, podcast, software, remix, mp3

Creation of Remix 666b

Remix 666b was created from using Pod 8 for the heavy slabs of guitar that come crashing in and Pod 20 for the more minimal melodies and rhythmic noise near the end. The opening drone was created using Reaktor. I couldn't resist :-) Various reverb and spatial plugins were utilised on most parts.

Technorati Tags: music, composition, remix, reaktor, podcast, guitar, experimental

r.domain - Remix 666c

Static and tension slowly gives in to unknown entities.

r.domain - Remix 666c

Technorati Tags: podcast, remix, experimental, dark, ambient, industrial, guitar, texture,

Music soon

Sorry for the delay regarding the third remix. It'll be up next week as I'll be on holidays :-)

Thanks for your patience!

R.

r.domain - Remix 666b

Dark waves of sound crash and subside. A tumultuous entity.

r.domain - Remix 666b

Technorati Tags: industrial, death, ambient, noise, mp3, podcast, guitar

Remix 666b has commenced

Thought I'd let you all know I have just started work on Remix 666b. Will hopefully have something up in the next few days. Sorry for the delay.

Creation of Remix 666a

The first of a trilogy of remixes using audio material from the previous podcast concept. For the first one I used Pod 10 and Pod 25. Two extremes. One acoustic and mellow in nature, the other electric noise.
The noise was created from several manipulated loops from Pod 25 to create the various layers of sound. When Pod 10 comes into play; it was pretty much unedited.
Stay tuned for the next two. As you may have guessed, the time restraints have been removed. :-)
Feel free to comment.

Technorati Tags: experimental, sound, composition, podcast, mp3, free, guitar

r.domain - Remix 666a

As the molten lava rises; spews forth something beautiful. Beauty racked with pain.

r.domain - remix 666a

Technorati Tags: experimental, remix, guitar, noise, ambient, mp3, podcast

Creation of Pod 27 + 666 concept

Pod 27 was the original sketch and recording for Pod 22. The tuned percussion parts were then learnt on guitar for Pod 22 with an improvised solo over the top.

The next concept will tie in totally with the previous. I will be doing 3 6 minute (approx) remix pieces using material available from Pod 1 to 27. Once this is all complete, I'll be creating one long mix of Pod 1 to 26 plus the 3 remix tracks to be self-released on cdr. Let me know if you're interested in purchasing a copy. The price will be pretty much cost price so it'll be cheap :-)

$5 Aus($3 US)+postage.

Technorati Tags: podcast, satan, 666, remix, cd, release

r.domain - Pod 27 (Bonus Track)

Melodic minimalism with tuned percussion.

r.domain - Pod 27 (Bonus Track)

Technorati Tags: steve, reich, tuned, percussion, minimalism, podcast, mp3

Creation of Pod 26

For the final track of the podcast I wanted a melencholy tune. Bitter sweet. Originally I came up with a minimal version of the chord progression but then later developed it into a more melodic version.
First I laid down the main guitar theme with a strat type sound with some nice effects. After this came the trippy counter melodies that slapback against each other creating an interesting echo effect. And lastly, a smooth bass line to tie it all together. Bliss :-)

Stay tuned for the remixes but before that I have one bonus track coming very soon!!

Technorati Tags: podcast, guitar, composition, creation, fender, mp3, free

Creation of Pod 25

Pod 25 was slightly inspired by witnessing a live show of Wolfeyes. Awesome band!!
6 layers of improvised guitar was recorded. All pitchshifting and tones were done in realtime with the Roland VG88. Only external processing was some of the panning and mix automation.
Great on headphones!!!

Technorati Tags: Wolfeyes, improvised, noise, guitar, headphones, mp3, podcast

Creation of Pod 24

I wanted Pod 24 to be a slow and dirty blues. I think I acheived this. I enjoy the earthy tones of the rhythm guitar and bass. This is the order I recorded in also. After the rhythm and bass was down, I recorded the solo melody using the ebow which helped me greatly with the sound I was wanting to achieve.
And that's it. Blues isn't meant to be complicated ;-)

Technorati Tags: guitar, blues, mp3, podcast, roland, vg88, composition

r.domain - Pod 26

A sad farewell but we will meet again. (stay tuned)

r.domain - Pod 26

Technorati Tags: sad, mellow, instrumental, guitar, podcast, mp3, free

r.domain - Pod 25

Dark shards of noise intersped with layers of feedback and bass frequencies. Banished.

r.domain - Pod 25

Technorati Tags: dark, industrial, noise, feedback, drone, experimental, mp3, podcast

The next concept 666

I only have 2 more songs before this 12 month concept is up. My next concept I would like to do around the idea of this day. 6.6.06
Stay tuned :-)

r.domain - Pod 24

Earthy stoner groove with a worldly acid solo.

r.domain - Pod 24

Technorati Tags: stoner, blues, groove, mp3, podcast, roland, guitar

Creation of Pod 23

Pod 23 was all pretty much made up on the spot. I had no idea what I was going to create. I just dialed up a sound and started playing. The first part recorded was the main organ/guitar lick.
10 layers were used in all for this piece!!! First was the organ line, then a counter organ line, an acoustic doubling the main organ for half of it, a bowed guitar sound with a similar counter melody as the organ, another bowed part but a higher melody, then the driven bass part, the solo part which dissolves into a distorted rhythm part, a distorted rhythm line and a final distorted rhythm line with the low E string tuned to A :-) And to hold this piece all together I ended up adding a minimal drum part which really completed the piece well.

Technorati Tags: rock, composition, podcast, blog, guitar, roland, vg88

Creation of Pod 22

Somewhat inspired by seeing Adrian Belew live; this is an interesting piece which I originally composed on chromatic percussion (I'll post this version at a later date once this project is finished). Six layers of guitar were created for this composition. One part playing the main guitar part, a second counter guitar part comes in later, a rhythm part, a bass part, an effects part for the noise bit near the middle, and the improvised solo over the top. The solo was created from 2 or 3 improvised takes and then the best parts were used.

Technorati Tags: guitar, podcast, composition, belew, vg88

Creation of Pod 21

Pod 21 was basically a new song I was working on for the band Murdergrin. In the band though, some of the sections will be repeated more etc. So recording wise, there were minimal layers. 2 guitar tracks playing in unison, a bass part and the drums. Easy :-s

Technorati Tags: composition, metalcore, guitar, podcast

r.domain - Pod 23

Filthy junked-out blues grind with layers of sound.

r.domain - Pod 23

Technorati Tags: dirty, blues, grind, guitar, free, mp3

r.domain - Pod 22

Intricate melodic layers of polyrhythms with a searing solo over the top.

r.domain - Pod 22

Technorati Tags: instrumental, experimental, guitar, mp3, podcast, free, belew

r.domain - Pod 21

Manic metal riffs colliding with odd times breaking down to industrial precision.

r.domain - Pod 21

Technorati Tags: industrial, metal, guitar, riff, mp3, podcast

Creation of Pod 20

Pod 20 was created by composing mathematically. I asked my girlfriend for a random string of numbers (45692) and then she said she'd give me her phone extension number also (49361). I then created the sum of:

49361 - 45692 = 3669

And this what I used to compose the piece. The 3 original parts/sections were created on guitar first then fed into a scoring/sequencer program. From here I composed the remaining parts on the computer. Because of this I had to 'learn' several parts before recording. It gets up to 5 layers deep in some sections but for most part it's 2 guitars, one 'bass'(still guitar though) and drums.
I decided to add drums as a final step to create continuity and flow through the pieces. Because of the odd time signatures, I found this was necessary for the listener. The only part that used external fx was the brief noise guitar texture part. The rest is purely VG88v2. (except for drums of course :-)

This pod track took the longest to create so far but very rewarding once it was finished. I'm thinking of using the last two sections in one of the bands I'm in. Murdergrin (for lovers of more extreme music:-)

Technorati Tags: original, mathematical, guitar, composition

Creation of Pod 19

Inspired by seeing Talvin Singh live, I wanted to create a piece using a sitar like sound. 3 sounds were used with the ebow to create the 'drone'. Sitar and strings for drones and a holdsworth sound for the melodic element. The other parts was the improvised 'sitar' solo and an organ playing a more western progression. This is what the melodic element of the drone followed. Sort of a blend between eastern drones and western progressions. A melding of the two.

r.domain - Pod 20

Dark jazz and clean melodies give way to driving dissonance and complex rhythms. This one is for Cindy. Happy 30th!!

r.domain - Pod 20

Technorati Tags: dark, jazz, complex, algorithmic, rhythms, mp3

The Podcast Will be late

Hi Everybody,

Just letting you all know the podcast may be a few days late. 1. I've been very busy so have had little time; 2. this is a compositional piece based on numbers. It's written, I just have to learn the parts and record it. Sit tight :-)

r.domain - Pod 19

Eastern drone meets western progression. A melancholy melding of two worlds.

r.domain - Pod 19

Technorati Tags: sitar, drone, organ, progression, guitar, mp3

Creation of Pod 17 & 18

The only idea I had worked out for Pod 17 was a single rhythm I was going to use in my band Murdergrin. From this rhythm arose what you hear as Pod 17. The photo contained in the mp3 is the rhythm that was used. There were two main riff tracks, a bass track and 3 layers of extra guitar material scattered throughout for dynamic effect and mood. I wrote the drums first for Pod 17. The end result I am very happy with :-)

I wanted Pod 18 to be a sustained sound. It's close but it ended up with it's own progression. The progression was the first thing I came up with using one sound. I then accompanied that part with an organ and a string type sound with the last half of the song being improvised. I then selected a Holdsworth type sound to improvise a tapped solo over the whole piece. Done!

r.domain - Pod 18

Sadness drowns the soul. Comfort in solitude.

r.domain - Pod 18

Technorati Tags: ambient, sadness, instrumental, guitar, mp3, podcast

r.domain - Pod 17

Industrial rhythms with layers of guitars and sonic textures building to a final climax.

r.domain - Pod 17

Technorati Tags: industrial, guitar, sonic, textures, mp3

Creation of Pod 16

For Pod 16, I simply wanted to create a cool grindcore song, eg. must have blast beats. This is the only song so far that didn't use my Ibanez Artist guitar with the gk pickup as that guitar was getting modified at the time. I still used the VG88 though but just using standard mag pickups.

First I wrote the drum beats and then created the riffs. There are 3 guitar parts in all. The main riffing guitar, bass (and I used an actual bass this time!! I didn't have access to a midi pickup), and lead guitar. As usual, the lead/solo parts was totally improvised. I think it was a one take solo again (from memory).

The track was originally only 30 odd seconds with no lead guitar. After a few listens I decided it's worthy of a greater duration and the lead part really spiced up the track. Pretty happy with it in the end. Grind on!! \m/

Technorati Tags: grindcore, metal, song, description

r.domain - Pod 16

Grinding guitars and intense blast beats open out to halftime dissonance and then straight back again. Screaming guitars throughout.

r.domain - Pod 16

Technorati Tags: grindcore, metal, blast, podcast, mp3

Creation of Pod 15

For Pod 15 I wanted to create a heavy stoner track. Why? I just bought the complete Kyuss discography from a closing down sale and it sounded like fun.
First I came up with the main guitar riff which the melodic parts of the riff can get a bit lost in the heaviness of the other parts. I then programmed a drum part for it. Guitar part one was then recorded. After that, the bass part was laid down (once again only using the guitar and the VG88) which doesn't follow the guitar line exactly but prettty close. Then came guitar 2 for some chordal colouring and extra heaviness. Guitar 2 also included the improvised solo which I went and dropped in on the next time round so transitions were smooth. The solo is a one take solo.... it's stoner rock after all :-D
Voila!

ps. Pod 16 will be up this weekend.

r.domain - Pod 15

Stoner rock for those sun-baked road trips.

r.domain - Pod 15

Technorati Tags: stoner, rock, kyuss, mp3,

Creation of Pod 14

Not one pick was used in this song. This piece was played entirely with the ebow which is an electronic bow for guitar. By holding the ebow over the string being 'played', it will sustain the note indefinately therefore being able to create lush drones, wind and string sounds also. 3 parts were used. A low drone, a higher drone and an improvised solo. This track is longer than a minute I know but this was edited down from a seven minute jam :-) Also, to keep with the one minute concept; when I create the final mixdown of all the tracks, this one will end up with a time closer to a minute.

http://www.ebow.com

Technorati Tags: ambient, ebow, drone, creation,

Feedburner stats

697 out of 32,136 podcasts. Or even, 697 out of 175,982 feeds. Pretty darn good I say so thanks to all those who have subscribed. Good work! The regular subscriber numbers have been slowly creeping up which is nice. So to all those that haven't subscribe yet... SUBSCRIBE!!! ...... please :-)

Technorati Tags: stats, feedburner, podcast, subscribe

r.domain - Pod 14

Layers of dark eastern tones intertwine to become one.

r.domain - Pod 14

Technorati Tags: dark, ambient,eastern, drone, mp3,

Creation of Pod 13

Pod 13 was a conscious effort to create a whole band sound again after drifting off into drumless songs for a while. The tune was based around the intricate picking part which was written for a yr 12 student a year ago. The rest of the parts were created around it although the picking part already had an underlying 'circle of 4ths' chord progression which aided the song's creation.

Overall, there's the picking part, a chordal 'funk' part, an improvised solo over the changes and a bass line. The entire song is in 7/8 except for a brief period of 8/8 (it didn't have the 4/4 feel).

I'm very happy with how this piece turned out even if it is a little Crimson-esque and I really enjoyed improvising the bassline over the chord changes in 7/8. It felt amazingly comfortable.

Technorati Tags: fripp, king, crimson, guitar, composition

Excellent news!!

The great news is that r.domain has had a piece of music accepted for a soundtrack for an upcoming film this year. The accepted piece of music titled Veil of Sadness(unreleased) utilises strings and asian instruments. Sparse classical minimalism. The film will be very gothic in nature. More news as it comes to hand.

Technorati Tags: gothic, film, soundtrack

Happy New Year

Just a quick post to say Happy New Year to all.
Some very cool news from the r.domain camp very soon.

Go sick!!

Technorati Tags: happy, new, year

Cracked the 50 mark!!

Thanks to all those who have subscribed recently and for those that have subscribed from the start. I finally hit the 50+ subscribers in a 24 hour period a day ago with 51. I checked today and it's 52. This has taken 6 months to reach this amount of subscribers and I have to say I'm pretty happy with that :-)
Well Pod 13 was the halfway mark for this initial podcast project with another 13 songs to go. After that, all the songs will be mixed together to form one long piece. From flowing segues to schizophrenic changes. Should be fun. Afer this project is finished, I'll be starting a new musical project using the podcast platform. More details later.
Thanks to all the subscribers. Love ya work! Keep posting them comments and spread the podcast link around.
Enjoy and merry xmas!

Ritchie

r.domain - Pod 13

Intricate guitar lines and deep bass grooves flow through the chord changes.

r.domain - Pod 13

Technorati Tags: king, crimson, fripp, mp3, podcast, guitar, bass

Creation of Pod 12

Pod 12 was a rushed one due to lack of time but I believe the quality is still there. This is mainly due to me using a pre existed recording of this improvised jam I did yonks ago based on a live performance concept. I also found an experimental guitar noise loop I recorded a while back. Mixing these two elements created Pod 12. (Pod 13 due this weekend :-)

Technorati Tags: dark, ambient, guitar, podcast, mp3

49. So close!

So close to hitting 50 subscribed readers in a 24 hour period!! I think 49 is the highest so far. It'd be great to eventually get to 3 figures. Please pass on the link to this podcast to all that may be interested and get them to subscribe. That would be awesome. Spread the love :-)
After this years project is up, the songs will increase in length and contain further instrumentation.

http://murdergrin.blogspot.com
RSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/rdomain

r.domain - Pod 12

Dark and barren. Comfort in isolation. Eaten from the inside.

r.domain - Pod 12

Technorati Tags: dark, ambient, isolation, sound

Pod 12 is coming soon :-)

I'll be posting Pod 12 tomorrow morning. This weekend is flatout (Happy Birthday Mum!!!) so I'll be creating a remix of an existing guitar jam for all to enjoy. Stay tuned.

Creation of Pod 11

Pod 11 was decided to be in an acoustic style again due to some feedback received. This entire piece was created and recorded in the one night. The main picking sections was from an old piece of music I wrote whilst waiting for students to turn up. The part was doubled. I then improvised the hypotising guitar line with an 8th note displacement for that ambient trance effect. That was pretty much it. The first sounds you hear are me knocking on the body of my guitar :-)

Technorati Tags: ambient, trance, guitar, recording, composition

Creation of Pod 10

Pod 10 started with a picking pattern I wrote for a student. I then created a second section to flow from the first with an ending. The part was doubled using acoustic sims on the VG88. All lead parts were improvised keeping one take as the main solo. Other guitar leads were combined for harmony in a few sections where I thought it needed it. And done. Simple elegance.
Comments welcome.

Technorati Tags: original, acoustic, guitar, composition,

r.domain - Pod 11

Layers of acoustic guitar with ambient counter melodies drifting throughout. Blissful.

r.domain - Pod 11

Technorati Tags: ambient, acoustic, guitar, king, nice, bliss, mp3

Guitar Art 02

A digitally manipulated image of myself on guitar. All artwork used are original works.

Artist: Scott Maxwell.

Technorati Tags: digital, guitar, skull, art, manipulation,

r.domain - Pod 10

Simplistic beauty of the acoustic guitar. Light at the end of the tunnel.

r.domain - Pod 10

Technorati Tags: acoustic, guitar, mp3, instrumental, emulation, roland

Creation of Pod 09

This kooky piece was built around the main clean guitar melody for the first half and the chord/riff progression in the second half which as a whole is guitar part 01. I then created a drum part to go with this guitar part followed by the bass line. Next was the rhythm part which had a cleaner tone and then doubled with a dirtier tone using polyphonic distortion for note clarity. For the second half of the song I fattened up the sound by adding a low distorted guitar line and a distorted chord/melody line with a wah sound to complete the piece.

Pod 10 is ready ahead of time (for once) for uploading. Update Subscrptions tomorrow evening :)

Technorati Tags: guitar, composition, arrangement, music, bass

Feedburner stats

697 out of 32,136 podcasts. Or even, 697 out of 175,982 feeds. Pretty darn good I say so thanks to all those who have subscribed. Good work! The regular subscriber numbers have been slowly creeping up which is nice. So to all those that haven't subscribe yet... SUBSCRIBE!!! ...... please :-)

ps. new tune due this weekend.

Technorati Tags: stats, feedburner, podcast, subscribe

Guitar Art 01

Here's a piece of art from a close friend of mine. This is modelled on my hand. More of this series to come.

Artist: Scott Maxwell

Technorati Tags: art, drawing, sketch, guitar,

claim post

Just claiming my podcast at Odeo. Check it out.
Details on creation of the last podcast coming soon.

My Odeo Channel (odeo/dd7d0317f061589b)

r.domain - Pod 09

A lovely playful piece with an intertwining melody and subtle shifts in time. Things take a slight turn halfway. Sweet kookiness.

r.domain - Pod 09

Technorati Tags: guitar, playful, melody, sweet, song, mp3

Creation of Pod 08

For Pod 08, I wanted to create a slow, heavy dirge of a track. It turned out even heavier than what I was expecting. This is good :-D
Guitars were tuned down to A for that totally heavy industrial sound. And when I say 'tuned down to A', my guitar was actually tuned to standard drop D tuning and I let the VG88 do the rest of the work (via processing). Even the bass part is my guitar tuned (via processing) down an incredible 2 octaves!! This is definately pushing the limits of technology and processing.... I would usually use a bass for something that low but I thought I'd stick with only using the VG88 for this podcast project.
The drums were programmed first for this track. Then 2 heavy guitars playing identical rhythm parts were recorded and finally the bass part. After that I did 2 improvised guitar solo's to run in unison. And voila.... This piece will be extended in the future. Hope you dug it... I did :-D
As always, comments are appreciated.

Technorati Tags: creative, music, composition, industrial, heavy, guitar, metal

r.domain - Pod 08

Raw slabs of guitar layered thick. Duelling solos battle for supremacy. A monster.

r.domain - Pod 08

Technorati Tags: heavy, metal, doom, guitar, impro, mp3

Little by Little

Drums are virtually done and I sketched out a guitar part. I have a slow, doomy, halftime track in mind. Either that or some experimental guitar noise. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it tomorrow night.

Technorati Tags: doom, guitar, drums, podcast, heavy

Start the mix

I've decided to start the big job of mixing these tracks together this week. This will save it from being such a huge task at the end of it all. Also contemplating a Pod 00 for the cd. Some form of an intro would be nice. If I decide to sell the end product, the price will be low; just to cover costs basically.
Also, a new podcast is due this weekend. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: cd, mixing, podcast

Creation of Pod 07

Pod 07 started with the picking guitar part (using a mild telecaster sound)which is made of 2 sections with one time signature change. This part was doubled. Drums were programmed at this stage. Next added was the chordal guitar part using a bright telecaster and then the organ part. Final guitar part was the bass which was also used for the little lick played near the start.
Final drum programming tweaks were made and a final mix was pulled to create the finished product. And remember, all sounds are made from the guitar only (except for the drums of course :-)
Hope you enjoyed it. Feedback always welcome.

Technorati Tags: creative, music, composition, drum, programming, guitar

r.domain - Pod 07

Guitars and organ meld as one creating an organic mix of emotion.

r.domain - Pod 07

Technorati Tags: guitar, free, music, mp3, instrumental, podcast

New tune due

Stay tuned. A new track is due this weekend. I've written a guitar part so far. Possibly a 'nicer' track than Pod 06.

Creation of Pod 06

The concept of Pod 06 was actually a funk track with a few heavy sections thrown in hence the funk beat but the guitars ended up taking over so I ended up with a very heavy 'funk' track :-)
Beats were programmed first whilst I was writing the riffs and then I came back 2 days later to complete all the guitars. There was one doubled guitar part, a bass part (done on guitar again), the lead guitar, a clean funk part and then a final guitar for some minor funk injections. So a total of 6 guitars.
For the lead part, I utilised the super locrian scale which interconnected with the funk chords moving up in minor thirds. And the lead tapping synced with the odd time references for maximum effect. Like Pod 04, I wanted to increase the craziness at the end.

r.domain - Pod 06

Intense rock funk with injections of adrenaline ending in a total overdose. This one's for Rob. Happy 31st!

r.domain - Pod 06

tomorrow now...

I have a couple of friends coming around tonight now so I'll attempt to finish the track tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Halfway there

I've finished programming the drums tonight and sketched out some guitar parts to record tomorrow. I'm enjoying this process of creation especially back to programming primitive drum sounds (as opposed to electronic beats) and using the guitar as the main instrument. It's exciting when the track has a live 'band' feel to it. For me, that is success......... Well for this project anyway :-)

New song due this weekend

A new song will be due this weekend. Once again I have yet to start it :-) I have a few ideas floating around in my head (esp at the moment cause I've come down with vertigo somehow!!) I'll attempt to start it tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Plz check your feed links

It'd be great if everyone could double-check their pod-catching/blog-reading software is subscribed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/rdomain and not http://murdergrin.blogspot.com. If it's not http://feeds.feedburner.com/rdomain; please resubscribe with the new address as it gives a more accurate stat reading. I've also edited the blog code so now when 'autodiscovery' is activated, the correct address will be used regardless of which address is typed in.
Thanks!!!

r.domain piece commissioned

Thought I'd just mention the good news. An EP I wrote for a 6 part mp3 series on Australian expermental composers has officially been accepted. I will be the 4th composer of the series. This will be commissioned through Shamefile music as part of the Terra Australis Incognita Series. I'll post more details when the EP gets closer to the release date. Further info can be found at Terra Australis Incognita

Itunes 5

Itunes version 5 is out now. I think it's only minor additions. I'm hoping some bugs were fixed with regards to the podcasting sides of things. I'll be checking this out over the coming days. At least it's free :-)

Creation of Pod 05

For Pod 05 I had no idea what I was going to do so I just plugged my guitar into the vg88 and played. And Pod 05 is what came out.
Pod 05 is created from 4 guitar parts. The first part I put down was a high-pitched drone part which I manipulated in realtime on the vg88. Next part was a low drone sound to compliment the high-pitched one. Then I did an improvised solo over the drones. The final part was the clean guitar/bass sounds. These sounds were played at the same time due to a clever patch on the vg88 where my low E and A strings were pitchshifted down in bass territory and the 4 top strings were separately harmonised in fifths for each string.
All parts were one take only and totally improvised. Only guitar was used in the recording with zero effects on the recording. The hardest thing was trying to create an ambient piece which is only a minute long. This is harder than it seems. So what you hear on the podcast is a cut from a 4 minute jam with a new mix. Feel free to leave some feedback (which gives me an idea for another pod song :-)
Enjoy.

r.domain - Pod 05

Drone guitars with eastern jazz lines and brooding bass. Imagine you've been dropped into an egyptian sandstorm :-)

r.domain - Pod 05

New Podcast will be up tomorrow

I'll post Podcast 05 on Friday as I've run out of time tonight. Total opposite of Pod 04.

Creation of Pod 4

I've been hanging to do my cut-up metal style and I'm happy with the results.
For this piece I spent hours programming the drums whilst I was creating the arrangement. Once the beats were finished, I created the remaining riffs which were unwritten including the entire end section. I then recorded the 'riffs' and the bass (which was actually guitar once again). After that, the jazz breakdown section was created and recorded at the same time using three guitar parts plus 'bass' and then the remaining solo guitar parts were improvised at the time of recording which was a blast especially over the blast beats :-D
A few tweaks of the mix and voila! There will be more in this vein in the future so stay subscribed to hear what's going to be created next. Even I don't know :-)

comments are active now

I just fixed an issue with the general public not being able to leave comments on my blog. Feel free to give it a shot now.
Thanks.

r.domain - Pod 04

A schizophrenic metal piece never returning from where it came. Turn it up!!

r.domain - Pod 04

New track soon

Just informing you all that the new track will be a little bit late but it will be worth the wait (esp for lovers of more extreme music :-)
Spent much time programming and have run out of time to lay all the guitars down.
Soon!

Podcasting Rig

My minimal podcasting rig. The black rectangle thing behind my guitar is the Korg microKontroller which I use to input the drum parts sometimes. Also included in the picture is the Electrix Repeater for guitar compostion and loops, and my latest purchase, the Korg Kaoss Pad 2 for processing (yet to be used on the podcast but will be at some stage :-)

Info regarding the creation process

For those who asked about the process in creating these songs.
The original concept with regards to equipment was to keep it stripped back (reletively speaking for those who know me. I'm a bit of a gear junkie). The main equipment I'm using is the Roland VG-88 V2 Guitar System for all the guitar/bass tones and BFD (and other random samples) for the drums. The songs are arranged and recorded to the hard drive with minimal software effects (at this stage). And the songs are all written just before the podcast is due. I might think of a 'concept' during the fortnight but everything else is done in a spontanious manner so this comes across in the music.

Pod 01: A funky impro track with 2 'rhythm' parts, bassline and an improvised guitar solo all done with the VG-88. Drums were played in via the Korg microKontrol for that live feel. Track started with the drum beat and I went from there. Drums were tweaked a touch once the guitars were laid down.

Pod 02: Wanted to pick up the pace somewhat. I started with the riff which I ended up doubling in the second half to fatten the track up. Harmonics were used in the intro. Throughout the piece there's a counter melody battling it out. The notes were played in groups of varying lengths and then the same line was displaced to create the madness. Drums drop out for the improvised end section.

Pod 03: I wanted to use the phrygian scale for this piece due to the sound it creates so I devised a phrygian chord progression to improvise over. There were 2 rhythm guitars, a solo guitar and a bass synth sounding guitar to add some bass in the bottom end and for some ambience. The original sound I had for the song was an ambient jazz piece. Turned out more majestic sounding due to the constant pulse and tones used. This song also had an improvised end section which I really enjoy. Who knows what that is going to lead into??!!

I'll be sure to post info about the future pieces when the song is uploaded for everyone's perusal.

Enjoy!!

r.domain - Pod 03

Slow and majestic piece utilising 4 guitars set in the phrygian mode with a tense ending.

r.domain - Pod 03

Thankyou

Thanks to all of those who have subscribed over the last month. Great to see. If this podcast hits 3 figures, I'll contemplate creating a weekly song. But for now enjoy the next fortnightly song at the end of this week and feel free to pass this podcast link onto others who may be interested.

r.domain - Pod 02

King Crimson meets Rage Against the Machine. Counter melodies dueling throughout. Left open for the next installment. Enjoy!!

r.domain - Pod 02

New song soon :-)

There'll be a new song up this weekend which I hope you'll all enjoy. All these songs are going towards a greater plan. This will be released in one years time but for now, stay subscribed for the next installment.

Pod 01 updated

Just writing to say I uploaded the first track again with a louder master for all to enjoy. Redownload it again if you choose.

Cheers.

Podcast Commences!!!

Greetings all. Just a quick post to inform you this podcast has now officially started. 26 pieces of music in 52 weeks. Each written as I go.
Point your podcatching software to http://feeds.feedburner.com/rdomain and subscribe!

Enjoy.

r.domain - Pod 01

First track of 26 for the year. This piece features 2 guitars, bass and drums. Funky, jamming out track. Enjoy!

r.domain - Pod 01

Success!!

Yah!! It's working now. Stoked. Please subscribe to my podcast which will be commencing sometime very soon. Paste this into your podcatching software of choice.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/rdomain

and subscribe. You can also view this blogpage or
http://feeds.feedburner.com/rdomain in a web browser for any text only additions.

Specific info to follow regarding the musical project and podcasting.
Stay tuned.

Podcasting

This blog will soon be a fortnightly podcast for a year. For now I'm experimenting with the logistics of it all hence the link below. Feel free to check it out. It's just a weird sound I created (from converting an image into sound) for me to test the podcasting side of things.

test sound

The beginning.... experimental...

Okay world. This blog is in it's experimental stage while I orientate myself with all this and an idea I have using the rss technology. Definately subscribe to this as this will be a regular musical project over the coming weeks.
Stay tuned.

Ritchie