Schbert Music

Cosmosis_BETA_by_Schbert.mp3

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:52:14 +0300

And still more stuff for Hannu’s films. This film was called Cosmosis, though the song was made for just experimentation.

The convoluted voices come from Spain. I recorded some taxi driver conversations with their dispatch center while on holiday there, and then processed the vocals with Granulab. That’s an excellence piece of freeware - thanks, Rasmus.

The mix is not without problems. The rhythm stutters quite a bit, the song structure is pretty random, and, yes, the snare is way too loud. Must redo this beta some day...

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Cosmosis_BETA_by_Schbert.mp3

Evolution_by_Schbert.mp3

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:33:15 +0300

Another song for Hannu’s films. Supposedly about the evolution of humankind, and, as usual, we blow ourselves up with nukes. There’s also an alternative version of the film to the same music.

This tune has a slightly trance-y feeling but does not really belong into that genre. In the beginning there’s the 100 ms beep needed for film synchronisation. What a nice touch...

Made with Cakewalk Sonar, a couple soft synths and drum samples, with my trusty old Yamaha CS1x as the controller.

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Evolution_by_Schbert.mp3

The_Subject_by_Schbert.mp3

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:05:41 +0300

Yet another soundtrack for Hannu’s films, this one called The Subject. However, this tune was developed to stand on its own, not really tied to the video. I might release that longer version some day.

The rhythm is based on a sequenced speech pattern. I find this intriguing, since the ear picks up the rhythm, but its sounds do not quite ring a bell. They are human, but used in a non-human way. As if someone was beat-boxing but not quite. Incidentally, the sounds were ripped from a poem recited in the radio by a well-known Finnish female poet.

I find that I also like the synth theme even though its played by myself. There’s a certain resemblance to Rick Wakeman’s early Moog sounds, perhaps that’s why, even though the keyboard chops of mine definitely do not compare. You can always dream, can’t you?

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/The_Subject_by_Schbert.mp3

Memento_Mori_by_Schbert.mp3

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:53:53 +0300

Another track for Hannu’s short films. View Memento Mori here. Strange little film that I love very much. Why? Can’t say. Might have to something to do with the notion of mortality. Everything we do is temporary since we are mortal. Strange that I find some comfort in this hopelessness. This tells me that Schbert is one moody bugger.

This track is mostly noises. I find that work pretty well for these short films. There’s usually too little time to develop a musical theme, or it has to be pretty simple and stand on its own, too little time to introduce lenghty variations. It’s better to just support the visuals with suitable aurals.

Noise is beautiful, the essence of all being, so it works well with these unexplained clips. You could also argue that noise is trivial, too easy to do, and I agree. Feels almost like cheating. It really does. Why do we have such a complex relationship with noise and music?

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Memento_Mori_by_Schbert.mp3

Angler_by_Schbert.mp3

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:27:42 +0300

Soundtrack for Hannu Nieminen’s short film Angler.
Somehow this video made me feel that in this world of music overuse and overproduction, we hear too little simple, naive music. Here’s some.
That’s my kids’ toy piano, as you may have guessed. Sounds crappy and childish, which is exactly what was needed on this tune. Playing errors and all. Which come naturally from my part. Crappy equals happy.

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Angler_by_Schbert.mp3

Tuut_BETA_by_Schbert.mp3

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:14:37 +0300

Another by-product of just messing around, and sadly it shows. One day in 2009 I met a new plug-in for glitch, which in general means all kinds of severe mutilation to your sounds. Just had to try it. I fed a few drum loops to the plugin in Sonar, added a dull bass beat and some eerie pads. Overdubbed some volume fades. Done.
Some moments in this track are pretty nice, some less so.
Then again what can you expect of a crappy tune done in maybe one hour and just for technical experimentation?
I love the way the plugin accidentally generated the phone dialtone sound. That was not intentional by any means.

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Tuut_BETA_by_Schbert.mp3

Oravasta_BETA_by_Schbert_128k.mp3

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:00:19 +0300

Some day I will remix this song from 1998. As such, it gets pretty boring after 3 minutes or so. Needs some dynamics and evolution. So, it’s still BETA after all these years.
The weird vocals come from 1967 I believe. My late mother had recorded a far relative talking about his job as a fireman. Somehow these bits from those 1/4” tapes landed on this track.
The bass sound is quite nice IMHO. Comes almost straight from Peavey DPM V3 synth. There’s a bit too much delay, but I couldn’t help it as I was in love with my new Lexicon effects unit.
The title “Oravasta” deals with squirrels. Why it’s in the name, no one knows.

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Oravasta_BETA_by_Schbert_128k.mp3

Antithesis_by_Schbert.mp3

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:18:33 +0300

Here’s the title track for my unpublished debut CD. Typical Schbert -- downtempo, moody, with beautiful and hopeful elements, but over it all darkness is glooming. The melody brings me hope; perhaps you will feel the same.
The most obvious sonic element is the heavy use of phasers in the strings. This may render this tune dated but who cares. The weird bubbly noise comes from the Emu sampler I used, though I was never able to recreate it afterwards. I think the same sound is heard somewhere in Tears for Fears material. Email Schbert if you discover it.
Made some dark night of 2001 with Cakewalk, ESI32 sampler, Yamaha CS1x, Korg M1R, Peavey DPM V3 and some other stuff.

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Antithesis_by_Schbert.mp3

Wild_by_Schbert.mp3

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:10:09 +0300

This song comes from around 1996. My dear friends gave me a porno soundtrack CD, asking to do something useful with it. Never passing a challenge, I decided to make a song using samples from the CD. The source turned out to be almost completely crap, but I did find a few utterances that sounded okay in a tongue-in-cheek production.
Later I discovered that hundreds of other people had been using the very same samples, probably included in a dozen collections. Ah well.
Done on Cakewalk, using Peavey DPM3 and Lexicon effects. Never really mixed. Still somehow interesting.

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Wild_by_Schbert.mp3

Microkontrollista_BETA_by_Schbert_128k.mp3

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:28:02 +0300

This is one of those songs that come up when you just doodle around with what you have. One day in January 2009 I dug up my Korg microKontrol in my upstairs office when I really should have been working on a paper, and a tune accidentally emerged.

Made with Sonar 6, a few Atmosphere samples, Sonar bundled synths and a few loops.

[Todo: needs tightening up, a B part, some good ideas, and decent mixing, etc. Awwww gimmeabreak].

http://www.schbert.net/Schbert/biisit/Microkontrollista_BETA_by_Schbert_128k.mp3