Track Discussion: Dreaming

Well, this track is a more recent sort of thing. At first I intended to discuss tracks in order of their making, but I am a bit excited about this one, even though it was posted on soundcloud four months ago. 

I tend to name tracks as soon as I create the first layer of instrumentals. Being a beginner with limited knowledge (and with no desire to accumulate more, it seems unfortunately) I have a rather crude way of making music. Or at least that is how I feel, since I have no idea how other people do it. I don't play any instruments or own any kind of music equipment for now - unless cheap headphones count as such. So for this little gem, I used Majken's Chimera plug-in. Then this is how it all went: Load it on some vst plug-in host, baang on the (computer) keyboard. Sounds  good. Sounds dreamy, kinda like those foggy moments when you are hovering between sleep and wakefulness. Hey, let's call it "Dreaming"! This layer, will be the backbone of the whole track. And now it needs some strings. Mess around with those indecipherable dials. Fine-tune till it gets that gritty buttery cello sound. Bang bang baanng on the keyboard. Lay it thick beneath the dreamy sounds. Now for a sprinkling of tinkling sounds/ weird noises! And done dun dun. 

For this track "the process" went real smooth. It took all of 15 minutes to think up a rambling sort of melody and end up with a drastically different piece of music. I was really happy with the "strings" and how good they sounded. To me, at least. Yes, I do listen to my own music for pleasure. If it is something I want to hear again and again, then I post it on Soundcloud.

Like always I make a track first and then think of how it feels. This one, I imagined was something I'd like to listen to as I fall asleep. It's not meant to be warm or happy, just this gentle stream of bubbles that give off lost and wistful and nostalgic vibes, while at the same time slipping into a kind of unconsciousness. This track, as well as "Evening" are like two different shades of the same face. I plan to include them in the "album" - man does that word feel phony when I say it - next to each other. In my mind, "evening" will probably be followed by "dreaming". They are somehow linked to each other, two little yellow peas in a green pod. My favourite ones out of all the music I've ever made. 

Of halts and songs stuck in my head

Ya, ya novaya model...

I am somehow in love with this song by the now split-up Russian duo t.A.T.u. 

I felt this was an extremely important declaration to make. 

Now that I have put that aside, here's the problem: my lovely Jupiter, the Dell n4050 bestowed upon me by Shahbaz Sharif got stolen. The machine upon which all my music took form. The machine I probably might never see again. Ever.

*excuse me while I go shed a few tears*

However, since I was in the process of setting up a new operating system on it, all my music and software had been shifted to another computer. I am lucky that most of my data was backed up, but this is still a huge loss to me since all my work (music, college presentations, downloading torrents, etc) was done using Jupiter. It's definitely brought my glacial pace of putting together an album to a halt and left me kinda uninspired to do any more work. Until that laptop can be retrieved or I get a new one, my music making will move very very slowly. I've got a couple of half-baked tracks that I initially wanted to post on soundcloud, but they were...well, half-baked. A little more grime and polish is needed before they end up anywhere.

In the meantime, I have decided to listen to more Pakistani music and expand my horizons. Maybe even do a few reviews, if possible. And all those track discussions.... 
Well, stay tuned for more rambling from me.


(And if anyone finds a cherry red dell inspiron n4050 in Lahore -with Crunchbang installed on it - in the hands of someone you feel is not the original owner, I'd love to know.)