Feb 2022 astronomy cosmology slothcore arranger-keyboard-challenge nap-time
Robin Ince's latest book "The Importance of Being Interested" has a chapter on The Universe (with the title "Big, isn't it?" —who can spot that reference?) in which he marvels that it's estimated that 4,900 new stars form every *second* in the Universe around us. They form in the nebulae of gas and dust from earlier generations of stars, created when those stars blew up in supernovae events. Oh, and the Universe expands faster than the speed of light, so that despite being only 13.8 billion years old, it is currently just over 93 billion light years across. Cosmology is *weird*, kids.
I'm tackling both the slothcore and arranger keyboard challenges with this one, as I made extensive use of the KARMA function on my Korg M3. However, a certain amount of technical jiggery-pokery was called for, as this is 34 BPM and the Korg's minimum tempo setting is 40 BPM...
The roaring thing at the end is this:
https://www.spitfireaudio.com/aperture-the-stack/
@mahtowin May 2022
cool ... I can imagine floating through the universe ... passing stars, galaxys, black holes, ....
@leepat Mar 2022
love the space (and the liner notes)
all those billions can quickly get above one's head, which is why a simple (and tasteful) guitar melody can be so reassuring.
recently saw Annihilation and the roaring thing reminded me of another roaring thing at its end...
@chinacat Mar 2022
Really nice, I have it on in the background this morning as I'm checking out your website. I definitely got a bit of the Pink Floyd vibe out of that one. Really well produced, sound is great!
@ryako Mar 2022
This is a lovely instrumental! Well done with tackling both slothcore and the keyboard challenges! Love the pads.
@ahumburg Mar 2022
Absolutely inspiring! Thank you for creating and posting this. The synth textures and drums though! Great mix!
@pugetive Mar 2022
Holy Pink Floyd! This one pulled me in right from the start and never let go. I'm not familiar with the challenges you mentioned but if they inspired in this track, I'm all for 'em! Nice work here.
@thedutchwidows Mar 2022
Very nice. I’d that a hitchhiker’s reference? This feels very space-y like a soundtrack to an epic journey through the stars. I can picture large sleek spaceships cruising between galaxies. Even if you’re travelling very very quickly it would probably seem a crawl given mind-boggling hugeness of space. Excellent stuff.
@mosley Feb 2022
I love this, slow and spacey in such an awesome way! Huge sound on this one!
@beat Feb 2022
Yes.
And this is a very very nice tribute to our fathers of slothcore!
Beautiful.
____________________________________________
Am a longtime fan of the infinite monkey cage ;].
@woodhornhank Feb 2022
So...2 058 000 stars were born while i was listening and enjoying this song....No way !!! No milkyway !!!
@coolparadiso Feb 2022
very well composed and very spacey - almost pretty sloth maybe a subgenre nice!
@ductapeguy Feb 2022
Hello @headfirstonly. It is Mr. McGaughey with Mrs. B's third graders again. While we were listening, the children drew what they felt and saw in their minds. Here is what they drew.
C: I felt like I was flying through the Milky Way.
T: I felt pretty good.
H: I felt like playing drums and all the other music.
E: I drew the earth with a lot of stars.
B: I drew a cave with water and bugs.
B: I drew 3 things: I'm still working on me but I drew a guitar, me and a big box around it.
C: It felt like I was in a rainforest with water coming on me so I drew a rainforest. It felt really relaxing.
L: I drew squiggles and every time the volume goes up the squiggles go up and every time the volume.
@whispermouse Feb 2022
Whoa. I need to reintegrate my personality after listening to that one. Epic, and that's not a word I'm using lightly.
@sierain Feb 2022
The theme makes this so good! I'm a sucker for cosmology and listening to this type of thing (with the theme in mind) allows one to get immersed in thinking about the universe.
@corvisier Feb 2022
Excellent spacy composition !
@mmmmarcus Feb 2022
Wow this is really beautiful. Lovely atmospheric, and the guitar playing is stellar. Hats off.
@torniojaws Feb 2022
Can't go wrong with the cosmos :D It's like Phil Collins discovered Blade Runner and made the soundtrack for it. Very nice vibes throughout. Like watching stars born.
@mal Feb 2022
This makes me want to rewatch Lexx. And sleep. And dream about the two universes.
@jackdawfactories Feb 2022
This is great! Really wonderful soundtrack piece, and those HUGE bassy/hornlike swells at the end that I presume are The Stack are killer.
@berni1954 Feb 2022
Very soundtrack in feel. Very Korg in sound. Pity mine hasn't got arrangements that are so spacy (mine is dedicated to people who played 90s covers, or were one person bands at weddings and bar-mitzvahs reckon :)
This is a fantastic example of why arranger keyboards shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.
Fabulous guitar playing and tone too! Chapeau!
"You may think it's a long way to go to the shops, but that's peanuts to space!" - Ford Prefect
@seemanski Feb 2022
My first thought was, is this the soundtrack to the new blade runner film? Then you went into some guitar soloing that would make Dave Gilmour proud. Nice atmospheric track.
@zecoop Feb 2022
Beautiful intensity in the opening themes. They are gentle, kind of, but there is something underneath... then the guitar shows up. It somehow doesn't sound slow, even though it is definitely slothing its way through. Definitely some Floydian spirit in here too, which is making me wonder what kind of vocal could work. That said (as it is said to me fairly often) I appreciate this as a composition on its own and complete as is. It is gorgeous, expansive to listen to, and propels through the wonderful breaks making me wait for the next bit. Good stuff Chris!!
@nagavaeoe Feb 2022
Yeah, I dig this. Love the title. I draw some inspiration from the stars as well. This is glorious in it's spaciousness and atmosphere [or lack thereof! :O)]. Great synth sounds and chords. Just washes over you. Will have to check out that book. That roaring thing at the end sounds so menacing.
@heliosonorous Feb 2022
This sounds like the sloths are on a slow space ride to somewhere far away and no need to be cryogenically frozen since they are slow already. Great atmosphere in here and relaxed feel, the waves from the stack at the end give a nice push to it.
@ineloquentsd Feb 2022
This is sprawling and epic. It feels like the backing to a solemn montage in a fantasy movie. 10/10, would use as mood music for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
@nadine Feb 2022
I'm happy that the slothcore tradition is maintained. I did not expect an epic ambient song and its so vast and soothing.
@bradbrubaker Feb 2022
My first #slothcore listen this FAWM, and you made me realize what I've been missing. Is it "Sloths in Space" or "Planet of the Sloths"?? I love the space motorcycle toward the end.
@mandolinda Feb 2022
I have no idea how you made any of this, but I do like to listen. Amazing.
@klaus Feb 2022
Darn, I knew I should have bought a Korg instead of Yamaha. Sounds very spacey and lovely. The "big scope" of the music reminds me of Tangerine Dream but this is far more melodic and not so German. ( No offense to Germans. Or Tangerine Dream. )
@elesimo Feb 2022
Love this, Chris! This is indeed so cinematic, wide and spacious. Really enjoyed listening to the song, I was still discovering small things on my 3rd listen!
@blindkiwi Feb 2022
Fantastic track Chris. I am bookmarking this to listen again after I finish work. Think it will be just the medicine I need after 5 hours of video meetings. :)
@dzdandcunfsd Feb 2022
This is really fabulous and makes me realize I've done no slothcore yet this year. I will have to rectify that.
Such a relaxing yet at the same time intense feel to this. A really beautiful production here as well, even by your standards.
@panch Feb 2022
I can hear Floyd and also Also sprach Zarathustra in this - appropriate for a space inspired piece.
Great sonics as usual - a real treat for the ears.
@keithcuts Feb 2022
Sounds really good
@jerrypettit Feb 2022
Wow! How are you not doing tons of soundtrack work? (Or ARE you...?)
This is just perfect--really puts me in a mood. You have mastered "arrangement". Great, great, great!
@katestantonsings Feb 2022
I have two cheap telescopes, but this song deserves a listen in headphones on the roof stargazing one summer evening. This is one of my favorites from you! Such an otherworldly vibe. The guitar sounds almost like a duduk in places. Ethereal slothcore stardust!
@silvermachine Feb 2022
Listening to this I'd say the universe is formed of slothcore.
Mind you 4,900 stars a second is pretty fast, so maybe the stars are of punk rock matter. Enjoying the bits of somnambulant guitar here.
@fuzzy Feb 2022
Yeah, once you zoom in or out too far things begin to get really *weird*.
This has a strong Floyd feel to it for me.
Which is always a good thing.
I'm liking the persistent beat anchoring the bottom end.
The sound of a generation ship travelling through space on the way to a distant star; a slow, patient, stately progression.
@dragondreams Feb 2022
Ooh... luverly, luverly creamy-dreamy stuff. This is so many kinds of gorgeous!
@xfloorpunchx Feb 2022
All the layers of this songs are combining perfectly! I really love the percussions in the background! Well done!
@owl Feb 2022
This feels faster than 34 bpm! Lovely relaxing listen; I liked the languid guitar work and the washes of synth pads. The liner notes are also mind-blowing, I’ll have to look up that book!
@cindyrella Feb 2022
Wow, 4900? I love learning new things and this song fits the subject so perfectly! Just beautiful!
@mikeb Feb 2022
A very 'out in the universe' feel to this instrumental!