Lovingly mixed on cheap ear buds, this micro track consists of a cut up chunk of low frequency Rhodes running through auto pan and a bit of amp modeling, out of key FM synth bass, and frosty beats that were partially programmed using the GMS (Gestural Music Sequencer). It’s not a habit of mine to mix blind (or would that be deaf?), so I hope there aren’t too many nasty surprises when I hear this through proper speakers.
Recycled Rhodes Microtrack
This segment of unprocessed Rhodes was used in Processed Rhodes Pedal Noise. Why 138.72 BPM? The reason is that when the Rhodes was originally recorded I was using tap tempo to beat match another musician during a late night recording session. Obviously, naturally produced music is played in fractional tempos, so it’s funny what you end up with for locked-in tempos in electronic music using this technique. Update: just replaced the loop with a version that matches the zero crossings and doesn’t click.
Unprocessed Rhodes at 138.72bpm
Here’s a five bar loop of the pedal noise from the last entry. This time with no processing at all except a bit of amp modeling. In the last example I had equalized away most of the low frequencies.
This version is fairly clean so you can hear the pedal knocking sound followed by the dissonance as all of the Rhodes tines vibrate slightly after the pedal is depressed.
Unprocessed and Looped Rhodes Pedal Noise
Here’s an excerpt from a piece of music that I created using the noise that the pedal on my suitcase Rhodes makes if you step on it the right way. The sound is processed using some of my usual techniques. I also programmed a beat of the top and laid down some reversed Rhodes and well as a simple chord progression. This probably won’t get developed much further, but perhaps I’ll use it as a segue piece of some sort.
Rhodes Pedal Noise
This chord is much more similar to an example of close harmony than the open voicings that I posted earlier. Close harmony is essentially the opposite of open harmony. The notes are often clustered together and might include minor seconds. This example could be written, once again, as a poly chord or by referencing the notes used. I tend to think of it as a poly chord because In the left hand I’m playing an incomplete B flat major seventh made up of B flat, F and A, followed by a C major triad in the right, starting with the G below the A in the left hand. This means my thumbs are crossed leaving me in a good position to play arpeggios around the C triad.
Rhodes Chord B Flat Major 7 (b5) Poly C over B Flat 7