I’ve got something very different for readers/listeners this Tuesday. I’ve been experimenting with multitrack recording using Audacity and my Logitech Blue Yeti USB microphone (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link at no additional cost to you)—the most rudimentary setup since my early days dangling a computer microphone from an ancient 486 33Mhz computer running Windows 3.11 for Workgroups in front of my older brother’s ancient Crate amplifier (shew—talk about a long sentence).
I’ve done lo-fi recording before, and this setup is actually pretty clean. The Lo-Fi Hymnal and The Lo-Fi Hymnal II were both recorded entirely using the Voice Memo app on my old second-generation Apple iPhone SE. Well, the “drum” part for this piece was recorded using the Voice Memo app on my new third-generation Apple iPhone SE!
I put “drum” in scare quotes because the “drum” in question is actually a piece of yellow, metallic patio furniture that Dr. Wife brought down from her old house:
While I was carrying that cylindrical “table” (or whatever it’s supposed to be) outside, I whipped out my phone and recorded a quick little drumbeat (the pitter-patter of feet at the very beginning is Dr. Wife’s three-legged dog, Nugget, shuffling along the floor behind me):
My plan was to use that little beat for something at some point. I had a chance Saturday morning, and imported the file into Audacity. Well, I tried to import it into Audacity, but the Voice Memo records in the obscure M4A format, which isn’t supported in Audacity without jumping through a bunch of software hoops that I’ll figure out eventually but didn’t want to mess with while the creative juices were flowing. Instead, I used an online audio converter (the same one I use to get the WAVs that I export from Noteflight upconverted to the proper bitrate for digital distribution).
With a proper WAV file, Audacity took the track. I then copied it and replicated it over the course of about forty-five seconds, after which I grabbed my alto saxophone and started layering in tracks:
I started with a “root” alto sax part that essentially consisted of the root of a A minor (concert C minor) chord, along with some other little bits of noodling. The “harmony” alto added in the minor third, with the lead alto coming last. For “OCD” reasons, I added a fourth alto sax part to the tail end of the “Yellow Metallic Gong” percussion track to add a bit more color into the last chord, an Asus2 (concert Csus2).
The end result is this slithering, mysterious, slightly messy piece, “Sumatran Snake Charmer“:
For four-ish alto saxes and yellow metallic outdoor cylindrical patio furniture, “Sumatran Snake Charmer” is an experiment in multitrack recording and improvisation.
Here’s the cover, using an old Sunday Doodle (apparently, the only one ever to feature a snake of some kind):
This experiment has gotten me messing around with other bits of furniture and dishes (the ones Dr. Wife doesn’t mind me banging around on) to see what other wacky creations I can come up with on the fly. I’ll probably slowly work on a collection of such oddball “found percussion” plus alto sax pieces, which I’ll eventually compile into Säx II: Noodling (if you want a laugh and/or an insight into my early attempts at recording in my buddy’s attic studio, check out Säx from 2004—when I was nineteen!).
What do you think, readers? Was this experiment a success? Or was it a Frankensteinian nightmare (and probably a disgrace to the fine people and snakes of Sumatra)? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Listening!
—TPP