MacJams.com - Song: Halloween Punch by drakonis

Halloween Punch
by drakonis

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Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Guest views: 960
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Song comments: 41
Tokens: 0
Plays: 124
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Downloads: 19
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Submitted on: Oct 28, 2007 - 06:51:08 PM
Last Updated: Nov 08 2007 - 03:23:36 PM

Keywords backwards (6), experiment (31), halloween (36), silly (35), drakonis (57)

Description Drak's Halloween Submission, with a smirk.

While at a Halloween party last night, I discovered a new drink... Halloween Punch! This is a wild spirit, and not for the faint of heart, only for the sleight of hand. Make sure to drink it in a well-lit room, and whatever you do, don't think of anything funny while sipping, lest the hiccup of mirth give you excessive ingestion. Interestingly, the effect is short-lived, and the sobering antidote is mixed into the drink too, so you're in and out of the weird-zone in a jiffy.

I was recording a song while drinking this today, and caught the episode on tape. Things seem OK but slow way down, but you soon start hearing everything "inside out". Then, once the antidote kicks in, you suddenly snap back to sobriety. Hope this makes you woozy for Halloween!

WARNING: Do not play this for people who hear backwards subliminal messages in music. Do not play near orange-and-black hamsters.

(Serious Note: This was a quick experiment to see if I could create a song that was reversed in the middle but still played correctly.)

Hardware Macintosh dual 1Ghz G4

Software: Harmony Assistant (Original composition, and the reversed MIDI), Amadeus (reversed the reversed MIDI), GarageBand played it all.

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	Feter said 438 days ago
	Halloween Punch this is a nice melody and I never realise its strart to move back word co sit sounds like a new phase of melodyyou are dilevering there . beside the electronic sound .this work right as holiday muisc !! good job !!

drakonis said 438 days ago

backward and forward
I chose instruments that would sound a little unusual backward, especially the percussion. I had this little melody sitting on my "workbench", and decided to use it to experiment on... it is related to the "Dancylvania" melody idea of minor/major switching, since it was made about the same time. But maybe it will be good enough by itself to make something from. Perhaps I should throw it on the workbench for others to experiment with.

Thank you for listening and enjoying this little bit of fun.
ttfn,
Drakonis

composerclark said 438 days ago

Lucky
I feel pretty lucky... I just happened to be checking E-mail at the very moment notification came in of this!

Now, about the music itself... very cool! A kind of reggae/electronica hybrid, with a somewhat erie feel.

I really like the sonic quality... particularly the reverse envelope sounds that occur periodically in there.

Some suggestons:

%u2022It's a bit repetitive... repetition is a fine and even essential thing, but maybe there could be more variety, or even a contrasting section?

%u2022Are you using a major IV chord in a minor composition? Not sure... but something in there sounds a little 'not quite right' to my ears.

%u2022I'm not sure about the ending... seems to stop rather suddenly.

All of this, of course, is from my point of view only, and others may well be loving every aspect that I wasn't crazy about, so, as always, feel free to disregard my suggestions!

Good to hear new music by you, Eduard!

drakonis said 438 days ago

Well hello stranger!
I am very pleased to see you back here, I've missed you and your insightful commentary. Funny, I was hoping to hear from you on my prior piece "Black Forest Dance", since that is a real serious piece from me. This was an old discarded sketch while working on that one, that I just picked up and "looped" 4 times. First time played straight, second time with reversed percussion, third time with the entire set of instruments reversed, then the final time played forward again, with a teeny teeny stupid ending tacked on.

I admit there's no development... the experiment was instead to see what it would sound like if I flipped all the notes front-to-back, recorded it, then flipped the recording back, so the notes played in the right order again, but the instruments would sound backward. And yes, this was when I was goofing around with a minor/major mode switch in the middle of my music... it worked better in "Black Forest Dance" I think, but I'd be very interested in your thoughts there! And thank you for stopping in and listening in your busy time, I really appreciate your critiques!
ttfn,
Drakonis

	perceptualvortex said 438 days ago
	I like the backwards Funny, it has something of a cartoon slash videogame soundtrack feel, but the organ sound and melodies make it either spooky and comical or sinister and merry, depending on which mirror I listen to it through. Whoah!! Sorry, that stuff just hit me... you know, I think I better lay off the drinks.

gail60 said 438 days ago

Thank you Eduard!
I can not thank you enough for all of the wonderful things you just said about me in this song. Even though I had to listen to it backwards again and again to finally make a few of the words out.....If I understood it, It was something like...Gail Gail...she's so cool, who could ever think less
and Gail Gail, such a fool, and always quite the mess??? Was that it? Ok, should I lay off the drinking? This punch is good!!! Huh? Am I imagining things again...I dont know. Nevermind I am so confused now.
Ok seriously....Loads of spooky fun and mystery here. Made me smile just thinking about you putting it together in your laboratory....Another great job as always. Thank you for the subliminal messages!

	guitapick said 438 days ago
	Some punch... ...I can just see the bubbling mess with smoke coming out of every pop...were you shooting for that image? ...very festive, drak...cool tune...

	kristyjo said 438 days ago
	karD- ylevoL ydolem, gnitseretni stceffe htiw taht sdrawkcab dnuos. yM nos seod siht lla eht emit htiw emiTkciuQ. It's fun to experiment with those things and even more fun when it turns out kind of cool, like this.

	Dj French Toast said 438 days ago
	I need some of that punch ! Sweet experiment ! enjoyed

	said 438 days ago
	Delightful! This really is infectious. Great repetitive melody line you came up with. Everything bright and clear with a hint of darkness interwoven here and there. A great Halloween tune. Jack

	Rebsie said 438 days ago
	Tricks and treats Cool and groovy with that strange bubbling percussion. The backwards effect is quite subtle ... I probably wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't said, but that's probably just me. :) It's a nice melody whichever way round it is. Just one thing: my orange and black hamster is not looking too good after listening to this.

drakonis said 437 days ago

turn up the backward-o-meter?
I think I needed to choose some different instruments with more decay (apropos of Samhain?) so the reverse-effect was more pronounced. Glad you liked the funky little melody and the backward-burbly percussion. Oh, and I found that dipping your hamster's rear leg in GREEN food coloring seems to bring him right back again. OH, I meant to say his rear LEFT leg, NOT HIS RIGHT LEG! Rebsie, do not do his right leg... Rebsie? If you can still hear me, you'll have to shove him through the back door, quickly, while he still fits, and throw shallots at him until he shrinks. Sorry about that!
ttfn,
Drakonis

	Roxylee said 438 days ago
	Cool experiment! and I hope the punch didn't do the backwards thing on you. Seriously, you made an intriguing backwards palindeome here. Slightly eerie, but also bubbly. Fun, yet professionally done, as always. I couldn't make out the "Gail is cool" part , but I did hear "Roxylee needs some of that punch."

	gail60 said 437 days ago
	Roxylee - I swear I heard it! Keep listening over and over. If you listen it will come...oh wait, thats a baseball field. Ok so maybe I just "thought" I heard it. It's that dang punch from that Dang dragon, dangit! See? It makes me use the d word all the time too! :)

drakonis said 437 days ago

dang "dang" word!
You and Roxylee are a pair... I can't even imagine what might happen if you two actually met! I think it would be a chain reaction of silly!

Now, sit down... If you like, I can permanently cure you of the "D" word... if you want to keep using it, then stop reading NOW. Otherwise, you'll never use it again with my handy "Backwards Cure". All you have to do is imagine the word DANG backwards, go ahead and say it slowly.... ewww! OK, you are cured!
(evil smirk)
Drakonis

	drakonis said 437 days ago
	feelin' punchy Sorry, fresh out of punch now... perhaps I can interest you in some "Dragon Sauce"? I know you like that, and I have quite a stash of those bottles. BTW, on a serious note, rumor has it that the main Mexican company that has made "Dragon Sauce" for ages is going to stop soon. What a scary thought! ttfn, Drakonis

	Roxylee said 436 days ago
	Gnad zooks! No more dragon sauce??? Impossible. They make too much money on the stuff. Besides, they don't want you breathing down their necks, so to speak. As for me and Gail meeting, we'll be on your doorstep tomorrow morning at 6 AM. Bwaaahaaahaa....

	drakonis said 436 days ago
	NO! Not tomorrow morning... Don't you know anything about the dragon? You want to be here at 6 AM on SATURDAY morning... that way you get me to make my famous cinnamon french toast for you two. heehee.

	Reinholt56 said 437 days ago
	I think that it worked..... I think that the experiment worked OK. Everything fitted together very nicely. The main theme reminded me of Michel Legrand, Windmills of my Mind or some 60's movie theme? A great idea worked out to perfection. Paul.

	Doug Somers said 437 days ago
	Cerebrally fun This works on several levels as you no doubt intended. Clever lad! Good tune too. Reminds me of background music to a '60s French movie. Thanks, Doug

drakonis said 436 days ago

levelling that remark at me?
Me? Working at several levels? (smirk)

This was the beginnings of a more serious tune idea. Then I had this weird idea to flip a tune front to back, record it, then flip it back again. Then I had fun choosing wacky synths and percussion to play this, then decided to stitch part of it forward, and part of it backward. Then I decided to write up a silly Halloween description for the experiment... so in a way, indeed several things are going on at once here. I find it intriguing that you're the second person to suggest this is a '60s movie theme... listening again, I agree, it does have a little of that je ne sais qua. Thank you for imbibing with me... Kanpai!
ttfn,
Drakonis

paul f. page said 437 days ago

Much too sophisticated....
...for me. I don't hear anything except some very pleasant "halloweeny-type" things. Not at all threatening to my ears ... something like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" music with just a tad more bounce. Hey. I liked it very much, Eduard. You always have such a whimsical way of looking at things and this little number is such a delight. (I agree with the abrupt ending remark earlier...Just a gentle fade out would be perfect.) I always learn something interesting when I listen to your mind...
Peace.
Paul

	davisamerica said 437 days ago
	was not long enough friend dragon....melody kinda bores into your head and roots deeply...or maybe it's this flask.......ooopps.. really enjoyed and wanted more! hats off to the master dragon!

	SmokeyVW said 436 days ago
	lasreversal i love this concept - i tried the same general idea once in lasreversal http://www.macjams.com/song/22483 your song is great fun! you've inspired me to give this idea another try! thanks

	Muse Ritual said 436 days ago
	runs off... ...to pick up Amadeus and Harmony Assistant... the reversal and back was just the bestest! Sooo glad you did something like this as Ive been of a similar mind for a couple of projects myself. Much inspiration from this and your last... youre a dragon that gives of his treasure freely. Thank you :)

	Alannah said 436 days ago
	kewl fun song .... em ot doog dnuos dluow ti did uoy tahw rettam on os yawyna drawkcab morf drawrof llet reven nac I tub

	SmokeyVW said 435 days ago
	Sir Army Suit This reminds me a backwards tour de force by that band Klaatu - "Silly Boys" They created an entire song built around playing backwards a previous song of their own. more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_Boys Just wanted to share that little bit of trivia...

	said 426 days ago
	Great ! Lovely work here Eduard, the sounds really perfect with the atmosphere and the description. Loved this piece so much and i can see that it has kind of sad tones .. Loved it so much my friend ! Take Care ============== Yeman Auf Al-Rawi

	vikos said 378 days ago
	BEATIFUL !!! it's really beatyful,and i love this song. Good luck with your new songs!

	drakonis said 438 days ago
	heehee... it sort of creeps up on you, doesn't it? Hey, some of your tunes did that to me, got me all discombobulated... glad this did it to you. I thought it best not to publish the punch recipe. ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 438 days ago
	just silly stuff A bit of candy "corn" for the holiday... oooh, candy corn, I used to live on that stuff. Thank you for listening to my little MIDI-eval science experiment. Here, hold this flask for a minute, but don't drink it until I get the... Bob? BOB! EEEK! It's too late! ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 438 days ago
	OK, now THAT is scary... I could actually read that fairly easily. I think I need to lay off the Halloween punch now, etal oot si ti erofeb. Thank you for listening/commenting, and I'm glad you thought it turned out nicely... hope you get a chance to listen to my prior piece "Black Forest Dance", which is a more serious composition... and has the same major/minor idea in it. ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 437 days ago
	glad you enjoyed! this was a quick experiment to try out the idea, but I'm glad it sort of stands on its own too... definitely has the "don't take me too seriously" smirk in it. I need to choose better instruments that enhance the backward effect even more I think, but it was fun... thank you for participating! ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 436 days ago
	heehee... I love boring melodies... I mean melodies that bore into your skull and won't leave... If this one crawls into your brain and won't leave, I consider that a very great compliment indeed! Thank you for stopping in and trusting me with this chord-less drill... bwahahaa... ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 436 days ago
	look at that, you did Ha, I listened/commented on that one just now... very fun! And I am excited to be able to inspire somebody! Your remix of Ember got me inspired too, we'll see what happens! ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 436 days ago
	We are aMused I like inspiring you. As far as running off to buy these programs... if you do, don't get frustrated, keep learning them... it took me a month or so to get used to Harmony Assistant, and I've been using it for quite a few years now. I hope you are aMused by this and run off and record stuff... I look forward to mus-ic from you. ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 436 days ago
	eeheehee Alannala ouy knahT. You are sweet, frontwards and backwards! And I see you've been doing some silly experimenting too lately. ttfn, Drakonis

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