I made this track using Teenage Engineering's OP-1 for many of the synth sounds, as well as its built in FM radio (with which I sampled happened upon Salt n Pepa's "What a Man" ... destiny I suppose).  I recorded the sounds straight into Ableton Live, where I further manipulated them.  Another sample came from The Hues Corporation vinyl I had around the house.  

Using the OP-1 was a blast! It encouraged me to come up with some new ways of twisting sounds.  My personal favorite is one of the high pitched synth parts, which I labeled with a comment.  This sound was made by looping super tiny portions of the Salt n Pepa sample, and changing the length of the loop on the fly.  Changing the length changes the pitch of that note, and coming up with a melody is a matter of turning the knob just right (really fun and awfully random).  

Thanks to Anthony Ricciardi for the photo from Lit Lounge 6/30/11


"Salt Shaka" (OP-1 & Ableton Jam, July 1, 2011)



            Art reflects life 
         Life reflects culture
   Culture reflects philosophy 
Philosophy reflects intelligence 
 Intelligence reflects progress
    Progress reflects change 
    Change reflects direction 
       Direction is infinite
            Life is art 

                                            by  shadow cru

It's all about developing a new genre of music - 'Cinematic poetry', in which tempo and conventional music theory no longer hold. It's the liberation of sounds that parallels the flow of mind and creates an alternative ambience. Come and feel the cantabile poetry and immerse yourself in a new world.

Musician, Producer, and Educator from New York. 
Host of the Music Production Podcast. 
Author of 5-Minute Music Producer. 
Berklee Online teacher. 
Ableton Certified Trainer.

as a longtime listener of showgaze, postrock, postpunk, and indie; i now have aspirations of making a little contribution.

"Salt Shaka" (OP-1 & Ableton Jam, July 1, 2011)

Brian Funk